Hess 21 – Fragment of an arrangement for nine or ten instruments of the “Andante con Variazioni” from Septet op. 20
Beethoven-Haus Bonn, Sammlung H. C. Bodmer, HCB Bk 6
Hess 21 – Fragment of an arrangement for nine or ten instruments of the “Andante con Variazioni” from Septet op. 20
Beethoven-Haus Bonn, Sammlung H. C. Bodmer, HCB Bk 6
Hess 21 – Fragment of an arrangement for nine or ten instruments of the “Andante con Variazioni” from the Septet [op. 20]. Arthur Holde refers to such an attempt by Beethoven in the “Österreichische Musikzeitschrift”, 1952, p. 303-4. The eight pages were given to Napoleon III by Prince Mettemich, were later acquired by Charles F. Tretbar and then came into possession of Henry Ford. Since the succession Ford have returned to the market again. Where they are now, Holde is unable to say. [These pages ended up in the bottom of the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn.] The piece is studied by Arthur Holde in the article Beethoven-Handschriften in Amerika published in the «Österreichische Musikzeitschrift», 1952, p. 301-4. The American Beethoven scholar Donald W. MacArdle, regarding this interesting fragment, provides the following information:
“I know it was sold by the Ford Estate through the Parke-Bernet Galleries (probably one of America’s foremost objet d’art auction houses) on May 13, 1952. The description in the auction catalogue was as follows: BEETHOVEN, LUDWIG van: Manuscript musical score in two fragments. The first is signed: ‘v. Beethoven’. 16 pages, small oblong folio format 13. In a leather briefcase. Important foreign specialists in the music sector have certified that beyond any doubt it is written in the same handwriting as the early Beethoven. The first page is not numbered, the others are numbered ‘6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12’. The first page, which constitutes the first fragment, is also entitled ‘Andante con Variazioni’, and represents the beginning of the popular Septet op. 20. This page is arranged for nine instruments. The seven pages of the second fragment form the finale of the work, written for ten instruments. This group, therefore, is not a single arrangement but represents two distinct attempts. It is interesting to note that the long cadenza of the finale, entrusted to the violin in the original Septet, is assigned in the arrangement to the clarinet. Beethoven wrote the Septet when he was only thirty years old, and these transcriptions were evidently made soon after.”
[Most of this information is disputed by Myron Schwager in his essay Beethoven’s II Septet op. 20: a transcription for military band, published in “The Creative World of Beethoven”, edited by Paul Henry Lang, editions W.W. Norton, New York 1971, p. 225-39. Schwager provides us with a rather in-depth history and analysis of the work; in any case, the most pertinent remarks regarding this catalog number are “Based on the erroneous information provided by Mac Ardle … These are assumed to be ‘two attempts’. Since each of the fragments contains the parts for eleven separate instruments, it is, however, probable that they belong to a single transcription; It is not known if there has ever been a complete one. The error in determining the number of instruments seems to have been made in the counting of musical staves, rather than in the parts. In the movement of variations, horns occupy a single staff as do bassoons. In the finale, only the horns share a single staff“. Schwager also questions the authenticity of this arrangement based on a detailed graphological analysis. Schwager’s article also appeared in the Musical Quarterly, vol. 56, 1970, pp. 727-41.]
(by Hess/Green Hess Verzeichnis)
Bernhard Henrik Crusell (1775-1838), was born in Nystad, Finland, lived in Stockholm from 1791 and soon Sweden became the center of his musical work. He made his last visit to his native country in the summer of 1801, when he performed in Turku and Helsinki. In those days, Finland was undeniably in a musical and cultural stagnation. The center of musical activities was Turku, where the Turun Soitannollinen Seura, founded in 1790, had done invaluable work in promoting music and had created its own orchestra. Following the Russo-Swedish War in 1808/1809, Sweden ceded Finland to Russia. Helsinki became the capital of the new Grand Duchy of Finland, which became autonomous in 1812. The university was moved to Helsinki after the Great Turku Fire of 1828, ending Turku’s role as the hub of Finnish musical life. Crusell was a musician in the Hovkapellet for forty years (1793-1833) playing the principal clarinet, eventually becoming an internationally renowned clarinetist, based in Stockholm.
It is indicative that he was for many years the highest-paid musician in the entire orchestra. Crusell also added fame as a renowned clarinet virtuoso and went to Germany to study and perform in 1798, 1803 and 1811; on the second occasion he also visited Paris. The son of a poor bookbinder, Bernhard Henrik Crusell received his first musical education at the age of 8 from a clarinetist in the band of the Nyland regiment. In 1788 he became a volunteer musician in the Sveaborg military band in Viapori (now Suomenlinna), a fortress on the island just outside Helsinki, and in 1791 he was transferred to Stockholm where two years later he became a court musician. From 1793 to 1833 he was clarinetist in the court orchestra. In 1798 he studied clarinet with Franz Tausch in Berlin and gave concerts in the Prussian capital and Hamburg.
In Sweden he was known as an unparalleled soloist, performing concertos and chamber music by Peter Winter, L.A. Lebrun, L.-E. Jadin, Krommer, Beethoven, Mozart and others, as well as his works. Reviews enthusiastically emphasize his tone, and particularly his “pianissimo”. Around 1800 Crusell played with the reed facing up, and later with the reed facing down, which promotes a very singable sound. After 1810 he used an 11-key Grenser clarinet. In Stockholm, Crusell studied music theory and composition with Daniel Britz and Abbe Vogler, who were active in Stockholm from 1786 to 1799. In 1803 he studied composition with Berton and Gossec and clarinet with Lefevre during a six-month stay in Paris. In addition to writing instrumental music for his own use, he composed works for his colleagues on the wind instruments of the court orchestra. In 1811 he made a trip to Leipzig in search of a publisher; this marked his first contact with the Bureau de Musique (A. Kühnel), taken over by C.F. Peters in 1814.
Every summer, from 1818 to 1837, Crusell conducted the military bands of the town of Link and made transcriptions of the operas of Weber, Spohr and Rossini; He also composed pieces for male choir. In the 1820s he composed Lieder, some on texts from the Frithiof saga, by the well-known Swedish poet Esaias Tegner. His opera Den lilla slafvinnan, first performed in 1824, was performed 34 times over the next 14 years. Crusell’s style follows the Viennese classicism of the period, but drew influences from French opera, which he became acquainted with through his work with the court orchestra. Crusell’s main works are three clarinet concertos, which remain in the international repertoire of the instrument and of which numerous recordings exist. In addition to concertos, Crusell also composed other concertante works.
The serpentone, also known simply as the serpent, is a brass wind instrument belonging to the cornet family. It consists of a mouthpiece followed by a coiled tube with finger holes. Its range varies depending on the instrument and the player, but typically it spans from two octaves below middle C to one octave above it.
The main difficulty in playing the serpent lies in the intonation of the various notes. The six finger holes along the instrument’s tubing—three for the left hand and three for the right—are positioned so that they can be reached by the player’s fingers. However, these holes are not ideally placed for shortening the tube to produce the desired pitch. In the case of the bassoon, a similar issue regarding intonation is addressed by a “diagonal” arrangement of the finger holes, allowing for a more accurate adjustment of pitch. On the serpent, however, due to the size of the holes and the thinner wood, this solution is not feasible. Consequently, the musician must rely on adjusting the pitch of each note by ear to tune it properly.
Despite its seemingly modest volume compared to modern euphoniums or tubas, the serpent has an interesting ability to project sound throughout its surrounding space, making it surprisingly powerful. This effect is particularly noticeable in churches, where the acoustics of the architecture enhance its resonance.
In some cases, three additional keys are fitted to the instrument: one for natural B, one for C-sharp, and one for F-sharp.
(From Wiki)
Hess 21 – Fragment of an arrangement for nine or ten instruments of the “Andante con Variazioni” from Septet op. 20
The copy owned by the Centro di Ricerche Musicali Beethoveniane www.lvbeethoven.it – www.lvbeethoven.org
Let’s read what Julia Ronge writes on the website of the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn: The model for this copy of the Septet op. 20 was an arrangement for eleven wind instruments by Bernhard Crusell, published by Peters in Leipzig in 1825. Bernhard Crusell (1775-1838) was a renowned Swedish clarinet virtuoso, composer and translator (he translated many opera librettos, receiving great acclaim). Crusell had learned “to make music” in a military band and was musical director of the two royal grenadier regiments in Stockholm from 1818 and into the following years. It is therefore not surprising that he arranged Beethoven’s Septet for military instruments: flute in E flat, a clarinet in E flat, 2 clarinets in B flat, 2 horns in E flat, 2 bassoons, trumpet, serpent and trombone.
A peculiarity of this transcription is the use of the flute in E flat and the so-called “serpent” or “serpentone” (a bass instrument with a serpentine curve, played with the cupped mouthpiece of a brass instrument), both typically used in military music in the nineteenth century. Crusell’s arrangement received a very favorable review in the Frankfurt Allgemeiner musikalischer Anzeiger in 1826: “Das berühmte melodieenreiche Werk, welches allein hinreichen könnte, des trefflichen Beethoven frühere Periode zu bezeichnen, ist mit Geschmack und Erfahrung für Flöte, eine (kleine) Es u. 2 B Clarinetten, 2 Hörner, 2 Fagotts, Trompete, Serpent und Posaune arrangirt, und macht auch in dieser Form eine herrliche Wirkung.” “The melodious and famous work, which alone would suffice to represent Beethoven’s youthful period, has been arranged with taste and skill for flute, (small) clarinet in E flat and 2 in B flat, 2 horns, 2 bassoons, trumpet, snake and trombone, and is also extremely successful in this form.”
First edition, Leipzig, au Boureau de Musique de C.F.Peters, 1825
Clarinet page, with autograph indications “Fortsetzung” (continued)
Ink stamp “Kon. pr. Lin. Infant. Regiment. No. 27” or the ….
Infanterie-Regiment „Prinz Louis Ferdinand von Preußen“ (2. Magdeburgisches) Nr. 27
Infanterie-Regiment „Prinz Louis Ferdinand von Preußen“ (2. Magdeburgisches) Nr. 27
The 27th Magdeburg Infantry Regiment No. 27 was an infantry unit of the Prussian Army. The regiment was created on 7 March 1815 as the 27th Infantry Regiment and for a few years, from 5 November 1816 to 9 March 1823, was called the 27th. Infanterie-Regiment (2. Magdeburgisches). During the further expansion of the Prussian army, it was reformed on 4 July 1860 as 2. Magdeburgisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 27. A final change came into effect on 27 January 1889, when Emperor Wilhelm II renamed the infantry regiment the Infanterie-Regiment “Prinz Louis Ferdinand von Preußen” (2. Magdeburgisches) Nr. 27
From 1820 to 1914, the regiment was subordinate to the 4th Army Corps and during this period belonged to the 7th Division. Until 1851 it belonged to the 7th Infantry Brigade and for the remaining years to the 14th Infantry Brigade. The regiment was founded by Ludwig von Reiche, 11th and XII companies of Friedrich von Hellwig’s Hellwig Freikorps. The collar and sleeves of the uniform were red, as were the epaulettes, the blue Prussian jacket and the yellow regimental number. (See photographs)
The locations were Frankfurt (Oder), Soldin, Königsberg in der Neumark (1816/17); Magdeburg (1817 to 1865, Torgau [1817/18], Burg [1819 bis 1821], Wittenberg [1830 to 1837, 1844 to 1853, 1857 to 1860], Baden [1849/50] and Halberstadt [1860 to 1865]), Halle an der Saale and Magdeburg (1865), Magdeburg (1866 to 1893, as well as Burg [1866], Halberstadt [1867], Burg [1868 to 1871], Wittenberg [1872] and Halberstadt [1873 to 1893]) and Halberstadt (1893).
The regiment took part in the Napoleonic summer campaign of 1815. He fought in the village of Tongrines near Ligny, losing 14 officers and 210 men. Wavre killed 13 other officers and 394 men. He also took part in the siege of Saarlouis. During the suppression of the Baden Revolution, the Fusilier (Riflemen) Battalion took part in the battles of Ubstadt, Durlach and Michelbach in 1849.
During the German War of 1866 he was part of the 7th Infantry Division of the 1st Army. He fought at the Battle of Königgrätz in the forest near Swiep near Benatek and Maslowed with Infantry Regiment No. 26. He lost 25 officers and 444 soldiers. Later he fought at Preßburg. During the battles, Colonel de Zychlinski and Captain de Buddenbrock acquired the coveted Order Pour le Mérite. He also took part in the Franco-German War in 1870 and in the First World War.
Regimental uniform (FRONT)
Regimental uniform (REAR)
Yellow regimental insignia Infanterie-Regiment „Prinz Louis Ferdinand von Preußen“ No 27
Regimental standard and parade uniform (circa 1870)
Regimental Standard
Louis Ferdinand of Prussia (in the oil painting by the painter Jean-Laurent Mosnier, 1799)