This album is an exploration of Beethoven's neglected works for mandolin. None of them are called suites; the "suites" of the title are groupings of mandolin music closely or more distantly related to Beethoven. Some of this other music turns out to be even more of a revelation than the Beethoven mandolin music, itself rare enough: the Grande Sonate for mandolin and piano, Op. 37a, is an excellent example of Hummel's style, with a slow movement that's highly idiomatic to the mandolin (Beethoven's pieces, especially on ...
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This album is an exploration of Beethoven's neglected works for mandolin. None of them are called suites; the "suites" of the title are groupings of mandolin music closely or more distantly related to Beethoven. Some of this other music turns out to be even more of a revelation than the Beethoven mandolin music, itself rare enough: the Grande Sonate for mandolin and piano, Op. 37a, is an excellent example of Hummel's style, with a slow movement that's highly idiomatic to the mandolin (Beethoven's pieces, especially on Julien Martineau's rather metallic-sounding mandolin, are more like piano pieces played on the mandolin). All of the Beethoven works are early, and despite his claimed affection for the instrument, it's hard to hear his voice in these. Midway through, however, the program turns into something else, humorous and very Gallic. Included is Walter Murphy's disco classic A Fifth of Beethoven, arranged for a small jazz combo. Get ahold of the booklet, if you can, where annotator Camille De Rijck...
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