How Beethoven Revolutionized the Symphony

Six ways that Beethoven revolutionized the symphonic genre, and changed music history forever.
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Script by: Kadin Madgwick
Narrated by: Oscar Osicki

[@silvioevan11]

This is from Honoré de Balzac's short story Gambara (1837) (a masterpiece, by the way): "- The new school has left Beethoven far behind, - said the ballad-writer, scornfully. - Beethoven is not yet understood, - said the Count. - How can he be excelled? (...) - Beethoven, - the Count went on, - extended the limits of instrumental music, and no one followed in his track. (...) - His work is especially noteworthy for simplicity of construction and for the way the scheme is worked out, - the Count went on. - Most composers make use of the orchestral parts in a vague, incoherent way, combining them for a merely temporary effect; they do not persistently contribute to the whole mass of the movement by their steady and regular progress. Beethoven assigns its part to each tone-quality from the first. Like the various companies which, by their disciplined movements, contribute to winning a battle, the orchestral parts of a symphony by Beethoven obey the plan ordered for the interest of all, and are subordinate to an admirably conceived scheme."

[@Tylervrooman]

He was one of the first to specifically compose separate bass parts as opposed to just being unison with the cello. *Edit (I play bass and it goes boom and make me happy)

[@chessematics]

You didn't need to mention "as a double bassist". Confusing.

[@Tylervrooman]

@@chessematics I change my comment to provide more context

[@markchapman6800]

"As a double bassist," (something like) "I feel a particular appreciation for him being ..." Otherwise it's not connected to the rest of your sentence. Your addition doesn't really do anything to fix that.

[@Tylervrooman]

@@markchapman6800 omg thank you so much!!! Wow, omg so appreciate it so much very appreciate when I have comment a thing and it's like I go wow and I think oh man I really want to do the thing when I say a thing and someone can be like yo! Wow I'm like oh man so Tru so not 🧢 but like totally the thing... I edited my comment again because bass goes boom

[@ericsbuds]

@@Tylervrooman i understood what you mean. double bass and cello used to just do the same thing, it sounds like.

[@tj-co9go]

Music would not be the same without Beethoven. He changed an entirely new style by himself, that has been unsurpassed unto this very day. I consider him the best composer to have ever lived.

[@elaineblackhurst1509]

‘Modern’ music began with the emergence of the Classical style c.1740; composers began writing music in ways that are still used recognisably today - symphony; concerto; string quartet; sonata form; virtuoso players; size, composition, and use of the orchestra; public concerts; et cetera, All music from that time on was simply a matter of evolution - sometimes radical evolution as in Beethoven’s case (and others). I some respects Beethoven was ‘surpassed’, almost immediately for example by Berlioz with his Symphonie fantastique (1830), just three years after his death, or by works such as Weber’s Der Freischutz (1821) which explored areas into which Beethoven never ventured. (Other works could be added easily to this list). Beethoven is without doubt a truly great composer, but hyperbole is not helpful, especially as ‘…the best composer to have ever lived’ does not exist, except in a subjective list of personal favourites which is not the same thing.

[@n.n.5293]

I think I will never be able to listen to the 9th without tearing up.

[@cernunnos100]

yep...everytime

[@RealSteveTheGoat]

Same

[@InXLsisDeo]

Just first movement is colossal. In fact every movement of that symphony is colossal in its own way.

[@name-ng7mk]

@@InXLsisDeo the first movement is so dramatic i love it so much

[@alfonsomunoz4424]

Beethoven's ninth symphony is the most perfect masterpiece ever composed. It is the pinnacle of artistic achievement.

[@hillcresthiker]

Provided you dont count Mahlers Resurrection symphony!

[@alfonsomunoz4424]

@@hillcresthiker I don't

[@elaineblackhurst1509]

Hyperbole is not helpful.

[@elaineblackhurst1509]

@@hillcresthiker Don’t get drawn in, no such thing exists.

[@JScaranoMusic]

@@hillcresthiker It's so subjective you can't really say that one is "better" than all the rest. Beethoven's ninth isn't my favourite Beethoven symphony, and Resurrection is possibly my least favourite Mahler symphony. To each their own.

[@AlsoSprach_Zarathustra]

Another feature Beethoven applied and developed very well was the transition between movements without a break (i.e. the 5th Symphony - III and IV, 6th Symphony - III, IV and V). The man knew his stuff for sure.

[@romualdandrzejczak4093]

And the finale of IX is actually that as well, just brought to a peak(this is a single movement, but it certainly has several separate parts; Charles Rosen even called it "A symphony within a symphony").

[@elaineblackhurst1509]

One movement following directly on from another - ‘attacca subito [il] Finale’ - and the like appears often in CPE Bach,* and also occasionally in Haydn; Beethoven was familiar with a significant amount of the music of both these composers. * In some of his symphonies and harpsichord concertos, all three movements run together seamlessly.

[@johnrobinsoniii4028]

I always called that transition between the 3rd and 4th movements (of his Fifth Symphony),the “Tunnel”.

[@somatotomy]

And Papa Haydn, Beethoven's teacher, paved the way for Beethoven to make these developments: Sturm und Drang paved the way for the tortured expression we associate with Beethoven, and Haydn's extended development sections certainly paved the way for Beethoven's own focus on thematic development. Haydn even implemented the scherzo before Beethoven popularized it. One of the many reasons Haydn is so worthy of respect, a true master who raised a pupil that changed the world.

[@wertherland]

Yes! despite LvB struggles to give Haydn his due credit for his own education... he called him Papa... and he was okay with that in his self centered genius mind for a reason. He knew he owe the old man much more than he realized.

[@clavichord]

Exactly!

[@tristramshandy9326]

Haydn doesn't get enough credit for his innovation. Much of it is less confrontational than Beethoven, but is just as inventive. I think of Haydn as being more playful.

[@villebooks]

@@wertherland Indeed, Beethoven even noted down, that Haydn couldn't teach him anything of interest any longer after a while. Ludwig was very convinced of his talent, that's for sure xD

[@elaineblackhurst1509]

@@villebooks No he didn’t.

[@joecaner]

Beethoven's 7th and 9th tears my heart into shreds one moment only to make it swell large enough to encompass all that is the very next. There is no music quite like it. It is triumphant.

[@bigpapadrew]

i visited beethoven's grave in vienna, among other greats. it moved me to tears. i will never forget it.

[@g1j2k3]

I did the same thing. I lay flowers on his grave - as a token of my appreciation for the impact on my life of his monumental music.

[@manouchehr7]

No world can describe the immense breathy and great richness of Beethoven music .

[@katrinabryce]

Beethoven’s 9th Symphony was used as the benchmark for what the capacity of a CD should be.

[@youngandobrien]

It bugs me that this fact is getting as forgotten as CDs themselves

[@parintelebaiazid80]

I see you are a man of culture and I was there ...... 3000 years ago!

[@alexroselle]

Yes! This is my favorite fun fact about electronics megacorporate executives being classical music lovers. (#2 would be Samsung laundry machines playing Schubert)

[@OzSteve9801]

In the 5th piano concerto there is no gap between the last 2 movements, just 2 sustained notes. This is not just to change keys. It's also so clarinetists can switch from Bb to A instruments. Genius.

[@tow1709]

The other way round. Clarinettist switches from A to B-flat instruments.

[@OzSteve9801]

@@tow1709 Thanks.

[@alger3041]

The pause was not specifically designed to permit clarinetists to change their instruments. In fact, during the choral movement of the Ninth Symphony he changes them w few times. (In Cecil Forsyth's "Orchestration").

[@hjo4104]

That modulation (from B major to E flat major) is made so banally that it's actually effective.

[@JScaranoMusic]

I misread that at first, and thought you said the last two movements of the 5th symphony, which which would also be true about not having a gap between them. Beethoven wasn't a fan of applause between movements, so he did that a lot.

[@jerryemt2001]

I won't pretend to understand the theories and structures of symphonies before and after Beethoven, but I recognize and appreciate the beauty and power of his 9th. I can't say just how many times I witnessed this wonderful piece of art performed by various symphonies in different cities. I'd love to hear it performed live in Vienna on the 200th anniversary of its premier in May 2024.

[@henrybrowne7248]

When I was young, people always said the 9th was the greatest piece of Western music. Dunno how prevalent that is nowadays . . I firmly accepted it though, just from my own experience of the piece. Over the years, I've expanded my top tier. I believe that choosing from the top tier is more a matter of what type of music connects to you best. Wanna hear what other pieces are on the GOAT tier? It may surprise . .

[@deaddada]

​@@henrybrowne7248 please share your God tier!

[@henrybrowne7248]

@@deaddada OK. Actually this should be a discussion, because I'm not sure about some pieces on the 'bubble.' Besides the 9th, I think I'd put Debussy's La Mer in there. That culminated Debussy's groundbreaking impressionism with a romantic flavor. I haven't put the great requiems in there yet. What do you guys think? The best ones I've heard come from Mozart, Berlioz, Brahms and Verdi. I'm sure Bach and a few others will have many partisans. What about opera? Does it rise to that level? I don't know diddly about opera, but judging from what I've heard of Verdi, maybe some of it merits consideration. My Dad always said that Mozart was a badly underappreciated opera composer and I don't doubt it; in fact, there's vids here on YT proclaiming just that. I'm not sure about Stravinsky's Rite of Spring . . What do you guys think? It sure as hell was groundbreaking and, for all the dissonance, is quite an orchestral journey. I think I might put Busoni's Faust in there, though it was not quite finished. Check out Sarabande and Cortege for a quick peek into this dark world. Sarabande is incredibly powerful and not long. OK, here comes one of the surprises. Ever heard of Steve Reich? The Desert Music is just a masterpiece. About 44 minutes. Now, this is mantric music; many Westerners might not connect to it. You have to feel the rhythm--I think that's the key to this kind of music, which Reich studied in Africa and Indonesia. You think of yourself standing and chanting or shaking or beating something; maybe dancing. Over this he lays down powerful Western emotions of awe and wonder, as well as the shimmering of the desert. Here comes an even bigger surprise. Ever see 2001: A Space Odyssey? Grigory Ligeti's Requiem is one of the most groundbreaking works and may be too far beyond the common listener, but judging from the comments it gets here on YT, it sure stirs up something. What Ligeti does in this piece, some would not even call music. So I call it an 'aural experience'. The cinematic images of the 'monolith' of 2001 remain burned into my mind, a true depiction of something unknowable to us. There should be categories. Like, short pieces; symphonies; pieces that were the first of their kind; etc. This makes the task easier I think. I think the connections of most people are to a certain Type of music or piece. One other category I use is short songs or sonatas, eg Beethoven's Moonlight. Another nifty category is pieces that garnered popularity with the masses. Tchaikovsky would score big here. Hm, like the Oscars, no?

[@johnchessant3012]

I really love that section in the 9th that runs through all the previous movements' themes, I hadn't really thought of it as a conversation between different parts of the orchestra rather as a tying together of the whole symphony into one neat passage

[@henrybrowne7248]

Yes. My impression was always a kind of recapitulation of the first three. Another innovation . .

[@pizzacheeto]

Lesser known is that in the earliest versions/sketches of the passage, Beethoven actually did write lyrics for the recitative! It's overall very rough, but the idea is clear even if my writing here isn't too accurate: First mvt plays "No, this reminds us of our despair!" Second mvt plays "Nor this either, it is but sport, no better." Third mvt plays "Nor this, it is too tender, we must seek something more animated." Ode snippet plays "Aha, this is it! It has been discovered!" (or, "I myself shall intone it!")

[@AndrejaAndric]

I think his First Symphony is also pretty great! It sticks to the established customs, nevertheless it sounds much bigger and more dynamic, while being at the same time a subtle parody on the symphonic genre.

[@InXLsisDeo]

The first chord of the first bar of the first symphony is dissonant. That was a nice statement here, as if saying: "guys, with me, you are about to hear something new".

[@elaineblackhurst1509]

@@InXLsisDeo You really need to have a good knowledge and understanding of Haydn (Mozart too) before attributing to Beethoven some of the innovative ideas for which he is sometimes inappropriately credited. The opening idea of Beethoven’s Symphony 1 (1800) clearly derives from the opening of Haydn’s string quartet Opus 74 No 1 written seven years earlier (1793).

[@gjs9366]

It's simple: Beethoven Rocks!

[@MutantsInDisguise]

Beethoven is just the best!

[@markchapman6800]

Listening to a classical symphony after having become used to Beethoven's works, it's often a bit disconcerting to think, "The development section has started" then "oh, it's stopped again already!" OTOH, it's hardly surprising that Beethoven puts the Ode to Joy theme through such changes in the last movement of the 9th when said movement is explicitly theme and variations, a form that he was obsessed with throughout his career. In fact, the preceding slow movement is also a set of variations, and even today there aren't many symphonies like that.

[@ES-ge7bb]

Aside from a loved one, if I could only have one pleasure on a deserted island, it would be to be able to listen to Beethoven’s orchestral works. The most uplifting music, IMO. The wow factor is unparalleled

[@franklehman8677]

Great video. It is worth noting, however, that Beethoven was hardly the first composer to attach an explicit program to a symphony. Dittersdorf's are probably the best known, but there were tons of "characteristic symphonies" written in the 18th century that were every bit as explicit in their extramusical content as the Pastoral. And well known and appreciated in their time too. Not to diminish LvB's significance, but many of his "revolutions" are often better characterized as "culminations" of trends in instrumental music that had been established for the better part of a half-century beforehand.

[@BabyPurpleBug]

Came here to say the same thing, but my example is Vivaldi's Four Seasons. I recall learning that the score had notes written into it as to what the music represented.

[@utvpoop]

@@BabyPurpleBug The Four Seasons are concerti, not symphonies. Although, the "Symphonies Characteristiques" by Dittersdorf and later Wranitzky (Symphony on a Peace between France and Germany or whatever the countries are) are the case. Edit: ah yeah, I forgot about Haydn's cycle of Morning, Afternoon, and Evening symphonies, each having its own program back in 1760s! Edit 2: So I kinda fooled myself, the 3 symphonies by Haydn I've mentioned above do not bear any program except from the intro of the so-called "Morning" 1st movement. But we desperately want them to have it...

[@markusboyd4834]

ExactLy, well said

[@elaineblackhurst1509]

A number of Haydn’s symphonies have unwritten programmes: 6, 7, 8, (search an image of the ceiling of the Haydnsaal at the Eszterhazy palace at Eisenstadt); 26 (religious); 45 (too famous to need explaining); 60 (theatrical); 73 (hunting); 100 (military); plus lots more; Note: they are much less common in Mozart. Haydn told both his early biographers Griesinger and Dies that his works sometimes portrayed moral characters, one in particular - God speaking to an unrepentant sinner - has never been conclusively identified; Haydn told them that he couldn’t remember which one it was, apart from that it was an adagio. Possibly 22, but other candidates include 7, 26, 28, and the overture to Der Gotterrath.

[@utvpoop]

@@elaineblackhurst1509 The 49th, La Passione, had probably had the same function as the 26th, as the were possibly written for the celebration of the Good Friday

[@neilbarembaum1094]

In the Ninth's fourth movement, it is not just the scherzo that is replayed--each of the three preceding movements in turn is brought back, even if only momentarily, only to be rejected by the cellos and basses.

[@nickbrutanna9973]

I think one of the most fascinating things you could do with a time machine would be to take recordings of Beethoven's stuff and go back in time and expose Bach and Mozart to what he did... to see their genius build on his genius would be quite interesting.

[@debranelson1987]

Maybe Doctor Who would be needed to go back in time to this era.

[@hjo4104]

But he actually built his genius on their geniuses 😶

[@walteralter1686]

Beethoven does something with the resolution of tension in passages that knocks me to my knees every time. He finds a solution that destroys cliche and nostalgia, takes you to musical spaces that are a step beyond expectation. You can build a civilization from his music.

[@mr-wx3lv]

You mentioned, Berlioz, Liszt, Tchaikovsky, Mahler but not Bruckner. He was the most significant symphonist of the second half of the nineteenth century, and completely obsessed with Beethoven...

[@sybcnoops7527]

True, though I think Bruckner is not that similar to other composers. He’s my favourite composer and so I always try to find a composer similar to him. But I’m never able to do it.

[@clavichord]

Brahms and Wagner were the most significant composers in the second half of the 19th century, in my opinion, and yes, Wagner is overwhelmingly an Opera composer and Brahms only composed four symphonies. Those are the two giants, in my opinion, Wagner being the most influential composer.

[@mr-wx3lv]

@@sybcnoops7527 of his era, there was no one similar. He incorporated elements of many different styles and soundworlds of previous composers. But his own composing style can sound very stiff and muddy at times...if not handled or understood by a sympathetic conductor. Coupled with his own lack of self confidence as a person. But he's one of the more interesting musical figures that there's been...

[@Alexagrigorieff]

@@clavichord I take Bruckner any day over Brahms. Even Dvořák over Brahms. Dvořák wrote better Brahms (3rd Symphony) before Brahms, and better Brahms (7th Symphony) after Brahms.

[@clavichord]

@@Alexagrigorieff Mmmm. Chuckle. Well, they are all very different composers, I guess. Bruckner is Bruckner, Brahms is Brahms and never the twain shall meet. I do like Bruckner, when I'm in a Bruckner mood, but Brahms is the superior composer, and I don't just judge him by his four symphonies, but also other works, especially his chamber music. Dvorak is a favourite composer of mine too, but still Brahms is his superior, despite Dvorak's New World symphony masterpiece and his symphonic poems.

[@asdigawb1341]

Apart from dear Ludwig, I just admire the production of this video. Content is well-organised and the narrative is so powerful. Got me so emotional when the 9th symphony is played. Thank you Inside the Score.

[@wertherland]

Beautiful reviewed! so well written/narrated!

[@gabrielalexanderkhoury73]

Beethoven's titanic music shakes you to the core. Fist time, as a child, I heard the opening of the 9th, I asked my mother "what on earth is that?". I still say so 60 years later. Not just the 9th but also the 3rd and the 5th. Somebody wrote that he is "head and shoulders above the rest. We shall never see the like of him again".

[@gergotorbacksight3366]

Omg. Beethoven my first love announced me to classical music. I read his biography he is suffered man who pour his mind into his note. Thank you, Beethoven to help my life become meaningful. And thank you for this channel to share the wisdom of Beethoven.✨✨

[@JordanVanRyn]

Beethoven was a composer who knew how to paint pictures with his music. Any piece you listen to, you find yourself immersed in his world and you understand the passion and emotion that came with it. He's an artist.

[@dolinaj1]

Such a dynamic and succinct overview - merci beaucoup.

[@garyb2392]

Beethoven is my favorite composer…and your presentation put the swirling concepts in my head words, TY

[@danielmasonmusic2353]

Love your videos- they make me love and appreciate classical music even more.

[@pashaofstuttgart]

excellent video! as a lifelong Beethoven fan, this video does a good job highlighting how Beethoven took music to another level! sublime beauty!

[@picksalot1]

Thank you for this insightful look into what made Beethoven such an extraordinary Composer. Through his music, we get to experience what it's like to have the mind of a genius.

[@Ukepa]

Mozart said it of a 13 year old Beethoven: "he will astonish the world!!!" (really good video)

[@elaineblackhurst1509]

This purported comment by Mozart is an entirely spurious, fictitious, and a fanciful urban myth; *Mozart never met Beethoven,* though it’s just possible Beethoven heard Mozart play during a very brief visit to Vienna in 1787.

[@maryannmoran-smyth3453]

Beethoven’s ninth Symphony is a sonic masterpiece that endures even the test of time …….BRAVO……

[@reyskywalker9409]

wow, that was very enlightening thank you for the contest

[@NatanbagGr8]

Hey Oscar, the first second in your video is cut short, probably due to an intro effect, that shouldn't affect the narrator. I think this was the case with your last video too.

[@MaxsLEGOStopMotion]

Vivaldi is also another "significant" composer who used narratives to guide his music. Or perhaps you didn't include him because his impact came until the mid 20th Century since his music was forgotten after his death.

[@FloydMaxwell]

Thank you for this. This is my favorite composer. The only one I repeatedly listen to, frankly.

[@okko7988]

THANKS, THANKS, THANKS. THIS IS EDUCATIONAL.

[@rogermwilcox]

"An orchestra of 120 players takes 40 minutes to play Beethoven’s 9th symphony. How long would it take for 60 players to play the symphony? Let P be the number of players and T the time playing."

[@michaelattwell7502]

Excellent video. Even good for seasoned Beethoven admirers to be reminded just how much he changed the classical landscape.

[@Holderlin]

Wonderful explanation!!!!!!

[@saricubra2867]

He used the orchestra as a sound design tool, for that alone he was way ahead of it's time. Imagine people reacting to the Pastoral symphony at the time.

[@chessematics]

Ode to Joy doesn't first appear in the oboes. It has been sounded constantly in small fragments in the bass recitative. Starting from the 2nd statement in the basses, it gives off the first bar through the AABbC motif. This same bar is rearticulated, more expressively in the 3rd statement (dismissing the first movement) with BbBbCDDC...and again rearticulated in the 4th statement (dismissing the 2nd movement). Then the big blow lands in the last statement (upon hearing the oboes) with the imitation of the last bar of ode to joy. It's very subtle, distorted to the point of its existence being totally subjective. But as we all know, motivic manipulations done by beethoven lead to absurdly different things.

[@dehanbadenhorst1398]

You're right. I think the oboes played an entire phrase of the melody though, where the celli only played fragments, which might be why the weren't mentioned

[@chessematics]

@@dehanbadenhorst1398 yeah celli give the hint and oboes pick it up.

[@name-ng7mk]

Yes I’ve noticed that too

[@wpark1991]

I love your content so much!! So many incredible composers in history. I'd love to see your analysis of Schumann, Mussorgsky, Janacek, Albeniz, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Bartok, or Ives pretty please!! 😃

[@KcGedik]

Amazing video as always. I'd love to see a video on Chopin as he's one of the giants of classical music as well.

[@victotronics]

Beethoven influenced the design of the CD. The chairman of Sony was a big B. fan, so he insisted that a CD could contain the whole of the 9th symphony.

[@utvpoop]

I thought it was von Karajan who insisted of prolonging the CD capacity

[@victotronics]

@@utvpoop Look it up on wikipedia "The official Philips history says the capacity was specified by Sony executive Norio Ohga to be able to contain the entirety of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony on one disc" With reference.

[@stevek2340]

For me, the most dramatic scherzo is in the Fifth, with the innovative recapitulation of the main theme...I once read a description of this section as being "ghostly" and I couldn't agree more....and then the growing tension as the instruments struggle to complete the opening motif before being overwhelmed by the glorious finale. Thank you for posting.

[@nickpineau4139]

9:55 I find it really funny that Schumann and Berlioz are posed in the exact same way for their photos. Great video btw

[@thegameranch5935]

I liked beethoven but that just make me appreciate him even more

[@XMarkxyz]

Although similar to the German "Scherz", "Scherzo" is Italian, the german pronunciation is quite different

[@chmendez]

Yes, Indeed

[@denizbiriya6547]

Just wanted to say Thank you for your great videos, I learned a lot from you. 😍💙🌺🌱💫

[@GodsUnrulyFriends]

Ustad Allahudeen Khan was one of the greatest masters of Indian raga in the 20th century. His students included Ravi Shankar, Ali Akbar Khan, Nikhil Banerjee, and Annapurna Devi. His knowledge and skill were considered superhuman, and he was respected to the point of being feared. He had a music room in his house where he practiced and taught music. On the walls were portraits of his teacher, his teacher's teacher, and others in his musical lineage. And on that wall, among the masters of Hindustani raga, he had a portrait of Ludwig Van Beethoven.

[@juliamacdonald3767]

This is really great. Thanks.

[@danielweisman496]

Excellent video! I didn't know that he was the cause of change in orchestral composing.

[@nigeldeforrest-pearce8084]

Excellent and Outstanding!!!!

[@brent3522]

The Ode To Joy melody keeps repeating because the 4th movement of the 9th is in Themes and Variations, which was one of the main structures of choice for final movements in symphonies and sonatas.

[@rahulradhakrishnan5591]

Great video!

[@MrExtraordinaire16]

Great video man.

[@prototropo]

The most amazing moment I think Beethoven gifted the world came early in his work, in the appropriately named Eroica, the Third Symphony, first movement, measure 280. A long, heaving buildup with pulsing, off-beat, heavily anchored harmonic inversions climbs to the most effective trumpeting of agony ever characterized by, in or for the human experience, a tormented screech of raging grief that relies on a simple interval--the minor second--to capture a contradiction-generated phase-change of history, the European Enlightenment catapulting into the Napoleonic Wars. Beethoven's sonic metaphor perfectly prefigures the transition from feudal monarchy to capitalist aristocracy, from cannonball to atom bomb and from theocratic mythology to evolutionary biology. The world was changing and like Thucydides, Mencius, Tacitus, Ibn Rusd, Petrarch, Shakespeare and Velasquez before him, Beethoven was an archetypical agent, artist and archivist of the revolution.

[@kevhynaleks2631]

Nobody can compare with Beethoven, he was the greatest, he is the greatest, he will be the greatest composer of all times!

[@eduardoguerraavila8329]

Well said. There will never be another Beethoven !!

[@elaineblackhurst1509]

Beethoven was a truly great composer, but you’re better leaving it at that; other composers *can* compare to him, including his two greatest immediate predecessors. Just to illustrate the point, if we compare Beethoven’s Leonore/Fidelio with Figaro or Don Giovanni, or Christ on the Mount of Olives with The Creation or The Seasons, where Mozart and Haydn soar like eagles, unfortunately ‘…the greatest composer of all times!’ walks like a parrot.

[@kevhynaleks2631]

@@elaineblackhurst1509 Non of them was touched those basic human emotions from these two aristocratic musician you mentioned . The only touching from Mozart is his Requiem. Otherwise just fragments from Don Giovanni or few symphonies or Piano Concertos composed in minor. I can’t even say the same from Haydn, I still unable to find anything from his works, what I can take seriously - nice, but boring rococo music, touching only the surface, created to entertain some princes and princesses…. But everything is subjective, meantime I think Beethoven objectively is the greatest composer, talking to me personally in the 21th century with such power, as nobody else...

[@elaineblackhurst1509]

@@kevhynaleks2631 As an opinion about composers you like or do not like, that’s a personal thing and no different to you saying you prefer red to blue, or Italian cuisine rather than Chinese - all of which is your own business. On a more objective musical level, the comments about Haydn in particular are as inaccurate as to fact as they are flawed in judgement - the two things being related. In fact, one wonders what Haydn exactly you have been listening to in order to come up with a strange and negative viewpoint; to take just two well-known contrary views, your opinion is fundamentally and totally at odds with both Mozart and Beethoven, both of whom knew this ‘boring’, ‘rococo’, ‘surface’ composer who [cannot be taken]’seriously’, very well indeed. Mozart (openly), Beethoven (grudgingly), and CPE Bach (in writing) - pretty impressive references - acknowledged Haydn as a very great composer, which leaves your contrary viewpoint somewhat exposed to challenge. You may care to consider why these two figures found rather more in Haydn’s music than you appear to have done.

[@lawrencetaylor4101]

The developers of the CD wanted to make sure that the data capacity would be able to hold the Ninth. Humanity's Symphony.

[@lluisrafalessole-classical5068]

Fantastic video 🎶

[@arielspalter7425]

Spot on!

[@nornje]

Wonderfull! Thanks!

[@lawrencetaylor4101]

Beethoven kept the length of his Ninth down to make sure it could fit on a compact disc. That is real forward thinking.

[@BlackHermit]

Very good video with interesting points. Beethoven was a good composer.

[@robertoriggio117]

He initially dedicated the 3rd symphony to Napoleon and had named it after him, but, when he heard that Napoleon had declared himself emperor, he tore up the dedication and changed the name to "Eroica" (heroic, in ITALIAN) and wrote a new dedication "to a hero that once was," or something to that effect.

[@hendriphile]

Yes, he tore up the title page... but the point is, he didn't change a note of the music. It's still, in a real sense, the "Bonaparte Symphony"!

[@karenspivey3203]

Wonderful video!

[@chdfletcher]

Good info but you had "German" on the screen when you introduced the term scherzo which is an Italian word not German.

[@ericsbuds]

i just wanna konw who told him to give that look when he was getting his portrait done. so unmistakable!

[@chiranthgowda8050]

Great video. Can you make a video on the analysis of Grosse Fuge?

[@alexroselle]

Fun fact about point #5: the reason an audio CD has a capacity of 74 minutes instead of a more even 60 or something else is that the executive in charge at Sony insisted that it must be able to hold a whole recording of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony on one CD.

[@jdsahr]

It's all very well to listen to Beethoven and think, "that is some fine music." But to really appreciate it I think you have to be in the orchestra. I was, for twenty years (an amateur 'cellist). But the composer who really knocked my socks off ... Tchaikowsky.

[@debranelson1987]

Absolutely agree here....Tchaikovsky's music has such delicacy and power.

[@planetproofreading2234]

I know it's cliche, but Beethoven was the GOAT composer. Not only for his depth and genius but because he invented so damn much.

[@Mandibil]

The greatest artist of all time

[@L1102]

Along with JS Bach

[@elaineblackhurst1509]

No such person exists in any field of the arts, sciences, nor any other branch of human achievement.

[@mendyviola]

His innovation was driven partially by the times he was living in, as well as the people he studies music under. He was also very driven by having to give up his piano playing as a source of income and turn to composing.

[@VeganWithAraygun]

Ian Hart in Eroica did a damn good job.... They all did,

[@QuinlanKay]

Haydn (before Beethoven) had a Scherzo movement in his String Quartet Op. 33, no. 2. This quartet is also known as the Joke String Quartet. Haydn named the 2nd movement Gli scherzi instead of minuet.

[@MrTarlecon]

While listening to (or even thinking of) all these counterpoints in the 9th Symphony's last movement I try to keep in mind that all that was composed by a deaf man. And I cannot believe it...

[@rlejano]

Wonderful!

[@seth6string]

The greatest musical mind that ever was.

[@Vesnicie]

I adore your vids.

[@Sublette217]

As my piano teacher Mother said of this phrase ( 06:00 ), “This is the third, this is the third, this is the third, not the fourth…”

[@DeflatingAtheism]

While there is no explicit program to the ninth symphony, there are so many eccentric choices made throughout the course of the music that it is practically crying out for an extra-musical explanation… the inclusion of a Turkish military march being the most obvious!

[@svrfan]

Love your fantastic video's, only comment is there is very little time for your musical examples to be played out.

[@caydilemma3309]

Probably to avoid a copyright claim

[@agassii]

Beethoven is the greatest human being who graced the earth !

[@skaldlouiscyphre2453]

That might be a slight overstatement. He's no Viktor Zhdanov.

[@NoahSpurrier]

Excellent

[@grjoe4412]

The more appropriate description is that Beethoven extended into unexplored areas of symphonies. Don't make statement that is bigger than what is.

[@elaineblackhurst1509]

Your absolutely right, Beethoven did not ‘revolutionise’ the symphony (clickbait and inaccurate), he evolved it radically (not clickbait but accurate), in fact just as had Mozart and Haydn shortly before him, and composers like Berlioz did shortly after him. Part of that radical evolution was exactly as you say, to explore new areas in new ways, and to borrow the most famous split infinitive in the English language, ‘to boldly go…’ which sums him up perfectly (thanks to Captain Kirk).

[@Triosfrios]

How about Berlioz? I think he was already writing his Symphonie Fantastique in the late 1820's, a very revolutionary and forward sounding symphony without a doubt. I think it was first performed in 1830, only three years after LvB's death.

[@elaineblackhurst1509]

Nobody revolutionised the symphony; both Mozart and Haydn evolved it radically, so did Beethoven, so did Berlioz, and so too did almost every great composer who tried successfully his hand at the form.

[@Karkhash]

About the #3 reason: what would be the difference with that and the Vivaldi's Four Seasons? Considering that he's imitating the sounds of each Seasons and their respective situations of society? Thanks again for your videos ❤️

[@DeflatingAtheism]

He qualifies it… Beethoven was the composer to attach a program _to a symphony._ Of course, religious works and operas were always programmatic.

[@clavichord]

@@DeflatingAtheism Correct, because Vivaldi's Four Seasons are violin concertos, and at this time, the early symphony still had to develop and become an established genre of music

[@utvpoop]

@@DeflatingAtheism he was not the first, it's discussed somewhere in the comments

[@elaineblackhurst1509]

@@DeflatingAtheism Earlier composers had attached programmes to symphonic music; Dittersdorf for example did a number of times, and most famously, one of Haydn’s is where God speaks with an unrepentant sinner.* The programme for Haydn’s triptych of symphonies ‘Le matin, Le midi, and Le soir (Symphonies 6-8) is clearly visible painted on the ceiling of the Haydnsaal at the Eszterhaza palace at Eisenstadt. Et cetera. * Asked in old age to which symphony this programme was attached, Haydn couldn’t remember, but scholars have suggested the adagii from Symphonies 7, 22, 26, or 28, or that from the overture to Der Gotterrath.

[@matthewrippingsby5384]

Actually, Haydn was the first to switch the order of the inner movements. It's quite important to acknowledge that. There is a lot to gain from understanding how much Haydn gave Beethoven, even before they had met!

[@anthonydecarvalho652]

Very nice 👌

[@Evangelionism]

The phrase in the first 5 seconds, I did not know was Beethoven and always heard it in a dance hall riddim. I forget which, but the riddim is used on a Super Cat production from the 80s or 90s.

[@janekmundt579]

5:08 the no response is a total meme, since it is the same intonation as a buzzer once you are wrong

[@johnaugsburger6192]

Thanks

[@chrismcdonald9120]

9:59 where's Dvorak? He's written some of the most famous symphonies

[@danilorainone406]

beethovens premiere of the ninth in vienna, he was stone deaf,nonetheless he felt the music down through the stage floorboards into his feet,at the end while he was still beating time with his baton,the audience was on their feet, wildly applauding, the quartet soprano caroline unger walked over tugged on his sleeve spinning him about to see the enthralled clapping throngs the film of beethoven here somewhere,,makes goulash of the history,,his factotum schuppanzig was his stenographer and subject of maestros hollering fits,, not the girl in the movie,I wish at least the movie would have had the entire symphony