Beethoven 1795

AGE 24 - 25 [1795]

Compiled by Gary D. Evans

Last Updated: March 25, 2019 7:02 PM

THE EARLY PERIOD:

FIRST YEARS IN VIENNA UNDER HAYDN'S INFLUENCE 1795 (Age 24 - 25)

Haydn left for England in 1794, prompting Beethoven to further his counterpoint instruction with Johann Albrechtsberger and others.

With Beethoven's Bonn monetary support ending, several Viennese noblemen, principally Prince Joseph Franz Lobkowitz, Prince Karl Lichnowsky and Baron Gottfried van Swieten, aware of the importance of Beethoven's musical powers, offered ongoing financial support. By this time - at age 23-25 years old - Beethoven's fame continued to grow, in large measure through his performances within the homes of nobility. And, his compositions were now regularly published.

At the age of 24 years, March 1795, Beethoven undertook his first public performance which included one of his piano concertos (either the first or second). Shortly thereafter, he arranged for the publication of his first Opus piece, Opus 1 - the three piano trios - dedicated to Prince Lichnowsky. This sold well and provided Beethoven with significant income.

image from 1801

WORKS CREATED

op 3: String Trios	(final version completed) (Count Appomy com'ed B. to compose a quartet - trio was 1st result) [Wegeler p32]
op 4: Quintet for Strings in Eb	(recomposition of octet op103-1792) (Count Appomy com'ed B. to compose quartet - quintet was 2nd result) [Weg32]
op 10#1(of 3): Piano Sonata #5 in c	Dedicated to Countess Browne. (First use of c mood, a favorite of Beethoven's) (Slow movement, key = flatted 6th of c = bA.)
op 13: Piano Trios for violin, cello, piano	(sold by commission, netting B. 878 G. or 6 times his old Bonn salary)
op 15: Piano Concerto #1 in C	(Rondo for it was written 2 days before it's 1st performance 3/29 w/ B. handing over manuscript pages one at a time to 4 copyists in the hallway of his apt. Wegeler there helping him w/ abd. cramping at the time. [Wegeler p38])
op 19: 2nd Piano Concerto	(further rev.'s) (1st begun 1787 w/ revisions in 1793)
op 46: Adelaide	?? 1796 ??
op 52: 8 Piano Songs: #1 "Urians Reise um die Welt" #2 "Feierfarb" #3 "Das Liedchen von der Ruhe" #4 "Maigesang" #5 "Mollys Abschied" #6 "Die Liebe" #7 "Marmotte" #8 "Das Blumchen wunderhold"
op 81b: Sextet for horns & strings in Eb
op 87: Trio for 2 oboes and English horn
WoO 7: 12 Minuets in D, bB, G, bE, C, A, D, bB, G, bE, C, F	(for Grand Ball of the Gesellshaft der Bilderden Kunstler)
WoO 8: 12 German Dances in C, A, F, bB, bE, G, C, A, F, D,	G, c (for Grand Ball of the Gesellshaft der Bilderden Kunstler)
WoO 9: 6 minuets in bE, G, C, F, D, G
WoO 10: 6 Minuets in bE, G, C, F, D, G
WoO 28: Vars. for 2 oboes & horn in C on "La' ei darem" from Mozarts' "Don Giovani"
WoO 52: Presto in c	(rev's 1798 & 1822. Orig. intended for Piano Sonata op10#1)
WoO 68: 12 Variations in C on "Menuett a la Vigano" from Hailbel's ballet Le nozze disturbate
WoO 69: 9 variations in C "Quant'e piu bello" from Paisiello's "La Molinara"
WoO 70: 6 variations in G for fortepiano on the duet "Nel cor piu non mi sento" from opera La Molinara by Paisiello	First published 1796. This was written in one evening. Per [Wegeler]: "B. was in a box with a lady who was very dear to him when La Molinara was being performed. During the famous "Nel cor piu non mi sento" the lady said that he had once had variations on this theme, but had lost them. During the night Beethoven wrote VI variations on the aria and sent them to the lady the next morning with the inscription, 'Variazioni, etc. perdute par la ----- retrovate per Luigi van Beethoven!' They are so easy that they were presumably intended for the lady to sight read."[Information from the Ira Brilliant Center]
WoO 72: 8 variations in C "Une fievre brulante"
WoO 91: 2 Arias: #1: "O welch ein Leben" in F, #2: "Sol ein Schuh nicht drunken" in Bb
WoO 123: Song, "Zarltliche Liebe"
WoO 124: Song, "La Partenza"
WoO 159: Song, "Im Arm der Liebe"
WoO 160: 2 canons in G & C	(untexted)
Hess 64: Fugue in C
Hess 69: Allegretto in c	(rev. 1822)
Hess 137: Song, "Ich wiege dich in meinem Arm"	(lost)
Unclassified: Symphony in C begun	(not completed)
Hess 14: Piano Concerto - 1st movement in Bb - fragment	(Unheard Beethoven mp3 file here)
Hess 29:	Prelude and Fugue in e for 2 violins and cello
Hess 30: Prelude & Fugue in F & C for 2 violins, 1 viola and
Hess 31: Prelude and Fugue in C	(Unheard Beethoven mp3 file here)
Hess 64: Fugue in C
Hess 100: Piano versions of WoO 8
Hess 137: Song, "Ich wiege dich in meinem Arm"
Hess 232: E pur fra le tempeste, Tenor Melody
Hess 233: ~300 simple contrapuntal exercises on cantus firmi'
Hess 234: ~125 exercises in strict counterpoint
Hess 235: 26 free exercises
Hess 236: 18 simple 2 part fugues (strict)
Hess 237: 7 simple 3 part figures (strict)
Hess 238: 9 simple 4 part figures (strict)
Hess 239: 3 chorale fugues
Hess 240: 4 2-part exercises in double counterpoint
Hess 241: 21 exercises in double counterpoint
Hess 242: 6 exercises in double counterpoint
Hess 243: 5 4-part fugues in double counterpoint
Hess 244: 2 4-part triple fugues
Hess 245: Fragment of a fugue in d for string quartet
Hess 246: Double fugue in F for 4-par

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES

DATE
	Patrons included: Prince Joseph Lobkowitz 1772-1816 Count Andreas Razumovsky 1752-1836 Count Moritz Fries 1777-1826 Baron Gottfried von Swienten 1733-03[organizer/president of musical society] Count Georg von Browne-Camus1767-27 Princess Christine Lichnowsky 1765-41 *Prince Karl Lichnowsky 1756-1814 [Many early works 1st perf. at his home] [B. there for yrs, further nobility intro] [Lichnowsky thought by some a lecher, wife insecure about his fidelity] [M.-in-law: C. Maria Wilhelmine Thun, patron of both Haydn & Mozart.]
Spring	B. began appearing at small concerts organized by Prince Lobkowitz at the city residence of his family - Palais Lobkowitz. (Lobkowitz brought together and retained a private orchestra at his palace beginning in 1796 and restructured the largest room into a concert hall there.)
Mar 27	B. still writing rondo section for 1st Piano Concerto to be performed in 2 days.
Mar 28	Rehearsal of 1st Piano Concerto in B.'s room. Piano semitone flatter than winds. He therefore had the winds and other instruments tune to bB instead of A and he played the piano portion in #C [Wegeler p38]
Mar 29	B.'s 1st public perf. as Viennese pianist & 1st public perf. of Piano Concerto #1 in C op15 at Burgtheater (was actually 2st one written w/ 2nd concerto in progress since 1787. This was the beginning of 11 public appear. Thru Oct 98 gaining name as a virtuoso performer and known as city's leading pianist. (Wegeler wrote that the Rondo performed was written two days beforehand while B. was ill and that at the rehearsal, B. played the piano part on a piano that was a semitone flat and therefore transcribed the part into C# major as he played.)
Mar 30	2nd public performance of 1st Piano Conc.
May	Subscription invitation for Trios op1 published in the Wiener Zeitung.
May	Moved to Kreuzgasse 35,Ogylyisches Haus (now Lowelstrasse 6) (2nd fl), thru. Feb 1796, (~9 mo) when he left for tour.
July	Conclusion of studies w/ Albrechtsberger
July	Marriage proposal and rejection by singer, Magdalena Willman. The relationship continued, nonetheless, for the next 4 years during which time many songs were written for her, including Adelaide.
July	Publication of Opus 1 Trios.
Aug 20	Opus 2 Piano Sonata dedicated to Haydn, upon Haydn's return. (Haydn returned to Vienna after having left for England Jan 19th 1794.) [Op 2 was pub. next year - 1796] [Note: Per Ries, around this time Haydn advised against pub. of op1 #3 (in c)]
Sept	Beethoven's recently completed op2 was performed before Haydn (to whom they were dedicated) at one of Lichnnowsky's concerts..
Nov	B. asked to write German dances / minuets (WoO 7 & 8) for a Ball held in the Redoutensall Nov 22nd by Pension-Gesellschaft Bildender Kunstler [Kerman p21]
Dec 18	B. made 3nd Vienna public perf.: Played ? 1st or 2nd Piano Concerto. Concert was organized by Haydn
Dec 26	Brother Nikalaus Johann moved to Vienna as a pharm. assist. until 1808 when started Linz shop& became wealthy result of 1809 French occup.
?	Dr. Giovanni (Johann) Malfatti moved to Vienna at age ~20 years.
?	Sent playful letter to friend and fellow musician Nikolaus Zmeskall von Domanovecz (Anderson#14)
?	"A Viennese composer, Forster, once brought him a quartet which he had copied out only that very morning. When in the second part of the first movement the cello lost his place, Beethoven stood up and sang the bass accompaniment while continuing to play his own part. When I pointed this out as a mark of extraordinary skill, he answered with a smile: 'The bass line had to run that way, unless the author knew nothing about composition.'"