Celebrating the Musical Legacy of Beethoven

Published: October 25, 2017 | Author: Tracy Solimeno | Read Time: 2 minutes

Southern Utah University Department of Music’s Symphony Orchestra presents The Great Beethoven Concert. Come celebrate the 190 ^th Anniversary of Ludwig van Beethoven’s life through a performance of his symphonic works on Wednesday, November 1, 2017, at 7:30 p.m. in the SUU Music Building’s Thorley Recital Hall. Admission is free and open to the public.

Beethoven was the first freelance composer in history, thus allowing him the freedom and finances to produce work based on his own desires. His work was revolutionary then and his symphonies are still considered some of the most successful of all time. Beethoven felt that, “Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy. Music is the electrical soil in which the spirit lives, thinks and invents.” 

Jan Swafford, composer, educator, and author of Beethoven, Anguish and Triumph wrote, “There was something exalted about him that was noted first in his teens and often thereafter. He was utterly sure of himself and his gift, but no less self-critical and without sentimentality concerning his work.”

The evening’s performance will be conducted by, Dr. Xun Sun, Associate Professor of Music and Director of Orchestral Activities at Southern Utah University. A bit of a child prodigy himself; he began formal music training and violin studies at Wuhan Conservatory of Music in China at age 11. Dr. Sun has conducted for numerous orchestras including: China Philharmonic, Henan Symphony Orchestra, Anhui Symphony, Hunan Symphony and Hubei Symphony Orchestra in China, and Lviv Philharmonic in Ukraine, and The Orchestra of Southern Utah in Cedar City, Utah. 

Music for the evening includes, Egmont Overture Op. 84, Symphony No. 1 in C Major Op. 21 (First Movement), Symphony No. 8 in F Major Op. 93 (Second and Third movement), Piano Concerto No.1 in C Major Op. 15 (First movement) with guest soloist James Jolley, and Violin Concert in D Major Op. 61 (Second movement).

The performance will be followed by guest speaker, Dr. Douglas Ipson, Assistant Professor, Music Theory and History at Southern Utah University. Dr. Ipson in an active choral composer, arranger, and author whose work has been performed by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and BYU Singers.

Immerse yourself in the sounds that have shaped musical history for centuries. For more information on SUU’s Music Department, please visit www.suu.edu/pva/music.

---

Contact Information:

435-586-5400
Contact the Office of Marketing Communication