In a certain sense, Beethoven is the ″most German″ composer: he embodies strict principles, great and noble visions, professionality and innovative thinking.. On the other hand, he was the one who created rules that he himself kept breaking, who could say something infinitely gentle and personal even in his most bellicose messages. His sanguine nature caused him trouble again and again in the hierarchic world of his day; he was one of the first artists who didn't speak to society in the name of the community but in his own. Poulenc, Ibert and Ravel lived in a more liberal atmosphere in the France of their time, and their 20th-century attitudes set them off from their great French predecessors. Their music always involves some dance, some escapism, something distant. We can enjoy the music of these free spirits this evening.