Revisiting Beethoven's Beloved, Radical Symphonies For His 250th Birthday
Sir John Eliot Gardiner conducts all nine symphonies this year. He spoke about the surprisingly political side of Beethoven's music with All Things Considered.
This year marks the 250th birthday of one of the most revered composers who ever lived: , who was born in Bonn, Germany, in 1770. Beethoven wrote hundreds of piano sonatas, overtures and chamber pieces, but truly made his mark with his nine symphonies. To celebrate the impact of those pieces,'s Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique — an ensemble that has won international acclaim with concerts and recordings of Beethoven's compositions — will be performing all nine symphonies in a series of concerts in New York and Chicago.
