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.
The "Rondo Alla ingharese quasi un capriccio" in G
Major (Op. 129), is a rondo for piano written by Ludwig
van Beethoven. It is better known by the title "Rage
Over a Lost Penny", Vented in a Caprice (from German:
Die Wut über den verlorenen Groschen, ausgetobt in
einer Caprice). This title appears on the autograph
manuscript, but not in Beethoven's hand, and has been
attributed to his friend Anton Schindler. It is a
favourite with audiences and is frequently performed as
a showpiece.
Despite the late opus number, the work's composition
has been dated to between 1795 and 1798. Beethoven left
the piece unpublished and incomplete; it was published
in 1828 by Anton Diabelli, who obscured the fact that
it had been left unfinished. The performance time runs
between five and six minutes; the tempo of the piece is
Allegro vivace (quarter note= 132–160). The
indication alla ingharese is of interest, as no such
word as "ingharese" exists in standard Italian. To
people of Beethoven's day, "Gypsy music" and "Hungarian
music" were synonymous terms. Beethoven seems to have
conflated alla zingarese (in the Gypsy style) and
all'ungherese (in the Hungarian style) to come up with
the grotesque hybrid term alla ingharese. Robert
Schumann wrote of the work that "it would be difficult
to find anything merrier than this whim... It is the
most amiable, harmless anger, similar to that felt when
one cannot pull a shoe from off the foot," citing the
work as an instance of Beethoven's earthliness against
those who exult in a transcendental image of the
composer.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rage_Over_a_Lost_Penny).
Although originally written for Solo Piano, I created
this Interpretation of "Rondo Alla ingharese quasi un
capriccio" in G Major (Op. 129) for String Quartet (2
Violins, Viola & Cello).
SHEET MUSIC