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Beethoven: Sparks of Joy – A Call for Creatures of Prometheus.

Ballet  was a very popular entertainment in 18th century Vienna, and Beethoven composed his first ballet, the “Ritterballet” (Dance of the Knights) in 1791, while still in Bonn. Ten years later, he collaborated with the noted dancer and composer Salvatore Viganò on a ballet with mime, called “Creatures of Prometheus”.

A handbill for the first performance in the Burgtheater in Vienna on 28 March 1801 provides the following synopsis: “This allegorical ballet is based on the myth of Prometheus. The Greek philosophers who knew him tell the story in the following manner: they depict Prometheus as a lofty spirit who, finding the human beings of his time in a state of ignorance, refined them through art and knowledge and gave them laws of right conduct. In accordance with this source, the ballet presents two animate statues who, by the power of harmony, are made susceptible to all the passions of human existence. Prometheus takes them to Parnassus to receive instruction from Apollo, god of the arts, who commands Amphion, Arion and Orpheus to teach them music, [and] Melpomene and Thalia [to teach them] tragedy and comedy. Terpsichore aids Pan who introduces them to the Pastoral Dance which he has invented, and from Bacchus they learn his invention – the Heroic Dance.”

In addition to the overture, Beethoven composed 16 numbers. It was well received by the audience, with 21 further performances, but with one critic opining that “his writing here is too learned for a ballet”. Today, only the overture is regularly heard. The following performance is arranged as “a concert suite in four movements with overture”, omitting some of the numbers. [Notes by Margaret Scialdone.]

Beethoven: Sparks of Joy — the incomparable violin concerto in D major

Beethoven composed his only violin concerto in 1806, specifically for the young violinist Franz Clement, whose playing was described as being of “indescribable tenderness”. The premier was chaotic, with Clement at one point interrupting the program to play one of his own compositions while holding the violin upside-down! Other violinists attempted the work with little success, and the concerto languished for several decades. It was the sensational 1844 performance by the 13-year-old Joseph Joachim, with Felix Mendelssohn conducting, which firmly established Beethoven’s Violin Concerto as one of the monuments in the repertoire.
Itzhak Perlman and Daniel Barenboim collaborated in this extraordinary 1992 performance. [Notes by Margaret Scialdone.]

Beethoven: Sparks of Joy — the 1795 Horn Sextet

Though published in 1810, the Horn Sextet was composed some time around 1795, when Beethoven was a newcomer to Vienna and popular taste was dominated by Haydn and the recently-deceased Mozart. Scored for two horns, two violins, viola and cello, the horn parts are so demanding that Beethoven probably composed with specific players in mind (one possibility being his Bonn publisher Simrock, who was a talented amateur horn player).
It’s performed here by members of the National Symphony Orchestra. [Notes by Margaret Scialdone.]