The Firehearted

At the end of 2019, Olari Elts commissioned a new piece, it was originally supposed to be performed during the 2020/2021 season, the season marking the 250th birthday of Beethoven. The themes in the strings in The Firehearted are largely from the Leonore overture of Beethoven’s Fidelio. Nevertheless, in the spring of 2020, the coronavirus crisis arrived, and it was me who was holding up the progress because my per-sonal arrangements turned out to be more different than planned. However, I was able to start working on it. Back in June, I was beginning to think that maybe I would be able to finish it by the opening concert of the season. As I already had a theme that I was working on and due to a lack of time, it seemed appropriate to continue and finish what I had started. At one point it seemed that my theme of wind instruments on Beethoven’s material was not enough, so I started adding these more abrupt sections. Surprisingly, the title and the material with these mixed sections characterises accurately how ERSO performed Beethoven during the season – in the midst of crisis and confusion, but consistently, even if performing to an empty hall.