Beethoven First Concert Report: San Francisco Symphony
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Johnny Jones
February 7, 1970
First Concert Report
San Francisco Symphony
Seiji Ozawa, conductor
Beethoven: Fourth Symphony
Objective Description:
Beethoven’s Symphony #4 in B-flat Major, opus 60 begins with a quiet introduction which has a very slow tempo. The violins play pizzicato. The tempo increases as the brass and the percussion join in. The French horn and the oboe have a solo. The flute and oboe then solo. The composer creates a variation by having a few notes played which are then followed by a rest. This technique is repeated. The intensity decreases and then increases. A clarinet solo is heard near the end of the movement.
The second movement begins very slowly with the violas and violins playing pizzicato. The oboe plays two notes…show more content… The oboes and the French horns play a little tune and the strings answer. This tune is repeated throughout the movement. The intensity of the music increases and the movement ends.
The final movement begins with a very lively tempo and great intensity. The piccolo has a solo. Although the intensity and the tempo increase, other characteristics of the music remain somewhat the same. The oboe has a little solo and the intensity decreases, but it then increases again. The oboe plays four solo notes just before the symphony ends with great intensity.
Subjective Reaction:
I enjoyed listening to this symphony very much. I think it showed the other side of Beethoven very well. I do not like his Fifth Symphony as much since it is harsher. It is interesting that a man who wrote a forceful symphony like the Fifth could write such a dignified, graceful symphony as his…show more content… From time to time the violins play a bright and lively tune using pizzicato. The woodwinds answer or join in and the bassoon and oboes also join in on occasion. Suddenly, without warning, the music becomes solemn and very heavy; funeral March music would be a good description for it. Then it lightens up again for a time. The work is just full of surprises. In one place the music stops and it begins again with loud drums, brass, and the crashing of cymbals. Again the music stops, but now a soft light tune is played. The mood is very eerie at the end of the work as the kettle drums pound louder and louder, then softer and softer. The clarinet solos softly just before the work