Originally posted by Chris: Thanks, Rod. I remember 7 and 8 from last time. 2 is new to me, though; I like it a lot. I really like the singing on these recordings.
how can you not, they're Dutch
but I must agree, superb rendition, the instruments sound great and the soprano is grand aswell
Thanks for these, Rod. Confession time - I'm not at all familiar with these works! I'll definitely check them out now, though, as these were very nice. The arrangements certainly carry the distinctive Beethovenian stamp, irrespective of the subject matter and constraints put upon him.
Beethoven's folksongs are perhaps amongst the least familiar examples of his genius. However as can be heard from the three mp3 examples here, they are highly original.
George Thompson, a scotsman 1757-1851, wrote to Beethoven in 1803 to ask him to provide settings for these folksongs,I believe it wasn't until 1809 Beethoven agreed to undertake the task and due to the napoleonic wars it took until 1812 for Thompson to receive the first batch,which came via Malta due to the French embargo.
Thompson was overwhelmed at the quality.
The Deutsche Grammophon complete Beethoven Edition contains all the folksong settings and is exquisite, "Bonny laddie,highland laddie" is one of my personal favorites.
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