WoO 191 Kühl nicht Lau, Canon
The musical examples on this page are curated by Graziano Denini.
WoO 191 Kühl nicht lau, Canon for Kuhlau, 2 September 1825, published in Vienna in I. v. Seyfried’s Beethoven-Studien, 1852 (Appendix, pp. 24–36). GA No. 256/12 (series 23, p. 196) – B. 216 – KH (WoO) 191 – L. IV, p. 364 – Nottebohm p. 162 – Thayer 253.
On the occasion of a visit paid to Beethoven in Baden on 2 September 1825—at the end of a tour through Austria—by the composer Friedrich Kuhlau (a German-born Dane and fervent admirer of Beethoven), accompanied by the publisher Haslinger, by mutual friends including Sellner, professor at the Vienna Conservatory, and Conrad Graf, the celebrated piano maker, as well as other musicians, a canon on the name BACH, which Kuhlau had already published in 1819, was presented to Beethoven during a lively gathering. On the spot, Beethoven scribbled, using the same notes B (B-flat), A, C and H (B-natural), the sketch of the canon Kühl nicht lau, punning on the words kühl (cold) and lau (lukewarm) which together form the name Kuhlau.
The completed and neatly written version was sent to Kuhlau the following day, accompanied by this letter: “I must confess that in my case as well the champagne went too much to my head, and I was once more obliged to recognise that indulging in such things hinders my creative powers instead of stimulating them. In fact, although I am usually able to respond on the spur of the moment, I have not the faintest recollection of what I wrote yesterday.” The letter ends with the closing formula: “Erinnern Sie sich zuweilen Ihres Ergebensten” (“Remember now and then your devoted servant”). The original of the letter is unknown and survives only through Seyfried’s report.
An old copy of the canon is preserved in the Beethoven-Haus; the sketch scribbled by Beethoven during the gathering is found in a conversation notebook held by the Deutsche Staatsbibliothek in Berlin. The musical example we have cited above is taken in full from Seyfried. The existence of two further canons Beethoven is said to have written for Kuhlau is unproven; the report, given by the Viennese newspaper Humorist (1837, no. 85) and mentioned by De Lenz (IV, pp. 564–566), is also repeated in Hess’s catalogue (Nos. 508–509), although Hess himself expresses doubts.
Konversationsheft No. 93 – foglio 15-verso
Konversationsheft No. 93 – Foglio 16-recto
Copy of the letter to Kuhlau dated 3 September 1825, preserved at the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn
Konversationsheft 94 – Foglio 45-verso
Konversationsheft 94 – Foglio 45-verso (full page)
The initial sketch of the Canon, the one cited by Biamonti, is found on folio 16-recto of Conversation Book No. 93, which contains the exchanges made by Beethoven on 2 September 1825. This sketch is preceded on the previous page (folio 15-verso) by a fragment in which the notes forming the name BACH appear. This first fragment is of particular interest, as Beethoven writes the four notes on only two staves, and above all because it is preceded by two treble clefs: one placed on the first stave, the other on the second. It almost seems as if Beethoven intended to continue with a canon whose entries would be indicated by the placement of the two clefs—namely at the interval of a third.
The second sketch appears on the following page; it is the actual draft of the three-voice canon, the one Beethoven later described with the words: “I have not the faintest recollection of what I wrote yesterday.”
Here, then, is the copy of the letter itself that Beethoven sent to Kuhlau.
Text of the letter:
“Baden am 3 ten Sept. 1825.
Ich muß gestehen, daß auch mir der Champagner gestern gar sehr zu Kopf gestiegen, und ich
abermals die Erfahrung machen mußte, daß d.g. meine Wirkungskräfte eher Unterdrüken als
befördern, denn so leicht ich sonst doch auf der Stelle zu antworten im Stande bin, so weiß ich doch
gar nicht mehr, was ich gestern geschrieben habe. –
Erinnern sie sich zu weilen ihres Ergebensten
Beethoven m.p.
Finally, in the next Conversation Book, number 94 (according to the numbering of the Berlin State Library) or 91 (according to the numbering on the cover of the book), which contains Beethoven’s conversations from 4 to 8 September 1825, folio 45-verso preserves the sketch of the letters BACH, followed by two further fragments in B-flat major or F minor. This fragment may indicate Beethoven’s renewed interest in a composition based on the name B-A-C-H.
