Beethoven In Aeternum
Cherubini [Requiem in C minor], Beethoven (d. 1827)[Symphony No. 1] and Ignaz von Seyfried [Libera Me]

Saturday, 10 April 2027, 19:30
Cadogan Hall, 5 Sloane Terrace, London SW1X 9DQ

This concert marks the 200th anniversary of the death of the German composer Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827).  He was a seminal figure in the history of music, his personal style being a key driver of the transition from Classical to Romantic music.  He expanded instrumental forms such as the symphony, the piano sonata, and the string quartet.  Beethoven is widely revered as one of the greatest composers of all time, and his compositions are among the most performed in the world.

Born Maria Luigi Carlo Zenobio Salvatore Cherubini in Florence in 1760, the young Luigi's instruction in music began at the age of six with his father, Bartolomeo.  Considered a child prodigy, Cherubini studied counterpoint and dramatic style at an early age and, by the time he was thirteen, he had composed several religious works.  He achieved a considerable following for his operas and ballet in the early part of his life but, disappointed with the decreasing acclaim for his theatre work, later moved more towards religious and church-based music, including seven masses and two requiems.   Cherubini's Requiem in C minor (1816), commemorating the anniversary of the execution of King Louis XVI, was a huge success. The work was greatly admired by the likes of Schumann, Brahms and Beethoven, the latter regarding Cherubini as the greatest composer of his era.  Indeed, the Requiem was performed in 1827 at Beethoven's funeral - this year marking the two hundredth anniversary.  In 1836, Cherubini wrote his Requiem in D minor for men's voices to be performed at his own funeral, which occurred six years later. 

Ignaz Xaver Ritter von Seyfried (1776-1841) was an Austrian musician, conductor and composer who was born and died in Vienna.  According to his own handwritten memoirs, he was a pupil of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.  When von Seyfried wrote Libera Me, it was intended to accompany performances of Mozart's then unfinished Requiem as it matched the work in terms of style and instrumental forces, and covered text missing from Mozart's version.   He was a prolific composer and also well-known as an arranger of other composers' works.  His arrangement of Beethoven's Three Equals for Four Trombones for a four-part men's chorus and the Libera Me were also performed at Beethoven's funeral. 

Beethoven's Symphony No1 in C major completes the programme for this concert.

Source : Wikipedia