Beethoven - Simon Wills

“Beethoven was haunted by the idea of the hero – man or woman – alone in their resistance to tyranny. Such is Antigone, who chooses to die rather than break laws to which even the gods are subject. However, Simon Wills’ new symphony does not tell the story of Antigone: Antigone’s descent into “loveless dust” implies a question, which is at the heart of the work: “What now?” Life will go on. The intrinsically dramatic form of a symphony allows this journey, which leads from darkness to a kind of light, to be expressed. The human voice – which rises from the orchestra while being foreign to it – is here a bodiless instrument, dancing, not condemned. Written for the bicentenary of Beethoven’s death, Wills’ Antigone naturally dialogues with Symphony No. 4. Composed four years after the dark Heiligenstadt Testament – in which Beethoven spoke of his nascent deafness and the desire to end his life – it reconnects with an atmosphere filled with charm and vitality.

The programme:

SIMON WILLS

Antigone, symphony for orchestra and voice

World premiere, commissioned by the Orchestre de chambre de Paris for the bicentenary of Beethoven’s death

BEETHOVEN

Symphony No. 4 in B-flat major, Op. 60

The artists:

Thomas Hengelbrock, conductor

Patricia Auchterlonie, voice

Orchestre de chambre de Paris