Heiligenstadt

There has been one composer associated with this place for over two centuries; Ludwig van Beethoven. In the past couple of years, another composer, Stephen McNeff, has joined him in being associated with the place, although in the case of the latter, this is for purely musical reasons.

Stephen McNeff’s 10 minute piece dates from a commission by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra for a piece which would fit into a classical programme consisting of Brahms, Liszt and Beethoven. According to the composer himself, it “was inspired by Beethoven’s struggle to come to terms with his deafness and, although the music is not programmatic, it embodies an acceptance of human mortality alongside a refusal to be daunted by its inevitability.”

The resulting Heiligenstadt was unadvertised, its premiere packaged shrewdly as an unexpected goodie in an already big programme. The reference to Beethoven's Heiligenstadt testament - the revelation that, in utter despair at his increasing deafness, only art had kept him from suicide - was key. For McNeff, the Fifth is about succeeding in the face of adversity and the quotation from the song Sehnsucht (Longing) offered the contemplative starting point for an exploration of something angrier but no less profound, with the transitions from Beethoven into his own terse language artfully wrought.

The work is scored for
2 Flutes, Piccolo, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets in B flat, 2 Bassoons and Contra Bassoon.
4 Horns in F, 2 Trumpets in B flat, 3 Trombones.
Timpani
Percussion: Glockenspiel, Xylophone, Tam Tam, Large Suspended Cymbal, Small Suspended Cymbal, Temple Block, Triangle, 2 Tom Toms, Bass Drum.
Strings.

The work opens “Quietly and Dreamlike” (The opening pages can be found on the internet).

Less than two years after its first performance in Bournemouth's season, it was performed in Sheffield by the Hallam Sinfonia at their November 24th concert at Firth Hall. The other works in the concert were the Beethoven Piano Concerto no 5 (Soloist Ashley Wass) and the 5th Symphony.

According to a friend of the composer:
"it's definitely nothing to be scared of!"