“Seldom Heard” Works from WoO Anhang

Kinsky and Halm relegated a number of pieces attributed to Beethoven to their Appendix (or Anhang) of doubtful works. Some of these are now known to be Beethoven’s work; the actual composers of others have been identified with certainty, and others remain in a cloud of grey confusion.

WoO Anhang 1: Symphony in C “Jena” [Friedrich Witt]. Beethoven’s symphonies have always been at the pinnacle of his fame, so it is no wonder that the discovery of what was thought to be a symphony composed in Beethoven’s youth has attracted attention. The symphony in C, referred to as the “Jena” Symphony, since it was discovered in an archive in Jena, Germany, was frequently recorded, even after the probable actual composer, Friedrich Witt, had been identified by musicologist H.C. Robbins Landon in 1957. These releases vary in their honesty regarding the composer. It was still attributed questionably to Beethoven on two 78 rpm recordings. The first was an early electrical 78 rpm conducted by Frieder Weissmann on Polydor 9119, 9120, and 9188, and an electric 78, Werner Janssen, Janssen Symphony of Los Angeles, on Victor set M 946. At least one recording was made on LP, released as Musical Heritage Society 1506W. A recording on cd appeared with BBC Music Magazine vol. IV nr. 6, performed by the London Mozart Players under Matthias Bamert. This rarity is on occasion available here.

The “Jena” Symphony appears attributed to Witt on the following LPs: Urania URLP 71714, Leipzig Philharmonic Orchestra, Rolf Kleinert, conductor; Concert Hall Limited Edition Release H-1, Netherlands Philharmonic Orchetra, Walter Goehr, conductor; and Musical Heritage Society MHS 1506, Rhineland Philharmonia, Wolfgang Hoffmann, Conductor. The Urania disc is out of print, but may be available here.

The “Jena” Symphony was released on an LP recording by the USSR Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Ruben Vartanyan, on Melodia 150.040 (released in 1978). Apparently it says in big letters “Beethoven” then in small letters, between brackets, “Witt.” The same recording was released once more, on Melodia 270.002 — oddly enough, the orchestra is now called the “Moscow Radio Large Symphony Orchestra,” but the conductor, however, retained his name: Ruben Vartanyan.

A 1956 mono recording of the symphony (still credited to Beethoven) by Franz Konwitschny conducting the Staatskapelle Dresden was released on 10″ LP by Deutsche Grammophon as LPE 17057. This recording, now correctly attributed to Witt, has since been rereleased on CD paired with Strauss’ Sinfonia Domestica.

A CD of the “Jena” Symphony (properly attributed to Friedrich Witt) was released on the Pool label in Germany (ASIN B0000287RS), performed appropriately enough by the Jena Philharmonic, conducted by Andreas Weiser. Naxos has their version as well, under Witt’s name, along with another symphony and a flute concerto by Witt, performed by the Sinfonia Finlandia Jyvaskyla under Patrick Galois, on Naxos 8.572089. The Naxos version is available here.

Anh. 3 Piano Trio in D, was recorded in 1970 on an LP, FSM 33.115 Carus, performed by the Roesch Trio. More recently, that Piano Trio was released by Cedille Records in a recording by the International Beethoven Project. That disc can be ordered here.

Anh. 4 Sonata in B-flat for Flute and Piano. Jean-Pierre Rampal, flute, Vox Box CDX 5000; also James Galway RCA Red Seal 7756-2-RC. The Rampal set is available here. The Galway disc appears to be out of print but may be available here.
A recording of this work by Severino Gazzeloni and Bruno Canino appears on Philips 454.247-2. Again, this set is out of print but may be available here. This same recording appears on CD 101 of the DG BTHVN 2020 – Beethoven The New Complete Edition [123 CD]. Kazunori Seo plays this sonata with Makoto Ueno on Naxos 8.573570, Works for Flute 2. Michel Debost and Christian Ivaldi provide their offering on CD 38 of the Warner Beethoven: The Complete Works.

Anh. 5 Two sonatinas in G and F. Naxos 8.550255 (Jeno Jando, piano); Musique d’Abord HMA 1903006 (Z. Kocsis, piano). The Jando disc is available here from Amazon. Also recorded by Rudolf Buchbinder on Telefunken 6.35368 (six stereo LPs). Anh. 5, Two Sonatinas in G and F appears on Musical Heritage Society OR B-318, Jorg Demus, Piano. These sonatinas also appear on the Baby Beethoven CD from Baby Einstein. Tobias Koch performs these sonatinas on a fortepiano on CD 101 of the DG BTHVN 2020 – Beethoven The New Complete Edition [123 CD]. These sonatinas are also included in the Hänssler set of Complete Piano Works played by Martino Tirimo, cat. PH19032. Matthias Kirschnereit performs the second sonatina (Anh. 5/2 in F major) on Beethoven Unknown Solo Piano Works from Berlin Classics, 0301409BC.

Anh. 6 Rondo in B-flat for Piano. Etcetera (LP) 1018, Ronald Brautigam, piano. The Brautigam recording is out of print but may be available here. Also recorded by Rudolf Buchbinder on Telefunken 6.35368 (six stereo LPs). The Buchbinder set has been reissued on CD by Teldec with all of the piano sonatas as well.

Anh. 6, Rondo in B-flat appears on Musical Heritage Society MHS 1609 (LP), Rosario Marciano, piano. This recording also includes the WoO 4 Piano Concerto in E-flat.

Anh. 7, Concerto Movement in D. The Felicja Blumental recording was also released on LP as Auditorium BX 204 and World Record Club S/5007. The latter also includes the Piano Concerto WoO 4 and the Romance Cantabile Hess 13. The Blumental recording is available in her set of all the Beethoven concertos. The same set appears to have been rereleased numerous times, including this version.

Anh. 8 Three Pieces for Piano Four Hands (now known to be by Leopold Anton Kozeluch), performed by Patricia Pagny and Emanuele Arciuli, was released on Stradivarius #STR 33464. This disc is long out of print and quite rare but may be available here.

Anh. 9 Nine German Dances for Piano Four Hands, performed by Patricia Pagny and Emanuele Arciuli, was released on Stradivarius #STR 33464. This disc is long out of print and quite rare but may be available here.

Anh. 10, Variations on song, “Ich hab’ ein kleines Huettchen nur”. Teldec 242 744-2, five cd set, performed by Rudolf Buchbinder. The Buchbinder set has been reissued on CD by Teldec with all of the piano sonatas as well. Buchbinder’s recording also appears on CD 101 of the DG BTHVN 2020 – Beethoven The New Complete Edition [123 CD]. The same Buchbinder recording is also found on CD 30 of the Warner Beethoven: The Complete Works.

Anh. 11, “Alexandersmarsch,” a piano arrangement of a piece from the ballet Der Blöde Ritter (1812) by Louis Duport,  was performed by Cees Nieuwenhuizen on Upstream Music UM 075, which may be available for download here, at least to persons with a German bank account.

Anh. 12 Pariser Einzugsmarsch. Actually composed by Johann Heinrich Walch, is performed in an arrangement for wind band by Herbert von Karajan with the winds of the Berlin Philharmonic on his set of Preussiche & Osterreichische Marsche & Blaser der Berliner Philharmonker/Karajan, DG 439 346-2.

Anh. 13 Funeral March was actually composed by Johann Heinrich Walch, whose Pariser Einzugsmarsch was also erroneously attributed to Beethoven. An arrangement of it for windband by a certain Hartmann was released on CD, EMI CZS 5.68696-2, played by the Central Band of the RAF, conducted by Wing Cdr R.E.C. Davies. The recording dates from 1971. The CD (ADD) is part of a set of two CDs, entitled “VE-DAY: The official British Legion Classical Album. Favourite British classics and Military themes Celebrating 50 years of peace in Europe” released by EMI in 1995.

Anh. 14/1 “Sehnsuchtwalzer” for piano in A-flat major (known to be actually by Schubert, the “Trauerwalzer” originally published as op.9/2, and now catalogued as D.365/2; the Trio is “Favorite Waltz” Friedrich Himmel) was recorded by Aquiles Delle-Vigne on a very rare CD, Master of Arts, Arcobaleno, EMS, SBCD 8000. That same recording was also released as an equally rare CD, Discover International DICD 920271, distributed by Koch.

Anh. 14/2 “Schmerzenwalzer” for piano in F minor was recorded by Aquiles Delle-Vigne on a very rare CD, Master of Arts, Arcobaleno, EMS, SBCD 8000. That same recording was also released as an equally rare CD, Discover International DICD 920271, distributed by Koch.

Anh. 14/3 “Hoffnungswalzer” for piano in E-flat major was recorded by Aquiles Delle-Vigne on a very rare CD, Master of Arts, Arcobaleno, EMS, SBCD 8000. That same recording was also released as an equally rare CD, Discover International DICD 920271, distributed by Koch.

Anh. 14/5 Waltz for piano in F major was recorded by Aquiles Delle-Vigne on a very rare CD, Master of Arts, Arcobaleno, EMS, SBCD 8000. That same recording was also released as an equally rare CD, Discover International DICD 920271, distributed by Koch.

Anh. 16/2 “Gertrude’s Dream” waltz for piano in B-flat major was performed by Cees Nieuwenhuizen on Upstream Music UM 075, which may be available for download here, at least to persons with a German bank account.

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