Repertoire

Antonín Dvořák: In Nature’s Realm, op. 91
Franz Schubert: Symphony, D759 ‘Unfinished’
Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 3, Op. 55 ‘Eroica’

Artists

Sebastian Weigle, conductor
OBC

Programme

In Nature’s Realm, an 1891 concert overture by Antonín Dvorák, is part of his Nature, Life and Love trilogy. This lyrical, evocative orchestral work expresses serenity and admiration for nature through its treatment of the colours of the orchestra. We find these elements again, albeit in a more abstract and introspective form, in Franz Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony: although it only has two movements, it forms a self-contained, solemn diptych, with melodic lines as simple as they are poignant.

Possibly the most groundbreaking work in the history of music, Ludwig van Beethoven’s 1803 Symphony No. 3 in E flat, “Eroica”, is in a league of its own. Listeners can perceive how the symphony genre is expanded through the incorporation of dramatic crescendos, dizzying counterpoints and themes that alternate between lyricism and heroics. Moreover, Beethoven’s famous retraction of the dedication – disillusioned with Napoleon upon his coronation as emperor – shifts the notion of the hero and reaffirms the Romantic composer’s authenticity in the face of cosmic dramaturgy.

Bicentenary of the death of L. V. Beethoven.