Rare Beethoven works revisited - WoO 6
Rondo for Piano and Orchestra WoO6
The date of origin as well as the circumstances surrounding the composition of the Rondo in B-flat, WoO 6, remain unknown. On the basis of its musical style, it would seem to have been written no later than the early 1790s. Arguments have been advanced for its having been composed later, however, and for its having been written either as an alternative finale to the Second Piano Concerto, in B-flat, Op.19 (written in 1794) or as that works original finaIe. Some scholars have suggested that the Rondo was composed in the course of the Concerto's revision (during which time Beethoven published the C major Concerto, Op. 15, which then became known as No. I, though the B-flat was actually first in order of composition) and was rejected for inclusion in it because it was too lightweight; others have suggested that it was actually composed prior to the movement we know as the Concerto's finale, as part of a first draft, and rejected then. There is no evidence to support either of these theories and ultimately the work should be enjoyed on its own, for it is straightforward and unpretentious, as ingratiating a piece as could be. It has been around in its present form since 1829, when the virtuoso-composer and former Beethoven pupil Carl Czerny published the first performing edition, for which he completed the orchestration and the cadenza, which Beethoven had only sketched in the roughest preliminary form, and also provided the ending.
I was unable to embed this but it is such a great performance by Richter:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBkbKbbACKg
The date of origin as well as the circumstances surrounding the composition of the Rondo in B-flat, WoO 6, remain unknown. On the basis of its musical style, it would seem to have been written no later than the early 1790s. Arguments have been advanced for its having been composed later, however, and for its having been written either as an alternative finale to the Second Piano Concerto, in B-flat, Op.19 (written in 1794) or as that works original finaIe. Some scholars have suggested that the Rondo was composed in the course of the Concerto's revision (during which time Beethoven published the C major Concerto, Op. 15, which then became known as No. I, though the B-flat was actually first in order of composition) and was rejected for inclusion in it because it was too lightweight; others have suggested that it was actually composed prior to the movement we know as the Concerto's finale, as part of a first draft, and rejected then. There is no evidence to support either of these theories and ultimately the work should be enjoyed on its own, for it is straightforward and unpretentious, as ingratiating a piece as could be. It has been around in its present form since 1829, when the virtuoso-composer and former Beethoven pupil Carl Czerny published the first performing edition, for which he completed the orchestration and the cadenza, which Beethoven had only sketched in the roughest preliminary form, and also provided the ending.
I was unable to embed this but it is such a great performance by Richter:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBkbKbbACKg
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