Experience has demonstrated
to me that any new recording from the
Gaudier Ensemble is cause for rejoicing.
The success of their Hyperion versions
of the Beethoven Septet, Op. 20 and
Sextet, Op.81b from 1991 on CDA66513
and the Schubert Octet, D.803 from 2001
on CDA67339 bear testament to that belief.
The present enjoyable release is not
in same class as those two issues, yet,
the Gaudier provide a performance of
discernment and character. They allow
the music to unfold in a controlled
unforced manner. However, I required
a higher level of vitality in the playing
and the speeds generally feel on the
conservative side.
Quintet in E
flat major for piano, oboe, clarinet,
bassoon and horn, Op. 16 (1796)
Beethoven’s score for
Piano and Wind Quintet was probably
composed in Berlin in 1796 and first
heard at a concert in Vienna in April
1797. While Beethoven’s essentially
genial, urbane music owes a considerable
debt to Mozart in general and his Piano
and Wind Quintet, K. 452 in particular,
Beethoven’s voice and methods remain
his own. Mozart had subtly interwoven
the piano with the wind quartet, whilst
Beethoven, working on a more expansive
scale, characteristically sets them
in opposition, so that the outer movements
at times resemble a chamber concerto
for piano and wind. Typical of the whole
Quintet is the way the suave cantabile
themes of the Allegro ma non troppo
are first announced by the piano
alone and then taken up by the wind,
with the clarinet very much primus
inter pares. The central movement
Andante cantabile is a simple
Rondo design in which increasingly
florid appearances of the main theme
- introduced, as usual, by the piano
alone - enfold two contrasting episodes.
For his Finale marked Rondo:
Allegro ma non troppo Beethoven
writes a memorable and bouncy ‘hunting’
Rondo in 6/8 time. There are
brief hints of Beethovenian truculence
in the central episode, but otherwise
the mood is one of unbridled exuberance,
right down to the coda, whose
teasing play with the theme recalls
not so much Mozart as Beethoven’s former
teacher Haydn. This is accomplished
playing that combines warmth and finesse
although a touch more vigour in the
outer movements would have been preferred.
Trio in B flat
major for clarinet, cello and piano,
Op. 11 (1797-98)
Beethoven composed
his refined and elegant B flat major
Clarinet Trio, Op. 11 in 1797–8
for what was then a rare combination
of clarinet, cello and piano. The three
movement score was also designed to
be played, with minimal adjustment,
by a conventional piano trio. Except
for one place near the end of the Allegro
con brio opening movement the clarinet
part never descends beyond the violin’s
compass. Compared with the quasi-symphonic
four-movement Op. 1 Trios, composed
a few years earlier, the Clarinet
Trio has been aptly described as
a "work of elegant relaxation."
However, when the work was initially
published the critic of the influential
publication ‘Allgemeine musikalische
Zeitung’ found the Clarinet Trio
"difficult" and
reproached Beethoven for writing "unnaturally".
The opening movement
is a broadly planned Allegro con
brio full of typically Beethovenian
wit and ingenuity, with the piano and
clarinet alternately colluding and jousting
for prominence. The beautiful theme
of the central movement Adagio
gives the cello its first moment of
real glory in the work. It was probably
the Viennese clarinettist Joseph Bähr,
for whom Beethoven wrote the Clarinet
Trio, who suggested the theme for
the variation finale, using ‘Pria
ch’io I’impregno’ a favourite
number from Joseph Weigl’s new comic
opera ‘L’amor marinaro’ (‘Love
at Sea’) premiered in Vienna in
October 1797. According to his pupil
Carl Czerny, Beethoven often contemplated
writing an alternative finale,
presumably because he found the original
too lightweight. In fact, these nine
variations are among the most inventive
in early Beethoven. The captivating
playing is consistently fresh and spontaneous;
even if the speeds feel rather sluggish.
Serenade in D
major for flute, violin and viola,
Op. 25 (1800-01)
Beethoven’s D major
Serenade, Op 25, for the airy combination
of flute, violin and viola was probably
written in 1800–01. Written primarily
for the profitable domestic market -
since the days of Frederick the Great
the flute was the instrument par
excellence of the gentleman amateur
- the Serenade, like the Septet,
is a delightful late offshoot of the
eighteenth-century divertimento
tradition.
Like Mozart in his
Salzburg Serenades, Beethoven
begins with a march-like Allegro,
here titled ‘Entrata’. In the
opening fanfare the flute seems to be
masquerading as a horn; the strings
quickly join in the fun, and the whole
movement is full of delicate, quick-fire
give-and-take between the three instruments.
Following tradition, the second movement
is a galant minuet with two trios,
the first for violin and viola alone,
the second a skittering flute solo with
a mandolin-style accompaniment. A mock
splenetic Allegro molto movement
in D minor leads to the centrepiece
of the Serenade, a set of variations
on a theme announced by the strings
in double-stopping to create a quartet
texture. The three variations
spotlight each of the instruments in
succession, first the flute - who turns
the meditative theme into a frolic -
then the violin (with skipping triplets)
and finally the viola. After a frisky
Scherzo with a gliding, contrapuntal
D minor trio, a brief Adagio
acts as an introduction to the final
Rondo, a faintly rustic contredanse
with a main theme characterized by piquant
‘Scotch Snap’ rhythms. The playing
has a secure lightness. The Gaudiers
provide a rapt account of the Andante
con variazione and in the impressively
performed final movement they unearth
a level of vivacity that they successfully
blend with character.
The English-based Gaudier
Ensemble are a first class group of
players that possess such a high level
of ensemble that it is impossible to
single out any individual performer
for special praise. These three scores
are amongst the least recorded of Beethoven’s
chamber works and the competition in
the catalogues is feeble rather than
fierce. In the Clarinet Trio I
am aware of two recordings from the
Nash Ensemble; one on CRD 3345 and the
other on Virgin 5 614409-2. The best
known and most acclaimed account of
the Piano and Wind Quintet is
performed by Walter Gieseking and members
of the Philharmonia Wind Ensemble from
1955 on Testament (mono) SBT 1091. A
quick check has revealed a dearth of
recordings of the Beethoven D major
Serenade. Many years ago I owned
a vinyl version from the Grumiaux Trio
with flautist Maxence Larrieu on Philips
6503 108. I also know of a 1990 version
from Galway, Swensen and Neubauer on
RCA Victor Red Seal RD 87756.
The Hyperion engineers
have provided decent sound quality and
the liner notes by Richard Wigmore are
interesting and highly informative.
Michael Cookson
The Gaudier Ensemble: (Marieke Blankestijn,
violin; Iris Juda, viola; Christoph Marks, cello;
Jaime Martin, flute; Douglas Boyd, oboe; Richard
Hosford, clarinet; Robin O:Neill, bassoon; Jonathan
Williams, French horn; Susan Tomes, piano) 
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