The string quintet in C Op. 29, with its beautiful, Schubertian first
movement; the two trio Serenades, Op. 8 and Op. 25.  For Most Drastically
Underappreciated, I nominate the Musik zu einem Ritterball, written just
before the young LvB migrated for good from Bonn to Vienna.  It is a
suite of ballet music, of a somewhat archaic, ceremonial flavour, in the
spirit of the much later Consecration of the House.  It was apparently
never performed in Beethoven's lifetime.  [Does any Listmember know
whether there are questions about its authenticity?]  In any case, the
music is a gas.

I agree with earlier posts that the Consecration of the House and the
Choral Fantasy are both splendid.  The relative obscurity of all these
pieces is indeed mysterious.   Maybe people tend to dismiss music by
Beethoven which is merely splendid, expecting something of supernatural
vision in his every utterance.

Jon Gallant   [[log in to unmask]]