Equali for Trombones, WoO 30

[lysander]

During his visit to Lintz 1812, Beethoven became very well aquainted with Franz Xaver Gloggl, who was kapellmeister of the cathedral there. Gloggl asked Ludwig to compose some equali for a quartet of trombones which would be suitable for performance at the ceremonies on 'All Soul' Day'. On November 2nd 1812, Beethoven obliged by composing Three Equali for Four trombones.
They were played at Beethoven's funeral, and when his coffin was carried into Trinity Church on the Alser Strasse, the choristers chanted the solemn penitential psalm, 'Misere mei Deus', to the music of the first and third equali, as arranged by Seyfried.
Also played was the funeral march from the Opus 26 Piano Sonata.

Does anyone know what other pieces were played and is it possible to hear the music on the rare page please?.
I have not heard WoO 30.


Lysander.

[Andrea]

Here are excerpts from "Description of Beethoven's Funeral" from Landau's 'Erstes poetisches Beethoven-Album' (Prague 1877):

"Vienna, 29 March 1827.
His friends had scarcely performed with grieving hearts, their last kind offices fro him, when they united to hold the funeral, which was set for the afternoon of 29 March due to the preperations that would have to be made...The clergy appeared at about 3:30 o'clock and the cortege then began to move. Although the distance to the church is scarcely 500 paces in a straight line, it took nearly 1 1/2 hours for the cortege to reach it, for it had to move extremely slowly through the surging throng, which could not be kept in check except by force. Eight singers from the Imperial and Royal Court Opera carried the coffin; before they shouldered it, however, they sang the chorale by B.A.Weber from 'William Tell'...Following the cross-bearer who led the cortege, there came four trombonists and 16 of Vienna's best singers; they played and sang alternately the'Miserere mei Deus', the melody of which had been composed by the deceased master...From this brass quartet (Equale a quatro Tromboni), Kapellmeister von Seyfried made, quite in the spirit of the composer of those grave and pious funerary pieces, a four-part vocal chorus to words from the Psalms; excellently sung in alternation with the muffled resounding trombones, it produced an awesome moving effect...
Arriving at the church, the body was blessed at the high alter, during which ceremony the 16-voice male choir sang the hymn 'Libera me, Domine, de morte aeterna' composed by Seyfried in Stylo alto(vecchio)."

There wasn't any other mention of what music was performed at this funeral. But there were two memorial services, one on 3 April in the Church of St. Augustin, where Mozart's Requiem was given and on 5 April in the St. Charles Church, where Cherubini's Requiem was performed.

[lysander]

Thankyou Andrea, That is a very beautiful and moving account you have given.
Have you heard WoO 30 ?

[Rod]

Originally posted by lysander:

it possible to hear the music on the rare page please?.
I have not heard WoO 30.


Lysander.

We have already had one of these Equali (nr1) on the rare page. And some time before that I posted links to mp3s of all three of them here too. You've missed out on a lot of stuff! I suppose I could dig out that mp3 yet again, just this once...?


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"If I were but of noble birth..." - Rod Corkin

[lysander]

Originally posted by Rod:
We have already had one of these Equali (nr1) on the rare page. And some time before that I posted links to mp3s of all three of them here too. You've missed out on a lot of stuff! I suppose I could dig out that mp3 yet again, just this once...?

Oh Yes Please Rod! Please dig out that mp3 again just for me, grovel, grovel.
I am very interested to hear it and am most grateful.
I know I probably have missed out on lot, but can we put in our requests?
How about a request page please?
That should keep you well occupied and out of mischief for a while Roders!
Thankyou also for your tip on how to Edit posts. Much appreciated.

Lysander.

[Rod]

Originally posted by lysander:

Oh Yes Please Rod! Please dig out that mp3 again just for me, grovel, grovel.
I am very interested to hear it and am most grateful.
I know I probably have missed out on lot, but can we put in our requests?
How about a request page please?
That should keep you well occupied and out of mischief for a while Roders!
Thankyou also for your tip on how to Edit posts. Much appreciated.

Lysander.

I'm not in favour of a requests page, the rare page started out like that but it got a bit out of control, so I just decided the track lists myself, to everyones benefit. Rodders has already too much on his hands at the moment!

I'll sort out your mp3 next week, but just this once.


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"If I were but of noble birth..." - Rod Corkin


[This message has been edited by Rod (edited February 21, 2003).]

[Andrea]

Originally posted by lysander:


Thankyou Andrea, That is a very beautiful and moving account you have given.
Have you heard WoO 30 ?

Unfortunately Lysander, I haven't had the pleasure of hearing this piece. But if Rod posts it again I will be eager to hear it.

[Rod]

Ok here's the link. It is played by the Ottetto Italiano from their CD 'Beethoven Complete Music for Winds and Brass Vol.2' Arts label, 47551-2. You'll like this.

WoO30.mp3

PS the Wellington's Victory mp3 has now been removed.

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"If I were but of noble birth..." - Rod Corkin

[This message has been edited by Rod (edited February 24, 2003).]

[Sorrano]

Originally posted by Rod:
Ok here's the link. It is played by the Ottetto Italiano from their CD 'Beethoven Complete Music for Winds and Brass Vol.2' Arts label, 47551-2. You'll like this.

WoO30.mp3

PS the Wellington's Victory mp3 has now been removed.

My first impression with the first few notes is how much this sounds like an organ. This is very nice writing for 'bones and I enjoyed it. Are these period instruments?

[Rod]

Originally posted by Sorrano:

Are these period instruments?

No, modern 'bones'.

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"If I were but of noble birth..." - Rod Corkin

[Andrea]

Originally posted by Rod:
Ok here's the link. It is played by the Ottetto Italiano from their CD 'Beethoven Complete Music for Winds and Brass Vol.2' Arts label, 47551-2. You'll like this.

WoO30.mp3

PS the Wellington's Victory mp3 has now been removed.

A hauntingly beautiful piece. I could visualize Beethoven's funeral procession; very emotional...

[lysander]

Originally posted by Rod:
Ok here's the link. It is played by the Ottetto Italiano from their CD 'Beethoven Complete Music for Winds and Brass Vol.2' Arts label, 47551-2. You'll like this.

WoO30.mp3

PS the Wellington's Victory mp3 has now been removed.

Thankyou Rod, You were right, I love the piece. WoO 30.
It is beautiful, poignant and sad, It captures my heart.
Do you know how long the actual piece lasts?
I understand that Beethoven only took one day to compose it.
I also successfuly heard the Battle Overture, thankyou, it is just fantastic, another piece I just want to listen to over and over again.

Regards,
Lysander XX

[Rod]

Originally posted by lysander:


Do you know how long the actual piece lasts?

This is the original WoO30 Nr1! 2:23mins! The other two are a little shorter I recall.

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"If I were but of noble birth..." - Rod Corkin

[Andrea]

Thank you, Rod for these wonderful musical posts so that we mere mortals can also enjoy them. I think that I have been away from my seat on Olympus too long and it's great that you keep me in touch with what I've been missing. Keep them coming, Rod.

[Rod]

Originally posted by Andrea:
Thank you, Rod for these wonderful musical posts so that we mere mortals can also enjoy them. I think that I have been away from my seat on Olympus too long and it's great that you keep me in touch with what I've been missing. Keep them coming, Rod.

I am Baccus with gifts of musical wine for the faithfull.

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"If I were but of noble birth..." - Rod Corkin