LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN Octet in E-flat Major , op . 103 , I . Allegro
“ Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy .” – Beethoven
ABOUT THE COMPOSER
Born 1770 in Bonn , Germany ; died 1827 in Vienna , Austria
• Beethoven ’ s grandfather was a prominent musician , and his father was his first music teacher , maintaining a rigorous practice schedule for Beethoven . His father attempted to promote his son as a child prodigy , even lying about his age . On the concert poster for Beethoven ’ s first piano recital , he is listed as being six years old ( he was seven !).
• Beethoven began studying composition and published his first work when he was 13 years old . Beethoven moved to Vienna to advance his studies and took lessons with Haydn .
• By the time his first two symphonies premiered , Beethoven was recognized as one of the most important composers of his generation and a successor to the recently deceased Mozart .
• Around his 30th birthday , Beethoven ’ s hearing began to deteriorate . He fell into a deep depression but wrote with resolve to his brother , “ seize fate by the throat ; it shall certainly not crush me completely .”
• During the last decade of his life , Beethoven was almost completely deaf . It was during this period that he would create some of the most moving works of all time .
FUN FACT
Beethoven was a rebel and unafraid to stand up to royalty and nobility . After getting into an argument with his patron Prince Lichnowsky , Beethoven left a note saying , “ What you are , you are by accident of birth ; what I am , I am by myself . There are and will be a thousand princes ; there is only one Beethoven .”
ABOUT THE PIECE
• Beethoven wrote this work early in his career when he was still living in Bonn .
• Beethoven did not compose many works for woodwinds in his lifetime , but early in his career , he wrote several works for uncommon instrumentations at the request of his patron Maximilian Franz .
• Although written in 1792 , the work was not published until 1834 after the composer ’ s death .
THE WORLD AT A GLANCE
1792
MUSIC Joseph Haydn ’ s Symphony No . 94
TECHNOLOGY John Herschel , inventor of the blueprint , is born
HISTORY The United States Post Office Department is established
LITERATURE Mary Wollstonecraft ’ s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
8 BALTIMORE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA