Ludwig van Beethoven
We hosted an inspiring three-day festival in celebration of Beethoven’s 250th birthday. We explored some of his most innovative works with pianist Dr Robert Taub, Music Director, The Arts Institute, the Ruisi Quartet and composer Jonathan Dawe.
“Who makes the rules!”
– Beethoven to his friend Ferdinand Ries when the latter questioned the parallel fifths in the String Quartet in C minor, Op.18 no.4.
In this special festival Robert and guest artists performed works that Beethoven spent many years composing, and which challenged accepted expectations of audiences of his time. Our internationally acclaimed performers animated the dancing black dots on the pages of some of Beethoven's most personal and transcendent works.
As part of the festival we also showcased the world premiere of a new piece composed by Jonathan Dawe. Commissioned by The Arts Institute, Jonathan selected Beethoven’s musical sketches for his last String Quartet, Op.135, and created a new composition for string quartet that brings these sketches to life through musical lenses of our 21st Century.
An unceasing innovator, Beethoven was never content to conform to expected norms of musical composition. He led the vanguard of new music. Driven obsessively by his compelling artistic vision and his belief that creativity is the highest aspiration of mankind, Beethoven sought an all-embracing musical continuum. His ever-expanding concepts of musical perception, perhaps partially engendered by his deafness, enabled him to pursue his Inner Ear unencumbered by pre-conceived limitations of the possible.
Beethoven’s music burst upon the musical world, changing it forevermore. His 32 piano sonatas, the earliest of which he wrote as vehicles for himself as both composer and pianist, were his most immediate and intimate crucible of musical experimentation. He forced forward demands placed upon pianists, upon pianos themselves, and upon listeners. His 16 string quartets often took these experiments of musical perception to further new levels, which in turn were further refined in his nine symphonies.
"Much of Beethoven’s music was revolutionary. It can sound new and innovative today if we immerse ourselves in understanding how his music was created and why, and then play his works as if the ink is barely dry on the pages. That is what we will do."
– Dr Robert Taub.
With support from Fidelio Charitable Trust.
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"I loved it... Bob Taub was an absolute delight with his exceptional playing to illustrate his words. More, please!" - on 'Beethoven's private legacy: his musical sketches', Dec 2020
"The playing by Dr Taub had a freshness that impressed... a delight to watch and hear." - on 'Beethoven's private legacy: his musical sketches', Dec 2020
"It was a fascinating program. It was thrilling to see Beethoven's sketchbooks and to hear Robert Taub perform Beethoven. Thank you." - on 'Beethoven's private legacy: his musical sketches', Dec 2020
