WoO 199 Ich bin der Herr von “zu”, eight playful bars
WoO 199 “Ich bin der Herr von “zu””, eight playful bars for Archduke Rudolph, autumn 1814, first published by Nohl in 1867. Hess 281 – KH. (WoO) 199.
The original is found among the sketches for The Glorious Moment, Opus 136, in the Deutsche Staatsbibliothek in Berlin. These are eight humorous bars with the words: “Ich bin der Herr von ‘zu’, du bist der Herr von ‘von’” (“I am the lord of ‘to’, you are the lord of ‘from’”). The composer plays on the double meaning of the word von (a preposition meaning “from” which, when placed before a surname, denotes noble descent), contrasting it with zu (“to”). The Archbishop is the nobleman and, at the same time, the “lord of from”, from whom favours may be granted; Beethoven, on the other hand, is the one who turns “to” him (zu ihm) to ask for those favours.
[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 199 Ich bin der Herr von zu Musikalischer Scherz (D-dur) nach einem eigenen Text Widmung: -NGA XII/2 (Hess 281) AGA –
Origin and publication: A musical scherzo written around September 1814. The first edition appeared posthumously in the new edition of Ludwig Nohl’s Letters of 1867. Nohl suspected that Beethoven’s expression of dissatisfaction towards Archduke Rudolph might have inspired this little musical piece. The letter from Rudolph that led Nohl to make this assumption is dated late July/early August 1810 (BGA 462), which is why a connection between the music and the Archduke cannot be entirely ruled out. In principle, all members of the aristocracy may be considered as possible targets of such outbursts from Beethoven.
The sketches will be featured in an article specially created for the Beethovenian Music Research Center, www.lvbeethoven.org
