Opus 66, 12 Variations in F major, for piano and cello, on the theme of the aria “Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen” (A girl or a little woman) from Mozart’s Magic Flute, op. 66, 1798 (before September), published in detached parts in Vienna, Traeg, September 1798. GA. No. III (series 13/7) – B. 66 – KH. 66 – L. III, p. 69 -N. 66 – P. 96 – T. 57

Official title: „Opus 66“ Zwölf Variationen (F-dur) über das Thema „Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen“ aus der Oper „Die Zauberflöte“ von Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart für Klavier und Violoncello Widmung: — NGA V/3 AGA 111= Serie 13/7

The original manuscript is unknown. Of particular interest: the first variation (only piano) for its light play of legato; the second for some darker lines of counterpoint on the piano under the thematic singing of the cello; the fourth for the alternative between the melodic phrasing of the cello and the light commentary (also here in short legato figures) of the piano; the tenth and eleventh, in minor, for their expressive essentiality: like a funeral march and a threnody, which make us think in advance of the Eroica Symphony.

Origin and publication: The surviving sketches probably date from 1796. The original edition in parts was published in September 1798 by Traeg Vienna. The only known sketches are on a sheet preserved in the Miscellanea “Kafka”. On the back of this sheet are annotations for a first symphony in C major Unvollendete Werke Unv. 2), on which Beethoven worked in 1795 and 1796. According to Douglas Johnson, the sketches for op. 66 were conceived later, probably during Beethoven’s trip to Prague and Berlin in 1796 (probably in view of the joint concert with the cellist Jean Louis Duport at the Berlin court). Theme: “Die Zauberflöte” KV 620, Deutsche Oper in zw Aufzügen, Text von Emanuel Schikaneder, No. 20, Aria; in France known by the title “La vie est un voyage”, in England as “Colomba o Tortorella”. Traeg published the original edition in the Wiener Zeitung on 22 September 1798. Like most variations, the work did not appear with a work number, but with a number assigned by the publisher: Traeg and a few others counted it as No. 6, Zulehner and Schott as No. 4 in the series of variations. Artaria numbered it for the first time at number 66, which remained vacant until 1819. (cf. op. 65). For Artaria and Beethoven, the chronology of creation or printing was of no interest, but it was important to number them since the publisher had taken over the work from the first publisher, Traeg, in 1818. Opus number 66 was assigned to the wind trio Op. 87 in the “Verzeichnis der sämmtlichen Werke von Ludwig van Beethoven” by Tobias Haslinger. First execution unknown.

Sketches: GB-lbl, Add. Ms. 29801 (“Kafka”), folio 71recto Date: 1796 (Johnson/Fischhof Bd. 1 S. 467), Facsimile and transcription: Kerman/Kafka.

Edizione originale (parti) 1798 (settembre). Vienna, Traeg, senza VN/PN. – Titolo: “”XII VARIATIONS / on the Theme / (ein Mädchen oder Weibchen) / from the opera die Zauberflöte / for the / Pianoforte-Forte / with / an obbligato Cello / Composed / by / LOUIS VAN BEETHOVEN / N° 6. / in Vienna at Jean Traeg’s in Singerstrasse. /