More than “Ode to Joy” – the whole range of Beethoven’s vocal work

Posted on July 13, 2020 by Annette Oppermann

Although the melody of the 9th Symphony’s choral movement, “Freude schöner Götterfunken” (Joy, beautiful spark of the gods), is most likely one of Beethoven’s best known tunes, it is the composer’s instrumental work that is primarily linked today to his popularity and musico-historical significance: The 32 piano sonatas as the “New Testament of piano music”, the 9 symphonies as the milestone in symphonic music, the string quartets as the epitome of Goethe’s idea of conversation amongst “four reasonable people”.  So far, so good, but as vocal music editor at Henle publishers, I naturally look at the matter somewhat differently – and with this post I’m inviting you to a little stroll through the whole range of Beethoven vocal works that we have ready for you here at Henle. Continue reading →

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“The Hammerklavier Sonata opened the door for me” – Interview with Ian Fountain on Beethoven’s piano music

Posted on June 29, 2020 by Peter Jost

Ian Fountain

Today we’d like to continue our series of musicians’ views on Beethoven, begun in February, by interviewing the British pianist Ian Fountain. He is responsible for the fingerings in the Henle Urtext editions of Beethoven sonatas (HN 894) and variations (HN 913) for cello and piano, in collaboration with David Geringas who has done the cello markings – as demonstrated in the CD recording of Beethoven’s Sämtliche Werke für Cello und Klavier [Complete Works for Cello and Piano] (SWR Music/Hänssler Classic, 2011). Fountain will also continue to provide the fingerings in volume 2 of the revised edition of the Beethoven piano variations (HN 1269), which includes the Diabelli Variations op. 120 that he recorded in 1997 (CRD Records). Continue reading →

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Part 3: Beethoven from the artist’s perspective

Posted on June 15, 2020 by Wolf-Dieter Seiffert

Starting from Beethoven Feature Films (1), then going to Beethoven Documentaries (2), we’ve now arrived at Beethoven From the Artist’s Perspective (3), the final part of my efforts at annotating comprehensively Beethoven Filmography. It is, after all, primarily the artists who are dealing lifelong with the music, the notes, but also with the Beethoven biography, to bring us closer to his music through their interpretations. Continue reading →

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Beethoven’s “Hammerklavier” sonata – The stony path to a reliable music text

Posted on June 1, 2020 by Norbert Gertsch

Almost exactly 20 years ago – as I had just finished my editorial work on the Missa solemnis for the Complete Edition [GA] – the Beethoven-Haus approached me about whether I might be interested in co-editing the GA’s final piano-sonata volume. Besides the three late sonatas I was also offered the “Hammerklavier” sonata. Who wouldn’t want to seize the opportunity there! Continue reading →

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“Beethoven Complete” – part 2: from the Old to the New Complete Edition

Posted on May 18, 2020 by Peter Jost

A few weeks ago my colleague Annette Oppermann reported on the start of Beethoven’s complete editions, or rather, on the numerous attempts to publish such – the most enterprising and successful being those of Tobias Haslinger (from 1828) and Franz Philipp Dunst (from 1829) that were begun immediately after Beethoven’s death. Following up on this, I would now like to report on ventures from the second half of the 19th century, concentrating in particular on the two most important of these editions known to the world as the “Alte Gesamtausgabe [Old Complete Edition]” (AGA, 1862–65) and “Neue Gesamtausgabe [New Complete Edition]” (NGA, since 1961). Continue reading →

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Beethoven and the viola

Posted on May 4, 2020 by Norbert Gertsch

Illustrations with kind permission by the Beethoven-Haus Bonn.

Piano concertos and sonatas, violin concerto and sonatas, cello sonatas – but where are the solo works for viola from Beethoven’s pen? Was the instrument too alien to him, wasn’t he aware of the viola’s special value and timbre? This certainly can’t be the case when we think of his unique string quartets and string trios. And the fact that Beethoven himself played the viola! It’s worth taking a closer look at the matter! Continue reading →

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Beethoven in film Part 2: Beethoven docus

Posted on April 20, 2020 by Wolf-Dieter Seiffert

Many of the Beethoven feature films (1) accounted for in my previous blog post are available only on DVD, but not on YouTube for copyright reasons. This is not quite the way it is with cinematic Beethoven documentaries (2) today: All the films except two that I’ve identified and rated can be viewed in full, gratis: see the filmography’s YouTube link. Continue reading →

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Beethoven’s “Diabelli” variations in a new guise

Posted on April 6, 2020 by Norbert Müllemann

Beethoven and the variation – yes, I admit it: That’s no longer a new Henle blog topic. Already in January, my colleague Dominik Rahmer contributed a comprehensive overview of the Bonn birthday boy’s variation activity, introducing the variations to you, our reader community, and especially emphasising discoveries. I can’t come up with a discovery today, because I’m supposed to be going into the famous “Diabelli” Variations op. 120. Continue reading →

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“Beethoven Complete” yesterday and today – from the beginnings of the Beethoven complete edition(s) in the 19th century

Posted on March 23, 2020 by Annette Oppermann

With kind permission by the Beethoven-Haus Bonn

Only what we have as whole, do we truly have – that, of course, also applies to Beethoven, so it’s hardly surprising that there are an astonishing number of hits in the Beethoven year when googling “Beethoven Complete”. Searching by key terms such as “Complete Works” or “Complete Edition” quickly teaches us, however, that today Beethoven is more likely to be heard than read or played. Coming up as first hits long before Henle’s well-known scholarly complete edition are large concerto cycles or huge CD productions covering his entire oeuvre – and with Beethoven going viral over the entire world. That’s natural today – and in a time of coronavirus it is at least an opportunity to deal with “Beethoven Complete” despite closed museums, concert halls and opera houses. But what was it like before? And since when has there been this interest in “Beethoven Complete”?

Continue reading →

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Beethoven in film. A complete overview in three parts

Posted on March 10, 2020 by Wolf-Dieter Seiffert

I can still very clearly remember how upset and outraged I was about the Mozart film “Amadeus” that came out in 1984. This was by no means the Mozart I had imagined. His infantile behaviour, his stupid laughter, his constant hypermania: no, that had nothing to do with “my” Mozart. Today, I’m much more laid-back, yes – I’m even touched when I myself  “can be in the thick of it”, when “Salieri” hears an excerpt of Mozart’s Gran Partita for the first time and immediately recognises his own mediocrity, or when to “Salieri”, “Mozart”, drenched in sweat on his deathbed, is dictating parts of his requiem, knowing that he’s soon to die – and I am shocked to witness this event.  Almost always, when Mozart’s music is played in this “Amadeus” movie, and its tremendous emotional power is reflected in the faces of the actors, my own emotion is provoked and excited, possibly more than with mere, nonpictorial listening. Mirror imaging of our own deep-seated feelings. Continue reading →

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