Lecture: Beethoven’s 7th Symphony and the Revolution

Beethoven’s 7th Symphony was written between 1811 and 1812 and has often been considered as an “Apotheosis of Dance”, as Richard Wagner said.  Its first performance, on 8 December 1813, under the direction of Beethoven himself, was a huge success and since then, the Symphony has become one of the most popular pieces of classical music in the world. But despite the fact that the 7th Symphony is the perfect example of a very enchanting use of rhythm, the conference will also focus on the political, social and artistic context of Beethoven’s work. It will try to show how a piece of music can be conceived and understood as a truly complete revolutionary act. Besides giving an introduction to Beethoven’s music and its political background, the conference will therefore try to familiarize the students with an artwork that is, in itself, the expression of the ideal of change. It will show how music can carry a message and how music can demonstrate that if a new world can be dreamt of, it can also come to pass.