Symphony
How the symphony emerged from the world of aristocratic privilege, how it accompanied the rise of nations and the fall of empires, and how it became a symbol of freedom and a tool of totalitarianism.
- 2011-2011
- 1 season
- Documentary
How the symphony emerged from the world of aristocratic privilege, how it accompanied the rise of nations and the fall of empires, and how it became a symbol of freedom and a tool of totalitarianism.
Season 1 Episode Guide
4 Episodes 2011
Episode 1
Genesis and Genius
New Year's Day, 1791: the Austrian composer Joseph Haydn - 58 years old, in rude health - is sailing from Calais to Dover. It's a voyage that will take a full ten hours.
Episode 2
Beethoven and Beyond
Europe at the beginning of the Nineteenth Century, a continent at war with itself. The symphonies revolutionised, changed beyond all recognition in the space of just thirty years by two titanic men, one German and one French.
Episode 3
New Nations and New Worlds
Vienna, 1876: the place was a building site, the hub of an empire, and a symphony
Episode 4
Revolution and Rebirth
Vienna, 1912: the certainties of empire were falling away and cataclysmic wars were looming. Through the course of the Twentieth Century, the world would change faster than ever before and composers responded to those changes, too.