Friedrich Cerha Paraphrase über den Anfang der 9. (UK premiere)
Beethoven Symphony No 9 'Choral'

Performed by the Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig

The Ninth crowned Beethoven's symphonic output with a premiere that earned the sort of reception usually reserved for conquering heros. Which in a sense Beethoven had become - something you couldn't have said in quite the same way about any composer of an earlier age. From its bold beginning to the majesty of the 'Ode to Joy', in which Beethoven set Schiller's poem about the brotherhood of mankind, elevating it to one of the greatest of hymns to humanity, the Symphony is a monument to the transforming power of art. The work's influence on the epic symphonists that followed, such as Bruckner and Mahler, its appropriation for poetical ends, its continued resonance in contemporary culture, are all testament to its spiritual depth and power. To compose a new work to sit on the same programme might be thought a daunting prospect. Friedrich Cerha, whose career covered much of the 20th century, exploring and embracing the developments the decades saw, and continues with rich productivity into the 21st, will doubtless prove worthy to the challenge.

'The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra perform Beethoven at the Barbican with panache and perception.' The Telegraph

'As the gritty allegro of the first movement of the Ninth took hold it was plain something momentous was this way coming. An uplifting experience.' The Independent