Sextet in E flat major Op.71 (1796)

“All one can say about it,” Beethoven is quoted as having remarked when his Sextet in E flat was published (14 years after its composition – hence the misleading Op.No.), “is that it was written by a composer who has produced a few better works.” Perhaps it was in a similar attitude of self defence that he claimed to have written it “in one night” even though there is evidence to suggest that it took him rather longer.

In fact, the Sextet is a perfectly respectable work enterprisingly scored for its ensemble of two each of clarinets, bassoon and horns. More than just a conventional fanfare, the short Adagio introduction briefly features the clarinets in emphatic, dissonant rhythmic syncopations. The opening theme of the following Allegro begins with a bright four-note figure, derived perhaps from the opening of the introduction, that is passed between clarinets and bassoons and is to become a useful tag in unifying the construction. Also entrusted with the introduction of the second subject, the first clarinet is the most likely to be awarded the showy passages. Beethoven’s treatment of the bassoons is always interesting, however, not least in the development and in a recapitulation where the four-note tag has a prominent role to play. The horns are liberated from their so far modest role only towards the end of the movement.

The most attractively scored of the four movements is the Adagio in B flat major, where the first bassoon occupies a near-solo role and, with its partner, finds itself involved in rhythmically intricate counterpoint with the clarinets. As a reward for their patience in the Adagio, the horns introduce the Menuetto only to be excluded from the contrapuntal Trio section in the middle of the movement. The last movement is an entertaining rondo where the sturdily harmonised march-like opening theme recurs three times in alternation with more slender-textured episodes. The most effective of the latter is a gently coloured intervention just before a final recall of the march tune and a coda with lively horn activity.