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Beethoven: Complete Works [FLAC, 100 CDs]
About the composer.
Ludwig van Beethoven, baptised December 17, 1770 was a German composer and pianist. The crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.
Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation in present-day Germany, Beethoven moved to Vienna in his early 20s, studying with Joseph Haydn and quickly gaining a reputation as a virtuoso pianist. His hearing began to deteriorate in the late 1790s, yet he continued to compose, conduct, and perform, even after becoming completely deaf.
Beethoven was the grandson of a musician of Flemish origin named Lodewijk van Beethoven (1712–73). Beethoven was named after his grandfather, as Lodewijk is the Dutch cognate of Ludwig. Beethoven's grandfather was employed as a bass singer at the court of the Elector of Cologne, rising to become Kapellmeister (music director). He had one son, Johann van Beethoven (1740–1792), who worked as a tenor in the same musical establishment, also giving lessons on piano and violin to supplement his income. Johann married Maria Magdalena Keverich in 1767; she was the daughter of Johann Heinrich Keverich, who had been the head chef at the court of the Archbishopric of Trier.
Beethoven was born of this marriage in Bonn; he was baptised in a Roman Catholic service on 17 December 1770, and was probably born the previous day, 16 December. Children of that era were usually baptised the day after birth, and it is known that Beethoven's family and his teacher Johann Albrechtsberger celebrated his birthday on 16 December. While this evidence supports the case for 16 December 1770 as Beethoven's date of birth, it cannot be stated with certainty, as there is no documentary evidence of it (only his baptismal record survives). Of the seven children born to Johann van Beethoven, only the second-born, Ludwig, and two younger brothers survived infancy. Caspar Anton Carl was born on 8 April 1774, and Nikolaus Johann, the youngest, was born on 2 October 1776.
Beethoven's epochal career is often divided into early, middle, and late periods, represented, respectively, by works based on Classic-period models, by revolutionary pieces that expanded the vocabulary of music, and by compositions written in a unique, highly personal musical language incorporating elements of contrapuntal and variation writing while approaching large-scale forms with complete freedom. Though certainly subject to debate, these divisions point to the immense depth and multifariousness of Beethoven's creative personality. Beethoven profoundly transformed every genre he touched, and the music of the nineteenth century seems to grow from his compositions as if from a chrysalis. A formidable pianist, he moved the piano sonata from the drawing room to the concert hall with such ambitious and virtuosic middle-period works as the "Waldstein" (No. 21) and "Appassionata" (No. 23) sonatas. His song cycle An die ferne Geliebte of 1816 set the pattern for similar cycles by all the Romantic song composers, from Schubert to Wolf. The Romantic tradition of descriptive or "program" music began with Beethoven's "Pastoral" Symphony No. 6. Even in the second half of the nineteenth century, Beethoven still directly inspired both conservatives (such as Brahms, who, like Beethoven, fundamentally stayed within the confines of Classical form) and radicals (such as Wagner, who viewed the Ninth Symphony as a harbinger of his own vision of a total art work, integrating vocal and instrumental music with the other arts). In many ways revolutionary, Beethoven's music remains universally appealing because of its characteristic humanism and dramatic power.
Beethoven was bedridden for most of his remaining months, and many friends came to visit. He died on Monday, 26 March 1827, during a thunderstorm. His friend Anselm Hüttenbrenner, who was present at the time, claimed that there was a peal of thunder at the moment of death.
Unlike Mozart, who was buried anonymously in a communal grave (the custom at the time), 20,000 Viennese citizens lined the streets for Beethoven's funeral on Thursday, 29 March 1827. Franz Schubert, who died the following year and was buried next to Beethoven, was one of the torchbearers. After a Requiem Mass at the church of the Holy Trinity (Dreifaltigkeitskirche), Beethoven was buried in the Währing cemetery, north-west of Vienna. His remains were exhumed for study in 1862, and moved in 1888 to Vienna's Zentralfriedhof.
Due to the number of CDs and the number of tracks on some of those CDs, I did not list the individual tracks for them. Other then the title of the CD, I did where possible, give a bit more description of what was on that CD. In many cases, it was lengthy, and I choose to forgo a list. A detailed and comprehensive track listing can be found here.
The collection is by Brilliant Classics, and is their 2007 compilation.
I do not believe this particular compilation is available for sale, but they do have another comprising of 85 CDs.
All tracks are in FLAC; NMR
Total size is ~25Gb
For all downloads pass:
CD 1 - Symphonies Nos. 1 & 3
Symphony No. 1 in C major Op.21
Symphony No. 3 in E flat major Op.55 "Eroica"
CD 2 - Symphonies Nos. 2 & 7
Symphony No. 2 in D major Op.36
Symphony No. 7 in A major Op.92
CD 3 - Symphonies Nos. 6 & 8
Symphony No.6 in F major Op.68 ''Pastoral''
Symphony No.8 in F major Op.93
CD 4 - Symphonies Nos. 4 & 5
Symphonie No. 4 in B flat major Op. 60
Symphonie No. 5 in C minor Op. 67
CD 5 - Symphony No. 9
Symphony No. 9 in D minor Op. 125 “Ode an die Freude”
CD 6 - Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 3
Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major Op.15
Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor Op.37
CD 7 - Piano Concertos No. 2 & Op .61
Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat major Op.19
Piano Concerto in D major Op.61, arrangement by the composer of the Violin Concerto
CD 8 - Piano Concertos Nos. 4 & 5
Piano Concerto No.4 in G major Op.58
Piano Concerto No.5 in E flat major Op.73 “Emperor”
CD 9 - Violin Concerto
Violin Concerto In D major Op. 61
CD 10 - Triple Concerto
Concerto in C major for piano, violin & cello Op.56 “Tripel Concerto”
Piano Concerto in E flat major WoO 4
CD 11 - Overtures
CD 12 - Orchestral Works / Organ Works
CD 13 - Dances I
CD 14 - Dances II
CD 15 - Music for Wind Ensemble I
CD 16 - Music for Wind Ensemble II
CD 17 - Chamber Music for Flute I
Serenade for flute & piano Op. 41
Allegro & Minuet in G major for 2 flutes WoO 26
Trio in G major for flute, bassoon & piano, WoO 37
CD 18 - Chamber Music for Flute II
10 Themes & Variations for flute & piano Op. 107
Trio in G major for 3 flutes (Spurious)
Sonata in B flat major for flute & piano Anhang 4
CD 19 - Septet Op. 20 & Sextet Op. 81b
Septet in E flat major Op.20 for clarinete, bassoon, horn, violin, viola, cello & double bass
Sextet in E flat major Op.81b for 2 horn, two violins, viola & cello
CD 20 - Quintet Op. 16 - Trio Op. 11 - Horn Sonata Op. 17
Quintet for piano, oboe, clarinete, horn & bassoon in E flat major Op. 16
Trio for clarinete, cello & piano in B flat major Op. 11
Sonata for horn & piano in F major Op. 17
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