WoO 154 Four (60 – 63 ) Irish Songs for voice, piano, violin, and cello
arrangement and creation of the instrumental parts (introductions, conclusions, accompaniments) by Beethoven
Official title: Irische Lieder III (LX – LXIII), für eine oder zwei Singstimmen mit Begleitung von Klavier, Violine und Violoncello. Widmung: — NGA XI/2 AGA/SBG siehe Konkordanz S. 370
Genesis and Edition: Lied no. 60 was composed in 1810, and nos. 61 and 62 followed in the second half of 1812 or the beginning of 1813. Finally, no. 63 was created in September/October 1815. The first editions appeared posthumously: no. 63 at the end of 1860 by Peters in Leipzig and Berlin, as well as by Ewer & Co. in London, while nos. 60–62 were only published in 1971 as part of the SBG by Breitkopf & Härtel in Wiesbaden.
On 1st July 1806, the Scottish music lover and publisher George Thomson (1757–1851) first approached Beethoven, asking whether he would be willing to harmonize Scottish melodies for him (later also including Irish and Welsh melodies) (BGA 253; for the collections of folk songs published by Thomson together with Thomas Preston, see more extensively Op. 108). Beethoven agreed (BGA 259), and Thomson subsequently sent 21 melodies between late 1806 and early 1807, which were, however, evidently lost in the post. On 25th September 1809, he resubmitted 43 melodies (including the first 21). On 10th February 1810, he sent another ten melodies, including that of WoO 154 no. 60 (BGA 426). On 17th July 1810, Beethoven sent his harmonizations in triplicate, via separate routes (including source II.1), to Edinburgh (BGA 457). After a year had passed and none of the parcels had arrived, Beethoven (who had also sent his autograph scores) borrowed a copy prepared for Archduke Rudolf from Ignaz von Baumeister to have it transcribed again (BGA 514). The new shipment was made on 20th July 1811 (source II.2; BGA 515). Thomson confirmed receipt on 5th August 1812 (BGA 590) and sent nine new melodies with the same letter, including that of WoO 154 no. 61. On 30th October 1812 (BGA 604), four more melodies followed, including that of WoO 154 no. 62. Beethoven sent the completed harmonizations on 19th February 1813 to Edinburgh (source II.3; BGA 623), but they did not arrive immediately. After Thomson had reiterated his request on 27th March 1813 (BGA 629), he was finally able to confirm their arrival on 23rd April 1813 (BGA 713). The melody for WoO 154 no. 63 was not received by Beethoven until two years later, with Thomson’s letter of 20th August 1815 (BGA 825). On 4th November, Beethoven delivered the harmonization to the Fries bank for forwarding to Edinburgh (source II.4); according to the inscription on the autograph, he had already completed the arrangement on 23rd October 1815 (source I.3). The WoO 154 Lieder were never published by Thomson.
Texts: No. 60, 62: Lament for Owen Roe O’Neill, Castle O’Neill – without text. No. 61, 63: Anonymous, Adieu my lov’d harp, Robin Adair.
Beethoven received the melodies from Thomson without texts (cf. Op. 108).
First performance unknown.
| Title | Author of the Text | Tempo | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LX | Lament for Owen Roe O’Neill | — (without text) | Andante lamentoso | First edition only in 1971 (SBG, Breitkopf & Härtel, Wiesbaden) |
| LXI | Adieu my lov’d harp | Anonymous | Andantino con espressione | First edition 1971 (SBG, Breitkopf & Härtel) |
| LXII | Castle O’Neill | — (without text) | Andante affettuoso assai | First edition 1971 (SBG, Breitkopf & Härtel) |
| LXIII | Robin Adair | Anonymous | Andante amoroso | First posthumous edition in 1860 (Peters, Leipzig/Berlin; Ewer & Co., London) |
George Thomson: the gentleman who brought Beethoven into the world of folk songs
George Thomson was born in 1757 in Limekilns, Dunfermline, Scotland, the son of a schoolmaster with legal training. His education, grounded in solid humanistic foundations, fostered from an early age a deep interest in music, poetry, and the national cultural heritage. Although he was not a professional musician, Thomson developed remarkable expertise in the field of vocal music and the British folk tradition. For sixty years Thomson served as clerk to the Board of Trustees for the Encouragement of Art and Manufacture in Edinburgh. This stable position allowed him to devote himself to a far‑reaching cultural project: the enhancement of Scottish folk song through high‑quality musical editions. In 1793 he began publishing his monumental work, A Select Collection of Original Scottish Airs for the Voice, structured in six volumes issued between 1793 and 1841. The aim was twofold: to preserve and disseminate traditional Scottish, Irish, and Welsh melodies; and to ennoble them through cultivated accompaniments and poetic texts by leading authors.
Among the poets involved were Robert Burns, Walter Scott, Thomas Moore, Thomas Campbell, and Lord Byron. To lend musical authority to his collections, Thomson commissioned arrangements from important European composers: Joseph Haydn, Ludwig van Beethoven, Ignaz Pleyel, Leopold Kozeluch, Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Carl Maria von Weber, Henry Rowley Bishop, Robert Archibald Smith.
This network of collaborations, unique in its kind, transformed Thomson’s collection into a bridge between the British folk tradition and the European musical language. The relationship with Ludwig van Beethoven represents the most significant aspect of Thomson’s editorial activity. In 1806 Thomson proposed that the composer create accompaniments for British folk songs, following a model already tested with Haydn. Between 1809 and 1820, Beethoven composed 179 arrangements for voice, piano, violin, and cello, based predominantly on Scottish, Irish, and Welsh melodies supplied by Thomson. This is a substantial corpus, which occupied the composer for several years and constitutes a not insignificant part of his vocal output.
The collaboration was accompanied by extensive correspondence, written mainly in French due to their mutual linguistic difficulties. A key letter is that of 23 November 1809, preserved at the Beethoven‑Haus in Bonn, in which Beethoven: accepts writing accompaniments for 43 songs sent by Thomson; requests a higher fee; asserts his freedom to choose the instrumental ensemble; and observes that this type of composition is not “properly artistic,” but necessary for economic reasons.
These documents testify to a complex professional relationship, marked by mutual esteem but also by intense negotiation. Thomson continued to revise and expand his collections into old age. He died in 1851, leaving behind a cultural legacy of enormous significance: thanks to his work, Scottish and British folk song entered permanently into the European repertoire and acquired a new artistic dignity. His work remains today an indispensable source for the study of the folk tradition and for understanding the relationship between popular and cultivated music in the early nineteenth century.
