Beethoven, Bach & Beyond

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Long Beach Terrace Theater
300 E. Ocean Blvd.
Long Beach, CA 90802

6:00 PM Doors open
6:30 PM Pre-Concert Talk
7:30 PM Concert

Nov 01, 2025 7:30 PM

Eckart Preu, Conductor

Silver-Garburg, Piano Duo

Roger Wilkie, Concertmaster, Violin I

Upcoming Concerts

Houtaf Khoury	The Journey
Bach	Concerto for Two Pianos in C major
Prokofiev/Pope	Piano Concerto No. 6
Beethoven	Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68, “Pastorale”

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In Eckart’s words:

Our second concert is called Beethoven, Bach, and Beyond.

We open this program with a piece by a Lebanese composer, Houtaf Khoury. He studied in Tripoli, Lebanon, and in Kiev, Ukraine. He has composed five symphonies, several concertos for various instruments, as well as chamber and solo music. What you are about to hear is a touching, beautiful, rich, and honest work called The Journey. It is scored for solo violin and strings. It is a magical work that will feature our concertmaster, Roger Wilkie, on solo violin.

Bach’s Concerto for Two Pianos in C Major is an absolutely brilliant work in which the two keyboardists don’t really need an orchestra, as it has often been questioned whether the string parts for this concerto were added later, as the pianists are perfectly fine on their own. In fact, the second movement is played solely by the two pianists, without any other instruments. It was this very concerto—Bach’s Concerto for Two Pianos and Strings in C Major—that caught the attention and ear of Sergei Prokofiev. A brilliant pianist himself, Prokofiev wrote five piano concertos—or maybe not…, because there is a manuscript by Prokofiev with sketches for an additional concerto for two pianos and strings. It turns out this was a concerto Prokofiev had started to write, modeled after the very Concerto for Two Pianos by Bach. However, the manuscript was left incomplete at the time of Prokofiev’s death, and all we have is 24 pages.

We asked one of the most accomplished composers and arrangers in Hollywood, Conrad Pope, to continue where Prokofiev left off. You are about to hear the result: a composition that honors the essence of Prokofiev’s ideas, expands on his sketches, cherishes his daring and beautiful musical language, and offers us a vision of what might have been—what Prokofiev might have done. I could not imagine better partners than the brilliant pianists of the Silver-Garburg Piano Duo, who will perform two concertos on this program: first, Bach’s Concerto for Two Pianos, followed by the premiere of Conrad Pope’s completion of Prokofiev’s unfinished Piano Concerto No. 6 for Two Pianos.

Our final work of the evening is Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, his Pastorale Symphony. In contrast to the dramatic and intense Symphony No. 5, which was written around the same time, this symphony is infused with a sense of peace and tranquility: Beethoven loved nature. He often took long walks in the countryside to think, be alone, and find peace. This symphony vividly depicts rural landscapes, shepherds, and the serenity of the countryside. Beethoven gave titles to each movement. For instance, the first movement is called Awakening of Cheerful Feelings Upon Arrival in the Countryside. Then we have the scene By the Brook, Merry Gathering of Country Folk, the famous Thunderstorm, and finally, the Shepherd’s Song. Beethoven masterfully invents themes that evoke the sounds of nature. You can hear bird calls in the woodwinds, the rustling of leaves, the gentle flow of a brook in the strings, and then the thunderstorm, where the entire orchestra is going crazy.

This symphony represents a search for solace in nature. Composed during a time of personal and political turmoil, it reveals a deeply intimate and personal side of Beethoven, as we accompany him on his journey through the countryside.

Audiences will enjoy the Classical ‎Series fun and elegant evening surrounded by the Terrace Theater’s dazzling fountains and fire pits, prelude ensemble in the lobby, 6:30 PM Pre-Concert Talk to gain greater knowledge regarding the evening programming, and the ability to “Sip & Enjoy” in the concert hall. Doors open at 6PM.

Eckart Preu, Conductor

Eckart Preu (Eck-art Proy) began his tenure as Music Director of Long Beach Symphony in 2017. Critics, the orchestra, and audiences alike have celebrated his ability to combine well-loved masterworks with rare or newer works in programs offering dimension, sophistication, and spirit. Preu also currently serves as …