Beethoven: Pastorale im Wiener Musikverein

About the Event

How does nature sound in music, how do the feelings it evokes in us sound? Principal conductor Fabien Gabel explores this question with the sound artists – and has chosen two of the most beautiful examples to do so. Ludwig van Beethoven's Sixth Symphony was called “Sinfonia caracteristica” and “Sinfonia pastorella” in the first sketches, “Memories of Country Life” was the title given to the work at its premiere, and when it went to press, the name was finally changed to “Symphony Pastorale.” A murmuring brook, birdsong, dancing country folk, thunderstorms, storms and subsequent peace, inspired by stays in Nussdorf and Grinzing: “Im Sommerwind” (In the Summer Wind) is not far away, composed almost 100 years later, a late Romantic, beguiling piece of nature magic by the 21‐year‐old Anton Webern. As fine as cobwebs, the connections between these two works also extend to Threadsuns, a work for viola and orchestra penned by South Korean composer Donghoon Shin, born in 1983. Amihai Grosz, principal violist of the Berliner Philharmoniker, performs this subtle lament, whose title refers to a well‐known poem by Paul Celan.

Wiener Musikverein

The Wiener Musikverein is one of the world's great concert halls. The home of the Vienna Philarmonic Orchestra and the centre of Viennese musical life, the building was opened in 1870 as a part of an ambitious plan to create an elegant cultural boulevard along the Ringstrasse. Designed in the Neo‐Classical style to resemble an Ancient Greek temple, the Great Hall of the Musikverein is deemed to be one of the best music halls in the world thanks to its impeccable acoustics.
In 2004 four new halls were added to the building. The Austrian architect Wilhelm Holzbauer recognised the aesthetic importance of the existing building and sought out ways to echo the style in a modern language of form. Each of the four New Halls focuses on a different material — glass, metal, stone, and wood.