Opus 116 “Tremate, empi, tremate”, Terzetto for soprano, tenor, bass, and orchestra
I) Allegro
Opus 116 – Tremate, empi, tremate, terzetto for soprano, tenor, bass, and orchestra, Op. 116.
Composed between January and February 1814. First published in orchestral parts in Vienna by Steiner, February 1826; full score published in the Gesamtausgabe (GA), 1864.
GA No. 211 (Series 22/2) – B. 116 – KH. 116 – L. IV, p. 126 – N. 116 – T. 87.
The autograph manuscript is lost. Scoring: 2 flutes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, and strings. Originally sketched in 1801–1802, this work lay dormant for many years before Beethoven revised and completed it for performance at the Akademie held in the Grand Hall of the Ridotto on 27 February 1814, an event which also included the première of the Eighth Symphony and a repeat performance of the Wellington’s Victory.
The text, in Italian, is attributed—according to the manuscript copy of the revised score preserved at the Beethoven-Haus—to “Signor Maestro Bettoni.”
Dramatic in nature, the plot follows a typical melodramatic scene: a tyrant discovers the woman he loves in conversation with her lover, and responds with rage and threats, while the other two plead for mercy. The music is appropriate to the dramatic context—respectable if not especially distinguished—and is cast in the form of an extended aria with the conventional three-part structure: Recitative (Allegro) – Adagio cantabile – Allegro molto.
[By Biamonti Giovanni – Catalogo cronologico e tematico delle opere di Beethoven comprese quelle inedite e gli abbozzi non utilizzati, Torino, ILTE 1968]
Official title: Opus 116 Tremate, empi, tremate Terzett (B-dur) nach einem Text von Giovanni De Gamerra für Sopran, Tenor, Bass und Orchester Widmung: — NGA X/3 AGA 211= Serie 22/2
Origin and Publication: Sketched in the early months of 1802, and likely further elaborated in late 1802 or early 1803 in Vienna. The original edition of the piano reduction and orchestral parts was published in 1826 by Steiner & Comp., Vienna. The trio was probably intended for an Akademie planned for April 1802, which ultimately did not take place (BGA 85). It remains uncertain whether the now-lost autograph score had already been completed at that time. However, annotations in the “Keßler” sketchbook suggest that the version referred to there differed significantly from the one transmitted in the extant full score copy. Based on the paper type used, this copy can be dated to late 1802 or early 1803. It is possible that the notes written in the “Wielhorsky” sketchbook are connected to a revision of the autograph score that Beethoven may have undertaken in preparation for a scheduled performance at the Akademie on 5 April 1803. Opus 116 was among the works that Beethoven transferred in ownership to Steiner & Comp. under the contract of 20 May 1815. In any case, the work was not published until 1826. While the piano reduction was likely available in print by early February, the production of the orchestral parts appears not to have begun before April.
The title page of the original edition reads: “TERZETTO ORIGINALE […] con accompagnamento di CEMBALO” (“Original Terzetto […] with harpsichord accompaniment”). This led a reviewer to speculate: „es sey ursprünglich so, nämlich nur für Pianofortebegleitung, geschrieben und dann vom Autor für das Orchester bearbeitet worden? oder was heisst es sonst?“ (AmZ 24, 1826, colonna 496).
It was only after Beethoven contacted the Viennese censorship authorities in April 1826 (BGA 2144) that Steiner’s successor, Tobias Haslinger, apparently agreed to change the title (and certain passages in the musical text). The revised edition bore a new title, prepared around September 1826. “Tobias zeigte heute den Probeabdruck des neuen Titels zu dem Terzett” Noted Karl Holz in a conversation book from that month (BKh 10, p.233f)
Text: Giovanni De Gamerra (1743–1803); dramma per musica Medonte, Act II, Scene 15 — the final scene of the act, featuring Medonte, Selene, and Arsace. Beethoven may have become familiar with the text through Giuseppe Sarti’s setting Medonte, Re di Epiro (1777), which was performed in Vienna in 1794.
First Performance: The first performance took place on 27 February 1814 in Vienna, during Beethoven’s Akademie in the Grand Redoutensaal. The trio was performed by Pauline Anna Milder, Vincenzo Antonio Giuseppe Siboni, and Karl Friedrich Clemens Weinmüller.
The sketches will be featured in an article specially created for the Beethovenian Music Research Center, www.lvbeethoven.org
