Beethoven: Die Ruinen von Athen, Op. 113 (Version with Narration) & Other Works

Featuring

Leif Segerstam
Reetta Haavisto
Juha Kotilainen
Angela Isabelle Eberlein
Claus Obalski
Leah Sinka

Ernst Oder
Roland Astor
Turku Philharmonic Orchestra
Chorus Cathedralis Aboensis
Ludwig van Beethoven

Did you know?

1/7

Composer Biography

Ludwig van Beethoven's grandfather, also named Ludwig, was Kapellmeister to the Archbishop Elector of Cologne from 1761 until his death in 1773.

Composition History

Beethoven's Die Weihe des Hauses ('The Consecration of the House') was commissioned for the opening of the Josephstadt Theatre in Vienna in 1822, requiring new music and adaptations of earlier works.

Performer Biography

The Turku Philharmonic Orchestra, founded in 1790 as the Turku Musical Society, is the oldest orchestra in Finland.

Compositional Technique

The Turkish March from Die Ruinen von Athen includes a Janissary band with piccolo, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, contrabassoon, horns, trumpets, triangle, cymbals, bass drum, and other 'noisy instruments' like castanets.

Composer Biography

The onset of deafness around the turn of the century led Beethoven away from a career as a virtuoso performer and into composition, where he made significant changes and extensions to existing musical practices.

Composer Biography

Beethoven's early career in Vienna was significantly aided by introductions to leading members of society, facilitated by the Archbishop, who was a son of Empress Maria Theresa.