Rare Beethoven works revisited -"Der glorreiche Augenblick," Op. 136
Cantate "Der glorreiche Augenblick," Op. 136
In September 1814, Europe's leaders and their entourages gathered together for the Congress of Vienna, to redraw the political boundaries of the continent in the wake of the Napoleonic Wars. Napoleon had been defeated in March 1814 and was safely out of the way, it was thought on the island of Elba. (His escape the next year and the ensuing 'hundred days" threw a scare into the congress and shocked the negotiators into overlooking many of their differences and reaching several important agreements. The Final Act of Vienna was issued nine days before Napoleon's career was finally ended at Waterloo in Jane 1815.) The congress was much more than political. The nobility of Vienna outdid themselves in providing entertainment for the visitors: lavish dinners, fancy balls, theater, concerts, opera. (Indeed, after it was all over many of the nobles found themselves impoverished.) Beethoven hoped to cash in on the congress. He wrote a short choral piece to welcome the delegates, Ihr weisen Grunder, WoO 95, and began to compose an overture for the name day of the Habsburg Emperor on October 4. (The latter piece was put aside and not completed until September 1815; it is the Namensfeir overture, op. 115.) But his major work for the congress was the cantata Der glorreiche Augenblich, the "glorious moment" (referring of course to the congress itself) which he began in early October. The text was by Alois Weissenbach, a surgeon from Salzburg who had come to Vienna for the congress. (He and Beethoven became friends, their conversations must have been something, as Weissenbach was quite as hard of hearing as the composer.) The concert that included the cantata was scheduled for November 20, but was postponed three times (apparently because of the difficulty the copyists had in reading Beethoven's writing). Finally it was given on November 29, 1814, the rest of the program consisting of the 'Battle Symphony" -Wellington's Victory at Vittoria- and the Seventh Symphony. The concert was given twice more in the next month, but Der glorreiche Augenblick whose music was described as being 'excellent" but whose text was called 'extremely mediocre" was subsequently forgotten. The "glorious moment" it was written to commemorate had passed.
Recitative for Soprano Prophetess:The eye beholds the sun rising andsetting, the stars turning in their course,the people following their rounds.Behold the eye shining and watchingabove that circle of crowned heads. Thiseye is the world tribunal that togetherthey founded so that Europe might notsink into a sea of b1ood. Kneel, ohpeople, and pray first to Him who hassaved you!Prophetess and Chorus:Your first tears to Him above in thehouse of the sun; to Him who, in time ofstorm. wove and bound together kingsand armies with omnipotent hand.
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nZA1UF0Swc&feature=related[/YOUTUBE]
In September 1814, Europe's leaders and their entourages gathered together for the Congress of Vienna, to redraw the political boundaries of the continent in the wake of the Napoleonic Wars. Napoleon had been defeated in March 1814 and was safely out of the way, it was thought on the island of Elba. (His escape the next year and the ensuing 'hundred days" threw a scare into the congress and shocked the negotiators into overlooking many of their differences and reaching several important agreements. The Final Act of Vienna was issued nine days before Napoleon's career was finally ended at Waterloo in Jane 1815.) The congress was much more than political. The nobility of Vienna outdid themselves in providing entertainment for the visitors: lavish dinners, fancy balls, theater, concerts, opera. (Indeed, after it was all over many of the nobles found themselves impoverished.) Beethoven hoped to cash in on the congress. He wrote a short choral piece to welcome the delegates, Ihr weisen Grunder, WoO 95, and began to compose an overture for the name day of the Habsburg Emperor on October 4. (The latter piece was put aside and not completed until September 1815; it is the Namensfeir overture, op. 115.) But his major work for the congress was the cantata Der glorreiche Augenblich, the "glorious moment" (referring of course to the congress itself) which he began in early October. The text was by Alois Weissenbach, a surgeon from Salzburg who had come to Vienna for the congress. (He and Beethoven became friends, their conversations must have been something, as Weissenbach was quite as hard of hearing as the composer.) The concert that included the cantata was scheduled for November 20, but was postponed three times (apparently because of the difficulty the copyists had in reading Beethoven's writing). Finally it was given on November 29, 1814, the rest of the program consisting of the 'Battle Symphony" -Wellington's Victory at Vittoria- and the Seventh Symphony. The concert was given twice more in the next month, but Der glorreiche Augenblick whose music was described as being 'excellent" but whose text was called 'extremely mediocre" was subsequently forgotten. The "glorious moment" it was written to commemorate had passed.
Recitative for Soprano Prophetess:The eye beholds the sun rising andsetting, the stars turning in their course,the people following their rounds.Behold the eye shining and watchingabove that circle of crowned heads. Thiseye is the world tribunal that togetherthey founded so that Europe might notsink into a sea of b1ood. Kneel, ohpeople, and pray first to Him who hassaved you!Prophetess and Chorus:Your first tears to Him above in thehouse of the sun; to Him who, in time ofstorm. wove and bound together kingsand armies with omnipotent hand.
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nZA1UF0Swc&feature=related[/YOUTUBE]
Comment