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Beethoven and the Hero's Journey
OLLI at Sonoma State University
Spring 2018- Beginning April 3
Tuesdays afternoons at the Cooperage 1-3 pm
Beethoven and the Hero's Journey
OLLI at Sonoma State University
Spring 2018- Beginning April 3
Tuesdays afternoons at the Cooperage 1-3 pm
No other musical life represents so fully the archetype of The Hero than Ludwig van Beethoven, the small and abused little boy from Bonn whose courage and creativity in response to life’s ordeals changed the world forever. Using Joseph Campbell’s map of the Hero’s Journey, we’ll trace Beethoven’s life from its brutal beginnings through his legendary meetings with Mozart and his dutiful apprenticeship with Haydn, the defiant confrontation with deafness and despair that gave birth to a whole new style of composition, and finally, the monumental achievements of healing, hope and synthesis Beethoven created in late works like the Piano Sonata Op. 109, the Ninth Symphony , and the last string quartets he penned as he faced his own death.
April 3: The Ignoble Beginnings of the Wayward Student
Featured work: Piano Trio, Op. 1 No. 3 in c minor
April 10: The Call to Adventure and Mozart's Torch
Featured Works: Piano Sonata Op. 2 No.1 in f minor, "Pathetique" Sonata Op. 13 in c minor
April 17: The Hero Awakens in Piano Concertos and Symphonies
Featured Works: Piano Concertos Nos. 2, 3 and 5; Symphony No. 5
April 24: The Road of Trials Through Love, Rage and Moonlight
Featured Works: Sonata Op. 78 in F# Major, "Rage Over the Lost Penny", Sonata Op. 27 in c# minor, "Moonlight"
May 1: Suffering and Transcendence, the Late Works
Feautred Works: Piano Sonata Op. 109 in E Major, String Quartet Op. 130
May 8: Benediction and the Ninth Symphony
Featured Works; The Choral Fantasy for Piano, Orchestra and Chorus, Symphony No. 9 in D Minor
