Ludwig van Beethoven
" Beethoven's Mandolin"
In the late 1700s, when Ludwig van Beethoven was a young man in Vienna, was the
mandolin in a period of popularity amongst the cultured aristocracy throughout
Europe, and was then regarded as an excellent instrument, both to play on and listen
to. While in Stockholm was played mandolin, among others, Carl Michael Bellman. He
owned an Italian Vinaccia mandolin ( equivalent of Stradivarius ) which was later
submitted to the pawn shop and never picked out, according the pawn receipt.
Italian mandolin virtuosos had migrated north, to Paris, Vienna and other European
capitals, and occupied themselves with teaching, composing, and arranging salon
concerts for the aristocratic audience. Beethoven, like many other young composers
of his time, was looking to make a name in the right circles, to get protection and a
good reputation. As mandolinist, we can be very grateful that he chose to honor some
of their patrons and other artists with a handful of pearls for mandolin and cembalo.
The fact that he chose the more old-fashioned harpsichord to accompany the
sonatinas for mandolin, indicating his intentions for the music. The piano had take
over the harpsichord as key instruments for concert use, but the harpsichord was
found more often in the home, where its gentle timbre texture fit nicely in the company
of an amateur singer or musician. It seems that Beethoven wrote at least six
sonatinas for mandolin, and four of them have survived. In this concert, we will
perform two of his sonatinas for mandolin and harpsichord, one in C-minor and one in
E-flat major . Both are charming pieces of chamber music from the late 1700s Vienna,
of the talented young composer Beethoven.
Beethovens sonatina for Mandolin in C-minor is a lyrical piece written in 1795,
probably for Josephine Clary, Countess Clam-Gallas. She was an early patron and a
talented mandolin player . There is some assumption that Beethoven may have been
in love with the Countess, when his "Adagio for Mandolin" has the inscription: "to the
lovely J. by L. v. B." The piece is written in a single movement, and has a strong
theme of the central C-major section that Beethoven would later be used in the Opus
14, pieces for piano.
Listen to the sonatina!
BEETHOVEN
The great composer
VIVALDI FESTIVAL
The artists of the festival
