The Ritterballet is graced with the distinction of being first among the unassigned, WoO 1 and has thus always held a strange fascination for me. In sound and in point it is an accomplished curiousity. Apparently, Beethoven was asked to create a ballet of sorts during which various regal aristocrats would traipse around in costumes while depicting important elements of the German aristocratic life such as hunting, drinking, dancing. With its initial performance for Count Waldstein on March 6, 1791, it became perhaps the only orchestral music of Beethoven heard in Bonn. The dances are generally pleasant and are linked by a recurring "German Dance."
A portion of the Hunting Dance followed by the German Dance played as well as it may have been played in Bonn:
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment