Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies | San Jose State University

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Beethoven Center instruments

Dulcken fortepiano

Broadwood fortepiano

Welcome to
The Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies

	Restricted Visitation Beethoven Center Due to Covid-19, most of the Beethoven Center’s services have moved online. Access to the Beethoven Center’s reading room is restricted to SJSU students and faculty, by appointment only, until further notice. Visit our Hours and Location page here to learn more.
	Sparkling Musicale American Beethoven Society’s 14th Annual Sparkling Musicale is going VIRTUAL! This virtual event will take place on August 16th at 4 PM PDT. Join us in hearing Ryan A. Chi and Karina Tseng (2020 Young Pianist’s Beethoven Competition Winners) as they play Beethoven, Chopin, Debussy, Ginastera, Medtner, and Rachmaninoff. Click here to purchase tickets!
	Beethoven Conversations, no. 5. The second movement of Beethoven’s Quartet op. 132 includes four bars in duple meter marked “l’istesso tempo.” The original second violinist, Karl Holz, indicated a metronome mark for this passage that is different from how modern quartets perform it. What do you think?. What did Beethoven Beethoven actually mean? Check out the link below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10lj5HikBoc
	Postponed - Beethoven Ball We’ve taken the sad but inevitable decision to postpone our September Beethoven Ball until 2021.
	Beethoven Conversations, no. 4 Ed Dusinberre shares some of his insights into how the Takács Quartet makes interpretative decisions about Beethoven’s curious performance markings. Check out the link below: https://youtu.be/sLKhXO0cnVk
	Beethoven Conversations, no. 3 Beethoven Conversations, no. 3. Was Beethoven making a joke about bad waltzing in the second movement of his String Quartet op. 132? Check out the link below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UC9CDZ0pDtc
	Beethoven Conversations, no. 2 Beethoven Conversations, no. 2. Hurdy gurdy supplied by the Beethoven Center's own Eric Gjovaag. Check out the link below: https://youtu.be/nGF-Wyk6tWg
	Beethoven Conversations, no. 1 Our chamber music symposium was postponed due to COVID-19, but even a pandemic can’t stop us talking about Beethoven online. Our director Erica Buurman chats to Ed Dusinberre (Takács Quartet) and Nick Mathew (UC Berkeley) about Austrian folk fiddling and the Alla danza tedesca from Beethoven’s Quartet Opus 130. Look out for more in the coming weeks! Check out the link below: https://youtu.be/KAtv5zb1Sek
	Beethoven's 250th birthday in 2020 Major events are in the works to celebrate the life of Ludwig van Beethoven, one of the most valued and gifted composers in human history. More information
	The Beethovens on the Rhine: Exploring Beethoven's Love of Nature Exhibition - CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. The exhibition will be extended when library reopens. January 21 - extended indefinitely Learn about the Beethoven family in Bonn and the natural world of Beethoven's childhood home. Check out this video to learn more about our exhibit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=LdMff1Scs0w
	New library catalog launched! Find out about changes to the Beethoven Gateway
	See what's new in the Beethoven Center's Image Database We need your help in building our digital collections, to make our unique materials freely available online! Please download our brochure or donate online.
	Join the American Beethoven Society