Hess 55
WoO 65 – 24 Variations in D major on the theme “Venni amore” by Righini – a enigma solved
Courtesy of dott.ssa Paula Quint and Netherlands Music Institute
Hess 55 – Variations on “Venni amore” by Vincenzo Righini, first version. These variations were published by Götz in Mannheim in 1791, and were dedicated to Countess Hatzfeld. This first version of the work is said to differ in its essential elements from the last version published in 1801 [or 1802] by Traeg; however, no copy of it has been found. [In Kinsky/Halm, p. 513, the piece is catalogued under the number WoO 65; however, this double assignment of a catalogue number should be superseded. These are basically identical works, not a first and second version. Cooper writes: “For several years there was no trace of copies of the original 1791 edition, and the oldest available edition dated from 1802. The common opinion was that Beethoven must have revised the work in that year motivated from the idea that he could not have written a work of such advanced level before 1791. The discovery of the original edition proved them all wrong, as it showed that no changes had been made to the second edition and that Beethoven had therefore developed his compositional style much earlier than previously imagined.” See the notes on p. 31 of the booklet for vol. 6 of the Complete Beethoven Edition, published by Deutsche Grammophon. It should also be noted that Kinsky/Halm dates WoO 65 (Hess 55) to 1802, not 1801; the latter date, which Hess probably took from Nottebohm. Based on Thayer’s information, the lost 1791 edition was believed to have been published by Götz of Mannheim. When this was discovered, it was established that it had instead been published by Schott of Mainz. This edition was found in the music collection of the Gemeente Museum, in Gravenhage, Holland, by Clemens von Gleich, who was its curator. Dr. von Gleich claims that the copy is now “preserved in the Nederlands Musiek Instituut in The Hague, which is still the only copy known of this edition] (From “The new Hess catalogue of Beethoven’s works).
Note: Thanks to the interest of Dr. Paula Quint del Netherlands Music Institute, we present the only known title page of the first edition. Our heartfelt thanks go to Paula e al Netherlands Music Institute.
Beethoven wrote the Righini Variations in 1790-91, when he was still living in Bonn. In the summer of 1791, his friend Franz Gerhard Wegeler commented on a public performance by the young composer (Biographische Notizen, Koblenz, 1838, pp. 16f). He stated that, until then, having never heard a great pianist, he was unaware of the finer nuances of the instrument. His playing was “hard and rough.” On a trip from Bonn to Mergentheim, where the Elector resided, Beethoven and his orchestra arrived in Aschaffenburg, where he was introduced by Ries, Simrock, and the Rombergs to the pianist Franz Xaver Sterkel. Sterkel’s piano performance was pleasant and light; according to Ries senior, he played gracefully, like “a lady.” During the performance, Beethoven remained standing beside him, listening attentively.
Playing from memory after Sterkel, (who normally read the music from the score) Beethoven easily imitated the graceful, gallant style that Sterkel had previously used.
It is not known how Beethoven learned about the theme of the variations. Between 1787 and 1792, Vincenzo Righini (1765–1812) was court music director in Mainz. In 1788, the publisher Schott published his “XII Ariette Italienne”, “Venni Amore” being the twelfth and last (you can see it on the page of the 24 Variations WoO 65). Righini visited the court in Bonn during the summer of that year, but there is no evidence that he presented this arietta to Beethoven at that time. Righini’s original theme includes five variations, but only for voice. These variations did not interest Beethoven, who concentrated exclusively on the piano accompaniment. Beethoven’s composition was published on 13 August 1791, when the Wiener Musikalische Magazin announced that the 24 Variations on “Venni Amore” were available.
This original edition was long thought to be lost until Sieghard Brandenburg and Martin Staehelin discovered a copy in 1984. The Schott edition probably appeared in the spring of 1791, since the Musikalische Magazin states that the variations were already on the market. The Traeg edition of Vienna from 1802 is therefore not a second original edition, as is often claimed, nor an adaptation revised by Beethoven, but simply a new edition. Further reprints were published by Cappi in 1803–04 and by Simrock in 1807.
