Just over a week before Ludwig van Beethoven’s 200th death anniversary, seven musicians will perform one of his most treasured chamber works. The German master’s Septet in E-flat major op. 20, gained widespread acclaim shortly after its premiere, and arrangements for solo piano, two guitars, piano for four-hands, and a piano quartet appeared soon afterwards; the composer himself also prepared a version for instrumental trio. The work’s enduring success and influence are attested by Franz Berwald’s work featured in the programme, himself considered the greatest Swedish composer of the 19th century.

The Grand Septet is the most popular chamber piece in Berwald’s oeuvre. It premiered in Stockholm in 1828. Despite its chamber line-up, this work, characterised by rich melodic and formal inventiveness, foreshadows the symphonies for which the composer is best known, written in the 1840s. He was born in the capital of Sweden in 1796, into a family with a history of musical affiliations. He quickly began performing as a violinist and obtained a position at the court of Swedish King Charles XIII , where he later became a violist. His fortunes as a composer had their highs and lows. During his stay in Berlin (where he met Felix Mendelssohn), he became a doctor to support himself – a successful orthopedist. He prospered quite well in Vienna, but after returning to his homeland, for economic reasons he took up industrial production management, running, among other things, a glass factory. Having finally gained recognition in the artistic community, he began teaching at the Royal Academy of Music but died less than a year later – on April 3, 1868.

There is no doubt that at the dawn of the 19th century, the Septet in E-flat major op. 20 by Ludwig van Beethoven popularised large chamber line-ups for strings and winds. Frequently performed in the Swedish capital, it was there that the young Franz Berwald encountered it. The work, dedicated to the Austrian Empress Maria Theresa, wife of Francis II of Austria, premiered at the same concert as Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1 – on April 2, 1800, at Vienna’s Burgtheater. The composition was written for violin, viola, clarinet, bassoon, horn, cello, and double bass, and its structure resembles a serenade. Much to Beethoven’s disappointment, its popularity exceeded that of works he considered more ambitious. However, the work’s youthful energy allowed listeners to immediately succumb to the charm of this music. It is known that, in addition to Berwald, it also inspired other composers, and among them Louis Spohr and Johann Nepomuk Hummel.