Release Date: 05 January 2003
Label: Naxos - Nxc / Naxos Classics
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 730099482721
Genres: Classical
Composer/Series: BEETHOVEN
Description
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)String Quintets, transcribed by Carl Khym (c.1770-?)Born in Bonn in 1770, Ludwig van Beethoven was alreadywinning some distinction there, when, in 1787, he was first sent to Vienna, tostudy with Mozart. The illness of his mother forced an early return from thisventure and her subsequent death left him with responsibility for his youngerbrothers, in view of the domestic and professional failures of his father,formerly a singer in the musical establishment of Beethoven's then patron, theArchbishop of Cologne. In 1792 Beethoven was sent once more to Vienna, now tostudy with Haydn, whom he had met in Bonn.Beethoven's early career in Vienna was helped veryconsiderably by the circumstances of his move there. The Archbishop was a sonof the Empress Maria Theresa and there were introductions to leading members ofsociety in the imperial capital. Here Beethoven was able to establish an earlyposition for himself as a pianist of remarkable ability, coupled with a cleargenius in the necessarily related arts of improvisation and composition. Theonset of deafness at the turn of the century seemed an irony of Fate. It ledBeethoven gradually away from a career as a virtuoso performer and into an areaof composition where he was able to make remarkable changes and extensions ofexisting practice. Deafness tended to accentuate his eccentricities andparanoia, which became extreme as time went on. At the same time it allowed himto develop his gifts for counterpoint. He continued to revolutionise formsinherited from his predecessors, notably Haydn and Mozart, expanding thesealmost to bursting-point, and introducing innovation after innovation as hegrew older. He died in 1827, his death the occasion of public mourning inVienna.The three works here included are arrangements of two triosby Beethoven and of his Horn Sonata. These were made by the Bohemian virtuosooboist Carl Khym, whose name sometimes appears as Chym. He was born about 1770and was thus a more or less exact contemporary of Beethoven and seems to havebeen in the service of the Emperor. Little is known of his life, but he left anumber of chamber music compositions and competent and effective arrangementsof works by other composers, with the string quintet version of Beethoven'sClarinet Trio, Op. 11, appearing in Vienna and Pest in 1810/1811, and of theHorn Sonata, published in Bonn by Simrock in 1817. The arrangement of the PianoTrio, Op. 1, No. 2, seems to date from 1815. Nothing is known of Khym after1819.In 1795 Beethoven published a set of three Piano Trios,dedicated to Prince Carl Lichnowsky, in whose house they were first performed,in the presence of Haydn, who had reservations about the possible reception ofthe third, an implied criticism to which the composer took exception. Thesecond of the group, the Piano Trio in G major, Op. 1, No. 2, makes aconvincing string quintet. The first movement starts with a slow introduction,with the more decorative melodic elements now allo
Tracklisting
Dariia Lytvishko
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra; Marin Alsop
Alice Di Piazza; Basel Sinfonietta; NDR Bigband; Titus Engel
Anna Alas i Jove; Miquel Villalba
David Childs; Black Dyke Band; Nicholas Childs
Davis/Kuenzel/Lovelace
Dale Kavanagh
Consortium Carissimi/Comeaux
