Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
Military Beethoven: Compositions and Transcriptions for Piano
Carl Petersson (piano)
rec. 2018, Helsingborgs Konserthus, Helsingborg, Sweden
NAXOS 8.573928 [72:43]
Now that we are in Beethoven’s 250th birthday anniversary year, I strongly expect there are many recordings of every aspect of his output. That should include the rare, obscure and neglected works which have not seen the light of day ever in the pipelines of the record companies. With this disc, released in late 2019, Naxos have got ahead of the game. I am well disposed toward piano transcriptions and also fond of Beethoven, so this sounded like an excellent CD for me to become acquainted with. I did not know most of these pieces, though I heard Leslie Howard play the solo piano version of Wellington’s Victory at the Wigmore Hall some years ago. A number of pieces hesre are completions and transcriptions by other composers (or by the performer), so the listening public may also know little of the material on the disc.
The first piece is the music which Beethoven wrote for a ballet first performed in 1791. According to the detailed notes, the original script and details of this have been lost. Luckily, the music survives in both the orchestral and this piano arrangement. I have yet to find a copy of the orchestral version. The piece comprises a series of six tableaus separated by a jovial German song. This is not serious Beethoven, but it is a rather fun, bouncy and cheerful work punctuated with some memorable tunes, all nicely played.
Next come “Six easy variations on an original theme”, a piece I have always liked. Here it is played marvellously, with some surprisingly profound music in the slower, minor key variations. The con marcia variation is particularly well done; some very clear delineation between the hands makes the tune very clear and recognisable.
Beethoven was an Anglophile. He wrote sets of piano variations on “God Save the King” and “Rule Britannia” (as well as some Irish and Scottish melodies published as his Op. 105 and Op. 107 for flute and piano). Both these piano pieces appear on this disc. I particularly like the witty way that Mr. Petersson plays the former: a joy to listen to! Equally fun are the “Rule Britannia” variations. They start off joyful, and then head to some very strange harmonic territory before gradually cheering up again. The playing here is wonderful. The variation at about 2:40 is taken at a tremendous pace but all the details are present and correct, and the virtuosity in the writing is evident. Beethoven cleverly disguises the theme as the work progresses but here it is played so that you can still spot it hidden among the myriad of notes and clever changes of key. This is marvellous stuff!
I know that Wellington’s Victory is often sneered at but I have a certain fondness for its over-the-top bluster. The piano version of this work is full of technical difficulties, here negotiated with ease. The opening of this work is weird. The percussive effects of the orchestral version are cleverly recreated here on the piano before the actual start. The piece begins properly with “Rule Britannia” representing the British side and “Marlborough s’en va-t-en guerre” as the French. Interestingly, the latter is now best known as the tune for “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow”. After these statements, there are some fanfares. Then the music leads to some very difficult piano work with accompanying pyrotechnics which, the first time I heard them, made me laugh. When listening on headphones, it transpires there are explosions on both sides! I am amazed that the pianist managed to play along with all the noise – it was most likely added later on but it is a really amusing thought! After all this explosive battle music and virtuosity from the pianist, there is a short quieter section as the gunfire slowly subsides. Section 2 of the work, the so called Victory Symphony, follows on. This second part includes some slower sections but overall is mostly of fast and merry music, depicting the victory of the British side over the French. The ending of the work, a fugue on “God Save the King”, contains more virtuosity for the pianist. This provides a rousing conclusion to the festivities and some uncanny prefiguration of the 9th Symphony which is not something I had hitherto noticed.
The remainder of the works on this disc, often very short (the shortest is only half a minute long!), include some completions and editions by other composers, rather than just Beethoven.
Track 18, a short march written for a play called “Tarpeja”, after starting quietly and reflectively, contains plenty of notes for the pianist to negotiate which he does with appropriate aplomb. There is again a sense of jollity in this little work. The following piece is a little March in two versions, both of which are rather fun. The following minute and a half is taken up by another cheerful little march, this time written for the “Bohemian Territorial Army”; it is not a masterpiece but is full of bluster and amusing tunes. Track 22 is a completion by the pianist of the early scherzo from the second of the three piano trios which Beethoven published as Op.1. This is jolly stuff too, sounding quite Haydnesque in the way the music develops. The following three tracks are very early little Menuetts in various keys, a little more restrained and very charming. The first of these (WoO209, Hess 88) sounds like an escapee from the Op.33 Bagatelles, and would fit well in a concert with those little gems. Track 26 is a tiny waltz in c minor, actually not very waltz-like and quite sombre. It is probably the most miserable piece on the disc but the sad atmosphere lasts for less than a minute before the following track resumes in more positive mood. This Bagatelle contains some rather wonderful music, especially in the last 30 seconds or so. Appropriately connected with the English nature of some of the works on this disc, the following Anglaise in D fits in rather nicely. It is a brisk 34-second piece with a rather insistent tune which might stick in your head for a while! The last two tracks on the CD are two Ecossaise, the second of them in a transcription by Czerny. The Ecossaise in E flat is distinctly Scottish in character, in contrast with the last one, much faster and much less restrained.
I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know these obscure corners of Beethoven’s output. The pianism is superb and the recording is nice and clear. The cover notes are rather short but actually contain a lot of information fitted nicely into a small space on the paper. Mr. Petersson clearly relishes the delight and glee in much of this music, and he presents it very well. He plays with no sense of embarrassment at the over-the-top sheer craziness of some of the music, and his honest approach works very well. I look forward to hearing more Beethoven from this pianist, maybe some of the sonatas, and to spinning this disc often and laughing again at the explosions!
Jonathan Welsh
Contents
1-12. Musik zu einem Ritterballett, WoO 1, Hess 89 [13:12]
13. Six Easy Variations on an Original Theme in G Major, WoO 77 [7:44]
14. Seven Variations on God Save the King in C Major, WoO 78 [9:35]
15. ive Variations in D Major on Rule Britannia, WoO 79 [5:40]
16-17. Wellingtons Sieg oder die Schlacht bei Vittoria (Wellington’s Victory or the Battle of Victoria), Hess 97 (piano version of Op.91) [15:24]
18-30. Marches, Minuets, Ecossaises, etc.
Triumphmarsch zum Trauerspiel Tarpeja von Kuffner (Triumphal March for the Tragedy Tarpeja by Kuffner), WoO 2a, Hess 117 (arr. for piano) [2:45]
March in B - Flat Major, WoO 29, Hess 87 (original version) (arr. for piano) [1:21]
March in B - Flat Major, WoO 29, Hess 87 (revised version) (arr. for piano) [1:19]
March No. 1 in F Major, "Für die böhmische Landwehr, Zapfenstreich No. 1", WoO 18, Hess 99 [1:27]
Piano Trio in G Major, Op. 1, No. 2: III. Scherzo (version for piano) (fragment, Hess 98, completed by C. Petersson) [1:29]
Menuett in A - Flat Major, WoO 209, Hess 88 [4:18]
Menuett in F Major, WoO 217, Biamonti 66 [1:34]
Minuet in D minor, Gardi 10 (transcribed by D.P. Johnson, performing version by L. Bisgaard) [2:10]
Waltz in C Minor, WoO 219, Hess 68 [0:50]
Bagatelle in A Major, WoO 81 (transcribed by A. Schmitz) [1:12]
Anglaise in D Major, WoO 212, Hess 61 [0:34]
Ecossaise in E - Flat Major, WoO 86 [0:30]
Ecossaise in G Major, WoO 23, Hess 4 (arr. C. Czerny for piano) [0:40]
