Soundtrack to My Life: Nancy November
18 Dec, 2020 05:01 PM
4 minutes to read
Dr Nancy November with an early 19th-century arrangement of Beethoven's "Eroica" Symphony for a string quintet. Photo / Supplied
Dr Nancy November with an early 19th-century arrangement of Beethoven's "Eroica" Symphony for a string quintet. Photo / Supplied
By: Joanna Wane
Emperor Piano Concerto No. 5
(composed in 1810)
I study and analyse music, so I can tell you a lot about what it does and
how it works. But there's still the X-factor that draws us in, even if you can't quite put your finger on it. My parents were very keen on classical music and, as a child, this piece fascinated me. It was Beethoven's last piano concerto, when his works were very explorative, so it's quite experimental and cutting-edge. It's very evocative music – the idea of something slightly out of reach or a little bit veiled. Melancholy is a good word. We think of Beethoven as a composer, but when he first arrived in Vienna, he was known as a virtuoso pianist. That's what makes for the excitement in his music, because he's pushing this piece of hardware right to the limits of what it can do, both expressively and as an instrument.