Ludwig van Beethoven: Making His Way

Donald Macleod follows Beethoven as he sets himself up in his new home of Vienna.

All through 2020, Donald Macleod takes an unprecedented deep dive into the compelling story and extraordinary music of Ludwig van Beethoven. In this uniquely ambitious series, told across 125 episodes of Composer of the Week, Donald puts us inside Beethoven’s world and explores his hopes, struggles and perseverance in all the colourful detail this amazing narrative deserves. Alongside this in-depth biography, Donald will also be meeting and talking to Beethoven enthusiasts and experts from across the world to discover how his music continues to speak to us in the 21st century. Through story and sound, the series builds into a vivid new portrait of this composer, born 250 years ago this year, who made art that changed how people saw themselves and understood the world.

This week, Donald Macleod’s focus is on Beethoven’s first months and years in Vienna, following his move there from his home town of Bonn. The young composer was still in his early twenties, low on cash, and had only a handful of works to his name. He was going to have to work hard to find success in the imperial capital, where audiences had grown up on the music of Mozart and Haydn.

Music featured: La Partenza, WoO 124 String Quartet in A minor, Op 132 (II. Allegro ma non tanto) Piano Concerto No 2 (III. Rondo) Trio in G major, Op 1 No 2 Bagatelle, Op 33 No 7 (Presto) String Trio, Op 3 in E flat major ( I. Allegro con brio) Piano Sonata No 2, Op 2 No 2 (3rd and 4th movements) Symphony No 8, (2nd and 3rd movements) String Quartet No 16 in F, Op 135 (3rd and 4th movements) Sextet for horns and string quartet, Op 81b Symphony No 2 (1st movement) Quartet in E flat major, Op 127 (3rd and 4th movements) Piano Sonata No 12 in A flat, Op 26 Piano Sonata No 3 in C, Op 2 No 3 (3rd movement) Piano Sonata No 1, Op 2 No 1 (final movement) Violin Sonata, Op 30 No 2 (3rd movement) ‘Adelaide’, Op 46 String Trio Op 3 in E flat major (4th, 5th and 6th movements) 12 Minuets, WoO 7, No 1 Piano Concerto No 1 in C major, Op 15 (1st movement) Piano Trio Op 1 No 3 (1st and 2nd movements) 12 Minuets WoO 7, Nos. 7 & 11 Piano Concerto No 1 in C major, Op 15 (3rd movement)

Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Chris Taylor for BBC Wales

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Beethoven Unleashed: Making His Way https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000fmt0

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z