If this clef occurs at the very beginning of a piece or directly after a bass-clef, the notes indicate the octave above the actual sounds: “ … Before we proceed further, it is necessary to acquaint the reader with the double meaning of the G-clef in violoncello notation. Talking about the cello and the treble-clef, Berlioz says: Now, I'm not an expert about cello performance practice but I found out something interesting when reading Berlioz’s Treatise on instrumentation and orchestration, where he gives information about each instrument. So I think that they printed the music exactly as Beethoven wrote it, but it may be wrong! The Breitkopf is more recent and in the preface the say that previous edition (by other publishers) contained errors. For example, the Breitkopf edition has several passages in treble clef, in the very high register, while the IMC has the same passages written one octave lower.
There are a few editions, the main difference I noticed is in the cello part. The following part can be of interest to you if you are going to play the eyeglasses duo. The Minuetto is a gentle movement, with phrases played in chords and in canon between the two instruments. Through the whole movement the two instruments in turn play the theme and accompany each other, playing fragments one after the other and together, with also cantabile phrases accompanied by arpeggios.īefore the recapitulation (the repetition of the initial theme) there is a very nice play of alternated pizzicato and bow playing. The viola starts energetically with the theme, played immediately later by the cello. I feel that with such a title, the Eyeglasses duo has to be played with a really playful attitude, exactly like two friends having fun, teasing each other. The Eyeglasses duo is not complete, there is an Allegro movement (not indicated) and a Minuetto with Trio. If you haven't done it yet, click below to listen to this playful work. So, if you were Beethoven, able to play viola, and had such a close friend, wouldn’t you play this duo with him? This might explain the funny title of the eyeglasses duo. In one of this letters he apparently teases Zmeskall for his short-sightedness, saying “ je vous suis bien obligé pour votre faiblesse des votre yeux” (“I am most obliged for the weakness of your eyes”).
Beethoven calls him ‘Count of Music’, ‘Most beloved Conte di Musica’, Most excellent Count of Music’, ‘Baron (and still bachelor)’, teasing him in many ways. There are many letters that show how the relationship between them was close, intimate, and these letters are very different from the ones written to other friends or patrons. Yes, he was like this, especially, but not only, when he was young. Zmeskall used to provide Beethoven with quills for his piano, wine and helped him in finding accommodations, correcting the proofs of his editions and doing many other things.īy reading his letters from this time I could also see Beethoven’s playful character, an aspect that I myself didn’t know, since Beethoven is always represented as stubborn, “angry”, fighting. He was a skilled amateur cello player and composer. He was secretary in the Hungarian Chancellery and remained Beethoven’s friend all his life. Nikolaus Zmeskall was one of the first people Beethoven met when arriving in Vienna. Beethoven himself played the viola so it’s very likely that he intended the duo for them to play together. Most certainly he wrote it for his friend and cello player Baron Nikolaus Zmeskall von Domanovecz. Beethoven wrote it around 1796-7, but it was published only in 1912. It’s not very clear why Beethoven gave the Eyeglasses duo its funny name.
Listen to the Eyeglasses Duo while you read “ Eyeglasses Duo ” is the nickname, the short title for the Duet “with two eyeglasses obligato” (“mit zwei obligaten Augengläsern”, woo 32), a duo for viola and cello in E flat major by Beethoven. Buy Viola in Music's Collection of 13 famous tunes Read more