NameDay!

[Joy]

On NPR tonight they are featuring The Chamber Orchestra of Europe conducted by Thomas Ades in Beethoven's "Namensfeier Overture." They will be discussing these "rejected ideas that Beethoven had for a setting of the "Ode to Joy" and that he made them into an Overture that he finished on the Kaiser's Name-Day. Are these rejected ideas from The Ode? I wasn't aware of that. Any comments on this?

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'Truth and beauty joined'

[sjwenger]

Is there a "Listen Live" link?

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Fate banging on the door with a jackhammer

[Michael]

Originally posted by Joy:
On NPR tonight they are featuring The Chamber Orchestra of Europe conducted by Thomas Ades in Beethoven's "Namensfeier Overture." They will be discussing these "rejected ideas that Beethoven had for a setting of the "Ode to Joy" and that he made them into an Overture that he finished on the Kaiser's Name-Day. Are these rejected ideas from The Ode? I wasn't aware of that. Any comments on this?

I don't know about the Ninth Symphony, but the sketches for this overture are among those for the Seventh and Eighth symphonies and Robert Simpson suggests that B rhythmically modified the main theme because it threatened to become too similar to the scherzo of the Seventh.
Incidentally, Joy, how does it feel to have the great Ode dedicated to you?

Michael

[Peter]

Originally posted by Joy:
On NPR tonight they are featuring The Chamber Orchestra of Europe conducted by Thomas Ades in Beethoven's "Namensfeier Overture." They will be discussing these "rejected ideas that Beethoven had for a setting of the "Ode to Joy" and that he made them into an Overture that he finished on the Kaiser's Name-Day. Are these rejected ideas from The Ode? I wasn't aware of that. Any comments on this?

Beethoven sketched this overture over a 5 year period and in 1812 toyed with the notion of adding choral parts with words from Schiller's 'Ode to Joy'. It was first performed at a charity concert on xmas day 1815 without any title.

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'Man know thyself'

[Hofrat]

Originally posted by Joy:
On NPR tonight they are featuring The Chamber Orchestra of Europe conducted by Thomas Ades in Beethoven's "Namensfeier Overture." They will be discussing these "rejected ideas that Beethoven had for a setting of the "Ode to Joy" and that he made them into an Overture that he finished on the Kaiser's Name-Day. Are these rejected ideas from The Ode? I wasn't aware of that. Any comments on this?

If I am not mistaken, Beethoven wrote the overture "Nameday" in 1814-1815. He started to sketch the 9th Symphony in 1817, and the idea of using the Schiller ode came to him toward the end of the composition in 1822-1823. So, I would think Beethoven could not use thematic material from the 1820's for an overture in 1815.

Then again, Beethoven would carry ideas in his head a long time before committing them to sketchbooks. Since he expressed the desire of writing a setting for the Schiller ode as early as 1795, it would be difficult to discern which ideas he rejected for the ode between 1795-1815 that may have been retooled for other compositions during the same period.

Actually, I think that the 2nd theme from the "King Stephen" overture (1811-1812) sounds very much like the Ode theme.


Hofrat

[Joy]

Originally posted by Michael:

Incidentally, Joy, how does it feel to have the great Ode dedicated to you?

Michael

Wonderful!!! Old Ludwig must have known what he was doing!



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'Truth and beauty joined'

[Joy]

Originally posted by sjwenger:
Is there a "Listen Live" link?

Yes, there is. Just go to the right of the page and click on 'Click here to listen to the live audio stream.'
http://kbaq.rio.maricopa.edu/


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[sjwenger]

I didn't find the Name Day Overture program in time to hear it. Does anyone have a tape or CD to share? Please?

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Fate banging on the door with a jackhammer