BEETHOVEN - PIANO CONCERTO No. 4 IN CHAMBER MUSIC VERSION

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PROGRAMME

L.v. Beethoven: Piano Quartet in E-flat major, Op. 16
L.v. Beethoven: Concerto No.4 , Op. 58 in chamber music version

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Unknown until quite recently, the chamber version of Concerto No.4 by Beethoven dates back to the end of spring of 1807, shortly after the creation of the original version of the work, during a performance given in the Viennese palace of Prince Franz Joseph Maximilian Lobkovicz, who was Beethoven’s patron and benefactor. It was probably at the behest of the latter, whose music library reflects his passion for string quintets, that the orchestral score was replaced and reduced to two violins, two violas and one cello, in order to allow the prince to perform the excerpts on the violin himself.
 
This “translation”, as Beethoven called it, which is intended for musical performances in princely chapels, is one of those precious works which the general public has been deprived of. Thus, it was never printed, given that it was not intended for publication and therefore, all we have is manuscript sources of it.
It was Beethoven himself who saw to it that Lobkovicz's request was granted. He entrusted the transcription of the orchestral accompaniment to the well-known Franz Alexander Pössinger (1767-1827), Viennese orchestrator, first violin of the court orchestra, while he himself revised 131 meters that required the greatest mastery. Subsequently, 80 of the most technical change points were then adapted to the transparency that chamber music requires, albeit without overshadowing the structure of the original version.
The concert is also complemented by Quartet Op. 16 in its original transcription by the composer. Originally composed for piano, clarinet, oboe, horn and bassoon, it was immediately arranged by Beethoven into a piano and string quartet, a more popular musical form at the time.