Welcome Remarks for Beethoven in America

Greetings from the National Archives. I’m David Ferriero, Archivist of the United States, and it's my pleasure to welcome you to tonight’s special program titled “Beethoven in America.”

This winter we join music lovers around the world to mark the 250th anniversary of Ludwig van Beethoven’s birth. Our featured document display on the National Archives Museum’s website celebrates this anniversary with a close look at a piano score for Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony.

The highlighted page of music is from the 1888 bound volume called “Beethoven Symphonies for Four Hands,” which was a gift to President Harry S. Truman, a pianist and well-known music lover. Truman’s personal music library featured an extensive sheet music collection and multiple recordings of Beethoven’s compositions.

To see the score and learn more about it, visit museum.archives.gov and click on “exhibits.”

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Now it is my pleasure to welcome tonight’s panelists.

Our moderator is Robert Aubry Davis, the creator and host of Millennium of Music, heard on public radio stations nationwide, and host and moderator of WETA TV’s Around Town.

Our panelists are Michael Broyles, professor of musicology at Florida State University and author of the book Beethoven in America,

Mina Yang, professor of arts and humanities at Minerva Schools at the Keck Graduate Institute, and author of Planet Beethoven: Classical Music at the Turn of the Millennium, and

Kenneth Slowik, artistic director of the Smithsonian Chamber Music Society.

Thank you for joining us today.