Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No.7 in A major – Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra (HD 1080p)

The Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra performs Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No.7 in A major, Op.92. The concert was recorded at First Presbyterian Church in Santa Monica, on November 23, 2014.

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Ludwig van Beethoven completed his Seventh Symphony in 1812, but withheld the first performance until December 8, 1813, in Vienna. It is scored for pairs of flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, horns, and trumpets, plus timpani and string choir.

1812 was an eventful year for the very famous, seriously deafened Beethoven. July was especially noteworthy. At Teplitz he finally met Goethe (1749-1832), but was disappointed to find (he felt) an aging courtier who was no longer a firebrand or kindred democrat; worse yet, a musical dilettante. A week before that only meeting of German giants, Beethoven had written the letter to his mysterious "immortal beloved" that was discovered posthumously in a secret drawer. Then, toward the end of the year, he meddled unbidden in the affairs of his youngest brother, Johann, who was cohabiting contentedly with a housekeeper. Somehow, he found time to compose the last of his ten sonatas for violin and piano and to complete a new pair of symphonies – the Seventh and Eighth – both begun in 1809. He introduced the Seventh at a charity concert for wounded soldiers, and repeated it four nights later by popular demand.

Richard Wagner called Symphony No.7 "the apotheosis of the dance", meaning of course to praise its Dionysian spirit. But this oxymoron stuck like feathers to hot tar, encouraging irrelevant and awkward choreography (by Isadore Duncan and Léonide Massine among others) and licensing the music appreciation racket to misinterpret Beethoven's intent as well as his content. Wholly abstract and utterly symphonic, the Seventh was his definitive break with stylistic conventions practiced by Mozart, Haydn, and a legion of lesser mortals who copied them. He stretched harmonic rules, and gave breadth to symphonic forms that Haydn and Mozart anticipated. If, in his orchestral music, Beethoven was the last Austro-German Classicist, he did point those who followed him to the path of Romanticism.

While the poco sostenuto introduction begins by observing time-honored rules of harmony, within 62 measures it modulates from A major to the alien keys of C and F major, then back again! The transition from solemn 4/4 meter to 6/8 for the balance of an evergreen vivace movement (in sonata form) further exemplifies Beethoven's conceptual stretch.

Coming from the 20-minute funeral march of his earlier Eroica Symphony, Beethoven created an allegretto "slow" movement. He established a funerary mood (without its being specifically elegiac) through the repetition of a 2/4 rhythmic motif in A minor, the most somber key of the tempered scale. A minor serves more than an expressive function, moreover; it readies us for the reappearance of F major in a tumultuous five-part Scherzo marked Presto. Two trios go slower (assai meno presto), in D major – a long distance harmonically in 1812 from the work's A major tonic. The beginning of a third trio turns into a short coda capped by five fortissimo chords.

A major finally returns in the final movement. Here more than anywhere else in his orchestral music, Beethoven became a race-car driver. As in the "slow" movement, the rhythm is 2/4, but sonata-form replaces ABA. And there's a grand coda longer than the exposition, the development, or the reprise, which, furthermore, begins in B minor! But modulations bring it back to A major in time for a heart-pounding final lap with the accelerator pressed to the floor.

Source: Roger Dettmer (allmusic.com)



Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

♪ Symphony No.7 in A major, Op.92 (1811-1812)

i. Poco sostenuto – Vivace [00:00]*
ii. Allegretto [12:20]
iii. Presto – Assai meno presto (trio) [21:28]
iv. Allegro con brio [31:18]

Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra

Concertmaster: Ai Nihira, violin 

First Presbyterian Church in Santa Monica, November 23, 2014

(HD 1080p)

* Start time of each movement

Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra: About

Vision. We envision a world where our commitment to a collaborative artistic process results in profound orchestral performances that inspire people to pursue cooperation and artistry in their own creative, professional and personal lives.

Mission. Kaleidoscope is a conductorless chamber orchestra dedicated to enriching lives through exhilarating concert experiences, artistic excellence, musician leadership, and connecting with the diverse communities of Los Angeles.

Core Values
• We believe that our collective of musicians has ideas that are worthy of respect and consideration; that each member has a voice worth hearing; that every person, given the chance and tools, can help to create great art.
• We believe that pursuing a democratic process within the orchestra will improve the quality of the performance, fulfill the collective vision of the ensemble, and create a unique experience not found in traditional orchestras.
• We believe in developing an infrastructure that supports, empowers, and values its musicians.
• We believe in bringing our performances and artistic process to audiences who have little or no exposure to symphonic music with the belief that the experience will enrich the lives of both the audience and the performers.

Artistic Intent. We perform orchestral music that speaks profoundly to our community and is both representative of its time and timeless, whether written today or centuries ago. We stretch the boundaries for what is thought possible without a conductor, both by musicians and audiences, to allow us all to grow through the process. We regularly collaborate with living composers because their music represents our time. We design programs that explore less conventional concert experiences and allow audiences to feel more personally connected to music and the musicians who perform it.

Community Engagement and Education. Kaleidoscope is committed to music education for all ages and is happy to offer a "pay what you can" model to eliminate the barrier of a set ticket price. We want everyone in Los Angeles to have the opportunity to experience great classical music in person by a professional orchestra, think about what that experience means, and pay what makes them happy. We also perform many additional free concerts in schools, hospitals, shelters, and other underserved parts of our community.

We recently started a music education program at a title I elementary school in Culver City, providing music instruction to 200 students each week. With additional funding, we are planning to expand this program to other grades and other schools in the future. Not only do we want every child in Los Angeles to love listening to music, we want every child to have the opportunity to read, play, and write music, too.

Source: kco.la

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