WoO 134 Sehnsucht: Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt for Voice and Piano
I) Andante poco agitato – II) Poco andante – III) Poco adagio – IV) Assai adagio
WoO 134 – Sehnsucht: “Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt” for voice and piano, 1807 – February 1808; four editions, published in Vienna, Kunst und Industrie Comptoir, beginning of 1810 (the first also previously, and equally in Vienna, as an appendix to the third issue of the periodical Prometheus, May 1808). GA. n. 250 (series 23/37) – Boett. VII/3 – B. 241 – KH. (WoO) 134 – L. IV, p. 334/38 – No. pp. 180-181 – T. 156.
Text from Wilhelm Meister by Goethe. The original manuscript is part of the Bodmer collection held at the Beethovenhaus; the same applies to the drafts of the second version (see also N., II, pp. 531–532). A note on the first page reads: “Nb. Ich hatte nicht Zeit genug, um ein Gutes hervorzubringen, daher mehrere Versuche. Ludwig van Beethoven” (I did not have enough time to produce something good, hence several attempts. L.v.B.).
The first three versions are, in fact, very simple and brief, both in invention and development, each based on a single melody for both stanzas of the text—something that certainly does not enhance their appeal. In the fourth version, which is more expansive, the “attempt” has taken on the form of a small, organically structured work. Here, a different melody is given to the second stanza, musically linked to the first in a way that harmonises with the poetic meaning. The initial musical idea returns only at the conclusion, which reprises the opening two lines: “Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt weiss was ich leide!”, serving as a seal of formal and expressive completeness.
Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt
Weiß, was ich leide!
Allein und abgetrennt
Von aller Freude,
Seh ich [ans]1 Firmament
Nach [jener]2 Seite.
Ach! der mich liebt und kennt,
Ist in der Weite.
Es schwindelt mir, es brennt
Mein Eingeweide.
Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt
Weiß, was ich leide!
[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 134 Sehnsucht Vier Lieder (g-moll; Nr. 3: Es-dur) nach einem Gedicht von Johann Wolfgang von Goethe für Singstimme und Klavier Widmung: — NGAXII/1 Nr. 32-35 AGA 250 = Serie 23/37
Origin and Publication: the Lieder were composed at the beginning of 1808. No. 1 was first published that same year as a supplement to the Viennese journal Prometheus. The complete original edition was published in May 1810 by the Kunst- und Industrie-Comptoir in Vienna and Pest. One of the editors of Prometheus, either Leo von Seckendorf or Joseph Ludwig Stoll, commissioned Beethoven to compose a song for publication in the journal.
Beethoven’s comment on the autograph manuscript—„nicht Zeit genug, um ein Gutes hervorzubringen“ (not enough time to produce something good)—suggests a brief compositional process. Thus, the first three settings may have been composed shortly before the publication of No. 1 in Prometheus in April 1808. It is possible that Beethoven had not yet completed the fourth Lied at that time.
Only two years later did the original edition of all four songs appear through the Wiener Kunst- und Industrie-Comptoir. The announcement was published in the Wiener Zeitung on 19 May 1810. In all likelihood, however, the edition was released in the first quarter of the year, as the reprint by Simrock had already been scheduled for 14 June 1810.
Text: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832), „Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt“, from Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre.
The sketches will be featured in an article specially created for the Beethovenian Music Research Center, www.lvbeethoven.org
