Product Description
Bitten (Prayer) was composed by the Master, L. van Beethoven. It is the first of the Sechs Lieder (Six Songs), published in 1803, which foreshadowed the Art Songs of the Romantic Era. Originally for Voice and Piano, I have arranged it for Instrumental Quartet. My arrangement stays true to Beethoven's intent to capture the passion of the original text in the music. (The texts are all sacred poems by Gellert.) 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. Bitten 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.
A fantastic addition to any Beethoven repertoire, or Prayer service, or Wedding prayer.
3 page score, 1 page parts
2:30 minutes
(I have arranged all six pieces which are available separately on this site, or they can be purchased as a set of 6 for half the price of buying all 6 individually; A451565 for Woodwind Quartet- all 6, or A451564 for String Quartet- all 6.)
This product was created by a member of ArrangeMe, Hal Leonard's global self-publishing community of independent composers, arrangers, and songwriters. ArrangeMe allows for the publication of unique arrangements of both popular titles and original compositions from a wide variety of voices and backgrounds.