Artist’s Life

MUBA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA CONCERT PROGRAMME

Ludwig van Beethoven – “Coriolanus” Overture, Op. 62
Franz Schubert – Symphony No. 7 (8) in B minor, “Unfinished,” D. 759
Johann Strauss II – “Artist’s Life,” Op. 316

Johann Strauss II composed his most famous waltzes in Vienna in the second half of the 19th century—a time when art and music offered people a way to escape the worries of everyday life and find beauty and joy even in difficult times. Just as they do today. More than a century and a half later, we live in a very different world, but the fundamental questions of an artist’s life remain the same. Creative work must compete for attention, be visible and reach an audience. Yet art still springs from something deeply human: the need to express what words cannot. It takes time, concentration, courage and dedication.

The concert “Artist’s Life” brings together three contrasting works that reveal different sides of Vienna’s composers: Beethoven’s dramatic intensity, Schubert’s Romantic depth and Strauss’s waltz-like brilliance. Beethoven’s heroic “Coriolanus” Overture is followed by one of Schubert’s best-known works, the “Unfinished Symphony.” The concert concludes with Johann Strauss II’s waltz “Artist’s Life,” in which reflective and melancholic moments alternate with the lightness and joie de vivre characteristic of the Viennese waltz.

The MUBA Symphony Orchestra is conducted by Valle-Rasmus Roots. The concert has no intermission.