Beethoven Reconstructed

Ludwig van Beethoven has fascinated generations of performers, audiences, and musicologists as he wrote, and rejected, many sketches before completing a symphony. By virtue of these notes, we can get a glimpse into the composer’s mind as it moves through the mysterious creative process of composing. Join us as we explore the unknown Beethoven with two reconstructed compositions. For Symphony No. 10 E-flat Major, English musicologist Barry Cooper took Beethoven’s fragmentary sketches for a first movement of an unfinished symphony and reconstructed the movement in the style of Beethoven. In a world premiere, Cincinnati-based pianist Awadagin Pratt will perform a new reconstruction of the Piano Concerto No. 6 in D Major by Dutch pianist and composer Cees Nieuwenhuizen.

The second half of the program begins with the most recognizable opening four notes to any symphony – three G’s and an e-flat – which announce Beethoven’s famous Symphony No. 5. The performance will be accompanied by readings from Beethoven’s Heiligenstadt Testament, an open letter the composer wrote to his brothers Carl and Johann detailing his mental health struggles as a result of his increasing deafness.