WoO 105 Hochzeitslied: Auf, Freunde, singt dem Gott der Ehen!, for soprano, one-part chorus and piano
WoO 105 – Wedding Song: “Auf, Freunde, singt dem Gott der Ehen!”, for soprano, one-part chorus and piano, 14 January 1819, first published in Leipzig in the annual Der Bär by Breitkopf & Härtel in 1927. Boett. XIII/2 – B. 288 – H. 125 – KH (WoO) 105 – T. 219 (pp. 137 and 195).
The original manuscript is held in the Hessische Landesbibliothek in Darmstadt. This is a small composition, on a text by A. J. Stein, written by Beethoven for the wedding of Nanni Giannatasio del Rio. Two stanzas are sung by the solo voice, followed by a third sung by the chorus. At the Royal College of Music in London there is an autograph of another version in A major for bass, mixed chorus and piano (H. 124). It was published there (Ewer & Co., late January 1858) with a different English text by John Oxenford, under the title “The Wedding Song”, on the occasion of Princess Victoria’s wedding. A modern edition of both versions was prepared by W. Hess in the fifth instalment of the Supplemente zur GA (1962).
[By Biamonti Giovanni – Catalogo cronologico e tematico delle opere di Beethoven comprese quelle inedite e gli abbozzi non utilizzati, Torino, ILTE 1968]
Official title: WoO 105 Auf, Freunde, singt dem Gott der Ehen Hochzeitslied (1. Fassung C-dur, 2. Fassung A-dur) nach einem Text von Anton Joseph Stein für Solostimme, Chor und Klavier Widmung: — NGA XII/1 Nr. 90-91 AGA – SBG V/20-21 (2. Auflage: 21-22; Hess 124-125)
Origin and publication: According to the date written by Beethoven himself, the autograph score of the first version was completed on 14 January 1819 in Vienna. The second version was prepared before 6 February, the day of the wedding. The first editions of both versions appeared posthumously: the first version in 1927 in the annual Der Bär; the second already in 1858, though with an English text, issued by Ewer & Co. in London. Gaetano Giannattasio del Rio, director of a Viennese school that Beethoven’s nephew Carl attended for many years, commissioned the composition from Beethoven for the wedding of his daughter Maria Anna (known as Nanni) with Leopold von Schmerling on 6 February 1819. The two versions differ, among other things, in key (C major and A major) and in choral writing (a unison choral refrain or one in four parts). The revisions were probably due to the exact scoring only being determined after the completion of the first version.
Text: Anton Joseph Stein (1759–1844), professor of Latin literature and Greek philology at the University of Vienna. According to Fanny Giannattasio del Rio, her father told Stein „wie er das Gedicht wünsche“. Only the first stanza, which Beethoven set to music, has survived, but Beethoven’s markings in the autograph scores indicate at least four stanzas. First performance: 6 February 1819 on the occasion of the wedding of Maria Anna Giannattasio del Rio and Leopold von Schmerling. Their daughter, Anna Pessiak Schmerling, reported on the performance of this composition in two letters to Alexander W. Thayer dated 20 March 1881 and 30 March 1887: „Als sie [die Braut] nämlich von der Trauung heimkehrte, hörte sie eine schöne Männerstimme, darauf ein Männerquartett mit Clavierbegleitung. Es war ein Hochzeitslied, welches Beethoven zu dieser Gelegenheit componiert hatte. Die Mitwirkenden, wie auch Beethoven selbst waren in einer Ecke des Zimmers versteckt. Als sie geendet hatten, traten sie alle aus dem Versteck hervor und Beethoven überreichte ihr das Manuscript des Hochzeitsliedes. Der Text dazu war von einem Freunde meines Großvaters, Professor Stein, ein in damaliger Zeit berühmter Gelehrter.“
The sketches will be featured in an article specially created for the Beethovenian Music Research Center, www.lvbeethoven.org
