In the meantime, Beethoven was not at all enthusiastic about the success of his Septet op. 20, which was premiered together with the First Symphony and the First Piano Concerto in 1800: The work for seven instruments, which followed Mozart's great Divertimento K. 563 in the same key exactly in its structure, was Beethoven's most popular work at the time and also his most frequently performed until around 1830. Beethoven probably felt that this septet, which was close to the light music of his time, blocked the view of his “serious” compositions! Today, we can consider ourselves fortunate to gain a glimpse of the humorous, the youthful and mercurial Beethoven through this 45-minute piece. Of course, as always with Beethoven, this does not preclude great depth and complexity: In the Adagio, the second and longest movement, time simply stops. We juxtapose Beethoven's work with similarly large-scale, generous chamber music: Namely, the rarely played Octet by Stuttgart-born August Walter – one of those pieces that makes one wonder, in the justice of music history, why this wonderful, brilliant, deeply felt great work was not known before?

Brillant

Beethoven-Haus Bonn

Many filmgoers still have the scene in their mind's eye in which a gramophone stands in the African savannah and dreamy sounds float above the endless expanse: Jenwärts von Afrika is the name of the film with Robert Redford and Meryl Streep, and Mozart's clarinet concerto is part of the soundtrack – a symbol of the love between the two main characters, and also a symbol of their love for the continent. Mozart's last instrumental concerto is one of the most frequently performed works of classical concert literature, and actually we don't have to ask why: it goes too directly to the heart, it hits us all too directly, we already have the feeling of knowing it from previous lives the first time we hear it. And yet we want to dare to listen more closely, to look: How can we approach this iconic piece?

Amelie Bertlwieser

Events

Past events

Apr 15, 2024

Brillant · Beethoven Orchester Bonn

Mar 16, 2024

Mozart concertante · Beethoven Orchester Bonn

Future and recently performed repertoire

Clarinet in Septet by Beethoven

Beethoven Orchester Bonn

Clarinet in Clarinet Concerto by Mozart

Beethoven Orchester Bonn

Clarinet in Octet by Walter

Beethoven Orchester Bonn

About

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