Jakub Hrůša: Beethoven-Cycle

»Yes, do love him, love him dearly – but do not forget that he came to poetic freedom through years of study. Go back to the roots of his work; do not measure his genius by his final symphony.«

So said Robert Schumann in 1834 of Ludwig van Beethoven, who left behind a richly varied cycle of nine symphonies. Each is part of a great evolution – yet each is also a world of its own: even in his first two works, one encounters a certain defiance of tradition. His frequent reflection on the tumultuous times can be felt in the myth-shrouded »Eroica«. Schumann called the cheerful Fourth a »slender Greek maiden«, whilst E.T.A. Hoffmann, at that time working in Bamberg, praised the Fifth with its »Fate« motif as a »climax that rises ever higher«. The Sixth is a music-filled country day out, the Seventh is full of dance, while the Eighth is quite humorous – and the marvellous Ninth concludes with the stirring »Ode to Joy«. We will be performing this symphonic ascent not only in Bamberg but also in the key centres of European music that shaped Beethoven: In the Rhine region, where he took his first artistic steps; in Prague, where he loved to stay; and in Vienna, where he died 200 years ago after many successes – and shortly before that uttered these moving words: »I close my eyes in the blessed certainty of having left a ray of light in the world.«