Authentic page - quintet & Quartet Op.16

[Peter]

Available to members at www.kingsbarn.freeserve.co.uk/authentic.html

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'Man know thyself'

[Rod]

Originally posted by Peter:
Available to members at www.kingsbarn.freeserve.co.uk/authentic.html

Firstly I ask allowances to be made for the horrendous additional notes you will hear in the quintet movement, it is a recent conceit that one occasionally hears that has developed, bizarrely, in certain quarters of the 'authentic' movement. Otherwise a nice recording. The Grave is from a much earlier, but still nice, recording from the 70s that has long been deleted.

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"If I were but of noble birth..." - Rod Corkin

[Joy]

A nice recording indeed. Thanks. One I do not hear very often. In my readings I found out that among his Opus 4, 16, 29, and 104, there remains two other works for a combination of five instruments. The first is an arrangement of the first symphony made by the publisher Mollo without Beethoven's knowledge. The second a Fugue in D Major for Five String Instruments, which was prepared for a projected manuscript collection of Beethoven's works by Haslinger. The latter was published soon after Beethoven's death in 1827 as Opus 137. Also there is evidence that Opus 16 was played at a concert for Schuppanzigh in 1797. This is the work, it's thought, in which Beethoven during a performance improvised a cadenza. Each time he approached the final 6/4 chord, the players were prepared to play, only to find that Beethoven had gone off on a new idea. It goes on to say that the three movements show some similaritiy in form and instrumentation to Mozart's quintet in the same key.

Beethoven Encyclopedia

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'Truth and beauty joined'

[Rod]

Originally posted by Joy:
....It goes on to say that the three movements show some similaritiy in form and instrumentation to Mozart's quintet in the same key.

Mozart's quintet is also on the same CD as the Beethoven quintet presented here. I must say I censored the text I provided (which came from the quartet CD), for it gave a quotation from a scholar that stated the Beethoven piece did not match Mozart's 'sublime' creation. From the performances I have heard of both, the current CD included, I agree that op16 does not match Mozart's effort, it clearly surpasses it, as was probably Beethoven's intent. I find Mozart in rhetorical mood here is less than convincing, certainly by Beethovenian standards.


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"If I were but of noble birth..." - Rod Corkin

[This message has been edited by Rod (edited October 01, 2003).]

[Gurn Blanston]

Rod,
Thanks for letting me listen to this. I have 2 versions of this, both on modern instruments, and I actually think they sound pretty good, but I do indeed like the mellow, sonorous tone of the winds in the authentic version, as well, as always, the novel (to me) sound of the fortepiano.


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Regards,
Gurn
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That's my opinion, I may be wrong.
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[Amalie]

I very much enjoyed both pieces, especially
the quartet, a rather grandiloquent piece and interesting tone.
The sound from the strings are quite vibrant and bright, but the fortepiano seems a bit drowned out.

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I could be wrong
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Sorry Rod, you know how I love listening to the authentic MP3's, but I have to find the time to download the pieces, it took 21 minutes to download the first piece and 8 minutes for the Quartet.

Amalie

[Rod]

Originally posted by Gurn Blanston:
Rod,
Thanks for letting me listen to this. I have 2 versions of this, both on modern instruments, and I actually think they sound pretty good, but I do indeed like the mellow, sonorous tone of the winds in the authentic version, as well, as always, the novel (to me) sound of the fortepiano.

The old style winds do have a more 'spacious' quality to the sound, a less focused but more diverse and colourful tone.

Concerning the fortepiano I have noticed the re-release of the complete fortepiano concertos, the Choral fantasy and a collection variations and bagatelles in a boxed set by Melvyn Tan and Roger Norrington on Virgin label for only £16.99. The solo piano pieces using Beethoven's own Broadwood. An absolute bargain at this price.

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"If I were but of noble birth..." - Rod Corkin

[Rod]

Originally posted by Amalie:
I very much enjoyed both pieces, especially
the quartet, a rather grandiloquent piece and interesting tone.
The sound from the strings are quite vibrant and bright, but the fortepiano seems a bit drowned out.

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I could be wrong
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Sorry Rod, you know how I love listening to the authentic MP3's, but I have to find the time to download the pieces, it took 21 minutes to download the first piece and 8 minutes for the Quartet.

Amalie

I would not say the fortepiano is drowned out, but rather more suitably homogenised within the ensemble.

I understand the download issues Amalie, but even 21 minutes is a bargain for what you get for Beethoven fans as in many cases these tracks are no-longer commercially available. I could reduce the file size considerably but the quality of the sound is unacceptable (I have experimented with this a lot), already it is at the lowest acceptable level.

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"If I were but of noble birth..." - Rod Corkin