Editing Thomas Beecham (section)

===German music===
[[File:Rosenkavalier-1913.jpg|thumb|left|alt=scene from operatic production, showing a man, woman and girl in 18th century costume|Beecham's 1913 production of Strauss's ''[[Der Rosenkavalier]]'']]
Beecham's attitude towards 19th-century German repertoire was equivocal. He frequently disparaged Beethoven, Wagner and others, but regularly conducted their works, often with great success.<ref name=cardus60>Cardus, p. 60</ref> He observed, "Wagner, though a tremendous genius, gorged music like a German who overeats. And [[Anton Bruckner|Bruckner]] was a hobbledehoy who had no style at all&nbsp;... Even Beethoven thumped the tub; the [[Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven)|Ninth symphony]] was composed by a kind of Mr. [[William Ewart Gladstone|Gladstone]] of music."<ref name=cardus60/> Despite his criticisms, Beecham conducted all the Beethoven symphonies during his career, and he made studio recordings of Nos. 2, 3, 4, 6, 7 and 8, and live recordings of No. 9 and ''[[Missa Solemnis (Beethoven)|Missa Solemnis]]''.<ref>Jenkins (1988), p. 3; and [http://www.worldcat.org/search?qt=worldcat_org_all&q=Beethoven+Thomas+Beecham "Search results: Beethoven/Thomas Beecham"], WorldCat. Retrieved 2 May 2014</ref> He conducted the [[Piano Concerto No. 4 (Beethoven)|Fourth Piano Concerto]] with pleasure (recording it with [[Arthur Rubinstein]] and the LPO) but avoided the ''[[Piano Concerto No. 5 (Beethoven)|Emperor Concerto]]'' when possible.<ref name=jefferson235>Jefferson, p. 235</ref>

Beecham was not known for his Bach<ref>Cardus, p. 28</ref> but nonetheless chose Bach (arranged by Beecham) for his debut at the Metropolitan Opera. He later gave the Third [[Brandenburg concertos|Brandenburg Concerto]] in one of his memorial concerts for Wilhelm Furtwängler (a performance described by ''The Times'' as "a travesty, albeit an invigorating one").<ref>"Concerts", ''The Times'', 19 January 1955</ref> In Brahms's music, Beecham was selective. He made a speciality of the [[Symphony No. 2 (Brahms)|Second Symphony]]<ref name=jefferson235/> but conducted the [[Symphony No. 3 (Brahms)|Third]] only occasionally,{{refn|Beecham gave a "blazing" performance of it at a memorial concert for [[Arturo Toscanini]] in New York in January 1957.<ref>Lucas, p. 331</ref>|group= n}} the First rarely, and the [[Symphony No. 4 (Brahms)|Fourth]] never. <!--adequate citation is needed for this: He sometimes conducted the German Requiem, but judged it "a ''dull'' piece";<ref>Baillie, Isobel, ''Never Sing Louder than Lovely'' his 1956 recording of an English-language [[Schicksalslied]] (a work sometimes termed a "Little Requiem")<ref>Edwin Evans. Handbook to the Vocal Works of Brahms. London: W. M. Reeves, 1912.</ref> has been described as "a deeply-felt and eloquently expressed performance...[Beecham] gets to the heart of Brahms's serious Germanic inspiration in such revelatory fashion."<ref>http://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/beecham-conducts-brahms {{Bare URL inline|date=January 2022}}</ref>--> In his memoirs he made no mention of any Brahms performance after the year 1909.<ref>Beecham (1959), p. 81</ref>

Beecham was a great [[Richard Wagner|Wagnerian]],<ref>Cardus, p. 109; Procter-Gregg, p. 77; and Melville-Mason (Wagner), p. 4</ref> despite his frequent expostulation about the composer's length and repetitiousness: "We've been rehearsing for two hours&nbsp;– and we're still playing the same bloody tune!"<ref>Reid, p. 206</ref>  Beecham conducted all the works in the regular Wagner canon with the exception of ''[[Parsifal]]'', which he presented at Covent Garden but never with himself in the pit.<ref>Jefferson, p. 189</ref><ref name=pg203>Procter-Gregg, p. 203</ref> The chief music critic of ''The Times'' observed: "Beecham's ''[[Lohengrin (opera)|Lohengrin]]'' was almost Italian in its lyricism; his ''Ring'' was less heroic than Bruno Walter's or Furtwängler's, but it sang from beginning to end".<ref>Howes, Frank, ''quoted in'' Procter-Gregg, p. 77</ref>

Richard Strauss had a lifelong champion in Beecham, who introduced ''Elektra'', ''Salome'', ''Der Rosenkavalier'' and other operas to England. Beecham programmed ''Ein Heldenleben'' from 1910 until his last year; his final recording of it was released shortly after his death.<ref name=jefferson235/><ref>Greenfield, Edward. "Strauss, Richard. ''Ein Heldenleben''", ''Gramophone'', June 1961, p. 32</ref> ''[[Don Quixote (Strauss)|Don Quixote]], [[Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks|Till Eulenspiegel]]'', the ''Bourgeois Gentilhomme'' music and ''[[Don Juan (Strauss)|Don Juan]]'' also featured in his repertory, but not ''[[Also sprach Zarathustra (Strauss)|Also Sprach Zarathustra]]'' or ''[[Death and Transfiguration|Tod und Verklärung]]''.<ref>Jefferson, pp. 234–235</ref> Strauss had the first and last pages of the manuscript of ''Elektra'' framed and presented them to "my highly honoured friend ... and distinguished conductor of my work."<ref>"Composer's Gift to Sir T. Beecham", ''The Times'', 22 April 1938, p. 12</ref>