Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire and span the transition from the Classical period to the Romantic era in classical music. His early period, during which he forged his craft, is typically considered to have lasted until 1802. From 1802 to around 1812, his middle period showed an individual development from the styles of Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and is sometimes characterized as heroic. During this time, Beethoven began to grow increasingly deaf. In his late period, from 1812 to 1827, he extended his innovations in musical form and expression.
The Columbia Symphony Orchestra was an orchestra formed by Columbia Records for the purpose of making recordings. In the 1950s, it provided a vehicle for some of Columbia's better known conductors and recording artists to record using only company resources. The musicians in the orchestra were contracted as needed for individual sessions and consisted of free-lance artists and often members of either the New York Philharmonic or the Los Angeles Philharmonic, depending on whether the recording was being made in Columbia's East Coast or West Coast studios.
Carl Czerny was an Austrian composer, teacher, and pianist of Czech origin whose music spanned the late Classical and early Romantic eras. His vast musical production amounted to over a thousand works and his books of studies for the piano are still widely used in piano teaching. He was one of Ludwig van Beethoven's best-known pupils and would later on be one of the main teachers of Franz Liszt.
The Symphony No. 4 in B♭ major, Op. 60, is the fourth-published symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven. It was composed in 1806 and premiered in March 1807 at a private concert in Vienna at the town house of Prince Lobkowitz. The first public performance was at the Burgtheater in Vienna in April 1808.
Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 1 in C major, Op. 21, was dedicated to Baron Gottfried van Swieten, an early patron of the composer. The piece was published in 1801 by Hoffmeister & Kühnel of Leipzig. It is not known exactly when Beethoven finished writing this work, but sketches of the finale were found to be from 1795.
Karl Max, Prince Lichnowsky was a German diplomat who served as ambassador to Britain during the July Crisis and who was the author of a 1916 pamphlet that deplored German diplomacy in mid-1914 which, he argued, contributed heavily to the outbreak of the First World War.
The House of Lichnowsky or House of Lichnovský is the name of an influential Czech aristocratic family of Silesian and Moravian origin, documented since the 14th century.
Karl Alois, Prince Lichnowsky of Woschütz; was the second Prince Lichnowsky and a chamberlain at the Imperial Austrian court. He is remembered for his patronage of music and his relationships with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.
An unfinished symphony is a fragment of a symphony, by a particular composer, that musicians and academics consider incomplete or unfinished for various reasons. The archetypal unfinished symphony is Franz Schubert's Symphony No. 8, written in 1822, six years before his death. It features two fully orchestrated movements. While it seems clear from sketches that Schubert set out to create a traditional four-movement symphony, this has been the subject of endless debate. Schubert wrote the symphony for the Graz Musical Society, and gave the manuscript to his friend Anselm Hüttenbrenner, in his capacity as its representative. However, Hüttenbrenner did not show the score to the society at that time, nor did he reveal the existence of the manuscript after Schubert died in 1828, but kept it a secret for another 37 years. In 1865, when he was 76, Hüttenbrenner finally showed it to the conductor Johann von Herbeck, who conducted the extant two movements on 17 December 1865 in Vienna, adding the last movement of Schubert's third symphony as the finale. Music historians and scholars then toiled to "prove" the composition was complete in its two-movement form, and indeed, in that form it became one of the most popular pieces in the late 19th century classical music repertoire, and remains one of Schubert's most popular compositions.
Jan Václav Hugo Voříšek was a Czech composer, pianist, and organist.
During the course of his lifetime, Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) established relationships with many of his musical contemporaries. Beethoven was notoriously temperamental, eccentric and difficult to get along with; the history of his many relationships is replete with arguments, misunderstandings, and reconciliations. Beethoven had well-known quarrels with his one-time teachers, Joseph Haydn and Antonio Salieri, with the piano virtuoso and composer Johann Nepomuk Hummel, the German composer Carl Maria von Weber and the Italian violinist Niccolò Paganini. Conversely, he regarded Franz Schubert positively, praising the latter's compositions.
The Cello Concerto Nr. 1 in C Major (Op.4) is a cello concerto by Antonín Kraft.
Głogówek is a small historic town in southern Poland. It is situated on the Osobloga River, in Opole Voivodeship of the greater Silesian region. The city lies approximately 35 kilometres from Opole, the capital of the voivodeship, and is about 10 km (6 mi) from the Czech border. The name of the city comes from the Polish word głóg, meaning hawthorn. The plant was abundant in the area when the city was founded. The town is well known for its preserved medieval core, market square and many architectural monuments.
Friedrich Wührer was an Austrian-German pianist and piano pedagogue. He was a close associate and advocate of composer Franz Schmidt, whose music he edited and, in the case of the works for left hand alone, revised for performance with two hands; he was also a champion of the Second Viennese School and other composers of the early 20th century. His recorded legacy, however, centers on German romantic literature, particularly the music of Franz Schubert.
Johann Franz Xaver Sterkel was a German composer and pianist in the 18th and early 19th centuries.
Jiří Vodička is a Czech violinist. He has performed with many of the leading Czech orchestras including the Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra in Ostrava in May 2007. He has received national awards for his musicianship. He was awarded First Prize in the following national and international competitions: Czech Nationwide Competition for Primary Artistic Schools, the Kocian International Violin Competition, Prague Junior Note, Violin Competition, the Beethoven International Violin Competition in Hradec nad Moravici, and the 2004 4th International Louis Spohr Competition for Young Violinists in Weimar, Germany.
Johann Jean Sedlatzek was a Silesian flautist born in Głogówek (Oberglogau), Kingdom of Prussia, into a family of tailors, often referred to as "The Niccolò Paganini of Flute".
Joseph Linke was a cellist and composer who had a distinguished career in Vienna, as a soloist and as a member of the Schuppanzigh Quartet. He took part in the first performances of string quartets and other chamber works of Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Schubert.
Joseph Franz Maximilian, 7th Prince of Lobkowitz was an aristocrat of Bohemia, from the House of Lobkowicz. He is known particularly for his interest in music and as a patron of Ludwig van Beethoven.
Franz Weiss was an Austrian violinist and viola player, and a composer. He is known particularly as a viola player in the Schuppanzigh Quartet, which was associated with the string quartets of Ludwig van Beethoven.
