Today in the year 1770, Ludwig van Beethoven was born unto the world. I would like to offer a brief insight in this complicated man‘s personality through a few of his letters. On the one hand, Beethoven‘s music is nothing short of God-given, while on the other he was a man who... ...routinely dismissed his servants because he thought they were spying on him and rarely shied back from driving a hard bargain with his publishers.

Now, for a few extracts, the first is part of the famous letter to the “unsterbliche Geliebte”:

On consonance and dissonance

What makes some harmonies consonant and others dissonant? The answer to this question must be found in the very constitution of chords and the relationship between their notes. A brief reflection: The impression we have of either consonance or dissonance is derived from the natural makeup of the tone with all its overtones. Only the closest overtones generate consonant chords whereas the dissonant chords are based on the more remote overtones.

A little additional thread to celebrate Ludwig van Beethoven, this time featuring a few drawings and paintings of the great man:

Carl Jäger, 1870 Julius Schmid, ≈1925

Today is the birthday of one of the most extraordinary musical minds that has ever touched down upon the soil of our earth.

In 1770, in the German city of Bonn
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
Was born into this world.

Today, I would like to tell his extraordinary life story. This is the house where Beethoven was born; at the time, it housed several families, among which were Beethoven‘s parents, Johann and Maria Magdalena in 1770.

On musical form; sixth instalment: Sonata Form

What is sonata form? For many people, the term sounds perhaps daunting, associated with the loftiest flights of imagination as it is, and with musical minds of the greatest renown, like Beethoven, Brahms, Haydn and Mozart.

1/30 In a structural sense, however, sonata form is not too hard to explain—especially seeing that I have already spent so many words on other forms of a similar construction.

2/30

❤ this tweet and I will write something about you... 1917: I see you as someone who is averse to most contemporary fads and trends. This is something I deeply admire because too many people have no more regard for the beauty of tradition of the past. I am happy to find in you a person who does possess this sense of nostalgia.

On musical structure; fifth instalment: Rondo Forms

To outline the structure of the rondo forms, we will need to resort to discussing its technical trappings. A general portrait of the rondo forms can be painted, however, by defining a few key characteristics.

1/27 The rondo forms capitalise upon one of music‘s most fundamental principles, namely repetition. They are primarily defined by the repetition of the primary idea, its secondary sections acting as digressions from this primary idea.

2/27

An overview of the slow movements from Bruckner‘s nine Symphonies; in celebration of his birth date (4 September 1824) the great breadth of which has always astonished and deeply moved me.

First Symphony in c minor:
Second Symphony in c minor:

For today's #TheoryThursday, a few words from Arnold Schoenberg as a prelude to the discussion of Rondo form.
Schoenberg disputed the popular notion that the musical rondo is more than superficially an imitation of the poetic “rondeau” (i.e. a repeated refrain and couplets)

1/8 He notes that, in the poetic form, the refrain underlines the common factor of juxtaposed elements, while in the musical form, the repeated section is the main idea—and intervening sections only subordinate digressions.

2/8

Today, on #TheoryThursday, (I know it is Friday but as I wrote the text yesterday, I refuse to change it) allow me to say a few words on musical theory itself, on the textbooks which have been used throughout the ages, and on their influence on the music of the masters.

1/16 Schoenberg denounced theorists and proclaimed the Living Art as the source of ever-evolving musical laws—'tis not for the theorist to decide which rules music should adhere to. Debussy said that “Les oeuvres d'art font les règles, les règles ne font pas les oeuvres d'art”.

2/16

𝐎𝐧 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞; 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭: 𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐬

Onwards to more extensive forms, we come to larger ternary forms, the most prevalent of which are the dance forms; the minuet and the scherzo.

1/22 Both the minuet and scherzo can either be independent pieces or movements of a larger structure, like a suite, sonata or symphony.
They are essentially identical in form, though one can speak of differences in a general sense, especially in character and tempo.

2/22

𝐎𝐧 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞; 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭: 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦

Last week I wrote about phrase structure in musical form; today we reach that stage where we can actually say we have a full-fledged piece.

1/27 In simply combining the phrase structures we already have—like the period—with a contrasting phrase, we can create a simple little piece.

2/27

𝐎𝐧 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞; 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭: 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞

By connecting motives, we arrive at the next structural unit; the phrase. The definition of what exactly a phrase is in music is rather flexible...

1/24 ...for the purpose of this thread, I shall define it as follows: a phrase is a musical unit punctuated by a cadence; rhythmically, harmonically or both.

2/24

𝐎𝐧 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞; 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞

In musical masterpieces, it is impossible to see a single part or fragment as independent of any of the other parts.

1/23 Even where musical phrases are simply juxtaposed, such as in a Bach chorale, they could not have been presented in any other way.

2/23

Dear Isaac, you’ve listened to so many praises
And speeches, replete with grandiloquent phrases,
That you might be thankful if I may propose
To spare you tonight any ponderous prose,
And toast you in verse,
For better or worse.
... This poem, which does not pretend to be art,
Is entitled Prince Issac, and comes from the heart.
...

𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜

Throughout musical history, there have been countless forms which composers have employed in order to express their musical ideas, like symphonies, concerti and operas for orchestral forces and quartets, trios and sonatas for smaller ensembles.

1/34 These are only a few of a vast array of musical forms, and I have only mentioned a few predominant mainly in the Classical and Romantic eras; there are a host of others!
To illuminate their merits would take countless hours and countless Tweets.

2/34

There is ever so much comfort, beauty and truth in the works of such an immortal master, who sacrificed life and energy only to give humanity the gift of his music... His inevitable, wonderful music...

Amongst the pieces I cherish are👇🏼

https://twitter.com/mikeirons12/status/1283798660799750147

Opus 101

𝐈𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐅𝐚𝐢𝐫?

It has become a habit of late to qualify aesthetic and artistic subjects in terms borrowed from the jargon of politics.

1/10 Thus mildly progressive works of art, literature or even music might be classified as 'revolutionary' or 'left wing' when they only evolve artistic possibilities.

2/10

“The external stimulus for this piece of music came to the author from the parodistic picture, known to all children in Austria, ‘The Hunter's Funeral’ from an old book of children's fairy tales: the beasts of the forest accompany the dead hunter's coffin to the grave”

1/22 This is part of the original programme to Mahler‘s First Symphony; last week I spoke of the humour in this movement, today I provide the picture Mahler had in mind when composing it—with the animals sarcastically solemn and gloomy, then bursting into a mood of merriment.

2/22

Many people have a tendency to consider classical music as something very serious, by which one is to be moved, rather than entertained. Of course many works primarily aim to move us, yet humour abounds in classical music, even in places where one would scarce look.

1/18 For Haydn and Beethoven, humour was an integral part of musical style. They often employ imitations of errors in performance to this end.
In Haydn's “Zerstreute” we find a point in the finale where the music suddenly stops and the strings “retune”.

2/18

#TheoryThursday

The resources a composer can use to communicate their music are not confined to notes and markings alone. Often, words are written over their music, especially at the beginning, in order to convey more clearly the musical thought.

1/12 There are pieces which have only a metronome marking, like the pieces in Schumann‘s “Kinderszenen”. The character and mood of the pieces is to be discerned in the notes themselves.

2/12