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Happy Birthday, Ludwig!!

Posted: Friday | 12.17.10

Beethoven’s Birthday!

Ludwig van Beethoven was born around December 16th, 1770. Exact records of the birth are lost; however, we know that he was baptized on December 17th, 1770.

This is a great time to say/sing: “Happy Birthday, dear Ludwig!!!

Just think for a moment how that one man revolutionized music: He took the Symphony, as brought to a strong level of development by Haydn and Mozart, and he pushed symphonic music further as an art form. Key mileposts in that development were his Symphony #3, 5, 7, and 9. Many of my great favorites are also the even – numbered masterpieces.

And Beethoven was also a great innovator in the chamber music arena: The violin/piano sonatas, the string quartets, the solo piano sonatas, and the five piano concerti! And there’s more, of course…

The Beethoven quintet for Piano & winds is not performed all that often. Listen to the wonderful beauty of this music:

Performed by the:

• New York Philharmonic Principal winds

• Liang Wang, oboe
• Pascual Martinez Forteza, clarinet
• Judith LeClair, bassoon
• Philip Myers, horn
• Shai Wosner, Piano

Here is the first movement of the Quintet:

And here’s the second movement:

And now the final movement:

Tags: Beethoven’s birthday, Quintet for piano and winds, New York Chamber Music Festival.