8.574176
Canons and Musical Jokes
One of the least explored areas of Beethoven’s compositions is the miscellaneous sequence of canons, early exercises in counterpoint, mature jokes and jeux d’esprit that he wrote over many years. He composed a two-part canon for the composer Hummel in 1816 and in 1823 one for four voices (written in a tavern) for Count Lichnowsky. He also wrote birthday and Christmas greetings for colleagues and friends, and songs that punned on recipients’ names or poked fun at them.
8.574174
Folk Songs
George Thomson of Edinburgh, a notable promoter of Scottish music, encouraged settings of his nation’s folk songs. In particular, he found a rich source of arrangements in Vienna, where he commissioned first Haydn and then Beethoven to set a large sequence of poems, including those of Robert Burns and Sir Walter Scott. Thomson envisaged simple works, agreeable to amateurs, but Beethoven found it impossible to compose within such limitations and his settings, which include Irish and Welsh songs, with the accompaniment of strings and piano, have proved perennially popular.
2.110674 [DVD]
Also Available in Blu-ray (NBD0121V)
Leonore
Beethoven started composing Leonore in January 1804. The subject – the release to freedom of an unjustly imprisoned man by his devoted wife – was part of the genre of ‘rescue operas’ which were very popular at the end of the 18th century. The premiere of Leonore, given before an uncomprehending audience at a time of political upheaval, was a failure and Beethoven responded by shortening the work from three acts to two, which was the version performed in 1806. After further revisions it was to emerge in 1814 as Fidelio. This performance is from Opera Lafayette’s Leonore Project which included a performance of Pierre Gaveaux’s Léonore, ou L’Amour conjugal (available on Naxos DVD 2.110591 and Blu-ray NBD0085V) – the opera on which Beethoven modelled his Leonore
2.110669 [DVD]
Also available in Blu-ray
Missa Solemnis
Beethoven’s Missa solemnis is the one work the composer admired above all his compositions. It was written for his great patron and friend Archduke Rudolf of Austria at around the same time that he embarked on his Ninth Symphony and as the writer Donald Tovey noted, ‘there is no choral and no orchestral writing, earlier or later, that shows a more thrilling sense of the individual colour of every chord.’ This insightful documentary follows Frieder Bernius on a journey of discovery as he immerses himself in Beethoven’s monumental masterpiece in preparation for a recording.
8.574175
Secular Vocal Works
Opferlied • Lied aus der Ferne • An die Geliebte
Beethoven’s secular vocal works, many rarely heard today, were composed for a variety of reasons. Some were written for marriages, to mark the departure of a friend or to celebrate a name day, while others allude to Masonic imagery or set the words of great literary contemporaries, such as Schiller. The larger canvas of Mehrstimmige italienische Gesänge reflects Beethoven’s studies of Italian word-setting with Antonio Salieri, revealing insights into Beethoven’s achievements during his early years in Vienna.
8.574017
Mass in C Major
Vestas Feuer • Meeresstille und Glückliche Fahrt
The custom of marking the name-day of Princess Esterházy with a newly composed Mass began in the 1790s and for many years was carried out by Joseph Haydn. In 1807 Beethoven was commissioned and responded with his Mass in C major. Coolly received at court, it is a celebratory work of large-scale brilliance. The cantata Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt is set to Goethe’s poems and contrasts calm with exuberance. In 1803 Beethoven set two numbers from Vestas Feuer, written by Emanuel Schikaneder, the librettist of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte.
8.574077
Cantata on the Death of Emperor Joseph II
Cantata on the Accession of Leopold II
By the time of Emperor Joseph II’s death in 1790 Beethoven was a member of the court musical establishment in Bonn. To mark the occasion, Beethoven was commissioned to write two cantatas, one to mourn Joseph’s death and the other to celebrate the accession to the throne of Emperor Leopold II. Although Beethoven was only 19 years old at the time, both works show the embryonic marks of his greatness: intense expression and control of structure in one, and an almost operatic panache in the other. Neither piece was performed during Beethoven’s lifetime.
8.574042
König Stephan
Leonore Prohaska (excerpts) • Opferlied • Germania
Aside from his only opera Fidelio, Beethoven’s general link with the theatre in Vienna came about largely with incidental music or songs to be inserted into the works of other composers—insertion arias. König Stephan was written to celebrate the politically significant opening of a new theatre in Pest, its triumphant mood honouring the ruling Austrian Emperor. Standard-bearer of female heroism Leonore Prohaska is commemorated with a Soldier’s Chorus and a Romance with harp accompaniment. In Friedrich von Matthisson’s poem Opferlied (‘Sacrificial Song’), a young man prays to Zeus to bestow upon him beauty and goodness in youth and old age. Two of Beethoven’s four settings are heard on this wide-ranging programme.
8.579081
Beethoven Recomposed

To mark the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth, Russian born arranger Paul Struck has arranged two of the composer’s great mid-period chamber masterpieces for soloist and string ensemble. Expanding the sonorities of the ‘Kreutzer’ Sonata – Beethoven’s most important chamber work for violin – allows the sonata’s concertante quality to emerge in a new light. The Cello Sonata No. 3 equally succeeds in conceiving the piano part for ensemble, while exploring fullness of sound and maintaining transparency of texture.

SWR19090CD
Complete Symphonies
Overtues • Mass in C Major

In 2020, the 250th anniversary of Beethoven's birth, Gielen’s importance as an interpreter of Beethoven’s symphonies deserves to be acknowledged by a separate box set within our edition. For a long time Gielen’s core competence was seen in connection with the Second Viennese School, though right from the start of his career as a conductor he had paid particular attention to the First Viennese School – Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven.

After Hermann Scherchen and René Leibowitz, Gielen was one of the first conductors to take Beethoven’s metronome markings seriously. He took advantage of two invitations from German broadcasting organisations to establish himself in 1970 as the most radical innovator regarding Beethoven interpretations. The 1980 Eroica production with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra was the first for a long time to be based on Beethoven’s metronome markings: these were applied throughout and more consistently than ever before. Little wonder that the recording became quite famous.

The edition also contains the C Major Mass which, until June 2007, was the only important work by Beethoven that Gielen had never performed. The invitation from the SWR ensembles to come to Koblenz for the opening of the 2007 RheinVokal festival was therefore a welcome opportunity to study the piece and give an advance performance in the Konzerthaus Freiburg. This penultimate volume of the Michael Gielen EDITION is as musically interesting as you could hope for.

ODE1348-5Q
The 9 Symphonies
This new Beethoven symphony cycle with Malmö Symphony Orchestra is conductor Robert Trevino’s debut release on Ondine. Trevino is one of the fastest rising young conductors and known for his fresh and vivid interpretations of both standard repertoire as well as contemporary works. Currently Trevino is holding the tenure as chief conductor of the Malmö Symphony Orchestra and as music director of the Basque National Orchestra. After studies with conductors David Zinman, Seiji Ozawa and Michael Tilson Thomas, Trevino worked closely as Leif Segerstam’s assistant before making his debuts with a number of leading symphony orchestras worldwide. These Beethoven symphonies were recorded in connection with a Beethoven festival which was arranged in Malmö, Sweden in October, 2019.

Beethoven’s symphonies, premiered within a span of 24 years, from 1800 to 1824, are among the landmarks of Western civilization. More than any other composer’s orchestral output, Beethoven’s symphonies are a journey into an unanticipated, uncharted and altogether unknown destination.


Robert Trevino is invited by Apple Music to guest curate ‘The Beethoven Effect’ playlist. ‘Beethoven is one of those few composers who maintain an international name recognition, both amongst classical music lovers and with those who have yet to fall in low with our art form. Almost everyone has heard of Beethoven,’ says Trevino. ‘I would like to look both at musical works which must have seriously affected Beethoven's sense of music's role in the world – how it can inspire mankind to do better – and at works from others who have sought to continue his musical journey towards peace, towards love. Listen to this playlist which explores the music Beethoven made and the works he inspired.
SWR19525CD
Complete Symphonies
In recording Ludwig van Beethoven's nine symphonies with the SWR Radio Symphony Orchestra Stuttgart, its principal conductor Sir Roger Norrington presented a summary of his life-long work with the composer's music. He applied the insights of historically informed performance to a modern symphony orchestra.

During the 2002 European Music Festival, Norrington and the Radio Symphony Orchestra Stuttgart set out to prove that a modern symphony orchestra could play the nine symphonies in accordance with the most recent ‘artistic findings’. Presenting Beethoven's symphonies in the order of their composition was the dramatic concept of this cycle of concerts that is duly captured on these recordings. Since the symphonies were performed at the festival in the order in which they were composed, they are found on the discs in combinations that are unusual, but chronologically accurate.

SWR19089CD
Symphonies • Concertos • Overtures
Rosbaud's ability to combine a structural approach with musical brilliance, urgency with poetic magic, austerity with inspiration, is a source of deep admiration, not least in the works of Beethoven, The more one focuses on the nuances of Rosbaud’s artistry, the more one admires his ability to convey precise ideas to the orchestra without compromising vivacity, verve and spontaneity. These Beethoven recordings prove beyond doubt that Rosbaud was one of the greatest musicians and conductors of the 20th century. This is equally true when providing concerto accompaniments: from supporting the Trio di Trieste's enthusiastic playing in the Triple Concerto, to the titanic brilliance of Ginette Neveu in the Violin Concerto, and to Géza Anda's faultless execution of the Fourth Piano Concerto. Under Rosbaud’s direction, the orchestra performs minute details to perfection, with exciting touches that still remain faithful to the character of the music. Beethoven's structural contrasts achieve an overall homogeneity.
8.574020
BEETHOVEN REIMAGINED
2020 is the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth, and this album presents three works that reshape the composer’s awe-inspiring music for the 21st century. The Sonata for Orchestra considers how the Violin Sonata No. 7 would sound had it been written for orchestra, while A Fidelio Symphony transforms vocal lines into symphonic textures to take us through the entire arc of the composer’s sole opera. Based on the famous Ode to Joy of Beethoven’s final symphony, BEETHOVEN9 Symphonic Remix uses loops, grooves and musical transformations to create a contemporary tribute to Beethoven’s universal message.
8.574076
The Ruins of Athens
Die Ruinen von Athen (‘The Ruins of Athens’) was composed to celebrate the opening of the new German theatre in Pest in 1812. Designed to accompany the play of that name by August von Kotzebue, its incidental music is substantial enough to form a kind of one-act Singspiel and is full of attractive arias, duets and choruses and includes the famous Turkish March. Though the work’s theme was rooted in Greek mythology, in reality it was explicitly political in nature, celebrating Pest as ‘the new Athens’. This is the first ever recording of the work with full narration.
8.573852
Christus am Ölberge • Elegischer Gesang
★★★★★
‘Leif Segerstam, the wild baton of Finnish music, finds just the right tempo for telling a dramatic Biblical story. The Turku Philharmonic and their local cathedral choir have both delicacy and heft, and the soloists – Hanna-Leena Haapamäki, Jussi Mylls and Niklas Spangberg are absolutely top-drawer. Sensational music, brilliantly performed.’
Ludwig van Toronto ★★★★★
8.573853
The Creatures of Prometheus
Beethoven was commissioned to write his first stage work – a ballet score for Die Geschöpfe des Prometheus (‘The Creatures of Prometheus’) – for the dancer and choreographer Salvatore Viganò, nephew of composer Luigi Boccherini. In the myth, Prometheus is punished by Zeus for stealing fire for the benefit of mankind; in the allegorical ballet, Prometheus brings Enlightenment ideas of art and science to humanity. The overture remains popular and the finale – the theme of which Beethoven was later to use in his ‘Eroica’ Symphony – offers a heroic conclusion.
8.573956
Egmont (Incidental Music) • Tarpeja
Leonore Prohaska (Marches)
Beethoven was involved with the theatre in one way or another from boyhood, and the commission to compose incidental music for Goethe’s play Egmont at the Royal Imperial Court Theatre in Vienna was the first of many such collaborations. Beethoven’s score conveys the essence of this tragedy and reveals his clear affinity with its theme of heroic sacrifice by a man condemned to death for taking a valiant stand against oppression.
8.573882
Works for Voice and Orchestra
Beethoven’s permanent move to Vienna in 1782 allowed him direct contact with the operatic and Italianate culture of the city. He took lessons in Italian word setting from Salieri and almost immediately began the composition of a series of arias in that language, including Primo amore, piacer del ciel and later the dramatic recitative and aria Ah! perfido. Beethoven also set strophic songs in German that form part of the popular Singspiel tradition which are genial and rare examples of his art.
ODE1359-2T
Complete Piano Concertos
Ondine celebrates Beethoven’s 250th anniversary of birth by re-issuing Olli Mustonen’s Beethoven cycle with the Tapiola Sinfonietta. The three volumes were originally released in three separate volumes in 2007-9 as ODE 1099-5, ODE 1123-5, and ODE 1146-5.

Mustonen, described by The Sunday Times as the “living dream of pianism”, is known for delivering fresh and visionary approach to standard works – this is evident in these masterful recordings of Beethoven’s concertos. Mustonen is a particularly fitting exponent for Beethoven’s music as the composer himself was also both visionary and revolutionary in his approach to tradition. The recording of Piano Concerto No. 1 includes Mustonen’s own candenzas. Beethoven’s own Piano Concerto arrangement of his Violin Concerto is also featured – one of Mustonen’s signature pieces.

8.574151
Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 • Rondo, WoO 6
Beethoven’s first two piano concertos share an abundance of lyric and virtuosic qualities. Concerto No. 1 in C major is expansive and richly orchestrated with a sublime slow movement that is tender and ardent, and a finale full of inventive humour. Concerto No. 2 in B flat major marries energy with elegance, reserving poetic breadth for its slow movement and quirky wit for the finale. Also included is the jovial Rondo, WoO 6, which Beethoven originally intended to be the finale of Concerto No. 2.
9.70312
Beethoven 32 • Vol. 6
Piano Sonatas Nos. 19-22
The first five volumes (9.70307–9.70311) of Boris Giltburg’s traversal of Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas have been received with much acclaim. ‘[Giltburg brings] us closer to the spontaneous feel of a live performance... on this form Naxos’s cycle looks set to be something special.’ (Malcolm Hayes, BBC Music Magazine, on Sonatas Nos. 4–7 / 9.70308). ‘The slow movements, which Giltburg plays without affectation but with all the more sensitive differentiation and intelligence, are very beautiful and gripping (Remy Franck, Pizzicato on 9.70308). ‘The B flat Sonata... typifies what one might hope for in a traversal of familiar repertory by an outstanding young artist: fresh perspective on terrain one thought one knew. (Patrick Rucker, Gramophone, on Sonatas Nos. 8–11 / 9.70309).
9.70311
Beethoven 32 • Vol. 5
Piano Sonatas Nos. 16-18
Boris Giltburg has set out to study and film all of Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas by the end of 2020. The project started as a personal exploration, driven by curiosity and his strong love of the Beethoven sonatas. These performances display Giltburg’s customary spirit and technical finesse, and also convey the electric atmosphere of the live recording. Volumes 1–4 can be heard on Naxos 9.70307–10.
9.70310
Beethoven 32 • Vol. 4
Piano Sonatas Nos. 12-15
Boris Giltburg has set out to study and film all of Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas by the end of 2020. The project started as a personal exploration, driven by curiosity and his strong love of the Beethoven sonatas. These performances display Giltburg’s customary spirit and technical finesse, and also convey the electric atmosphere of the live recording. Volumes 1 to 3 can be heard on Naxos 9.70307, 9.70308 and 9.70309.
9.70309
Beethoven 32 • Vol. 3
Piano Sonatas Nos. 8-11
Boris Giltburg has set out to study and film all of Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas by the end of 2020. The project started as a personal exploration, driven by curiosity and his strong love of the Beethoven sonatas. These performances display Giltburg’s customary spirit and technical finesse, and also convey the electric atmosphere of the live recording. Volumes 1 and 2 can be heard on Naxos 9.70307 and 9.70308.
9.70308
Beethoven 32 • Vol. 2
Piano Sonatas Nos. 4-7
Boris Giltburg has set out to study and film all 32 piano sonatas by Beethoven by the end of 2020. The project started as a personal exploration, driven by curiosity and his strong love of the Beethoven sonatas. These performances display Giltburg’s customary spirit and technical finesse, and also convey the electric atmosphere of the live recording. Volume 1 can be found on Naxos 9.70307.
9.70307
Beethoven 32 • Vol. 1
Piano Sonatas Nos. 1-3
Boris Giltburg has set out to learn and film all 32 piano sonatas by Beethoven by the end of 2020. The project started as a personal exploration, driven by curiosity and his strong love of the Beethoven sonatas, and the recordings presented in this initial volume display Giltburg’s customary spirit, technical finesse and convey the electric atmosphere of the live recording.
8.574131
Piano Pieces and Fragments
Including premiere recordings, this programme provides us with a privileged opportunity to engage with 36 of Ludwig van Beethoven’s rarely heard sketches, variations and briefest of compositions, even the earliest of which have much to teach us about the emergence of his unique voice and style. The range of Beethoven’s musical experimentation reveals a lasting interest in counterpoint, as well as practical pages such as cadenzas for a Mozart concerto, an incomplete sonata and a second version of the famous bagatelle Für Elise. A significant supplement to his greatest works, these miniatures bring the full arc of Beethoven’s singular genius into ever clearer focus.
8.573974
The Creatures of Prometheus (version for piano)
‘Beethoven issued the piano arrangement himself before the orchestral scores so that this is not a reduction from the full score so much as the composer’s own approach to the work in the process of composition. It works extremely well and Warren Lee’s playing is engaging and alive throughout.’
Lark Reviews
8.573928
Military Beethoven
Most of the pieces on this album have been designated ‘WoO’ (Works without Opus Number) or bear the numbering from the Hess catalogue of unpublished or unfinished pieces. These include the piano transcription of the topically programmatic Battle Symphony (Wellington’s Victory or The Battle of Vitoria) and the genial variations on Rule Britannia and God Save the King. The Marches, Menuets and Ecossaises derive from a variety of sources, while there is a strangely tragic aspect to the Waltz in C minor.
8.573939
Variations on Themes by Grétry, Paisiello, Righini, Winter
Sonata in C, WoO 51
‘The pedal point inner section of WoO 84 is especially reminiscent of the B major trio from the B minor bagatelle in that set; Weng does an excellent job with these. His playing is clean, but not dull, and he captures the fun, experimental quality of Beethoven’s writing here. Recommended even beyond the realm of Beethoven buffs, who will already have decided to acquire it.’
AllMusic.com ★★★★
8.504055
Best of Beethoven
Love of Beethoven’s works threads through Idil Biret’s life like a red ribbon. Her studio recordings and live concerts show this in an unequivocal language… Next to all the Piano Concertos and the Choral Fantasy she has also performed on stage and recorded (on 19 CDs) all the Piano Sonatas and Symphony Transcriptions becoming perhaps the only artist to reach this level of completeness… This knowledge of Beethoven one hears in every nuance in Idil Biret’s playing.” – Carsten Dürer (editor) Piano News (Germany) 2021
8.571407
Diabelli Variations, Op. 120
Love of Beethoven’s works threads through Idil Biret’s life like a red ribbon. Her studio recordings and live concerts show this in an unequivocal language… Next to all the Piano Concertos and the Choral Fantasy she has also performed on stage and recorded (on 19 CDs) all the Piano Sonatas and Symphony Transcriptions becoming perhaps the only artist to reach this level of completeness… This knowledge of Beethoven one hears in every nuance in Idil Biret’s playing.” Carsten Dürer (editor), Piano News (Germany) 2012
8.551431
Piano Concerto No. 1
Symphony No. 2

The first volume (8.551400) with Vinzenz Lachner‘s arrangements of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Concertos for piano and string quintet already showed that this would be quite a special complete recording of Beethoven’s piano concertos—and not just because it is the first recording to present this version for the first time ever. For the second volume, Hanna Shybayeva chose the piano trio version of the second symphony in D major Op. 36 to be added in the arrangement by the master himself. After all, this chamber music arrangement from Beethoven’s pen fits perfectly with those of the piano concertos of later times.

CDS7886
Serenade for Ludwig
Flute Chamber Music

Beethoven’s lesser known output includes a series of conventional, tranquil works which followed the standards of the day. Written basically to make ends meet, such works throw light on the everyday activities in the career of revolutionary man, and help us better understand hidden aspects of his genius.

The Serenade in D major for flute, violin and viola was completed around 1797, but it was published as Op. 25 only in 1802. It is, therefore, an early work and one of the lightest and sunniest compositions of Beethoven’s chamber output. The work must have immediately met with success, for about a year later, in 1803, a Leipzig publisher printed a version of it for flute and piano, as Op. 41. In this version, the Serenade is a pleasant entertainment piece, far from the daring language of the composer’s contemporary piano music.

ODE1347-2D
String Quartets Opp. 132 & 130/133
This new album of Beethoven’s late String Quartets by the prestigious Tetzlaff Quartett offers a fitting tribute to Beethoven’s 250th anniversary year. These monumental works which are given fresh interpretations by the quartet are among the greatest achievements in the history of Western art music written by a composer who had already largely lost contact with the world. When writing his final String Quartets (Op. 127–135) Beethoven was becoming increasingly ill and understood that he would never be able to recover fully. Beethoven had just completed his 9th Symphony when he received a commission to write String Quartets. What resulted was a string of totally unique masterpieces highly individual in their language and unusual in their form.

Praised by The New York Times for its “dramatic, energetic playing of clean intensity”, the Tetzlaff Quartett is one of today’s leading string quartets and has performed at such prestigious venues as Brussels’ BOZAR, Wiener Musikverein, Herkulessaal München, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall. Alongside their successful individual careers, Christian and Tanja Tetzlaff, Hanna Weinmeister and Elisabeth Kufferath have met since 1994 to perform several times each season in concerts that regularly receive great critical acclaim.

8.574040-41
Chamber Music
Piano Quartet in E flat major • Six German Dances
In his first decade in Vienna, Beethoven seems to have been preoccupied with music for wind instruments. The best-known example is his Quintet in E flat major, Op. 16, which he arranged at the same time for piano quartet. He also wrote music for dances and settings of folk songs, and reflected the public’s interest in automata by writing for musical clock. The Napoleonic wars were mirrored in Beethoven’s music of the period, especially in his military compositions such as a series of Marches and the Equali, scored for trombones, which were later played at his funeral.
8.574051
Fugues and Rarities for String Quartet
The string quartets of Beethoven are among the greatest works of their kind, but he composed other works for quartet which have been neglected. This album is dedicated to these intriguing rarities. Alongside the wild and monumental Grosse Fuge, in many ways the culmination of Beethoven’s achievements in the string quartet genre, this recording further displays his mastery of counterpoint by bringing to light brilliant yet forgotten original versions of his quartets Op. 18, No. 1 and Op. 131, plus six virtually unknown miniatures, including his Preludes and Fugues.
8.574039
Grand Symphonies, Vol. 1
Symphonies Nos. 1 and 3 ‘Eroica’
(arr. Hummel for flute, violin, cello and piano)
Beethoven and Hummel’s relationship was one of fractious beginnings, but ultimately true friendship. Between 1825 and 1835 Hummel arranged his contemporary’s Symphonies Nos. 1–7 and Septet, Op. 20 for his favoured combination of pianoforte, flute, violin and violoncello. Beethoven would surely not have objected – arrangements were, after all, a perfectly normal part of the 19th-century musical landscape. To audiences today his symphonies need little introduction but, thanks to the musical sensitivity and sheer brilliance of Hummel’s arrangements, it is possible to experience the thrill of hearing these extraordinary pieces afresh.
8.573942
Music for Winds
Wind Octet, Op. 103 • Wind Septet, Op. 71
Music for wind ensemble was a regular part of entertainment in Beethoven’s day, and his Octet was composed for the skilled players in the service of his patron, the Archbishop-Elector in Bonn. The charming and skilfully written Sextet is also ‘from my early things and, what’s more, was written in one night’; impressing a critic of the time ‘by its splendid melodies, leisurely harmonic flow, and wealth of new and surprising ideas’. Wind partitas often opened with a March, and the Rondino was originally intended as the Finale to the Octet, two suitable pieces to complete this fashionable Beethoven soirée.
8.574071
Lieder, Vol. 1
Beethoven’s contribution to the development of German song was significant – he wrote some 90 songs – but it has inevitably been overshadowed by his mastery of orchestral and instrumental music. Unlike mozart and Schubert’s works in the genre, little is known about the composition and performance of Beethoven’s songs, but he is known to have greatly respected Goethe, as his settings amply show, not least in the incidental music to Egmont, from which Freudvoll und leidvoll is taken.
Return to Menu
Orchestral Works

Piano Concertos

Keyboard

Chamber Music

Complete Lieder

Stage & Choral

Vocal





BEETHOVEN, L. van: Cello Sonata No. 3 / Violin Sonata No. 9 (Beethoven Recomposed)
8.579081
Beethoven Recomposed

To mark the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth, Russian born arranger Paul Struck has arranged two of the composer’s great mid-period chamber masterpieces for soloist and string ensemble. Expanding the sonorities of the ‘Kreutzer’ Sonata – Beethoven’s most important chamber work for violin – allows the sonata’s concertante quality to emerge in a new light. The Cello Sonata No. 3 equally succeeds in conceiving the piano part for ensemble, while exploring fullness of sound and maintaining transparency of texture.

BEETHOVEN, L. van: Symphonies (Complete) / Overtures / Mass in C Major (Michael Gielen Edition, Vol. 9) (1967-2007)
SWR19090CD
Complete Symphonies
Overtues • Mass in C Major

In 2020, the 250th anniversary of Beethoven's birth, Gielen’s importance as an interpreter of Beethoven’s symphonies deserves to be acknowledged by a separate box set within our edition. For a long time Gielen’s core competence was seen in connection with the Second Viennese School, though right from the start of his career as a conductor he had paid particular attention to the First Viennese School – Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven.

After Hermann Scherchen and René Leibowitz, Gielen was one of the first conductors to take Beethoven’s metronome markings seriously. He took advantage of two invitations from German broadcasting organisations to establish himself in 1970 as the most radical innovator regarding Beethoven interpretations. The 1980 Eroica production with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra was the first for a long time to be based on Beethoven’s metronome markings: these were applied throughout and more consistently than ever before. Little wonder that the recording became quite famous.

The edition also contains the C Major Mass which, until June 2007, was the only important work by Beethoven that Gielen had never performed. The invitation from the SWR ensembles to come to Koblenz for the opening of the 2007 RheinVokal festival was therefore a welcome opportunity to study the piece and give an advance performance in the Konzerthaus Freiburg. This penultimate volume of the Michael Gielen EDITION is as musically interesting as you could hope for.

BEETHOVEN, L. van: Symphonies Nos. 1-9
ODE1348-5Q
The 9 Symphonies
This new Beethoven symphony cycle with Malmö Symphony Orchestra is conductor Robert Trevino’s debut release on Ondine. Trevino is one of the fastest rising young conductors and known for his fresh and vivid interpretations of both standard repertoire as well as contemporary works. Currently Trevino is holding the tenure as chief conductor of the Malmö Symphony Orchestra and as music director of the Basque National Orchestra. After studies with conductors David Zinman, Seiji Ozawa and Michael Tilson Thomas, Trevino worked closely as Leif Segerstam’s assistant before making his debuts with a number of leading symphony orchestras worldwide. These Beethoven symphonies were recorded in connection with a Beethoven festival which was arranged in Malmö, Sweden in October, 2019.

Beethoven’s symphonies, premiered within a span of 24 years, from 1800 to 1824, are among the landmarks of Western civilization. More than any other composer’s orchestral output, Beethoven’s symphonies are a journey into an unanticipated, uncharted and altogether unknown destination.

Robert Trevino is invited by Apple Music to guest curate ‘The Beethoven Effect’ playlist. ‘Beethoven is one of those few composers who maintain an international name recognition, both amongst classical music lovers and with those who have yet to fall in low with our art form. Almost everyone has heard of Beethoven,’ says Trevino. ‘I would like to look both at musical works which must have seriously affected Beethoven's sense of music's role in the world – how it can inspire mankind to do better – and at works from others who have sought to continue his musical journey towards peace, towards love. Listen to this playlist which explores the music Beethoven made and the works he inspired.
BEETHOVEN, L. van: Symphonies (Complete)
SWR19525CD
Complete Symphonies
In recording Ludwig van Beethoven's nine symphonies with the SWR Radio Symphony Orchestra Stuttgart, its principal conductor Sir Roger Norrington presented a summary of his life-long work with the composer's music. He applied the insights of historically informed performance to a modern symphony orchestra.

During the 2002 European Music Festival, Norrington and the Radio Symphony Orchestra Stuttgart set out to prove that a modern symphony orchestra could play the nine symphonies in accordance with the most recent “artistic findings”. Presenting Beethoven's symphonies in the order of their composition was the dramatic concept of this cycle of concerts that is duly captured on these recordings. Since the symphonies were performed at the festival in the order in which they were composed, they are found on the discs in combinations that are unusual, but chronologically accurate.

BEETHOVEN, L. van: Symphonies / Concertos / Overtures
SWR19089CD
Symphonies • Concertos • Overtures
Rosbaud's ability to combine a structural approach with musical brilliance, urgency with poetic magic, austerity with inspiration, is a source of deep admiration, not least in the works of Beethoven, The more one focuses on the nuances of Rosbaud’s artistry, the more one admires his ability to convey precise ideas to the orchestra without compromising vivacity, verve and spontaneity. These Beethoven recordings prove beyond doubt that Rosbaud was one of the greatest musicians and conductors of the 20th century. This is equally true when providing concerto accompaniments: from supporting the Trio di Trieste's enthusiastic playing in the Triple Concerto, to the titanic brilliance of Ginette Neveu in the Violin Concerto, and to Géza Anda's faultless execution of the Fourth Piano Concerto. Under Rosbaud’s direction, the orchestra performs minute details to perfection, with exciting touches that still remain faithful to the character of the music. Beethoven's structural contrasts achieve an overall homogeneity.
BEETHOVEN REIMAGINED
8.574020
BEETHOVEN REIMAGINED
2020 is the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth, and this album presents three works that reshape the composer’s awe-inspiring music for the 21st century. The Sonata for Orchestra considers how the Violin Sonata No. 7 would sound had it been written for orchestra, while A Fidelio Symphony transforms vocal lines into symphonic textures to take us through the entire arc of the composer’s sole opera. Based on the famous Ode to Joy of Beethoven’s final symphony, BEETHOVEN9 Symphonic Remix uses loops, grooves and musical transformations to create a contemporary tribute to Beethoven’s universal message.
BEETHOVEN, L. van: Ruinen von Athen (Die) (The Ruins of Athens) (Chorus Cathedralis Aboensis, Turku Philharmonic, Segerstam)
8.574076
The Ruins of Athens
Die Ruinen von Athen (‘The Ruins of Athens’) was composed to celebrate the opening of the new German theatre in Pest in 1812. Designed to accompany the play of that name by August von Kotzebue, its incidental music is substantial enough to form a kind of one-act Singspiel and is full of attractive arias, duets and choruses and includes the famous Turkish March. Though the work’s theme was rooted in Greek mythology, in reality it was explicitly political in nature, celebrating Pest as ‘the new Athens’. This is the first ever recording of the work with full narration.
BEETHOVEN, L. van: Christus am Ölberge / Elegischer Gesang
8.573852
Christus am Ölberge • Elegischer Gesang
‘Leif Segerstam, the wild baton of Finnish music, finds just the right tempo for telling a dramatic Biblical story. The Turku Philharmonic and their local cathedral choir have both delicacy and heft, and the soloists – Hanna-Leena Haapamäki, Jussi Mylls and Niklas Spangberg are absolutely top-drawer. Sensational music, brilliantly performed.’
Ludwig van Toronto ★★★★★
BEETHOVEN, L. van: Geschöpfe des Prometheus (Die) [Ballet]
8.573853
The Creatures of Prometheus
Beethoven was commissioned to write his first stage work – a ballet score for Die Geschöpfe des Prometheus (‘The Creatures of Prometheus’) – for the dancer and choreographer Salvatore Viganò, nephew of composer Luigi Boccherini. In the myth, Prometheus is punished by Zeus for stealing fire for the benefit of mankind; in the allegorical ballet, Prometheus brings Enlightenment ideas of art and science to humanity. The overture remains popular and the finale – the theme of which Beethoven was later to use in his ‘Eroica’ Symphony – offers a heroic conclusion.
BEETHOVEN, L. van: Egmont / Marches
8.573956
Egmont (Incidental Music) • Tarpeja
Leonore Prohaska (Marches)
Beethoven was involved with the theatre in one way or another from boyhood, and the commission to compose incidental music for Goethe’s play Egmont at the Royal Imperial Court Theatre in Vienna was the first of many such collaborations. Beethoven’s score conveys the essence of this tragedy and reveals his clear affinity with its theme of heroic sacrifice by a man condemned to death for taking a valiant stand against oppression.
BEETHOVEN, L. van: Voice and Orchestra Works
8.573882
Works for Voice and Orchestra
Beethoven’s permanent move to Vienna in 1782 allowed him direct contact with the operatic and Italianate culture of the city. He took lessons in Italian word setting from Salieri and almost immediately began the composition of a series of arias in that language, including Primo amore, piacer del ciel and later the dramatic recitative and aria Ah! perfido. Beethoven also set strophic songs in German that form part of the popular Singspiel tradition which are genial and rare examples of his art.





BEETHOVEN, L. van: Complete Piano Concertos
ODE1359-2T

Complete Piano Concertos
Ondine celebrates Beethoven’s 250th anniversary of birth by re-issuing Olli Mustonen’s Beethoven cycle with the Tapiola Sinfonietta. The three volumes were originally released in three separate volumes in 2007-9 as ODE 1099-5, ODE 1123-5, and ODE 1146‑5.

Mustonen, described by The Sunday Times as the “living dream of pianism”, is known for delivering fresh and visionary approach to standard works – this is evident in these masterful recordings of Beethoven’s concertos. Mustonen is a particularly fitting exponent for Beethoven’s music as the composer himself was also both visionary and revolutionary in his approach to tradition. The recording of Piano Concerto No. 1 includes Mustonen’s own candenzas. Beethoven’s own Piano Concerto arrangement of his Violin Concerto is also featured – one of Mustonen’s signature pieces.



BEETHOVEN, L. van: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 / Rondo, WoO 6
8.574151

Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 • Rondo, WoO 6
Beethoven’s first two piano concertos share an abundance of lyric and virtuosic qualities. Concerto No. 1 in C major is expansive and richly orchestrated with a sublime slow movement that is tender and ardent, and a finale full of inventive humour. Concerto No. 2 in B flat major marries energy with elegance, reserving poetic breadth for its slow movement and quirky wit for the finale. Also included is the jovial Rondo, WoO 6, which Beethoven originally intended to be the finale of Concerto No. 2.





9.70312

Beethoven 32 • Vol. 6
Piano Sonatas Nos. 19-22
The first five volumes (9.70307–9.70311) of Boris Giltburg’s traversal of Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas have been received with much acclaim. ‘[Giltburg brings] us closer to the spontaneous feel of a live performance... on this form Naxos’s cycle looks set to be something special.’ (Malcolm Hayes, BBC Music Magazine, on Sonatas Nos. 4–7 / 9.70308). ‘The slow movements, which Giltburg plays without affectation but with all the more sensitive differentiation and intelligence, are very beautiful and gripping (Remy Franck, Pizzicato on 9.70308). ‘The B flat Sonata... typifies what one might hope for in a traversal of familiar repertory by an outstanding young artist: fresh perspective on terrain one thought one knew. (Patrick Rucker, Gramophone, on Sonatas Nos. 8–11 / 9.70309).
9.70311

Beethoven 32 • Vol. 5
Piano Sonatas Nos. 16-18
Boris Giltburg has set out to study and film all of Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas by the end of 2020. The project started as a personal exploration, driven by curiosity and his strong love of the Beethoven sonatas. These performances display Giltburg’s customary spirit and technical finesse, and also convey the electric atmosphere of the live recording. Volumes 1–4 can be heard on Naxos 9.70307–10.
9.70310

Beethoven 32 • Vol. 4
Piano Sonatas Nos. 12-15
Boris Giltburg has set out to study and film all of Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas by the end of 2020. The project started as a personal exploration, driven by curiosity and his strong love of the Beethoven sonatas. These performances display Giltburg’s customary spirit and technical finesse, and also convey the electric atmosphere of the live recording. Volumes 1 to 3 can be heard on Naxos 9.70307, 9.70308 and 9.70309.
9.70310

Beethoven 32 • Vol. 4
Piano Sonatas Nos. 12-15
Boris Giltburg has set out to study and film all of Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas by the end of 2020. The project started as a personal exploration, driven by curiosity and his strong love of the Beethoven sonatas. These performances display Giltburg’s customary spirit and technical finesse, and also convey the electric atmosphere of the live recording. Volumes 1 to 3 can be heard on Naxos 9.70307, 9.70308 and 9.70309.
9.70309

Beethoven 32 • Vol. 3
Piano Sonatas Nos. 8-11
Boris Giltburg has set out to study and film all of Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas by the end of 2020. The project started as a personal exploration, driven by curiosity and his strong love of the Beethoven sonatas. These performances display Giltburg’s customary spirit and technical finesse, and also convey the electric atmosphere of the live recording. Volumes 1 and 2 can be heard on Naxos 9.70307 and 9.70308.
BEETHOVEN, L. van: Piano Sonatas Nos. 4-7 (Beethoven 32, Vol. 2)
9.70308

Beethoven 32 • Vol. 2
Piano Sonatas Nos. 4-7
Boris Giltburg has set out to study and film all 32 piano sonatas by Beethoven by the end of 2020. The project started as a personal exploration, driven by curiosity and his strong love of the Beethoven sonatas. These performances display Giltburg’s customary spirit and technical finesse, and also convey the electric atmosphere of the live recording. Volume 1 can be found on Naxos 9.70307.
BEETHOVEN, L. van: Piano Sonatas Nos. 1-3 (Beethoven 32, Vol. 1)
9.70307

Beethoven 32 • Vol. 1
Piano Sonatas Nos. 1-3
Boris Giltburg has set out to learn and film all 32 piano sonatas by Beethoven by the end of 2020. The project started as a personal exploration, driven by curiosity and his strong love of the Beethoven sonatas, and the recordings presented in this initial volume display Giltburg’s customary spirit, technical finesse and convey the electric atmosphere of the live recording.
Piano Pieces and Fragments
8.574131

Piano Pieces and Fragments
Including premiere recordings, this programme provides us with a privileged opportunity to engage with 36 of Ludwig van Beethoven’s rarely heard sketches, variations and briefest of compositions, even the earliest of which have much to teach us about the emergence of his unique voice and style. The range of Beethoven’s musical experimentation reveals a lasting interest in counterpoint, as well as practical pages such as cadenzas for a Mozart concerto, an incomplete sonata and a second version of the famous bagatelle Für Elise. A significant supplement to his greatest works, these miniatures bring the full arc of Beethoven’s singular genius into ever clearer focus.
BEETHOVEN, L. van: Geschöpfe des Prometheus (Die) (version for piano)
8.573974

The Creatures of Prometheus (version for piano)
‘Beethoven issued the piano arrangement himself before the orchestral scores so that this is not a reduction from the full score so much as the composer’s own approach to the work in the process of composition. It works extremely well and Warren Lee’s playing is engaging and alive throughout.’
Lark Reviews
BEETHOVEN, L. van: Compositions and Transcriptions for Piano (Military Beethoven)
8.573928

Military Beethoven
Most of the pieces on this album have been designated ‘WoO’ (Works without Opus Number) or bear the numbering from the Hess catalogue of unpublished or unfinished pieces. These include the piano transcription of the topically programmatic Battle Symphony (Wellington’s Victory or The Battle of Vitoria) and the genial variations on Rule Britannia and God Save the King. The Marches, Menuets and Ecossaises derive from a variety of sources, while there is a strangely tragic aspect to the Waltz in C minor.
BEETHOVEN, L. van: Piano Variations, WoO 65, 69, 72, 75 / Piano Sonata, WoO 51
8.573939

Variations on Themes by Grétry, Paisiello, Righini, Winter
Sonata in C, WoO 51
‘The pedal point inner section of WoO 84 is especially reminiscent of the B major trio from the B minor bagatelle in that set; Weng does an excellent job with these. His playing is clean, but not dull, and he captures the fun, experimental quality of Beethoven’s writing here. Recommended even beyond the realm of Beethoven buffs, who will already have decided to acquire it.’
AllMusic.com ★★★★
BEETHOVEN, L. van: Best of Beethoven (Biret)
8.504055

Best of Beethoven
Love of Beethoven’s works threads through Idil Biret’s life like a red ribbon. Her studio recordings and live concerts show this in an unequivocal language… Next to all the Piano Concertos and the Choral Fantasy she has also performed on stage and recorded (on 19 CDs) all the Piano Sonatas and Symphony Transcriptions becoming perhaps the only artist to reach this level of completeness… This knowledge of Beethoven one hears in every nuance in Idil Biret’s playing.” – Carsten Dürer (editor) Piano News (Germany) 2021
BEETHOVEN, L. van: Best of Beethoven (Biret)
8.571407

Diabelli Variations, Op. 120
Love of Beethoven’s works threads through Idil Biret’s life like a red ribbon. Her studio recordings and live concerts show this in an unequivocal language… Next to all the Piano Concertos and the Choral Fantasy she has also performed on stage and recorded (on 19 CDs) all the Piano Sonatas and Symphony Transcriptions becoming perhaps the only artist to reach this level of completeness… This knowledge of Beethoven one hears in every nuance in Idil Biret’s playing.” Carsten Dürer (editor), Piano News (Germany) 2012





BEETHOVEN, L. van: Piano Concerto No. 1 (arr. V. Lachner) / Symphony No. 2 (version for piano trio) (Shybayeva, Animato String Quartet)
8.551431

Piano Concerto No. 1
Symphony No. 2
The first volume (8.551400) with Vinzenz Lachner‘s arrangements of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Concertos for piano and string quintet already showed that this would be quite a special complete recording of Beethoven’s piano concertos—and not just because it is the first recording to present this version for the first time ever. For the second volume, Hanna Shybayeva chose the piano trio version of the second symphony in D major Op. 36 to be added in the arrangement by the master himself. After all, this chamber music arrangement from Beethoven’s pen fits perfectly with those of the piano concertos of later times.
BEETHOVEN, L. van: Serenades, Opp. 25 and 41 (Serenade for Ludwig)
CDS7886

Serenade for Ludwig
Flute Chamber Music

Beethoven’s lesser known output includes a series of conventional, tranquil works which followed the standards of the day. Written basically to make ends meet, such works throw light on the everyday activities in the career of revolutionary man, and help us better understand hidden aspects of his genius.

The Serenade in D major for flute, violin and viola was completed around 1797, but it was published as Op. 25 only in 1802. It is, therefore, an early work and one of the lightest and sunniest compositions of Beethoven’s chamber output. The work must have immediately met with success, for about a year later, in 1803, a Leipzig publisher printed a version of it for flute and piano, as Op. 41. In this version, the Serenade is a pleasant entertainment piece, far from the daring language of the composer’s contemporary piano music.

BEETHOVEN, L. van: String Quartets Opp. 132 & 130/133
ODE1347-2D

String Quartets Opp. 132 & 130/133
This new album of Beethoven’s late String Quartets by the prestigious Tetzlaff Quartett offers a fitting tribute to Beethoven’s 250th anniversary year. These monumental works which are given fresh interpretations by the quartet are among the greatest achievements in the history of Western art music written by a composer who had already largely lost contact with the world. When writing his final String Quartets (Op. 127–135) Beethoven was becoming increasingly ill and understood that he would never be able to recover fully. Beethoven had just completed his 9th Symphony when he received a commission to write String Quartets. What resulted was a string of totally unique masterpieces highly individual in their language and unusual in their form.

Praised by The New York Times for its “dramatic, energetic playing of clean intensity”, the Tetzlaff Quartett is one of today’s leading string quartets and has performed at such prestigious venues as Brussels’ BOZAR, Wiener Musikverein, Herkulessaal München, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall. Alongside their successful individual careers, Christian and Tanja Tetzlaff, Hanna Weinmeister and Elisabeth Kufferath have met since 1994 to perform several times each season in concerts that regularly receive great critical acclaim.

BEETHOVEN, L. van: Music for Winds - Octet, Op. 103 / Sextet, Op. 71
8.574040-41

Chamber Music
Piano Quartet in E flat major • Six German Dances
In his first decade in Vienna, Beethoven seems to have been preoccupied with music for wind instruments. The best-known example is his Quintet in E flat major, Op. 16, which he arranged at the same time for piano quartet. He also wrote music for dances and settings of folk songs, and reflected the public’s interest in automata by writing for musical clock. The Napoleonic wars were mirrored in Beethoven’s music of the period, especially in his military compositions such as a series of Marches and the Equali, scored for trombones, which were later played at his funeral.
BEETHOVEN, L. van: Music for Winds - Octet, Op. 103 / Sextet, Op. 71
8.574051

Fugues and Rarities for String Quartet
The string quartets of Beethoven are among the greatest works of their kind, but he composed other works for quartet which have been neglected. This album is dedicated to these intriguing rarities. Alongside the wild and monumental Grosse Fuge, in many ways the culmination of Beethoven’s achievements in the string quartet genre, this recording further displays his mastery of counterpoint by bringing to light brilliant yet forgotten original versions of his quartets Op. 18, No. 1 and Op. 131, plus six virtually unknown miniatures, including his Preludes and Fugues.
BEETHOVEN, L. van: Grand Symphonies Vol. 1 -Symphonies Nos. 1 and 3 (arr. J.N. Hummel for flute and piano trio)
8.574039

Grand Symphonies, Vol. 1
Symphonies Nos. 1 and 3 ‘Eroica’
(arr. Hummel for flute, violin, cello and piano)
Beethoven and Hummel’s relationship was one of fractious beginnings, but ultimately true friendship. Between 1825 and 1835 Hummel arranged his contemporary’s Symphonies Nos. 1–7 and Septet, Op. 20 for his favoured combination of pianoforte, flute, violin and violoncello. Beethoven would surely not have objected – arrangements were, after all, a perfectly normal part of the 19th-century musical landscape. To audiences today his symphonies need little introduction but, thanks to the musical sensitivity and sheer brilliance of Hummel’s arrangements, it is possible to experience the thrill of hearing these extraordinary pieces afresh.
BEETHOVEN, L. van: Music for Winds - Octet, Op. 103 / Sextet, Op. 71
8.573942

Music for Winds
Wind Octet, Op. 103 • Wind
Septet, Op. 71
Music for wind ensemble was a regular part of entertainment in Beethoven’s day, and his Octet was composed for the skilled players in the service of his patron, the Archbishop-Elector in Bonn. The charming and skilfully written Sextet is also ‘from my early things and, what’s more, was written in one night’; impressing a critic of the time ‘by its splendid melodies, leisurely harmonic flow, and wealth of new and surprising ideas’. Wind partitas often opened with a March, and the Rondino was originally intended as the Finale to the Octet, two suitable pieces to complete this fashionable Beethoven soirée.



2.110674
Missa Solemnis
Beethoven started composing Leonore in January 1804. The subject – the release to freedom of an unjustly imprisoned man by his devoted wife – was part of the genre of ‘rescue operas’ which were very popular at the end of the 18th century. The premiere of Leonore, given before an uncomprehending audience at a time of political upheaval, was a failure and Beethoven responded by shortening the work from three acts to two, which was the version performed in 1806. After further revisions it was to emerge in 1814 as Fidelio. This performance is from Opera Lafayette’s Leonore Project which included a performance of Pierre Gaveaux’s Léonore, ou L’Amour conjugal (available on Naxos DVD 2.110591 and Blu-ray NBD0085V) – the opera on which Beethoven modelled his Leonore

Also Available in Blu-ray (NBD0121V)
BEETHOVEN, L. van: Missa solemnis (Documentary and Performance) (Bernius) (NTSC)
2.110669
Also available in Blu-ray
Missa Solemnis
Beethoven’s Missa solemnis is the one work the composer admired above all his compositions. It was written for his great patron and friend Archduke Rudolf of Austria at around the same time that he embarked on his Ninth Symphony and as the writer Donald Tovey noted, ‘there is no choral and no orchestral writing, earlier or later, that shows a more thrilling sense of the individual colour of every chord.’ This insightful documentary follows Frieder Bernius on a journey of discovery as he immerses himself in Beethoven’s monumental masterpiece in preparation for a recording.
8.574175

Secular Vocal Works
Opferlied • Lied aus der Ferne • An die Geliebte
Beethoven’s secular vocal works, many rarely heard today, were composed for a variety of reasons. Some were written for marriages, to mark the departure of a friend or to celebrate a name day, while others allude to Masonic imagery or set the words of great literary contemporaries, such as Schiller. The larger canvas of Mehrstimmige italienische Gesänge reflects Beethoven’s studies of Italian word-setting with Antonio Salieri, revealing insights into Beethoven’s achievements during his early years in Vienna.
BEETHOVEN, L. van: Mass in C Major / Vestas Feuer / Meeresstille und Glückliche Fahrt
8.574017

Mass in C Major
Vestas Feuer • Meeresstille und Glückliche Fahrt
The custom of marking the name-day of Princess Esterházy with a newly composed Mass began in the 1790s and for many years was carried out by Joseph Haydn. In 1807 Beethoven was commissioned and responded with his Mass in C major. Coolly received at court, it is a celebratory work of large-scale brilliance. The cantata Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt is set to Goethe’s poems and contrasts calm with exuberance. In 1803 Beethoven set two numbers from Vestas Feuer, written by Emanuel Schikaneder, the librettist of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte.
BEETHOVEN, L. van: Cantata on the Death of Emperor Joseph II / Cantata on the Accession of Leopold II
8.574077

Cantata on the Death of Emperor Joseph II
Cantata on the Accession of Leopold II
By the time of Emperor Joseph II’s death in 1790 Beethoven was a member of the court musical establishment in Bonn. To mark the occasion, Beethoven was commissioned to write two cantatas, one to mourn Joseph’s death and the other to celebrate the accession to the throne of Emperor Leopold II. Although Beethoven was only 19 years old at the time, both works show the embryonic marks of his greatness: intense expression and control of structure in one, and an almost operatic panache in the other. Neither piece was performed during Beethoven’s lifetime.
BEETHOVEN, L. van: König Stephan / Leonore Prohaska (excerpts)
8.574042

König Stephan
Leonore Prohaska (excerpts) • Opferlied • Germania
Aside from his only opera Fidelio, Beethoven’s general link with the theatre in Vienna came about largely with incidental music or songs to be inserted into the works of other composers—insertion arias. König Stephan was written to celebrate the politically significant opening of a new theatre in Pest, its triumphant mood honouring the ruling Austrian Emperor. Standard-bearer of female heroism Leonore Prohaska is commemorated with a Soldier’s Chorus and a Romance with harp accompaniment. In Friedrich von Matthisson’s poem Opferlied (‘Sacrificial Song’), a young man prays to Zeus to bestow upon him beauty and goodness in youth and old age. Two of Beethoven’s four settings are heard on this wide-ranging programme.





BEETHOVEN, L. van: Lieder, Vol. 1
8.574071
Lieder, Vol. 1
Beethoven’s contribution to the development of German song was significant – he wrote some 90 songs – but it has inevitably been overshadowed by his mastery of orchestral and instrumental music. Unlike mozart and Schubert’s works in the genre, little is known about the composition and performance of Beethoven’s songs, but he is known to have greatly respected Goethe, as his settings amply show, not least in the incidental music to Egmont, from which Freudvoll und leidvoll is taken.





BEETHOVEN, L. van: Canons and Musical Jokes (Schlemmer, Tauber, Weiser, Ensemble Tamanial, Cantus Novus Wien, T. Holmes)
8.574176

Canons and Musical Jokes
One of the least explored areas of Beethoven’s compositions is the miscellaneous sequence of canons, early exercises in counterpoint, mature jokes and jeux d’esprit that he wrote over many years. He composed a two-part canon for the composer Hummel in 1816 and in 1823 one for four voices (written in a tavern) for Count Lichnowsky. He also wrote birthday and Christmas greetings for colleagues and friends, and songs that punned on recipients’ names or poked fun at them.
BEETHOVEN, L. van: Folk Songs (Bohnet, D. Johannsen, Klimbacher, Herzer, Christelbauer, B. Bartos)
8.574174

Folk Songs
George Thomson of Edinburgh, a notable promoter of Scottish music, encouraged settings of his nation’s folk songs. In particular, he found a rich source of arrangements in Vienna, where he commissioned first Haydn and then Beethoven to set a large sequence of poems, including those of Robert Burns and Sir Walter Scott. Thomson envisaged simple works, agreeable to amateurs, but Beethoven found it impossible to compose within such limitations and his settings, which include Irish and Welsh songs, with the accompaniment of strings and piano, have proved perennially popular.