ludwig van beethoven
classical music`s greatest revolutionary
7 june 2023
Digby hall , hound street, sherborne at 3 pm and 7 pm
Ludvig van Beethoven by Joseph Karl Stieler
Beethoven painted by Joseph Willibrord Mahler (1804-5)
Beethoven Portrait by Ferdinand Georg Waldmuller
Born in Bonn in December 1770, Ludwig van Beethoven became one of the greatest and most disruptive figures in the history of classical music. This talk presents an overview of this brilliant, cantankerous, visionary and astonishingly original composer, someone who tore up the rule book of classical music; visual illustrations include a selection of contemporary portraits, while musical examples are drawn from his genre-busting piano sonatas, quartets and symphonies, and from the revolutionary opera Fidelio. It reveals how Beethoven became a true Romantic artist or, as he preferred to describe himself, a “poet in sound”.
Photo: Benjamin Ealovega
Sandy Burnett
Sandy is one of the UK’s most versatile music commentators, enjoying a career that combines broadcasting, performing and lecturing. After studying at St Catharine’s College, Cambridge and working as music director for the RSC, National Theatre and in London’s West End, Sandy Burnett spent a decade as one of the core team of presenters on BBC Radio 3. He devises and leads cultural holidays all over the world, is the author of the Idler Guide to Classical Music, runs an online classical music appreciation Listening Club, is a highly sought after double bassist on the London jazz scene, and was appointed the Academy of Ancient Music’s Hogwood Fellow for the 2018-19 season.