Relayed from THE QUEEN'S HALL, LONDON
(Sole Lessees, Messrs. Chappell and Co., Ltd.)
Beethoven
JOAN COXON
DAVID WISE
THE B.B.C. SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
(Principal First Violin, CHARLES WOODHOUSE)
Conducted by Sir HENRY WOOD
THIS overture was composed for the opening of the Josephstadt Theatre in Vienna in 1822, consequently the music, containing a fanfare and a fugue, is rather ceremonial in form, though in spirit it is lively enough. This is practically the last orchestral work Beethoven wrote, with the exception of the Ninth Symphony and the Mass in D, both of which were still engaging his attention at the time. Indeed, he broke off his work on these to write this overture. Two years later it was performed again, figuring in the historic programme at the Karnthnerthor Theatre on May 7, 1824, when the greater part of the Mass in D and the Ninth Symphony were produced. The concert was promoted by a number of influential musical people in Vienna, including Prince Lichnowsky, and the enthusiasm of the audience was tremendous. It was on this occasion that Beethoven -totally deaf, of course, to the applause-did not even realize that it was going on, and had to be turned round in order that he might see, even if he could not hear.
BEETHOVEN was thirty-one when he composed the Ballet Music to Prometheus, and it was put on in the same year at the Court Theatre in Vienna. It had a run of sixteen nights, which in those days was considered a real success. It was also immediately published as a pianoforte solo, which was another indication that the work had made good. Haydn heard it, and met Beethoven, whom he really did not much like, in the street the next day ; ' I heard your new Ballet last night,' said Haydn, ' and it pleased me much.' Beethoven, pleased, replied: ' 0 lieber Papa, you are too good; but it is no Creation by a long way.' Haydn evidently felt this was an unnecessary and rather ridiculous comparison, and he was a little taken aback. ' You are right,' he said, though probably not. intending to hurt, ' it is no Creation and I hardly think it ever will be.'