Beethoven

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Ludwig van Beethoven: 'Eroica'

Explore the Eroica score to learn how Beethoven created this masterpiece. Learn how Beethoven wove the themes in Eroica to shape the emotional journey of the music. Find out why keys were so important to Beethoven. Hear insights about the music from MTT and the musicians of the San Francisco Symphony. And then, explore the stories behind the Eroica.

AIR-DATE
October 2006

COMMENTS
21

TAGS
Vienna, Eroica, Beethoven

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Beethoven: Symphony No. 3, 'Eroica'
IV. Finale: Allegro molto

Six excerpts to the triumphant Fourth movement. Here we have Beethoven the showman, the ultimate improviser who can turn even the most inconsequential of themes into the basis for a masterwork.

AIR-DATE
October 2006

COMMENTS
1

TAGS
Score, Eroica, Beethoven

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Beethoven: Symphony No. 3, 'Eroica'
III. Scherzo: Allegro vivace

The Third movement is all about play, as can be seen and heard in two short excerpts. Amidst the abundance of the fields and vineyards, Beethoven composes his own harvest of joy and affirmation, a renewed embrace of life in all its richness and mystery.

AIR-DATE
October 2006

COMMENTS
0

TAGS
Score, pastoral, Eroica, Beethoven

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Beethoven: Symphony No. 3, 'Eroica'
II. Marcia funebre: Adagio assai

The moving second movement is shown in four annotated interactive excerpts. This “Funeral March” is a powerful musical evocation of the massive state funerals of the French Revolution. As we see the procession pass before us we ask ourselves the question, “who has really died here?”

AIR-DATE
October 2006

COMMENTS
0

TAGS
Score, march, funeral, Eroica, Beethoven

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Beethoven: Symphony No. 3, 'Eroica'
I. Allegro con brio

Excerpts of the score to Beethoven’s Eroica with video notations in the score, and explorations of theme and Beethoven’s use of key. Five excerpts present critical moments in the first movement.

AIR-DATE
October 2006

COMMENTS
1

TAGS
Score, Eroica, Beethoven

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Ludwig van Beethoven: 'Eroica'

AIR-DATE
October 2006

COMMENTS
0

TAGS
Vienna, Eroica, Beethoven

Television Show

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Beethoven: 'Eroica'

Beethoven's Third Symphony laid bare his dreams, his fears, and, at its climax, his rediscovered heroism. From his early musical rivalries in Vienna to his terrifying duel with deafness, Beethoven reveals the roots of his genius in this episode of Keeping Score.

AIR-DATE
Thursday, November 2, 2006 at 10pm

COMMENTS
0

TAGS
19th Century, Beethoven, Eroica, Vienna

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Beethoven: Key Distance Creates Tension

Beethoven used modulation, the moving from one key to another, as another way to portray emotion. He would start in the home key and then modulate away from it. The farther he traveled from the home key, the greater the tension and the more the desire to return.

AIR-DATE
October 2006

COMMENTS
0

TAGS
melody, keys, harmony, Beethoven

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Beethoven: Major and Minor

Whether the key is major or minor greatly influences the way a key sounds. Explore the difference in mood between major and minor keys used in Beethoven’s 'Eroica'.

AIR-DATE
October 2006

COMMENTS
0

TAGS
melody, keys, harmony, Beethoven

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Beethoven: Tuning and Keys

In Beethoven’s time, instruments were tuned differntly from the way they are tuned today. This gave each key a unique sound that led to its association with a particular character. With an introduction by Dr. Bill Meredith of the Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies at San José State.

AIR-DATE
October 2006

COMMENTS
0

TAGS
melody, keys, harmony, Beethoven