≈ 1 hour and 30 minutes · No intermission
Last updated: September 11, 2018
Reflection
The Beethoven symphonies are central to the life of musicians and audiences. Over the course of these nine masterpieces, Beethoven evolved not just his own music, but revolutionized all of music in a way and at a pace hitherto unprecedented. From the classical strains of his first to the universal themes of his last, there is not a single note out of place, not a single bar wasted, not a single idea unexplored. He challenges the orchestra to be its best. He demands rigour and attention of performers and listeners alike. And why? In order to express, through the abstract language of music, the most fundamental and tangible shared emotions of humankind. Joy, passion, warmth, mourning, hope, loss, melancholy, peace, victory, struggle, solidarity, desperation, reverence, simplicity... I cannot think of a state of mind that is not in one way or another expressed through this music.
As we begin our 50th anniversary season, we also begin our next artistic chapter in a reinvigorated Southam Hall with its glorious new shell and acoustic. I can conceive of no better way to explore every inch of this new space than with a fresh take on this most complete and all-encompassing of symphonic cycles. It is my great privilege to share this new stage with the incomparable musicians of the National Arts Centre Orchestra, who will interpret and form every note of this cycle with passion, detail, verve and love. And it is our great pleasure to share this musical Everest, this cornerstone of artistic output, with you, our dear audience. For 50 years, you have listened and responded. For 50 years, you have been instrumental in thousands of performances in this space. We are deeply grateful to you for that. Here’s to the new season, to the new hall and to a bright future for this wonderful, wonderful orchestra!
Repertoire
Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67
Baptized in Bonn, Germany, December 17, 1770
Died in Vienna, Austria, March 26, 1827
“How irresistibly does this wonderful composition transport the listener through ever growing climaxes into the spiritual realm of the infinite,” commented E.T.A. Hoffmann, on Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony in 1810. Two years earlier, the work premiered on December 22 at the Theatre an der Wien to mixed reception; no doubt the context of its performance – the massive length of the concert (spanning four hours, the program also included the premieres of the Sixth Symphony and the Choral Fantasy, plus the Fourth Piano Concerto, with Beethoven as soloist, and excerpts from other works), the bitterly cold temperature of the theatre, and an under-rehearsed orchestra – contributed to the lukewarm response. However, with Hoffmann’s landmark critical review, general opinion about the Fifth Symphony shifted; it was soon established as a cornerstone of the classical music canon…and there, it has stayed. Today, it remains one of the most frequently performed symphonies, continuing to draw audiences to concert halls all over the world.
Whether it’s the first or the umpteenth time you’ve heard this symphony, it’s simply impossible not be grabbed by the explosive opening of first movement: the famous “short-short-short-long” motive, the so-called “fate knocking on the door.” With this germ, the Allegro con brio propels forward with furious energy, developing as if organically. The motive becomes like an obsession, and appears in the later movements as well, transformed into different guises: as a triumphant second theme, proclaimed by French horns and trumpets in the second movement; as a militaristic march tune, also intoned by French horns, in the scherzo; and as a vivacious contrasting theme, played by the violins, in the finale.
Ultimately, the potency of the Fifth Symphony that Hoffmann rapturously describes in his 1810 review arises from how Beethoven conveys the psychological arc of victory over struggle across the work’s four movements. Indeed, the “short-short-short-long” motive is just one of several methods through which the composer connects them into a cohesive narrative design. Another is his specific use of mode: from the pathos and stormy drama of C minor in the first and third movements, which bracket a lyrical slow movement in A-flat major, to the jubilant C major of the fourth movement. Moreover, in each movement, the C major triumph is foreshadowed – in the recapitulation of the second theme in the first, the bright theme in the second, and the energetic trio of the third. A wonderfully mysterious transition that directly connects the third movement to the fourth – beginning with the timpani tapping the main motive on a low C, over a long A-flat in the cellos and basses – further heightens the dramatic progression towards its final fulfillment. Yet, even in the exultation of the concluding Allegro, Beethoven briefly reminds us – in a recall of the scherzo “march” theme – of the darker C minor anguish, before we are finally released into the light, encumbered no more, towards the symphony’s ecstatic conclusion.
– Program note by Hannah Chan-Hartley
BEETHOVEN’S “V” FOR VICTORY
During the Second World War, the opening motive of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony became a potent symbol for the Allied forces. They adopted the musical motto as their rallying call due to its coincidental likeness to the representation of the resistance symbol “V” (for Victory), in Morse code: three dots and a dash. As part of the campaign, a V for Victory postcard was produced with the musical quotation of this motive surrounded by the flags of the Allied forces.
Artists
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Alexander Shelley succeeded Pinchas Zukerman as Music Director of Canada’s NAC Orchestra in September 2015. The ensemble has since been praised as being “transformed... hungry, bold, and unleashed” (Ottawa Citizen) and Shelley’s programming credited for turning the orchestra into “one of the more audacious in North America” (Maclean’s).
Shelley is a champion of Canadian creation; recent hallmarks include the multimedia projects Life Reflected and UNDISRUPTED,and three major new ballets in partnership with NAC Dance for Encount3rs. He is passionate about arts education and nurturing the next generation of musicians. He is an Ambassador for Ottawa’s OrKidstra, a charitable social development program that teaches children life skills through making music together.
Alexander Shelley is also the Principal Associate Conductor of London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and, starting with the 2024–2025 season, Artistic and Music Director of Artis-Naples and the Naples Philharmonic in Florida, USA. In the spring of 2019, he led the NAC Orchestra on its critically acclaimed 50th Anniversary European tour, and in 2017, he led the Orchestra in a tour across Canada, celebrating Canada’s 150th anniversary. Most recently, he led the Orchestra in its first performance at New York’s Carnegie Hall in 30 years.
He has made eight recordings with the NAC Orchestra, including the JUNO-nominated New Worlds, Life Reflected, ENCOUNT3RS, The Bounds of Our Dreams, and the acclaimed Clara, Robert, Johannes four-album series, all with Canadian label Analekta.
The Music Director role is supported by Elinor Gill Ratcliffe, C.M., O.N.L., LL.D. (hc)
Tobi Hunt McCoy is enjoying another year as Season Stage Manager with the National Arts Centre Orchestra. In past seasons, she stage-managed Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Christopher Plummer in 2001 and Colm Feore in 2014. She co-produced the 1940s Pops show On the Air with Jack Everly for the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, a show they co-produced in 2007 for the NAC Orchestra.
In 2018 McCoy made her Southam Hall acting debut in the role of Stage Manager in the Magic Circle Mime Co.’s production of Orchestra from Planet X. Additional professional duties have included aiding Susanna and the Countess in schooling the Count and Figaro on the finer points of marital love during The Marriage of Figaro, keeping her eyes open (for the first time ever) during the flying monkey scene in The Wizard of Oz, mistakenly asking Patrick Watson for proof of identity backstage, holding her breath while marvelling at the athletic ability of the cast during Cirque Goes Broadway, continuing to implement feedback on her British-Columbian French with the choruses of Ottawa, and cheering on Luke and Princess Leia with Charlie Ross, Émilie Fournier, and Eric Osner during the Star Wars Pops concert.
In her spare time, McCoy is the Head of Arts, Drama, English, and Library at Lisgar Collegiate Institute.