Beethoven 9

JEFFREY KAHANE, conductor
ERICA PETROCELLI, soprano
MAIRE THERESE CARMACK, mezzo-soprano
DAVID PORTILLO, tenor
FEDERICO DE MICHELIS, bass
SAN ANTONIO MASTERSINGERS
YOOJIN MUHN, music director
SAN ANTONIO PHILHARMONIC

Jeff Scott: Paradise Valley Serenade for woodwind quintet and orchestra
Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 in D minor, “Choral”

Celebrating the 200th anniversary of the iconic masterwork that has touched the hearts of audiences of all ages in every corner of the world, the ninth symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven claims a special place in the history of the music. Its performance can never be an ordinary event.

The first symphony ever written with human voices as further symphonic instruments takes us by the hand on a journey of great sonority, crowned by the magnificent Ode to Joy written by Schiller in 1785 and revised in 1803, with additional text written by Beethoven. In the 20th century, an instrumental arrangement of the chorus was adopted by the Council of Europe, and later the European Union, as the Anthem of Europe.

In 2001, Beethoven’s original, hand-written manuscript of the score, held by the Berlin State Library, was added to the Memory of the World Programme Heritage list established by the United Nations, becoming the first musical score so designated.