7/16 The Compleat String Quartets for Guitarists and Experimental Music Lovers

Picasso: "Bottle, Guitar, and Pipe" Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany

I've posted about my sequenced "rock" transcriptions of Beethoven's string quartets a couple times before but this time I've gone back and remixed/remastered them a bit, with some simulated "turntable" visuals.  Basically I added more drums, reverb and compression.  They'll probably still drive any purists insane with cries of sacrilege, but for anybody with a background in rock and avant-garde music approaching my own, these might be entertaining and perhaps even illuminating.

While arranging/transcribing Beethoven's various types of music (quartets, concertos, symphonies, etc...) into these somewhat similar rock arrangements, I could more clearly see the different composing approaches he used between these genres.  The concertos seem the most straightforward from a melodic and structural standpoint, though the solo part gets all the "adventurous" stuff.  The quartets have the most complex and labyrinthine horizontal/melodic material, and the symphonies take a middle ground of having dense vertical constructions but simpler thematic material.  These are just gross generalizations of course...

String Quartet 10 in Eb, Op 74 "Harp" (1809)



String Quartet 11 in Fm, Op.95 "Serioso" (1811)

Full Quartets Below:

Early Quartets: Opus 18

Middle Quartets: Opus 59, 74, 95

Late Quartets: Opus 127, 130, 131, 132, 133, 135

Symphonies tomorrow....

7/14 String Quartet Op.59, No.2

http://www.lvbeethoven.com/Lieux/AllemagneLeipzig.html

One more string quartet before the final lap...

String Quartet No.8 in E minor, Op.59, No.2 ('Rasumovsky' 2)
Recorded live at the Taos School of Music, July 22, 2007
Alexandra Osborne, violin; Wojciech Kardewicz, violin; Elizabeth Kuefler, viola; Bronwyn Banerdt, cello

Linklist

Allmusic:
Beethoven began drafting the score of the first of the Opus 59 quartets on May 26, 1806, although there is evidence that he started to sketch them in the fall of 1804; by November 1806, all three were complete. Because Rasumovsky was to have exclusive rights to the pieces for a year, their publication was delayed until January 1808. Beethoven sold the rights to not only the Bureau des Arts et d'Industrie in Vienna, but also to Clementi and Co. in London. As a tribute to Rasumovsky's heritage, Beethoven planned to use Russian folk themes in each of the three quartets, but did so only in the finale of the first and the slow movement of the second. All three are in four movements, the third augmented by a slow introduction to the first movement.

The opening of the first movement of the String Quartet in E minor is actually more evocative of the Symphony No. 3 than it is the beginning of Op. 59/1. Two widely spaced chords introduce the piece, which immediately begins a presentation of the theme. However, the movement lacks the expansiveness of its two siblings, creating a very tight, nervous atmosphere and calling for a traditional repeat of the development section. The prominence of the Neapolitan, both the pitch F natural and the harmony of F major, creates a palpable pathos. The large coda takes a path as harmonically adventurous as the development section.

Carl Czerny (1791-1857), a former student of Beethoven, noted that the composer was inspired to write the slow movement of Op. 59/2, in E major, while contemplating a starry sky. The chorale-like opening of the movement looks forward to the Heiliger Dankgesang, Op. 132. The recapitulation of the hymn-like theme features an active cello line and a second violin part that sails above the first violin's melody.

As in the first movement, the E minor scherzo emphasizes the Neapolitan F major. The Russian theme appears in the E major Trio, where it is given extensive contrapuntal treatment, appearing first in the viola, followed by the second violin, cello, and lastly, first violin.

The finale again flirts with F major, this time primarily through C major (the dominant of F), which is found throughout the first 50 measures. Marked Presto, it is generally light and jovial, featuring a carefree main theme, rather atypical of the composer's style at this time. The second subject leads to a development section, after which the themes reappear to suggest a Rondo. Overall, this movement has much charm and rather parallels in spirit the finale in the previous quartet. This one, however, seems to fit in better with the character of its preceding three movements.

Mily Balakirev's Arrangement of the 2nd movement for solo piano:
Balakirev Centenary Celebrations Concert, Nicholas Walker - Pianist
Mr. Walker also performed the piano arrangement of the Op.130 Cavatina..

Link

Finally. the 1st movement in a guitar arrangement (Oregon Guitar Quartet):
Link

7/13 String Quartet Op.127

http://www.lvbeethoven.com/MeetLvB/GermanyBonnBeethoven-Haus.html

Beethoven's String Quartet No.12 in Eb, Op.127, has been sadly overlooked here in favor of the personal "hits" like the Grosse Fugue and the Heiliger Dankgesang.. however it's an absolutely sublime and daring work in its own right.

!st Movement performed by the Jasper String Quartet:

Link

Here's a vintage recording of the complete work, featuring the renowned Busch Quartet (from 1936):

Linklist

Allmusic: This work may well be the most mild-mannered and conventional of Beethoven's late quartets. It is ironic that he originally had more grandiose ideas for it, intending it to contain six movements, including one subtitled "La gaieté" and an Adagio apparently of darker character. In any event, Beethoven settled on this less ambitious, but still effective scheme of four movements, with an Adagio theme and variations second movement, followed by a scherzo and a jovial finale.

What is unusual about this quartet, however, is not its traditional qualities—rare enough in Beethoven—but its lack of muscularity and conflict in the first movement. One hears little nervous energy and angst here, but plenty of lyricism in the main Allegro section that makes up the bulk of the movement. The introduction is marked Maestoso and presents a fanfare that builds up, imparting some expectation of drama and drive, if not of Beethovenian heroic fury. What follows is a lively theme of gentle, lyrical character. In fact, all the thematic material in this movement is nearly free of tension and grit. There is some contrapuntal activity in the fabric of the main theme (and its variants), and the fanfare of the opening returns just before the development, but merely yields once more to the cheerful main material. If there is anything unusual about this movement, it is the development, which resembles a succession of variations. The recapitulation maintains the generally peaceful tenor of the movement, and the coda turns sweet and caressing.

The aforementioned second movement theme-and-variations (Adagio ma non troppo e molto cantabile) presents a lovely, songful melody and six variations. Yet the movement has a thematic structure similar to a typical ABA scheme, with the third variation comprising the middle section. But one may hear it as separate variations as well. It has been asserted that the main theme does not appear conducive to thematic offshoots, owing to its mellifluous character and seeming uniqueness (and lush beauty), but Beethoven manages to mine its depths to find the six very attractive variations and a coda. The third variation's prayerful character imparts a religiosity that seems to highlight, if not define, the mood of the entire Adagio.

The third movement Scherzando vivace breaks with the gentler moods of the music thus far. It begins, like the first movement, with a fanfare, but here on pizzicato strings. The main theme appears on the cello, and is bandied about amid a fugal treatment that starts, stops, and starts again. The middle section is colorful in its dance-like music and constantly changing ideas. On the whole, this movement offers splendid contrast to the lyricism of the preceding pair.

The finale returns to the mood of the first two movements, with lively but unhurried music that shows no sign of that Beethovenian nervous energy. This is music of folk character, with the main theme sounding a bit oafish, but cleverly so. Its slightly odd character and husky rhythmic accompaniment impart a rural air to the proceedings. The thematic material of the second subject is in much the same mode. There is a short development section, followed by a reprise (which comes after a deftly wrought false reprise). This quartet was first published in Mainz in 1826. The composer dedicated it to Prince Nikolai Golitsin, who had commissioned him to write it and the two quartets that followed.

7/12 Violin Romance in G, Op.40

(www.lvbeethoven.com)

Beethoven's second Violin Romance actually has a lower opus number than his first, but it immediately sounds more bold due to it's wiry unaccompanied violin entrance...Renaud Capuçon gives a somewhat unique performance - I do believe he's using an updated ur-text?

Romance for Violin and Orchestra No.1 in G, Op.40 (1802)
Renaud Capuçon violin / Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig, Kurt Masur conductor

Link

Allmusic: Often described as a "preparation" for the Violin Concerto, Op. 61, of 1806, the Romance in G stands as a fine work in its own right, clearly demonstrating Beethoven's mastery of the high-Classical style of Mozart and Haydn. Furthermore, Beethoven creates subtle connections between disparate sections of a work.


Cast in a two-episode rondo format (ABACA coda), the Romance in G is not imbued with sonata-form characteristics, as are many of Beethoven's later rondo movements. The rondo theme (A) is in two parts, each performed first by the soloist then repeated by the orchestra. Descending sixteenth notes in the solo part mark the beginning of B, in which the orchestra is relegated to a purely accompanimental role, creating unity by including figures from the rondo. Section B spends a significant amount of time on the dominant (D major); however, this does not represent a modulation but a preparation for the return of the rondo in G major. Again, the soloist performs both segments of the A section alone, this time including a running eighth note accompaniment under each of the literally repeated themes. Beethoven set the second episode, C, in E minor. The minor mode, dotted rhythms, and staccato passages give the section a "gypsy" music tinge. The foray into a new key area ends with the return of the G major rondo theme, again played by the soloist, but with accompaniment by the orchestra. Beethoven forgoes the repetition of each of the two parts of the rondo and ends the work with a brief coda featuring a lengthy trill in the solo violin. The three fortissimo chords that close the piece seem oddly, possibly comically, out of place in this generally quiet work, but they do resemble the orchestral string parts at the end of each rondo section.

7/10 String Quartet Op.18, No. 3

Klinger's Beethoven sculpture postcard (www.lvbeethoven.com)

I haven't yet posted a complete live String Quartet No.3 in D, Op.18, No.3, mainly because I couldn't find one on the "Tube of You"...however here are movements 1 and 4...

1st movement -The Stolyarsky String Quartet

Link

4th movement

Link

Allmusic:
The number of quartets comprising his Opus 18 is but one of Beethoven's nods to tradition, for sets usually included six works. In his Opus 18 quartets we find Beethoven both mastering the styles of his predecessors and forging into new territory. For instance, the independence of the four parts is much greater than in the works of his predecessors, which may be attributable to the fact that Beethoven developed his skills during a time freed from the hitherto ubiquitous basso continuo. Despite the numerous recent models, and despite the fact that the String Quartets, Op. 18, are clearly a product of their time, they could not have been written by any composer other than Beethoven.

The quartet in D major (No. 3) was the first composed. Its opening, with nearly all of the motion in the first violin supported by sustained harmonies, resembles the beginning of Haydn's Quartet, Op. 50/6, also in D major. The first movement begins with an emphasis on the dominant-seventh chord, while the second theme group flirts with the minor dominant, allowing an unusual excursion into C major. The rest of the quartet comprises a conventional movement pattern, but the Presto finale is a sonata, not a rondo. Although it is not labeled as such, the third movement is a minuet, albeit with some unusual, forward-looking touches. For example, the return of the minuet after the trio is not the standard da capo repeat, but is completely written out, with additional repetitions of and variations on the original material.
2nd Movement
3rd Movement

7/7 String Quartet Op.132, "Song of Thanksgiving"

Beethoven and the blind woman, F. Armin (www.lvbeethoven.com)

Beethoven's String Quartet Op.132 is most famous for the 3rd movement "Heiliger Dankgesang eines Genesenen an die Gottheit, in der lydischen Tonart" (A Convalescent's Holy Song of Thanksgiving to the Divinity, in the Lydian Mode) which I wrote at length about in a previous post.  But today I present the entire work:

String Quartet 15 in Am, Op.132 (1825) 
(Blair String Quartet)

Link

(Link to an alternate performance by Brown University students in 5 parts) 
Performers: June Yoon (vln I), J.D. Andrade (vln II), Miranda Forman (vla) and Martha Niemiec (vlc)

Allmusic: The work carries the nickname "Heiliger Dankgesang" because of the note written in the score (actually in French) by Beethoven that pertains to the third movement. From this note, as well as from the time of the work's composition, one can safely deduce that the crisis one clearly hears in the music is related to the lengthy illness Beethoven suffered from April 1825 until August of that year. The composer makes no attempt to depict his feelings during the illness; rather, he reflects on them and gives thanks in this score for his recovery, for the vanquishing of the pain and suffering that he must surely have felt were symptoms of a life-threatening illness.

The first movement, marked Assai sostenuto, Allegro, has an odd but ingenious structure: Beethoven presents a four-note motif that proves to be the central force throughout, developing it in between three separate expositions. There are two main theme groups, the first of which apparently represents the composer's physical suffering, the latter his sense of hope to overcome it. These subjects transform brilliantly as the movement progresses, with the theme of suffering finally appearing as a joyous hymn at the close.

The second movement is a Scherzo marked Allegro ma non tanto. While the mood of the music here is happy, its slightly restrained character suggests the recovering composer is a bit leery about venturing into too much activity. 

The third movement, marked Molto adagio, is the work's emotional centerpiece. A slow, hymn-like theme of religious character dominates the proceedings, appearing in different guises throughout, in the end arriving at its definitive, celestial version. The form of this movement is unusual, consisting of five sections and progressing from depictions of the sick composer's hopes, to his feelings of recovery and returning strength, and finally to his recovery and thankfulness to God.

The fourth movement is comprised of a short march, marked Assai vivace. In certain ways, this is a rather puzzling chapter in the overall scheme of the music, the slightly martial nature of the theme seeming out of focus with the rest of the work. Yet, the music here serves as an effective contrast to the preceding movement, as if to suggest a return from the heavens back to the reality of earth.

The finale is a Rondo marked Allegro appassionato. There is nothing innovative in the form here, Beethoven apparently content to suggest that a return to routine can bring sufficient rewards for his purposes, as it may symbolize that a return to health can make one appreciate the simple things in life. Here the mood is joyous throughout and full of color and sunshine. The composer clearly conveys that the crisis is behind him, that the music does not celebrate triumph here, but rather expresses joy and thankfulness. This work was first published in Paris and Berlin in 1827 and was dedicated to Prince Nikolai Golitzin.

7/6 Miami Int'l Piano Festival: A couple selections...

Musical Map of "Rage" by James Boyk

The Miami Int'l Piano Festival 's Youtube channel has almost 400 videos of complete performances of classical works on piano and other chamber instruments.  Here's a few Beethoven selections...I decided not to include any of the piano sonatas since I've got so many up here already from the previous piano competitions.

Rondo a capriccio in G Major, 'Rage over a Lost Penny' Op.129
Sijing from China is 15 here. She plays this so called "Rage Over a Lost Penny" as though it were a masterpiece. performed at Broward Center, Fort Lauderdale, FL at The Miami International Piano Festival Master Series 2006.

Link

6 Variations in F, Op.34
March 2008 performance at the Miami International Piano Festival. Kit Armstrong is 16 years old.

Link

Not Beethoven, but a pretty cool arrangement of Bartok's Roumanian Dances
GILLES APAP violin & arrangement
THE TRANSYLVANIA MOUNTAIN BOYS - Christopher Judge, guitar Brendon Statom, double bass
from a May 22, 2011 performance at the Colony Theatre Miami Beach Florida

Link

7/4 Kreisler's Rondino

Fritz Kreisler

Fritz Kreisler was one of the most important violinists of the 20th century, both for his playing as well as his composing for the instrument. In fact he wrote a Rondino based on an unused theme by Beethoven (from the rejected final movement of B.'s Wind Octet in E flat (1793).


Link

This version is a piano arrangement by Leopold Godowsky, performed by Phillip Sear..which would make this Sear's Godowsky's Kreisler's Beethoven B-side.

Link

7/3 Marmottes and Beethoven

Marmottes.

I've recently noticed a plethora of arrangements of Beethoven's own arrangement of the traditional air, "La Marmotte".

First, a "straight version:

Link

Now..on accordion:

Link

and electric guitar & synthesizer:

Link

Of course, I did my own arrangement as well...

7/2 Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde Play Beethoven

Robert Louis Stevenson is best known as a writer of books like "Treasure Island", "Kidnapped" and "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" but he also had an unusual side-career of transcribing works for recorder.

Here's a performance of Stevenson's recorder version of a song from Beethoven's "Egmont" score:
Egmont (Clarchen's Lied): Die Trommel gerühret, Op.84b no. 1
Played on tenor recorder by J.F.M. Russell from a Stevenson manuscript at Princeton University as part of a project to record the complete music of RLS.

Link
A regular version of Die Trommel gerühret can be found HERE.

And here's Stevenson's arrangement of
Seufzer eines Ungeliebten - Gegenlieb, WoO.118 (1795)
Gegenlieb interestingly uses a melody which re-occurs in the 9th Symphony...

Played on soprano recorder by J.F.M. Russell from a Stevenson manuscript in the Yale University Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library as part of a project to record the complete music of RLS.

Link

A regular version of this song can be found in my earlier post HERE.

7/1 Beethoven, The Ventures and a Giant Harmonica

The Ventures are pretty famous as a surf-rock band but here they do some groovy arrangements of Beethoven:

The Ventures play the 5th Symphony

Link

The Ventures play the Moonlight Sonata

Link

And for no logical reason whatsoever I'm going to throw in another 5th Symphony arrangement on what looks like soprano, tenor and baritone harmonicas...

Mendes Harmónica Trio

6/24 Paganini's Caprices and Bartok's Mikrokosmos on Guitar

Nicolo Paganini, by Richard James Lane (died 1872), published 1831

Thought I'd divert from Beethoven today to post some of my guitar sequences of Paganini and Bartok...fun stuff (if I do say so myself).

Paganini - All 24 Solo Violin Caprices on Guitar

Linklist (1 hour)

---

Bartok on Guitar (and in various "rock-metal" arrangements)

• Scherzo (Arr. for Guitar)
• Allegro Barbaro (Rock Arrangement)
• Mikrokosmos (27 selections arranged for solo Guitar)
• Mikrokosmos 140 - Free Variations (arr. for Guitar & Drums)
• Mikrokosmos 122, 146, 113, 147 (Arr. for Guitar & Drums)
• 3 Piano Works (Arranged for guitar)
• Mikrokosmos 149 - Burgarian Dance 2 (arr. for Guitar & Drums)
• Mikrokosmos 148 - Bulgarian Dance 1 (Arr for Guitar & Drums)
• Mikrokosmos 153 - Burgarian Dance 6 (arr. for Guitar & Drums)

Linklist (1 hour)

6/16 Hindemith Plays Beethoven

Previously I've featured other composers playing Beethoven's music (Bartok, Rachmaninoff) so today it's Paul Hindemith's turn.  Hindemith (1895-1963) is mentioned by Leonard Bernstein in my "profile" quote: "Melodies, fugues, rhythms – leave them to the Tchaikovskys and Hindemiths and Ravels..."  The fugue Lenny refers to is undoubtedly Ludus Tonalis ("Play of Tones" or "Tonal Game", subtitled "counterpoint, tonal and technical studies for the piano") which contains 12 fugues with interludes.

Here I collected Paul Hindemith performing two Beethoven works:
Duo for Violin and Cello (Es-dur) WoO.32 (1797) 'w 2 Obbligato Eyeglasses' 
(with Rudolph Hindemith/Cello)
and Serenade for Violin, Viola & Cello in D major, Op.8 (1797)
Violin: Szymon Goldberg
Viola: Paul Hindemith
Cello: Emanuel Feuermann

Linklist

6/15 Sextet in Eb Op.81 b for 2 Horns and Strings

A fine performance of an under-played Beethoven work...

From Allmusic:

This composition is something of a chamber concerto for two horns with accompanying strings; the string quartet rarely comes forward with interesting material, except to give the horn players an occasional rest during transitions. Those horn parts, on the other hand, are quite taxing, full of hunting calls and fanfares. The first movement, Allegro con brio, is a sonata form built on conventional eighteenth-century-style themes. What's interesting here is the development, which allows the horns several lyrical passages as relief from their more intricate, percolating and burbling material. In the Adagio, a pastoral image, possibly that of a tranquil forest scene is described by a warm, extended theme uttered by the horns and repeated by the strings. This theme forms the movement's outer sections; in the middle is a sweet, slow duet for the horns with minimal accompaniment. The third and final movement is a rondo (\Allegro) abounding in hunting calls and close harmony; the movement calls to mind the cheerful rondo-finales of Mozart's horn concertos, although Beethoven's writing tends to be less exuberant than Mozart's.

Sextet In Eb for 2 Horns and Strings, Op.81B (1795)
1. Allegro Con Brio
2. Adagio
3. Rondo: Allegro

Amici Ensemble Frankfurt: Samuel Seidenberg, Michael Armbruster, Andrea Kim, Elisabeth Krause, Dirk Niewöhner, Florian Fischer, Christoph Schmidt

Linklist

6/13 Organ Overture

I previously did a blog post featuring pretty much all of Beethoven's epic and wonderful overtures so there's no point in bringing them up again - unless it's the Egmont played on an organ...

Egmont Overture, Op.84
Xaver Varnus lays the Budapest Synagogue 2004.

Link

...or the Coriolan by a brass ensemble...
Coriolan Overture, Op.62
Transcribed by Michel Nowak
Harmonie Municipale d'Avion sous la direction de Luc Delozien

 Link

or Egmont by a brass ensemble...
Egmont Overture, Op.84
live In Arouca Portugal December 2007

Link

6/11 Master Class w Ed Aaron on String Quartet 1

Cellist Edward Aaron is an active classical musician and organizer in New York City who has performed at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center.  Here he gives a master class to a very fresh student string quartet working on Beethoven's String Quartet Op.18 No.1 in F.  Mr. Aaron comes in at around 8:30...

"BYO Chamber Group was lucky enough to have a master class with Ed Aaron from USB Festival Series. Working with our quartet on Beethoven String Quartet in F Major"

Link
It's a little rough at the beginning but that's what teachers are for, right?  Fine group.

6/7 The Elegiac Song (3 Versions)

Beethoven's Elegischer Gesang Op. 118 has the unusual instrumentation of chorus and string quartet.  Though it's more commonly performed with a a string orchestra these days, it was originally scored with a quartet in mind and the video below features just that.

Allmusic:

The Elegiac Song was composed during the summer of 1814 in memory of Eleanore von Pasqualati, the wife of Baron Johann (Beethoven's frequent and favorite landlord beginning in 1804), who had died in childbirth three years earlier. Her music-loving husband, the Empress Maria Theresia's physician, not only tolerated Beethoven's obsessive-compulsive changes of residence but made him feel a member of the family. We don't know who wrote the words, originally assigned to four singers and string quartet and later reworked for small chorus and string orchestra without double-basses. The music, which raises its voice only on the words "himmlischen Geistes," is indubitably the heartfelt product of its composer; its brevity alone is the reason we hear it so seldom in concert. 

(Actually Allmusic's info may be a bit out of date since I've read from other sources that Op.118 was still in sketch phase in 1814 and that modern scholars actually think the vocal group was originally for chorus, not 4 soloists.  The text was possibly written by Ignaz Franz von Castelli.)

Text:

Sanft, wie du lebtest, 
hast du vollendet, 
zu heilig für den Schmerz!
Kein Auge wein' ob 
des himmlischen Geistes Heimkehr.

Gently, as you lived,

have you died,

too holy for sorrow!

Let no eye shed tears

for the spirit's heavenly homecoming.

Elegischer Gesang Op. 118
Emory Mastersingers , Jonathan Arnold, conductor
VEGA String Quartet, 3/27/2011

Link

In keeping with the idea that no one is exactly sure what the instrumentation is supposed to be for this work I took the liberty of sequencing a version for guitar and winds (HERE), as well as a version for piano and winds (HERE).

6/5 Lieder Redux 2 (More Clarinet and Guitar Arrangements)

Yesterday I featured my sequenced arrangements of some of Beethoven's song lieder in the form of guitar and clarinet duos.  This time I cover some of my favorite lieder without Opus numbers:

1. WoO 116 Que le temps me dure (How slowly time passes) 2 Versions

2. WoO 118 Seufzer eines Ungeliebten - Gegenlieb (Sigh of one who is unloved - Love returned)

3. Some Short Songs w/o Opus numbers:

• WoO 125 La tiranna (The tyranny) (0:04)
• Hess 133 Das Liebe Katzchen (The Dear Kitten) (2:30)
• WoO 142 Der Bardengeist (The Bardic spirit) (2:56)
• WoO 117 Der freie Mann (The free Man) (3:34)

4. WoO.131 Erlkoenig 

5. WoO 134 Sehnsucht (Longing)


Linklist

(Postcard images from http://www.lvbeethoven.com)

6/4 Lieder Redux (Clarinet and Guitar Arrangements)

Recently I've been having some more fun with sequencing Beethoven compositions - this time rearranging vocal lieder from the original piano and voice instrumentation into guitar and clarinet duos.  Why?  The fact that I don't sing or play piano (tho I do play guitar and clarinet) may have something to do with it...Nonetheless I find these versions can provide additional appreciation for the melodies that Beethoven worked into the various texts he put to music.

Lieder Redux Playlist 1 (Works with Opus Numbers)

An Die Hoffnung Op.32
Adelaide, Op.46
6 Songs Op.48

• - No.1 Bitten (Entreaty) (0:02)
• - No.2 Die Liebe des Nachsten (Love of one's neighbor) (1:06)
• - No.3 Vom Tode (Of Death) (1:53)
• - No.4 Die Ehre Gottes aus de Natur (The Glory of God in nature) (3:59)
• - No.5 Gottes Macht und Vorsehung (God's power and providence) (5:24)
• - No.6 Busslied (Song of penance) (5:57)

8 Songs, Op.52

• - No.1 Urians Reise um die Welt (Urian's voyage round the world) (0:02)
• - No.2 Feuerfarb (The color of flame) (0:45)
• - No.3 Das Liedchen von der Ruhe (The Little song about peace) (1:43)
• - No.4 Maigesang (Maying Song) (2:36)
• - No.5 Mollys Abschied (Molly's Departure) 4:38)
• - No.6 Die Liebe (Love) (5:08)
• - No.7 Marmotte (5:52)
• - No.8 Das Blümchen Wunderhold (The Little flower wondrous fair) (6:24)

6 Songs Op.75

• - No.1 Kennst du das Land (Do you know the land) (0:01)
• - No.2 Neue Liebe, neues Leben (New love new life) (3:15)
• - No.3 Aus Goethes Faust (Mephisto's Flohlied/Song of the flea) (6:09)
• - No.4 Gretels Warnung (Gretel's warning) (8:05)
• - No.5 An den fernen Geliebten (To the distant beloved) (9:25)
• - No.6 Der Zufriedene (The Contented man) (10:20)

3 Songs, Op. 83

• - 1. Wonne der Wehmut (Joy of Sadness) (0:01)
• - 2. Sehnsucht (Longing) (2:08)
• - 3. Mit einem gemalten Band (With a painted ribbon) (3:57)

Songs 1803-1822

• -  Arietta Op.82, No.1 Hoffnung (1809) (Tell Me Dearest, That You Love Me..) (0:01)
• - Op.84 Egmont: Clarchen's Song: 'Freudvoll und leidvoll' (1810) (Joy and Sorrow) (1:40)
• - Op.88 Das Glück der Freundschaft (1803)(The Good Fortune of Friendship)(3:03)
• - Op.99 Der Mann von Wort (1816)(A man of his word)(5:04)
• - Op.100 Merkenstein (1816)(6:30)
• - Op.128 Ariette (Der Kuss/The Kiss) (1822)(6:54)

Linklist

5/31 A Wind Trio on Mozart's Don Giovanni

Beethoven's wind music is always great fun.  In the WoO 28 wind trio (usually for 2 oboes and cor anglais and based on a theme form Mozart's Don Giovanni) Beethoven sets up several different variations, each one seemingly designed to highlight one of the three instruments.  It's a light, lean and jolly work.  What's especially interesting is that the variation that starts at 6:11 in the video below seemingly features the clarinetist doing a technique called "circular breathing", where a note or phrase can be held indefinitely...or maybe the guy just has big lungs.

Here WoO 28 is performed to perfection on flute, bassoon, and clarinet by Trio Eccentrico al Teatro Rossini di Lugo - 18/01/2011:
Trio for on a theme from Mozart's Don Giovanni ("Give me Thy Hand") WoO.28 (1795):

Link