For this, the 15th of the 20 volumes of their monumental centenary edition, DG bring together recordings of Beethoven’s wide range of music for wind ensemble. There is a good variety here, of forms and instruments and of pieces, though it would be a mistake to expect the richness and depth of Mozart’s wind music. Most of the works were written in the eighteenth century, and have an eighteenth-century intention to serenade or divert, but Beethoven was still feeling his way into his mature idiom. The Octet and Sextet, like the attractive Rondino, date from the 1790s, and belong to the courtly music-making of the Bonn years of Beethoven’s youth. They are delightfully played, and serve their purpose of providing easy listening.
The two pieces for oboe trio are unusual, in that very few other composers have attempted what is a surprisingly attractive and resourceful medium (having played them as a student, I persuaded Gordon Jacob to write us a piece, which turned out delightfully). The Trio is a work of quasi-symphonic proportions, with a Menuetto that was given Beethoven’s first scherzo marking; the Mozart Variations are witty and touching, and both works gain much from the playing of three such fine artists. The sombre Three Equali for trombones date from later (1812), as does the amusing selection of short marches, polonaises and ecossaises. These are all deftly knocked off, with a lively kick for the dances and with a bright military panache in the marches.'