BEETHOVEN, LUDWIG VAN ( b. Bonn, Germany, 15 Dec 1770; d. Vienna, Austria, 26 Mar 1827 )
A giant amongst orchestral and instrumental composers, Beethoven completed only one opera in his lifetime. This was Fidelio, a towering work which, like his Ninth Symphony (The Choral Symphony), has come to be regarded as a symbol of freedom from repression.
Like many intellectuals of his time, Beethoven was greatly concerned with the emerging ideals of democracy and individual liberty. His third symphony, the so-called Eroica, was supposed to have been intended for Napoleon, and rededicated to ΓÇ£the memory of a great hero" when the working-class hero became an emperor.
In 1801, when Emanuel Schikaneder opened his theatre in Vienna, he invited Beethoven to become its house composer. His first concert featured the première of his oratorio, Christus am Olberge (Christ on the Mount of Olives). His association with the house furthered his interest in writing for singers and, towards the end of 1803, he began to work on a libretto of Schikaneder's. Unfortunately, work on the Eroica symphony intervened and it was never finished.
Fidelio premièred in 1805 and was subsequently rewritten in a number of versions. He also intended to write an operatic setting of the Faust story, which seems never to have been begun. His other work for the voice includes Masses, choral pieces, and arrangements of folksongs.
