The world celebrated what would have been Beethoven's 250th birthday.

Many long-planned events were axed or improvised due to the pandemic.

But the two-day concerts held by the Jakarta Conservatory of Music and the Jakarta Sinfonietta were more than just an online impromptu event.

The concerts, held at the peak dates of the celebration on Dec. 16-17, 2020 and involved the conservatory’s lecturers and orchestra members, were organized in an intimate setup in which the musicians shared the backstory of the composition and even their personal accounts ahead of the performance.

Under the main theme “Happy Birthday, Ludwig!”, the Beethoven Online Festival allowed the paying audience to learn more about the seminal figure in world classical music starting from his youth.

Ludwig van Beethoven was baptized in Bonn, Germany, on Dec. 17, 1770. There is no official record of his birth date, but due to the custom of baptizing a one-day-old newborn, it is safe to assume he was born on the 16th.

Passing away in 1827, Beethoven had crafted a technique of using leitmotif – the recurrence of a few notes or a rhythmic gesture – to build an entire movement or a composition, producing iconic pieces.

Popular

Much ado about asset forfeiture

Mass poisonings cast doubt on free meals reforms

Purbaya ousted after clash with Prabowo's ex-army colleague, sources say