St Joseph’s Parish Church on Laurier Avenue was filled with the music of Beethoven on a very snowy Friday night.
The church was packed full as the Ottawa Choral Society hosted Immortal Beloved, a celebration of Beethoven, on March 24.
The choir was accompanied by the Ottawa Music Company Orchestra, led by conductor Jean-Sebastien Valée, as well as four soloists and a pianist. They performed three works by the world famous composer, and one piece composed by Carleton University professor James Wright, based on letters Beethoven wrote to a mystery lover.
Wright spoke about the theories around who exactly the letters were meant for, and the fascination that many seem to have for Beethoven’s love life.
The music began shortly after with a Beethoven piece, “Welten Singen Dank Und Ehre,” which is part of a larger worked called From Christ on the Mount of Olives.
Then pianist Maxime Bernard and baritone singer David John Pike came out to join the orchestra and choir for the piece “Letters to the Immortal Beloved.”
Wright said that the idea of putting Beethoven’s letters to music came up in about 2011 during conversations with Carleton alum and mezzo-soprano singer Julie Nesrallah.
“To be honest I’m not really sure I recall exactly when, but a light bulb went on and it struck me that no one has done this,” Wright said. “These are the words of Beethoven himself in these very intimate, passionate letters and no one had ever thought about setting them musically.”
The piece has been recorded on the Naxos label by Nesrallah, and Wright said he was thrilled with her recording, which has received rave reviews internationally. But the composition has never been performed by a male vocalist.
“Having a male voice singing these words lends a new perspective and musical authenticity to these pieces since the words were those of Beethoven writing to the beloved woman in his life,” Wright said.
Wright said the other pieces in the program worked very well with his composition.
“The great thing about them was they were all written when Beethoven was under the spell of Josephine Deym, who I believe was his Immortal Beloved,” he said, and added the time period was around the early 1800s.
“All of that music was written in that time. So, that’s kind of cool–the fact that it captured music from that period of Beethoven’s creative output,” Wright said.
Wright added the music was entirely based on Beethoven’s words, and that’s how he approaches teaching music.
“I always tell the students the words come absolutely first and that the words dictate everything. From the mood of the music, to the shape of a phrase, to the emotional expression, right down to the rhythm of the words, where the accents fall. The words are everything,” he said.
Overall, Wright said he was very pleased with the night.
“It was very well received, the audience really gave the piece a nice ovation. And [there were] wonderful performances from the Ottawa Choral Society. It’s a fabulous choir with a brilliant director, and an excellent orchestra,” he said.
