BEETHOVEN’S PASTORAL - ON DEMAND

Image Credit: © Helen White

The Australian Haydn Ensemble is well known for unearthing forgotten composers and historical chamber versions of the classics. This program brings to light two of the greats: Beethoven’s Pastoral symphony and Mozart’s Haffner Serenade. 

Beethoven often criticised chamber versions of his own works by other composers. Watt’s c. 1810 arrangement of Beethoven’s masterwork, The Pastoral however, is a vibrant and passionate reinterpretation of this dramatic work that will capture your imagination and reinvent it for you as a septet.

Mozart’s Serenade No. 7 or the Haffner Serenade as it is often called, is one of his most well-known and frequently performed works. The original orchestral work was commissioned by Mozart’s contemporary and friend, Sigmund Haffner, for the wedding of his sister Marie Elisabeth Haffner in 1776. Masi’s chamber arrangement was published in the early 19th century as part of a set of popular Mozart symphonies for the same instrumentation as Watt’s arrangement of the Beethoven. Masi’s arrangement reflects Mozart’s own shortened version of the Haffner Serenade that omits three of the original movements. Even in this reduced version, he captures the bright energy that one imagines Mozart hoped to convey at the premiere performance on the eve of the Haffner wedding. 

AHE also performs a beautiful, dark and moving string sextet in F minor by Luigi Boccherini. Boccherini takes the listener on a journey full of drama, melancholy and dance - a characteristic of his music that makes it a listening pleasure. 

PROGRAM

BOCCHERINI
String Sextet in F minor Op. 23 No. 4 G. 457

MOZART
Serenade in D major
(Haffner Serenade) K. 250 Selections  (arr. Masi c. 1810)

BEETHOVEN
Symphony No. 6 in F major
Op. 68 (The Pastoral) (arr. Watts c. 1810)