Andante & Jagdstück

First performance edition, for 4 horns in F - score 4 p. & parts.

Andante & Jagdstück are based on several sketches by Ludwig van Beethoven, which are housed in the British Library in London. The first movement is an elaborate quartet fragment in E-flat major. Likely intended as the beginning of the second movement of a string quartet, it is, with just a few small adaptations, very playable with four horns. Several uninstrumented sketches in 6/8 time are found in the so-called Kafka-Sketchbook. Since the main theme strongly resembles a traditional 18th-century hunting fanfare, the fragments are elaborated into a genuine ‘Jagdstück’ (Hunting piece).

Both fragmentary compositions were written by Beethoven around 1795/6 and blend remarkably well together. The result is undoubtedly a patchwork, but almost 90% of these two short compositions is based on (completely unknown) original music by one of the greatest composers in music history.