Composing this piece kept Beethoven going

You probably think unhappy composers write sad music.

After all, isn't that where we get the blues?

Beethoven's Symphony No. 2 in D major defies that conventional wisdom. This exuberant piece, which the Omaha Symphony plays Saturday at the Strauss Performing Arts Center, was composed in the summer of 1802, at a time when the composer was becoming increasingly deaf.

In fact, Beethoven wrote his famed “Heiligenstadt Testament” at the same time. It outlines the composer's increasing sense of loneliness and isolation.

“I was near to putting an end to my life,” wrote Beethoven. “Only art held me back.”

The art that was preventing Beethoven from jumping off a bridge at that moment was his Symphony No. 2. The music is full of wit, grace and lyricism. Those are the qualities that appeal to music director Thomas Wilkins.

“Beethoven is best known for his Symphonies Nos. 3, 5, 7 and 9, which are all very angular, very dramatic,” he said. “But I've always preferred the even-number symphonies, especially Nos. 2, 4 and 6, because they offer such a lyrical alternative.”

This Saturday's concert will feature two other works.

Maria Harding, the orchestra's principal flutist, will solo in Carl Nielsen's Concerto for Flute and Orchestra.

And Wilkins will lead the orchestra in Prokofiev's Symphony No. 1, “Classical.”

The famed 20th-century composer used modern harmonic techniques to compose his tribute to the music of Haydn and Mozart. He captures the spirit of 18th-century classicism in writing music of warmth and charm, making it a worthy companion to Beethoven's Second Symphony.

Contact the writer:

444-1076, john.pitcher@owh.com

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