City of London Sinfonia: Hero Worship

Explore the illustrious history of Beethoven as never before – with a live musical rendition paying homage to the great composer's accomplishments, all narrated by a Cambridge historian.

The capital's leading chamber orchestra, City of London Sinfonia, presents Hero Worship. The ensemble will perform various works of Beethoven, accompanied by Australian composer and violist Brett Dean. Curated to explore the maestro's perception that all artists are heroes, the performance will incorporate Dean’s musical take on Beethoven’s famous Heiligenstadt Testament, a written statement of the hero’s artistic despair, to his brothers.

Beethoven had a strong sense of heroism, at a time when his turbulent world was beset by wars. When he wrote his third symphony, he dedicated it to Napoleon, and gave it the title Eroica. Although his disillusionment with the autocrat led him to scratch out the dedication, when the symphony was published in 1806 it proclaimed in Italian: 'Heroic Symphony, Composed to celebrate the memory of a great man'.

Brett Dean is one of the most exciting musicians today, and he doesn't shy away from the greats: his opera Hamlet, based on Shakespeare's tragedy, for Glyndebourne Festival Opera last summer, scooped awards and is destined to be a mainstay in the repertoire. His insights into Beethoven, as a fellow composer and as an instrumentalist, are sure to be illuminating and well articulated

Further examining the historic transitions of Beethoven, Cambridge historian Sir Christopher Clark will discuss how historical and musical events impacted the Romantic Hero's life and compositions. With visuals, speech, and an all-around musical interpretation, this promises to be one of the most innovative talks London has to offer.