Lecture Series: Why Beethoven?

In a new partnership with the Santa-Barbara based Chamber Ensemble, Camerata Pacifica, we are presenting three lectures exploring the timeless influence of Beethoven. Discussions will be led by leading scholars Lydia Goehr, Derek Katz, and Andrea Moore.

Grounded in the objectively classical world of Mozart and Haydn, Beethoven flourished in the era of Goethe and Kant, emerging as the archetypal genius for Romantics, who declared the artist to be a world-shaking demigod and hero. Was this deification the first step in a stultification of the concert experience, resulting in the imperious reverence of the concert hall and the rigid canonization of the 18th and 19th century masters? 250 years after his birth is part of Beethoven’s legacy a constriction of the concert experience that makes it harder for a contemporary audience to enjoy the music of today?