A Masterpiece celebrating the 250th birthday of the Master, L. van Beethoven. The Sechs Lieder (Six Songs), published in 1803, foreshadowed the Art Songs of the Romantic Era. Originally for Voice and Piano, all six pieces have here been arranged for Instrumental Quartet. My arrangement stays true to Beethoven's intent to capture the passion of the original text in the music. Without the presence of lyrics I needed to create musical interest and interpretation, so I realized inner voices and polyphony out of his original homophonic accompaniment. I added new shape to individual lines, altered phrasing, elaborated rhythms, and in true Beethoven style added more dynamic markings. The mood and meaning are now stunningly portrayed through music alone.
A fantastic addition to any Beethoven repertoire.
59 pages total for all scores and all parts, 16 minutes performance for full set
The 6 pieces can also be performed individually. #1-5 are short, intense pieces with 1 page parts of Intermediate difficulty, while #6 is in three sections and has 3 page parts of Advanced difficulty. Each of these pieces is also available to purchase separately on this site.
1. Bitten (Prayer) begins with soft prayerful moving lines with all four parts weaving together. Then as the prayer begins to plead the intensity increases and it moves to more chordal progressions.
2. Die Liebe des Nachsten (The Love of Neighbours), in such a short piece, has chant, homophonic, and polyphonic sections with varied articulations and dynamics as it joyfully proclaims that if you love God you must also love your neighbour.
3. Vom Tode (Death) is full of subtle dissonances as it solemnly, but Faithfully, contemplates the end of life. There is a rhythmic ostinato for the unrelenting march to Him.
4. Die Ehres Gottes aus der Natur (The Glory of God in Nature) is full of joyous majesty and wonder. It has been made into a popular anthem and hymn under the title The Heavens Are Telling.
5. Gottes Macht und Vorsehung (God's Power and Providence) is an easy short piece full of strength and fire with a steady march pulse.
6. Busslied (Penance) is in three sections; Penance, the Impassioned Plea, and Acceptance and Absolution. Each section has a different key, a different tempo, and a different style. The final section has some virtuosic extended runs for some instruments.