This concert is supported by Dunard Fund. Written at a turbulent
time in the composer’s life - confronted by war, unrequited
love, and financial difficulties - Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony
exemplifies the tragic yet otherworldly genius associated with
Beethoven’s music. Its highlight comes in the second movement
where this unrest seems to pour out in a slow, dark, searingly
beautiful form. The movement is often played on its own, and is
frequently heard on film and television soundtracks, most
recently the 2010 film The King’s Speech. The opening five bars
of his Fifth Symphony – perhaps the best known musical motif
ever written – are startlingly direct and provide the impetus
for the unrelenting forward motion of the whole symphony. The
symphony further distanced Beethoven from the traditions of the
Classical period and firmly positioned him at the forefront of
the transition to Romanticism. Its prominent use of trombones,
piccolo and contrabassoon heralded significant advances in
orchestration and is arguab