It’s taken a while to get to this article. When the Interlude.HK organisation requested an article about LVB + Me to contribute to his 250th birthday celebrations, I thought ‘great, how hard can that be?’, and then promptly spent the

On 29 March 1795 Ludwig van Beethoven made his public debut in Vienna. Performing at a charity concert at the Burgtheater, Beethoven appeared as a composer as well as the featured virtuoso. He performed a piano concerto of his own,

By placing Ludwig van B. on a musical pedestal we tend to forget that he was surrounded by a whole host of talented composers and musicians who competed for his audience. And as we all know, Beethoven was a difficult

In 1809, the French army under Napoleon once again set their sights on the city of Vienna. On short notice, the imperial family fled the city, but it was decided that Vienna should nevertheless be defended. French howitzers bombarded the

My first encounter with Beethoven was through the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music aural tests back when I was a little kid. One part of the test was to clap the rhythm of a short excerpt and

Between 1796 and 1799, Beethoven did not have a permanent address in Vienna, at least not that we know. He was busily engaged in establishing his reputation, and rubbed shoulders with royalty and with Joseph Haydn. He played a piano

Much has been written about the women in Beethoven’s life, and undoubtedly you have either read or seen one or the other fictional take on the matter. It all seems a bit muddled and mysterious, so let’s try to unravel

The House Where Beethoven Wrote The Eroica Symphony Escaping the stifling summer heat of Vienna, Beethoven enjoyed spending his summer months in the countryside. And he seemed to have preferred the wine-growing villages to the northwest of the city. Bordering