Boston Philharmonic Blog

This Week's Musical Gems: Beethoven's 5th Symphony

Written by BPO Staff | Oct 30, 2020 9:04:13 PM

As we continue to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Beethoven's birth, we bring you a newly-released video of Maestro Zander coaching the Oakville Symphony Youth Orchestra on the fourth movement of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.

He describes the opening of that movement, featuring the first symphonic writing for trombones, as "the most joyful sound that exists in the history of music." He also talks about the role of the conductor: "Your job is to waken [the orchestra] to everything that the music requires...You have to speak to them as if you're telling a story, which they then tell the audience." Anyone who has come in contact with Maestro Zander knows he is a masterful storyteller, both in words and in music.

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