Michi Gaigg, L'Orfeo Barockorchester - Beethoven: 12 Country Dances - 12 German Dances - 6 Minuets - 11 Modling Dances (2006)

Tracklist

01. 12 Contredanses, WoO 14: No. 1 in C Major
02. 12 Contredanses, WoO 14: No. 2 in A Major
03. 12 Contredanses, WoO 14: No. 3 in D Major
04. 12 Contredanses, WoO 14: No. 4 in B-Flat Major
05. 12 Contredanses, WoO 14: No. 5 in E-Flat Major
06. 12 Contredanses, WoO 14: No. 6 in C Major
07. 12 Contredanses, WoO 14: No. 7 in E-Flat Major
08. 12 Contredanses, WoO 14: No. 9 in A Major
09. 12 Contredanses, WoO 14: No. 10 in C Major
10. 12 Contredanses, WoO 14: No. 11 in G Major
11. 12 Contredanses, WoO 14: No. 12 in E-Flat Major
12. 12 Contredanses, WoO 14: No. 8 in C Major
13. 12 German Dances, WoO 8: No. 1 in C Major
14. 12 German Dances, WoO 8: No. 2 in A Major
15. 12 German Dances, WoO 8: No. 3 in F Major
16. 12 German Dances, WoO 8: No. 4 in B-Flat Major
17. 12 German Dances, WoO 8: No. 5 in E-Flat Major
18. 12 German Dances, WoO 8: No. 6 in G Major
19. 12 German Dances, WoO 8: No. 7 in C Major
20. 12 German Dances, WoO 8: No. 8 in A Major
21. 12 German Dances, WoO 8: No. 9 in F Major
22. 12 German Dances, WoO 8: No. 10 in D Major
23. 12 German Dances, WoO 8: No. 11 in G Major
24. 12 German Dances, WoO 8: No. 12 and Coda in C Major
25. 6 Minuets, WoO 9: No. 1 in E-Flat Major
26. 6 Minuets, WoO 9: No. 2 in G Major
27. 6 Minuets, WoO 9: No. 3 in C Major
28. 6 Minuets, WoO 9: No. 4 in F Major
29. 6 Minuets, WoO 9: No. 5 in D Major
30. 6 Minuets, WoO 9: No. 6 in G Major
31. 11 Dances, WoO 17, "Mödlinger Tänze": No. 1. Waltz
32. 11 Dances, WoO 17, "Mödlinger Tänze": No. 2. Minuet
33. 11 Dances, WoO 17, "Mödlinger Tänze": No. 3. Waltz
34. 11 Dances, WoO 17, "Mödlinger Tänze": No. 4. Minuet
35. 11 Dances, WoO 17, "Mödlinger Tänze": No. 5. Minuet
36. 11 Dances, WoO 17, "Mödlinger Tänze": No. 6. Ländler
37. 11 Dances, WoO 17, "Mödlinger Tänze": No. 7. Minuet
38. 11 Dances, WoO 17, "Mödlinger Tänze": No. 8. Ländler
39. 11 Dances, WoO 17, "Mödlinger Tänze": No. 9. Minuet
40. 11 Dances, WoO 17, "Mödlinger Tänze": No. 10. Waltz
41. 11 Dances, WoO 17, "Mödlinger Tänze": No. 11. Waltz



The contradance and the minuet were courtly dances that were already old hat during the early stages of Beethoven's compositional career; the result of the changes underway was the thornier and more sensual waltz. It is a mark of the man's genius (there's no other word that works as economically) that he managed to put a personal stamp even on these unpromising forms. The works on this album date mostly from the 1790s, when Beethoven first arrived in Vienna from Bonn as an uncouth but obviously talented young artist. With Haydn's help he managed to scare up a few commissions for dance pieces, these among them (the so-called Mödlinger Tänze or Mödlingen Dances, ascribed to Beethoven on the say-so of his amanuensis Schindler, may or may not be part of this group). For evidence that Beethoven placed some considerable value on these creations, listen no further than the seventh of the 12 Contradances, WoO 14 -- it is the theme of no less than the finale of the Symphony No. 3 in E flat, Op. 55 ("Eroica"). Many of the other dances include rhythmic surprises, obsessive explorations of small stretches of harmonic terrain, or rough, abrupt humor. They are, in short, very Beethovenian, and the CD shelf of the true Beethoven lover is incomplete without them. L'Orfeo Barockorchester under Michi Gaigg shares a certain stiffness with other Baroque groups that venture forward into Viennese Classicism but doesn't interfere with the enjoyment that these little dances offer.

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