Beethoven probably wrote his Rondino in 1793, around the same time as his Wind Octet. In fact, this short work could have been an alternate last movement for the Octet, as this shares the same instrumentation, key of E♭ and composition year. Though there are no written sources to confirm this.

This short, charming work has plenty of stuff to do for the horns. In addition to the many solos and arpeggiated runs, the original work also features a fade-away ending where the horns had to use mutes. This is 20-25 years before the invention af the valves and the chromatic notes is only possible with the use of stopping (or handhorn) technique. No ordinary mute allows for this and only a handfull of hornplayers owned specially constructed mechanical mutes. Indeed a speciality item! One of the owners was Nicolaus Simrock, who later went on to become a music publisher, and is known to have influenced Beethovens writing. The rapid changes from open to muted to simulate echoes was always a challenge.

In this arrangement the mute and its many challenges have been removed altogether. Instead the echoes are performed by flute and clarinet and we can now move focus away from technical difficulties and just enjoy Beethovens brilliant and vibrant wind music.

Beethoven skrev formodentlig sin Rondino i 1793, nogenlunde samtidigt med sin Blæseroktet. Faktisk er det muligt at dette korte værk var tiltænkt som en mulig sidste sats for oktetten, da de begge har samme instrumentation, toneart (Es dur) og år. Der er dog ingen skriftlige kilder der kan bekræfte dette.

Dette korte, charmerende værk har rigeligt for hornene. Udover mange soloer og løb, har værket også en “fade away” slutning, hvor hornene skal bruge dæmpere. Dette er 20-25 år inden ventilerne bliver opfundet og de kromatiske passager er kun mulige med brug af stop teknik (håndhorns teknik). Ingen normal dæmper kan bruges samtidig og kun en håndfuld hornister ejede special fremstillede mekaniske dæmpere. Noget af en raritet! En af ejerne var Nicolaus Simrock, som senere grundlagde et musikforlag, og som vi ved gjorde indflydelse på Beethoven. De hurtige skift fra normalt til dæmpet hornspil, der skulle illudere ekkoer, har altid været en udfordring.

I dette arrangement er dæmperen og dens mange udfordringer bleven fjernet. Istedet ligger ekkoer hos fløjte og klarinet og vi kan nu flytte vores fokus væk fra de mange tekniske udfordringer og blot nyde Beethovens vidunderlige blæsermusik.

This edition is scored for Wind Quintet:

Flute
Oboe
Clarinet in Bb
Horn in F
Bassoon

Audio performed by Dorico 6 / NotePerformer 5