WoO 153 Twenty (30 – 59 ) Irish Songs for voice, piano, violin, and cello
arrangement and creation of the instrumental parts (introductions, conclusions, accompaniments) by Beethoven
Official title: Irische Lieder II (XXX – LIX), für eine oder zwei Singstimmen mit Begleitung von Klavier, Violine und Violoncello. Widmung: — NGA XI/2 AGA/SBG siehe Konkordanz S. 369f
Beethoven composed the Lieder numbers 30 to 59 in several stages between 1810 and 1815. The first group (nos. 30, 38, 41, 47, and 49) was created in 1810; Lied no. 48 followed in 1812, and towards the end of that year, or the beginning of 1813, another set was formed (nos. 31, 33, 35, 36, 39, no. 40 in two alternative versions, a second version of no. 41, nos. 42, 45, 46, 50, and 52–59, as well as second versions of nos. 30, 48, and 49). Around the turn of 1814/15, a new group was formed (nos. 32, 34, 37, 43, and 51), and finally, in September/October 1815, Lied no. 44. The original edition of the 30 Lieder was published in May 1816 in Volume II of the Select Collection of Original Irish Airs by Thomas Preston in London and George Thomson in Edinburgh.
On 1st July 1806, the Scottish music lover and publisher George Thomson (1757–1851) first approached Beethoven, asking if he would be willing to harmonize Scottish melodies for him (later including Irish and Welsh melodies as well) (BGA 253; for the collections of folk songs published by Thomson and Preston, see more extensively Op. 108). Beethoven agreed (BGA 259), and Thomson subsequently sent 21 melodies between late 1806 and early 1807, which were, however, evidently lost in the post. On 25th September 1809, he resubmitted 43 melodies (including the first 21), among which were the Irish melodies from WoO 153 nos. 38, 41, and 47 (BGA 401). On 10th February 1810, Thomson sent another ten melodies, including those of WoO 153 nos. 30 and 49 (BGA 426). On 17th July 1810, Beethoven sent his harmonizations in triplicate, via separate routes (including source II.1), to Edinburgh (BGA 457). After a year had passed and none of the parcels had arrived, Beethoven (who had also sent his autograph scores) borrowed a copy prepared for Archduke Rudolf from Ignaz von Baumeister to have it transcribed again (BGA 514; possibly source II.7). The new shipment was made on 20th July 1811 (source II.6; BGA 515). Thomson confirmed receipt on 5th August 1812 (BGA 590), but he requested changes to some of the harmonizations, including WoO 153 nos. 30, 41, and 49. He cited excessive technical demands: “Ici les Ritornelles pour le Piano Forte quoique beaux, sont beaucoup trop brillans. […] Permettez moi donc, de vous demander des Ritornelles d’un Stile simple, coulant, et cantabile.” In the same letter, Thomson sent the melodies of WoO 153 nos. 31, 35, 36, 42, 52, 53, 55, and 58, and in a postscript, that of no. 33.
Around the turn of 1811/12, Thomson sent the melody of WoO 153 no. 48 (receipt confirmed by Beethoven on 29th February 1812, BGA 556). Beethoven delivered his harmonizations to the Fries bank in February, but Fries only forwarded them to Edinburgh in July 1812 (source II.9). They finally arrived in September 1812, and Thomson confirmed receipt on 30th October 1812 (BGA 604). He once again complained about the excessive difficulty and asked for new versions of several Lieder, including WoO 153 no. 48. He also sent the melodies of WoO 153 nos. 54 and 56 and requested the harmonization of five melodies that had been left without arrangements since 1810, namely WoO 153 nos. 39, 45, 46, 50, and 59. With his letter of 21st December 1812 (BGA 605), the melodies of WoO 153 nos. 40 and 57 followed.
Beethoven sent his new harmonizations (including two alternative versions for no. 40, from which Thomson was to choose) as well as those for the disputed pieces (nos. 30, 41, 48, and 49) on 19th February 1813 (source II.3; BGA 623). As Beethoven’s shipment had still not arrived by 27th March 1814 (BGA 629), Thomson reiterated the request but was finally able to confirm receipt with his letter of 23rd April 1814 (BGA 713).
By September 1813, Thomson had already sent four new melodies, including those of WoO 153 nos. 43 and 51 (BGA 671). In his letter of 23rd April 1814 (BGA 713), he added two more melodies (not from WoO 153). On 17th August, he sent all these again (BGA 730), and in his subsequent letter of 15th October, he emphasized that the version of the melodies sent in August was “le plus correcte” (BGA 752). By 15th September 1814, Beethoven had already requested an increase in his fee (BGA 739), which Thomson accepted on 12th October (BGA 754). In response to the request of 2nd January 1815 (BGA 773), Beethoven announced that the Lieder were “with the exception of a few” ready for shipment (BGA 784), but he only delivered them on 10th June to the Fries bank for forwarding to Edinburgh (BGA 813). Among the 15 harmonizations in this shipment were WoO 153 nos. 32, 34, 37, 43, and 51 (source II.4). Thomson confirmed receipt on 20th August 1815 and immediately sent three new melodies, including one for WoO 153 no. 44, for which Beethoven was to compose a second voice (soprano or tenor; BGA 825). According to the inscription on the autograph score (source I.9), Beethoven had already completed the harmonization on 23rd October 1815 (see also the similar inscription on source II.8); on 4th November, he delivered it to the Fries bank. Thomson confirmed receipt on 1st January 1816 (BGA 874), having gathered all the Lieder for the second volume of the Select Collection of Original Irish Airs, which was published in May of the same year. On 8th July, Thomson informed Beethoven that he had arranged for a copy to be sent (BGA 946). Although Thomson had asked the composer to confirm receipt, it is not known whether Beethoven received the print.
| Title | Author of the Text | Tempo | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| XXX | I dream’d I lay where flowers were springing | Robert Burns (1759–1796) | Andantino | Duet |
| XXXI | The Hero may perish | Andante con moto | Duet | |
| XXXII | Sad and Luckless Was the Season | Andante affettuoso e semplice assai | ||
| XXXIII | O soothe me, my lyre | Andante grazioso | ||
| XXXIV | By the side of the Shannon | Allegretto più tosto scherzando | ||
| XXXV | Norah of Balamagairy | Allegretto grazioso | ||
| XXXVI | The kiss, dear Maid, thy lip has left | Andante amoroso e teneramente | ||
| XXXVII | The Soldier | W. Smyth | Maestoso risoluto ed eroico | |
| XXXVIII | Oh! thou hapless soldier | W. Smyth | Andante con molto (!) espressione | Duet |
| XXXIX | The Elfin Fairies | David Thomson (1770?–1815) | Vivace | |
| XL | When far from the Home | David Thomson (1770?–1815) | Andantino amoroso | 2 alternative versions |
| XLI | I’ll praise the Saints with early Song | W. Smyth | Andantino | |
| XLII | Put round the bright Wine | W. Smyth | Allegretto quasi vivace | |
| XLIII | The wandring Minstrel | W. Smyth | Andantino quasi allegretto | |
| XLIV | Sunshine | W. Smyth | Allegretto grazioso | Duet |
| XLV | Oh! Who, my dear Dermot | W. Smyth | Andantino con espressione | |
| XLVI | The pulse of an Irishman | Vivace scherzando | ||
| XLVII | Paddy O’Rafferty | A. Boswell | Allegretto scherzando | |
| XLVIII | Oh! would I were | Andante amoroso | Duet | |
| XLIX | 'T is but in vain | Andante amoroso, languidamente | ||
| L | Save me from the grave and wise | Allegretto molto grazioso | ||
| LI | A health to the brave | Alla marcia | Duet | |
| LII | He promis'd me a parting | Allegretto con moto | ||
| LIII | O might but my Partick love | Andantino amoroso con esperessione teneramente | ||
| LIV | Come, Darby dear, easy | Allegretto più tosto vivace | ||
| LV | The soldier in a foreign land | Andantino amoroso | Duet | |
| LVI | No more, my Mary | Andantino amoroso con molto (!)esperessione | ||
| LVII | Judy, lovely, matchless creature | Andante amoroso | ||
| LVIII | Thy ship must sail | Andante con esperessione | ||
| LIX | The farewell song | Andantino con esperessione |
George Thomson: the gentleman who brought Beethoven into the world of folk songs
George Thomson was born in 1757 in Limekilns, Dunfermline, Scotland, the son of a schoolmaster with legal training. His education, grounded in solid humanistic foundations, fostered from an early age a deep interest in music, poetry, and the national cultural heritage. Although he was not a professional musician, Thomson developed remarkable expertise in the field of vocal music and the British folk tradition. For sixty years Thomson served as clerk to the Board of Trustees for the Encouragement of Art and Manufacture in Edinburgh. This stable position allowed him to devote himself to a far‑reaching cultural project: the enhancement of Scottish folk song through high‑quality musical editions. In 1793 he began publishing his monumental work, A Select Collection of Original Scottish Airs for the Voice, structured in six volumes issued between 1793 and 1841. The aim was twofold: to preserve and disseminate traditional Scottish, Irish, and Welsh melodies; and to ennoble them through cultivated accompaniments and poetic texts by leading authors.
Among the poets involved were Robert Burns, Walter Scott, Thomas Moore, Thomas Campbell, and Lord Byron. To lend musical authority to his collections, Thomson commissioned arrangements from important European composers: Joseph Haydn, Ludwig van Beethoven, Ignaz Pleyel, Leopold Kozeluch, Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Carl Maria von Weber, Henry Rowley Bishop, Robert Archibald Smith.
This network of collaborations, unique in its kind, transformed Thomson’s collection into a bridge between the British folk tradition and the European musical language. The relationship with Ludwig van Beethoven represents the most significant aspect of Thomson’s editorial activity. In 1806 Thomson proposed that the composer create accompaniments for British folk songs, following a model already tested with Haydn. Between 1809 and 1820, Beethoven composed 179 arrangements for voice, piano, violin, and cello, based predominantly on Scottish, Irish, and Welsh melodies supplied by Thomson. This is a substantial corpus, which occupied the composer for several years and constitutes a not insignificant part of his vocal output.
The collaboration was accompanied by extensive correspondence, written mainly in French due to their mutual linguistic difficulties. A key letter is that of 23 November 1809, preserved at the Beethoven‑Haus in Bonn, in which Beethoven: accepts writing accompaniments for 43 songs sent by Thomson; requests a higher fee; asserts his freedom to choose the instrumental ensemble; and observes that this type of composition is not “properly artistic,” but necessary for economic reasons.
These documents testify to a complex professional relationship, marked by mutual esteem but also by intense negotiation. Thomson continued to revise and expand his collections into old age. He died in 1851, leaving behind a cultural legacy of enormous significance: thanks to his work, Scottish and British folk song entered permanently into the European repertoire and acquired a new artistic dignity. His work remains today an indispensable source for the study of the folk tradition and for understanding the relationship between popular and cultivated music in the early nineteenth century.
