Ludwig van Beethoven's incidental music for Goethe's tragedy, Egmont, was not ready in time for the premiere of the play. It was on the fourth performance on June 15, 1810, in the Court Theatre in the Hofburg, Vienna, that this imposing music was heard for the first time. Beethoven's Egmont Overture, Op. 84, depicts the Dutch nobleman Egmont and his struggle against the Spanish repression of his countrymen. Because he could not support either side without sacrificing his moral convictions, he was captured as a traitor and beheaded.

This kind of serious, heroic story appealed to Beethoven's view of how mankind should be. He was incapable of writing music that did not appeal to him on a high moral level. Indeed, as much as he admired Mozart's music, Beethoven was repelled that he had written an opera that had such a frivolous and amoral subject as Don Giovanni.

Certain problems present themselves when writing an overture that is to accompany a drama. Because Beethoven was writing music for a play, he had to decide if the overture should encapsulate the entire drama or act more as an introduction to set the mood of the opening scene. His experience with the overture to his opera, Fidelio (three overtures) taught him that an overly dramatic instrumental opening can make the rest of the opera seem redundant. Although a real concern, this flaw doesn't apply to the same extent in a spoken drama, so Beethoven decided to use the most important elements of the play in his Egmont Overture. The drama ends with the celebration of freedom over oppression and Beethoven therefore decided (could he resist?) to have his overture end the same way.

The overall conception of the work finds a slow introduction followed by a sonata-allegro form. An interesting point to note is that Beethoven's use of the piccolo is the first time that that instrument was used in a purely instrumental work, it being usually reserved at that time for creating effects in opera.

The Triple Concerto was written during Beethoven's most fertile period; 1804-5, while he was also writing his third and fourth symphonies, the Rasumovsky quartets and his opera, Fidelio (along with a few piano sonatas tossed in!). The "Triple" refers to the violin, cello, and piano soloists, (an unusual combination at that time) along with the full orchestra.

The concerto is in three movements, the last of which is a ÒRondo all PolaccaÓ which means that the Rondo theme is in the rhythm of a Polonaise. Many concertgoers may not have even heard of this work of Beethoven and indeed, opportunities to hear this piece are very rare, so GET THEE TO THE CONCERT HALL!

Johannes Brahms' third symphony was composed in the summer of 1883. After taking 12 years to complete his first symphony, his next three seemed to flow from his pen. Perhaps the looming presence of Beethoven no longer disturbed him.

This symphony is in four movements and opens with the motive (F-A-F), which stands for Frei aber einsam, or free but alone. This simple and somewhat cryptic motive was a private monogram that Brahms shared with his friend, Joseph Joachim, the famous violinist. Curiously enough, this same motive can be heard very clearly in the first movement of Robert Schumann's own third symphony, perhaps providing a "secret" link between all three of these great musicians.

The second and third movements are typical of Brahms - the serene andant followed by the beautiful resignation of the of poco allegretto. The last movement begins in a restless minor mode, but resolves all tension when the main theme blossoms forth in the major mode during the recapitulation. At the very end of the symphony, the first movement (F-A-F) motive is heard once again softly in the violins, an expressive stroke of genius.

Program for Tuesday, December 15