Beethoven: Sextet in E-flat major, Op. 71 (with Score)

Ludwig van Beethoven: Sextet For 2 Clarinets, 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns in E-flat major, Op. 71 (with Score) Composed: 1796 Performance: Ottetto Italiano 00:00 1. Adagio - Allegro (E-flat major) 08:13 2. Adagio (B-flat major) 12:05 3. Minuet. Quasi Allegretto - Trio (E-flat major) 14:29 4. Rondo. Allegro (E-flat major) Beethoven’s Wind Sextet carries the rather misleading opus number of 71. Though this seems to suggest a date of composition contemporary with the titanic works of the composer’s middle period, the work was actually written in 1796 and remained unperformed for nearly a decade. By the time he contemplated publishing the work in 1810, Beethoven informed his publishers Breitkopf & Härtel that he had written the work “in a single night.“ That claim, however, should perhaps be discounted, for it is well known that Beethoven did not share Mozart’s gift of spontaneous inspiration, and that he almost invariably refined and reworked pieces, often over a period of years. No sketches for the Sextet survive. T