The Symphony Reimagined

Create your own instrumental arrangements of extracts from Beethoven's symphonies in interactive and immersive spatial audio.

The Symphony Reimagined enables users to create their own arrangements of extracts from Beethoven's symphonies. The app allows users to swap and change the instruments, hear them in different combinations and change their spatial position. For example, you could take something that was played originally on a cello and switch to the flute, take a part that is normally played by lots of instruments at the same time and turn it into a solo, or make the instruments sound like they are far away, or right next to you. All these options are rendered in real-time, immersive and interactive binaural audio and visualised on screen using a choice of historical colour scales.

The app contains three arrangements at were made in the nineteenth century for listeners to re-arrange and explore. Castil-Blaze's 'Complainte' was arranged from Beethoven's Symphony No. 7, Movement 2 and performed as part of an opera by Beethoven called Fidelio. The other two pieces are hymn-tune arrangements made by William Gardiner. 'I heard a Voice Angelic' was arranged from Beethoven's Symphony No. 3, Movement 2, while 'Indulgent God' was arranged from Beethoven's Symphony No. 2, Movement 2.

This app uses interactive binaural audio, for the best experience please connect your headphones. No prior knowledge of Classical music required.