Longmont Symphony extends its Beethoven symphony cycle, Feb. 29 & March 1

By Peter Alexander Feb. 25 at  11 p.m.

The Longmont Symphony and conductor Elliot Moore continue their ongoing cycle of Beethoven symphonies with concerts at the Longmont Museum Stewart Auditorium Saturday and Sunday (Feb. 29 and March 1; details below).

The program features one of Beethoven’s least-performed symphonies, No. 4 in B-flat major, as well as Schubert’s Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major. “It’s Beethoven’s Fourth and of course, it’s known,” Moore says. “But these are pieces that are not the meat and potatoes of either composer.

“The Ninth Symphony of Schubert is performed much more often than the Fifth symphony. Schubert’s Eighth Symphony is performed much more often than the Fifth. For a Beethoven symphony, the Fourth is pretty rarely performed. So it’s a concert that is great repertoire, but that is a little bit underperformed.”

It is specifically repertoire that Moore has wanted to bring to the Longmont Symphony from the day he arrived. For both the players and the audiences, it is important to know these earlier symphonies, he says.

“Early Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn: these are composers that in the history of the Longmont Symphony are generally underrepresented. In fact, I think that this is the Longmont premiere of Beethoven’s Fourth Symphony.

“It’s important for a musical organization to have these pieces in their repertoire, and also know the style. This style can lead to how we interpret Schumann, to how we interpret Brahms. It’s important that we not have holes in our collective education of where does the symphony come from. It’s important that we do all of these symphonies, and I wanted to begin right at the beginning of my tenure as music director.”

Both symphonies were written in the early years of the 19^th century—Beethoven in 1808, Schubert in 1816—and early in each composer’s symphonic careers. But both are also works that look back to the 18^th century, rather than forward to the Romantic era that was just getting started in music.

“The thing that is interesting to me is that Beethoven had just composed his Third Symphony, and when he wrote his Fourth, he looked much further back rather than forward into what the symphony would become,” Moore says. “He went back more toward Haydn.

“In Schubert’s case, instead of looking at Beethoven and what Beethoven had written, he was more inspired by Mozart in this symphony. So both symphonies have a very classical sense to them.”

Both are works that Moore is looking forward to conducting. “Beethoven’s Fourth Symphony is one of the most energetic and spirited symphonies,” he says. “It will be a lot of fun to bring this light-hearted work to our audience. That’s one of the things I’m looking forward to with Beethoven’s Fourth Symphony.

“With Schubert’s Fifth, it’s how to me it sounds like an extension of Mozart. It’s as if we’ve got Mozart’s 42nd Symphony, and that’s something that I am really looking forward to bringing to life.”

# # # # #

Beethoven Cycle: Beethoven and Schubert
Longmont Symphony Chamber Orchestra
Elliot Moore, conductor

Schubert: Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major
Beethoven: Symphony No. 4 in B-flat major

7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 29
4 p.m. Sunday, March 1 [sold out]
Stewart Auditorium, Longmont Museum

Tickets