Almost since their creation, Ludwig van Beethoven's nine symphonies-each one pathbreaking and stunning-have formed the cornerstone of orchestral literature. Viewed from the unique vantage point that Professor Robert Greenberg offers, "The Nine" bear witness to Beethoven's artistic brilliance as well as the profound and continuing influence of his achievements.
Symphonies of Beethoven
See how Beethoven revolutionized musical composition and created works of unique beauty, power, and depth through the history and analysis of Beethoven's nine symphonies.
Overview
About
Dr. Robert Greenberg is Music Historian-in-Residence with San Francisco Performances. A graduate of Princeton University, Professor Greenberg holds a Ph.D. in Music Composition from the University of California, Berkeley. He has seen his compositions-which include more than 45 works for a wide variety of instrumental and vocal ensembles-performed all over the world, including New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, England, Ireland, Greece, Italy, and the Netherlands.
He has served on the faculties of the University of California, Berkeley; California State University, Hayward; and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and has lectured for some of the most prestigious musical and arts organizations in the United States, including the San Francisco Symphony, the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the Van Cliburn Foundation, and the Chicago Symphony. For The Great Courses, he has recorded more than 500 lectures on a range of composers and classical music genres.
Professor Greenberg is a Steinway Artist. His many other honors include three Nicola de Lorenzo Composition Prizes and a Koussevitzky commission from the Library of Congress. He has been profiled in various major publications, including The Wall Street Journal; Inc. magazine; and the London Times.
You can find more music content from Robert Greenberg on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/RobertGreenbergMusic.
Trailer
01: Beethoven and the Heroic Style, I
Lectures 1 through 4 introduce Beethoven the man and his musical development up to the premiere of Symphony no. 6 in 1808. We look at his early life, historical circumstances, and the musical style that influenced his development. We follow his move to Vienna, his studies with Haydn, his thoughts on Napoleon, and the premiere of the Eroica Symphony. His hearing loss is examined as the catalyst of ...
47 min
02: Beethoven and the Heroic Style, II
Lectures 1 through 4 introduce Beethoven the man and his musical development up to the premiere of Symphony no. 6 in 1808. We look at his early life, historical circumstances, and the musical style that influenced his development. We follow his move to Vienna, his studies with Haydn, his thoughts on Napoleon, and the premiere of the Eroica Symphony. His hearing loss is examined as the catalyst of ...
46 min
03: Beethoven and the Heroic Style, III
Lectures 1 through 4 introduce Beethoven the man and his musical development up to the premiere of Symphony no. 6 in 1808. We look at his early life, historical circumstances, and the musical style that influenced his development. We follow his move to Vienna, his studies with Haydn, his thoughts on Napoleon, and the premiere of the Eroica Symphony. His hearing loss is examined as the catalyst of ...
45 min
04: Beethoven and the Heroic Style, IV
Lectures 1 through 4 introduce Beethoven the man and his musical development up to the premiere of Symphony no. 6 in 1808. We look at his early life, historical circumstances, and the musical style that influenced his development. We follow his move to Vienna, his studies with Haydn, his thoughts on Napoleon, and the premiere of the Eroica Symphony. His hearing loss is examined as the catalyst of ...
46 min
05: Symphony No. 1-Beethoven as Classicist-Tradition and Innovation, I
Lectures 5 and 6 examine the "new path" that Beethoven began with his first symphony. We see his innovations in the context of contemporary events. Symphony no. 1, Beethoven's great Classical symphony, is analyzed along with the musical style and the major musical forms of the Classical era....
47 min
06: Symphony No. 1-Beethoven as Classicist-Tradition and Innovation, II
Lectures 5 and 6 examine the "new path" that Beethoven began with his first symphony. We see his innovations in the context of contemporary events. Symphony no. 1, Beethoven's great Classical symphony, is analyzed along with the musical style and the major musical forms of the Classical era....
45 min
07: Symphony No. 2-Beethoven at the Edge, I
Lectures 7 and 8 analyze Symphony no. 2 of 1802. We see how this symphony heralded a heroic style that Beethoven fully realized in Symphony no. 3. Also discussed is the Heiligenstadt Testament, a letter he wrote about his personal crisis as he realized he was going deaf. We consider how Beethoven's development as a composer was affected by his fight with deafness....
46 min
08: Symphony No. 2-Beethoven at the Edge, II
Lectures 7 and 8 analyze Symphony no. 2 of 1802. We see how this symphony heralded a heroic style that Beethoven fully realized in Symphony no. 3. Also discussed is the Heiligenstadt Testament, a letter he wrote about his personal crisis as he realized he was going deaf. We consider how Beethoven's development as a composer was affected by his fight with deafness....
45 min
09: Symphony No. 3-The "New Path"-Heroism and Self-Expression, I
Lectures 9 through 12 focus on Symphony no. 3, the Eroica Symphony. This key work in Beethoven's compositional revolution resulted from his crisis of going deaf. Beethoven's struggle with his disability raised him to a new level of creativity. Symphony no. 3 parallels his heroic battle with and ultimate triumph over adversity. The symphony's debt to Napoleon is discussed before an analysis....
46 min
10: Symphony No. 3-The "New Path" -Heroism and Self-Expression, II
Lectures 9 through 12 focus on Symphony no. 3, the Eroica Symphony. This key work in Beethoven's compositional revolution resulted from his crisis of going deaf. Beethoven's struggle with his disability raised him to a new level of creativity. Symphony no. 3 parallels his heroic battle with and ultimate triumph over adversity. The symphony's debt to Napoleon is discussed before an analysis....
45 min
11: Symphony No. 3-The "New Path"-Heroism and Self-Expression, III
Lectures 9 through 12 focus on Symphony no. 3, the Eroica Symphony. This key work in Beethoven's compositional revolution resulted from his crisis of going deaf. Beethoven's struggle with his disability raised him to a new level of creativity. Symphony no. 3 parallels his heroic battle with and ultimate triumph over adversity. The symphony's debt to Napoleon is discussed before an analysis....
46 min
12: Symphony No. 3-The "New Path"-Heroism and Self-Expression, IV
Lectures 9 through 12 focus on Symphony no. 3, the Eroica Symphony. This key work in Beethoven's compositional revolution resulted from his crisis of going deaf. Beethoven's struggle with his disability raised him to a new level of creativity. Symphony no. 3 parallels his heroic battle with and ultimate triumph over adversity. The symphony's debt to Napoleon is discussed before an analysis....
46 min
13: Symphony No. 4-Consolidation of the New Aesthetic, I
Lectures 13 through 16 examine Symphony no. 4 in historical context and in its relationship to opera buffa. Symphony no. 4 is the most infrequently heard of his symphonies. We see how it represents a return to a Classical structure. Its framework is filled with iconoclastic rhythms, harmonies, and characteristic motivic developments that mark it as a product of Beethoven's post-Eroica period....
45 min
14: Symphony No. 4-Consolidation of the New Aesthetic, II
Lectures 13 through 16 examine Symphony no. 4 in historical context and in its relationship to opera buffa. Symphony no. 4 is the most infrequently heard of his symphonies. We see how it represents a return to a Classical structure. Its framework is filled with iconoclastic rhythms, harmonies, and characteristic motivic developments that mark it as a product of Beethoven's post-Eroica period....
45 min
15: Symphony No. 4-Consolidation of the New Aesthetic, III
Lectures 13 through 16 examine Symphony no. 4 in historical context and in its relationship to opera buffa. Symphony no. 4 is the most infrequently heard of his symphonies. We see how it represents a return to a Classical structure. Its framework is filled with iconoclastic rhythms, harmonies, and characteristic motivic developments that mark it as a product of Beethoven's post-Eroica period....
46 min
16: Symphony No. 4-Consolidation of the New Aesthetic, IV
Lectures 13 through 16 examine Symphony no. 4 in historical context and in its relationship to opera buffa. Symphony no. 4 is the most infrequently heard of his symphonies. We see how it represents a return to a Classical structure. Its framework is filled with iconoclastic rhythms, harmonies, and characteristic motivic developments that mark it as a product of Beethoven's post-Eroica period....
45 min
17: Symphony No. 5-The Expressive Ideal Fully Formed, I
Lectures 17 through 19 focus on Symphony no. 5 with references to its disastrous 1808 premiere and an in-depth analysis of the score. Beethoven is revealed as an extraordinary and unprecedented master of the art of developing entire movements from small, seemingly inconsequential motives. Symphony no. 5 also shows him to have a revolutionary concept of rhythm as a narrative element and a key facto...
45 min
18: Symphony No. 5-The Expressive Ideal Fully Formed, II
Lectures 17 through 19 focus on Symphony no. 5 with references to its disastrous 1808 premiere and an in-depth analysis of the score. Beethoven is revealed as an extraordinary and unprecedented master of the art of developing entire movements from small, seemingly inconsequential motives. Symphony no. 5 also shows him to have a revolutionary concept of rhythm as a narrative element and a key facto...
46 min
19: Symphony No. 5-The Expressive Ideal Fully Formed, III
Lectures 17 through 19 focus on Symphony no. 5 with references to its disastrous 1808 premiere and an in-depth analysis of the score. Beethoven is revealed as an extraordinary and unprecedented master of the art of developing entire movements from small, seemingly inconsequential motives. Symphony no. 5 also shows him to have a revolutionary concept of rhythm as a narrative element and a key facto...
45 min
20: Symphony No. 6-The Symphony as Program, I
Lectures 20 through 22 discuss Symphony no. 6 as an example of pure expression, representative of Beethoven's love of nature and the countryside. We see how Beethoven elevated program music to heights it had not previously enjoyed, presaging the Romantic era's love affair with the genre. We examine how Symphony no. 6 is as different from Symphonies no. 5 and 7 as night from day....
46 min
21: Symphony No. 6-The Symphony as Program, II
Lectures 20 through 22 discuss Symphony no. 6 as an example of pure expression, representative of Beethoven's love of nature and the countryside. We see how Beethoven elevated program music to heights it had not previously enjoyed, presaging the Romantic era's love affair with the genre. We examine how Symphony no. 6 is as different from Symphonies no. 5 and 7 as night from day....
42 min
22: Symphony No. 6-The Symphony as Program, III
Lectures 20 through 22 discuss Symphony no. 6 as an example of pure expression, representative of Beethoven's love of nature and the countryside. We see how Beethoven elevated program music to heights it had not previously enjoyed, presaging the Romantic era's love affair with the genre. We examine how Symphony no. 6 is as different from Symphonies no. 5 and 7 as night from day....
47 min
23: Symphony No. 7-The Symphony as Dance, I
Lectures 23 and 24 discuss Beethoven's Symphony no. 7 with references to the historical and personal events surrounding its composition. The essence of the symphony is seen to be the power of rhythm, and originality is seen to be an important artistic goal for Beethoven....
46 min
24: Symphony No. 7-The Symphony as Dance, II
Lectures 23 and 24 discuss Beethoven's Symphony no. 7 with references to the historical and personal events surrounding its composition. The essence of the symphony is seen to be the power of rhythm, and originality is seen to be an important artistic goal for Beethoven....
47 min
25: Symphony No. 8-Homage to Classicism, I
Lectures 25 through 27 discuss Beethoven's Symphony no. 8 of 1814, and refer to the personal and political events that affected Beethoven's life. We learn how Symphony no. 8, reminiscent of the Classical style, is a "modern" work, full of Beethoven's personality. Other topics discussed include the "Immortal Beloved" affair, Beethoven's deteriorating health, Napoleon's demise, W...
45 min
26: Symphony No. 8-Homage to Classicism, II
Lectures 25 through 27 discuss Beethoven's Symphony no. 8 of 1814, and refer to the personal and political events that affected Beethoven's life. We learn how Symphony no. 8, reminiscent of the Classical style, is a "modern" work, full of Beethoven's personality. Other topics discussed include the "Immortal Beloved" affair, Beethoven's deteriorating health, Napoleon's demise, W...
45 min
27: Symphony No. 8-Homage to Classicism, III
Lectures 25 through 27 discuss Beethoven's Symphony no. 8 of 1814, and refer to the personal and political events that affected Beethoven's life. We learn how Symphony no. 8, reminiscent of the Classical style, is a "modern" work, full of Beethoven's personality. Other topics discussed include the "Immortal Beloved" affair, Beethoven's deteriorating health, Napoleon's demise, W...
46 min
28: Symphony No. 9-The Symphony as the World, I
The last five lectures are devoted to Symphony no. 9, the most influential Western musical composition of the 19th century and the most influential symphony ever written. We see how this work obliterated distinctions between the instrumental symphony and dramatic vocal works such as opera. Also discussed are Beethoven's fall from public favor in 1815, his disastrous relationship with his nephew Ka...
45 min
29: Symphony No. 9-The Symphony as the World, II
The last five lectures are devoted to Symphony no. 9, the most influential Western musical composition of the 19th century and the most influential symphony ever written. We see how this work obliterated distinctions between the instrumental symphony and dramatic vocal works such as opera. Also discussed are Beethoven's fall from public favor in 1815, his disastrous relationship with his nephew Ka...
45 min
30: Symphony No. 9-The Symphony as the World, III
The last five lectures are devoted to Symphony no. 9, the most influential Western musical composition of the 19th century and the most influential symphony ever written. We see how this work obliterated distinctions between the instrumental symphony and dramatic vocal works such as opera. Also discussed are Beethoven's fall from public favor in 1815, his disastrous relationship with his nephew Ka...
46 min
31: Symphony No. 9-The Symphony as the World, IV
The last five lectures are devoted to Symphony no. 9, the most influential Western musical composition of the 19th century and the most influential symphony ever written. We see how this work obliterated distinctions between the instrumental symphony and dramatic vocal works such as opera. Also discussed are Beethoven's fall from public favor in 1815, his disastrous relationship with his nephew Ka...
45 min
32: Symphony No. 9-The Symphony as the World, V
The last five lectures are devoted to Symphony no. 9, the most influential Western musical composition of the 19th century and the most influential symphony ever written. We see how this work obliterated distinctions between the instrumental symphony and dramatic vocal works such as opera. Also discussed are Beethoven's fall from public favor in 1815, his disastrous relationship with his nephew Ka...
46 min
