Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 – 1827) was a German
composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most
admired composers in the history of Western music; his
works rank among the most performed of the classical
music repertoire and span the transition from the
Classical period to the Romantic era in classical
music. His career has conventionally been divided into
early, middle, and late periods. His early period,
during which he forged his craft, is typically
considered to have lasted until 1...(+)
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 – 1827) was a German
composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most
admired composers in the history of Western music; his
works rank among the most performed of the classical
music repertoire and span the transition from the
Classical period to the Romantic era in classical
music. His career has conventionally been divided into
early, middle, and late periods. His early period,
during which he forged his craft, is typically
considered to have lasted until 1802. From 1802 to
around 1812, his middle period showed an individual
development from the styles of Joseph Haydn and
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and is sometimes characterized
as heroic. During this time, he began to grow
increasingly deaf. In his late period, from 1812 to
1827, he extended his innovations in musical form and
expression.
Beethoven was born in Bonn. His musical talent was
obvious at an early age. He was initially harshly and
intensively taught by his father, Johann van Beethoven.
Beethoven was later taught by the composer and
conductor Christian Gottlob Neefe, under whose tutelage
he published his first work, a set of keyboard
variations, in 1783. He found relief from a
dysfunctional home life with the family of Helene von
Breuning, whose children he loved, befriended, and
taught piano. At age 21, he moved to Vienna, which
subsequently became his base, and studied composition
with Haydn. Beethoven then gained a reputation as a
virtuoso pianist, and was soon patronised by Karl
Alois, Prince Lichnowsky for compositions, which
resulted in his three Opus 1 piano trios (the earliest
works to which he accorded an opus number) in 1795.
Fidelio, originally titled Leonore, oder Der Triumph
der ehelichen Liebe (Leonore, or The Triumph of Marital
Love), Op. 72, is the only opera by German composer
Ludwig van Beethoven. The libretto was originally
prepared by Joseph Sonnleithner from the French of
Jean-Nicolas Bouilly. The opera premiered at Vienna's
Theater an der Wien on 20 November 1805. The following
year, Beethoven's friend Stephan von Breuning rewrote
the libretto, shortening the work from three acts to
two. After further work on the libretto by Georg
Friedrich Treitschke, a final version was performed at
the Kärntnertortheater on 23 May 1814. As these
libretto revisions were going on, Beethoven was also
revising some of the music. By convention, only the
final version is called Fidelio, and the others are
referred to as Leonore.
Fidelio had a long and complicated history of
composition. Portions of the score were originally
written for an earlier, never-completed opera.
Beethoven revised Fidelio three times; the work caused
Beethoven so much vexation that he vowed never to
compose another opera.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fidelio).
Although originally written for Orchestra, I created
this Interpretation of "Rocco's Aria" (Hat man nicht
auch Gold beineben: "If you don't have any money") from
"Fidelio" (Op. 72 No. 4) for Flute & Piano.