Beethovens Heiligenstädter Testament

Picc.2.2.2.2 - 3.2.3 - Timp - 16.14.12.10.8

Emotional depth and riveting virtuosity - these elements are what characterise many compositions by Rodion Shchedrin. Even though he has been a cosmopolitan for a long time, the Moscow-born Shchedrin has remained an original Russian composer whose bond with the musical folklore and poetry of his home country has never been severed.

This 'Symphonic Fragment', premiered by Mariss Jansons with the Symphony Orchestra of the Bavarian Radio, refers to the life of Beethoven and the first major existential crisis of the then 31-year-old composer from Vienna. Even if Shchedrin fails to include explicit quotations, suggestions of Beethoven's 'Eroica' can well be found.