Repeat the Introduction of the Pathetique or not?

[Caters]

I've heard that this is controversial, whether or not the Introduction to the first movement of the Pathetique Sonata should be repeated when the exposition repeats. I personally am of the camp that it should be repeated. I mean, after all, Beethoven brings back the slow, introductory material once in the development and once again in the Coda, so it's likely that the repeat of the Introduction with the exposition repeat was Beethoven's original intent, right? And it just fits with the title of Pathetique. It's supposed to have those emotional swings from a melancholic, almost lamenting state of the slow material to a powerfully dramatic Allegro, back and forth throughout the first movement.

So what if it's unconventional to repeat the Introduction? The Pathetique Sonata is unconventional for its time, very Romantic era style. I can understand why a lot of people don't repeat the introduction and even get told that it shouldn't be repeated, but I think it should be repeated and I have always repeated the Introduction when I play the exposition repeat of the first movement.

[Peter]

I'm not really in favour of repeating the Grave introduction as I feel it upsets the drama of the piece. The introduction creates a striking tension leading up to the dramatic pause on the Ab with no hint of what is to come - he could simply have resolved it with a C minor chord and finished it there and then, but instead goes straight into the Allegro di molto. To repeat there would be no surprise!

[gprengel]

Do you really want to take so much time in orchestrating this movement eventhough young Anton Bruckner has done this before with a nice result? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09qcuMOFZQY Would you have a better version than Bruckner?
By the way - there is a fantastic string quartett version of this sonata at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fbLOtRGwT8 by a man who has arranged all of Beethoven's piano sonatas for string quartett !

[Sorrano]

Do you really want to take so much time in orchestrating this movement eventhough young Anton Bruckner has done this before with a nice result? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09qcuMOFZQY Would you have a better version than Bruckner?
By the way - there is a fantastic string quartett version of this sonata at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fbLOtRGwT8 by a man who has arranged all of Beethoven's piano sonatas for string quartett !

Seems that I've heard that string quartet arrangement of the Pathetique on Performance Today recently. It was quite effective as I recall.

[Caters]

Do you really want to take so much time in orchestrating this movement eventhough young Anton Bruckner has done this before with a nice result? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09qcuMOFZQY Would you have a better version than Bruckner?
By the way - there is a fantastic string quartett version of this sonata at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fbLOtRGwT8 by a man who has arranged all of Beethoven's piano sonatas for string quartett !

Yes, I really do want to orchestrate this movement and the entire Pathetique sonata. I've seen the Bruckner orchestration before, it stops at the development section. And does it really matter if I'm better than Bruckner? I don't think it does. All that really matters to me is that the arrangement is good and effective. Comparing me to Bruckner won't help at all with that.

[Peter]

Thread seems to have gone slightly off topic which was about the repeat of the introduction! Regarding the orchestration I don't think it matters one jot how many versions or by who they were made, what matters is the personal touch someone wants to bring and also the learning and discovery process this entails.