For soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, baritone, mixed choir and orchestra
In Praise
of Peace
A choral-orchestral companion work to Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, written for the 20th Anniversary of the Verbier Festival.
Commission
Commissioned by the Verbier Festival to commemorate its 20th Anniversary as a companion work to Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.
World Premiere
19 July 2013. Verbier — Miah Persson, soprano; Lilli Paasikivi, mezzo-soprano; Pavol Bresik, tenor; Matthew Rose, baritone; The New York Collegiate; Verbier Festival Orchestra; Charles Dutoit, conductor.
The Work
In Praise of Peace was created for the Verbier Festival’s 20th Anniversary as a companion to Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. That context gives the work a charged historical frame: Auerbach is not merely writing “after” Beethoven, but entering into dialogue with one of the central musical emblems of brotherhood, hope and public utterance.
The presence of four vocal soloists and mixed choir gives the work both individual and collective voices. The soloists suggest human singularity; the choir suggests community, witness and shared breath.
The work’s scale is concise but ceremonial. It stands between concert piece, public statement and inward meditation, asking what it means to praise peace in a world where peace is never guaranteed.
Work Information
Abbreviations PDF
Voices of Peace
The work’s vocal forces create a dialogue between the personal and the communal. Four solo voices stand before the orchestra and choir, while the mixed choir enlarges the utterance into something collective: a public sound shaped by private vulnerability.
Written as a companion to Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, In Praise of Peace does not treat peace as sentimental resolution. It asks how praise can remain possible in the presence of historical memory, fragility and human conflict.
- Solo Voices Individual human utterance within a larger public space.
- Choir Community, witness and shared breath.
- Orchestra A ceremonial frame for sound, conflict and resolution.
- Beethoven A contemporary companion to the Ninth Symphony’s public ideal.
Publisher and Materials
Published by Boosey & Hawkes / Sikorski. Score and rental materials are available through Zinfonia.