Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Concerto in E flat major was composed under constraints in times of political distress on the one hand. On the other hand, the work arose from the creative spirit of a joyful Beethoven full of zest for action, freshly inspired by his successful engagement as a composer in Vienna in the service of Archduke Rudolf of Austria, the dedicatee of the work.
It was the decade between 1802 and 1812, often referred to as Beethoven’s “middle Viennese years”, which was characterized by the peak of his creative output, his “heroic” phase. He composed six of his nine symphonies, including the “Eroica”. In 1809, when the French artillery was bombarding the gates of Vienna, Beethoven wrote at the bottom of the first page of the Adagio un poco moto of his 5th Piano Concerto: “Österreich löhne Napoleon” – Austria, pay Napoleon back for what he did to him. At the beginning of the first solo, he wrote “dämmernd” (dawning) as a protesting counterpoint to the first movement, thus stating his attitude.
77 years later, Johannes Brahms struggled through his first symphony. An undertaking that took several years, while his Second captured the pastoral idyll in the summer months at Lake Wörthersee in the short space of just four months, during a peak phase of his creative output. What was to become of the symphonic form after all the great role models, such as Beethoven, who had already said everything in their works?
Brahms freed himself from these doubts through his work on his first symphony. The waves of this liberation are his second symphony. The resounding success of the work with audiences and critics, which Clara Schumann had already foreseen, reassured Brahms that a role model like Beethoven could by no means only mean an end, but only progress.
Tickets, as well as discounts for children and young people up to the age of 20, are also available directly from the organizer on +43 676 34 67 863.
