An original work for narrator, soprano, choir and orchestra by Manorbier author Paul Griffiths, combining a new text with little-known vocal and orchestral music by Ludwig van Beethoven, was performed on December 16 at the opening night of the BTHVN2020 festival in the composer’s birthplace.

To mark the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth, the city of Bonn is hosting a yearlong series of events related to the composer’s life, including nightly concerts by soloists and ensembles from all over the world.

The last concert will take place on the birthday itself December 16, 2020.

The title of Paul’s piece - ‘O Freunde, nicht diese Töne!’ - is the phrase sung by the baritone solo at the start of the choral section of the Ninth Symphony’s final movement.

The musical numbers include excerpts from the Leopold Cantata, composed by the 19-year-old Beethoven while he was still living in the family home in Bonn, followed by excerpts from The Ruins of Athens, Fidelio and Egmont and concluding with the Opferlied.

The soloists were Belgian soprano Ilse Eerens and German actor Matthias Brandt. The Beethoven Orchester Bonn was joined by the Czech Philharmonic Choir and conducted by the orchestra’s music director Dirk Kaftan.

Paul stole from himself by ending the piece with the Opferlied, which was also the final bit of his earlier Beethoven collaboration, The General.

The concluding night of the series a year from now will feature the Ninth Symphony, performed by Daniel Barenboim and his East-West Divan Orchestra.

The concert was broadcast live by WDR3 and will remain online for a month.

Paul’s novel Mr. Beethoven, in which the composer lives a few years longer–long enough to sail to Boston and fulfill a commission he received in real life from the Haydn and Handel Society, for an oratorio–will be published in the spring.