Beethoven's 5th: The Podcast

This weekend, the Harrisburg Symphony performs one of the greatest and most popular symphonies of all times – Beethoven’s 5th, as most people call it (rather than the more formal “Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op.67” by Ludwig van Beethoven). Because he described the opening of the symphony as “Fate Knocks at the Door,” this weekend’s concert is entitled “The Fateful Fifth.” It also includes Robert Schumann’s “Concert Piece for Four Horns” and Béla Bartók’s Divertimento for Strings – this Saturday evening at 8pm and Sunday afternoon at 3pm.

Stuart Malina and I had a chance to chat about the program earlier today, and you can listen to it at Stuart’s website, here (click on the link that says “PODCAST”). For reasons known only to my computer, I can’t get a link to work for the sound file or to have the file just automatically open and start playing, so hopefully you won’t have any problems with it.

While there are many performances of Beethoven's 5th available on YouTube (some good, some not so much), here's a performance of the complete symphony in one clip in a performance by the Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra conducted by Heinrich Schiff:
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There are not many performances of the Schumann Concert Piece for 4 Horns available, but this one is one of the best from a live concert performance. James Judd conducts the Galicia Symphony Orchestra with guest hornist Radovan Vlatkovic joining three members of the orchestra, José Vicente Castelló, Miguel Angel Garza and Manuel Moya. - - - - - - - -
1st Movement - - - - - - - -
2nd Movement - - - - - - - -
3rd Movement - - - - - - - -

Bartok's Divertimento for Strings was written for the full string section of an orchestra. Here is a performance by I Solisti di Zagreb, a chamber ensemble. Keep in mind the idea of a light-hearted "diversion" combined with the spicy harmony of Bartok's love of Hungarian folk-dances and -rhythms and the fact it was written in the grim months before the start of World War II. - - - - - - - -
1st Movement - - - - - - - -
2nd Movement - - - - - - - -
3rd Movement - - - - - - - -
- Dick Strawser