Beethoven: Osudová - Analýza a provedení (Česká studentská filharmonie)

Subscribe ➜ https://bit.ly/subscribe_CF Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67 Czech Student Philharmonic Conductor: Marko Ivanović Host: Petr Kadlec When Beethoven was born the symphony as a form already existed but in practice nobody had the opportunity to hear symphonic music apart from the aristocrats and nobles in whose courts they were, for a very exclusive audience, performed. As a genre the symphony had certain characteristics, above all possessing an inherently festive and impressive nature which guaranteed that newly-composed works would gain attention and significance. Around the year 1800, when Beethoven first turned to symphonic composition the situation had already changed. Symphonies were performed for the public, generally as part of large-scale and varied concerts known as ‘academies’. Apart from symphonies you could hear overtures, chamber pieces, soloists and operatic arias. Symphonies were regarded as some kind of ‘prologue to the play’. And then came Beethoven. In his nine symphonies, which emerged over a period of nearly thirty years (1798–1824), an incredible transformation in form and content was played out. Beethoven could build upon what Haydn and Mozart had achieved before him, namely to attain a freer standing than other composers. To put it simply, they were less like servants and hired providers of entertainments but had become independent, creative artists. It is interesting how this altered symphonic music itself. Its grandeur and festive nature remained, but rather than being tied to the power of the monarch it was a testament to the triumph of the composer´s personal freedom. As a consequence the music became more complex and demanding so that, for instance, Mozart´s later symphonies appeared to many listeners impenetrable or bizarre. Beethoven goes even further. Personal, social and ethical concerns are powerfully projected into his music. Like no one before him Beethoven managed to imbue symphonic music with the work of a thinker. It is no coincidence that the greatness and strength of his music is said to celebrate the courage and invincibility of the human spirit. The crowning point is his Ninth Symphony, in which, alongside the musical instruments, introduces the human voices of soloists and a large choir to sing the words of Schiller´s Ode to Joy. After Beethoven´s death the idea arose that the form of the symphony had reached its high point and could not develop further. The Fate Symphony received its premier on 22.12.1808 in Vienna. The concert lasted an unbelievable four hours – from 6.30 to 10.30 in the evening – for under Beethoven´s baton a number of his works were first performed that night: the Fourth Piano Concerto and the Sixth Symphony, as well as three parts of his Mass in C Major, the aria Ah, perfido, and the Choral Fantasy. On top of all this Beethoven gave a piano improvisation! The concert performance was of inferior quality because beforehand there had been only one single (!) rehearsal and the public as well as the participants were simply exhausted after this four-hour marathon. One month later the ‘Fate’ Symphony received its second performance, this time in Leipzig, and it was a notable success. The symphony was published in 1809. Beethoven dedicated it to his two noble patrons: Prince Lobkowitz and Count Andreas Rasumovsky. In fact, the ‘Fate’ name is not Beethoven´s idea. It is not known who thought of it but the name stuck right away and in the 19th century it became so well-established that it remained for good. Hundreds of people have tried to describe the meaning of the music and how it can change a person. One of the first was the German writer and music critic E.T.A. Hoffman who wrote in 1813 of the Fate Symphony as an ‘indescribably profound and magnificent symphony in C Minor’. And he continued, ‘How this wonderful composition, in a climax that climbs on and on, draws the listener onwards into the illimitable spiritual world! Doubtless many people will feel that the work is merely an artful rhapsody but the soul of each thoughtful individual will be stirred and moved – deeply and sincerely – by the feeling that is none other than that unutterable portentous longing and that until the final chord – and in fact not until the moments that follow it – he will be powerless to leave that miraculous world of the spirit where grief and joy embrace him in the form of sound…’ 0:00 Beethoven: Fate Symphony – Analysis 1:32 Beethoven: Fate Symphony, I. Allegro con brio 9:21 Beethoven: Fate Symphony – Analysis 50:57 Beethoven: Fate Symphony, I. Allegro con brio 58:48 Beethoven: Fate Symphony, II. Andante con moto 1:08:42 Beethoven: Fate Symphony, III. Scherzo: Allegro 1:13:59 Beethoven: Fate Symphony, IV. Allegro