Beethoven String Quartet, Op. 132, Part 2

Grieg's Peer Gynt suites are among the best-known and best-loved works of classical music in the world. They are practically embedded into popular culture, being used in a dizzying number of cartoons, advertisements, and films. In the classical music world, as with Beethoven's 5t ...  Show more

When it comes to a piece like the Mozart Clarinet Concerto, a few words or phrases regularly come up: the concerto is described as "mellow" or Mozart's "swan song," but most often it is described as "perfect." Such a perfect piece as Mozart's Clarinet Concerto must have been huge ...  Show more

Ludwig van Beethoven's Second Symphony came at a pivot point in his life. Musically, the composer moved toward the more epic, revolutionary style that would define his later symphonies. Personally, Beethoven sank into despair as his hearing loss worsened. 

This recording is the 2nd movement of Beethoven's popular Sonata Pathetique Op. 13 No. 8. The second movement is Adagio cantabile. "Cantabile" indicates that this movement should be played like a song, or something that has a distinct melody that one could sing along with. This p ...  Show more

Beethoven's last major piano work, the Six Bagatelles Op 126 in a 1937 performance by Artur Schnabel. 

What happens when one of history’s greatest composers begins to lose the very sense he relies on most? In this episode, we explore how Ludwig van Beethoven continued to create groundbreaking music even as his world fell into silence. Along the way, we uncover the myths, invention ...  Show more