Beethoven’s Septet was written in the winter of 1799/1800, and was given its premiere at the first of Beethoven’s benefit concerts, in the Burgtheater on 2 April 1800. The concert also included the first performance of the Symphony No 1, a piano concerto and an improvisation by the composer, as well as music by Haydn and Mozart.
The septet was published by Hoffmeister in Leipzig in 1802 and was an immediate and lasting success. The work conforms to the serenade/divertimento tradition in its architecture: there are six movements, the standard four of the late-Classical sonata or symphony, a set of variations on a popular tune, and a scherzo marked Allegro molto e vivace.
Beethoven increased the sense of symmetry by giving the first movement a grand and expansive slow introduction – a device that had originated in the symphony and was still uncommon in chamber music – and by matching it with a slow introduction to the final Presto.
In matters of scoring, however, Beethoven broke entirely new ground. In eighteenth-century serenades wind instruments usually come in pairs, but the septet only has a single clarinet, horn and bassoon. Indeed, there is only one of each instrument, since the ‘string quartet’ consists of violin, viola, cello and double bass.
Here are Janine Jansen and her friends to play this music for you: