“Vive la Bagatelle! From a great man, everything is intriguing, and his least little things are no less interesting”. This note from 1782 written by Jean Paul, a fashionable writer of his era, could be interpreted as a prophecy, as many years later Beethoven wrote his three cycles of piano pieces called Bagatelles. Especially the late Bagatelles (op.126) from 1824 are profound and animated piano miniatures opening up a true cosmos of musical imagery! Beethoven himself described them to his publisher Schott in Mainz as follows: “Six bagatelles, or little things for piano alone; some of them are the most worked out, and probably the best of the type that I have yet written”. However, today we hear these bagatelles in a very unusual version played by a jazz ensemble: a world premiere for the Beethoven Year! The internationally renowned musicians from Germany, Jonas Schoen-Philbert (saxophone and bass clarinet), Florian Menzel (trumpet), Uli Kempendorff (saxophone and flute), Moses Yoofee Vester (piano), Haggai Cohen-Milo (bass) and Heinrich Köbberling (drums) demonstrate us that brilliant music can make a lasting impression in every form! 

Ludwig van Beethoven
Six Bagatelles, op.126
(version for jazz orchestra)

1. Andante con moto, Cantabile e compiacevole
2. Allegro
3. Andante, Cantabile e grazioso
4. Presto
5. Quasi allegretto
6. Presto - Andante amabile e con moto - Tempo I