# Beethoven.is

> Every complete Beethoven symphony cycle on CD – 190 cycles by 142 conductors, 1,710 recordings, with the duration of every movement. Edited by Magnús Lyngdal Magnússon, historian and music critic.

The durations are the editor’s own measurements from the discs. Figures on the pages are computed from them; each chart carries a note on the method. Pages are plain server-rendered HTML: every time, name and table is in the document, no JavaScript needed. The site is in English; /is is the editor’s Icelandic page.

## How the data is built
- A cycle is one complete set of the nine symphonies by one conductor and orchestra on one label. A conductor can have several cycles.
- A recording is one symphony inside a cycle. It has a total duration and, where the editor has them, the duration of each movement. All durations are whole seconds in the machine-readable files, `m:ss` or `h:mm:ss` on the pages.
- Durations depend on which repeats the conductor observes; the Bärenreiter urtext reference time of each symphony is given for comparison.
- Cycle keys have the form `<conductor-slug>-<n>`, for example `george-szell-0`.

## The catalogue
- [The Sets](https://beethoven.is/sets): every conductor and cycle, A–Z, with cover and label. `?q=` filters by conductor, orchestra or label
- [Conductor pages](https://beethoven.is/sets/george-szell): one page per conductor with every cycle, all nine symphonies and each movement's time (replace the slug)
- [Timings](https://beethoven.is/timings/9): per-symphony durations of all cycles, sortable (replace 9 with 1–9)
- [Compare](https://beethoven.is/compare/george-szell-0/gunter-wand-0): two cycles side by side (pattern `/compare/<cycle-key>/<cycle-key>`)
- [Top Sets](https://beethoven.is/top): the editor’s ranked complete sets
- [The Symphonies](https://beethoven.is/symphonies): the nine symphonies, bars, movements, repeats
- [Symphony No. 3](https://beethoven.is/symphony/3): one page per symphony (replace 3 with 1–9)

## About
- [About](https://beethoven.is/about): the project and its errata
- [Trivia](https://beethoven.is/trivia): curiosities from the data
- [Privacy](https://beethoven.is/privacy): no cookies, no tracking; the player's memory stays in the visitor's browser

## Á íslensku

Íslenski hluti vefjarins: ritstjórinn sjálfur, innslög hans á Rás 1 og þáttaröð hans. The Icelandic part of the site: the editor, his Rás 1 segments and his own series.

- [Magnús Lyngdal Magnússon](https://beethoven.is/is): sagnfræðingur og tónlistarrýnir – bækur, innslög á Rás 1, þáttaröð og Beethoven.is
- [Morgunvaktin](https://beethoven.is/is/morgunvaktin): 96 innslög hans um tónlist á Morgunvakt Rásar 1, flokkuð eftir ári; hvert innslag hefur eigin síðu, `/is/morgunvaktin/<dagsetning>-<titill>`
- [Í Morgunblaðinu](https://beethoven.is/is/morgunbladid): 164 dómar og greinar hans um tónlist í Morgunblaðinu, flokkuð eftir ári; þær sem eru í heild á vefnum hafa eigin síðu, `/is/morgunbladid/<dagsetning>-<titill>`
- [Undir geislanum](https://beethoven.is/is/undir-geislanum): þáttaröð hans á Rás 1, 6 þættir, hver spilanlegur í heild
- [Persónuvernd](https://beethoven.is/is/personuvernd): engar vafrakökur hjá gestum; hlustunarminnið býr aðeins í vafranum

## Markdown

- Every conductor, symphony, segment, the series and every post has a Markdown twin: add `.md` to the address (e.g. [https://beethoven.is/sets/george-szell.md](https://beethoven.is/sets/george-szell.md), [https://beethoven.is/symphony/3.md](https://beethoven.is/symphony/3.md)), or ask for the page with `Accept: text/markdown`.

## Machine-readable
- [llms-full.txt](https://beethoven.is/llms-full.txt): the whole catalogue as Markdown – every symphony, every cycle, every time
- [data.json](https://beethoven.is/data.json): the same data as JSON, durations in seconds
- [data.csv](https://beethoven.is/data.csv): one row per cycle, durations in seconds, one column per symphony and movement
- [Sitemap](https://beethoven.is/sitemap.xml)

## Citing
- Cite as: Magnús Lyngdal Magnússon, Beethoven.is, https://beethoven.is. Durations are the editor’s measurements.

## Contact
- magnus.lyngdal@gmail.com