Beethoven probably knew that he would never be able to perform his final piano concerto. He did not take this lying down. If he couldn't express himself as a performer, he could certainly channel his emotions into his writing; you can almost feel the fury and defiance in the Fifth Concerto. Beethoven was not a man to go quietly.
From Beethoven, we move forward to look at some modern music written by five 20th century and contemporary composers, Alan Hovhaness, Arvo Part, Michael Torke, Philip Glass, and Allen Shearer.
And we'll conclude with the third in the series of Bach's four Orchestral Suites -- some most unusual music for Bach in which he tries his hand at writing in the style of the French High Baroque. All for fun -- or was it part of his continuing education process?
