BEETHOVEN SEPTET

i. Allegro
ii. Adagio molto espressivo
iii. Scherzo. Allegro molto
iv. Rondo. Allegro ma non troppo

The ‘Spring’ Sonata was written in 1800 and first published the following year, originally as the second of a pair of sonatas. Both are dedicated to Moritz von Fries, a banker with an expensive lifestyle (leading to his eventual bankruptcy) and excellent taste in music and art. Beethoven was a regular guest at Fries’s home and as well as the Op. 23 and Op. 24 Violin Sonatas, Fries was also the dedicatee of the Seventh Symphony. The origins of the nickname are obscure, but ‘Spring’ is a very apt choice for this genial work. After the lyrical first movement, the Adagio molto espressivo is a deeply felt song without words, including some elaborate decorations. The Scherzo lives up to its name: a clever and tricky rhythmic joke that plays with the audience’s expectations – and it is also one of Beethoven’s shortest sonata movements. The Rondo is one of Beethoven’s most gentle and unhurried finales, bringing this most radiant of his violin sonatas to an amiable close. The ‘Spring’ Sonata is the first of Beethoven’s violin sonatas to be in four movements (its four predecessors are all in three movements) and it is a work of effortless ingenuity as well as boundless charm.

© Nigel Simeone

Allegro ma non tanto
Andante scherzoso quasi allegretto
Menuetto. Allegretto
Allegro – Prestissimo

C minor was a key that Beethoven used for some of his most dramatic music – works like the Fifth Symphony, the Pathétique Sonata, and the Coriolan Overture – and Sir George Grove wrote that “the pieces for which he has employed it are, with very few exceptions, remarkable for their beauty and importance.” The fourth of the Op.18 quartets has something of the turbulent mood of other pieces in C minor. The first movement is uneasy, though surprisingly, perhaps, this is especially apparent in the so-called Minuet third movement that has a particularly dark, brooding kind of energy. But there’s something paradoxical about this work: Beethoven has no real slow movement, and instead he has written a playful Andante in C major. The rondo finale is reminiscent of Haydn, written in the ‘Hungarian’ style he often used (but a rarity in Beethoven). An exciting minor-key main theme is interspersed with gentler episodes, culminating in a wild dash to the finish.

Nigel Simeone 2013

Adagio – Allegro con brio 
Adagio cantabile 
Tempo di menuetto 
Tema con variazioni. Andante 
Scherzo. Allegro molto e vivace 
Andante con moto alla marcia – Presto 
 

Beethoven’s Septet was written in 1799. It was first performed at a concert given by Beethoven at the Burgtheater in Vienna on 2 April 1800 and was published – after a typically querulous exchange between Beethoven and his publisher – in 1802. Aiming for the top in terms of potential supporters, Beethoven dedicated it to Maria Theresa – the last Holy Roman Empress and the first Empress of Austria. The Septet’s success was enduring, something Beethoven came to resent since he felt the public should take more interest in his later music. 

The first movement is a genial sonata form Allegro with a slow introduction. The Adagio cantabile opens with a clarinet melody that is taken over by the violin, while clarinet and bassoon play a counter-melody, all supported by a gentle accompaniment on the lower strings. The bucolic Minuet demonstrates Beethoven the recycler, using the same theme as the Piano Sonata Op.49 No.2. The relaxed mood is maintained in the charming theme and variations. The Scherzo is launched by a horn call from which much of what follows is derived. Even the start of the Trio has thematic links with this tune, but a cello theme provides an effective contrast. The finale begins with one of the few significant uses of a minor key in the Septet: a stern march that quickly gives way to a rollicking Presto, its mood unclouded and its themes deliciously memorable. 

© Nigel Simeone 2014