GMCD 7274 You can order this CD in our E-Shop under Chamber Music Reviews ***Sound Clips***	BEETHOVEN Contemporary Arrangements for Chamber Ensemble Symphony No. 1 in G major Symphony No. 8 in F major Pathetique Sonata Players: The Locrian Ensemble Rolf Wilson - Violin Rita Manning - Violin Philip Dukes - Viola Morgan Goff- Viola Justin Pearson - Cello

Contents: 

DDD Total Time = 69.54 - St Martin’s Church, East Woodhay, Berkshire – 27 May 2002 (Pathétique Sonata) and St Silas Church, Chalk Farm, London – 13-14 January 2002 (Symphonies)

The three arrangements for string quintet on this recording were all made during Beethoven’s lifetime, with his approval, although it is not entirely clear who was responsible for the transcriptions. The first is a strikingly successful adaptation of the piano Sonata Opus 13, the Pathètique in C minor. Originally written in 1799, this arrangement was published in about 1807 by Tobias Haslinger who was perhaps also the arranger. Haslinger was again the publisher of the arrangement of the 8th Symphony in F major, Opus 93 which appeared in about 1816 only two years after the symphony¹s first performance in Vienna. The third work on this disc is the 1st Symphony, Opus 21 in C major, first performed in 1800. The edition used in this recording was published in Bonn about 1803 by Simrock. In sanctioning arrangements of some of his own compositions for small chamber ensembles, Beethoven no doubt wished to promote his own work, and through increased public awareness of it, gain some commercial advantage.
Hearing these familiar works in unfamiliar chamber versions is a surprising experience. Music we know well is suddenly transformed into something fresh and novel, yet at the same time instantly recognizable. Their musical argument is presented with a purity and directness that reveals its essential nature. The addition of a string quintet’s beauty of tone, variety of colour and sustained cantabile quality to the Pathètique sonata adds an entirely new dimension to the work. This recording gives us insight into the way many musicians might have first heard these works during Beethoven’s lifetime.
“The Locrians have a formidable international reputation” London Evening Standard

It is undeniable today that respect for a composer’s intentions expressed in a musical score is central to performance. To aid the performer, musicologists and editors labour to establish authoritative and accurate texts. Players in their turn study the style and performance practices of a composer’s own time and place. All this implies that there must be one, primary version of a piece of music and posits the existence of a single, ideal performance from which any deviation must be a lapse from historical accuracy, authenticity and taste. These are, however, questionable assumptions.

To begin with the text; surprising numbers of well known compositions (even in the standard, modern orchestral repertoire) exist in no definitive, final version, but survive in variants all of which may claim equal validity. Looking back in history, early vocal music was frequently ‘entabulated’ for keyboard, or arranged for a consort of viols. Some lute pieces circulated in innumerable settings for keyboard. In these, a work might be developed with varying degrees of elaboration through variation technique into new compositions. In the baroque era composers were especially adept at recycling music so that a single work might appear in several completely different guises, each serving different functions. This continued an ancient tradition in instrumental music that allowed its free adaptation to whatever medium was available. J. S. Bach used his own keyboard music as teaching material, and over the years, adjusted and refined details of the text in his pupils’ copies. Recognizing the potential of some of his youthful and immature works, he sometimes returned to them several times, improving them to the point that they became almost new pieces. Both then and now, all these versions might be considered worth performing. Bach was also not alone in arranging keyboard works for instrumental performance, or taking other composers’ orchestral works (particularly Vivaldi) and transcribing them for keyboard instruments.

Our own uncertainty as to what is or is not ‘original’ in available texts must be at its most extreme in the works of the great 18th and 19th century composer-instrumentalists who developed new ideas during every performance. In such cases, perhaps none of the published texts can be taken as the composers’ last thoughts; at best the score preserves the work at one point in history. From all this, we see that a musical work may legitimately appear in a different dress according to function. Far from being undermined by this process, the work can appear as a fresh-minted creation.

Utility also colours our perception of arrangements. The first half of the 19th century saw the simultaneous development of the ‘modern’ orchestra, concert giving in large public halls, and the increasingly powerful and ubiquitous piano. The latter initially took its place in these concert halls as a concerto instrument and occasional soloist or accompanist in a mixed programme. It only achieved its full emancipation with Franz Liszt’s invention of the public solo piano recital. In many of his recital programmes, Liszt often included Beethoven’s works. Aware of their pivotal importance, he wanted to bring them to a musical public which might have had little opportunity to hear them before. Not only did Liszt include the Sonatas, he also prepared excellent piano arrangements of Beethoven’s Symphonies. It was through these that many people first heard these works and then were able to play them in the home from Liszt’s published versions. These arrangements should be taken seriously as variants of the original compositions, although the art of the arranger did not always aspire to such heights. Some arrangements were made for purely commercial reasons. Amongst the most notable of these were a set of quadrilles on themes from Handel’s Messiah, a late 18th century arrangement of the Hallelujah Chorus for two solo flutes and a 19th century one for the concertina.

In sanctioning arrangements of some of his own compositions for small chamber ensembles, Beethoven no doubt wished to promote his own work, and through increased public awareness of it, gain some commercial advantage. He was fortunate to be able to call on two outstandingly gifted pupils to write some of these. One was the composer and pianist Ferdinand Ries, 1784-1838.  Born in Bonn, his father had taught the young Beethoven. At the age of 17, Ferdinand travelled to Vienna with his father’s letter of introduction. Already an excellent performer, Beethoven was happy to take him on as a pupil, giving him three lessons each week until Ries left Vienna in 1805. During this time he frequently worked as Beethoven’s copyist. Amongst the arrangements he made were the piano Sonatas Opus 10 no.3, the Pastorale, Opus 28, and La Chasse, Opus 31 no.3, all for string quartet. He also arranged the violin sonata Opus 30 no.2 for string quartet, and the second Symphony, Opus 36, for quartet, two double basses, flute and two horns.

Carl Czerny, 1791-1857, was another gifted pupil who arranged a number of Beethoven’s works. A child virtuoso, Czerny was already an accomplished pianist by the age of ten when Beethoven agreed to give him lessons. Technically brilliant and with a prodigious memory, Czerny (much encouraged by Beethoven) became Vienna’s most distinguished teacher, and later prepared and fingered an edition of Beethoven’s sonatas. Amongst his transcriptions of Beethoven’s works are the Leonora Overture no.2 for solo piano, the Symphony no.8, Opus 93, for two pianos, and The Consecration of the House, Opus 124, arranged for one and two pianos. After Beethoven’s death he published an edition of all nine symphonies arranged for two pianos.

The three arrangements for string quintet on this recording were all made during Beethoven’s lifetime, presumably with his approval although it is not clear who was responsible for the transcriptions. The first is a strikingly successful adaptation of the piano Sonata Opus 13, the Pathètique in C minor. Originally written in 1799, this arrangement was published in about 1807 by Tobias Haslinger who was perhaps also the arranger. Haslinger was again the publisher of the arrangement of the 8th Symphony in F major, Opus 93 which appeared in about 1816 only two years after the symphony’s first performance in Vienna. The third work on this disc is the 1st Symphony, Opus 21 in C major, first performed in 1800. The edition used in this recording was published in Bonn about 1803 by Simrock.

Hearing these familiar works in unfamiliar chamber versions is a surprising experience. Music we know well is suddenly transformed into something fresh and novel, yet at the same time instantly recognizable. The symphonies especially gain in clarity when stripped of their orchestral density and colour. Their musical argument is presented with a purity and directness that reveals its essential nature. The addition of a string quintet’s beauty of tone, variety of colour and sustained cantabile quality to the Pathètique sonata adds an entirely new dimension to the work. This recording gives us insight into the way many musicians might first have heard these works during Beethoven’s lifetime; even more interestingly, it casts a new and vivid light on the music for us in the 21st century.

Justin Pearson writes:

When the ensemble first received the music for these fascinating arrangements, we set about numbering the parts so as to enable efficient rehearsal. It soon became apparent that there were a considerable amount of copying mistakes, odd bars or notes left out in individual parts etc.; no scores exist for these arrangements. More significantly, when referring to the full orchestral scores of the symphonies, we found the arranger had, very occasionally, deliberately cut some material. Therefore, where a chord or note, or a passage of music been deliberately altered from Beethoven's original, we have been consistently faithful to the arrangement as presented.

Page revised 25.08.04