Saturday night ' s all right for Beethoven

Consider how much rock music changed in the late 1960s, when the Beatles, the Motown house band and writers, and others created a music far more complex and affecting than the tunes that had come before. The older stuff is great -- but the later stuff took rock to a new level. The same thing happened to classical music in the early 1800s. Haydn, the Chuck Berry of the symphony, had established the format -- four movements, the first one carrying the drama, the second and thirds ones a slow movement and a minuet, and the finale light and brisk. Then Beethoven came along, and singlehandedly did to the symphony what it took Beatles arranger George Martin, Motown bassist Jamie Jameson, Frank Zappa, Crosby Stills & Nash, Yes, Steely Dan and a host of others to do to rock. He wrote music that was bigger and more passionate than anything that came before. His Third Symphony, the Eroica, was indeed heroic, twice the length of Mozart symphonies. The Second and Seventh Symphonies put faster movements in place of minuets; the Fifth used a march. But nothing broke with tradition like the Ninth Symphony, his last. Beethoven's Ninth is big, dramatic and emotional. The fast movement, second of the four, could almost be the theme to a movie or TV news program, and indeed in the 1960s it WAS the theme of the Huntley-Brinkley Report on NBC Television. But Beethoven shifted the dramatic weight of his symphonies to the last movements, and never more so than in the Ninth, where the music echoes and seemingly rejects all the themes that have come before, then proceeds to open up a new vista with a full chorus and four soloists belting out the famous "Ode to Joy." The transition is German words which, translated very loosely into English, mean, "Enough of this sad music. Let's sing!" Soprano Lea Woods Friedman, Mezzo-soprano Gigi Mitchell-Velasco, Tenor Noel Espiritu-Velasco (who celebrated his birthday Thursday, hence his name), and Baritone Quinn Kelsey, who will sing Schiller's words Saturday night at Blaisdell Concert Hall with the Honolulu Symphony, belted out an abbreviated version of the "Ode to Joy" on "Sunrise" Friday morning, accompanied by keyboardist Grant Mack. How they warmed up in the chilly studio at 6:30 a.m. is beyond me, but let that pass. The actual performance Saturday will feature them with a huge symphony orchestra and the full Honolulu Symphony Chorus behind them. It's one of the biggest shows classical music has to offer. And it's an excellent example of a point I've made before, that some music is so big that to get the full effect you have got to hear it live -- I don't care how big your speakers are. If you haven't been to a classical music concert before, and are intrigued by the idea of hearing really BIG music, or exposing your keiki to it, visit http://www.honolulusymphony.com to buy tickets. Most people try to get tickets in the middle of the house, but two other intriguing options for newbies are to sit really close to the stage, so you can really watch the violins and cellos work, or get seats in the balcony, where you can see which musicians are making what noise. Beethoven's Ninth dates from 1824, three years before the fiftysomething composer died. Within the next 30 years, composers were writing symphonies that told stories about drug-induced nightmares of going to hell (Berlioz), symphonies with extra movements (Berlioz, Schumann) and symphonies lasting more than an hour (Schubert). Before the end of the century, composers were capable of composing symphonies depicting novels (Liszt) and symphonies with singing throughout (Mahler). Then other composers reacted against that by writing symphonies that were deliberately short (Webern, Milhaud) and deliberately used smaller resources (Schoenberg). Most of what has happened to orchestral music since Beethoven has been inspired by him or reaction against him.

Comments

[Chuck]

A couple of notes, Howard.

This last summer I had the pleasure of hearing Beethovens' rarely produced "Missa Solemnis" at the Sidney Opera House. Oh the Drama!

It was preceded by a really well done 30 minute lecture, placing the context, musical, cultural and political, which totally enhanced the subesequent performance. Other Orchestras could learn from this example.

Also, I have noticed that those first few rows at Blaisdale have the added benefit that you are hearing what's actually being produced on the stage, not filtered and modified through the sound board. It's more 'raw', but I find I really prefer it.

Chuck