Beethoven’s Ode to Joy

With Beethoven’s Leonore Overture No.3, Sir Mark and the Hallé launch the celebratory Beethoven cycle in tandem with the BBC Philharmonic. It’s a concert that brings together Manchester’s musical community, performing lesser-known works of the composer alongside his final, ground-breaking symphony. As a foil to the symphonies, both orchestras give prominence to Beethoven’s choral works, and in particular gems like Elegischer Gesang (Elegiac Song), a memorial to the wife of a close friend, which is performed by the Hallé Youth Choir. Beethoven’s ground-breaking Ninth Symphony redefined the very nature of the genre; the setting of Schiller’s Ode to Joy in the finale, the first use of voices in a symphony, creates a staggering effect.