The Greenville Symphony Orchestra’s November 21 concert at 7:30 p.m. and November 22 concert at 3 p.m. put Beethoven in conversation with music from two later eras. Carlos Simon’s opening work draws directly on Beethoven’s music, while Robert Schumann’s closing symphony carries echoes of Beethoven’s formal innovations; between them is Beethoven’s only violin concerto.
Brazilian violinist Nathan Amaral joins the orchestra as soloist for Beethoven's Violin Concerto, a piece he is performing for the first time, according to Greenville Journal. Amaral is described as a Brazilian violinist with an international career, and he has long wanted to attempt the concerto, per the same report. The Greenville Symphony Orchestra identifies him as the first-prize winner of the 2024 Sphinx Competition, and the Concert Artists Guild notes he has appeared as soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Philharmonia Orchestra.
Conductor Lee Mills described the concerto as monumental in scope and emotional depth, according to the Greenville Journal report, adding that it really set the stage for the rest of the Romantic violin concertos that came afterward. Amaral, for his part, has described the piece's central challenge as its emotional depth and endurance demands, the same article notes.
Beethoven, Quoted and Reimagined
The program’s most direct musical link to Beethoven comes at the start: Carlos Simon’s Fate Now Conquers, written in 2019 on commission for the Philadelphia Orchestra, takes the Allegretto from Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 as its point of departure, according to the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
The Work After Its Commission
The Boston Symphony Orchestra’s notes also document performances after the commission: the Philadelphia Orchestra’s premiere was recorded at the Mann Center for the Performing Arts and released online October 8, 2020. The Boston Symphony Orchestra performed the piece online during its 2020-2021 BSO NOW season, then played it live at Tanglewood in the Shed on July 11, 2021. The notes are linked above.
The Greenville Journal reports that Simon also drew on Beethoven’s preoccupation with destiny, basing the piece on a journal entry in which Beethoven quoted Homer’s Iliad on fate and lasting renown. The report connects the work’s subject to Beethoven’s hearing loss and personal challenges. Conductor Lee Mills described its rapid arpeggios and running passages as suggesting life’s uncertainties, according to the same account.
Schumann’s Rhenish: Form and Place
Schumann composed his Symphony No. 3 in 1850, shortly after settling in the Rhineland to take up posts conducting Düsseldorf’s orchestra and choruses, according to the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Mills has previously led Greenville Symphony performances of Schumann’s First and Second Symphonies, per the Greenville Journal.
The five-movement symphony recalls Beethoven's own Sixth Symphony, the Pastoral, in its structure. The Los Angeles Philharmonic notes that even the unusual five-movement form has a precedent in Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony. The Boston Symphony Orchestra adds that commentators have long noted affinities between the symphony's opening movement and Beethoven's Eroica.
Schumann initially titled the second movement Morning on the Rhine, and it evokes the river’s flow, the Greenville Journal reports. The fourth movement, often called the cathedral movement, is marked Feierlich, or solemn, according to the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The Greenville Journal reports that it is believed to have been inspired by a ceremony at Cologne Cathedral elevating an archbishop to cardinal. Mills described the movement as conveying grand serenity and suggesting the cathedral’s soaring arches, the report says.
Tickets and Venue Details
Both performances take place at Peace Center Concert Hall, 300 S. Main St., at the corner of Broad and Main streets in downtown Greenville, per the Greenville Journal. Ticket prices range from $24.20 to $90.20, and the Peace Center provides additional information by phone at 864-467-3000.
