Musical Forms Beethoven Did NOT Compose In

[DavidO]

The thread on key choice got me to thinking (have no idea why) about musical forms or genres that Beethoven completely avoided, for whatever reason (at least those forms that were current in Beethoven's day).

He wrote no requiems. Were there chamber forms of nine or more instruments in Beethoven's day? He wrote duos, trios, quartets, quintets, sextets, septets & one octet, correct? But nothing beyond octet. What other forms or genres is there nothing by Beethoven in? He took a crack at just about everything, the old boy!

[Peter]

He was planning a Requiem at the time of his death - he thought such music should be calming and not full of the terrors of the Dies Irae. Maybe Faure's Requiem comes closest to this vision.

Sphor wrote a Nonet for 9 instruments and another example is Mozart's Serenade for 13 wind instruments.

[lvbfanatic]

Musical Form Not Used by LVB...

Well then there's the OPERETTA... LVB would have never stooped to this genre even though he did apply himself, purely for the money of it, to the transcription of a whole bunch of scottish folk songs....

[Peter]

Well then there's the OPERETTA... LVB would have never stooped to this genre even though he did apply himself, purely for the money of it, to the transcription of a whole bunch of scottish folk songs....

Well operetta as a genre didn't really come in until the mid 19th century and I think you're right in saying that Beethoven would never have written any!

Beethoven took his folk song arrangements quite seriously as is witnessed by the letters he wrote to Thomson and I think they are respected a great deal more now. Folk music has always played an important part in 'serious' music -composers as diverse as Haydn and Bartok have made use of it in their music.

[Michael]

Well operetta as a genre didn't really come in until the mid 19th century and I think you're right in saying that Beethoven would never have written any!

.

I wonder. There are two isolated arias from Umlauf's sinsgspiel "The Beautiful Shoemaker's Wife" and one of them, "If a Shoe is not to Pinch" is pure operetta. Also he wrote two arias for Joseph Lux and one of them "Getting on with Girls" could have come straight out of Gilbert and Sullivan.
Here is a sample of the lyrics:

Getting on with girls, fighting with men,
And owing more money than you have -
That's how to get on in life .......
...if there's an eavesdropping envious lover,
Let him come out, sword in hand.
Come along! Wake up! Quickly!
Out with your blade!
Cling! Cling! Clang! Clang!
Snick! Snick! Snack! Snack!
Crick! Crack!

Actually, I think W.S. Gilbert has done a little better than that!
(Just checked the writer's name - some fellow called Goethe!)

[PDG]

Would've made a great jingle for Kellogg's Rice Crispies! BTW, Mike, nice avatar - is it Rodney Bewes??

[Michael]

Would've made a great jingle for Kellogg's Rice Crispies! BTW, Mike, nice avatar - is it Rodney Bewes??

Would you believe I've just read Rodney Bewes' autobiography in the past few weeks. He might be a likely lad to play Beethoven.