Beethoven Ascending

Join the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra for the next chapter of their Beethoven cycle at the Lighthouse, Poole on Wednesday 17 March. BSO Chief Conductor Mark Wigglesworth leads a host of fabulous soloists including Nardus Williams, Kitty Whately, Anthony Gregory, Andrew Foster-Williams alongside the fantastic Bournemouth Symphony Chorus, you won’t want to miss this.

Violent in character, the Coriolan Overture moves at an unrelenting tempo with abrupt breaks and many dramatic contrasts. Was Beethoven expressing his horror about the reign of terror that had followed the French Revolution just a few years earlier? However it is interpreted, it is a masterpiece of musical invention – highly original and ground-breaking.

Although Beethoven was only nineteen years old when he was commissioned to write a cantata to mark the death of Josef II in 1790, the work shows the embryonic marks of his greatness: the choral exhortations and intensity of expression show a knowledge of opera and dramatic oratorio. Whilst the music preserves the sense of a requiem, the cantata is notable for its unusual tone painting, dramatic writing for the orchestra, and significant solo writing for bass and soprano.

Although his earlier works had shown flashes of what was to come, the Third Symphony, by contrast, opens with two staggering chords that announce to the world the arrival of a new talent, a forceful personality, a man never to be forgotten. From that point on Beethoven was no mere composer, he was a creator of monuments.

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
Mark Wigglesworth - Conductor
Nardus Williams - Soprano
Kitty Whately - Mezzo-soprano
Anthony Gregory - Tenor
Andrew Foster-Williams - Bass-baritone
Bournemouth Symphony Chorus

Works and composers
Beethoven - Coriolan Overture
Beethoven - Cantata on the Death of Emperor Josef II
Beethoven - Symphony No.3 'Eroica'

This concert is part of an ongoing series on Wednesday evenings at Lighthouse, Poole. Multibuy discounts are on offer for all concerts booked through the BSO Box Office – so the more you visit, the more you save! They will also be streaming 18 Digital Concerts this season so check out their What’s On page on bsolive.com, to see which concerts you can watch from the comfort of your own home.

This concert is part of the BSO’s Beethoven Cycle ‘Road to Joy’, which marks the bicentenary of Beethoven’s death in March 1827. Celebrating each of the symphonies in turn with an 18-month project, a timeless and timely opportunity to engage in what Beethoven means to us today. This journey also includes a series of special Immersion Days – to find out more visit bsolive.com.