Beethoven Fantasy

Beethoven was highly impulsive by nature, subject to abrupt mood swings that often upset his entire entourage. It is perhaps this very character trait that gave birth to one of his most original works. Composed in 1808, the Fantasy for piano, choir and orchestradefies all attempts at categorisation. An unclassifiable as well as visionary work, its Enlightenment text is as remarkable as it musical theme, which foreshadows the Ode to Joyin what might arguably be considered a first draft for the Ninth Symphony … fifteen years earlier! For his first mass, Beethoven’s innovation juxtaposes five almost entirely autonomous symphonic parts. In this new universe where the orchestra becomes the narrator, the human voice itself loses its concertante character to blend into this brilliant, sonic celebration.