Two giant steps for man − and some crazy driving

In their first concert of the 2009-10 season the Cambridge Philharmonic Society play the work of two innovative composers (Beethoven, Adams), both of whom, though nearly 200 years apart, managed to change the face of music in their time.

John Adams’ breakthrough work Harmonium had its premiere in 1981 and demonstrates the style for which that composer has become well-known. Setting the words of John Donne and Emily Dickinson for voices and orchestra, Adams’ music is fresh, sonorous and minimalist, encompassing many moods in a work of freshness and originality. Commentators have described the effect as a seascape, a rolling tide of wonderful musicality.

Adams’ popular Short Ride in a Fast Machine is even more exhilarating − from the very first entry of wooden blocks and brass to the final standstill screech. It is fiendishly difficult to play, with its repeated notes and pulsating rhythm, but it is intensely musical and perfectly encapsulates Adams’ laconic “You know how it is when someone asks you to ride in a terrific sports car, and then you wish you hadn’t?” Audiences always thrill to this bravura work of dazzling excitement, safe in the knowledge that it is not THEM in the passenger seat!

And then, in the second half, the orchestra will play Beethoven’s mighty Eroica symphony. It was originally dedicated to the ‘heroic’ Napoleon Bonaparte, though when the French leader had himself made emperor, Beethoven scratched out his dedication in anger and gifted the symphony to another patron. But whoever it was for, this work, premiered in 1805, marks a huge shift from the classical symphonies of the 18th century to the great symphonies of the 19th that would reach their apotheosis in Beethoven’s own mighty choral work − the ninth. And what a shift it is. The awe-inspiring funeral march of the 2nd movement, the syncopated rhythms and the weighty scherzo make this one of the most widely loved and admired works ever written. Riding in a fast car may be scary, but listening to the Eroica is just as exciting, taking the listener on a deeply affecting journey. It is challenging, moving, and in the end, profoundly life-affirming.

The Philharmonic’s first concert of the season is a perfect blend of the new-old and the old-new, a fascinating mixture of ground-breaking works, and a breathtaking journey into the heart of music. Fasten your seatbelts and enjoy the landscape as it rushes past!

West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge, Sunday 25th October 2009, 7.30 pm.
Conductor: Timothy Redmond
Tickets £10, £15, £20
Cambridge Arts Theatre Box Office (01223 503333) or online at www.cam-phil.org.uk

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