And didnt start the symphony in the usual way with a thunderclap in the home key instead he broke all the rules by opening with a dissonant cord. Which initially leaves listeners in the dark. And then leads them astray. The opening circles around the symphonies actual key of c. Major but it never arrives there. Beethovens 1st symphony showed he was someone who hoped his works of art would stand the test of time no more short lived light music for the nobility instead masterpieces for europes increasingly music loving bourgeoisie. Beethoven was the 1st composer to consistently is sign his compositions opus number has symphony number one opus 21. He saw himself as an artist on the same level as the writers sculptures and painters of his day. And he set the highest of standards for himself and others. Earlier composers were guided by musicians abilities based hovan ignored them formulating precise notations in his scores for tempo dynamics and articulation. His art required trained professionals who dedicated long rehearsals to mastering his works and that required institutions that could finance those efforts. Something unexpected happened his revolutionary demands were met. Workers in vienna for many the musical capital of the world and im here at the music fact ivan golde in concert hall. Today the vienna meaning Music Association is known for its legendary concert hall which opened in 870. 00 many consider it to have the best acoustics in the world and we all. No the Vienna Philharmonic orchestra is new years day concert which is broadcast every year live worldwide the music fine was founded in 812 with an idea that changed the world of music citizens joined forces to support v. N. His musical life beethoven also became a member but in his own way. People sort of beethoven was commissioned by the association gazelles chef to music for and to write a piece of music but he was quite unhappy with the text he had to work with all of the Music Association gave him a text that he didnt want to set to music. But he went to visit he thought today accorded downpayment and talks in english drank it on the work was never created on beethoven was famous and it turned down others because he couldnt get deliver anything. And not the 300 of course you cant say to beethoven please give me the money back and so they did something that probably wouldnt be done today they decided he should keep the money and they would make him an honorary member on the field some cute dog is a chef then was it the association has been active for so long and till today and has such a big impact on the musical life in vienna how have you managed to be so influential for so long so sophie i feel so so harm and i certainly have. On the one hand we were the 1st but we didnt just hold concerts well thats when we were founded in 812 that the our main concern was natural conservatory and secure it was the only place in the whole austriahungary an empire to learn music to study music thats conscious youre not the primary focus of this was only the 3rd purpose of lady alexina concert that has changed a lot over time. This insight i know you have been an artistic director here for 31 years you must have heard a lot of beethoven. Would you say its beethoven is a bestseller not delish of the shore in that theres no debate of the most invasive and its always extremely popular will see listening to his music is extremely popular and should likely say its a bestseller and for coughs florida lost friends is what would you say is. Why do people still adore coming to a beethoven cycle and sickos is the Classical Music as or does this is the pinnacle of Classical Music a kind of absolute to music music as i know very so neither you nor the association could imagine a World Without beethoven god forced the occurrence of the culture such an age thing but if you hadnt existed we wouldnt know what wed missed out on the leslie who did and luckily we have. The concept of concert halls for professional musicians quickly conquered the world in the 19th century associations foundations and cities finance these temples of Classical Music these architectural masterpieces. Was. In 891 the 1st american temple of music opened its doors Carnegie Hall is one of the most iconic concert hall in the world and the 1st concert was an 8091 and just one was on the program beethoven of course. They took over and who else it. Was. Planned. The and then they all started coming to new york Richard Strauss celebrated some of his greatest successes here. Mahler conducted here. Gets to see swing legend Benny Goodman were resold on the street for astronomical sums the beatles and bob dylans concerts are legendary if you make it to Carnegie Hall youve really made it but how do you get there practice practice practice. Literally i mean from the word go beethoven has been part of a life here as executive director and artistic director could you even imagine a World Without beethoven well the silly things about him i mean he was a revolutionary in every single way because if one thinks about how people wrote music and the context for music writing music before him you know where you were basically writing music for people most of the time you were told what you have to write you only have the one set of orchestra players yes you had your last resource but you also have to keep somebody satisfied whoevers paying you i mean beethoven didnt feel he had to satisfy anybody he only wrote what he believed in he and every single form that he touched he completely transformed i mean every single aspect of what he did he changed music forever it. Was what does the public like to hear the best from beethoven well i mean its interesting when i mean you as a player for me as an explainer. I dont think theres any piece i played more in mind todd life than the beethoven 5th of a 7763 i mean those were on programs and this is i mean it played over 300 times economy i mean it really got one piece its hard its insanity just that you know so the fact is you could do a beethoven cycle symphony cycle pianists a lot of sighing every single year year after year after year but the fact is its beethoven has an effect which i think almost no other composer does i mean which is you can always sell his music and people use it if you just think when the berlin wall fell its the beethoven not symphony in japan it has to be done every year around christmas all around the world if you use a piece that symbolizes great moments in history it almost has to be played a great moments in history. I. Defect hes had in so many different ways but the tranquilly preparing the platform for the future but also in a way he was the 1st great romantic i mean even though he wasnt yet bad but he prepared the ground for the romantics completely because the whole thing of the emotion and the passion that he brought to everything so its every time change what do you think works best you put beethoven together with modern music is there is there any sort of formula you found its worked really well or does beethoven work best. As as a concert planner in a complete Beethoven Program you know were never thinking in terms of what works best what were thinking is what illuminates what so i mean the fact is yes you can put beethoven in the context of contemporary composers and you can put him in a Historic Context you can i mean almost i mean this is again whats fascinating. If you can put him in almost any context basically you cant imagine a World Without beethoven thats truly unimaginable i mean i would love to know what a great composer coming off to where they would building on so much of what he transformed where with their freedom. Beethoven not only broke new ground with his compositions he also said completely new standards for the concert business and established music as an art form. The. Make you look at Something Like the sixtys when the arts were fundamental in america all the big changes that happened in terms of Race Relations acts womens rights gay rights all of these things the arts played a central role now beethoven was the 1st musician and the 1st composer who actually had a genuine social conscience and he was fighting for things that he really believed in his music is about revolution and his about change its about always being utterly compelling in what you write never comfortable. Beethoven composed his 3rd symphony in Turbulent Times Napoleon Bonaparte had overrun europe with war and brought the ideas of the french revolution to europes monarchies. Beethoven passionately supported the revolutions ideals of freedom Equality Fraternity his 3rd symphony the reflects that enthusiasm. Although napoleon even threatened beethovens adopted home of vienna the composer decided to dedicate his symphony to the french general a gesture he angrily took back furiously scratching napoleons name from the score when the military leader declared himself emperor. In the score he wrote that the symphony was subsequently. Catered to the memory of a great man today is considered revolutionary a great symphonic achievement. Beethovens political convictions influence many of his other compositions. In 1905 he wrote his only opera for delio an opera of liberation its theme is the struggle of the individual against an overpowering to. So beethoven was a political composer. Can social critique and political commitment be expressed through music. Today beethovens 9th symphony is not only the official anthem of the European Union but also a symbol of freedom worldwide. And its been the soundtrack of great historical events including the fall of the berlin wall. To this day beethovens 9th encourages musicians to take a political stand there. Are. No war. 9095 days theres only one real question in peoples minds as far as im concerned one decision to be might which side are you on. In the mid 1980 s. Billy bragg became the musical face of britains political conflicts the coal miners strike had paralyzed the country for months the miners were protesting against pit closures and many people across the United Kingdom were showing a solidarity. I. Nominate you for just start a career or some other kind of public. Singersongwriter when the miners strike how can you and the working class mobilize against Margaret Thatcher and suddenly i was in the white place of the right time to start a more ideological kind of political some wine and thank many musicians of his generation did he practice influenced by punk rock which emerged in england in the late 1970 s. The french responsible for what little choice i should when they played a really 1st big rock against racism festival in london in london something i went along it was the 1st political act which might have taken part and that i changed my perspective on the world. I think by one can be a role model to die when i was tasked with writing a new english language lyric for the go to joy rather than try to translate directly she was original pinewood just one line alan mentioned good and good on them become brothers as that universal idea of humanity and build on that my lyric is more or less an expansion of that idea and i think that if it speaks to us down the ages whenever the ode to joy is used its always that humanity that is evoked the joy of humanity in all its forms is that in beethovens night something at young and the currency of music what we do is empathy thats what were singing about were were trying to make people feel as if theyre not. Alone were trying to make people feel emotions for someone theyve never met perhaps all experiences that theyve never themselves have so thats what were dealing with again whether were political or not yes i mean any song was dealing with that but if you match that empathy with activism if you encourage your audience to become active. And you really are going to need to do something because if you mix and that they will be 3 good solid hours. So is it the text or is it the music of the final movement of beethovens night symphony which has such a political impact. That i decided to ask someone who knows his way around politics as well as beethoven not atlanta is one of germanys best known politicians he was president of the German Parliament for 12 years and hes a great beethoven fan. Since he do you think that the piece is powerful as a political statement more through the text and what does the music also has something to do with it bites try and find flaws in music on the influence that music and musicians have had on Societal Development you know that is remarkable to especially in recent Human History dash butyl is going to be for been known incidentally the connection between music and lyrics plays a rather decisive role he. Gave in the heart of. New instrumental music i believe usually does not produce that kind of comparable immobilizing political effect that. Singer songwriters or composers manage to deliberately tackle political topics in texas and can achieve much better results than a petition shuffle on texan also known as a. Link didnt go into is a 9th symphony is still a bold statement for many it was a statement i did a little experiment at the Brandenburg Gate and played the theme of the last movement of the night symphony for the tourists most of them said it was the european at home and not beethovens 9th symphony going to beethoven. Need is to the melody has become the european anthem without the work and has clearly become independent almost everyone knows the melody already not everyone by a long shot invited knows of. Its content text. The venezuelan pianist Gabriela Montero lives in barcelona she has a skill that few classical pianist have mastered the art of improvise ation. Knowing the anecdotes of how beautiful and works sit down improvise in the middle of his son arthurs in the middle of his written works give me a sense that. Perhaps in the past the great genius is. Well jim sells a license to see music as not something that was fixed but rather malleable. Gabrielle the montero is also known for her political commitment shes a strong critic of the regime in her home country of venezuela. The. People often asked me why i became involved why do i talk about politics and such things that i share sometimes if you were to look at my social media inbox you would see hundreds if not thousands of stories of venezuelans who have shared with me countless stories of horror of exile of murder kidnap starvation family members dying for lack of medicine the most basic human needs are not. Enjoyed by the whole country. Big so when you live but music is a great amplifier and magnifier of underlying motivations is example of using the beautiful tool of music to tell a story to raise awareness and to leave an imprint in history telling us today what he went in he lived through at the time. Is something thats valid for all generations i think it was a great example of someone who not only some music as. A tool for joy or a tool for for static beauty but rather a tool for carrying a message that was perhaps even more important than just some writing something sublime yaya was what was the most innovative thing about beethoven. It was ecomog and the longer i delve into music in general and into beethoven in particular the more i come to the conclusion that the connection between tradition and innovation was the most outstanding feature for him does. One cannot seriously say that beethoven had nothing to do with the history of music the preexisting traditions are quite the contrary and converse league there is hardly anyone else who handles this tradition so confidently and then immediately blows it archives. Went. Hey. Its incredible how much beethoven has shaped our music world. Thats the end of part one but beethovens influence reach into many other genres. Join me for part 2 will be looking at beethoven in the world of film music and john. Mean. The. Mother. Let. Us. d see. In a globalized world. Where everything is connected to. All it takes 6 to set things in motion a. Local hero show called their ideas can change the world. Global 3000. And 30 minutes on d w. Africa. These freshly hatched sea turtles in an ivory coast are under threat. Humans are their greatest enemies. But one in geo is working with researchers in the Maritime Police to protect. The saving the sea turtles the ivory coast. To coast for. 90 minutes t. W. Look closely. Listen carefully. Listen to this to get. Discover the. Subscribe to the documentary on to. Cut. This is deja vu news and these our top stories u. S. President donald trump has presided over ceremony marking the normalization of relations between 2 arab states and israel leaders of the United Arab Emirates and the rain joined trump and israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to sign formal agreements its the 1st time in more than a quarter of century that arab states have established diplomatic ties with israel. Germ
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