Yannick Nézet-Séguin Conductor
PROGRAM
Hunt Climb WORLD PREMIERE - PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA COMMISSION
Beethoven Symphony No. 2
INTERMISSION
Beethoven Symphony No. 3 ("Eroica")
Beethoven was just beginning to go deaf when he wrote his Second Symphony and though he was losing his hearing, he was finding his voice. He could have composed a manifestation of despair, but instead gave the world one of his most ebullient and life-affirming works. The Third Symphony was groundbreaking, a turning point in the composer's oeuvre and a watershed in musical history. A vast ode to heroism, revolution, and freedom, the “Eroica” is considered by many to be the greatest not just of Beethoven's symphonies, but of all time.
The year 2020 marks the 250th birthday of Beethoven. The Philadelphia Orchestra celebrates this milestone by performing music by composers of today in dialogue with Beethoven's symphonies. Composer-in- Residence Gabriela Lena Frank, and a diverse group of composers from her Creative Academy of Music, offer newly written works that inspire and push boundaries—to elevate the context in which Beethoven's legacy is understood today.