Hess 115 – Vestas Feuer, first scene of an opera by Schikaneder, soloists (soprano, two tenors and bass) and orchestra, 1803, completed and published by Willy Fless, Wiesbaden, Bruckner Verlag (now Alkor Édition, Kassel), 1953. H. 115 – T. 266.

The autograph manuscript of the fragmentary vocal piece known as Vestas Feuer is today preserved in the archive of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna. It was originally part of the so, called “Beethoven estate”, a collection of the composer’s papers auctioned on 5 November 1827. The manuscript was described at that time as a “Pezzo di canto con orchestra, compiuto ma non interamente strumentato”,  a vocal piece with orchestra, complete but not fully orchestrated. Alexander Wheelock Thayer, in his foundational catalogue of Beethoven’s works, mentions the piece without assigning a date, referring to it as a “Terzetto vocale: Volivia, soprano; Sartagone, tenore; Poro, basso: manoscritto incompiuto, in possesso della Musikverein a Vienna”.

Gustav Nottebohm published both the text and the first thirty-five bars of the closing section — the actual trio — in the first volume of Beethoveniana, proposing that it could be the finale of a larger work, perhaps an opera or a Singspiel. He suggested that the libretto might be by Emanuel Schikaneder, the theatrical impresario and librettist best known for Die Zauberflöte, and that Beethoven had been asked to set it to music around 1803. In a later publication, Nottebohm returned to the topic and observed that sketches for the aria “Hort, Rachegötter, mich” followed the trio. On this basis, he retracted the earlier theory of it being a finale, though he continued to believe that both fragments came from the same dramatic project,  a work for the Theater an der Wien that Beethoven had begun before he turned his attention to Fidelio.

Thayer, in a later expansion of his work with Hermann Deiters and Hugo Riemann, put forth a different hypothesis. He imagined that Schikaneder had commissioned a second opera from Beethoven titled Alessandro, set in India, as a thematic or symbolic continuation of the inaugural production staged at his new theatre two years prior. Yet it wasn’t until 1930 that the matter was finally clarified. That year, Raoul Biberhofer discovered in the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek a complete manuscript of Vestas Feuer, a large-scale two-act opera written by Schikaneder. Thanks to this find, scholars were able to confirm with certainty that Beethoven’s music belonged to the opera’s opening scene, and that the additional sketches pertained to an aria from the second act.

The historical context of this unfinished collaboration sheds light on its abrupt abandonment. In the early 1800s, Schikaneder was seeking to compete with the imperial court theatres and the growing popularity of French opera in Vienna. To this end, he recruited two composers for his new operatic venture: the rising young Ludwig van Beethoven, whose fame and promise were increasing rapidly, and the 54-year-old abbé Georg Joseph Vogler, a respected operatic composer, organist, pianist, and theorist.

Beethoven was likely approached in the early months of 1803 and invited to compose Il Fuoco di Vesta (Vestas Feuer). However, it soon became apparent that he was uncomfortable with the task. The libretto, with its convoluted Roman setting and overwrought plot, did not appeal to his aesthetic or dramatic sensibilities. Moreover, Viennese audiences were turning their attention to the so-called Rettungsopern, “rescue operas”, of French origin, which emphasised realistic conflict, moral resolution, and the triumph of liberty and justice over oppression. These themes were considerably more compelling than exotic heroism or implausible dramatic twists.

Beethoven’s dissatisfaction is directly evidenced in a letter dated 4 January 1804, addressed to Johann Friedrich Rochlitz. In it, the composer declines a proposed opera libretto on the grounds that it “had to do with magic”, adding that he regretted this refusal even more because “a new libretto could deliver me, at this precise moment, from an extremely embarrassing situation.” He continued: “I have broken definitively with Schikaneder, whose empire has, in truth, been completely eclipsed by the light of the brilliant and seductive French operas. Meanwhile, he held me captive for six whole months… I have thus cancelled all agreements with him, even though I had already composed several pieces. Imagine a Roman subject (of which I had been told neither the general plan nor any details), and a language and verses that could have come straight from the mouths of our Viennese Aepfelweiber.” He concluded that he had quickly adapted an old French libretto and had begun work on that instead.

The matter soon resolved itself. At the beginning of 1804, the Theater an der Wien was purchased by Baron von Braun, who removed Schikaneder from his position as theatre director. This development liberated Beethoven from his obligations to the project. Schikaneder subsequently handed the libretto to Joseph Weigl, Kapellmeister of the court theatre, who composed a complete setting in short order. The opera premiered on 10 August 1805 — only a few months before the first performance of Fidelio — and was repeated several times before disappearing from the repertoire. To our knowledge, Vestas Feuer has never been revived. The complete libretto was later published by Willy Hess.

The plot is as elaborate as it is unlikely. Volivia, daughter of the Roman nobleman Poro, is secretly in love with Sartagone, the son of her father’s mortal enemy. Malo, a slave of Poro who is also in love with Volivia, reveals the affair. Guided by Malo, Poro observes the couple’s meeting, during which they vow eternal love. When discovered, Volivia and Sartagone plead for forgiveness, and Poro eventually relents. However, Malo, in league with the tribune Ponteo, denounces Poro before the decemvir Romenio, claiming that he and Volivia were abducted as children and brought to Rome as slaves, and that Volivia is in fact his sister. Romenio, the third and most dangerous of Volivia’s suitors, has already cast off the noble Sabine Sericia to pursue her. On the advice of Ponteo, who desires Sericia for himself, Romenio sends Poro and Sartagone away on military missions and orders Volivia held in his palace until the matter is judged within three days. Hoping to win her in the meantime, Romenio faces an uprising from the people, who resist the guards attempting to seize Volivia. The Augurs intervene and decree that she must be consecrated as a Vestal. Though Romenio storms the temple, extinguishes the sacred fire, and wreaks destruction, Volivia escapes. After further complications, including the return of Poro and Sartagone and a people’s revolt, Romenio finds Volivia again. She is pursued by Malo, who threatens to kill her unless she submits to him. Romenio captures Malo and has him thrown bound into the Tiber. Believing the woman is finally his, he is instead stabbed by Sericia, who has also become a Vestal. In this final act of vengeance and redemption, the villains are vanquished, peace is restored, and the sacred fire of Vesta rekindles itself miraculously. The final chorus unites Poro, Sartagone, Volivia, Sericia, the Vestals, the Augurs, and the people in a hymn of thanksgiving to the gods.

Beethoven’s contribution to the project consisted of four episodes, comprising a continuous dramatic scene. The first, Blick, o Herr, sees Poro and Malo secretly watching the lovers; the orchestra whispers beneath Malo’s words, while Poro replies darkly. Their tension is briefly captured in a short duet. The second episode is a lyrical duet, Liebe Freundin, lebe ivohl!, in which Volivia and Sartagone bid each other farewell, swearing eternal love in a tender Andante molto cantabile. The melody alternates between voices before briefly uniting them, only to be interrupted by Poro’s sudden entrance. The third episode, Dein Vater war mein Feind, is more dramatic: Poro threatens his daughter and her lover, while the two plead desperately. Sartagone, facing Poro’s implacability, draws his sword to end his life, but is stopped by a joint cry of Halt ein! from father and daughter. The orchestra comments briefly on Poro’s inner turmoil, and finally, his anger is overcome he forgives the lovers. As Malo cries in despair, Web mir! Sie ist dahin. Für mich ist sie ewig hin!, the orchestra rises in an animated crescendo.

The final episode is a trio: Nie war ich so froh wie heute, sung by Volivia, Sartagone, and Poro, celebrating their union and peace. The piece foreshadows the duet O namenlose Freude from Leonora (later Fidelio), both in tone and musical style. However, the score remains unfinished.

The manuscript includes some minor gaps in the vocal lines and the string parts. While the wind instruments are meticulously listed on the title page: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 pairs of horns in G and E♭ (used alternately depending on key), their actual parts are almost entirely missing. These gaps, as well as those in dynamic markings, expression, articulation, and even musical orthography, were filled in by Willy Hess in his 1953 edition, which includes a historical introduction and full documentation of his editorial decisions. He also produced a piano–vocal reduction.

Vestas Feuer remains an intriguing relic of a project abandoned, a project which, had Beethoven seen it through, might have become his first opera. Instead, it was the failure of this very libretto that eventually led him to a better one: Leonore, and its final incarnation as Fidelio.