In his relatively short lifetime (and 56 years is short for Europe today!), Beethoven composed several hundred music pieces. Those are 722 registered works (with or without opus number), as well as unfinished pieces (27) and a number of unpublished sketches, plans and musical studies.



Out of all this diversity, we are most often faced with Beethoven’s gorgeous symphonies, piano sonatas and string quartets. For example, the revolutionary Symphony No.9 is known to the entire world today and there have been a lot said and written about it, not mentioning the fact that it sounds every minute in some music hall in the world. But today we would like to give more spotlight to the lesser known masterpieces by Beethoven that for some reason are not to be heard and performed as often as the great composer’s ‘essential set’. Let’s have a look at 5 examples and learn the stories behind them in this article. And, finally, let the music speak for itself!

Cantata on the Death of Emperor Joseph II

Emperor Joseph II died in 1790 when Beethoven was just 19 years old. Saddened by the news, Beethoven’s native town Bonn started a big preparation for the memorial ceremony. This is when the young, unknown yet ambitious composer got the chance to showcase his talent. The University of Bonn announced call for the music composition to sound at the ceremony. There was a text already written by Severin Anton Averdonk, a university student, but music was lacking. Considering the fact that there was only a month left until the event, ‘serious’ composers decided not to take up the task in a rush. But young Beethoven was ready and full of enthusiasm. Now we have this brilliant elevated cantata as part of his legacy. As for the ceremony, Beethoven’s music did not get its deserved attention because the ceremony was cancelled for reasons unknown today. Maybe this is why the composition did not get its initial kickstart, remaining a bit underrated until nowadays?



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The Battle of Vitoria

The work is also known as ‘Wellington’s Victory’, Wellington being the Duke of Wellington who led the joined army of Britain, Spain and Portugal at the Battle of Vitoria that took place in Spain in 1813. The piece is a glorious celebration of Joseph Bonaparte’s defeat, Joseph - the Napoleon Bonaparte’s brother. The composition represents a dramatic 15-minute music work for orchestra and has a number of vivid music effects including the use of real cannons. The confrontation of the troops is pictured through the sound of national tunes like the British “God Save the Queen” and the French “Marlbrough S'en Va-t-en Guerre”.

The Symphony got to live quite a few twists in terms of its popularity. The fun thing is that at the time of its publication, the composition was way more popular than it is today, being considered one of Beethoven’s biggest achievements. Who knows, maybe in a dozen years The Battle Symphony will regain its glory among the audiences?



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12 German Dances

Still being a young fellow in 1795, Beethoven wrote Twelve German Dances at the age of 25. Very simple and pure, the 12 pieces are no longer than 2 minutes each. This well-crafted music was intended for entertaining the upper classes of the Viennese society who loved gathering in salons every week. The atmosphere during these parties was mainly created with the help of such ‘background dance music’, therefore, it had to be kept easy in melody and harmony and not to be too complicated for comprehension. This factor did not shade Beethoven’s genius, though, for the pieces turned out to be very colourful and substantial as independent music work.

The compositions were initially scored for orchestra but the original manuscript is lost. Luckily, the dances had been transcribed for piano for playing at home.



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British Folk Songs

A certain George Thomson loved Scottish music so much that he travelled the country in search of the most interesting folk songs, collected them all carefully and later published 5 volumes with the results of his activity. Not only Thomson collected music but also transcribed some of the melodies himself as well as collaborated with many talented men of art of the time. Thus, he asked poets Walter Scott and Robert Burns to write texts, and composers Haydn and Beethoven – to make arrangements. All in all, Beethoven arranged 179 songs, which brought him a pretty decent income – Thomson was ready to pay well for the work. By the way, Haydn was paid twice less per piece for some reason.

Just like the German Dances, many of those folk song arrangements could be heard at the salon parties for they were very well suited for the social occasions, ranging from joyful to melancholic. Perhaps the most well-known of the settings is Beethoven’s rendition of the Scottish traditional “Auld Lang Syne”.



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Missa Solemnis

You might say that this Mass by Beethoven is a quite well-known work and wonder why it should be on this list. Yes, Missa Solemnis can’t be called a neglected piece of music, but it is a less frequently played thing compared to the rest of Beethoven’s ‘fame set’. Being less heard in concert and on the stage in general it is placed on here under the label ‘under-performed’.

In Beethoven’s most famous portrait by Karl Josef Stieler, the great composer is painted holding nothing else but the score of Missa Solemnis in his hands. This deeply spiritual and sacred piece was of great significance to Beethoven himself, he even called it his greatest work. Not the 9th symphony, not any of the string quartets, but the Mass. Dedicated to composer’s friend, the Archduke Rudolf of Austria, the 90-minute mass was to be performed at the latter’s installation ceremony.

The fact that any of the music works mentioned above are less performed or somewhat neglected does not at all diminish the musical significance or historical value of any of them. The master’s hand can be seen in each of his composition, no matter what popularity they enjoy.



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