Missing pieces from my Beethoven collection

[Roehre]

first: all work with opus numbers (without 63 and 64) as well as WoO are in the Cascade (excluding WoO 16, including 131) as well as the Brilliant (w/h WoO 16 and 131) complete editions

Works with opus numbers
Opus 11: Piano Trio No. 4 in B-flat major ("Gassenhauer") (1797) (*for clarinet (or violin), cello (sometimes bassoon), and piano) - Version with
bassoon
Is that an original beethovenian arrangement? never heard of it.

Opus 16: Quintet for Piano and Winds (1796) (later arranged for piano quartet) - Piano quartet version.
Recently released on IIRC Hyperion. There is a recording of both versions on Claves.

Opus 41: Serenade for Piano and Flute or Violin in D major (1803)
On a Philips duo. On a Turnabout/ox set, which includes the Trio for 3 flutes as well

Opus 42: Notturno for Viola and Piano in D major (1803)
On a Hyperion CD

Opus 63: Arrangement of String Quintet (Opus 4) for Piano Trio (1806)
No recording known to me

Opus 64: Arrangement of String Trio (Opus 3) for Piano and Cello (1807)
On a Finlandia CD

Opus 134: Piano arrangement (4 hands) of the Große Fuge, Opus 133 (1826)
In all "complete" editions, but a single CD?

Works with WoO numbers
WoO 2b: Prelude to Act II of Tarpeja
On a Classico CD, with Symphony no.10 and late overtures.

WoO 5: Violin Concerto movement in C major, fragment
See http://www.gyrix.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3329, my msg #11

WoO 12: Twelve minuets for orchestra (probably spurious, actually by Beethoven's brother Carl)
An Berlin Classics/ Edel / Eterna CD

WoO 16: Twelve Écossaises for orchestra (probably spurious)
One copy of the score has been retrieved. Not published, definitely NOT by Beethoven

WoO 17: Eleven "Mödlinger Tänze" for seven instruments (probably spurious)
On Naxos

WoO 23: Écossaise for Military Band (only a piano arrangement by Carl Czerny is extant)


WoO 50: Piano Sonata in F major (1790–92)
WoO 63: Nine variations for piano on a march by Ernst Christoph Dressler
WoO 64: Six Variations on a Swiss song for piano or harp - Harp version
WoO 68: Twelve variations for piano on the "Menuet a la Vigano" from Jakob Haibel's ballet La nozza disturbate
WoO 81: Allemande for piano in A major
WoO 84: Waltz for piano in E-flat major
WoO 85: Waltz for piano
WoO 86: Écossaise for piano in E-flat major
On 2 Teldec sets with Buchbinder or on Tuxedo (Turnabout) with Brendel

WoO 62: String Quintet in C major (Fragment, Piano Transcription)
On a Colosseum record by Jörg Demus


WoO 91: Two arias for Die Schöne Schusterin
On an EMI/HMV set as well as on Berlin Classics/Edel/Eterna


WoO 94: "Germania," aria with chorus in B-flat major
WoO 97: "Es ist vollbracht" for Die Ehrenpforten
separate CDs?

WoO 98: "Wo sich die Pulse," chorus for The Consecration of the House
H 118: Music for The Consecration of the House (from Opus 113)
On DGG with opus 124/113

WoO 99: Italian Partsongs (No. 8, No. 12)

WoO 131: Unfinshed song "Erlkönig"
Only recording known to me is in the Cascade set

WoO 158d: "Air Français"

WoO 160, 162, 171, 181: Forty-three Canons
All on Eterna/Berlin Classics/Edel set, the same recordings are to be found in the DGG coplete set as well as the Brilliant one. Please note that the DGG doesn't contain the Ta,ta,ta canon WoO 162 as it is possibly a Schindler falsification

WoO 199: Musical joke "Ich bin der Herr von zu"
WoO 200: Piano Exercise "O Hoffnung!"
WoO 201: Musical joke "Ich bin bereit!"
WoO 204: Musical joke "Holz, Holz, Geigt die Quartette So"
WoO 205: Ten musical quips (Kinsky's word is "Notenscherze") from Beethoven's letters
All on Eterna/Berlin Classics/Edel set, the same recordings are to be found in the DGG coplete set as well as the Brilliant one.

Works with Anhang (Anh) numbers
Anh 1: Symphony in C major ("Jena") – now attributed to Friedrich Witt
On a BBC Music CD from (I guess) 1996, coupled with Mozart's Symphony no.34 KV338, and there exists a Melodya/HMV CD with Haydn 82.


Anh 2: Six string quartets
No recording known to me

Anh 3: Piano Trio in D major
on a FSM/Audite record

Anh 4: Flute Sonata in B-flat major
Philips Duo, as well as Vox/Turnabout (see opus 41)

Anh 6: Rondo for piano in B-flat major
In Buchbinder set on Teldec

Selected works with Hess (H) numbers
H 12: Oboe Concerto in F (lost; only incipits and draft of 2nd movement extant) Channel Classics, combined with concertos by Beethoven's colleague in the Bonn orchestra Lebrun

H 15: Piano Concerto No. 6 (unfinished)
Inedita CD

H 28: Movement in A-flat major for string trio
H 31: Prelude and Fugue for String Quartet
H 38: Bach Fugue arranged for String Quartet
H 40: Movement in D minor for String Quintet
H 68: Ländler in C minor
H 87: March for piano (arrangement of WoO 29)
H 88: Minuet for piano (arrangement of Hess 33)
H 89: Musik zu einem Ritterballett (Music for a ballet on horseback) (piano arrangement of WoO 1)
H 90: The Creatures of Prometheus (piano arrangement of Opus 43)
H 91: Opferlied (piano arrangement of Opus 121b)
H 92: Bundeslied (piano arrangement of Opus 122)
H 93: "Freudvoll" (piano accompaniment for Opus 84)
H 99: March for piano (arrangement of WoO 18)
H 107: Grenadier's March
H 115: Vestas Feuer (unfinished Opera)
H 118: Music for The Consecration of the House (from Opus 113)
In the Cascade set



Obviously there are a lot more Hess pieces and others, but I am mainly concerned with the Op. and WoO pieces, and any major pieces that escaped those classes. This was working off the list on Wikipedia and comparing with the one on this site for reference. Some of the ones listed are not important - the lost, unfinished, spurious. So what do you think - anything significant in the list I am missing out on by not owning? Or anything you know to be spurious that I don't have marked as such?

IMO the real omissions are WoO 5, opus 16, op.114/124/WoO98 and opus 134.
the rest gives a good impression of Beethoven's other works, but hardly do offer "great" music (though many a minor composer would be delighted to write some of these "not great" works...

[Chris]

Thank you, Roehre, for this very helpful post. A few follow-up questions, if you don't mind...

WoO 50: Piano Sonata in F major (1790–92)
WoO 63: Nine variations for piano on a march by Ernst Christoph Dressler
WoO 64: Six Variations on a Swiss song for piano or harp - Harp version
WoO 68: Twelve variations for piano on the "Menuet a la Vigano" from Jakob Haibel's ballet La nozza disturbate
WoO 81: Allemande for piano in A major
WoO 84: Waltz for piano in E-flat major
WoO 85: Waltz for piano
WoO 86: Écossaise for piano in E-flat major
On 2 Teldec sets with Buchbinder or on Tuxedo (Turnabout) with Brendel

Can you be any more specific about these discs? I am particularly interested in the one with Brendel. I was not able to find anything about them in my searches.

WoO 160, 162, 171, 181: Forty-three Canons
All on Eterna/Berlin Classics/Edel set, the same recordings are to be found in the DGG coplete set as well as the Brilliant one. Please note that the DGG doesn't contain the Ta,ta,ta canon WoO 162 as it is possibly a Schindler falsification

I have the DGG set with the canons, called "Secular Vocal Works", and I don't see any of these. Am I just not seeing them, or are they all missing for some reason?

WoO 199: Musical joke "Ich bin der Herr von zu"
WoO 200: Piano Exercise "O Hoffnung!"
WoO 201: Musical joke "Ich bin bereit!"
WoO 204: Musical joke "Holz, Holz, Geigt die Quartette So"
WoO 205: Ten musical quips (Kinsky's word is "Notenscherze") from Beethoven's letters
All on Eterna/Berlin Classics/Edel set, the same recordings are to be found in the DGG coplete set as well as the Brilliant one.

Same question as above - I do not see these in the DGG set. Are they there and I am just blind?

Thanks.

[Michael]

The DGG set does have some curious omissions but, generally, I find it the best of the three "complete" sets. It's most glaring omission is Opus 4, Beethoven's arrangement (or rather re-composition) of the Opus 103 Octet.
WoO 160, 162, 171, and 181 do not appear in the DGG (unless I have missed them) but are included in the Cascade and Brilliant editions. WoO 200, 204 and 205 seem to appear only in the Cascade edition.
But, as Roehre says, most of these are very short and trivial - indeed the Cascade edition includes a few items about two seconds long - all with a catalogue number! It also includes the notorious Schindler forgery, based on the second movement of Symphony No. 8.
What doesn't help much is the fact that some WoO and Hess numbers overlap. For example the Italian partsongs are listed as WoO 99 and also Hess 208-232.
As I have mentioned in previous threads, the Cascade edition is cheap and cheerful and very good value for the most part, except for the piano sonatas which are a disaster (not artistically but technically - openings lopped off and movements mixed up). But it will plug up a lot of gaps in any collection and, to the best of my knowledge, is still available for fifty euro.
The Brilliant edition is dearer and much better but has a few minor gaps.
I don't regret purchasing all three editions but I have given up on the "completist" angle. There will always be bits and pieces and Biamentis (or whatever other catalogue names) floating around and I would rather be listening to the better works than pursuing those.
(Mind you, I have filled three CDs of MIDI oddities from the "Unheard Beethoven Site" - but enough is enough.)

[Chris]

The DGG set does have some curious omissions but, generally, I find it the best of the three "complete" sets.

WoO 160, 162, 171, and 181 do not appear in the DGG (unless I have missed them) but are included in the Cascade and Brilliant editions. WoO 200, 204 and 205 seem to appear only in the Cascade edition.

There will always be bits and pieces and Biamentis (or whatever other catalogue names) floating around and I would rather be listening to the better works than pursuing those.

Indeed, and I am certainly not going to purchase an entire complete edition, no matter how cheap, just for a few odds and ends. I was mainly curious about the fact that DGG went to all the trouble to record these little works for a complete edition and left just a few out. It seems very strange.

[Roehre]

Chris, I seem to recall a Brendel set on Vox or Tuxedo with at least the variations (63, 64 and 68), and IIRC the dances (81, 84-86) as well,
but all i can find is WoO 64:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=43:160902 and http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=43:2339

For the canons: 171 IS in the DGG edition, but the others aren't (my mistake).
That is weird, as there exists only ONE complete set of recordings of the canons, the one which was made in East Germany for their 1970 complete Beethoven Edition by the DDR state record label Eterna. DGG, Cascade and Brilliant use this one for their editions (no one else has recorded them so far).

Eterna became Berlin Classics, and in the mid 1990s they released three 3CD sets titled "Der Unbekannte Beethoven" (The unknown Beethoven) of which volume 2 (Berlin Classics 0091322BC) contains the CD with all (and I mean ALL) Canons etc., including 160 (both version), the Schindler fake 162, and the three versions of 181, see http://www.lvbeethoven.com/Cedes/The...ers_Rares.html .

thanks Michael for your "confession" of having all three the editions, as that at last gives me the feeling that I am not the only one (as my wife and some friends were thinking): It makes (at least) two of us - and I share your opion "enuogh is enough" as well (though on Inedita and similar labels....)

[Chris]

Chris, I seem to recall a Brendel set on Vox or Tuxedo with at least the variations (63, 64 and 68), and IIRC the dances (81, 84-86) as well,
but all i can find is WoO 64:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=43:160902 and http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=43:2339

Yes, I have had that VoxBox one for a long time, and it is great. It does have Woo 64 (I was asking only about a harp recording, of which there are some). For some reason Brendel went to all the trouble to record all the variations, but left out Woo 63 and Woo 68. It's like...why? It can't be for space on the CDs, because they were filled out with a lot of other things that didn't really need to be there, like a couple of the sonatas.

Eterna became Berlin Classics, and in the mid 1990s they released three 3CD sets titled "Der Unbekannte Beethoven" (The unknown Beethoven) of which volume 2 (Berlin Classics 0091322BC) contains the CD with all (and I mean ALL) Canons etc., including 160 (both version), the Schindler fake 162, and the three versions of 181, see http://www.lvbeethoven.com/Cedes/The...ers_Rares.html

Yes, I saw those. Too bad they are out of print. Not really worth it to buy just for a few more canons, but I like to see less well-known Beethoven in print so people can be exposed to more than just the standards.

That's one thing I like about the idea of purely digital distribution - nothing can go out of print.

[Michael]

Yes, I have had that VoxBox one for a long time, and it is great. It does have Woo 64 (I was asking only about a harp recording, of which there are some).

The harp version of Beethoven's "Variations on a Swiss Song" appeared on a Decca compilation, "The Harp" (brilliant title) a good many years ago. Bach, Chopin and Faure are represented on this well-filled disc.
It's not often I get to say this, but Beethoven's contribution is one of the least distinguished of the set, a five-minute work of mild interest, identical to the piano version. But it does bring his total of compositions with harp up to three!
I don't want to keep harping on about it but the CD is (or was) on Decca 433 869-2 but, even though the performer is Marisa Robles, 75 minutes of solo harp might be only for enthusiasts or angels. (I nearly said "harpys").

[Michael]

To relate all this to contemporary art, ever heard of Jean Arp?

No, cor blimey, guv! Does he/she play the 'arp?

[Michael]

Conceptually, yes, he does. Rather, did.

I knows that Jean is a bloke's name in French, but I didn't know 'e was French, did I, guv? So, 'e's snuffed it, 'as 'e? Is Arp playing the 'arp for the angels?

[Chris]

WoO 2b: Prelude to Act II of Tarpeja
On a Classico CD, with Symphony no.10 and late overtures.

Is this the CD you had in mind, Roehre?

http://www.amazon.com/Beethoven-Symp...9907377&sr=1-4

It looks right, but WoO 2b does not seem to be on there.

[Roehre]

Is this the CD you had in mind, Roehre?

http://www.amazon.com/Beethoven-Symp...9907377&sr=1-4

It looks right, but WoO 2b does not seem to be on there.

Yes that's the one, I am afraid I have mixed up the Gratulationsmenuett (of which sketches are interspersed with those for the Tenth )

Then I'm afraid it is so far only available as part of the DGG edition as well as the cheap Cascade one )

[Hofrat]

Please excuse if I am repetitious, but I think I posted once before that WoO 2b is the introduction to Act II of "Leonore 1805" (Beethoven's first version of what would be "Fidelio"). John Elliot Gardnier's recording of "Leonore 1805) uses WoO 2b. I can imagine that it would be hard on one's pocket to by "Leonore 1805" if one just needs only WoO 2b.

If I am not mistaken, Mikhael Pletnev recorded a 2-CD set of Beethoven's variations, many of which are the early sets. I would quote the exact sets he performed and the recording company but I do not have access to my collection at the moment.

[Hofrat]

With regard to the Pletnev recording, I looked it up on the Internet. The recording company is Deutche Gramaphone and he performs the folllowing variation sets:

WoO 63, 64, 65, 68, and 70.
Opus 34.

The rest of the 2-CD set are many many short piano pieces.

[Chris]

Please excuse if I am repetitious, but I think I posted once before that WoO 2b is the introduction to Act II of "Leonore 1805" (Beethoven's first version of what would be "Fidelio"). John Elliot Gardnier's recording of "Leonore 1805) uses WoO 2b. I can imagine that it would be hard on one's pocket to by "Leonore 1805" if one just needs only WoO 2b.

Yes, and I already have the Herbert Blomstedt recording of Leonore, which is excellent. Unfortutely, WoO 2b had not been identified as as belonging to the opera when it was recorded, so it is not included.

If I am not mistaken, Mikhael Pletnev recorded a 2-CD set of Beethoven's variations, many of which are the early sets. I would quote the exact sets he performed and the recording company but I do not have access to my collection at the moment.

Thanks for that.