WoO 74 Ich denke dein, six Variations in D major for voice and piano 4 hands, dedicated to Josephine Deym née Brunswik and Therese Brunswik, c. 1803 – 1804, GA. no. 123 (series 15/4) – Boett. V/2-B. 160- KH.- (WoO) 74 – L. IV, p. 322/27 – N. p. 146 – T. 77.

Published, together with the four of 1799, in Vienna, Kunst und Industrie Comptoir, January 1805. The original manuscript is not known; Sketches are missing. As was said at the time, the variations offered on the album by Beethoven to the Brunswik sisters were only four. When Beethoven began to think of publishing them (approximately late 1803-1804) he interspersed two more between the second and fourth. The completed work of six variations appeared in January 1805.

Official title: WoO 74 Ich denke dein Lied mit sechs Variationen (D-dur) nach einem Gedicht von Johann Wolfgang von Goethe für Klavier zu vier Händen Widmung: Josephine Gräfin Deym von Stritetz und Therese Gräfin Brunsvik de Korompa NGAVII/1 AGA 123 = Serie 15/4

Composition and publication: Beethoven composed variations 1-2 and 5-6 in the spring of 1799, variations 3-4 probably in August or early September 1803. The original edition was published in January 1805 by the Kunst-und Industrie-Comptoir in Vienna. On 23 May 1799 Beethoven wrote the theme and variations 1-2 and 5-6 in the family register of the sisters Josephine and Therese Brunsvik. This date can be found in the dedication of the first edition of Praga, which was to be based on the family diary of the two sisters, now lost. By contrast, the title page of the original Vienna edition, published in January 1805, reads “geschrieben im Jahre 1800”, which is probably an inaccurate memory of Beethoven (see Buchstein NGA VII/1 KB p. 30). In August, or early September 1803 at the latest, Beethoven added two more variations (3 and 4) to the album.

On August 2, 1803, Julie Guicciardi wrote from Vienna to her cousin Therese Brunsvik:„Mit Beethoven sprach ich von Deinen kleinen vierhändigen Variationen. Ich zankte ihn darüber aus, er versprach mir alles. Du sollst sie bald wieder haben. Sehe ich ihn noch vor meiner Abreise, so werde ich nicht ermangeln, ihn daran zu erinnern, wir werden sehen, ob ich dann zur Erfüllung Deines Wunsches etwas beizutragen vermag.“ (Schmidt-Görg/Brunsvik p. 20.) On September 9, 1803, Charlotte Brunsvik reported to her sister Josephine da Buda: “Apropos de Musique, savez-vous deja que Bt: [Beethoven] a composé encore deux variazioni dans notre Stammbuch; n’est il pas bien aimable, et adorabile; Julie Gu: [Guicciardi] l’a écrit a Tesi [Therese], mais nous ne les avons pas encore.” (Schmidt-Görg/Brunsvik p. 20.) Consequently, Beethoven must have already composed Variations 3 and 4 when Beethoven offered Hoffmeister & Kühnel the opportunity to publish them around 20 September 1803 (cf. BGA 157; the offer was unsuccessful). The planned fourth edition may have been the reason why Beethoven kept this familiar book. It was still in his possession on November 1, 1803. Charlotte Brunsvik reported to her brother Franz: „Beethoven läßt gar nichts von sich hören; das quattro mani aus dem Stammbuch hat er noch immer.“ (LaMara/Brunsvik p. 28 e 42.)

On February 2, 1805 – immediately after receiving the printed work – Therese sent a ‘reply’ to her sisters staying in Vienna, a rewrite of the poetic text she had written, which begins: „Ich denke dein beim heitern Früherwachen / Und dein gedenkend schlaf ich ein“ (LaMara/Brunsvik p. 56). The original Viennese edition of 1805 contains the final version of the work with all six variations, while the Prague edition, which was probably published around 1820 and without Beethoven’s knowledge, offers the earlier version without variations 3 and 4 (see in detail Buchstein NGA VII/1KB pp.29-31). Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s poem “Nähe des Geliebten” was written in 1795, inspired by a song by Karl Friedrich Zelter with similar words by Friederike Bruns. Goethe’s poem appeared in the same year in the “Arienbuch der Claudine von Villa Bella”, then in Schiller’s Musen-Almanach for the year 1796 (Friedlaender/Lied Vol. 2 p. 200, German/Goethe p. 106).

Beethoven, who according to the sketches contained in “Grasnick 2” was working on a Lied for Goethe’s poem, (see Biamonti 176) in the spring of 1799, chose a sketch of the first stanza of the song (“Grasnick 2”, p. 41) as the theme for the variations. He also wanted Goethe’s poem to be reproduced for printing variations (BGA 157). Dedication: On Therese Countess Brunsvik de Korompa, see op. 78. His younger sister Josephine, born on 28 March 1779 in Pressburg, died on 31 March 1821 in Vienna, took piano lessons with Beethoven together with Thérèse in May 1799. At her mother’s insistence, Josephine married Count Joseph Deym von Stritetz (1752-1804), owner of the Müllersche Kunstkabinett (see WoO 33a), on 29 June 1799. The count died in Prague in January 1804 and in 1810 Josephine entered into a second, unhappy marriage to Christoph Freiherr von Stateiberg (1777-1841). Thirteen surviving letters from Beethoven dating back to the winter of 1804/05 testify to his deep affection for Josephine. A letter from Beethoven to Zmeskall, written on October 25, 1804, refers to the dedication and the writing of the title text of the original edition: „ich bitte mir ordendich die Namen Brunswick und devhm zu schreiben, falls sie finden, daß ich sie fehlerhaft schreibe, ich stehe in jedem gleichzeitigen Falle ihnen wieder zu Dienst“ (BGA 196). — In the list of subscribers to Op. 1 of is called “Comtesse Brunswick”. (Clive/Dictionary First run unknown.

Sketches: DB, Mus. SM. autogr. Beethoven Grasnick 2, pp. 37-39 and 41-42 (song), p. 59 (variations). Date: spring 1799, before 23 May (JTW p. 87), facsimile: Virneisel/Grasnick2, further facsimile: SBB/

Variations 1-2 and 5-6, score: D-B, mus. SM. autogr. Beethoven Grasnick 23, folios 7-9. Date: May 1799 (Johnson/Fischhof Vol. 1 p. 218). The manuscript also contains WoO 33a. Title: sheet 1 recto at the top “L. v. Beethoven” (also on folio 6v). 10 sheets; 16 pages of musical text Sheet 1 recto – 6 versua WoO 33a, sheet 7r-9r WoO 74, blank sheets 4v, 9v and 10. Provenance: purchased under number 184 of the “Beethoven succession” of 1827 by Tobias Haslinger, Vienna. – Friedrich August Grasnick, Berlin. – Acquired 1879. Facsimile: SBB/ Description: Bartlitz/Catalogue p.38. Original and first edition in Vienna: 1805 (January). Vienna, Kunst- und Industrie-Comptoir, VN/PN 398. – Title: “LIED MIT VERÄNDERUNGEN / zu vier Händen, / geschrieben im Jahre 1800 / in das Stammbuch der Gräfinnen / Josephine DEYM und Therese BRUNSWICK / und beyden zugeeignet / von / Ludwig van Beethoven. / No. 27. /