Transcriptions from “La Danaïdes” by Antonio Salieri
a) Act I, Scene I, trio “Toi par qui, sans terreur” and Plancipe’s aria “Loin de nous”
b) Act I, Scene II, duet Lyncee / Hypermnestre “Oublions tous ces jours de peine” – Act II, Scene I, chorus of the Danaïdes “A quels maux nous livra”; Act III, chorus “Descends dans le sein d’Amphitrite” and chorus “Pour nos devoirs montrons un même zèle”
c) Act IV, Scene III, duet Hypermnestre / Lyncee “Hélas que ne puis-je te suivre”, second part from “Sort cruel! Quelle est ta rigueur!”; Act IV, Scene IV, chorus “Arrête, implacable fureur”
Antonio Salieri (Legnago 1750 – Vienna 1825). He studied in Venice and Vienna, where he remained for his entire life, holding the highest musical positions at court and in the theaters. He had pupils who later became famous, such as L. van Beethoven (who dedicated to him the three Sonatas for piano and violin in D major, A major, and E-flat major, Op. 12), F. Schubert, and F. Liszt. In 1821, he was struck by a severe mental illness that forced him to abandon his activity.
He composed over forty theatrical works, five Masses, a Requiem, three Te Deums, motets, psalms and other sacred music, cantatas, oratorios, much vocal chamber music, symphonies, chamber music — with a style characterized by rich instrumentation, not very original in character but always decorous, clear, and discursive, which in its best manifestations (Les Danaïdes, Paris 1784 and La grotta di Trofonio, Vienna 1785) achieves theatrical effectiveness.
Beethoven was always extremely interested in the artistic production of his colleagues, so much so that he continued to study their scores throughout his life, often learning unexpected harmonic solutions.
Les Danaïdes by Antonio Salieri was one of the great “French operas” of the time. It premiered in Paris in 1784 and achieved such popularity that it was performed 32 times in the French capital in just the first three years after its debut. It was one of the greatest successes of Salieri’s long and honored career.
Under the title Danaiden, the opera was repeatedly performed — despite the disadvantage of a very approximate libretto translation — even in Germany. Strangely, the staging of the opera in Vienna cannot be demonstrated due to lack of sources, even though Salieri worked in the Habsburg capital for over 50 years and enjoyed great influence and prestige at court.
But how did Beethoven get the idea to copy four numbers from this opera? And where did he get the material to use as a model?
In the Wiener Stadtbibliothek, there still exists a brief correspondence from 1785 between Salieri and Artaria, a Viennese music dealer and publisher; this correspondence shows that Artaria asked Salieri to send him three copies of Les Danaïdes engraved in Paris in 1784, to display them in his shop on consignment. The rigorous publisher had long kept an accurate list of works loaned or given to Beethoven, and among these, at number 231, appears the name of our opera. Beethoven thus came into possession of the original score.
The Opernvertonung (sung opera) was at its peak in Vienna at the time, and Beethoven probably took composition lessons from Antonio Salieri from 1798 or from 1801 to 1802 (Theodore Albrecht, in an article published in Beethoven Journal 22 (2007), reflected on the possibility that, contrary to previous belief, these lessons may have taken place a few years earlier, even in 1793) to study dramatic composition and Italian prosody (see also the cycle of Italian arias WoO 99).
Salieri, who had composed over 40 operas, was a recognized specialist in the field, and Beethoven hoped to learn the complexity of the word-sound relationship and musical declamation, initially driven by a general interest in the subject; this interest led him a year later to the unresolved attempt of Vestas Feuer Unv. 15.
The transcription may therefore have originated during these lessons with Salieri; this consideration also derives from the observation of some passages in the finale of the Piano Concerto in C major Opus 15, which seem to be transliterations directly from Les Danaïdes (as already noted by the greatest scholar of Beethoven’s sketches, Gustav Nottebohm, in his Zweite Beethoveniana at the end of the 19th century).
But why did he make an additional copy, which we can see in these four images from the archive of the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn?
The hypothesis is that the copies may date to 1803/1804, which was a very fruitful period for transcriptions. Beethoven made transcriptions from Mozart and Cherubini, particularly interested in ensemble phrases (this topic is discussed on the pages dedicated to them). To prepare for writing Leonore Hess 109, Beethoven copied several pieces that remained at his disposal at least until the final drafting of his Fidelio Opus 72, in 1814.
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„Les Danaïdes”, Oper in fünf Akten; daraus:
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- I. Akt, 1. Szene, Terzett „Toi par qui, sans terreur” und Arie Plancipe „Loin de nous” Singstimmen, Partitur: S-Smf, MMS 1257 (SV 382).
- I. Akt, 2. Szene, Duett Lyncee/Hypermnestre „Oublions tous ces jours de peine”- II. Akt, 1. Szene, Chor der Danaiden „Ä quels maux nous livra”; III. Akt, Chor „Descends dans le sein d’Amphitrite” und Chor „Pour nos devoirs montrons un même zèle”.
Singstimmen, Partitur: D-BNba, Slg. H. C. Bodmer, HCB Mh 44. Faksimile und Beschreibung: DBH/online.
c. IV. Akt, 3. Szene, Duett Hypermnestre/Lyncee „Helas que ne puis-je te suivre”, zweiter Teil ab Tempowechsel „Sort cruel! quelle est ta rigueur!”; IV. Akt, 4. Szene, Chor »Arrete, implacable fureur”.
US-R. Alle drei Handschriften gehörten ursprünglich wohl zusammen. Datierung: zwischen 1802 und 1805 (Albrccht/Salieri). Eine gestochene Partitur der Oper befand sich in Beethovens Besitz (Nr. 231 des Nachlassverzeichnisses). Literatur: Albrecht/Salieri.
At Zentralfriedhof – Gate 2, the grave of the great Salieri still exists. It is located along the left perimeter wall just after entering; simply continue without being discouraged by vehicles and the cemetery’s maintenance area. A forgotten grave — the gilding on the inscription was recently restored thanks to Italian interest, otherwise it would go completely unnoticed; it lies among ordinary people…
Salieri, a musician and uncommon person, is ignored in Austria. I brought a basket of flowers (hoping they last long) and a candle. I invite my musician friends and others to a relay to care for this grave, to honor it — at least we Italians and musicians.
