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No composer knew the emotional, propulsive power of music – or used the fact – better than Ludwig van Beethoven. Born in Bonn – he travelled to Vienna, the home of Haydn and Mozart – and made his career there. Even during his lifetime and certainly ever since, he has been regarded as a musical colossus – bestriding the 18th and 19th centuries and the pivotal point that changed music from classical to romantic sensibilities. Without him, it is difficult to see how modern music could have developed.
This year we celebrate Beethoven, the man, the myth and the music in a complete cycle of his nine symphonies. Each has a story to tell about the time and circumstance in which it was composed and over the 30 years Beethoven was concerned with the symphony he enlarged its scope and his symphonic ambitions opened the door to Brahms, Bruckner and Mahler.
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| Beethoven Timeline |
| Year |
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Symphonies |
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| 1795–1800 |
(premiered 1800) |
No 1 in C, Op 21 |
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| 1800–1802 |
(premiered 1803) |
No 2 in D, Op 36 |
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| 1803 |
(premiered 1805) |
No 3 in E-flat, Op 55, "Eroica" |
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| 1806 |
(premiered 1807) |
No 4 in B-flat, Op 60 |
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| 1805–1807/8 |
(premiered 1808) |
No 5 in C minor, Op 67 |
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| 1807–1808 |
(premiered 1808) |
No 6 in F, Op 68, "Pastoral" |
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| 1811–1812 |
(premiered 1813) |
No 7 in A, Op 92 |
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| 1812 |
(premiered 1814) |
No 8 in F, Op 93 |
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| 1818 / 1822–1824 |
(premiered 1824) |
No 9 in D minor, Op 125, "Choral" |
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As you can see from the timeline of Beethoven's symphonies, 200 years ago Beethoven was in the middle of writing them – last December was the 200th anniversary of a massive concert where Beethoven conducted the premières of both his Fifth and Sixth Symphonies. It would not be too long before he worked on both his Seventh and Eighth Symphonies, before a longer gap while he was thinking of ideas for his final, earth-shattering and – in his use of words – moving Ninth Symphony: the famous Choral, which in the final movement sets heartfelt words by Friedrich Schiller, and we are delighted to be joined by Opera Hong Kong in this performance as well as another iconic 19th-century choral work, Verdi's Requiem.
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© Nick Breckenfield, 2009
Nick Breckenfield, British programme-note writer is Classical Music & Opera Editor of www.whatsonwhen.com
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