Opus 80 Fantasy in C minor for piano, orchestra and chorus
1. Adagio
2. Finale: Allegro – Meno Allegro – Allegro molto – Adagio – Marcia assai vivace – Allegretto ma non troppo – Presto
Opus 80 – Fantasy in C minor for piano, orchestra and chorus, Op. 80, first half of December 1808 – second half of 1809; dedicated to King Maximilian Joseph of Bavaria; published in choral and orchestral parts in Leipzig by Breitkopf & Härtel, July 1811; in full score ibid., June 1849. GA no. 71 (series 9/8) – B. 80 – KH. 80 – L. III, p. 188 – N. 80 – T. 142.
The original manuscript has been lost; a choral score is preserved at the Beethoven-Haus. The sketches are to be found in the notebook already mentioned under Biamonti 456 and in a number of loose leaves, likewise preserved at the Beethoven-Haus and originating from other sources. According to Czerny, the work originally intended to close the concert of 22 December 1808 was the Fifth Symphony (also receiving its first performance); but the fear that, at the end of so lengthy a programme, the audience might be too exhausted led Beethoven to change his plan. He moved the symphony to the beginning of the second half and replaced it, as the final item, with another work of lesser demands and more immediate appeal, based on the theme of the song Gegenliebe WoO 118, composed by him in 1794–95, and involving, in addition to the orchestra, a piano part and a concluding chorus.
The sketches in the aforementioned notebook are numerous, but they do not date from a period much earlier than the concert itself. The Fantasy, as it was presented to the public on that occasion, lacked the present pianistic introduction (Adagio), which was composed only in the second half of the following year; in its place Beethoven probably performed an improvisation. The musical motif of Gegenliebe bears an evident affinity to that which underpins the final movement of the Ninth Symphony, though there it is developed on a far broader and more solemn scale.
With the Ninth Symphony the Fantasy also shares the fundamental idea of the participation of the human voice, which enters at the end to celebrate a state of jubilant exaltation, whose cause is articulated by the words, while the music seeks to convey its emotional character.
From the mutual love between man and woman celebrated in Gegenliebe, we move in the Fantasy to the “harmonies of life in the realm of beauty, where every contrast is resolved, and the magic spell of sounds is consecrated by the voice”; and in the Ninth to the celebration of a universal feeling of joy which, breaking down every social barrier, unites all humankind in goodness and brotherhood.
In the Fantasy, however, the introduction of words serves above all as an external element enhancing a work intended to engage through the originality of its soloistic–instrumental–vocal conception and the music’s ready communicative appeal. The text was improvised, or almost so, by the poet Christoph Kuffner (illustrated opposite), or, it seems, suggested to him by Beethoven himself. There exists a sketch of the musical theme with entirely different words, by an unknown author (see Biamonti 486). The pianistic introduction is at once solemn and brilliant in character, like a great cadenza designed from the outset to assert the authority of the soloist.
The episode that follows, with the circumspect, pianissimo theme in the strings and the piano’s brief responses, calls to mind—despite the absence of any dramatic conception—the opening of the second movement of the Fourth Piano Concerto; but it is no more than a preamble. After some characteristic calls in fifths from the horns and then the oboes, the soloist immediately enters the heart of the argument by presenting the theme. This is then passed on, in transparent variations, to the flute, then to the oboes, accompanied by the piano; to the clarinets, accompanied by the bassoon; and finally to the full orchestra. After a brief development there follows, in quicker figurations (Allegro molto alla breve, E-flat major – C major), a variation shared between piano and orchestra, itself leading to a further development.
The series is concluded by two further, more engaging variations: one very gentle (Adagio non troppo, 6/8, A major) in the clarinets and bassoons (later in the violas and cellos), interwoven with the piano; the other in a resolute march-like movement (Assai vivace, 2/4, F major), predominantly in the wind instruments. An Allegretto non troppo, almost Andante con moto, 2/4, C major, introduced by a shortened return of the string theme, repeats—against a background of whirling piano figurations—the call in fifths; immediately thereafter the human voice enters (soloists, or a few choral voices) with the opening words of the text: “Schmeichelnd hold”. At first Beethoven had considered introducing the singing with a few linking words between the instrumental section and the poetic vocal part (analogous to what he later did, on a much broader scale, in the Ninth Symphony with the bass recitative: “O Freunde, nicht diese Töne”, etc.).
Some sketches place beneath the calls in fifths, instead of the opening words of the text, the phrase “Hört ihr wohl!”, with the annotation: “Hier erst die Singstimmen”. This idea, however, was later abandoned. Introduced so directly, the singing unfolds in faithful imitation of the first instrumental exposition, taken up by groups of voices (first sopranos and altos, then tenors and basses), lightly accompanied, then resumed and briefly developed by the full choral body supported by the complete orchestra, and concluded in a kind of final stretto, repeated twice. A sustained passage in E-flat major, reinforced in fortissimo by the full chorus and orchestra to the words “Wenn sich Lieb und Kraft vermählen”, strikingly foreshadows that of the Ninth: “Überm Sternenzelt! Über Sternen muss er wohnen!”.
Since we have spoken repeatedly of analogies with the Ninth, it seems useful to reproduce here the poetic text of the Fantasy:
“Schmeichelnd hold und lieblich klingen unsers Lebens Harmonien,
und dem Schönheitssinn entschwingen Blumen sich, die ewig blühn.”
“Fried’ und Freude gleiten freundlich wie der Wellen Wechselspiel;
was sich drängte rauh und feindlich, ordnet sich zu Hochgefühl.”
“Wenn der Töne Zauber walten und des Wortes Weihe spricht,
muss sich Herrliches gestalten, Nacht und Stürme werden Licht.”
“Äuß’re Ruhe, inn’re Wonne herrschen für den Glücklichen.
Doch der Künste Frühlingssonne lässt aus beiden Licht entstehn.”
“Großes, das in’s Herz gedrungen, blüht dann neu und schön empor;
hat ein Geist sich aufgeschwungen, hallt ihm stets ein Geisterchor.”
“Nehmt denn hin, ihr schönen Seelen, froh die Gaben schöner Kunst.
Wenn sich Lieb’ und Kraft vermählen, lohnt dem Menschen Götter Gunst.”
[By Biamonti Giovanni – Catalogo cronologico e tematico delle opere di Beethoven comprese quelle inedite e gli abbozzi non utilizzati, Torino, ILTE 1968]
[To Biamonti Giovanni – Catalogo cronologico e tematico delle opere di Beethoven comprese quelle inedite e gli abbozzi non utilizzati, Torino, ILTE 1968]
Composition and publication. Beethoven worked out the choral–orchestral finale in December 1808 in Vienna, shortly before the première on 22 December. The definitive written form of the introductory Fantasy, which at this performance was probably for the most part improvised, was not prepared by the composer for publication until late summer/autumn 1809. The London first edition was published by Clementi & Co. in October 1810; the Leipzig first edition followed in July 1811, issued by Breitkopf & Härtel. Beethoven wrote to Breitkopf & Härtel that „der Text wie die Musik das Werk einer [gestrichen: Nacht war] sehr kurzen Zeit war, so daß ich nicht einmal eine Partitur schreiben konnte“ (BGA 465). This is also confirmed by Carl Czerny, from whose accounts we derive the most detailed report on the genesis of Op. 80: „Als Beethoven 1809 [recte: 1808] das große Concert im Theater an der Wien geben wollte, wo zum erstenmal die Pastoral- u C mol Symphonies so wie das G dur Concert etc aufgeführt wurde, kam ihm kurz vorher die Idee, ein glänzendes Schlußstück für diese Akademie zu schreiben. Er wählte ein schon viele Jahre früher componirtes Lied-motif, entwarf die Variationen, den Chor, etc: und der Dichter Kuffner mußte dann schnell die Worte /: nach Beethovens Angabe :/ dazu dichten. So entstand die Fantasie mit Chor op. 80. Sie wurde so spät fertig, daß sie kaum gehörig probiert werden konnte. Beethoven erzählte dieses in meiner Gegenwart, um zu erklären, weshalb er bey der Aufführung noch einmal wiederholen ließ. ‚Einige Instrumente hatten sich verpausirt‘, sagte er, ‚hätte ich noch einige Takte weiter spielen lassen, wäre die gräßlichste Disharmonie entstanden. Ich mußte unterbrechen‘.“
This type of song, used for Op. 80, includes the song WoO 118, already composed in 1794–95. The results of sketch studies show that Beethoven wrote the piano part of Op. 80 in its definitive form only in late summer/autumn 1809, that is, several months after the first performance of the work in December 1808. The few surviving sketches for an introduction, noted down in December 1808, have nothing in common with the final version. Presumably Beethoven improvised the piano part entirely at the Academy, or perhaps had only a few guiding notes before him. The only surviving autograph is a score of the vocal parts, which was not created until 1810, during the preparations for publication, and was probably required for the production of the engraving plates. To date, neither a complete autograph score nor a piano part annotated by Beethoven has been found.
What has survived, however, is the engraving copy of the piano part corrected by the composer for the first German edition; an individual part from the materials of the first performance (Violin I) bearing Beethoven’s corrections; and copies of the wind and timpani parts, which derive directly from the first-performance materials but show no corrections by Beethoven. For a further variant with an introductory string passage, see Hess 16.
Text. In Carl Czerny’s account of the composition of Op. 80, the author of the text is mentioned by name, and this attribution is supported by an anonymous review of the première in the Intelligenteblatt der Annalen der Literatur und Kunst of February 1809. It states: „Ausser der schon […] gespielten Phantasie, machte noch eine zweyte der Beschluss des Ganzen, mit allmähligem Eintreten des Orchesters und einiger abwechselnder Singstimmen, die dann nach jeder Strophe von einem vollen Chor unterstützt wurden. Die schönen Worte hierzu, schrieb der durch mehrere ästhetische Arbeiten längst schon rühmlich bekannte Hr. C. Kuffner, und sie enthielten das Lob der Tonkunst, als der Erhöherinn unserer Lebensfreuden.“
(Quoted from Kopitz/Op. 80.)
This text is not found in the 20-volume edition of the works published in 1845. For stylistic reasons, Friedrich Treitschke (1776–1842) appeared to Nottebohm to be the most likely author (Nottebohm, Beethoveniana II, pp. 503 ff.). Friedrich August Kanne (1778–1833) has also been cited as a possible author of the text of Op. 80 (Fellinger/Kanne). Opinions differ as to whether the composer himself might be the author of the text (Raab/NGA X/2, pp. 196 ff.).
Dedication. As shown by a letter from Beethoven to Breitkopf & Härtel, the dedication to Maximilian Joseph I, King of Bavaria (1756–1825), was not intended by the composer but was added by the publisher on its own initiative: „wie komme aber ums himmels willen zu der Dedikation meiner Fantasie mit Orchester an den König von Baiern? antworten sie doch so gleich hierüber, wenn sie mir dadurch ein Ehrenvolles Geschenk bereiten wollten, so will ihnen dafür danken, sonst ist mir so etwas gar nicht recht, haben sie es vieleicht selbst dedicirt, wie hängt dieses zusammen, Ungefragt darf man Königen nicht einmal etwas widmen“ (BGA 523).
Nothing is known about the King’s possible reaction to this dedication.
First performance. At Beethoven’s Academy on 22 December 1808 at the Theater an der Wien, with the composer at the piano.
The Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung wrote: „Was hingegen die Exekutirung dieser Akademie betrifft, so war sie in jedem Betracht mangelhaft zu nennen. […] Am auffallendsten war aber das Versehen, welches in der letzten Fantaisie vorfiel. Die Blas-Instrumente variirten das Thema, welches Beethoven vorher auf dem Pianoforte vorgetragen hatte. Jetzt war die Reihe an den Oboen. Die Klarinetten — wenn ich nicht irre! — verzählen sich, und fallen zugleich ein. Ein kurioses Gemisch von Tönen entsteht; B. springt auf, sucht die Klarinetten zum Schweigen zu bringen: allein das gelingt ihm nicht eher, bis er ganz laut und ziemlich unmuthig, dem ganzen Orchester zuruft: Still still, das geht nicht! Noch einmal – noch einmal! und das gepriesene Orchester muss sich bequemen, die verunglückte Fantaisie noch einmal von vorn anzufangen — !“
The work was also performed on 22 December as part of a benefit concert with the pianist Marie Koschak (BGA 531).
The sketches will be discussed in a separate article prepared for the Centro Ricerche Musicali: www.lvbeethoven.org.
Here below you will find the PDFs, MIDI and MP3 files of the Choral Fantasy; in addition, the piano transcription derived from the extensive sketch preserved at the Beethoven-Haus. Willy Hess also records, as no. 16 in his catalogue (Supplemente zur GA, volume X, 1967, p. 75), an introductory string part for the Fantasy, consisting of three staves for violin, viola and cello, to be performed together with the piano part—either alongside it or in combination with the improvised prelude serving as the introduction to the Fantasy. For further details, please refer to the above-mentioned page.
