Roy Stratford
Beethoven’s Music and the Politics of the Enlightenment
Summary
Roy Stratford discusses Beethoven’s works including Eroica, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, and Ode to Joy. He highlights how Beethoven’s music disrupts traditional norms of harmony and rhythm to convey complex emotions and narratives. The pieces are examined as reflections of Enlightenment ideals.
Roy Stratford
Roy Stratford studied music at Reading University where, in his final year he was appointed music director of the Opera Society and conducted four performances of Rimsky-Korsakov’s “The Snow Maiden.” He went on as a postgraduate to the Royal College of Music to study conducting with Norman Del Mar and piano with David Ward. He has worked with many orchestras, including the Royal Ballet and the London Philharmonic. Roy has taught piano at St. Paul’s School since 1991 and in 2003 was appointed Head of Ensemble, responsible for all chamber music in the school. He also teaches piano at Richmond College, runs a youth training orchestra for Richmond Music Trust, and conducts the Woking Symphony Orchestra. He has had arrangements published by Faber Music and original compositions by Oxford University Press.