The Beethoven Experiment: Rehearsing Innovation
News March 14, 2019Paulo de Assis and the South Netherlands Philharmonic
On 29 March during the Rehearsing Orchestral Innovation Symposium in Maastricht, Paulo de Assis will perform in the Beethoven Experiment. He will play the first part of Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony and the piano version (1807) of the Violin Concerto (1806; rev. 1807), together with the South Netherlands Philharmonic in dialogue with the audience.
Rehearsing Orchestral Innovation
Doing Collaborative Research on Symphonic Music Futures
Maastricht 29-30 March 2019
Maastricht Centre for the Innovation of Classical Music
The Maastricht Centre for the Innovation of Classical Music (MCICM) aims to study the dynamics of changing classical music practices and their societal contexts, and to actively shape classical music futures. The MCICM is a structural collaboration between The South Netherlands Philharmonic, Zuyd University for Applied Sciences and Maastricht University. The centre combines academic research on innovation of performance practices with artistic research to renew classical music practices and music education in artistically relevant ways.
The first MCICM symposium invites delegates from the professional and amateur music sector, classical music industry, music education, and academic and artistic research on musical performance and audience engagement to discuss the central theme of collaborative learning and experimenting. The main question is how combining academic and practice-based artistic research can 'open' and ‘extend’ the ritual of the symphony orchestra concert.
Friday 29 March, 13:00 – 15:30 The Beethoven Experiment: Rehearsing Innovation
Presenter/performer: dr. Paulo de Assis (Orpheus Institute) and the South Netherlands Philharmonic
We all know Beethoven, we all know his music. After the construction of his genius in the 19th century (DeNora, 1995), it has become the pinnacle of symphonic repertoire and has since been performed countless times. In a sense, the most well-known works are closed to further development. How to rehearse Beethoven’s music in new ways, and how to look at it from an experimental perspective? How to organize the rehearsal in such a way that a dialogue is possible between musicians and audience on what constitutes Beethoven’s music not as a set of closed works, but as a world that can be explored? How can the traditional division of labour, both within the orchestra and between the orchestra and the audience be re-organised? The experiment will focus on the first part of Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony and the piano version (1807) of the Violin Concerto (1806; rev. 1807), which will be rehearsed by Paulo de Assis with the South Netherlands Philharmonic in dialogue with the audience.
More info and full programme: www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/events/symposium-rehearsing-orchestral-innovation
