Ludwig van Beethoven
A documentary on the life of Ludwig van Beethoven, one of the best-known German composers of all time. Original documents, letters and drawings are combined with highlights of Beethoven's musical oeuvre played by world-renowned orchestras. With its featured concert excerpts, this film is an important document of music history. One of East Germany's first full-length documentaries, it is an interesting example of how the GDR sought to present its national cultural heritage. It was screened at many international film festivals in the 1950s, including in Edinburgh, Karlovy Vary, Locarno and Melbourne.
Running Time
88 mins
Year
1954
Kanopy ID
1152342
Filmmakers
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Subjects
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Comments (2)
Very old B+W doco, all in German (with English subtitles). It's slow and the sound is poor quality but if you are really interested in Beethoven you might find it interesting as it shows the actual places he lived, his furniture, his writing and where his work was performed. It also has a lot ...Read more
Very old B+W doco, all in German (with English subtitles). It's slow and the sound is poor quality but if you are really interested in Beethoven you might find it interesting as it shows the actual places he lived, his furniture, his writing and where his work was performed. It also has a lot of quotes from his contemporaries and puts it in context of the political struggles that were happening at the time, showing how he really supported popular uprisings and felt that all people should be treated equal. I didn't know that when he died the conservative authorities found many banned books in Beethoven's house and threw them out.
Read lessTedious.