IDAGIO | Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 - Romances 4260123641481

Featuring

Heiko Mathias Förster
Ursula Schoch
Neue Philharmonie Westfalen
Ludwig van Beethoven

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Performer Biography

Ursula Schoch, the violinist on this recording, plays a violin made by J. B. Guadagnini in 1755.

Composition History

Beethoven's Seventh Symphony, though influenced by French Revolutionary music, was composed "against Bonaparte" due to the composer's aversion to Napoleon's betrayal of ideals and war mania.

Performer Biography

The Neue Philharmonie Westfalen, the orchestra on this recording, was formed in 1996 from the merger of two orchestras in the northern Ruhr area.

Recording & Production

This album was recorded in August and November 2009 at the Studio of the Neue Philharmonie Westfalen in Recklinghausen.

Compositional Technique

Each of the four movements in Beethoven's Seventh Symphony is structured like an essay on a specific rhythmic formula that pervades and unifies the entire movement.

Critical Reception

Carl Maria von Weber, a contemporary composer, asserted that Beethoven was "ready for the madhouse" when he wrote the dissonantly grating bass lines in the outer movements of the Seventh Symphony.

Historical Context

Beethoven was fascinated by the "terrible impetus" and "triumphant radiance" found in the music of French Revolution and Napoleonic era composers like Grétry, Cherubini, Méhul, and Gossec.