All-Beethoven holiday concert ... Saturday, December 3, 1988

Abstract

"Some commentators have suggested that Beethoven's music for voices is not as "grateful" to singers as, say, the vocal music of Schubert or Brahms. These observers miss the point. Part of the significance of his legacy is that, to an unprecedented degree, he divorced himself from the pragmatic approach to composition: he conceived his music for ideal performers and for ideal listeners. Like many composers, he treated the human voice much like an instrument. His Masses, like those of Haydn and Mozart, should be heard as impressive choral "symphonies." Because of his idealism, however, he tended to overlook the difficulties his music presented to performers. And, because of his idealism, he sought to achieve a powerful union of text and musical gesture. His individuality enabled him to transform the Mass into an ecumenical statement as well as a highly personal one and to create a memorable hybrid such as the Choral Fantasia, which is part piano concerto, part festival ode. It may be preposterous to rate human experience, but this is done consciously and unconsciously all the time. And, if like the poet, hearing the music of Beethoven is for you "the best the world can give," you are certainly neither alone nor keeping poor company."--Notes by Michael Budds