Beethovenfest

Beethovenfest Bonn

Beethovenfest

Each fall the festival honors Ludwig van Beethoven in his native city of Bonn with a program that reflects the composer's revolutionary approach to music. Below are recordings, interviews and more from the event.

Interview

Steve Reich

The composer talks with DW at the Beethovenfest about music history and his place in it.

Interview

John Eliot Gardiner

The pioneering conductor offers his insights into Beethoven and the music he created.

Orchestra Campus Project

Award goes to Orchestra Campus project

The National Youth Orchestra of Iraq in rehearsal

The Orchestra Campus music project at Bonn's Beethovenfest has been honored as one of Germany's best ideas. 365 innovators are named each year by a jury sponsored by the federal government and leading companies.

How Iraq's National Youth Orchestra came to be

They're in contact nearly every day via the Internet: conductor Paul MacAlindin and the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq. The orchestra head is thrilled and impressed by the largely self-taught musicians he directs.

Rehearsing with the NYOI (Part 1)

DW correspondent Bettina Kolb travelled to Arbil, Iraq to be with the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq during rehearsals for the Beethovenfest. This is part one of her blog about the experience.

Rehearsing with the NYOI (Part 2)

DW correspondent Bettina Kolb travelled to Arbil, Iraq to accompany the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq during rehearsals for the Beethovenfest. This is part two of her blog about the experience.

Rehearsing with the NYOI (Part 3)

A National Youth Orchestra of Iraq flutist plays on a rooftop

DW Bettina Kolb travelled to Arbil, Iraq to accompany the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq during rehearsals for the Beethovenfest. This is part three of her blog about the experience.

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Violinist Arabella Steinbacher on stage with the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq

With German President Christian Wulff looking on, there were standing ovations for the final concert of the orchestral campus at the Beethovenfest. Impressions of a moving evening.

From the slums to international stages

Sinfonica Heliopolis was founded by Silvio Baccarelli in one of Latin America's poorest districts. Today, it is among the world's best youth orchestras and enjoyed an international debut at the Beethovenfest.

Sinfonica Heliopolis embarks on European tour

Sinfonica Heliopolis performs in Dresden following the Beethovenfest

Youth orchestra Sinfonica Heliopolis draws attention wherever they go. Now the young musicians are in Europe for the first time, with performances in Bonn, Berlin, Dresden, Munich, Amsterdam and London.

Caption Nina Hagen begleitet sich auf der Demonstration gegen zunehmende Überwachung in Staat und Gesellschaft und für ein freies Internet am 10.09.2011 auf dem Alexanderplatz in Berlin auf der Gitarre. Rund 5000 Menschen nahmen an der Demonstration teil. Fotograf: Lutz Müller-Bohlen dpa

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Glimpses of Beethoven in society and with friends

Ferdinand Georg Waldmueller painted this portrait of the composer in 1823

He's been placed firmly on the pedestal of music history and been glorified in the form of countless marble busts. But what kind of a man was famed composer Ludwig van Beethoven in reality?

Beethoven: The stations of his life

Man and maestro

The composer as man and maestro: This famous portrait by Joseph Carl Stieler shows Ludwig van Beethoven up close and personal. He painted the piece in 1819-1820 during sessions with Beethoven, who was then about to turn 50. Today, the painting - of which just a portion is shown here - hangs in the Beethoven House Bonn.
Beethoven: The stations of his life

The Beethoven House

Beethoven was born in this house in Bonn in 1770. He also lived there until he moved to Vienna in 1792. Today, his former home in Bonn holds a collection of manuscripts, instruments and other historical artefacts. Each year, around 100,000 guests come to take a look at the master composer's place of birth.
Beethoven: The stations of his life

At thirteen

This is the earliest known image of the composer. Beethoven's first music teacher was his father, Johann - ambitious, strict and often merciless. He recognized Ludwig's talent early on. By 13, the young Beethoven had already published three sonatas and performed on piano, harpsichord and viola at Bonn's court. This painting likely dates to 1783; today, it hangs in Vienna's Museum of Art History.
Beethoven: The stations of his life

La Redoute

In Vienna, Beethoven studied with the famous composer Joseph Haydn. This arrangement came about after Beethoven and Haydn met personally in the "La Redoute" concert hall in Bad Godesberg near Bonn. The luxurious hall is still used today for receptions, concerts and private parties. Mozart's "The Magic Flute" likely received one of its first performances here.
Beethoven: The stations of his life

Portrait 1803

In 1792, 22-year-old Beethoven moved to Vienna. The young composer hoped to meet Mozart but arrived shortly after the latter's death. Vienna proved expensive. Despite all of the support from patrons and his work as a piano teacher, Beethoven had to take on more and more debt as the years went by.
Beethoven: The stations of his life

A helping ear

In his mid-20s, Beethoven's hearing began to fade. By 1808, the composer was nearly deaf and ten years later completely unable to hear. A friend of his in Vienna, Johann Maelzel, invented this apparatus to aid in hearing. Beethoven used notebooks to communicate in written form during conversations. Although his hearing loss didn't stop him from composing, speaking became difficult.
Beethoven: The stations of his life

In Heiligenstadt

In the year 1802, Beethoven moved onto the Probusgasse street in Heiligenstadt. This colorized photo from 1898 shows a major avenue in the village outside of Vienna, which is now part of the city. Here, Beethoven wrote his famous "Heiligenstaedter Testament", a letter to his brother that he never sent. It documents the composer's increasing hearing loss and despair - but also his strength of will.
Beethoven: The stations of his life

A pointed refusal

This picture by Carl Roehling from 1887 portrays the "Teplitzer Incident" of 1812: Beethoven went for a walk with Johann Wolfgang Goethe (left, in the background) and refused to bow to a royal family. Goethe, who was of a less rebellious temperament, later described the composer as "very introverted."
Beethoven: The stations of his life

The last piano

In the course of his life, Beethoven composed many sonatas and concerts for piano. He was fascinated by the Enlightenment and the new Romantic movement in Europe. Some of his compositions are considered revolutionary, and some pave the way for musical Romanticism. This pianoforte was built by Conrad Graf of Vienna in the year 1826.
Beethoven: The stations of his life

Immortal music

The Ninth Symphony with its final movement set to Schiller's ode "An die Freude" ("Ode to Joy") is perhaps Beethoven's most famous work. When he conducted its first performance in 1824, the composer was already so deaf that he had to be turned around to see the audience thunderously applauding.
Beethoven: The stations of his life

Tense family ties

When Beethoven completed his Ninth Symphony, he lived in this building on a street called Ungargasse in Vienna. After his brother's death in 1815, Beethoven took care of his nephew Karl and struggled to earn guardianship of the boy given his disapproval of Karl's mother. A long legal battle ensued that led to a tense relationship between Karl and Beethoven.
Beethoven: The stations of his life

A grand tribute

Beethoven died on March 26, 1827 at the age of 56, possibly due to a liver and intestine ailment. This painting by Franz Stober shows Beethoven's burial on March 29 in Vienna. More than 20,000 people came to offer the masterful composer a final tribute.

Author: Sabine Peschel (gsw)
Editor: Rick Fulker