WoO 150 – “Abendlied unterm gestirnten Himmel”: “Wenn die Sonne niedersinket” for Voice nd Piano
Ziemlich anhaltend ♩ = 76
WoO 150 – “Abendlied unterm gestirnten Himmel”: “Wenn die Sonne niedersinket” for voice and piano, dedicated to Dr Braunhofer, 4 March 1820, first published as a musical appendix to the Wiener Zeitschrift für Kunst, Literatur, Theater und Mode of 28 March 1820. GA No. 247 (series 23/34) – Boett. XIII, 4 – Bruers 253 – KH (WoO) 150 – L. IV, 351/» – N. p. 185 – T. 221.
The original manuscript is held in the National Library in Vienna; the sketches are in the Deutsche Stadtbibliothek in Berlin. Eight stanzas (text by H. Goeble), which, grouped two by two, form four slightly varied musical sections corresponding to the mood of serenity expressed by the words. The text:
Abendlied unterm gestirnten Himmel
Heinrich Goeble
Wenn die Sonne nieder sinket
Und der Tag zur Ruh’ sich neigt;
Luna freundlich leise winket
Und die Nacht herniedersteigt;
Wenn die Sterne prächtig schimmern,
Tausend Sonnenstraßen flimmern:
Fühlt die Seele sich so groß,
Windet sich vom Staube los.
Schaut so gern nach jenen Sternen
Wie zurück ins Vaterland,
Hin nach jenen lichten Fernen
Und vergißt der Erde Tand;
Will nur ringen, will nur streben,
Ihrer Hülle zu entschweben:
Erde ist ihr eng und klein;
Auf den Sternen möcht’ sie sein.
Ob der Erde Stürme toben,
Falsches Glück den Bösen lohnt:
Hoffend blicket sie nach oben,
Wo der Sternenrichter thront.
Keine Furcht kann sie mehr quälen,
Keine Macht kann ihr befehlen;
Mit verklärtem Angesicht,
Schwingt sie sich zum Himmelslicht.
Eine leise Ahnung schauert
Mich aus jenen Welten an;
Lange, lange nicht mehr dauert
Meine Erdenpilgerbahn;
Bald hab’ ich das Ziel errungen,
Bald zu euch mich aufgeschwungen,
Ernte bald an Gottes Thron
Meiner Leiden schönsten Lohn.
[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 150 Abendlied unterm gestirnten Himmel Lied (E-dur) nach einem Gedicht von Otto Heinrich Graf von Loeben (Pseudonym: H. Goeble) für Singstimme und Klavier Widmung: Anton Georg Braunhofer NGA XII/1 Nr. 68 AGA 247 = Serie 23/34
Origin and publication: Composed in March 1820. The original edition appeared in the same month as a musical supplement to the Wiener Zeitschrift für Kunst, Literatur, Theater und Mode.
Creation and publication: Lied composed in March 1820. The original edition appeared in the same month as a musical supplement to the Wiener Zeitschrift für Kunst, Literatur, Theater und Mode. Beethoven had been commissioned by Johann Schickh – as in the years 1816–1818 (see WoO 145, 148, 149) – to write a musical contribution for his Viennese journal of art, literature, theatre and fashion (formerly Wiener Moden-Zeitung). Schickh’s note in a conversation book from around 22 November 1819, in which he asks for information about song settings with reference to Count von Loeben, suggests that Beethoven may already have received several texts from Schickh to choose from in the autumn of 1819. On 13 December, Schickh again asked for information about the composition and offered another text to be set to music. Since Beethoven was heavily occupied at the end of 1819/beginning of 1820 with work on the Missa solemnis and with legal disputes concerning the guardianship of his nephew Karl, he offered a canon instead of the Lied, probably more readily acceptable. On 11 February 1820, Beethoven still had not found a suitable text for the song requested by Schickh. Theodore Albrecht believes that Beethoven finally decided, after an unpleasant conversation with Joseph Karl Bernard on 2 March, to set it to music that very evening. Although the autograph score is personally dated 4 March 1820, a sketch dates from 10 March, identified by Cooper, as well as further notes by Schickh in Beethoven’s Konversationshefte.
Dedication: Dr Anton Georg Braunhofer, born 18 December 1780 in Prague, died 1845 in Vienna, professor of natural history and general technology at the University of Vienna and member of the medical faculty. As the dedication shows, Beethoven must already have known the respected Viennese physician well by 1820. Braunhofer became Beethoven’s regular doctor in the years 1825/26, though not during the final illness of winter 1826/27. Numerous entries in the conversation books and letters document the doctor–patient relationship. The letter of 13 May 1825 (BGA 1967) contains Canon WoO 189, and the letter of 4 June 1825 (BGA 1981) contains Canon WoO 190. Beethoven’s last surviving letter to Braunhofer dates from 23 February 1826 (BGA 2123).
The sketches will be featured in an article specially created for the Beethovenian Music Research Center, www.lvbeethoven.org
