Popper’s Requiem, Op. 66

This broadcast opens with a composition by one of the finest cellists of the 19th century – David Popper. Popper wrote his Requiem for an uncommon ensemble featuring three cellos with piano. Next, we have Beethoven’s Septet, Op. 20. Written in 1799 when Beethoven was not yet thirty, this amiable, symphonic Septet convinced Viennese audiences that he was not just a virtuoso pianist who happened to write music, but a talented composer to be taken seriously in his own right.