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Beethoven/Schoenberg Project

These programs represent part of a two-season survey, under James Levine's direction, juxtaposing works by two great masters, Ludwig van Beethoven and Arnold Schoenberg, in which the music of each is illuminated and refreshed by juxtaposition with music of the other.

Featured in this Online Conservatory:
- Learn more about Composing with 12 tones.
- Learn more about Arnold Schoenberg, the Expressionist Painter.

- Music Analyses of the music in the following programs:
  January 19-21, 2006
    Boston Symphony Orchestra
    BEETHOVEN Missa Solemnis

  January 22, 2006
    Boston Symphony Chamber Players
    BEETHOVEN An die ferne Geliebte, for tenor and
       piano
    BEETHOVEN Quintet in E-flat for piano and winds,
       Op. 16
    SCHOENBERG Piano Pieces, Op. 19
    SCHOENBERG Pierrot Lunaire

  February 9-14, 2006
    Boston Symphony Orchestra
    ALL-BEETHOVEN PROGRAM
     Symphony No. 2
     Triple Concerto for piano, violin, and cello
     Symphony No. 7

  February 16-21, 2006
    Boston Symphony Orchestra
      ALL-SCHOENBERG PROGRAM
       Five Pieces for Orchestra
       Variations for Orchestra
       Pelleas und Melisande, Symphonic poem

  February 23-25, 2006
    Boston Symphony Orchestra
    SCHOENBERG Gurrelieder

  March 1-6, 2006
    Boston Symphony Orchestra
    SCHOENBERG Chamber Symphony No. 1, Op. 9
    BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 9

Harbison, Stravinsky, Wuorinen and Brahms

This program features two newly commissioned works from prominent American composers - John Harbison and Charles Wuorinen - in James Levine's final BSO program of the 2004-05 season.
This is another instance of the BSO's and James Levine's commitment to American music.

Featured in this Online Conservatory:
- Learn more about the evolution of American
    Symphonic Music.
- Learn What is a Symphony and What is a Concerto.

- Music Analyses of the following pieces of music:
    HARBISON Darkbloom: Overture for an imagined
       opera (world premiere; BSO commission)*
    STRAVINSKY Movements for piano and orchestra
    WUORINEN Piano Concerto No. 4
      (world premiere; BSO commission)
    BRAHMS Symphony No. 2 in D, Op. 73

Carter and Beethoven

The first work commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra for James Levine was Elliott Carter's Micomicón, a brief fantasy-piece for orchestra inspired by an episode from Cervantes' Don Quixote. The work serves as a prelude to Carter's Symphonia: Sum fluxae pretium spei, one of the most significant American orchestral works of recent years.

Featured in this Online Conservatory:
- Learn more about Metric Modulation as exemplified by
    Elliott Carter's music.
- Learn What is a Symphony.

- Music Analyses of the following pieces of music:
    CARTER Micomicón
      (BSO commission)
    CARTER Symphonia: Sum fluxae pretium spei
    BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 3 in E flat, Op. 55,        Eroica

Wynton Marsalis All Rise

Known primarily as jazz trumpeter and leader of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Wynton Marsalis is also a Pulitzer Prize-winning composer. This eclectic twelve-movement work touches on blues, jazz,
gospel music, and twentieth-century classical music, among other styles from around the world, in a joyous expression of human interconnectedness.

Featured in this Online Conservatory:
- Watch a Video Interview of Wynton Marsalis.
- Listen to a Video Interview of Kurt Masur.
- Learn more about Improvisation using
the Blues Riff Player.
- Learn more about the Evolution of Blues and Jazz.

- Music Analysis of the following piece of music:
MARSALIS All Rise

Shostakovich, Cage, Britten, Tan Dun

This geographically wide-ranging program features a new work commissioned by the BSO: Chinese-American composer-conductor Tan Dun's The Map, a concerto written for cellist Yo-Yo Ma that also incorporates filmed field recordings capturing the musical life of several Chinese ethnic minorities. This work, a composer's artistic expedition to trace and preserve his own musical roots

Featured in this Online Conservatory:
- Watch a Video Interview of Tan Dun.
- Learn more about Variation.
- Compose like John Cage by learning the Gamut
    Technique.
- Learn What is a Concerto.
- Learn about how Culture Influences Music.
- Learn how Benjamin Britten Utilized Sound Design.

- Music Analyses of the following pieces of music:
    SHOSTAKOVICH Overture on Russian and Kirghiz
      Folk Themes
    CAGE The Seasons
    BRITTEN Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes
    TAN DUN The Map, Concerto for Cello, Video, and
      Orchestra (world premiere; commissioned by
      the BSO)

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Beethoven/Schoenberg Project - Year 2
  October 5 - March 27
  Various Programs
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   iTunes PodCast

Beethoven/Schoenberg Project
  January 19 - March 6, 2006
  Various Programs
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   iTunes PodCast

Harbison, Stravinsky,
Wuorinen and Brahms
  March 24-26, 2005
  Symphony Hall
  Explore it now!
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Carter and Beethoven
  November 11-13, 2004
  Symphony Hall
  Explore it now!
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Wynton Marsalis - "All Rise"
  December 3-6, 2003
  Symphony Hall
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Shostakovich, Cage,
Britten, Tan Dun
  February 20-25, 2003
  Symphony Hall
  Explore it now!
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Beethoven/Schoenberg Project

These programs represent part two of a two-season survey, under James Levine's direction, juxtaposing works by two great masters, Ludwig van Beethoven and Arnold Schoenberg, in which the music of each is illuminated and refreshed by juxtaposition with music of the other.

Featured in this Online Conservatory:
- Learn more about Composing with 12 tones.
- Learn more about Arnold Schoenberg, the Expressionist Painter.

- Music Analyses of the music in the following programs:

  October 5-7
  Boston Symphony Orchestra
    SCHOENBERG Verklärte Nacht
    SCHOENBERG Piano Concerto
    BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 4 in G, Op. 58

  October 26-28
  Boston Symphony Orchestra
    SCHOENBERG Moses und Aron

  November 2-7
  Boston Symphony Orchestra
    BEETHOVEN Grosse Fuge, for string orchestra
    BEETHOVEN Violin Concerto
    SCHOENBERG Violin Concerto
    BEETHOVEN Grosse Fuge, for string orchestra

  February 1-3
  Boston Symphony Orchestra
    BEETHOVEN Coriolan Overture
    BEETHOVEN Ah! perfido, for soprano and
       orchestra
    SCHOENBERG Erwartung, for soprano and
       orchestra
    BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 8

  March 23-27
  Boston Symphony Orchestra
    BEETHOVEN Fidelio