Rare Beethoven works revisited - Elegiac song Op.118
Elegiac song Op.118 'Tender as Thou Lived'
There were in Beethoven's life several devoted and indulgent patrons and benefactors without whom he simply would not have been able to function, either personally or artistically. One of the less celebrated of these was the Baron Johann Baptist von Pasqualati, who was physician to the Empress Maria Theresia, an ardent amateur musician, and Beethoven's landlord at one time. They became rather close friends and Beethoven was frequently part of family gatherings with the Baron and his wife, Eleonore, who died in childbirth in 1811. On the third anniversary of her death Beethoven presented to the Baron the Elegiac Song, Op. 118, which is really an example of vocal chamber music, originally for four solo voices and string quartet, subsequently revised for small four-part chorus and string ensemble without double basses. The depth of feeling and expressiveness evident in both versions might well suggest that this seldom heard work was the true beginning of the extraordinary cycle of the last string quartets. The author of the text has never been identified. It is not too likely that Beethoven wrote these words himself, but surely he found their simple, direct manner perfectly suited to his own sentiment. The quartet version was published by Haslinger in July 1826, dedicated to Baron Pasqualati.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jG7_sTn4r4I
There were in Beethoven's life several devoted and indulgent patrons and benefactors without whom he simply would not have been able to function, either personally or artistically. One of the less celebrated of these was the Baron Johann Baptist von Pasqualati, who was physician to the Empress Maria Theresia, an ardent amateur musician, and Beethoven's landlord at one time. They became rather close friends and Beethoven was frequently part of family gatherings with the Baron and his wife, Eleonore, who died in childbirth in 1811. On the third anniversary of her death Beethoven presented to the Baron the Elegiac Song, Op. 118, which is really an example of vocal chamber music, originally for four solo voices and string quartet, subsequently revised for small four-part chorus and string ensemble without double basses. The depth of feeling and expressiveness evident in both versions might well suggest that this seldom heard work was the true beginning of the extraordinary cycle of the last string quartets. The author of the text has never been identified. It is not too likely that Beethoven wrote these words himself, but surely he found their simple, direct manner perfectly suited to his own sentiment. The quartet version was published by Haslinger in July 1826, dedicated to Baron Pasqualati.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jG7_sTn4r4I
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