In Beethoven's time, playing string instruments was considered unseemly for women, which may have influenced his dedication practices.
Critical Reception
Robert Schumann, a German composer and influential music critic, defended Beethoven's forward-looking style against early negative reviews of his violin sonatas.
Performer Biography
Thomas Albertus Irnberger, the violinist on this album, began playing violin at age seven and was accepted into the Salzburg Mozarteum's highly gifted class at nine.
Composition History
The Violin Sonatas Op. 12 were dedicated to Antonio Salieri, who was the most influential figure in Viennese music life at the time and promoted Beethoven's works.
Critical Reception
Early musicologists criticized Beethoven's violin sonatas with terms like 'bizarre' and 'abnormal,' judging them against the styles of Stamitz, Haydn, and Mozart.
Composer Biography
All the men to whom Beethoven dedicated his violin sonatas were Freemasons or had close ties to them, including Moritz Reichsgraf von Fries, Czar Alexander I, and Rodolphe Kreutzer.
Composer Biography
Beethoven maintained friendships with Freemasons throughout his life, and many of his friends and patrons in Vienna were lodge members.
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