2019-20 SEASON
BEETHOVEN 2020
The BSO celebrates the 250th anniversary of Beethoven's birth!
EVGENY KISSIN IN RECITAL
MON, MAY 18, 8 PM MEYERHOFF
Evgeny Kissin, piano
BEETHOVEN Sonata No. 8, “Pathétique”
BEETHOVEN Variations and Fugue, “Eroica”
BEETHOVEN Sonata No. 17, “The Tempest”
BEETHOVEN Sonata No. 21, “Waldstein”
The BSO is not performing on this program.
EVGENY KISSIN
MARIN ALSOP
PASTORAL SYMPHONY
THU, JUN 4, 8 PM STRATHMORE
FRI, JUN 5, 8 PM MEYERHOFF
SAT, JUN 6, 8 PM STRATHMORE
SUN, JUN 7, 3 PM MEYERHOFF
Marin Alsop, conductor • Viktoria Mullova, violin
BEETHOVEN Coriolan Overture
BEETHOVEN Violin Concerto
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 6, “Pastoral”
BEETHOVEN NINTH
THU, JUN 11, 8 PM MEYERHOFF
FRI, JUN 12, 8 PM MEYERHOFF
SAT, JUN 13, 8 PM STRATHMORE
SUN, JUN 14, 3 PM MEYERHOFF
Marin Alsop, conductor • Wordsmith, spoken word artist
Morgan State University Choir
Community Chorus of Peabody
Voices Rise: A Baltimore Choir of Hope
REENA ESMAIL See Me (World Premiere)
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 9, “Choral”
Featuring new text by Wordsmith
WORDSMITH
Don’t miss the free Symphony in the City concert at Patterson Park
on May 20 at 7 pm featuring the works of Beethoven!
BSOMUSIC.ORG/SYMPHONYINTHECITY
TICKETS FROM $25 | 410.783.8000 | 1.877.BSO.1444
BSOMUSIC.ORG/BEETHOVEN2020
DISCOUNTS FOR GROUPS OF 10 OR MORE: 410.783.8170
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Austrian-Hungarian border, he often
did the work of two or three men. His
employer, Prince Nicholas Esterházy,
was a fabulously wealthy man who
wanted a musical life at his rather remote
palaces that would outshine that of the
Imperial Court in Vienna. Thus, Haydn
found himself in charge of an orchestra,
an opera house, a marionette theatre
(presenting light operas in German much
like today’s Salzburg Marionettes) and the
music at the court chapels. He conducted
most of the Esterházy performances;
hired, fired and supervised the orchestral
personnel; and served as head music
librarian. And in his spare moments,
he composed music of such genius and
originality that it changed the course of
European music. Haydn is rightly called
the “father of the symphony.”
In 1779, Haydn signed a new contract
with the Prince that would greatly
increase both his international fame and
his pocketbook. From this time on, the
Prince would no longer hold complete
ownership of his compositions; Haydn
would be free to sell them to outside
publishers and to accept commissions
for new works from other organizations.
And he was soon deluged with such
commissions. Meanwhile, the Esterházy
Opera House was in full swing, with
Haydn constantly needing to prepare
and conduct new productions. Not
surprisingly, his production of new
symphonies slowed for a time.
Rarely heard, Symphony No. 80
in D Minor was written in 1784 as
the middle of a trio of symphonies
commissioned for Lenten performances
in Vienna early in 1785. It looks back
at the popular “Sturm und Drang”
(“Storm and Stress”) style Haydn had
explored a decade earlier, but also shows
a pronounced experimental side in its
harmonies and dramatic effects. This is
a work that anticipates the great “Paris”
Symphonies that would soon follow.
The first movement begins with a
furiously climbing theme in the cellos over
shuddering strings—pure “Sturm und
Drang.” It is followed by a pause; striking
pauses will be a major characteristic of
this symphony. However, just as we have