What Makes It Great? Beethoven's First Symphony

The celebrated composer, conductor, and educator Nadia Boulanger once remarked that true genius must be original, so it only needs to attempt imitation in order to become original itself. In paying tribute to his legendary forebears Mozart and Haydn, Beethovens First Symphony was inevitably a work of originality. Host Rob Kapilow examines how this symphonyreleased in Vienna in 1800, launching the young composers career as a musician therehonored Viennese tradition through a voice that was unmistakably original and uniquely his own.