Fox, You've Stolen the Goose - String Quartet

Fuchs, Du hast die Gans gestohlen (Fox, you've stolen the goose)

as Ludwig van Beethoven could (possibly) have composed it

for String Quartet

What if Beethoven had composed a string quartet about the well-known Germany nursery rhyme Fuchs Du hast die Gans gestohlen (Fox you've stolen the goose)? Perhaps it would sound like this work.

Based on the song composed by Ernst Anschutz, Wolfgang Birtel has made this arrangement for string quartet in the style of Beethoven. Each movement is also based on a movement from one of Beethoven's symphonies:

• Movement 1 is based on the final movement of the 1st Symphony in C major, Op. 21
• Movement 2 is based on the funeral march from the 3rd Symphony in E-flat major, Op. 55 "Eroica"
• Movement 3 is based on the allegro from the 5th Symphony in C minor, Op. 67
• Movement 4 is based on the Ode to Joy, the finale of the 9th Symphony in D minor, Op. 125

Containing other quotations, such as Beethoven's Fur Elise and Carl Maria von Weber's Huntsmen's chorus, this piece will be sure to delight audiences and performers alike.

Composed for the occasion of the traditional Bonn Rotary Club roast goose dinner in November 2008, with the idea being credited to Prof. Dr. Andreas Eckhardt from the Beethoven House in Bonn.

The quartet was premiered by the Quartetto anserino in Bonn-Bad Godesberg on 21 November 2008.

Includes score and parts.