Finally the new CD with Hummels chamber versions of Beethoven’s Symphonies 2 and 6 will be out in November.
An interesting project, combining Hummel’s workmanlike craftmanship with the audacious concept of Beethoven’s groundbreaking composition style.
The result is a faithful transcription, which is transfering the symphonic score to 4 instruments, and unlike Liszt in his symphony transcriptions- who was a visionary composer in his own right- Hummel is a faithful servant to the letter of the score. The demanding piano part is nowhere near the demands of Liszt’s versions, who transports the listener in a new universe,via his highly imaginative and revolutionary use of the piano and its sonorities. But Hummel offers an interesting glimpse of how contemporary audiences would have experienced these works as orchestra concerts were only happening in very few places at the time.
A fascinating soundscape journey back to the days way before orchestra concerts or recording music became a normality.
