How can classical music change your outlook on life? Beethoven’s life and music may hold a key. WRTI’s Susan Lewis talks to conductor Cristian M?celaru about Beethoven's ability to connect with the humanity in all of us.
Radio script:
[Music: Beethoven, Symphony No. 2 ]
Beethoven speaks to one thing so important in discovering what classical music can do for us.
Susan Lewis: Beethoven was just 30 years old when he composed his second symphony in 1801—and he knew he was losing his hearing. Conductor Cristian M?celaru says at a time when music had been elegant entertainment, Beethoven poured a sense of humanity into his works.
Cristian M?celaru: He speaks of who we are in reality, rather than a higher echelon of a bourgeois social class. This is what I love about Beethoven—even the jokes he makes, they are more of the people.
SL: Tapping into the full range of emotions, Beethoven explored new ways of orchestrating, producing powerful works that put human concerns in perspective.
CM: Beethoven speaks to one thing so important in discovering what classical music can do for us, and that is finding a personal source of happiness and inner peace, which is why I think he loved nature so much as well, because you find yourself a pawn in a much, much grander picture.
SL: A grander picture that inspires awe and possibility.
CM: I think art will forever live because it defines who we can be as humans.
SL: Beethoven connected with people of his day; a reported 20,000 came to his funeral procession in 1827. He’s since become one of the most admired and emulated composers of all time.