WoO 181 Three Canons
WoO 181a Gedenket Heute an Baden (Ricordatevi oggi di Baden), Canon
WoO 181b Gehabt euch Wohl (Statevi bene), Canon
WoO 181c Tugend ist kein leer Name (Virtù non è un nome vano), Canon
ByGraziano Denini
Official title: WoO 181 (I) Gedenket heute an Baden! (II) Gehabt euch wohl (III) Tugend ist kein leerer Name Drei Kanons (C-dur) nach eigenen Texten Widmung: – NGA XII/2 Nr. 1: AGA 285 = Serie 25/22 Nr. 2-3: SBG V/39-40 (2. Auflage: 40-41; Hess 258-259)
Origin and Publication: These canons were composed in the spring and summer of 1822. Their first appearances in print were posthumous: No. 1 was published in 1888 as part of the Alte Gesamtausgabe (AGA) by Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig, while Nos. 2 and 3 were issued in 1937 in Georg Schünemann’s contribution to the Festschrift for Arnold Schering.
All three canons are preserved in a pocket notebook Beethoven used for the Missa Solemnis during the spring and summer of 1822 (JTW, pp. 391–393). Rudolf Klein has proposed that No. 1 may have been composed to mark the tenth anniversary of the devastating fire in the town of Baden, near Vienna, which occurred on 26 July 1812. At the time, Beethoven was staying at the Bohemian spa and, together with the violinist Giovanni Battista Polledro, gave a benefit concert on 6 August 1812 for the victims of the catastrophe in Karlsbad.
Canon No. 2 can also be performed in four voices (Klein/Kanons, p. 29), highlighting Beethoven’s versatility in contrapuntal writing even in these late, small-scale works.
Sources and Manuscripts: The autograph is preserved in D-B, Mus. SM. autogr. Beethoven, Artaria 205/6a, pp. 12s. The notebook itself is in a vertical format measuring 23 × 16.5 cm, with eight staves per page.
Provenance: Originally in the Verlagsarchiv Artaria, Vienna; later held by Erich Prieger in Bonn from 1897 and acquired in 1901. A facsimile edition is available from the SBB. The first edition of No. 1 was based on a copy from the Haslinger-Rudolphin Collection (AGA Series 25 Revision Report, p. V).
These canons, though modest in scope, display Beethoven’s characteristic contrapuntal ingenuity and melodic elegance, providing a fascinating glimpse into his engagement with small-scale vocal counterpoint during the period of the Missa Solemnis.
Giovanni Battista Polledro (Piovà, 10 June 1781 – Asti, 15 August 1853) was an Italian violinist and composer, recognised as the last major representative of the 19th-century Piedmontese violin school. He initially studied with Mauro Calderara and Gaetano Vai in Asti. At fourteen, he toured northern Italy, attracting the attention of Gaetano Pugnani, under whom he studied in Turin for six months, becoming one of Pugnani’s final pupils. In 1797, he joined Pugnani’s orchestra in Turin.
After Pugnani’s death in 1798 and the dissolution of the Regia Cappella, Polledro left Turin. Between 1803 and 1804, he was principal second violin at the Teatro Carcano in Milan and competed for the first violin post at the Teatro di Bergamo, without success. He subsequently embarked on a major European and Russian concert tour, spending five years in Moscow in the service of Prince Tatistchev, and performing in Warsaw, Berlin, Saint Petersburg, France, the Netherlands, and London. Notably, he performed at a charity concert in Karlsbad on 6 August 1812 alongside Beethoven at the piano; Beethoven jokingly referred to it in a letter to Breitkopf as a “poor concert for the poor,” noting that Polledro, “after overcoming his usual fear, played well.”
In 1814, Polledro was appointed Konzertmeister (principal violin) of the Dresden Court Chapel under Frederick Augustus III, remaining there until 1823. He then became first violin of the Royal Chapel in Turin under Carlo Felice, expanding the repertoire to include works by Haydn, Mozart, and Hummel, and later served as director of the Teatro Regio Orchestra until 1844. He retired due to ill health in 1845 and returned to Piovà, where he died in 1853. Among his notable pupils were Francesco Bianchi and Léon de Saint-Lubin.
Polledro’s career exemplifies both the virtuoso tradition of the Italian violin school and the increasing international mobility of musicians in the early 19th century, bridging performance, pedagogy, and courtly musical service.
WoO 181a Gedenket Heute an Baden, Canon
WoO 181a “Gedenket Heute an Baden”, Canon, 1819–1822, published posthumously in the Supplement to the Gesamtausgabe, 1888. G.A. 285/4 (Series 25) – B. 272/4 – KH (WoO) 181a.
The autograph manuscript is preserved in the Deutsche Staatsbibliothek, Berlin, within a sketchbook for the Missa Solemnis, referenced by Nottebohm, Zweite Beethoveniana, p. 152. Specifically, it is located in Artaria 205, Volume VI, p. 13. The sketches are also cited in Johnson, Tyson, and Winter, The Beethoven Sketchbooks, in the chapter on Artaria 205, p. 392. The canon appears in the Biamonti catalogue as No. 749.
Rudolf Klein observes: “Dieser Kanon und die beiden folgenden Nr. 21 und 22 sind in einem (verschollenen) Berliner Heft mit Skizzen zur Missa solemnis enthalten, wurde also zwischen 1819 und 1822 während der Arbeit an diesem Werk geschrieben. Aus welchem Grunde an Baden, Beethovens bevorzugtem Sommeraufenthalt im Süden Wiens, gedacht werden sollte, konnte nicht festgestellt werden. Eine Hypothese wäre vielleicht an das mögliche Jahr 1822 zu knüpfen: am 26. Juli 1812, also zehn Jahre zuvor, war die Stadt Baden abgebrannt; Beethoven, der sich damals in den böhmischen Bädern befand, hatte kurz darauf in Karlsbad mit dem Geiger Giovanni Battista Polledro ein Konzert zu Gunsten der von der Katastrophe Betroffenen gegeben.”
Nottebohm further notes (p. 152): “Während Beethoven an der Messe skizzirte, entstanden die Claviersonaten OP. 109, 110 und 111, die Variationen op. 107 nr 8, die Bagatellen op. 119 Nr. 7 bis 11 und mehrere andere kleine Stücke, darunter die Kanons ‘o Tobias’, ‘Gehabt euch wohl’, ‘Tugend ist kein leerer Name’, und ‘Gedenket heute an Baden’.”
Johnson, Tyson, and Winter add: “The sketches in Bundle 6 are primarily for the latter portions of the Dona nobis pacem of the Missa Solemnis. A brief reference to the Benedictus appears on page 18. This volume also contains three canons mentioned by Nottebohm in passing in his survey of sketches for the Mass (N. II 152): Gedenket heute an Baden WoO 181a (p. 13); Gehabt euch wohl WoO 181b (p. 12); and Tugend ist kein leerer Name WoO 181c (p. 13). The latter two were first published in 1937 by George Schünemann, who correctly dated them to 1822.”
Sources and references:
G. Nottebohm – Zweite Beethoveniana
Johnson, Tyson, Winter – The Beethoven Sketchbooks
R. Klein – Sämtliche Kanons
Notes: This canon demonstrates Beethoven’s engagement with contrapuntal exercises and pedagogical compositions during the same period as the final sketches of the Missa Solemnis (1819–1822). Its association with Baden may reflect commemorative or charitable intentions, linked to the tenth anniversary of the 1812 fire, and Beethoven’s collaborative performance with Giovanni Battista Polledro.
WoO 181b Gehabt euch Wohl, Canon
WoO 181b “Gehabt euch Wohl”, Canon, 1819–1822, published by G. Schünemann in the Festschrift for Arnold Schering’s 60th birthday, Berlin, 1937; more recently edited by Willy Hess in Volume V of the GA Supplements, 1962. Hess 258 – KH (WoO) 181b.
The autograph manuscript is preserved in the Deutsche Staatsbibliothek, Berlin, and is referenced by Nottebohm, Zweite Beethoveniana, p. 152. Like WoO 181a, it is located in the pocket sketchbook Artaria 205, Volume VI, p. 12. For general contextual information, see WoO 181a.
This canon is notably simple, in C major, constructed primarily on tonic and dominant harmonies. Rudolf Klein notes: “Zur Entstehungszeit vgl. Kanon No. 20. Beethoven hat die drei Stimmeinsätze angegeben. Ein vierter Einsatz wäre indessen nach einem weiteren Takt Abstand möglich.” [For the date of composition, see Canon No. 20. Beethoven indicated the three entries. A fourth voice would be possible after an additional measure.]
However, this interpretation seems unusual, as Beethoven explicitly marks all three successive entries with one of his characteristic signs for canons, namely ff. Therefore, this work can be understood as a classical four-voice canon in unison, exemplifying Beethoven’s concise contrapuntal style and pedagogical clarity during the Missa Solemnis sketch period.
Sources and references:
G. Nottebohm – Zweite Beethoveniana
Willy Hess – Supplemente zur GA, Vol. V
R. Klein – Sämtliche Kanons
WoO 181c Tugend ist kein leer Name, Canon
WoO 181c “Tugend ist kein leerer Name”, Canon, 1819–1822, published by G. Schünemann in the Festschrift for Arnold Schering’s 60th birthday, Berlin, 1937; more recently edited by Willy Hess in Volume V of the GA Supplements, 1962. Hess 259 – KH (WoO) 181c.
The autograph manuscript is preserved in the Deutsche Staatsbibliothek, Berlin, and is cited by Nottebohm, Zweite Beethoveniana, p. 152. Like the other canons, it is located in Berlin in the Taschenbuch Artaria 205, Volume VI, p. 13, immediately above WoO 181a.
This canon is also in C major and notated in bass clef, but unlike the other two canons, it is written for only three voices. It is the most melodic of the three canons: the second and third entries do not sing the same text as the first, but rather reiterate the motto “Tugend ist kein leerer Name” (“Virtue is not an empty name”). This work reflects Beethoven’s lyrical contrapuntal style during the sketching of the Missa Solemnis, combining simplicity with expressive nuance.
Sources and references:
G. Nottebohm – Zweite Beethoveniana
Willy Hess – Supplemente zur GA, Vol. V
