Composer of the Week: Beethoven: Fate

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Composer of the Week

Music: Classical

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An informative guide to composers' lives and their music.

An informative and accessible guide to composers' lives and their music.

Composer of the Week: Beethoven Unleashed: Fate: Public Statements and Private Visions

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Public Statements and Private Visions

Beethoven Unleashed: Fate

BBC Radio 3 - Composer of the Week, Beethoven Unleashed: Fate, Public Statements and Private Visions

Beethoven must decide the right path to follow as he lands another lucrative commission.

Beethoven has charmed all Vienna with his music.  His new challenge is to work out what kind of artist he really wants to be. Presented by Donald Macleod

Up to now Beethoven had used his musical talents to win the favour of the wealthiest music patrons in Vienna, to charm the public who attended his concerts, and to reel in customers for his publications. He’s beginning to see now that his musical path could take him on a very personal journey too. His new challenge is to work out what kind of artist he really wants to be.

All this week, Donald Macleod traces Beethoven’s story through the years 1799-1801.  As he reaches his thirtieth birthday, we see Beethoven finally emerging as a mature composer and beginning to produce the enduring works that will mark him out as one of the great artists of his age.   But there are clouds on the horizon too, and we see the first intimations of a serious problem with his hearing.

Composer of the Week is returning to the story of Beethoven’s life and music throughout 2020. Part of Radio 3’s Beethoven Unleashed season marking the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth.

Piano Sonata No 14 in C# minor, Op 27 No 2 ‘Moonlight’
Louis Schwizgebel-Wang

String Quartet Op 18 No 1, II. Adagio affettuoso ed appassionato
Danish String Quartet

Prometheus (extracts from the complete Ballet Music)
Orchestra of the 18th Century, conducted by Franz Brüggen

Composer of the Week: Beethoven Unleashed: Fate

Live music and the arts: broadcasts more live music than any other radio network. Classical music is its core. Genres include world and new music, jazz, speech and drama.

Donald Macleod traces Beethoven's story through the years 1799-1801.

Donald Macleod traces Beethoven's story through the years 1799-1801. As he reaches his thirtieth birthday, we see Beethoven finally emerging as a mature composer.

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