MUSC 212 - Beethoven and His World

Spring (4) Murchison

As one of “The Three Bs,” Ludwig van Beethoven is considered a pillar of classical music. Reaching maturity as a musician in Vienna at the close of the eighteenth century, Beethoven mastered the classical style as inherited from Haydn and Mozart. He pursued innovations in all genres of instrumental music and ushered in the Romantic era. As a musical thinker, Beethoven engaged with the world around him, beginning as a court musician in Bonn, and with the Enlightenment and Age of Revolution as a composer in Vienna. The course begins with Beethoven as a pop culture icon, and then examines the real Beethoven through study of his life, 28th and 19th century Viennese culture, and his works. No previous musical experience is required, though encouraged.