Transformation and Threnody: Beethoven and Shelley

Wed Feb 18 2026 at 07:30 pm to 08:30 pm UTC+00:00

Old Divinity School, St John's College | Cambridge

Prof. Patrick Boyde
Publisher/HostProf. Patrick Boyde
Transformation and Threnody: Beethoven and Shelley
Advertisement
A recital by John Bryden (piano) and Patrick Boyde (speaker) of selections from Shelley's "Adonais" and Beethoven's "Diabelli Variations".
About this Event

Beethoven and Shelley, two stars of the first magnitude, were seen to their best advantage in 1821, when they beamed downThree-and-thirty Transformations and Adonais respectively.

Professor Boyde explains: I had already taken the first steps towards a semi-staging of Shelley’s Adonais, when my friend and collaborator John Bryden let fall that he was preparing a performance of Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations.

A whole series of coincidences suddenly emerged. Both artists were revolutionaries. The works were written at the same time. Both have sustained passages of sublimity which ‘smile on despair’. Both have titles which give little clue as to their content and nature.

The more John and I talked it over, the more we became convinced that the two works belong together—almost like a binary ‘star / that ‘beacons from the abode where the Eternal are’.

We feel sure that a Cambridge audience will be moved by our intimate recital, offering about a third of each work, and that the experience will send them back to the thirty-threeVeränderungen, op. 120 and the fifty-five stanzas of Adonais, an Elegy on the Death of John Keats.


There's a limit of 2 places per booking.

Reserved places (unnumbered) will be held only until 7.20pm.

Further information from Prof. Boyde ([email protected]). Please notify him if you have to cancel your booking on the day.

Advertisement

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Old Divinity School, St John's College, Saint Johns Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom

Tickets

USD 0.00

Icon
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups - all the happenings, one place.

Ask AI if this event suits you:

More Events in Cambridge

Yoga Class for Homerton Students
Wed, 18 Feb at 03:45 pm Yoga Class for Homerton Students

Dance Studio, Homerton College, University of Cambridge

Twilight at the Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences: Prehistoric Night Safari
Wed, 18 Feb at 04:30 pm Twilight at the Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences: Prehistoric Night Safari

Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences

Twilight: Enter the Underworld
Wed, 18 Feb at 05:00 pm Twilight: Enter the Underworld

Museum of Classical Archaeology, Cambridge

The 88s Match: Women's Blues vs 88s Invitational XV
Wed, 18 Feb at 06:00 pm The 88s Match: Women's Blues vs 88s Invitational XV

Cambridge University Rugby Union Football Club

Painting Party at The LAB in Cambridge
Wed, 18 Feb at 07:00 pm Painting Party at The LAB in Cambridge

The LAB Cocktail Bar & Kitchen

Comic Art Workshops for kids
Wed, 18 Feb at 10:00 pm Comic Art Workshops for kids

Nightingale Recreation Ground

Little City - Willingham - Ploughman hall
Thu, 19 Feb at 09:30 am Little City - Willingham - Ploughman hall

Ploughmans Hall, Willingham

Plant-powered beauty routines
Thu, 19 Feb at 10:00 am Plant-powered beauty routines

1 Brookside, CB2 1JE Cambridge, United Kingdom

Cambridge Comic Club
Thu, 19 Feb at 11:00 am Cambridge Comic Club

Waterstones

Tea & Talk with Louie Bell: Fury of the Peaks
Thu, 19 Feb at 11:00 am Tea & Talk with Louie Bell: Fury of the Peaks

The Polar Museum

SHELL Study Junior Scientists Day
Thu, 19 Feb at 01:00 pm SHELL Study Junior Scientists Day

MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit

Cambridge is Happening!

Never miss your favorite happenings again!

Explore Cambridge Events