Music. Learn, enjoy, appreciate.

For two hundred years, Beethoven’s music has spoken to us and moved us in ways no previous composer had ever achieved. Born at a pivotal point in European social and musical history, Beethoven took the conventions of the Classical Period and moulded them into the beginnings of Romanticism in music.

This one-day music appreciation course will tell the tragic and inspiring story of Beethoven’s life, richly illustrated with portraits, readings, and the music of this great composer.

Outcomes

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

• identify aspects of Beethoven’s musical style
• describe how Beethoven’s music is related to the Classical and Romantic periods
• identify some of the genres of music Beethoven composed
• list some of Beethoven’s major works and describe their place in his musical output
• describe the main periods of Beethoven’s career
• list significant events in the life of Beethoven.

Content

Topics we will explore:

• What do we think of when we think about Beethoven?
• Beethoven’s place in music history
• Beethoven’s musical style - what makes Beethoven sound like Beethoven?
• The Classical period - music in Beethoven’s time
• Beethoven’s legacy
• Major events in the life of Beethoven
• The First Period (1770-1802)
• Beethoven’s early years in Bonn
• Vienna - then back to Bonn
• Vienna again
• Beethoven the pianist
• Beethoven’s