The Sextet for Horns and String Quartet, Op. 81b, was written by composer

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

, probably around 1795, and published by Simrock Verlag in 1810. It is in the key of

E major E major (or the key of E) is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has four sharps. Its relative minor is C-sharp minor and its parallel minor is E minor. Its enharmonic equivalent, ...

and is scored for two

horn Horn most often refers to: *Horn (acoustic), a conical or bell shaped aperture used to guide sound ** Horn (instrument), collective name for tube-shaped wind musical instruments *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various ...

s and a

string quartet The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinists ...

. It was probably modelled on the Horn Quintet in the same key by

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

( K. 407) and like the earlier work it is written in a concertante style, with virtuosic writing for the two horns.

Background

Prior to the publication by Simrock in 1810, nothing is known about the circumstances of the piece's composition beyond the existence of a few sketches that confirm the work was composed in the mid 1790s. The concertante nature of the piece, has led writers like John Henken to speculate that the piece may have been written for specific

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

-based performers, and to express surprise that more is not known about the work's early history.

Structure

The piece consists of three movements: The typical performance time is around 15 - 17 minutes.

References

;Notes ;Sources * * * * * * *

External links

* * - Performed by members of the

National Symphony Orchestra The National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1930, its principal performing venue is the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. It also performs for the annual National Mem ...

. {{Authority control Chamber music by Ludwig van Beethoven 1795 compositions Compositions in E-flat major Compositions for horn Compositions for sextet