The only other currently available coupling of these works comes from members of the Berlin Philharmonic Octet on Philips, a recording dating from 1977 which on its CD reissue did not find favour with AS. So I'm delighted to be able to hail this new one as first-rate on all counts.
The Septet has been a best-seller ever since its premiere at Beethoven's first benefit concert in Vienna in April, 1800. The Sextet, in fact composed some five years earlier though left unpublished until 1810 (hence its shared opus number with the Les adieux Sonata), has never enjoyed the same acclaim. In her Master Musicians biography of the composer, Marion Scott writes it off as ''not one of Beethoven's best successes''. But I'm sure quite a few people may think again after hearing it from the Gaudier Ensemble. First praise, of course, to the horn players, Jonathan Williams and Phillip Eastop for their exhilarating bravura in the faster flanking movements, and their rich, warm tone and affectionate phrasing in the central Adagio, not least its benedictory ending. But there is no less to admire in the sensitively balanced, keenly alert repartee of the team as a whole.
In case any readers have not encountered these players before as an ensemble (as I hadn't), let me introduce them (in the words of the booklet) as ''a group of outstanding European musicians [notably drawn from the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the ECCO] who come together to perform and record the chamber music repertoire for wind and strings, bringing with them an international outlook and style''. What impressed me so much, apart from their obvious individual instrumental mastery, was the freshness and immediacy of their response to this early Beethoven. Their rhythmic buoyancy alone betokens a real joy in making music together. And for the Septet, too, they find just the right weight. Here, they know how to smile without loss of respect for the sheer inventive genius underpinning such engaging diversion. Just once or twice I wondered if Marieke Blankestijn's violin was forwardly enough placed to match Richard Hosford's liquid clarinet. But she never fails to meet the music's Schuppanzigh-inspired virtuoso demands. The recording itself cannot be over-praised for its vivid clarity and truth.'