BTHVN2020 | Detmold: Chamber Music in Detmold I

The "Chamber Music in Detmold" festival demonstrates quite impressively the fact that the lecturers at the Detmold University of Music (Hochschule für Musik Detmold) are not only excellent educators but also world-class artists. Year after year, a large number of teachers come together to rehearse and perform in concerts as part of the festival. The content bracket is a motto or theme that is defined in advance and forms the basis for the selection of the repertoire: the themes of past years include "East", "Shadow" or "What you want".

For 2020, Prof. Thomas Lindhorst, Artistic Director for Chamber Music in Detmold since 2011, has declared Beethoven the theme. Which of the composer’s extensive oeuvre of chamber music works are to be performed will be determined shortly. What is however certain, is that the audience can look forward to an extremely challenging masterpiece: the Septet in E flat major op. 20 for clarinet, bassoon, horn, violin, viola, cello and double bass. The septet, which was first performed in 1800, immediately achieved great fame, and has been adapted many times, making it one of the composer's most-performed works until 1830 – to the chagrin of Beethoven, who distanced himself from his composition in later years.

Photo: © Frank Beyer