Göteborgs Konserthus CANCELED: THE BEETHOVEN-MARATHON

Event has already taken place

Experience Beethoven’s all nine symphonies in one day! In a unique event Gothenburg’s two large orchestras will merge to celebrate Beethoven’s 250th anniversary. In this concert we will expreience the Symphonies no. 6, 8 and 3 in Gothenburg Concert Hall.

What a wonderful start to the day! Beautiful bird song in lush winds, a rippling stream that softly winds through the valleys of the lush landscape and sweeps past the peasants dance in the barn. But a storm is blowing up! Beethoven was in his most harmonious mood when he wrote the Pastoral Symphony, Symphony number six, about life in the countryside.

Four years later, the idyll had faded in Beethoven’s music but the playfulness – he was not only fierce! – was still there. Or maybe he just wanted to put the bourgeoisie to the test with the eighth symphony with its sophisticated rhythmic changes and drive and with the metronomic ticking rhythm in the second movement. Or was it just a protest against the fact that everything could be measured and analyzed? Beethoven was a supporter of the French Revolution where objectivity and rationality were the main issues. Here, the exact length of one meter was determined, the exact weight of one kilogram.

In discussions with Jean Baptiste Bernadotte (later King Karl XIV Johan in Sweden) at the French Embassy in Vienna, Beethoven vividly discussed new ideals. But when Napoleon, in his eagerness to conquer all of Europe, proclaimed himself emperor, Beethoven had enough: he angrily took back the dedication of his third symphony to Napoleon – and revised it with “out of tune” screaming horns, a shaking funeral march and a final that surpassed everything previously heard. This was the first revolutionary symphony in music history.

A marathon requires fluid and nutrition

Although Beethoven himself is said to have put the music before his social life, there is every reason to meet over some food or something to drink during the day in the company of his symphonies. The Concert Hall and Opera’s restaurants are open, so book in advance and take a breather between the concerts or during the break.