Beethoven
Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of the Holy Roman Empire, Beethoven displayed his musical talents at an early age and was taught by his father Johann van Beethoven and by composer and conductor Christian Gottlob Neefe. At the age of 21 he moved to Vienna, where he began studying composition with Joseph Haydn and gained a reputation as a virtuoso pianist. He lived in Vienna until his death. By his late 20s his hearing began to deteriorate, and by the last decade of his life he was almost completely deaf. In 1811 he gave up conducting and performing in public but continued to compose; many of his most admired works come from these last 15 years of his life.
Beethoven
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 8
Shorter works by Bizet, Massenet, Rossini, Saint-Saëns, Sibelius
Recorded 1943
Total duration: 74:32
Seattle Symphony
conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham
BEETHOVEN Overtures
BEETHOVEN Funeral March from Symphony No. 3 'Eroica'
SCHUBERT Symphony No. 5
SCHUBERT Symphony No. 8 'Unfinished'
SCHUBERT Symphony No. 9 'Great'
Studio recordings, 1919-1932
Total duration: 2hr 27:17
Berlin State Opera Orchestra
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
London Symphony Orchestra
conducted by Leo Blech
BACH Orchestral Suite No. 3, Partita No. 3
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 8, 2 Overtures
GLUCK Alceste - Overture
MOZART Symphony No. 41, 'Jupiter', 2 Overtures
SCHUBERT Symphony No. 9, 'Great'
Studio recordings, 1932-1937
Total duration: 2hr 34:13
BBC Symphony Orchestra
conducted by Sir Adrian Boult
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 7
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Symphony No. 4
WALTON Viola Concerto
ELGAR Enigma Variations
HOLST A Fugal Concerto
COPLAND El Salón México
BUTTERWORTH A Shropshire Lad, Rhapsody
BUSONI Comedy Overture*
Live broadcast recordings, 1938
Total duration: 2hr 40:41 (CDs: 2hr 34:04)
William Primrose, viola
NBC Symphony Orchestra
conducted by Sir Adrian Boult
*Bonus track supplied with downloads only
BEETHOVEN Quartet No. 7 'Rasumovsky'
BEETHOVEN Quartet No. 13
SCHUBERT Quartet No. 12 'Quartettsatz'
Quartet movements by Beethoven, Dittersdorf, Smetana, Tchaikovsky
Studio recordings, 1927-30
Total duration: 1hr 52:25
THE BUDAPEST STRING QUARTET
Emil Hauser (Violin I)
Imre Pogany or Joseph Roisman (Violin II)
Istvan Ipolyi (Viola)
Harry Son (Cello)
BEETHOVEN Violin Sonata No. 1 (1937)*
BEETHOVEN Violin Sonata No. 5, “Spring” (1937)*
BEETHOVEN Violin Sonata No. 8 (1943 & 1948*)
BEETHOVEN Violin Sonata No. 9, “Kreutzer” (1944)*
BEETHOVEN Violin Sonata No 10 (1950)
*first release
Live recordings, 1937-50
Total duration: 2hr 15:23
Adolf Busch violin
Rudolf Serkin piano