Collegium Vocale Gent / Orchestre des Champs-Élysées

Ludwig van Beethoven initially dedicated his Third Symphony ‘Eroica’ to General Napoleon Bonaparte before withdrawing the dedication after Napoleon’s self-coronation as emperor. The concert is conducted by Philippe Herreweghe, one of the major protagonists of historical performance practice and artistic director of the Parisian ‘original sound’ orchestra. Herreweghe has brought along the singers of his own choir, the Collegium Vocale Gent, to perform the Cherubini Requiem at the Musikfest Berlin.

In Ludwig van Beethoven’s Third Symphony, the characteristic simple triad in the principal theme of the first movement communicates a triumphant optimism to the audience. The dedicatee of the following funeral march has remained a subject of speculation up to the present day, but the concept of a marcia funebre doubtlessly originates from French music around the time of the Revolution.

The powerful emotionality of the symphony is however ultimately an indication of Beethoven’s ever-increasing isolation due to his progressive hearing loss which was already severely plaguing him during the composition of this symphony in 1803.

Beethoven considered his Italian contemporary Cherubini to be the greatest living composer. The feted composer of opera and sacred music wrote the Requiem in C minor in 1816 to mark the 23rd anniversary of the execution of the French King Louis XVI.

Unusually, the vocal parts are all scored for choral forces without soloists, but this did not detract from the success of its first performance. The Catholic Cherubini created the music from the depths of his profound faith: his Requiem was also performed alongside Mozart’s Requiem at Beethoven’s funeral.