Biamonti 43 – Mein (sic) Mutter fragt mich immer: Trinkst Du? Sketch of Lied, 1792
The musical examples on this page are curated by Graziano Denini.
Biamonti 43. “Mein (sic) Mutter fragt mich immer: Trinkst Du?”. Sketch of Lied, 1792. Nottebohm refers to this piece, reporting the first four bars, as an unbekanntes Lied (unknown song) that he found in a two-sheet booklet preserved at the Konigliche Bibliothek in Berlin (and also containing some sketches for the Minuet of the Octet for wind instruments in E flat major Opus 103, for the last Movement of the Trio in C minor Opus 1 number 3 and for the instrumental epilogue of the Feuerfarb, second sketch).
The author of the poem, Leopold Friedrich Gunther von Goeckingk, was born in Groeningen (district of Borde), studied in Halberstadt and was a friend of Johann Wilhelm Ludwig Gleim. Leopold continued to study in Halle. He studied with the well-known poet, Gottfried August Burger. Later he studied accounting and law at the Helle’s University.
After completing his studies in 1768, he became a trainee in the War and Territorial Chamber in Halberstadt. From 1770 he was director of the chancellery in the Prussian settlement of Ellrich, finding time to begin a career as a writer (“Lieder zweier Liebenden ” Leipzig 1777) where he met his wife Ferdinande Vogel (who died in 1781). Between 1776 and 1779 he contributed to the editing of the Göttinger Musenalmanach and in 1783 founded the Journal von und für Deutschland with Sigmund von Bibra in Frankfurt am Main.
In 1786 he became councillor in the War and Territorial Chamber of Magdeburg, in 1788 he was agricultural fiscal commissioner in Wernigerode and Prussian commissioner; in 1793 he was senior counsellor of private finances in Berlin.
In 1789, Goeckingk was invested with the title of nobility following a reward: having healed the coffers of the Royal Abbey of Quedlinburg. The nobleman Goeckingk, from the same year, lived between Daldorf and Gunthersdorf until 1807, following the Treaty of Tilsit which led to the dissolution of the General Directory of Berlin. He resigned in 1808 and devoted himself to poetry. He lived for several years in Wernigerode.
In 1814 he left his official responsibilities and retired. He lived first in Berlin, then moved to his daughter’s house in Gross Wartenberg, now Syców, where he died on February 18, 1828.
Goeckingk was a member of the Halberstadt Poets’ Circle and was one of the most important representatives. He was also a member of the “Berliner Gesellschaft vom Mittwoch” and the Göttingen Illuminati.
He was the brother-in-law of the jurist and poet Johann Gottlob Benjamin Pfeil (1732-1800).
An Amarant Krank fur Liebe
Meine Mutter fragt mich immer
Trinkst du auch der Madeltrank?
Trink ihn! Täglich wirst du schlimmer,
Ach! die liebe, Macht mich krank!
Nimm doch, spricht sie oft bey Tische,
Wirst so mager und so matt,
Nimm ein Stückchen von dem Fische! —
Ach! die Liebe macht mich satt!
„Siehst du nicht die Scheere liegen?
Liegt ja grade vor dir, Kind!
Kann dich so das Auge trügen?“ —
Ach! die Liebe macht mich blind!
„Bist so still? was mag dir fehlen?
Geht dir was im Kopf herum?
Weißt du gar nichts zu erzählen?“ —
Ach! die Liebe macht mich stumm!
„Ey! ich möchte fast dich schlagen;
Wäre Amarant doch hier!“
— Hörst du, Liebster? Eile! eile!
Leben bringst du ihr und mir!
The Poem from the collection Lieder zweier Liebenden, pages 66 and 67. (Here the Gedichte von Leopold Friedrich Günther von Göckingk- Poems by Leopold Friedrich Günther von Goeckingk – third edition, year 1821, also containing the poem in question).
The Lied is on Folio 53-Versus of the Fischhof. Beethoven writes it on 2 staves: one for the melody and the text, the other for any corrections or instrumental parts.
Except for the instrumental part only (measures 18-25), the Lied does not show indications either the bass or the harmony.
In the chant staff we also find indications for the piano (which Beethoven indicates “Cimbn”) which often overlap the melody.
At bars 14-15, the melody is on the second staff and another part on the upper staff. I interpreted the latter as if it were the bass.
In the middle of the manuscript we find 3 erased measures similar to the instrumental part followed by a part for solo harpsichord with the left to be played on the Albertine bass (Beethoven indicates the figuration of the bass in the first measure and then continues with the simple numbering).
The last 2 baarss bring back to the writing melody and keyboard on the first staff, to which he adds the bass on the second staff.
For the part given to the right hand of the piano, except where indicated in the manuscript, I followed a style that I often found in the lieder accompaniments of the time (see for example Blumenlese) and that is I doubled the singing with the addition of a countermelody a third below.
Harmony is very simple with few modulations or dissonant chords.
Mp3s created from Finale 25 and Kontakt sounds. Anyone wishing to perform the Lied in WP can request the entire score via the website, using the contact form.
