The Bottom Line: This disc is an excellent kind of lesson into two of the best works of Beethoven, even if both of them are not on the same scale of popularity.
MattA75's Full Review: Beethoven: Symphonies 4 & 7 / Harnoncourt, CO of E...
This is my very late entry into the classical music write off, hosted by one jay1051971, one of the truly best music writers on this site. I apologize to the other participants for my lateness in both posting and reading the other entries. I needed to get away from this site for a few days and clear my head.
Unlike my brothers, I've always had somewhat of a taste for classical music. I used to take random classical CD's out of the library to put on while I read and or studied back in high school, always having to hide the case so I wouldn't have to put up with their Nazi-like musical tastes (dammit, you will listen to rock and only rock and if you listen to anything else we shall taunt you until you give in, really quite frightening I assure you).
In terms of actual works, I didn't really know titles. I mean, sure, I KNEW the 1812 Overture (I'm from Boston, if I don't know that I should just move out now), I KNEW The Four Seasons, I KNEW a couple of Beethoven's symphonies. It wasn't until I took a history of music class my junior year in college though, that I really found some stuff that clicked with me.
I remember my professor played a piece of Beethoven's 4th Symphony for us. I had never really heard anyone talk about his 4th Symphony, outside of casually mentioning that he had to of had a 4th if he had something called the 9th. :)
From the moment my professor played the 4th Symphony, it struck a chord with me. Just something about the way it built itself up extremely slowly, and then kind of exploded into this huge hopeful extravangant piece that just seemed to cry out to make every person on earth smile. I immediately asked my professor to borrow his CD so I could copy it, and thankfully he agreed. The performance was by the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt.
With four parts, the 4th Symphony goes through many many tempo changes, although it should never lose your interest. My professor had only played the first part for us, although listening to the whole thing now, it kind of takes on several different themes in terms of mood. It is everything from somber to playful to downright dreary in parts. There's something about it that really fits me, something that is intangible and indescribable.
Also on the same disc was Beethoven's 7th Symphony. This piece is much darker than the 4th Symphony, meaning you get a nice dichotomy between the two works, with one rather vibrant and jovial, the other mostly dark, which probably speaks more to what Beethoven was going through at the time of it's writing than anything else.
While these two symphonies are kind of on opposite ends with regards to being known (the 7th is much more familiar to non classical music folks than the 4th), the 4th, as I said before, contains my absolute favorite piece of classical music ever written (the first section of #4). In addition, by having these two pieces in one place, you end up with an excellent primer for the Beethoven beginner.
This was part of the Classical Music write off. Please check out the other participants:
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