Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Quartet in E-Flat Major no. 1 WoO 36
Quartet Op.16 in E-Flat Major
Giovanni Sollima (1962)
Quartetfiles
Two quartets featuring piano, both in E-Flat Major (the early WoO 36 no. 1 and Op. 16, the transcription of the more famous quintet for oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon, and piano) give us an unusual picture of an unproblematic Beethoven who remains bound to the eighteenth-century model.
Here, the inclusion of piano in chamber music is associated with drawing-room amusement, which would soon become definitively outmoded. Between them is an homage by Giovanni Sollima, who puts a contemporary spin on some of Beethoven’s themes.
