In approaching the ten Beethoven sonatas as a whole, pianist Mimi Solomon and violinist Nicholas DiEugenio have commissioned contemporary composers to respond to specific pairings of sonatas in the context of various musical fabrics. Musical fabrics are comprised of the sonic threads that are woven together by a composer to produce a musical work’s aural tapestry. The commissioned composers will pull on a “loose thread” of Beethoven’s and reweave it.

As part of the ongoing, lifelong engagement with the Beethoven Violin Sonatas, the musicians think a lot about how they hear these works, and the things they notice–not just on repeated hearings, but also with 21st century ears and sensibilities. To de-canonize, undress, and humanize a figure like E.T.A. Hoffman’s heroic Beethoven is paradoxical; they seek a new image for “Beethoven” in our post-canonic age, yet in so doing they reanimate this figure in a different way. They are writing a new chapter in their ongoing relationship with this music.

The motivation for this project is about coming to grips with the concept of the ‘Classic’ from the various standpoints of performer, composer, and listener. What does it mean for creative artists to work alongside the specter of classic works? How do we hear these works now, and what have they become in our 21st century world? Do listeners recognize a canonic, classic work as such, or are we now in fresh, fertile soil for these works in our culture? These are questions that the project seeks to open and to investigate.

Our culture values originality, though we have also inherited a canon of classics and all of the expectations that accompany anything associated with the canon. This project seeks to undress and unravel those expectations a bit, and to learn more about their origins. They want to move beyond the canon and into the 21st century, and they want to take Beethoven with them.

Programme:
Allen Anderson - Linen (2017)
L. van Beethoven - Sonata for Piano and Violin in A Major, op. 30 no. 1
Tonia Ko - Tribute (Axis II) (2016)​​​​​​​​
Robert Honstein - Olmsted (2017)

Vstupenky: https://goout.net/cs/listky/unraveling-beethoven-mimi-solomon-nicholas-dieugenio/pncc/