Concert series celebrates Beethoven, beginning in October

September 25, 2007

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — In the realm of European classical music, Ludwig van Beethoven is considered by many to be one of the best composers. University of Florida Performing Arts will celebrate the work of this legendary composer with a series of concerts during its 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons.

The Talich String Quartet will perform Beethoven’s Quartet No. 4 in C Minor, op. 18 and Quartet No. 13 in B-flat Major, op. 130 (Liebquartett) with Finale at their University Auditorium concert Sunday, Oct.14, at 5 p.m. For several decades, the Talich Quartet has been recognized internationally as one of Europe’s finest chamber ensembles, and as the embodiment of the great Czech music tradition.

Born in Bonn, Germany, Ludwig van Beethoven was a musical prodigy. His talent was recognized early by his father, a tenor in the service of the Electoral court at Bonn, and the young Beethoven was given a series of music lessons. By age eight, Beethoven was studying the organ, violin and viola in addition to the piano. One of Beethoven’s teachers was Christian Gottlob Neefe, the court’s organist, who helped Beethoven publish his first composition. At the age of 17, Beethoven traveled to Vienna where he played for the equally revered composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. An impressed Mozart reportedly said that Beethoven would soon “astonish the world.”

The Beethoven Cycle celebrates that legacy by highlighting the pieces Beethoven composed for the string quartet.

“Every major composer in the classical music world has written works for string quartet,” said Melvin Kaplan of Melvin Kaplan, Incorporated, the organization who has put the two-season Beethoven Cycle together. “They seem to feel that the medium, because of its small nature, allows them to explore everything that they conceive of, in terms of composition, in the most intimate and, at the same time, convoluted way, so that they can express themselves through that seemingly very bland combination of four strings.”

The Phillips Center Box Office is open Monday – Saturday, noon to 6 p.m. and two hours prior to the performance. Tickets are: $25, front orchestra and mezzanine; $20, rear orchestra; and $15, balcony.

Performances by the Pacifica Quartet (Sunday, February 10, 2008) and Quatuor Parisii (Sunday, March 2, 2008) round out the 2007-08 Beethoven Cycle. The cycle will continue next season with performances by the American String Quartet, the Ying Quartet and the Ebène Quartet.