WoO 109 Trinklied: Erhebt das Glas mit froher Hand… – For solo Voice with Unison Choir and Piano
Allegretto
WoO 109 – Trinklied: Erhebt das Glas mit froher Hand… – About 1797. For solo voice with unison choir and piano, c. 1797, first published in the supplement of the G.A., 1888. G.A. no. 282 (series 25-19) Boett.I-3 Bruers 269 -KH (WoO) 109 – Petters 15 – SCH. page 216 – 11 – Thayer 20 Biamonti 13.
The original manuscript is in the British Museum. Text by unknown author. Composed on the occasion of a farewell (beim Abschied zu singen). The choir echoes the Solo twice, repeating the final words with the same music.
Erhebt das Glas mit froher Hand
und trinkt euch heitren Mut.
Wenn schon, den Freundschaft euch verband,
nun das Geschike trennt,
so heitert dennoch euren Schmerz
und kranket nicht des Freundes Herz.
Nur trinkt, erhebt den Becher hoch,
ihr Bruder, hoch und singt nach treuer Freunde
weisem Bauch und singt das frohe Lied.
Uns trennt das Schicksal,
doch es bricht die Freundschaft treuer Herzen nicht.
[By Biamonti Giovanni – Catalogo cronologico e tematico delle opere di Beethoven comprese quelle inedite e gli abbozzi non utilizzati, Torino, ILTE 1968]
Official title: W oO 109 Erhebt das Glas mit froher Hand (Trinklied, beim Abschied zu singen) Lied (C-dur) für einstimmigen Chor und Klavier Widmung: — NGA XII/1 Nr. 72 AGA 282 = Series 25/19
Origin and publication: Lied composed around 1791/92 in Bonn.
The first edition was published posthumously in 1888 as part of the AGA by Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig. The paper and the characteristics of the handwriting in the autograph score indicate Beethoven’s last years in Bonn, 1791/92. It is conceivable that Beethoven wrote the song for his departure from Bonn. Text: Origin and author unknown. The above title in parentheses goes back to the AGA, and therefore probably to Eusebius Mandyczewski or Gustav Nottebohm. In Beethoven’s transcription only the 1st and 5th stanzas of the poem are underlined, the other stanzas are unknown. First execution unknown.
The Sketches will be covered in an article specially created for the Beethoven Music Research Centre www.lvbeethoven.org
