Beethoven 250

About The Festival

AN ONLINE FESTIVAL OF BEETHOVEN’S SYMPHONIC AND CHAMBER MUSIC

Brought to you by The Hanover Band & Consone Quartet
in the 250th anniversary year of Beethoven’s birth

Recorded at Stationers’ Hall in The City of London, UK
& Arundel Town Hall, West Sussex, UK


– BROADCAST ONLINE

September-December 2020 

“an imaginative city salute to Beethoven’s 250th birthday”.

The Lord Mayor of London, Alderman William Russell

WATCH OUR LATEST BROADCASTS:

Premiering online, join us for weekly broadcasts, Wednesdays 20.00 GMT – September-December:

Latest Broadcasts


The Hanover Band (1980-2020) has gone digital with an online festival of Beethoven Symphonies and iconic Chamber Music. 

Watch Trailer

In addition, our quartet in residence The Consone have come together with The Hanover Band Chamber Ensemble to bring you a series of Beethoven’s Septet and the Opus 18 String Quartets.

Recorded during these unprecedented times at Stationers’ Hall in the City of London and the orchestra’s home in Arundel in West Sussex, during August and September 2020, the series celebrates the Orchestra’s 40th Anniversary year and Beethoven’s 250th Birthday.

The recording venues have been chosen because of their size and similarity to venues Beethoven would have expected his music to be played in, with more intimate audiences, rather than the vast concert halls of today. 

The series culminates with Beethoven’s famous 9th (Choral) symphony on the composer’s actual birthday Wednesday 16 December 2020, featuring The Hanover Band Chorus and including the well-known ‘Ode To Joy’.


Support our work:

Please consider supporting us in our endeavours to bring more performances to you via our website. 

We are not charging for viewing our online festival but would ask you to support us through making a donation.

Our suggested donations are £5 £10 £20 £50 or you can choose your own amount.

Donate Now


BROADCAST SCHEDULE:
BEETHOVEN CHAMBER MUSIC SERIES:

 THE HANOVER BAND CHAMBER ENSEMBLE
+ CONSONE QUARET

01: The Hanover Band
Chamber Ensemble

Wednesday 23 September 2020
Premiered Online 20.00 BST
Septet Op.20
02: Consone Quartet
Wednesday 30 September 2020
Premiered Online 20.00 BST
String Quartet Op.18 No. 1 & 3
03: Consone Quartet
Wednesday 7 October 2020
Premiered Online 20.00 BST
String Quartet Op.18 No. 2 & 6
04: Consone Quartet
Wednesday 14 October 2020
Premiered Online 20.00 BST
String Quartet Op.18 No. 5 & 4
  
BEETHOVEN SYMPHONY SERIES:

THE HANOVER BAND 
Directed by BENJAMIN BAYL
Leader Jorge Jimenez 

01: The Hanover Band – Symphony Series
Wednesday 21 October 2020
Premiered Online 20.00 BST
Symphony No. 1 Op.21
02: The Hanover Band – Symphony Series
Wednesday 28 October 2020
Premiered Online 20.00 GMT
Symphony No. 2 Op.36
03: The Hanover Band – Symphony Series
Wednesday 4 November 2020
Premiered Online 20.00 GMT
Symphony No. 3 Op.55 ‘Eroica’
04: The Hanover Band – Symphony Series
Wednesday 11 November 2020
Premiered Online 20.00 GMT
Symphony No. 4 Op.60
05: The Hanover Band – Symphony Series
Wednesday 18 November 2020
Premiered Online 20.00 GMT
Symphony No. 5 Op.67
06: The Hanover Band – Symphony Series
Wednesday 25 November 2020
Premiered Online 20.00 GMT
Symphony No. 6 Op.68 ‘Pastoral’
07: The Hanover Band – Symphony Series
Wednesday 2 December 2020
Premiered Online 20.00 GMT
Symphony No. 7 Op.92
08: The Hanover Band – Symphony Series
Wednesday 9 December 2020
Premiered Online 20.00 GMT
Symphony No. 8 Op.93
09: The Hanover Band – Symphony Series
Wednesday 16 December 2020
Premiered Online 20.00 GMT
Symphony No. 9 Op.125 ‘Choral’
  

Recordings: 
The Chamber Music was recorded at Arundel Town Hall, West Sussex, UK:
21 – 30 August 2020

The Symphonies were recorded at Stationers’ Hall, City of London, UK:
20 August – 5 September 2020

The Lord Mayor of London, Alderman William Russell, has described the multi-date event as:

“an imaginative city salute to Beethoven’s 250th birthday

These online concerts are aimed particularly at young people who will be tomorrow’s musicians and concerts goers.

As a way of opening young ears to fine music, and young eyes to the work and relevance of the City’s Livery Companies, it deserves all our support and I for one commend it whole-heartedly.

The Hanover Band

HANOVER (Not Hannover; Germany) In terms of British history the majority of the music we play is from the Hanoverian period. Hanover also refers to Hanover Square in London, where Haydn performed his symphonies and arias in the Salomon Concerts in the 1790’s.

BAND (ref: The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians)
‘An instrumental ensemble, larger than a chamber ensemble. Thus the ’24 violins’ of Louis XIV were called ‘la grande bande’ to distinguish them from Lully’s ‘petits violons’, and Charles II’s similar ensemble was known as ‘the King’s Band’. By extension, ‘band’ came to mean an orchestra in colloquial British usage’.

THE HANOVER BAND a period name for a period orchestra.

Sign up for news