A portrait of Ludwig van Beethoven
© AFP/File Johnny EggittBONN, Germany (AFP) - Under the motto "Joy -- Beethoven and the British cultural sphere", the annual month-long festival will showcase British artists, conductors and orchestras.
It will trace the links between Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), one of world's most popular and best-known composers, and the musical, cultural and political life of Britain at the time.
It was the musical impresario and concert organiser Johann Peter Salomon (1745-1815) who first brought Beethoven's works to London in the early 1800s.
He had already been responsible for establishing the fame of Austrian composer Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) in Britain.
One of Beethoven's friends and pupils, his former copyist and secretary Ferdinand Ries (1784-1838), commissioned a number of works from the composer when he became director of London's Philharmonic Society in 1813.
One of those commissions eventually became Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, nowadays known as the Choral Symphony (1824). And it is the finale of that symphony, based on Schiller's "Ode an die Freude" (Ode to Joy), that provides the motto for this year's festival.
Beethoven also wrote a patriotic symphonic work, "Wellingtons Sieg oder die Schlacht bei Vittoria", celebrating the Duke of Wellington's victory over the French at the Battle of Vitoria in Spain in 1821. The work makes use of the anthems "Rule Britannia" and "God Save the King".
Works by British composers will feature highly on the programme of this year's festival. As well as musical giants such as Henry Purcell, Edward Elgar and Benjamin Britten, there will also be works by contemporary composers Thomas Ades, Harrison Birtwistle, Brian Ferneyhough and Jonathan Harvey.
The official opening gala concert will be a performance of Elgar's Serenade for Strings and his Enigma Variations, as well as Beethoven's violin concerto, by the Philharmonia Orchestra under British conductor, Sir Andrew Davis.
Other British ensembles performing some of the 61 concerts between August 24 and September 23 include the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Choir of King's College, Cambridge, the Academy of St. Martin's in the Field and the Hilliard Ensemble.
And perhaps one of the main highlights of the festival will be a performance of Britten's War Requiem in Bonn's "Beethovenhalle" concert hall on September 12.
The Beethovenfest dates back to 1845 when the Beethoven Monument on Bonn's Muensterplatz was unveiled and a three-day music festival was held in honour of the composer's 75th birthday. Among the guests were some of the leading composers of the age, including Hector Berlioz, Louis Spohr and Franz Liszt.
The modern version of the festival was initiated in 1931 and held every two to three years. Since 1999, the festival has been an annual event.
In previous years, the festival has focussed on Beethoven's influence on the music and culture of countries such as France and Russia.
©AFP