WoO 172 Ich bitt’ dich, Canon
WoO 172 “Ich bitt’ dich”, humorous canon for Hauschka, c. 1818, published in the Supplement to the G.A. in 1888. GA No. 265/15 (series 23, p. 199) – Bruers 219 – KH (WoO) 172.
The original manuscript is unknown. The canon is addressed to the Imperial–Royal accounting councillor Vincenz Kutscha, a cellist, friend of Beethoven, and influential member of the Society of the Friends of Music. The words are probably by Beethoven himself: “Ich bitt’ dich, schreib’ mir die Es Scala auf”. When the second voice enters, the first intertwines with it, vocalising the ascending and descending E-flat major scale; the same procedure continues throughout the canon.
[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 172 Ich bitt’ dich, schreib’ mir die Es-Scala auf Kanon (Es-dur) vermutlich nach einem eigenen Text Widmung: -NGA XII/2 AGA 256/15 = Serie 23/S. 199
Origin and publication: probably written between 1813 (1816?) and around 1824. The first edition was published posthumously in 1863 as part of the AGA by Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig. The canon was written for the cellist, baritone, and composer Vinzenz Hauschka (1766–1840). It is not entirely certain when Beethoven first met him. Hauschka, employed in the administration of the Royal Family’s estates and later promoted to “Rechnungsrat”, was also a founding member of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde and served as its accountant, and between 1815 and 1827 as chief director of the society’s concerts. In December 1813 he took part in a performance of Op. 91. The earliest surviving letter from Beethoven to him dates from late 1816/17 (BGA 1026). At the end of May, Beethoven wrote the musical joke WoO 201 in a letter (BGA 1259). The last surviving letter from Beethoven to Hauschka is dated 23 September 1824 (BGA 1882). lettera lo (BGA 1259).
The sketches will be featured in an article specially created for the Beethovenian Music Research Center, www.lvbeethoven.org
