Hamilton Phil season opens with Beethoven’s Countryside

Hamilton Phil's 2026-2027 season opens opens with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 “Pastoral," alongside works by Berlioz and Chausson. Together, these pieces set the stage for an ambitious new season.

Opening night at the Hamilton Phil is fast approaching on Oct. 3 with music director James Kahane at the conductor’s podium. Going to a concert is different from listening to a recording. It is an active experience where you can be guided on how and what to listen for: the conductor's baton, the motion of musicians, the expressions on their faces, and the communal experience of the people around you turns this into an experience. 

“The entire program explores people’s relation with their lands and what their specific piece of ‘earth’ means to them, to which extent it defines them, and to which extent it doesn’t,” says Kahane on the Oct. 3 concert program.  

The opening night concert begins with an overture. An overture is a collection of tunes from an opera or ballet that is played before the action takes place. In this case, we will hear a work by the French composer Hector Berlioz (whose most famous work is Symphonie fantastique). This overture is based on the 1838 opera Benvenuto Cellini, about a Florentine sculptor who must urgently create a statue in a single night to save his own life. The overture is called The Roman Carnival which takes its name from a carnival scene taking place in Rome’s Palazzo Collona. It’s a wild ride of love themes and dances told by a master orchestrator. 

The second work on the program is by another French composer, Ernest Chausson. Poème was written for violin and orchestra at the request of legendary violinist Eugène Ysaÿe in 1896. It became Chausson’s most famous and adored work but it was difficult to perform. In fact, the publisher Breitkopf & Härtel was reluctant to publish it due to its "extraordinary difficulty” even though audiences loved it. While the piece was taking time to develop a reputation, Spanish composer Isaac Albéniz was looking to find a way to repay Chausson for assisting his early career development. Albéniz ended up secretly negotiating and paying for the publishing himself, even adding money for the appearance of royalties. Chausson had no need of the money, being independently wealthy from inheritance, but he certainly benefitted from the confidence of apparent success. The Hamilton Phil welcomes Jessica Linnebach, associate concertmaster of the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, to take on the extraordinarily difficult soloist role. 

After intermission, the Hamilton Phil premieres a new piece by composer fellow Leo Purich. Taking inspiration from the countryside theme of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, Purich not only borrows a few notes from Beethoven but also captures the idea of wandering in Forest Paths Imagined. The different paths have different musical influences (from jazz, folk, renaissance, romantic symphonies and even electronic music), which increasingly intersect as the piece progresses. The composer fellowship program is part of the Hamilton Phil’s Centre for Musical Leadership, which supports early-career artists through mentorship, creative collaboration, and valuable on-stage experience as they navigate, grow, and thrive in the Canadian music industry. 

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Lastly, we arrive at the symphony on the program: Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6. In the initial program, Beethoven had printed “Pastoral Symphony, more an expression of feeling than painting.” This is surely to represent that it isn’t a “play by play” sort of piece, but rather uses impressions of the countryside as a source of inspiration.  

The titles of the five movements set the scene:  

1. Awakening of cheerful feelings upon arrival in the countryside  
2. Scene by the brook  
3. Merry gathering of country folk  
4. Storm  
5. Shepherd’s Song: Feeling cheerful and grateful after the storm.   

Storytelling elements like bird songs and country village bands help to create the setting but from there, Beethoven lets the music evolve and develop as only he can. He is an expert at turning a small musical gesture into a powerhouse. This is one of the rare chances to hear Beethoven at his happiest, as he adored spending time in the countryside. Let’s join him: Oct. 3 at 7:30 p.m. Come at 6:30 p.m to hear me interview soloist Jessica Linnebach and Hamilton Phil music director James Kahane. 

Do you want to hear more about Beethoven’s life, temperament, hearing loss as well as jostles and affairs with aristocrats? Hamilton Phil’s Talk & Tea: Beethoven explores the life and work of the iconic composer on Oct. 2 at 11 a.m. at FirstOntario Concert Hall.  

Tickets for Talk & Tea and the concert are available at hpo.org 

Abigail Richardson-Schulte is Hamilton Phil composer advisor and ambassador.