The Manchester Lit and Phil Discussion for lively minds since 1781

e-programme edition 4 4th May 2020 Welcome to the fourth edition of Listen the Manchester Lit & Phil e-programme! Melvyn Bragg and guests https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09jbsjc We trust you found the last edition of our e-programme on ‘Education: Past and Future’ interesting. For this new edition we will do a bit of celebrating as 2020 marks Ludwig Van Bee- thoven’s 250th birthday. In this episode of the popular radio show ‘In Our Time’, Melvyn Bragg and his Born in , Germany, sometime in 1770, Beethoven’s lega- guests discuss the life and times of . He was born in cy as a composer is immense in the history of western music. Bonn to a family of musicians and his career would later bring him to We all seem to know how the ‘Ode to Joy’ melody goes with- where he met with much success. His later pieces which are some of his finest work were composed as he was becoming increasingly deaf. out having been taught it; and his music is travelling beyond our solar system as two of his pieces were etched onto the Voyager Golden Records in 1977. Read Dominique Lopiccolo For this fourth edition we will delve into the German com- THE MAN BEHIND THE MUSIC: BEETHOVEN’S CRITI- poser’s life, hear the secrets behind his music and examine CAL EARLY YEARS his legacy. https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcon- tent.cgi?article=1027&context=kabod

In this 2015 article Dominique Lopiccolo discusses Beethoven’s early years As with previous editions, the material listed in this e-pro- and in particular his relationship with his father, Johann Van Beethoven. Jo- hann was a tenor, albeit not a very good one (he was reported to have ‘‘a very gramme is free and we do not own it. stale voice’). He took over his son’s musical education which he imparted in a harsh manner apparently bringing young Ludwig sometimes to tears.

Front cover image: credit Pexels / Quentin Ecrepont Learn Read Jonathan Biss Edoardo Saccenti and colleagues EXPLORING BEETHOVEN’S PIANO SONATAS BEETHOVEN’S DEAFNESS AND HIS THREE STYLES https://www.coursera.org/learn/beethoven-pia- https://www.researchgate.net/publica- no-sonatas tion/51880094_Beethoven’s_deafness_and_his_ three_styles

In this online course offered by The Curtis Institute of Music, Jonathan Biss In this paper published in 2011 in the British Medical Journal, Edoardo Sac- offers unique insight in each one of Beethoven’s 32 piano Sonatas. Rather centi suggests that the three styles of Beethoven’s music writing can be very than examining them from the point of view of a musicologist he instead much linked to the progression of his deafness. To support his theory he and does it from the point of view of the player. He will provide some analysis and his colleagues looked at the use of high notes in Beethoven’s String Quartets. historical background as well as explain an aspect of Beethoven’s music ex- emplified by the relevant sonata (for example Sonata Op. 57 is a really good To access the article, click on the button ‘Download full-text PDF’. example of Beethoven’s resourcefulness - he is able to use very little material to create a vast canva). The course is available now and requires around 22 hours of study. Listen Vladimir Ashkenazy, Sir Roger Nor- Listen rington and Erica Burrman HOW TO PLAY...BEETHOVEN’S SYMPHONY NO 7 Benjamin Zander https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0001rmc BEETHOVEN: SYMPHONY NO. 5 (DISCUSSION DISC) https://www.benjaminzander.org/audios/discus- sion-disc-beethoven-symphony-no-5-in-c-minor/

This is a unique opportunity to eavesdrop on a rehearsal of Beethoven’s Sym- phony No 7 conducted by renowned conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy. We will also hear from Sir Roger Norrington as he recalls his experiences conduct- English conductor Benjamin Zander is currently the musical director of the ing Beethoven. To conclude the exploration, Erica Buurman ‘looks at what Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and the Boston Philharmonic Youth Or- inspired the famously grumpy composer to produce his most joyful symphony chestra. In this recording he discusses the ‘problem of interpretation’ of the yet’. tempi notably. He mixes commentary with comparison between interpreta- tions by different conductors and other anecdotes. www.manlitphil.ac.uk I @manlitphil I [email protected] Watch Read Natalya St. Clair Gardiner Morse MUSIC AND MATH: THE GENIUS OF BEETHOVEN IN A CRISIS, WHAT WOULD BEETHOVEN DO? RE- https://ed.ted.com/lessons/music-and-math-the- WRITE THE RULEBOOK https://hbr.org/2009/03/in-a-crisis-what-would- genius-of-beethoven-natalya-st-clair beethov%C2%A0

While very short, this TED Animations prepared by Natalya St.Clair explains For this article Gardiner Morse interviewed lecturer, composer and historian the mathematics behind the beauty of Beethoven’s compositions - which is in Robert Greenberg about lessons that could be drawn from Beethoven’s ca- a way, rather ironic as he wrote in a 1801 letter of being ‘really an incompe- pacity to manage crises. This is probably a rather unexpected source of inspi- tent business man who is bad at arithmetic’ (!). ration for business people and that makes the article all the more interesting.

Listen Learn Clemmie Burton-Hill and guests open.edu THE BUSINESS OF BEETHOVEN CREATING MUSICAL SOUNDS https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000cncp https://www.open.edu/openlearn/sci- ence-maths-technology/engineering-and-tech- nology/technology/creating-musical-sounds/con- tent-section-0?active-tab=description-tab

Feeling inspired? In this free course, you will learn all about muscial sounds In this series of interviews recorded last year, Clemmie Burton-Hill touches and what makes an instrument. upon a little known side of the great composer: Beethoven the entrepreneur. He was an innovator in many ways, for example he capitalised on the newly This course is open now and requires around 20 hours of study. invented publishing capabilities as well as the start of the mass production of pianos to sell his piano Sonatas. He also requested that piano manufacturers make more robust pianos. Just a few of the examples discussed in these very interesting interviews. Page 2: Ludwig Van Beethoven bust, credit: Pixabay / WikiImages, Johann Van Beethoven , credit: Wikipedia / Public Domain. Page 3: Playing the piano, credit: Unsplash / Jordan Whitfield, Portrait of Benjamin Zanger, Credit: Wikipedia / Creative Commons Attribution 2.0, Erik Charlton. Page 4: Close-up, credit: Pixabay / PublicDomainPictures, Orchestra, credit: Pixabay / hornistjj. Page 5: Sheet Music, credit: Pixabay / Anja, Stack of coins, credit: Pixabay / PublicDomainPictures. Page 6: Drowning, credit: Unsplash / Andy Kelly, Mixing desk, credit: Pixabay / Free-Photos. Page 7: Sydney Opera, credit: www.manlitphil.ac.uk I @manlitphil I [email protected] Unsplash / Michael Williams. Take a walk Moliere allegedly wrote ‘Of all the noises known to man, opera is the most expensive.’ Click on the links below to explore a few of the extraordinary places where the most expensive noises are produced.

IVRPA - Vienna State Opera https://ivrpa.org/panorama/vienna-state-opera/

National Geographic - Top 10 opera houses https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/top-10/opera-houses/

Sydney Opera House Archive - Tour the Sydney Opera House in 360° https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hunddVoMjo

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