Beethoven: Variations on Folk Songs Patrick Gallois

• Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827): Six Variations on Folk Songs, Op. 105:
• 1 No. 1. Air ecossais in G Major: The cottage maid 03:10
• 2 No. 2. Air ecossais in C Minor: Of noble stock was Shinkin 02:28
• 3 No. 3. Air autrichien in C Major: A Schlusserl und a Reindl 06:17
• 4 No. 4. Air ecossais in E-Flat Major: The last rose of summer 04:05
• 5 No. 5. Air ecossais in E-Flat Major: Chiling O'Guiry 02:06
• 6 No. 6. Air ecossais in D Major: Paddy whack 03:36
• Ten Variations on Folk Songs, Op. 107:
• 7 No. 1. Tyrolian Air in E-Flat Major: I bin a Tiroler Bua 04:38
• 8 No. 2. Scottish Air in F Major: Bonny laddie, highland laddie 03:05
• 9 No. 3. Russian Air in G Major: Volkslied aus Kleinrussland 06:13
• 10 No. 4. Irish Air in F Major: St. Patrick's Day 04:45
• 11 No. 5. Tyrolian Air in F Major: A Madel, ja a Madel 07:12
• 12 No. 6. Welsh Air in E-Flat Major: Peggy's daughter 05:27
• 13 No. 7. Russian Air in A Minor: Schone Minka 05:47
• 14 No. 8. Scottish Air in D Major: O Mary, at the window be 02:40
• 15 No. 9. Scottish Air in E-Flat Major: Oh, thou art the lad of my heart 05:17
• 16 No. 10. Scottish Air in G Minor: The highland watch 04:35
• Total Runtime 01:11:21

Info for Beethoven: Variations on Folk Songs

Beethovens letters show an extensive and prolonged correspondence with George Thomson, a keen amateur musician who had made it his task to collect and publish settings of folk songs, commissioning the likes of Pleyel, Koeluch and Haydn. The Opp. 105 and 107 collections, written for piano with optional parts for flute or violin, are filled with delightfully decorative but virtuoso writing. This recording offers versions with improvisation and ornamentation by Patrick Gallois based on the performance practice of the early eighteenth century.

"Beethoven's variations on folk songs have been neglected for a variety of reasons, not the least being the discomfort of status-invested musicologists with popular material. They date from the last part of his career, which ought to make them interesting on the face of it, and he didn't really need the money by that time. Furthermore, Beethoven argued with the publisher of some of them (including the two sets here), trying to maintain what he wrote against demands for greater simplicity, and he kept writing folk song settings even after there was no immediate commercial motivation. At any rate, the Op. 105 and Op. 107 sets, dating from around 1819, are especially interesting, for each folk song is given its own little set of variations. Beethoven's orientation toward simple folk-like melodies in his late style, even as he made discoveries of earthshaking originality and complexity, has often been noted, and it seems reasonable to suppose that he derived that orientation from working on projects like this one. He seems fascinated by the melodic peculiarities of the various national airs, such as the missing seventh step in the Irish song "St. Patrick's Day" (track 10), exploiting it skillfully in the variations. Moreover, some of the variation sets seem to have served as preparatory studies for the larger ones in works for piano or string quartet to come. Consider the variations on "A Madel, ja a Madel" (track 11), whose trills anticipate those in the final movement of the Piano Sonata No. 30 in E major, Op. 109, and also the fact that the characteristic turn toward third-related keys is present several times here. Flutist Patrick Gallois adds improvisations to the flute parts in this recording, which seems inadvisable, given the flute parts were optional in the first place; they seem like a concession to publisher George Thomson. At times his flute parts compete with the piano, which is clearly the wrong effect, but he's careful not to go too far afield of the material, and Bulgarian pianist Maria Prinz finds the seriousness and variety in Beethoven's treatments. There is certainly room for other readings, but this is a start on an understanding of a neglected part of Beethoven's career." (James Manheim, AMG)

Patrick Gallois, flute
Maria Prinz, piano

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