Clarinet, Horn

On this 1974 recording, Beethoven's Septet, Op. 20 – despised by the composer but still a popular piece of light music – is paired with the less familiar Sextet, Op. 71. The Sextet is an early work despite its high opus number, first written around the time Beethoven moved to Vienna but not offered to a publisher until the era of the mighty Symphony No. 5. This work too Beethoven disparaged, but as annotator Gerhard Pätzig rightly noted, he knew he was releasing something worthwhile – an exceptionally accomplished realization of Classical models.

Authentic and authoritative, these 1985 recordings of Mozart and Beethoven's quintets for piano and winds have almost everything going for them. Performing on a pianoforte modeled on a 1790 Viennese instrument, Jos van Immerseel is an adroit player, while the quartet drawn from the period instrument wind band Octophoros Paul Dombrecht on oboe, Elmar Schmid on clarinet, Piet Dombrecht on horn, and Danny Bond on bassoon are likewise all skillful instrumentalists.

After a string of failed attempts to establish himself as a pianist and composer in the capitals of Europe, Ferdinand Ries was brought to London in 1813 by the same impresario who had imported Haydn 20 years earlier, Johann Peter Salomon. All three works were written during this time in England while Ries enjoyed the favor of the upper classes and looked for a wife. Presumably, he composed these works for himself on piano with the other parts to be played by wealthy amateurs. The pedestrian string writing in the first two works substantiates the premise that they were composed for London's dilettantes.