Beethoven Transcendental | In Person (Ryan Ranch)

Course Description:

The music of Beethoven's last decade, from 1816 to 1827, is often described as "transcendental"—music that is "extremely special and unusual and cannot be understood in ordinary ways." Though there are still important examples of his earlier "heroic" style, the composer explored intensely spiritual "states of the soul" that seem to be outgrowths of the many tragic aspects of his life: the realization that he would never find an immortal love in 1816, a severe case of Hepatitis B in 1821, a near-death experience in 1825, the death of cherished friends, and the failures of his guardianship of his nephew. These works required a new kind of listening and reshaped the future of classical music.