How Fast Should Beethoven's 'Ninth Symphony' Be Performed?
2023-02-25
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1Ludwig van Beethoven has long been considered one of the greatest composers of classical music.
2Critics say that his final complete musical work, the Ninth Symphony, is possibly his best.
3The symphony was first performed on May 7, 1824, in Vienna, Austria.
4Beethoven already had lost his hearing when he was composing the Ninth.
5He never fully heard the performance himself.
6And nearly 200 years after the first performance, there is still disagreement over how fast the work should be performed.
7Benjamin Zander is the music director of the Boston Philharmonic, a classical music performance group he founded in 1979.
8The nearly 84-year-old conductor is leading the Boston Philharmonic in a performance on Friday night at Boston's Symphony Hall.
9Then, on Sunday afternoon, he will do the same at New York's Carnegie Hall.
10Zander believes that Beethoven's Ninth Symphony should sound far different than the way it is usually performed.
11He plans to finish the symphony in less than one hour during the performances in Boston and New York.
12"There's so much information from Beethoven and so little information about how to interpret it," Zander told the Associated Press.
13Zander said he sought advice from violinist and scholar Rudoph Kolisch.
14In the 1993 issue of The Musical Quarterly, Kolisch discussed how Beethoven marked his work using a metronome, a device that produces a steady beat to help musicians with the speed, or tempo, of musical work.
15Beethoven wrote in an 1817 letter that he wanted to drop musical terms like "allegro" for fast, "andante" for slow, or "presto" for extremely fast.
16He added, the "metronome gives us the best opportunity to do so."
17In 1992, Zander's recording with the Boston Philharmonic for the music company Pickwick International came in at 57 minutes, 51 seconds.
18His 2018 recording of the same music was 58 minutes, 39 seconds long.
19"For the recording, I really set out to be a devoted servant," Zander said.
20He said he had a little statue of Beethoven and looked at it from time to time to see if it was smiling.
21Some of the world's most famous conductors, however, took more time with Beethoven's Ninth in their performances.
22Arturo Toscanini took 65 minutes for RCA Victor with the NBC Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall in 1952; Wilhelm Furtwängler needed 74 minutes at the Bayreuth Festival in 1951; and Leonard Bernstein stretched the music for 78 minutes during his 1989 performance with members of six orchestras to mark the fall of the Berlin Wall.
23After Zander's performance at Carnegie Hall on October 10, 1983, Andrew Porter wrote in the New Yorker, "If Mr. Zander is right, we have been hearing the music of the greatest composer only in misrepresentation."
24Many conductors noted Beethoven's loss of hearing as a reason to ignore his metronome markings.
25James Conlon is the music director of the Los Angeles Opera and main conductor of Italy's Orchestra RAI.
26He said, "There are powerful arguments on both sides. I am not against performing Beethoven at the speeds suggested by the metronome."
27He added that if the resulting performance lacks expression, emotion, and dynamics, then it should not be followed.
28Andrew Price regularly plays oboe with several orchestras in Boston.
29He said, "The hardest thing is just to keep an open mind about it...All the stuff I learned as a 20-year-old student, I had to go back and relearn it all, just to have a completely different approach."
30I'm Jill Robbins.
1Ludwig van Beethoven has long been considered one of the greatest composers of classical music. Critics say that his final complete musical work, the Ninth Symphony, is possibly his best. 2The symphony was first performed on May 7, 1824, in Vienna, Austria. Beethoven already had lost his hearing when he was composing the Ninth. He never fully heard the performance himself. And nearly 200 years after the first performance, there is still disagreement over how fast the work should be performed. 3Benjamin Zander is the music director of the Boston Philharmonic, a classical music performance group he founded in 1979. The nearly 84-year-old conductor is leading the Boston Philharmonic in a performance on Friday night at Boston's Symphony Hall. Then, on Sunday afternoon, he will do the same at New York's Carnegie Hall. 4Zander believes that Beethoven's Ninth Symphony should sound far different than the way it is usually performed. He plans to finish the symphony in less than one hour during the performances in Boston and New York. 5"There's so much information from Beethoven and so little information about how to interpret it," Zander told the Associated Press. 6Zander said he sought advice from violinist and scholar Rudoph Kolisch. In the 1993 issue of The Musical Quarterly, Kolisch discussed how Beethoven marked his work using a metronome, a device that produces a steady beat to help musicians with the speed, or tempo, of musical work. 7Beethoven wrote in an 1817 letter that he wanted to drop musical terms like "allegro" for fast, "andante" for slow, or "presto" for extremely fast. He added, the "metronome gives us the best opportunity to do so." 8In 1992, Zander's recording with the Boston Philharmonic for the music company Pickwick International came in at 57 minutes, 51 seconds. His 2018 recording of the same music was 58 minutes, 39 seconds long. 9"For the recording, I really set out to be a devoted servant," Zander said. He said he had a little statue of Beethoven and looked at it from time to time to see if it was smiling. 10Some of the world's most famous conductors, however, took more time with Beethoven's Ninth in their performances. 11Arturo Toscanini took 65 minutes for RCA Victor with the NBC Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall in 1952; Wilhelm Furtwängler needed 74 minutes at the Bayreuth Festival in 1951; and Leonard Bernstein stretched the music for 78 minutes during his 1989 performance with members of six orchestras to mark the fall of the Berlin Wall. 12After Zander's performance at Carnegie Hall on October 10, 1983, Andrew Porter wrote in the New Yorker, "If Mr. Zander is right, we have been hearing the music of the greatest composer only in misrepresentation." 13Many conductors noted Beethoven's loss of hearing as a reason to ignore his metronome markings. 14James Conlon is the music director of the Los Angeles Opera and main conductor of Italy's Orchestra RAI. He said, "There are powerful arguments on both sides. I am not against performing Beethoven at the speeds suggested by the metronome." He added that if the resulting performance lacks expression, emotion, and dynamics, then it should not be followed. 15Andrew Price regularly plays oboe with several orchestras in Boston. He said, "The hardest thing is just to keep an open mind about it...All the stuff I learned as a 20-year-old student, I had to go back and relearn it all, just to have a completely different approach." 16I'm Jill Robbins. 17Hai Do adapted this report for VOA Learning English from Associated Press and other reporting 18______________________________________________________________________ 19Words in This Story 20composer -n. a person who writes music 21classical -adj. relating to music of a European tradition including opera and symphony music 22conductor -n. a person who leads a band or orchestra 23interpret -v. to explain the meaning of something or to perform a work in the way that you understand it 24opportunity -n. a chance to do something 25devoted -adj. having a strong love or loyalty for someone or something 26dynamics -n. (pl.) changes in how loudly a piece of music is played or sung 27oboe -n. a musical instrument shaped like a tube that is known as a woodwind instrument 28stuff -n. (informal) things 29____________________________________________________________________ 30We want to hear from you. 31We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: 32Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here.