LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
(1770-1827)

Academy of St Martin in the Fields
conducted by:
SIR NEVILLE MARRINER
Recorded: London, Brent Town Hall, 9/1970

PTC 5186 118

DSD remastered

IN THE SHADOW OF THE "EROICA"

With his gigantic symphonic oeuvre, Ludwig van Beethoven had presented posterity with an almost insoluble mystery – which gave rise to Richard Wagner making his famous assertion that after Beethoven, no-one was capable of writing a symphony. However, the fact that Beethoven himself had to overcome hefty competition in the last masterpieces by Haydn ("London" Symphonies) and Mozart (his last three symphonies), is easily overlooked in this connection. And, after all, Beethoven was already 30 and 33 years old respectively, when he completed his two first symphonies.
As far as their musical structure is concerned, Beethoven‘s first symphonic works fulfil a kind of double function. On the one hand, they refer to – without trying to conceal this – the traditional music of the 18th century, passed down by Haydn and Mozart, on the other, they leave this well-trodden historical path and mark the beginning of Beethoven‘s own, individual course, which was to find its destination at last far into the 19th century in his Symphony No. 9.
The Symphony No. 1 in C, Op. 21 was composed in 1799/1800 and its successful première took place on April 2, 1800 in the Vienna Hofburg theatre. Five years later, the newspaper Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung wrote the following: "Beethoven‘s Symphony in C [was] performed with precision and great ease. A wonderful artistic creation. All instruments are put to splendid use, a unusual wealth of beautiful ideas is displayed in a marvellous and charming manner, and nevertheless, there is coherence, order and light at all times." This "order" is demonstrated mainly in Beethoven‘s masterly domination of the musical form. The three movements follow the main sonata-movement form neatly, in an almost exaggerated manner. There is a slow introduction (Adagio molto) at the start of the first movement, which has just one objective in its extraordinary beginning, which consists of a dissonance that needs to be resolved (in Beethoven‘s day, this was nothing less than a musical sensation!): i.e. to present the note of C as the pivotal point of the entire work. Already in the middle section of the first movement, Beethoven introduces his highly individual development technique: the motivic-thematic development. Here the musical forms are analysed in the greatest of detail, and then "brought back to life" in new and different forms. The themes of the following movements are derived from the material of the first movement. The Minuet is really already a typical Scherzo and the Finale, which also commences with an introduction, fulfills the expectations of a cheerful farewell movement – for the last time in Beethoven‘s symphonic oeuvre.
His Symphony No. 2 in D, Op. 36, which he sketched and worked out in the period between summer 1800 and April 1802, received its première on April 5, 1803 in the Theater an der Wien. Together with its earlier „sister-composition" in C major, this work shares the fate of being overshadowed by the "Eroica"; it distinguishes itself from this symphony mainly by the expansion of the temporal dimensions and the more forcefully evolved wealth of contrasts (major versus minor, and loud versus soft). In the first movement, both themes are actually assimilated in the development. The second movement combines the characteristics of a lyrical-cantabile Romance with the sonata form and could be considered the beginning of a development which ended with Anton Bruckner, and which yanked the slow movement into the emotional heart of the symphony. The Scherzo is full of harmonic and rhythmic surprises and spreads an atmosphere of passionate agitation. The Finale (Allegro molto) has clearly gained in weight compared to the C-major Symphony and, likewise, follows the sonata form. The massive thematic-motivic development and the colossal expansion of the coda (analogous, by the way, to the first movement) impose a new role upon the Finale – from now on, it is a true "final ending" in the symphonic cycle.

“Solid performances of these symphonies by Marriner and ASMF. The stereo mix has superb sound. One can only hope that PentaTone keeps pumping these old classics out in such fine sound quality.”
---SA-CD info.com

« We have a performance whose sonic qualities are closer to what Beethoven's audiences must have heard. ….We are never unclear about where we are at any given moment in either symphony, or where Marriner is taking us. In short, these are memorable performances, even in a crowded field.”
---Dr. Phil Muse, Classik Reviews (December 2003)

--Christophe Huss, ClassicsToday, France

“I can recommend this disc to all listeners: Those with CD playback capability will appreciate the clarity of the recordings and the effectiveness of the performances, which may just stimulate them to upgrade and thus be able to enjoy the many delights of SACD. “
--Christopher Abbot, FANFARE