6/3 Phan's Freestyle Pathetique

I've featured different kinds of dance accompaniments to Beethoven before (1/15 Quartet with Obbligato Dancers and 4/22 Ballet & Beethoven) but this video features yet another approach: improvised "freestyle" dancing in a completely unpremeditated situation between a classical performance of Beethoven's Pathetique and Shawn Phan's "street style" dancing...apparently Beethoven is quite alive and well.  Phat.

"STORY: I walked into a classroom with a guy that was playing classical music. I was never a fan of that genre but for some reason....today....i wanted to dance to it. I asked him if he wanted to JAM and he said, "I'm down." He chose a song I never heard of but that's the cool thing about the art of freestyle and being on the spot and in the moment. One take.

Shawn Phan   Beatrockers"

Link

5/29 Pianos, Cannons and the Gift of Fire

One of the best Beethoven-related sites around is the Unheard Beethoven site.  The people there have cataloged pretty much every Beethoven work not recorded (or seldom recorded) and posted midi files for B. fans to audition.  Midi files are more or less "piano rolls" of compositions and sometimes need a bit of finessing before they can sound musical.  So I took a few of these and did my best.... Here's the piano arrangement of Opus 43, "The Creatures of Prometheus" (Hess 90) authored by Willem.  I used my surround-piano sound ("Beethoven 360") for this...

From the Unheard Beethoven:
The Creatures of Prometheus op. 43, for Piano, Hess 90 (1801).
This transcription by Beethoven was published in 1801. The transcription quite faithfully follows the orchestral work, though with very different effects. Act One of the ballet--even including the overture--is much shorter than the second act. Act One concerns the creation of the first man and woman from dust by Prometheus; the second act concerns the education of these creatures. The theatre-bill for the first performance of March 28, 1801, describes the action as follows:  
"This allegorical ballet is based on the myth of Prometheus. The Greek philosophers, who knew of him, elucidate the story in the following manner--they depict Prometheus as a lofty spirit who, finding the human beings of his time in a state of ignorance, refined them through art and knowledge and gave them laws of right conduct. In accordance with this source, the ballet presents two animated statues who, by the power of harmony, are made susceptible to all the passions of human existence. Prometheus takes them to Parnassus, to receive instruction from Apollo, god of the arts, who commands Amphion, Arion and Orpheus to teach them music, Melpomene and Thalia tragedy and comedy. Terpsichore aids Pan who introduces them to the Pastoral Dance which he has invented, and from Bacchus they learn invented, and from Baccus they learn his invention, the Heroic Dance. The music is by Herr van Beethoven."
Link
More on The Creatures of Prometheus op. 43 in a previous post HERE.

Another piece I worked out is Wellington's Victory, or the Battle of Vittoria op. 91, for Piano and Two Cannons, Hess 97.  In this case I spruced up the cannons mostly - because I'm such a "cannon-expert" of course...(Midi Author: Mark S. Zimmer).
From the Unheard Beethoven:
Wellington's Victory, or the Battle of Vittoria op. 91, for Piano and Cannons, Hess 97 (1816). 
This is certainly the strangest of Beethoven's arrangements for piano, since it also calls for two cannon to be fired throughout the first (Battle) portion of the piece. In this midi, the English forces are on the right channel; the French are on the left. As the battle progresses, the English march toward and take the center, forcing the French further left and eventually completely off the soundstage. The piece was wildly popular in its time as anti-Napoleonic feeling increased in Europe. This "symphony" (as Beethoven referred to it in letters) is easily the most clearly descriptive piece Beethoven ever wrote. The transcription ends, as does the orchestral version, with a fugato treatment of "God Save the King." Published 1816 by Steiner in Vienna.

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4/22 Ballet & Beethoven

Beethoven only composed music for one ballet, The Creatures of Prometheus, Op.43 (1801), but that hasn't stopped modern choreographers from adapting his other chamber and symphonic works for dance as well.  I have to admit, I'm not a huge fan of ballet, but if you put the Adagio from the "Hammerklavier" to it, or even the ever-modern "Grosse Fugue" - well I'll at least give it a go.  So...

Here's the Raiford Rogers Modern Ballet performing "HammerKlavier", based on excerpts from the late Piano Sonatas 29, 30 and 32:

Raiford Rogers Modern Ballet "HammerKlavier" Beethoven (excerpts)

Here's the same ballet company doing a performance using the Grosse Fugue op 133 (there's a bit of odd rehearsal footage with electronic music as well):

Raiford Rogers Modern Ballet & Beethoven Luckman Theater
(Another clip with some footage of ballet with the Op.130 "Cavatina" and Op.132 "Heiliger Dankgesang" can be seen HERE. )

The Michael Shannon Ballet here presents a kind of "dysfunctional domestic drama" to the adagio of the "Ghost" Piano Trio (it takes about a minute before B. kicks in):

Been There Done That: Michael Shannon Ballet: What Happened to Us: Beethoven: Configuration Dance

Finally here's Uwe Scholz and the Stuttgart Ballet performing a ballet to the entire 7th Symphony.  I think I like the Allegretto the best (the 2nd part).  Richard Wagner famously referred to this symphony as the "Apotheosis of the Dance" (I think specifically the 4th movement) and even did a private solo dance performance with Liszt on piano...
Choreography: Uwe Scholz
Music: Ludwig van Beethoven - Symphony No. 7 in A Major
Costumes and stage design: Uwe Scholz based on "Beta Kappa" of Morris Louis
Lighting setup: Uwe Scholz, Dieter Billino
World premiere: April 26, 1991, Stuttgart Ballet 
Linklist

3/11 The Moonlight Sonata on Theremin / Marilyn Monroe Prefers Beethoven

(Clara Rockmore with Theremin)

Beethoven on the theremin - that's something you don't hear very often.  Most people have probably heard the sound of a theremin in sci-fi movies (Bernard Herrmann used FOUR in "The Day the Earth Stood Still") but the theremin is actually an instrument which was first considered a "classical" instrument.  Here's a fascinating theremin concert by Youtuber Thomas Grillo, including 2 works by LvB. The Beethoven pieces can be found at these times if you want to jump straight in:
17:58 Minuet in G (WoO.10, N2)
20:43 Moonlight Sonata

"Enjoy a half hour of Classical works played by Thomas Grillo on the Burns B3 Deluxe theremin with accompaniment generousely provided by Kristian Banatzianou of www.PianoAccompaniments.com and Peter Nagy."

Link

Additionally, here's the 2nd movement from the Pathetique Sonata on theremin performed by acordeon70:

Link

Even tho I'd just recently posted a color analysis of Opus 130, here's a fun tribute/mash-up of the final movement with Marilyn Monroe in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" - just as colorful, but in a different way...
String Quartet No. 13 In B Flat Major, Op.130:VI. Allegro

Beethoven vs Monroe
Apparently Beethoven works with everything from the "King's Speech" to the "Glamour Icon's Dance"...somewhat.

2/9 Stomping and Hopping to Beethoven (6 Ländler)

This is a somewhat novel Beethoven piece - a work made up of 6 dance themes played on 2 violins and a bass, followed by a coda.  Unlike the bagatelles or the contredances, this piece is supposed to be played as 1 long medley of dances.  At least it seems that way to me, since there is a scored Coda at the end.   I suppose this is similar to when we (use to?) go club-hopping and the DJ would spin a continuous set of beats without stopping.

From AllMusic:

"A Ländler is a country dance for couples in a quick 3/4 meter that generally occurred outdoors and involved stomping and hopping. As dance halls appeared in the late eighteenth century the Ländler moved indoors and people began to wear lighter shoes and dance at a faster tempo. This led to the development of the waltz.

In the Ländler, WoO 15, the melodic material of the dances is all given to the violins, most of it to the first violin. Unlike the later waltz, Ländler melodies are generally active on each beat of the measure, the accents occurring in the accompaniment. Several rhythmic patterns occur in the traditional Ländler and most are represented in Beethoven's Ländler, WoO. 15. For instance, the first two dances are dominated by a half-note, quarter-note pattern, producing a long-short rhythm in the accompaniment. The third dance combines the long-short pattern with measures giving equal stress to each beat, while the fourth dance features a short-long pattern. A rising triplet in the first violin accents the third beat in No. 5 before moving on to superimpose a duple meter on the clear triple meter of the bass and second violin. The coda is really an extension of the sixth dance, giving Beethoven a chance to flex his developmental muscles. The fact that all the dances are in D major (except No. 4, in D minor) suggests they were meant to be played without a break."

6 Ländler for 2 Violins and Bass (or Cello), WoO 15

I really like this piece, it seems very cheerful.  At least until it gets to Dance #5 - I suppose that's where B. is really testing the people on the dance floor...

1/15 Quartet with Obbligato Dancers

(animated gif courtesy nostringsattached.com.au)

Here's a fascinating program about a dance program collaborating with a string quartet.  The quartet is Beethoven's 1st, Opus 18 No 1, and the dance choreographer is Allyson Green working with a group based in San Diego CA.  Beethoven wrote an orchestral score for ballet, "The Creatures of Prometheus" - but I don't think he ever envisioned one of his string quartets being accompanied in this way.  I was a bit skeptical at first but after 10 or 15 minutes I started getting into it.The program starts with a "making of" and the quartet performance starts around the 22 minute mark

"This documentary explores acclaimed choreographer Allyson Green's creation of a new dance work, set to Beethoven's String Quartet in F-Major, Op. 18, No. 1. Green's project collaborators include the creme-de-la-creme of San Diego area dancers, and four musicians drawn from SummerFest's Young Artists Program. Series: "La Jolla Music Society: SummerFest" [10/2005] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 11134]"

String Quartet 1 in F, Op.18, No.1 (1800)