Philharmonic Chamber Music Concert

»Original or arrangement? In our special chamber concert we invite you to hear two of Beethoven’s most popular works – one of them in a seldom played arrangement. Three years after the first performance of his Seventh Symphony, six different versions were published for chamber ensemble, for piano trio or wind nonet, for example. According to the Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung, »All these editions were subject to a direct final check by their creator, Mr Ludwig van Beethoven«. Numerous arrangements of the highly successful Septet Op. 20 likewise appeared soon after its first performance. Beethoven himself arranged the work for piano trio and not long after, Bohemian composer Jiří Družecký produced a version for wind octet. As a contrast to the first half of the concert, we will be presenting you with the original here«.

(Bernd Künkele)