Beethoven violin concerto analysis

Concerto composed by Beethoven in

For Beethoven's early violin concerto, see Violin Concerto in C (Beethoven).

The Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61, was written by Ludwig van Beethoven in Its first performance by Franz Clement was unsuccessful and for some decades the work languished in obscurity, until revived in by the then year-old violinist Joseph Joachim with the orchestra of the London Philharmonic Society conducted by Felix Mendelssohn.

Joachim would later claim it to be the "greatest" German violin concerto.^[1] Since then it has become one of the best-known and regularly performed violin concertos.

Genesis

Beethoven had previously written a number of pieces for violin and orchestra. At some point in &#;2, before his musical maturity, he began a Violin Concerto in C, of which only a fragment of the first movement survives.

Concierto de violines de beethoven biography en The violin, often referred to as the “voice” of the orchestra, plays a central and pivotal role in Beethoven’s Violin Concerto. Beethoven’s approach to writing for the violin in this concerto is both innovative and demanding, pushing the boundaries of what was expected in classical violin music.

Whether the work, or even the first movement, had ever been completed is not known. In any event, it was neither performed nor published. Later in the s, Beethoven had completed two Romances for violin – first the Romance in F and later the Romance in G.^[3]

These works show a strong influence from the French school of violin playing, exemplified by violinists such as Giovanni Battista Viotti, Pierre Rode and Rodolphe Kreutzer.

The two Romances, for instance, are in a similar style to slow movements of concerti by Viotti. This influence can also be seen in the D major Concerto; the 'martial' opening with the beat of the timpani follows the style of French music at the time, while the prevalence of figures in broken sixths and broken octaves closely resembles elements of compositions by Kreutzer and Viotti.

Performance history

Beethoven wrote the concerto for his colleague Franz Clement, a leading violinist of the day, who had earlier given him helpful advice on his opera Fidelio.

The work was premiered on 23 December in the Theater an der Wien in Vienna, the occasion being a benefit concert for Clement. The first printed edition () was dedicated to Stephan von Breuning.

It is believed that Beethoven finished the solo part so late that Clement had to sight-read part of his performance.

Some sources state that Clement interrupted the concerto between the first and second movements with a solo composition of his own, played on one string of the violin held upside down however, other sources claim that he played this piece only at the end of the performance.^[7]

The premiere was not a success, and the concerto was little performed in the following decades.

The work was revived in , well after Beethoven's death, with a performance by the then year-old violinist Joseph Joachim with the orchestra of the London Philharmonic Society conducted by Felix Mendelssohn.

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Concierto de violines de beethoven biography summary

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Ever since, it has been one of the most important works of the violin concerto repertoire, and is frequently performed and recorded today.

Performance practice

It has been said that not only in this piece, but generally, "Recordings demonstrate that it was the practice in the early twentieth century to vary the tempo considerably within a movement," and that in the concerto, there is "often one big trough (slowing?) in the central G major passage."

Structure

The work is in three movements:

It is scored, in addition to the solo violin, for flute, two oboes, two clarinets in A, two bassoons, two Natural horns, two Natural trumpets, timpani, and strings.

1. Allegro ma non troppo

The movement starts with five beats on the timpani and leads into a theme played by the oboes, clarinets and bassoons. The strings enter with a non-diatonic D# that leads into a V7 chord. The clarinets and bassoons play another theme. This is suddenly interrupted by a louder section in B-flat major.

This leads into a theme in D major and later in the parallel minor. The soloist enters with a V7 chord in octaves.

Concierto de violines de beethoven biography The Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61, was written by Ludwig van Beethoven in Its first performance by Franz Clement was unsuccessful and for some decades the work languished in obscurity, until revived in by the then year-old violinist Joseph Joachim with the orchestra of the London Philharmonic Society conducted by Felix.

This movement is about 21 minutes long.

2. Larghetto

This movement is in G major. It is about 10 minutes long.

3.

Concierto de violines de beethoven biography wikipedia The Violin Concerto in D Major embodies Beethoven’s revolutionary spirit and his ability to transform classical music. By infusing the concerto with symphonic depth and emotional complexity, Beethoven challenged existing norms and set new standards for the genre.

Rondo. Allegro

This movement starts without pause from the second movement. It begins with the famous "hunting horn" theme. There is a section in G minor. After the cadenza, it ends with a typical V-I cadence. This movement is about 10 minutes long.

Cadenzas

Cadenzas for the work have been written by several notable violinists, including Joachim.

The cadenzas by Fritz Kreisler are probably most often employed. More recently, composer Alfred Schnittke provided controversial cadenzas with a characteristically 20th-century style; violinist Gidon Kremer has recorded the concerto with the Schnittke cadenzas.^[10] New klezmer-inspired cadenzas written by Montreal-based klezmer clarinetist and composer Airat Ichmouratov for Alexandre Da Costa in have been recorded by the Taipei Symphony Orchestra for Warner Classics.^[11]

The following violinists and composers have written cadenzas:^[12]

Alternative versions

Perhaps due to the Violin Concerto's lack of success at its premiere, and at the request of Muzio Clementi, Beethoven revised it in a version for piano and orchestra, which was later published as Op.&#;61a.

For this version, which is present as a sketch in the Violin Concerto's autograph alongside revisions to the solo part,^[15] Beethoven wrote a lengthy first movement cadenza which features the orchestra's timpanist along with the solo pianist. This and the cadenzas for the other movements were later arranged for the violin (and timpani) by Rudolf Kolisch,^[16]Max Rostal,^[17]Ottokar Nováček,^[18]Christian Tetzlaff^[19] and Wolfgang Schneiderhan.^[20]Gidon Kremer, on his recording with Nikolaus Harnoncourt,^[21] adapts these cadenzas for violin, timpani and piano, although the piano does not play in any other parts of the recording.^[22]Patricia Kopatchinskaja adapted the cadenza of the first movement for two violins, celli and timpani, for the other movements for violin.^[23]Seiji Ozawa also wrote an arrangement for piano.^[24] More recently, it has been arranged as a concerto for clarinet and orchestra by Mikhail Pletnev.^[25][26] Robert Bockmühl (/21–) arranged the solo violin part for cello.^[27]

Recordings

The first known recording of Beethoven's violin concerto was made in for His Master's Voice by violinist Isolde Menges, with Landon Ronald conducting the Royal Albert Hall Orchestra.

Hundreds of recordings have been made since, among which the following have received awards and/or outstanding reviews:

• Josef Wolfsthal, Berlin Staatsoper Orchestra, Hans Thierfelder
• Jascha Heifetz, NBC Symphony, Arturo Toscanini
• Yehudi Menuhin/Lucerne Festival Orchestra/Wilhelm Furtwängler
• Wolfgang Schneiderhan, Berlin Philharmonic, Paul van Kempen - "Rosette" by the Penguin Guide
• David Oistrakh with Sixten Ehrling cond.

  the Stockholm Festival Orchestra in Stockholm over 10–11 June Testament CD: "David Oistrakh Beethoven & Sibelius",

• Jascha Heifetz, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Charles Munch, RCA Victor – "Mid-price choice" by BBC Radio 3Building a Library, September
• Ida Haendel, Czech Philharmonic, Karel Ančerl, Suraphon – 14 May
• Isaac Stern, New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein, Sony "Unique cadenza in last movement"
• Wolfgang Schneiderhan, Berlin Philharmonic, Eugen Jochum, Deutsche Grammophon
• Arthur Grumiaux, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Colin Davis, Philips – "4 star" by the Penguin Guide
• Anne-Sophie Mutter, Berlin Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan, Deutsche Grammophon
• Itzhak Perlman, Philharmonia Orchestra, Carlo Maria Giulini, EMI – Gramophone Award,
• Thomas Zehetmair, Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, Frans Brüggen, Philips – "First choice" by BBC Radio 3 Building a Library, September
• Hilary Hahn, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, David Zinman, Sony Classical
• Isabelle Faust, Prague Philharmonia, Jiří Bělohlávek, Harmonia Mundi – "First choice" by BBC Radio 3 Building a Library, April ; Diapason d'Or by Diapason, April
• Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Orchestre des Champs-Elysées, Philippe Herreweghe, Naïve – BBC Music Magazine Award (orchestral category)
• Isabelle Faust, Orchestra Mozart, Claudio Abbado, Harmonia Mundi – "Disc of the Month" by Gramophone, March ; "Disc of the Month" by BBC Music Magazine, April ; "Diapason d'Or Arte" by Diapason d'Or and Arte; Gramophone Award, ; Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik; Echo Klassik
• Daniel Lozakovich, Münchner Philharmoniker, Valery Gergiev, Deutsche Grammophon – Cadenza Kleisler,
• Vilde Frang, Pekka Kuusisto, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen – Parlophone Records,

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

• Beethoven, Ludwig van: Concerto for Violin and orchestra in D major, op. Score. Eulenburg EAS
• Beethoven, Ludwig van: Konzert für Violine & Orchester D-dur Opus (Facsimile edition of autograph full score) Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Wien, Mus.

  Hs. Edited, with commentary (in German) by Franz Grasberger. Graz,

• Philip, Robert. "Traditional habits of performance in early-twentieth-century recordings of Beethoven", in Stowell, ed. (), pp.&#;–
• Stowell, Robin, ed. (). Performing Beethoven. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (ten essays by various authors)
• Stowell, Robin ().

  Beethoven Violin Concerto. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

• Wulfhorst, Martin (). "A Comprehensive Catalogue of Cadenzas for Beethoven's Violin Concerto op. 61". Retrieved 1 January

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