Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven, Friedrich Hermann
Performer: Paul Silverthorne, David Owen Norris
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Toccata
Catalogue: TOCC0108
Release: 2011
Size: 302 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
01. Beethoven: Viola Sonata in A major: fragment
Beethoven: Horn Sonata in F major, Op. 17
02. I. Allegro moderato
03. II. Poco adagio, quasi andante
04. III. Rondo: Allegro moderato
Beethoven: Nocturne in D major for piano & viola, Op. 42
05. I. Marcia: Allegro
06. II. Adagio
07. III. Minuetto and Trio: Allegretto
08. IV. Adagio – Scherzo: Allegro molto – Adagio – Allegro molto – Adagio
09 .V. Allegretto alla polacca
10. VI. Theme and Variations: Andante quasi allegretto
11. VI. Marcia: Allegro
Hermann: Grand Duo in E flat major, Op. 20 (after L. van Beethoven) (arr. P. Silverthorne)
12. I. Adagio – Allegro con brio
13. II. Adagio cantabile
14. III. Tempo di menuetto
15. IV. Tema con variazioni: Andante
16 .V. Scherzo: Allegro molto e vivace
17. VI. Andante con moto alla marcia – Presto
Beethoven wrote nothing for solo viola – except for a sonata fragment recorded here for the first time.
He was, however, a viola player himself, and had already spent several years as a professional violist in the orchestra of his home town, Bonn, by the time he was 19 and began to achieve fame throughout Europe as a pianist and composer.
The reason he left nothing for viola is that there was no virtuoso viola-player in Vienna to commission works for the instrument. But he had a clear affection for the instrument, writing some of his most interesting parts for it in his chamber music – particularly the late quartets.
Many musicians, therefore, have ‘helped’ him fill the gaps: his contemporary Karl Xaver Kleinheinz (1765–1832) who arranged (and expanded) the String Trio Op. 8 as the Notturno, Op. 42, with Beethoven’s reluctant approval; and a later musician, Friedrich Hermann (1828–1907), who transformed the Septet, Op. 20, into an ambitious Grand Duo.
Paul Silverthorne, Principal Viola of the London Symphony Orchestra, has revised and improved these scores with reference to Beethoven’s originals.
He now expands the repertoire with his own transcription of the Horn Sonata, Op. 17.
The recording was made on period instruments: a Viennese Blümel piano (1865) and a Brothers Amati viola (1620).