WoO 118 – Seufzer einer umgeliebten und gegenliebe – Hast du nicht Liebe zugemssen, song for voice and piano
I) Moderato – II) Recitativo – III) Andantino – Gegenliebe: Allegretto
WoO 118 – Seufzer einer umgeliebten und gegenliebe – Hast du nicht Liebe zugemssen, for voice and piano, composed between 1794 and March 1795, published in Vienna by Diabelli im April 1837. nGA. No. 253 (series 23/40) – Boett. III/5 – Bruers 254 – KH. (Wo0)118 – L. IV, p. 357/c – Nottebohm p. 185 – Petters 53.
The original manuscript is unknown. The poetic text consists of two poems by Burger, combined by the composer into a single composition that follows the form of an aria: Recitative – Andantino – Allegretto.
The theme of the Allegretto section was later revisited and expanded both instrumentally and vocally approximately twelve years afterwards in the Fantasia op. 80 for piano, choir, and orchestra — a clear, though elementary, foreshadowing of the finale of the Ninth Symphony.
Il testo:
Hast du nicht Liebe zugemessen
Dem Leben jeder Kreatur?
Warum bin ich allein vergessen,
Auch meine Mutter du! du Natur?
Wo lebte wohl in Forst und Hürde,
Und wo in Luft und Meer, ein Tier,
Das nimmermehr geliebet würde?
Geliebt wird alles, wird alles ausser mir,
ja alles außer mir!
Wenngleich im Hain, auf Flur und Matten
Sich Baum und Staude, Moos und Kraut
Durch Liebe und Gegenliebe gatten;
Vermählt sich mir doch keine Braut.
Mir wächst vom süßesten der Triebe
Nie Honigfrucht zur Lust heran.
Denn ach! Mir mangelt Gegenliebe,
Die Eine, nur Eine gewähren kann.
Official title: WoO 118 Seufzer eines Ungeliebten (with: Gegenliebe) Song (E flat major, C major) after poems by Gottfried August Bürger for voice and piano Dedication: – NGA XII/1 No. 79 AGA 253 = Series 23/40
Creation and publication: Sketched in 1794/95, probably completed in 1795. The first edition was published posthumously in April 1837 by Diabelli & Co. in Vienna. Douglas Johnson dates the first surviving sketches to the late 1794/early 1795 period and assumes that another sketch is probably from the second half of 1795. It cannot be completely ruled out that Beethoven only completed the song much later. The sketches contained in the miscellany “Kafka” prove that Beethoven added the melodies to the text of both poems as belonging to a single song. Since the complete transcription of the work has not been found, it is unclear whether Anton Diabelli composed parts for the first posthumous edition – similar to the song “Die laute Klage” WoO 135. In a letter dated 5 June 1822, Beethoven offered the publishing house C. E Peters in Leipzig, in addition to the Missa solemnis, numerous earlier works for publication, including “mehrere ausgeführte Gesänge mit Klawier”, which also included WoO 118, for 12 ducats each, as can be seen from the sketch of the relevant price list (no. 1: „Hast du nicht liebe zugemeßen u darauf wüßt ich c moll, dur“; BGA 1468). Contract negotiations did not lead to a conclusion and the song remained unreleased during Beethoven’s lifetime. Text: The two poems by Gottfried August Bürger (1747-1827) were initially printed separately, “Gegenliebe” in the Göttinger Musen-Almanach for 1775 (p. 22), “Seufzer eines Unbeliebten” in the almanac for the year 1776 (p. 145f)- After a revision, they were collected in Bürger’s 1778 edition of poems (a relationship between the two poems in a single setting is thus evident). According to Helga Lühning, Beethoven probably used the edition of the “Gedichte von Gottfried August Bürger” published in Göttingen in 1789. First execution unknown.
The sketches will be treated in an article specifically created by Beethoven Music Research Centre www.lvbeethoven.org
