Origin Stories: Prometheus

Programme

Programme to include:

BEETHOVEN  The Creatures of Prometheus (excerpts)

SCRIABIN  Prometheus: The Poem of Fire

Esa-Pekka Salonen opens his three-concert exploration of Greek myth in music with two contrasting works inspired by an ancient Greek creation story. Both tell of Prometheus, who breathed life into clay to create human beings, and stole fire from the gods to give them light and understanding.

Beethoven wrote his only ballet score in 1801, for an allegory in which Prometheus brings two statues to life ‘through art and knowledge… by the power of harmony’. Beyond the well-known Overture lies music of Classical grace, including the theme that later became the Finale of the ‘Eroica’ Symphony.

Scriabin envelops his audience not just in metaphorical light, but in the colours he associated with different pitches and harmonies – his Prometheus features a part for the ‘luce’, or colour organ. Yuja Wang, renowned for her captivating stage presence, joins the orchestra in the virtuosic solo piano part.