Summary of 1793 - 1801
Up through 1800, Beethoven had been experimenting with different ideas and different idioms.
He had published output had consisted of 3 piano trios, 5 string trios, 6 string quartets, 3 violin sonatas, 2 cello sonatas, 11 piano sonatas, 2 piano concertos, and his first symphony, plus a few other pieces of chamber music (see Opuses 1 - 22).
He had been daring and innovative in many pieces like the Pathétique piano sonata, but had been restrained in others like his First Symphony (1800) out of concern that he would alienate the public. His early works had met with admiration of some critics and derision by others. Beginning in 1801 he entered a new era where he had found a path to express himself. Through what is known as his "middle period" (1804 - 1814), Beethoven's music would emanate the idea of the "heroic."
1801 saw the publication of his first set of six string quartets (also sticking pretty closely to Haydn's and Mozart's styles), the first two piano concertos, two more violin sonatas and four more piano sonatas, including the very popular "Moonlight Sonata." He now had published a symphony, six string quartets, 15 of his 32 piano sonatas, and much more (see Opuses 21 - 29).
In two years he would begin working on his first opera (originally Leonore, eventually Fidelio), but it took ten years to get it into a final version that was successful.
1802 - 1808
Major Works:
5 Symphonies (No.2 - No. 6) 3 String Quartets (No. 7 - No. 9)
9 Piano Sonatas (No. 16 - No. 24) 3 Piano Concertos (No 3 - No. 5, the final one)
2 Piano Trios (No. 5 - No. 6) 1 Cello Sonata (No. 3)
3 Violin Sonatas (No. 6 - No. 8) 2 Romances for Violin and Orchestra (the only ones)
1 Violin Concerto (the only one) 1 Triple Concerto for violin, cello, and piano
2 versions of Leonore (Fidelio) - the Choral Fantasy - the Mass in C major
After 1808, even more personal problems beset Beethoven and his rate of production from this point on will never again compare to what he produced between 1800 and 1808.
Major Life Events - 1802 - 1808
Beethoven writes the Heilegenstadt Testament (1802)
April 3 1803 - Premier of the oratorio Christ on the Mount of Olives, Piano Concerto No. 3 and Symphony No. 2 at Theater An der Wien.
One critic called the second symphony -
"a hideously writhing, wounded dragon that refuses to die, but writhing in its last agonies and,
in the fourth movement, bleeding to death."
1803 - Starts writing Leonore - the beginnings of Fidelio
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1803 - Starts writing Symphony #3
(Beethoven thinks about trying to become Napoleon's court composer in Paris).
1804 - Early rehearsals / performances of Eroica at the palace of Prince Joseph Lobkowitz,
a new patron of Beethoven's.
April 7,1805 - The premier of Symphony No. 3, Eroica at Theater An der Wien.
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August 1805 - Vienna occupation by the French army.
November 1805 - The Premier of Leonore (Fidelio)
December 23, 1808 - Four hour concert in a unheated Theater An der Wien includes the premieres of Piano Concerto No. 4, Symphonies No. 5 and No. 6, and the "Choral Fantasy."
May 1809 - Austria declares war on France again, and again Napoleon invades Vienna. Beethoven hides in his brothers' basement covering his ears with pillows to block the noise of French cannon fire. Vienna surrenders and Napoleon stays there.
May 31st - Joseph Haydn died at age 77.
1809 - Beethoven is granted a sizable annual annuity by several aristocrats not to leave Vienna for a position in Germany. But inflation causes a few patrons to soon default on their payments.
1809 - 1826 - Beethoven's compositional output will never again be near as prolific as his 1800 - 1808 period.
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