Beethoven Marches

So the question that has been plaguing me since I completed a course in Beethoven is the examination of Beethoven's "spurious" works. Theorist and performers spend so much time focusing on Beethoven's great works such as the Symphonies, String Quartet, and Piano Sonatas, with his choral, Military Band, and Other Chamber works get pushed to the side.

However, these pieces seem to have quite a bit to offer both analysts and performers. Granted, some are not as groundbreaking, but others might be landmark compositions in their own genres that have not been given the time of day.

I find myself spending a lot of time with Beethoven's Wind Band marches recently. The march in D major, in particular, is a really peculiar piece that is quite fascinating to analyze.

The form of the work is ternary with a short introduction. Though the piece is in D major, it focus on key areas typically not moved to in marches, especially during this time. The subdominant, chromatic mediants, and the flat leading tone are all key areas in this five minute march. To accomplish this, Beethoven had to write for three different keys of brass instruments.

How do these works come back into the repertoire? With all the wind ensembles around the country, why does a work like this not get performed anymore?

Part of this has to do with instrumentation. The work is too easy for many college ensembles, yet high school ensembles cannot deal with the transposition requirements. Not only that, but instruments like the Saxophone and Euphonium are not included in these older works, so that puts them out of the high school repertoire, who prefers to keep all instrumentalists playing.

Would a modern edition with optional Saxophone and Euphoium parts, among others, be worth writing. Would it destroy the intent of the original, or continue in the spirit of writing for what is available?