Post Description

Napoleon had overthrown the French government in 1799 and Beethoven, an admirer of the democratic ideals of the French Revolution was shocked that a leader he greatly admired and who in some ways was a model for his won career could perform such an undemocratic act. The composer was at the same time faced with the reality of his increasing deafness. 

Although the Second Symphony is widely considered to be one of Beethoven’s most humorous and vital compositions there are many pointers to the political and personal turmoil just beneath the surface of the music.

The Sixth or ‘Pastoral’ Symphony was written in 1808 when Beethoven’s deafness had become a reality and Napoleon’s transition from hero to devil was complete. Again on the surface the work is idyllic and pastoral but political and emotional cross currents are not far from the surface if the performers take the trouble to look for them.

When Bernard Haitink agreed to perform and record the complete Beethoven Symphonies in 2005 with the London Symphony Orchestra, one of his first decisions was to rethink almost everything that he had learned about Beethoven over a lifetime of conducting his music and re evaluate his interpretation of the Symphonies as the work of one of music’s greatest revolutionaries. The result was a triumphant series of performances and recordings hailed as ‘the cycle for the new century’.