WoO 46, Seven Variations in E-flat major for piano and cello on the theme of the duet “Bei Männern welche Liebe fühlen” (“In men who feel love”) from Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, dedicated to Count Browne, composed in 1801, published in separate parts in Vienna by Mollo in 1801; full score edition appeared in Frankfurt by Dunst around 1830. GA No. III/a (Series 13/8) – B. 158 – KH. (WoO)46 – L. IV, p. 319/10/4 – N. p. 145 – T. 81

Official Title: WoO 46 Sieben Variationen (Es-Dur) über das Thema „Bei Männern, welche Liebe fühlen“ aus der Oper „Die Zauberflöte“ von Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart für Klavier und Violoncello Dedication: Johann Georg Reichsgraf von Browne-Camus NGA V/3 AGA 111a = Series 13/8

The original manuscript is preserved at the Beethoven-Haus. This is the last, chronologically, of the three sets of variations for piano and cello composed by Beethoven, and the simplest and shortest among them. The fourth variation is notable for its expressive use of the minor mode. The sixth (Adagio) evokes the impression of an imaginary vocal duet. The seventh (Allegro non troppo) features a rhythmic-melodic character reminiscent of the Scherzo from the Septet. The coda, with its vigorous opening, seems to announce a fugue; however, it unfolds instead through brief octave imitations leading to a stretto that transparently reprises Mozart’s thematic figure.

Composed likely at the end of 1801 in Vienna. The original edition in parts was published by Mollo in Vienna in 1802. Beethoven wrote the autograph score on the same paper used for transcribing Lieder Op. 48 Nos. 5 and 6, composed between late 1801 and early 1802. The frontispiece of the original edition bears the inscription “Le 1er Jenvrier [!] 1802,” and its delayed announcement in the Wiener Zeitung of 3 April 1802 as “ganz neu zu haben” led Sieghard Brandenburg to suggest that Beethoven composed these variations as a New Year’s gift for Count Browne-Camus (Brandenburg/Violoncello p. 19).

Already on 22 April 1801, Beethoven had written in a letter: “bey Mollo hier kommen wenn mir recht ist, bis 8 Werke heraus” (BGA 59). It is not possible to verify whether WoO 46 was among these works or if the composition was already available at that time. In Wh I and Wh II, as well as in Artaria’s Catalogue des Oeuvres of 1819, the work is listed as “No. 10,” but Mollo’s editions bear no numbering. The number 12 given by Weinmann/Artaria (p. 77) for a later edition with plate number 1528 does not appear on the edition itself and was likely erroneously derived from the autograph transcription.

Jens Dufner notes that other editions published during Beethoven’s lifetime contain noteworthy features; for instance, the 1802 edition by Hoffmeister & Kühnel includes a series of dynamic markings absent from the original edition (Dufner/NGA V/3 KB p. 60f).

Theme: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Die Zauberflöte KV 620, Act I, Scene 14a, No. 7, duet between Pamina and Papageno: “Bei Männern, welche Liebe fühlen.” In 1801, Mozart’s opera was performed for the first time at Vienna’s Kärntnertortheater (27 performances; Hadamowsky/Hoftheater Part 1 p. 143).

Dedication Notes: Biographical notes on Johann Georg Reichsgraf von Browne-Camus: see Opus 9. — The Count was not originally the dedicatee of WoO 46. On the frontispiece of the autograph score, a note in an unknown hand reads: “Der Gr[ä]fin v frieß gewidmet gebohrne Fürstin v Hohenloh” (for biographical notes on Maria Theresia Josepha von Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst, married Countess Fries, see Op. 23). Brandenburg proposed that the dedication to Countess Fries may have been suppressed “weil man das Mozartsche Thema und seinen Text allzu gut kannte und die Dedikation gegenüber einer standeshöheren und verheirateten Frau als unschicklich empfand” (Brandenburg/Violoncello p. 19f). On the first page of the autograph music, the line below the title has been erased to the point of illegibility. It may have contained a previous dedication, possibly differing from the one on the frontispiece.

First Performance: Unknown. Sketches: Lost. Sketches for WoO 46 likely existed in the “Sauer” notebook, used by Beethoven between April and November 1801, now lost and only partially reconstructable (Brandenburg/Violoncello p. 19).

Score: D-BNba, BH 77. Dating: Probably late 1801 (Brandenburg/Violoncello p. 19). Regarding whether this manuscript served as the model for the original print edition, see Dufner/NGA V/3 KB p. 60 and DelMar/Variations p. 53.

Title: Folio 1 recto: “Variations sur le theme ,bej Männern, welche liebe fühlen’ composes [!] par louis van Beethoven.” Folio 2 recto, in Beethoven’s hand at the top margin: “N° 12,” to the right: “Variationen über das Thema ,Bey Männern, welche Liebe fühlen* kom-ponirt [a line—likely a dedication—crossed out] von Lv. Bthwn.” 11 folios; folio 1 recto title, folio 1 verso blank, 20 pages of musical text. Dimensions: 23.5 × 32.5 cm, 12 staves per page.

Provenance: Friedrich von Amerling, Vienna. — Carl Meinert, Dessau (Catalogue/Bonn 1890 No. 233). — Antiquarian bookstore Richard Bertling, Dresden. — Acquired in 1897. Facsimiles and descriptions: DBH/online. — Brandenburg/Violoncello pp. 29–50, description p. 19.

Original Edition (Parts): 1802 (Spring?). Vienna, T. Mollo et Comp., VN/PN 222. Title: “VARIATIONS / pour le Clavecin / Sur le Theme |Bey Männer [!] welche Liebe fühlen]]] / de l’Opera |die Zauberflöte| de Mr MOZART / Composées et dediées / à Son Excellence Monsieur / LE COMTE DE BROWNE / Brigadier au Service de S. M. L’Empereur de Russie / par / LOUIS van BEETHOVEN / a Vienne chez T. Mollo et Comp. / Le 1er Jenvrier 1802.”