Search - Royal Philharmonic Orchestra :: Beethoven: Symphony No. 6; Egmont Overture

Composers usually know what they want, but they can make a meal of convincing other people about it. There is a distinctly modern ring to the story of Beethoven's benefit concert of 1808, when he insisted on giving the Viennese public four hours of mostly new music. The performances were variable, to say the least: one of them broke down, having already had its first section improvised on the piano by the composer. With romantic hindsight we might long to have been there, because the concert included first performances of the Fifth and Sixth Symphonies and the Choral Fantasy, as well as the first public performances in Vienna of the Fourth Piano Concerto and parts of the Mass in C. Perhaps instead, we should use our hindsight to marvel that the music did not disappear into the obscurity that would absorb most pieces introduced in such conditions.