About This Program

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Take in a breath of fresh air with this program dedicated to music specifically from the Classical Period. The program beings with a piece originally thought to be by Beethoven: Friedrich Witt’s “Jena” Symphony. In 1909, the music director at Germany’s University of Jena found complete parts for a Symphony in C, with Beethoven’s name clearly written on certain parts. Was this the long-lost Beethoven symphony in C?! Unfortunately no…but it was good enough to have most everybody fooled! Actually written by Friedrich Witt, who just so happens to have been born the same year as Beethoven, the “Jena” Symphony is a testament to the myriad of talented musicians working alongside one of history’s great geniuses. 

Next up is Joseph Haydn’s Cello Concerto in C. Performed by cellist James Back, this concerto represents the highest level of virtuoso string playing at the time it was written. An earlier work of Haydn’s, the full concerto was rediscovered in 1961, at which point it became a staple of the cello repertoire.

And finally, Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4. If his Symphony No.3 opened the door to a new era of music, and No.5 walked through the door and slammed it shut, then No. 4 is that brief moment when you fondly look back at where you have come from. An homage to the great symphonies of Joseph Haydn that came before it, but still filled with the composer’s brash flare, Beethoven’s sunny Symphony No.4 is one of the last great vestiges of the Classical Style.