music is a journey
Scott Davie, Australian National University In a series marking the 250th year of his birth, we analyse the brilliance of Ludwig van Beethoven. When Beethoven died in 1827, thousands of pages of highly notated music were bequeathed to posterity. Yet unlike arts such as painting and sculpture, which communicate directly from the artist to the …
Continue reading “Performing Beethoven – what it feels like to embody a master on today’s stage”
In a series marking the 250th year of his birth, we analyse the brilliance of Ludwig van Beethoven. Around 1806, Beethoven sought advice on violin fingering from the Italian violinist Felix Radicati in connection with the three great string quartets of his middle period, the so-called “Razumovsky” Quartets, Opus 59. Radicati impertinently asked whether Beethoven …
Continue reading “Ahead of his time, Beethoven still inspires”
Scott Davie, University of Sydney In our series Decoding the music masterpieces, music experts explain key works of classical music. Without question, the final movement of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony contains one of the most famous tunes ever written. Since its first performance in 1824, the “Ode to Joy” has been repurposed in endless ways, both …
Continue reading “How Beethoven’s ‘mistake’ became one of our most famous tunes”
Johann Sebastian Bach’s Six Solo Cello Suites are some of the most iconic classical music works. They have inspired not only cellists and audiences but other artforms as well, and they have been featured in ballet and theatre productions, even in films. Zoltan Szabo, University of Sydney
