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?

August Walter

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Past events

Apr 15, 2024

Brillant · Beethoven Orchester Bonn

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