Composer of the Week: Beethoven - Freedom and Joy

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Composer of the Week

Music: Classical

Kate Molleson

An informative guide to composers' lives and their music.

An informative and accessible guide to composers' lives and their music.

Composer of the Week: Beethoven Unleashed: Freedom and Joy: Writing for Eternity

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Writing for Eternity

Beethoven Unleashed: Freedom and Joy

BBC Radio 3 - Composer of the Week, Beethoven Unleashed: Freedom and Joy, Writing for Eternity

Donald Macleod and John Eliot Gardiner discuss Beethoven's Third and Fourth Symphonies.

Donald Macleod is joined by conductor John Eliot Gardiner to discuss Beethoven’s 'Eroica' Symphony and his Fourth Symphony.

They have been described as “the most sublime noise that has ever penetrated into the ear of man”, “an expression of monumental intellect and innermost feeling”, and “music [which] sets in motion the machinery of awe, of fear, of terror, of pain.” There is no question that Beethoven’s nine symphonies changed music forever. The colossal legacy of these works has hovered over generations of composers since, leading Johannes Brahms to exclaim: “You can't have any idea what it's like always to hear such a giant marching behind you!”

Over this week of programmes, Donald Macleod is joined by conductor John Eliot Gardiner, founder of the Monteverdi Choir and the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, to delve into the world of these nine sublime works. 

In Tuesday’s programme, they explore Beethoven’s monumental Third Symphony, ‘Eroica’, which was originally dedicated to Napoleon Bonaparte, and the greatly contrasting symphony that followed it – Beethoven’s Fourth.

Composer of the Week is returning to the story of Beethoven’s life and music throughout 2020. Part of Radio 3’s Beethoven Unleashed season marking the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth.


Producer: Sam Phillips


Composer of the Week: Beethoven Unleashed: Freedom and Joy

Live music and the arts: broadcasts more live music than any other radio network. Classical music is its core. Genres include world and new music, jazz, speech and drama.

Donald Macleod and conductor John Eliot Gardiner explore Beethoven's nine symphonies.

Without question, Beethoven's nine symphonies changed music forever. Donald Macleod is joined by conductor John Eliot Gardiner to delve into the world of these sublime works.

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