Authentic page mp3s - An die Hoffnung Op.32

[Peter]

Now available to members at www.kingsbarn.freeserve.co.uk/authentic.html

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'Man know thyself'

[Amalie]

Originally posted by Peter:
Now available to members at www.kingsbarn.freeserve.co.uk/authentic.html

Such a beautiful song! I also liked the tone of the fortepiano which is very restrained and lyrical and is a perfect counterpoise to the charming tenor voice.


During the autumn of 1804 Beethoven became increasingly friendly with Josephine Deym, whose husband had died in January of the same year. She and her sister Charlotte visited Beethoven in June when he was staying in Hetzendorf and they were in nearby Hietzing, and by mid-November he was giving her regular piano lessons, as he had done before her marriage in 1799.
Before long their friendship was deepening into love, and Charlotte began to suspect something, writing to her brother Franz on 21st December: Beethoven is with us almost daily, lessons to Pipschen [Josephine] - vous m'entendez mon coeur!. Prince Lichnowsky also suspected an intimate friendship was developing, for when he was at Beethoven's one day he saw a newly composed song, 'An die Hoffnung', evidently with some kind of inscription to Josephine. After Beethoven had presented it to her, most likely on 1st January (the customary day for making gifts,) she sent it to her sister Therese Brunsvik, but with a request to tell nobody she had the score, even if she performed it. Therese was thrilled and wrote to Charlotte: Beethoven's song is divinely beautiful. I thank Pepi a thousandfold that she had the kind thoughtfulness to send me it.
Shortly afterwards she wrote, referring to the same song; "Your song, dearest, is my treasure since I received it. After two days I knew it by heart. When I sang it, it created a furore but no-one gets to see the score."
The sketches show that Beethoven worked hard to create a melody blend that blends lyricism with very precise observation of verbal rhythm and intense expression of the words, with a strikingly effective modulation to C major in the middle of each verse. One can sense that he wrote the song, 'con amore' (as he would have put it).

Taken from, Barry Cooper's Biography of
Beethoven.

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I also have the 1813 version Op.94 which is also quite beautifully sung by Stephan Genz.

From the sleeve notes:
Beethoven already had set this text ten years earlier as a relatively straightforward strophic setting as Op.32.
In comparison, Op94 is vastly more sophisticated, with a structure reminiscent of a operatic recitative and aria. Almost as if to compensate for the generalized nature of the earlier version, here Beethoven might be accused of 'over-milking the pudding'.




[This message has been edited by Amalie (edited March 28, 2004).]

[Rod]

Originally posted by Amalie:
Such a beautiful song! I also liked the tone of the fortepiano which is very restrained and lyrical and is a perfect counterpoise to the charming tenor voice.


During the autumn of 1804 Beethoven became increasingly friendly with Josephine Deym, whose husband had died in January of the same year. She and her sister Charlotte visited Beethoven in June when he was staying in Hetzendorf and they were in nearby Hietzing, and by mid-November he was giving her regular piano lessons, as he had done before her marriage in 1799.
Before long their friendship was deepening into love, and Charlotte began to suspect something, writing to her brother Franz on 21st December: Beethoven is with us almost daily, lessons to Pipschen [Josephine] - vous m'entendez mon coeur!. Prince Lichnowsky also suspected an intimate friendship was developing, for when he was at Beethoven's one day he saw a newly composed song, 'An die Hoffnung', evidently with some kind of inscription to Josephine. After Beethoven had presented it to her, most likely on 1st January (the customary day for making gifts,) she sent it to her sister Therese Brunsvik, but with a request to tell nobody she had the score, even if she performed it. Therese was thrilled and wrote to Charlotte: Beethoven's song is divinely beautiful. I thank Pepi a thousandfold that she had the kind thoughtfulness to send me it.
Shortly afterwards she wrote, referring to the same song; "Your song, dearest, is my treasure since I received it. After two days I knew it by heart. When I sang it, it created a furore but no-one gets to see the score."
The sketches show that Beethoven worked hard to create a melody blend that blends lyricism with very precise observation of verbal rhythm and intense expression of the words, with a strikingly effective modulation to C major in the middle of each verse. One can sense that he wrote the song, 'con amore' (as he would have put it).

Taken from, Barry Cooper's Biography of
Beethoven.

**********

I also have the 1813 version Op.94 which is also quite beautifully sung by Stephan Genz.

From the sleeve notes:
Beethoven already had set this text ten years earlier as a relatively straightforward strophic setting as Op.32.
In comparison, Op94 is vastly more sophisticated, with a structure reminiscent of a operatic recitative and aria. Almost as if to compensate for the generalized nature of the earlier version, here Beethoven might be accused of 'over-milking the pudding'.


[This message has been edited by Amalie (edited March 28, 2004).]

I like the tenor's tone, lean though a little unstable for my taste, but prefereable to the bombastic interpretations you can get. He is more at home with Baroque. Not a showcase for the fortepiano but even here you get a little something extra, though the pianist could have done a little more.

The CD notes for this recording also refer to Op.94, but state that Op.32 is a more 'spontaneous' effort.

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"If I were but of noble birth..." - Rod Corkin

[Andrea]

I enjoyed hearing this piece and I always look forward to the next work that Rod supplies for our listening pleasure.

This piece made me feel a bit better. I've been suffering from a cold and 103°F fever that resulted from my two days of showing a Mozart fan around Vienna last week in the 30°F, windy and rainy weather we were having. I think that standing in this awful weather for 45 min. at Mozart's grave is what caused my illness. Oh what one goes through for one's love of classical music...

[Chaszz]

This is a beautiful song. The fortepiano sounded very fine here, I thought.