Haydn wrote 104 symphonies. For Mozart, this number was 41. What Beethoven found himself faced with was a mature genre that these two great masters of his era had nearly exhausted of its possibilities. Ever serious and always utterly resolved to make an impression, Beethoven therefore knew perfectly well what a formidable task he would be taking on in presenting the audience with a symphony. His first such effort, although displaying many similarities to Haydn's output in the genre, enraged critics even from its opening chord. If only they knew what Beethoven still had in store for them! The Italian composer and pianist Ferruccio Busoni said that Bach is the god, Mozart the angel and Beethoven the man - who must each fight their own way to heaven. Beethoven's oeuvre depicts this struggle, which accomplishes its objective in the Ninth Symphony, when he reaches heaven. This challenging path, this sound, this symphonic ideal, and this approach to art together became the alpha and omega for later composers. Though Beethoven wrote only nine symphonies, these were to become the culmination of a genre made great by Haydn and Mozart.

Presented by: Pannon Philharmonic