LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
LIEDER & VOLKSLIEDER

Beethoven was one of the most influential figures in the history of Western music. Building on the inheritance of the works of Mozart and Haydn, the ‘master of Bonn’ speeded up change and stylistic development, attaining an exceptional level of expression and sophistication. Though Beethoven is famous for his symphonies, concertos, sonatas and string quartets, his Lieder have not managed to achieve the same degree of popularity. And yet – with his An die ferne Geliebte (To the Distant Beloved) being the first cycle of Lieder in the history of music – he contributed greatly to the burgeoning of the Romantic Lied by setting to music poems he had chosen or that had been suggested to him, and this throughout his life. And his treatment of the text as well as the architecture of his compositions opened out a path that was subsequently to reach its apogee with Schubert, Schumann and Wolf. Beethoven’s 80 Lieder are, nonetheless, astonishing little masterpieces that cover the whole gamut of his musical styles, though they are also the expression of his most intimate feelings. The 28 Lieder chosen by Barbara Hendricks represent a kind of anthology of Beethoven’s works for solo voice, ranging from the salon piece to the most poign-ant poem of Goethe, via the perfectly constructed cycle of An die ferne Geliebte with its dramatic unity, its aural atmosphere and the subtle treatment of the piano, a feature common to all Beethoven’s Lieder. And this is not to forget the works accompanied by a trio of violin, cello and piano, commissions of the Scottish publisher George Thomson, who had asked Beethoven to harmonise nearly 170 traditional Scottish, Welsh and Irish songs, before asking him to collect some ‘continental’ airs that Beethoven brought together from all over Europe. In order to (re)discover these 28 little marvels of tenderness, humour and poetry, Barbara Hendricks has surrounded herself with her faithful chamber music partners – Love Derwinger, Christan Bergqvist and Leo Winland. All take great pleasure in this repertory that is rarely recorded and too infrequently performed in concert. Be careful, it’s contagious!