Opus 44 – Fourteen Variations on “Ja, ich muß mich von ihr scheiden” for Piano, Violin and Cello
Rather from: Dittersdorf “Das rote Käppchen” – aria “Ja ich muss mich von Ihr scheiden”
Theme – Andante
Opus 44 – 14 Variations in E-flat major for Piano, Violin, and Cello on an Original Theme, Op. 44, around 1800, published in Leipzig by Hoffmeister and Kühnel, 1814. GA. No. 88 (series 11/10) – B. 44 – KH. 44 – L. II, p. 240 – N. 44 – P. 47 – T. 105.
The original manuscript is lost. Nottebohm dated this work to 1792 or 1793, having found a sketch in a sheet written by Beethoven, which contained on its second and third pages sketches for the Feuerfarb.
However, Thayer-Riemann, based on a report from Jahn that there were further sketches along with those for the Septet and Ich denke dein in another well-known notebook (the Grasnick No. 2, already mentioned in Biamonti 187-196), opined that it belongs to a period around 1800 and is musically related to the composition of the ballet Die Geschöpfe des Prometheus (The Creatures of Prometheus).
The staccato articulation of the theme is, for Thayer-Riemann, another point of connection to Die Geschöpfe des Prometheus. The variations perhaps matter more in terms of technical and timbral aspects, and for their pleasing quality, rather than for the intensity of expression. Notably, the seventh variation (Largo 6/8 in minor) alternates the theme between cello and violin, accompanied by a steady rhythmic pattern of chords from the piano; the next variation (Un poco Adagio, alla breve) is in major, with the melody played by the piano; the thirteenth variation (Adagio, again in minor) has a freer and more complex character than the seventh (note the chromatic descent of the melody in the second part).
Official title: Opus 44 14 Variationen (Es-dur) über „Ja, ich muß mich von ihr scheiden“ aus der Komischen Oper „Das rothe Käppchen“ von Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf für Klavier, Violine und Violoncello Widmung: — NGAIV/3 AGA 88 = Serie 11/10
Origin and Publication: Probably composed in 1792 (as with the piano variations WoO 66), inspired by a performance of the opera Das rothe Käppchen by Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf, in Bonn. The original edition in parts was published by Hoffmeister & Kühnel in Leipzig in January 1804. Beethoven wrote a cadential sketch, comparable to the coda of the variations, which he used in 1792 (Johnson/Fischhof vol. 1, p. 275). According to information from Otto Jahn, the sketchbook Grasnick 2 (DB, Mus. ms. autogr. Beethoven Grasnick 2) originally included pages with notes for Op. 44 (TDRII, p. 410). This can no longer be verified, as those pages have been removed from the notebook (JTWS. 861).
Douglas Johnson suspects, based on a musical quotation contained in Op. 1 No. 1, that the variations may have originally belonged to an early version of the trio (Johnson/Fischhof vol. 1, p. 275). Joseph Müller-Blattau, on the other hand, believes that Op. 44 was originally for solo piano (see Müller-Blattau, Variations “Rekonstruktion”, published by Ichthys Verlag Stuttgart, 1957). The Opus 44 Variations belong to a group of compositions and arrangements (see Op. 39–42, 49, 50 and 52) that Beethoven is believed to have sold in 1803/04—presumably due to financial difficulties—in order to settle debts.
Negotiations with the publisher for Op. 44, along with Opp. 39–43, took place in September 1803. The publications were announced in the publisher’s catalogue of January 1804 (cf. Op. 42), in the Reichsanzeiger of 25 January 1804, and in the Leipziger Zeitung of 6 March 1804. According to Dan Fog, the commercial catalogue No. 1 of the Lose company in Copenhagen, published on 8 June 1803, states: “Variat. avec Viol. & Vcelle” by Beethoven, advertised as “available”.
Fog’s identification of these variations as Op. 44 is not consistent with surviving letters, but no other convincing explanation has been proposed (could they possibly be WoO 45 “[…] avec Violon ou Violoncelle”, WoO 40, or WoO 46?). Moreover, the catalogue only contains works by Beethoven published before 1802. (Op. 29/Arr., 39 and 40, published in spring 1803, were announced by Lose later.)
Theme:
Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf, Das rothe Käppchen, comic opera, from No. 14 aria: “Ja, ich muß mich von ihr scheiden”. Dittersdorf himself wrote the libretto, adapted from Giannina e Bernardone by Filippo Livigni. The opera was first performed in Vienna in 1788 and, starting in February 1792, received multiple performances in Bonn. At that time, Beethoven was playing viola in the Elector’s orchestra. In March 1792, Bernhard Schott published a piano reduction of the entire opera by Ignaz Walter in Mainz, which was also sold as separate editions of individual numbers (Krebs/Dittersdorfiana pp. 116–120 and Müller/Schott p. 143).
The aria appeared before the end of March 1792 as No. 8 in a set of individually published Gesänge from the opera (with piano reduction by Charles Khym) by Johann Michael Götz in Munich, Mannheim, and Düsseldorf (Schneider/Götz p. 201). The aria was not included in any other volume before the selection published by Breitkopf in Leipzig in 1792 (piano reduction by Siegfried Schmiedt). (See also Weber-Bockholdt/Op44.)
Beethoven also composed the piano variations WoO 66 based on Arietta No. 9 from the same opera.
First performance: Unknown. Sketches: A coda or cadenza: A-Wgm, A 11, Folio 1 recto. Date: 1792 (Johnson/Fischhof vol. 1, p. 275); Transcription: Weber-Bockholdt/Op44. Original edition (parts): 1804 (January), Leipzig, Hoffmeister & Kühnel. Title: XIV / VARIATIONS / pour le / Fortepiano, Violon et Violoncelle / composés par / Louis van Beethoven. / Oeuvre 44. / Proprieté des Editeurs constate par l’Auteur / Leipzig chez Hoffmeister et Kühnel / Bureau de Musique.
