Beethoven Symphony Cycle

Britten Sinfonia/Adès

Thomas Ades conducting on stage 2017

Britten Sinfonia’s Beethoven Symphony Cycle, conducted by Thomas Adès, concludes with Beethoven’s mighty ‘choral’ symphony and Gerald Barry’s feverish The Eternal Recurrence.

Beethoven’s extraordinary Ninth Symphony is regarded by many as the finest of all symphonies, and its message of humanity, perhaps most famously encapsulated in the symphony’s Ode to Joy chorus, continues to resonate today (not least, as the anthem for the European Union).  Here, Beethoven’s masterful celebration of the human race is paired with Gerald Barry’s The Eternal Recurrence, a brilliant, feverish setting of texts from Nietzsche’s philosophical novel Also sprach Zarathustra.

The performance is expected to finish around 9.15pm, including a 20 minute interval.

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Cocktails, concrete and tonnes of charm

Pop into the Martini Bar for a pre-performance tipple, with Happy Hour from 5-6pm

Barbican Hall