Replete with characteristic Beethoven touches, the Pastoral Symphony is a highly melodic work that lyrically evokes the countryside the composer so admired. “You ask me where my ideas come from” he once noted, “they come to me in the open air, in the woods whilst walking, in the silence of the night, early in the morning”. The Pastoral Symphony, with its unambiguously bucolic movement titles, is the composer’s attempt to set these sounds and scenes in notes on paper. Beethoven’s profound Fourth Symphony is, like many of his most reflective pieces, written in the key of B flat. It is both an unsettling and witty piece that recalls many of the traits of his Eroica Symphony, Beethoven’s Namensfeier Overture completes the programme.
Forthcoming concerts in Canterbury
Ashkenazy conducts in Canterbury
Oct 18 2013, 19:30 - Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury
Ashkenazy conducts Shostakovich, Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky
Jac van Steen conducts in Canterbury
Nov 22 2013, 19:30 - Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury
van Steen conducts a fairy-tale and fantasy themed concert
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Esa-Pekka Salonen on Beethoven
Esa-Pekka Salonen explains why Beethoven matters.
Symphony No. 4 in B flat
Download Beethoven's Symphony No. 4.
