Gamzou I SCHUBERT I BEETHOVEN 250

Although it is hard to believe today, Beethoven's songs were received very unkindly by the public and critics for most of his life. There was a turn of time. The old order was a thing of the past. Beethoven was a precursor of changes in the field of music. Did he have a chance to be understood at all?

The atmosphere of these times is well-known to us. With the Napoleonic wars, a breeze of change passed through Europe. There were travellers carrying news from Western countries, whispered information, awakened hopes of societies and nations. The waiting for important events was difficult to describe. Finally, open calls to fight. Isn't our ’Pan Tadeusz’ which talk about these times and atmosphere?

Europe of the time of Beethoven was anxious and eagerly awaiting a change. Also, it was slowly turning towards the individual. This is the moment when a man with his external activity and internal experiences becomes important to art and science. Romanticism will be built on this foundation, followed by fin de siècle. Only totalitarianisms of the 20th century will shake it. Today, Beethoven is closer to listeners than ever before in history. We are richer by two centuries of experience. In his symphony, we can unmistakably read the composer's intimate, personal feelings which were so hard to see by the audience 250 years ago.