Ep. 34 Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4 in B-f...

We'll focus on Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92, completed in 1812. 

We'll look at Beethoven's last great public work--Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125, completed in 1824. 

We'll look at Beethoven's final three string quartets: No. 13 in B-flat Major, No. 14 in C-sharp Minor, and No. 16 in F Major. 

They are the most famous 8 notes in all of Western Classical Music. If you walk down the street and ask someone to name a piece of classical music, they will surely say Beethoven 5. But why? What's the deal with the 5th? Well, today we’re going to take a deep look at this ubiquit ... Show More

Today begins a pretty massive project for Sticky Notes - a complete Beethoven cycle over the next few weeks! We start of course with Beethoven's 1st symphony. Some people tend to think of Beethoven’s 1st as a cautious foray into the symphonic world, but I couldn’t disagree more. ... Show More

Synopsis No four notes in classical music are more familiar than those that open Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5. Their powerful psychological resonance has often extended beyond music into overtly political contexts. For example, on today’s date in 1941, the British Broadcasting Comp ... Show More

Brahms spent much of his life battling with his ambition to write great symphonies and his terror at the spectre of Beethoven looming over him. His first symphony was a success, and with immense relief, Brahms quickly turned out a second symphony in just 4 months, a bit less than ... Show More

We continue the Beethoven cycle this week with his underrated 2nd symphony. Written at the height of Beethoven's despair over his increasing deafness, you might think that the symphony would be a dark and stormy one, but instead Beethoven writes one of his most relentlessly cheer ... Show More

You know Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. You’ve heard it in films, advertisements, parodied in Saturday morning cartoons and disco-ized in Saturday Night Fever. The Fifth Symphony is a given, so much so that it blends into the background. You know this piece, but how well? Of all the ... Show More

More has been written about the meaning of Beethoven’s 9th than any other symphony. There are more recordings of it, more performances of it, and more uses of its most famous theme, the Ode to Joy, than any other piece. But what is often talked about less than the political and s ... Show More

Brahms' 3rd symphony is his most underrated symphony. It is a nearly perfect piece that transcends the traditional symphonic narrative over its 40 minute journey. So why doesn't it get performed as often as the other 3 symphonies? This week we dissect the symphonies' origins(hint ... Show More