Dear friend
Egmont, Op. 84, is a set of incidental music pieces composed by Ludwig van Beethoven for the play by the same name by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. The overture is followed by nine pieces for soprano, narrator and orchestra. In this the composer expressed his political concerns through the musical exaltation of the heroic sacrifice of a man condemned to death for having taken a valiant stand against oppression. The Overture became an unofficial anthem of the 1956 Hungarian revolution, just as Beethoven’s Symphony Nr. 9 and particularly the choral portions the Ode to Joy became the music forever connected to the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Daniele and Davide Trivella are laureates of the 1999 Dranoff competition. They live in Bergamo, Italy, and have had to live through two terrible waves of the Corona Virus. It was – and is – their music that has allowed them to hold onto the light in life. As do we. We acknowledge the darkness of winter and of difficult times, but with the celebrations of light – Diwali, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Christmas, and so many other traditions – we return to find life.
“Music is the one incorporeal entrance into the higher world of knowledge which comprehends mankind but which mankind cannot comprehend.” - Beethoven.
Warmly,
Gabriele Fiorentino
President,
The Dranoff 2 Piano Foundation
Piano Slam
