Music in Its Time - Beethoven: Piano Concerto No 4
Stephen Johnson looks to Vienna in 1808, when Beethoven, a composer in his prime, decided to unveil three major new works in a grand public concert at the city's smartest new venue.
Stephen Johnson considers how five seminal pieces of music would have been appreciated by the audiences who heard them first. He probes the societies and cultures that shaped the experience of those original listeners to reveal what our modern ears might be missing.
Stephen takes us to Vienna, 1808, where Ludwig van Beethoven is a composer in his prime. He is churning out masterpiece after masterpiece, adding the dazzling canon of work that would mark him out as one of the greats in all of Western art. So, when he decided to unveil not one but three major new works in a grand public concert at the city's smartest new venue, what could possibly go wrong?
Last on
Broadcast
- Thu 3 Mar 2016 22:45主播大秀 Radio 3
Death in Trieste
A 1760s murder still informs ideas about aesthetics, a certain sort of sex, and death.
Watch: My Deaf World
Five compelling experiences of what it is like to be deaf in 21st-century Britain.
The Book that Changed Me
Five figures from the arts and science introduce books that changed their lives and work.
Download The Essay
Download all the episodes from the series and listen at your leisure.
Podcast
-
![]()
The Essay
Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.
