RESCHEDULED:   Windham Orchestra  "ODE TO JOY"
Sunday, July 10, 3 pm, Latchis Theatre, Brattleboro, VT

Where were you when the lights went out?

Whether you experienced the magic in the dark theatre during the power outage or missed it entirely, the good news is that the Windham Orchestra’s performance of Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy" has been rescheduled.  Don't miss seeing the Orchestra and Windham Festival Chorus performing this iconic masterpiece. Admission is by donation, everyone welcome!

ABOUT THE PROGRAM:

The Windham Orchestra, under the direction of Hugh Keelan, will present Beethoven's iconic Symphony No. 9, “Ode to Joy”, with the Windham Festival Chorus.

Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, known as the 'Choral' or the 'Ode to Joy,’ is considered one of the greatest musical compositions ever written. In it the composer addresses the highest hopes, struggles and gratifications of the human condition. It is a powerful human narrative, a challenging journey, but more certain of its destination, more elevated in its aspirations than maybe anything that had been written before.

Beethoven's Ninth Symphony occupies an iconic place in cultures far beyond the one called 'classical music'. We hear the 'Ode to Joy' in commercials and pop-culture references, it saturates education systems, it was an essential accompaniment to the fall of the Berlin Wall and A Clockwork Orange; the Rainbow Theater in London (where Hendrix burnt his first guitar) would always play the Ninth at the end of a rock concert. These are easy examples of the diversity this work gathers around itself.

The symphony was the first example of a major composer using voices in a symphony (thus making it a choral symphony). The words are sung during the final movement by four vocal soloists and a chorus. They were taken from the "Ode to Joy", a poem written by Friedrich Schiller in 1785 and revised in 1803, with additions made by the composer.

The first movement deals with mystery, suffering and the possibility of transcendence, not yet the reality. The fast Scherzo, placed second, is sharply funny, briefly consoling, but seems especially interested in making vividly present a demonic energy and life force. The third movement, Adagio molto e cantabile, also deeply mysterious, speaks of solace and deepest calm. Each of these elements must be experienced and accepted for the transcendent to become manifest in the incredible finale.