Expressifs et novateurs, les arrangements de chants populaires de Beethoven

The article highlights the importance of Beethoven's 179 folksong settings. The numbering system used for them in the current Beethoven thematic catalogue is highly confusing, whereas the author's own system has previously been praised as 'very well argued and comprehensible'. The settings, which were almost all commissioned by George Thomson, show remarkable originality and inventiveness, in many ways just as much as the composer's major works. Beethoven's use of motivic development, and his striving for continuity between stanzas, are particularly noteworthy, and are illustrated in the article.