December 16, 1770 is the date traditionally given as the birthday of Ludwig van Beethoven (we don't know for certain—only that was baptized on December 17), and we'll be celebrating the birth of this musical colossus on this afternoon's Classical Music with Foley Schuler , with several of his most memorable masterworks.
Included in our little festschrift will be the the extraordinary Grosse Fugue, or "Great Fugue" for string quartet, and two masterpieces that were both premiered (along with several others) at the mammoth, over 4-hour-long concert of Beethoven's music given on December 22, 1808 at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna, consisting entirely of Beethoven premieres, and with Beethoven himself featured on both the podium and at the piano. We'll hear the two major works on the second half of that now-legendary event—his Symphony No. 5 and the Fantasia in C Major for Piano, Chorus and Orchestra, often known simply as the "Choral Fantasy." We'll also enjoy some sounds of the season, including Samuel Wesley's haunting 1815 Rondo for piano on "God Rest ye Merry, Gentlemen" and a work by Yorkshire-born composer Patrick Standford, premiered Christmas Even 1979 by the BBC Concert Orchestra and based on a potpourri of Christmas carols he used to play to entertain his children, A Christmas Carol Symphony.
You can hear Foley Schuler's musical selections—and stories behind the music—every weekday afternoon from 1 until 4 on Blue Lake Public Radio.
