Concert -- Ludwig van Beethoven Changed the World

Join us for a delightful concert and educational information about our concert:

The first concert of our 2014?15 season begins with works by Ludwig van Beethoven, all of which were written during the same 15-year period of time. This was the most prolific period for Beethoven and marks what is generally known as the beginning of the second creative period during Beethoven’s life—his heroic period.

Beethoven wrote one full-length ballet during his lifetime—The Creatures of Prometheus. The work was written with Salvatore Vigano, the famous dancer/choreographer, in mind because Vigano had spoken with Emperor Francis during the second of his two residencies in Vienna in 1799. The Emperor had just learned that Beethoven had dedicated the score of his Septet, Opus 20, to his wife, Maria Theresa, so the composer was on the Emperor’s mind. Beethoven was approached and Vigano’s plan for the ballet was explained, so Beethoven agreed to take on the composition. The legend of Prometheus was popular during the early 19th century and Beethoven was especially interested in the fact that Prometheus helped humans understand the arts, so everyone involved with the ballet had high hopes. Although Emperor Francis did not like the ballet, it was very popular in Vienna because both Vigano and Beethoven were held in such high regard.
Prometheus gives the listener a peek at what was yet to come in Beethoven’s future compositions. The overture starts ominously with large chords that were discordant and very sudden for that time. After the slow introduction, the strings begin the allegro section with soft scale passages leading to a bold allegro section pulsed by the brass and woodwinds. The second section of the allegro begins with soft woodwinds, followed by the strings imitating them; it ends with loud and soft sections using both the winds and strings. Transitional material by the woodwinds follows. The final section begins as the opening allegro with the strings and continues as a repeat of the first and second sections of the allegro. The overture finishes with a bold coda that utilizes all of the forces of the orchestra in scale passages and large tutti chords.

Instrumentation – 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets in Bb, 2 bassoons, 2 horns in C, 2 trumpets in C, timpani, , violins 1, violins 2, violas, celli, double basses