National Airs with Variations, Op. 105:
No. 1 Air écossais (The Cottage Maid)
No. 2 Air écossais (Of Noble Race Was Shinkin)
No. 3 Air autrichien (A Schüsserl und a Reindl)
No. 4 Air écossais (Sad and Luckless Was the Season)
No. 5 Air écossais (Put Round the Bright Wine)
No. 6 Air écossais (English Bulls:
Oh Have You Not Heard, Pat)

National Airs with Variations, Op. 107:
No. 1 Air tirolien (I bin a Tiroler Bua)
No. 2 Air écossais (Bonny Laddie, Highland Laddie:
Where Got Ye That Sillermoon)
No. 3 Air de la petite Russie
No. 4 Air écossais (The Pulse of an Irishman Ever Beats Quicker)
No. 5 Air tirolien (A Madel, ja a Madel)
No. 6 Air écossais (Merch Megan)
No. 7 Air russe (Schöne Minka)
No. 8 Air écossais (Oh Mary, at thy Window Be)
No. 9 Air écossais (Oh! Thou Art the Lad of My Heart)
No. 10 Air écossais (The Highland Watch:
Old Scotia, Wake Thy Mountain Strain)

Contrast and Continuity: Beethoven's Late Works for Piano and Optional Flute (ad libitum)

This release focuses on a unique selection from Beethoven's late period: works for piano with an optional flute part - ad libitum - that reveal a rarely explored, yet all the more fascinating side of the composer. Framing Beethoven's monumental Hammerklavier Sonata, the two sets of folk song variations form the greatest conceivable contrast to this pianistic summit work. While the sonata, with its formal and technical radicalism, is considered the epitome of Beethoven's late style, the surrounding pieces are characterised by cantabile lines, accessible virtuosity and a sense of chamber-like lightness.

This publication sheds light on the role of the flute as an ad libitum instrument - an aspect rarely explored in the reception of Beethoven's music. It marks the beginning of a two-part series, the second of which will present Beethoven's early works for flute and piano - offering a compelling panorama of this instrumentation across the arc of his compositional development.