My Program: Cherubini – Requiem in C minor
Intermission
Beethoven – Overture – Leonore No. 3
Beethoven – Sonata in C minor Op. 13 `Pathetique`
Beethoven – Choral Fantasy
The case for my program: Cherubini`s music was admired by Beethoven and frequently performed through the 19th and first half of the 20th century. Beethoven thought Cherubini`s Requiem superior to Mozart`s, and it was played at his funeral. In this program the famous overture from the opera Fidelio, itself modelled on Cherubini`s `Les Deux Journees`, is followed by Beethoven`s piano sonata, segueing directly into the solo piano introduction to the Choral Fantasy. The tragic character of the mass for the dead is juxtaposed with the more contemporary character of the celebration of life.
