Beethoven and the LSO
Videos, playlists and more featuring composer Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was responsible for some of the most memorable and groundbreaking music ever written. Browse the links below to discover his music with the LSO.
When Ludwig van Beethoven was a young man, France overthrew its monarchy and rebellion spread through Europe. Riding the crest of a wave of social change, Beethoven changed not just the sound of music but the standing of the artist in society. He introduced the concept the ‘artist-hero’, paving the way for Romanticism and even popular culture.
Beethoven was born in a faraway corner of what is now Germany to an alcoholic and abusive father. He chanced his way to Europe’s cultural capital, Vienna, where he studied with Joseph Haydn and probably associated with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
From musical foundations steadied by those two figures, Beethoven led music into the first-person passions of Romanticism. He wrote in every genre, and with the possible exception of opera, transformed each of them. He reimagined the scale and scope of the symphony and invested the string quartet with a level of psychological depth that dumbfounded his peers. Beethoven used rhythm like no other composer before him and pushed harmony to the boundaries of tangibility. He exploited the piano’s technological transformation to mine entirely new expressions from the instrument.
Writing for himself and not to deadlines, Beethoven was able to be more deliberate and considered in his compositions. But the story of his career is one of the constant overcoming of colossal obstacles. From the age of 26, the composer knew he had serious problems with his hearing and for the last seven years of his life he could hear almost nothing. That made him irritable, sensitive and withdrawn. But Beethoven always remained ever sure of himself, and consistently creative.
By Andrew Mellor
Stories
Beethoven: a Guide to the Symphonies
Composer and author Jan Swafford guides us through the game-changing symphonies of Ludwig van Beethoven, from first to last.
Gianandrea Noseda: The 2024/25 Season
Gianandrea Noseda, Principal Guest Conductor, introduces his 2024/25 season with the LSO, including music by Prokofiev, Shostakovich and Beethoven.
Seven times classical music was used in film
Delve into this list of iconic classical music pieces featured in film which you may recognise.
Videos
Coming Up
New Generation Artists: Alexander Gadjiev
BBC Radio 3 Concert
Friday 18 October 2024 • 1pm
Alexander Gadjiev battles extreme pianistic challenges to explore the idea of heroism in works by John Corigliano, Beethoven, Liszt and Chopin.
Beethoven Dedications: LSO Wind Ensemble
BBC Radio 3 Concert
Thursday 24 October 2024 • 1pm
Ludwig van Beethoven's chamber music is celebrated with unbridled charm from the virtuoso players of the LSO Wind Ensemble.
Half Six Fix: Beethoven
Thomas Adès
Wednesday 30 October 2024 • 6.30pm
Thomas Adès introduces and conducts the LSO in Beethoven's Symphony No 1 in this 60-minute Half Six Fix concert.
Limited Tickets
Adámek and Beethoven
Thomas Adès and Isabelle Faust
Thursday 31 October 2024 • 7pm
Hear early Beethoven in a playful mood, plus Ondřej Adámek's concerto featuring violinist Isabelle Faust, conducted by Thomas Adès.
Beethoven Dedications: Quatuor Modigliani
BBC Radio 3 Concert
Thursday 7 November 2024 • 1pm
Quatuor Modigliani plays Mozart’s String Quartet No 3 and Beethoven's ‘Razumovsky’ Quartet: a bold new perspective on music that never gets old.
Nature's Heart: Kinoshi and Beethoven 6
EFG London Jazz Festival
Thursday 21 November 2024 • 7.30pm
Part of the EFG London Jazz Festival, the LSO is joined by the Mercury Prize-nominated ensemble seed., led by saxophonist Cassie Kinoshi, for an evening of new and classic music celebrating the natural world.
Half Six Fix: Lachenmann and Beethoven 7
Ilan Volkov
Wednesday 27 November 2024 • 6.30pm
Kick-start your evening with a 60-minute Half Six Fix concert. Introduced by the performers, with screens in the hall to bring you closer to the action.
Lachenmann and Beethoven 7
Ilan Volkov
Thursday 28 November 2024 • 7pm
Two sound worlds, two centuries apart: Lachenmann’s Melodies meets Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony.
Beethoven 'Choral' Symphony
Sir Antonio Pappano
Sunday 23 March 2025 • 7pm
Tippett’s moving pacifist oratorio, A Child of Our Time, meets Beethoven’s immense ‘Choral’ symphony – 200 years after its premiere.
Beethoven and Prokofiev 2
Gianandrea Noseda and Alice Sara Ott
Thursday 10 April 2025 • 7pm
Prokofiev’s mind-blowing Second Symphony, plus early Beethoven, in his First Piano Concerto, and a charming opener from Schubert.
