Beethoven's Darkest Work

Did Beethoven’s love for married aristocrat and a doomed son colour his darkest work? Vanessa Thorpe, The Observer

"In the summer of 1812, the 41-year-old composer had travelled to the Bohemian spa town of Teplitz overnight, following a probable love tryst in Prague. The next morning he wrote a letter to “My angel, my all, my own self”, asking: “Can you alter the fact that you are not entirely mine and I am not entirely yours?” The following evening he continued the letter and added a final page, using a phrase that has become his most famous: “Already in bed my thoughts go out to you, my immortal beloved.” Beethoven concluded: “I can either live wholly with you, or not at all.” 

A meeting of genius: Beethoven and Goethe, July 1812, Gramophone

Beethoven in Prague

Beethoven's Prague Connection

Plaque detail from Waymarking.com

Borodin Quartet plays Beethoven String Quartet Op.127 and 130

Beethoven String Quartet No 13 Op 130 in B flat major Alban Berg Quartet

Beethoven String Quartet No 14 Op 131 in C♯ minor Alban Berg Quartet

Beethoven String Quartet No 15 Op 132 in A minor Alban Berg Quartet

Beethoven - Große Fuge B-Dur Op. 133 - Alban Berg Quartett

Beethoven String Quartet No 16 Op 135 in F major Es muß sein! It must be Alban Berg Quartett

Beethoven - Grosse Fuge - Klemperer


See also: Healing Music