PROGRAM NOTES
BEETHOVEN NINTH
experience for the audience .” Another major element is that See Me uses many different vocal styles , as well as quotations from the Ninth ’ s first movement . “ It was so important to me to write a piece that allowed each choir to sing in a way that allowed them to show each other their best selves — as I think that is what art can do , across demographic and cultural divides . We show each other the core of who we are when we communicate through music and the arts . When we sing to each other , when we are willing to be vulnerable and ask for what we need , that is the foundation for true relationship .”
Instrumentation A cappella choir .
Ludwig van Beethoven
Born December , 1770 in Bonn , Germany Died March 26 , 1827 in Vienna , Austria
SYMPHONY NO . 9 IN D MINOR [ 1822 – 24 ]
At this concert , you will hear Beethoven ’ s Ninth Symphony as you ’ ve never heard it before ! Baltimore hip-hop artist Wordsmith has created a new text for the Ninth ’ s choral finale to replace Friedrich Schiller ’ s German words and transform them into our own time and vernacular . And the artists assembled on the stage represent the city of Baltimore in all its rich diversity .
Premiered at Vienna ’ s Kärtnertor Theater on May 7 , 1824 , the Ninth comes from the visionary last years of Beethoven ’ s life , during which he also created the Missa solemnis and his celebrated late string quartets . The composer always believed music had a higher purpose than merely the making of beautiful sounds — that it could express and inspire human aspirations toward a more exalted life , in closer harmony with neighbors and strangers alike , and ultimately with God . In the Ninth , he drove home this message by crowning his instrumental symphony with an unprecedented choral finale : a setting of Schiller ’ s poem “ Ode to Joy ,” in which joy is defined as a state in which “ all men are made brothers .”
While listeners tend to focus on the Ninth ’ s revolutionary finale , its first movement is the biggest and most daring instrumental movement Beethoven ever composed . Initially , we hear a “ creation ” motive of falling notes . Nothing is clearly established : key , rhythm , or thematic substance . But as the volume increases , everything suddenly coalesces into a gigantic , awe-inspiring theme striding down a D-minor chord .
Launched again by the opening creation motives , the central development section is , unusually for Beethoven , not the most dramatic portion of the movement . Softer and calmer in mood , it muses over a surprisingly lyrical variant of the principal theme . Instead , the drama explodes catastrophically as the movement reaches the recapitulation of the opening music . Here , the creation motive and the principal theme reappear in their most terrifying version in D major .
Also in D minor , the Scherzo second movement is built out of another descending motive of just two pitches and a stuttering rhythm .
From that rhythm — and its potential for the timpanist to become a major player instead of an accompanist — Beethoven creates a witty , infectious movement of relentless intensity .
If the Scherzo is the apotheosis of rhythm , the succeeding slow movement is the apotheosis of melody . Here , Beethoven builds a double variations movement out of two melodies , one slow and noble , the other like a flowing stream — a musical representation of a heavenly utopia .
The key of D major finally triumphs over D minor in the exhilarating choral finale , famed for making the cellos and basses speak like human voices as they review the events of the previous movements and then dismiss them in favor of the sublimely simple “ Joy ” theme . In an era when countries were beginning to adopt national anthems , Beethoven intended this to be an international anthem for all humankind . The remainder of the finale is a series of extraordinary variations on this heart-stirring melody , sung by chorus , vocal soloists , and orchestra .
The finale ’ s other major theme is sung in unison by the tenors and basses at the words “ Stay the course and find your purpose .” It opens an exalted , awe-struck episode and concludes in a magnificent double fugue in combination with the “ Joy ” theme . At the end , Beethoven drives his voices almost beyond their capacities to express his glorious vision of a new world , just beyond human reach .
Instrumentation Two flutes , piccolo , two oboes , two clarinets , two bassoons , contrabassoon , four horns , two trumpets , three trombones , timpani , percussion , strings , and choir .
Maximilian Franz
Musical Terms Development section : Of the sonata musical form , the development section succeeds the exposition and expands upon the movement ’ s main themes . Recapitulation : Of the sonata musical form , the recapitulation follows the development section and typically presents once more the musical themes from the movement ’ s opening exposition . Scherzo : Translates to “ a joke .” The scherzo is often the fast , third movement of a larger work , followed by a more gentle section called the trio . The scherzo is then repeated .
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