FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 5, 2007
Contact:  David Mayhew for Cohn Dutcher Associates 
(203) 453-4275     david@davidmayhew.net

CARAMOOR'S AUTUMN '07 LECTURE SERIES ON
BEETHOVEN'S SHADOW BEGINS OCTOBER 14

Katonah, NY - The first of three music lectures on aspects of Beethoven's Shadow - the theme of this autumn's Great Artists in the Music Room series at Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts - will take place on Sunday, October 14.  Beethoven's Shadow explores the work of Beethoven (1770-1827) as well as the great music written after Beethoven and influenced by his ground-breaking work.  The series will also include a concert of holiday music in December.

The first lecture, "Beethoven's Shadow: Exploring the Connection Between Beethoven and Schumann" will take place on Sunday, October 14 at 4:00 pm and feature lecturer Michael Barrett and William Sharp, baritone.  The lecture will include discussion and performance of Beethoven's An die Ferne Geliebte, regarded as the first great German song cycle, paving the way for Schubert, Schumann, Hugo Wolf and others.  In addition to An Die Ferne Geliebte, William Sharp with Michael Barrett at the piano will perform Schumann's Liederkreis, Op. 39.

On Sunday, November 11 at 4:00 pm, San Francisco Conservatory of Music professor Paul Hersh will discuss "Exploring the Influence of Beethoven's Piano Sonatas."  He will explore the literary legacy and musical structure of Beethoven's final piano sonata, Op. 111.  The lecture will conclude with a performance of the sonata by Mr. Hersh.

The third lecture in the series, "Exploring Beethoven's Symphonic Shadows," will be given by Paul Epstein and will take place on Sunday, November 18 at 4:00 pm.  This lecture will examine three of Beethoven's symphonies, the revolutionary panorama of the Third (Eroica), the absolute musical unity of the Fifth, and the Ninth's embodiment of nothing less than the whole of humanity and the world, and trace their overwhelming influence on such diverse composers as Schubert, Brahms, Wagner, Debussy and Ives.

The lectures complement the autumn's Great Artists in the Music Room Series, which began on October 6 with the Brentano String Quartet and continues on Saturday, October 20 at 8:00 pm with pianist Vladimir Feltsman, violist Paul Neubauer, and baritone William Sharp with a program of Beethoven's Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 2 (Moonlight); Schumann's Liederkreis, Op. 39 (poems by Eichendorff); and Shostakovich's Sonata for Viola and Piano.  The final Beethoven's Shadow performance, Saturday, November 3 at 8 pm, will feature Lily Francis, violin; Edward Arron, cello; and Anton Kuerti, piano with a program of Beethoven's Trio in C minor, Op. 1, No. 3; Shostakovich's Trio No. 2 in E minor, Op. 67; and Trio No. 2 in C Major, Op. 87 by Brahms.

Tickets
Tickets for the Beethoven's Shadow lectures are $15.  For further information about all events at Caramoor and to order tickets call the Caramoor Box Office at 914.232.1252 or visit www.caramoor.org. 

"Beethoven's Shadow" is made possible, in part, through funding from the Rudyard and Emanuella Reimss Memorial Fund of the Westchester Community Foundation.

The Westchester Community Foundation (WCF) is a non-profit community endowment for the benefit of Westchester County. Its mission is to develop and manage philanthropic resources, and to distribute them in a way that is responsive to donor interests and community needs. The Foundation actively promotes charitable giving on behalf of the area's non-profit organizations. WCF is a division of The New York Community Trust, the largest community foundation in the country with assets of approximately $1.8 billion.

About Caramoor
Caramoor is the legacy of Walter and Lucie Rosen, who built the great house and filled it with their treasures.  Walter Rosen was the master planner for the Caramoor estate, bringing to reality his dream of creating a place to entertain friends from around the world.  Their musical evenings were the seeds of the annual summertime Caramoor International Music Festival, as well as the Fall and Spring musical programs held in their former home, now the House Museum.  Realizing the pleasure their friends took in the beauty of Caramoor - the house with its art collection, the gardens, and the musical programs - the Rosens established a Foundation to open Caramoor to the public in perpetuity.

Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts is located at 149 Girdle Ridge Road, Katonah, New York.