Beethoven tweets to accompany orchestra's concert
Last Updated: Friday, July 24, 2009 | 12:57 PM ET
CBC News
Twitter-saavy Beethoven fans can get some extra insight during an upcoming U.S. National Symphony Orchestra concert through a series of text messages from conductor Emil de Cou that will accompany the performance.
Orchestra officials said de Cou's commentary via the popular social messaging service will be a sort of "personal guide" to the NSO's July 30 performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 6, also known as the Pastoral Symphony. The NSO is performing summer engagements for the Wolf Trap Festival in Vienna, Va.
"I have designed the tweets to go perfectly with ideas I have about the piece as I conduct it, but also some interesting commentary to go along with the sights and sounds of Beethoven's day in the countryside: an adult musical pop-up book written for first timers and concert veterans alike," de Cou said in a statement.
Organizers billed the initiative as the "first-ever in-time symphonic Twitter."
Beethoven backgrounder tweets about the composer's life and his works will begin before the concert.
Once the performance starts, updates will be sent at specific points in the score, organizers said, "becoming streaming program notes that mark musical signposts depicting Beethoven's symphonic tribute to a day in the country."
However, since electronic devices are not permitted inside the main performance area where the orchestra performs, only those sitting in the lawn seats will be able to receive the tweets.
The NSO is performing at the Filene Center at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts.
