BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 8
WIDMANN Work to be determined. Premiere
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 9 “Choral”
Written in 1812, almost in parallel with the Seventh, Symphony No. 8 returns to the classical forms of Haydn while at the same time revealing a work of great maturity, in which Beethoven’s humorous and ironic character comes to the fore. The composer dispenses with the traditional slow movement in favour of an Allegretto scherzando, anticipating what would become his final creative period.
The Ninth Symphony, “Choral”, is one of the great masterpieces of the symphonic repertoire and represents, in its fullest expression, Beethoven’s humanistic ideals. Premiered in Vienna in 1824, when the composer was already suffering from complete deafness, the work radically broke the conventions of the genre by introducing the human voice into a symphony for the first time. Throughout its first three movements, Beethoven builds a journey of unprecedented emotional and instrumental intensity, leading to the monumental final movement: a colossal set of variations on Friedrich Schiller’s Ode to Joy. Performed by four soloists and chorus, the Ninth has become a universal hymn to human fraternity, freedom, and hope.
