Septet E flat major op. 20

“Send my septet out into the world a little faster – because the rabble is awaiting it”. It was thus that Beethoven bade his publisher make haste in 1802. The public did not take offence at this rather derogatory term: Today the Septet op. 20 for Wind and Strings is one of the most popular chamber music works for a larger ensemble, together with Schubert’s Octet.

Our edition follows the musical text which will soon appear in the Beethoven Complete Edition. As the only practical edition available at the current time, our Urtext edition not only contains the original part for horn in E flat but also a transposed one for horn in F.