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Nov
17
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17
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Music :: Classical
MW2: Beethoven’s Ninth Ode to Joy
7:30 PM
Flathead High School
Description:
MW2: Beethoven’s Ninth “Ode to Joy”
Amy Johnson - Soprano
Raul Melo - Tenor
Jennifer Feinstein - mezzo soprano
Stephen Morscheck - Baritone
November 17, 2012 7:30PM-10:00PM at Flathead High School Performance Hall
November 18, 2012 3:00PM-5:30PM at Flathead High School Performance Hall


7:30pm - Flathead High School Performance Hall (Sat)
3:00pm - Flathead High School Performance Hall (Sun)
Glacier Symphony & Chorale
John Zoltek, Conductor
Jim Stanard, Chorale Conductor
Featuring:
Amy Johnson, Soprano
Jennifer Feinstein, Alto
Raul Melo, Tenor
Stephen Morscheck, Baritone
Beethoven...............Symphony No.9 in D-minor Op. 125 "Choral"

Beethoven’s span and personal development of symphonic form is represented in this concert featuring Beethoven’s first and last completed works in that genre. The awesome orchestra, musical and psychological power of Beethoven’s now “immortal” 9th composed in 1824 with it’s universal message of spiritual brotherhood poetically articulated by Schiller and set in the final movement by the composer for SATB soloists and chorus is paired with the fledgling Symphony No. 1 begun in the 1790’s and premiered in 1801, a youthful but revolutionary work by the then recent arrival to Vienna and budding piano virtuoso and composer. Both works together illustrate the large expanse of style from the classically Viennese Imperial styled 1st Symphony styled after the works of Haydn, Mozart and others, to the highly Romanticized personal, humanistic and visionary symphonic statement of the radical and innovative 9th, a work both monumental in design and ultra original in concept and emotional dynamism. The Symphony No. 1 in C major is cast in the then standard “classical” form of 4 movements (Allegro -Andante – Minuet – Presto) with performance duration of about 26 minutes. By stark contrast the later Symphony No. 9 in D minor is nearly four times that length with the initial movement alone lasting nearly 20 minutes. The expanded time scale of Beethoven’s conception for symphonic design had direct influence on all the major composers of the 19th and 20th centuries most notably Berlioz, Mahler, Bruchner and Shostakovich. Completed after the composer lost all his ability to hear from debilitating deafness the 9th Symphony stands as a testament to Beethoven’s individual genius, complete mastery of musical materials and design and finally his Creative Will.
The 9th personifies the musical duality that was to become the nineteenth century—the conflict between the Classic and Romantic, the old and new. The radically different later styles of Brahms and Liszt, for instance, both had their precedents in this work. On one hand, there was the search for a broader vocabulary (especially in terms of harmony and rhythm) within the eighteenth century framework; on the other, true Romanticism, embracing the imperfect, the unattainable, the personal and the extreme—qualities that violate the very nature of Classicism. When viewed individually, the first three movements still have their roots distinctly in the eighteenth century, while the fourth—rhapsodic, and imbued with poetic meaning—seems to explode from that mold, drawing the entire work into the realm of “program music”, a defining concept of musical Romanticism.
The 9th Symphony stands as a monument to both Beethoven’s personal grand vision for music and his ability to generate great and powerful abstract ideas that have the power to transform and inspire humankind. This single symphony, with it’s ability to transmit bold inspiration and life force is held by millions around the globe now and for the past 200 years as one of the greatest cultural treasures in the cannon of European culture and civilization as a whole.
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Age Group: All Ages
Venue: Flathead High School
Address:
Phone: 406-257-3241

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