I think it’s fair to say that Beethoven’s monumental symphonies would be considered ‘out of bounds’ when it comes to suitable material for guitar ensemble arrangement. However, the lighter scoring of Allegretto, the second movement of the composer’s Symphony no. 7, together with the guitar friendly key of A minor, make the piece very approachable.
The symphony, Op. 92, was written around 1811 and premiered in 1813 with the composer conducting.
When making an arrangement for guitar ensemble such as this a number of decisions have to be made. Clearly, a full symphony score will not transfer to six guitars without some compromises. What I’ve attempted to do here is to try to imagine what Beethoven might have done with the forces available.
All six guitarists play an important role and the parts are never dull. The arrangement will work for six players or for any number of players in a guitar orchestra situation.
I hope you enjoy playing the piece as much as I did arranging it.
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If you had told me that a movement from a Beethoven symphony could be arranged and workable for guitars, I would have reacted negatively! However, I was wrong. Here is a wonderful arrangement of the Allegretto from his 7th Symphony that works really well without any real compromise. Yes, of course 6 guitars cannot sound as loud or varied as a full orchestra but, that said, this is a great version of a movement that many will immediately know.
The difficulty factor is moderate, but all 6 parts are very much involved in the piece, so no one has an easy ride, so to speak! Set in its original key of Am, very guitar friendly, most of the music is single notes with the occasional pair of notes but very little three notes or more in the parts.
All I can say is that it really does work, and yes, although a few decisions had to be made by Burley on how to actually do some parts of it, he has made the piece sound very successful in its new guise. So whether you are 6 individuals or a larger group, you may really enjoy giving this a try!
Chris Dumigan (All Classical Guitar)
