A minor
A minor is a minor scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has no flats and no sharps. Its relative major is C major and its parallel major is A major.
The A natural minor scale is:
:
Changes ...
(
WoO
Woo, WoO, WOO, W.O.O. and variants may refer to:
People
Woo or Wu, romanization of several East Asian names:
* Hu (surname): 胡, 瓠, 護, 戶, 扈, 虎, 呼, 忽, 斛
* Wu (surname): 吳, 伍, 武, 仵, 烏, 鄔, 巫
* Ng (name): 吳, 伍
* ...
piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
, commonly known as "Für Elise" (, ), is one of
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...
's most popular compositions. It was not published during his lifetime, only being discovered (by
Ludwig Nohl
Ludwig Nohl (born 5 December 1831 in Iserlohn; died 15 December 1885 in Heidelberg) was a German music scholar and writer best known for discovering and publishing Beethoven's famous bagatelle, "Für Elise".
Life
After graduation from the Gymna ...
) 40 years after his death, and may be termed either a ''Bagatelle'' or an . The identity of "Elise" is unknown; researchers have suggested
Therese Malfatti
Baroness Therese von Droßdik, née Malfatti (1 January 1792 – 27 April 1851), was an Austrian musician and a close friend of Ludwig van Beethoven. She is best known as one of the possible dedicatees of Beethoven's famous bagatelle, ''Für Eli ...
,
Elisabeth Röckel
Elisabeth Röckel (15 March 1793 – 3 March 1883) was a German soprano opera singer and the wife of the composer Johann Nepomuk Hummel.
Life
Röckel was born in Neunburg vorm Wald, Bavaria, and baptised Maria Eva. She was a sister of the o ...
The score was not published until 1867, forty years after the composer's death in 1827. The discoverer of the piece,
Ludwig Nohl
Ludwig Nohl (born 5 December 1831 in Iserlohn; died 15 December 1885 in Heidelberg) was a German music scholar and writer best known for discovering and publishing Beethoven's famous bagatelle, "Für Elise".
Life
After graduation from the Gymna ...
, affirmed that the original autograph manuscript, now lost, had the title: "Für Elise am 27 April
810
__NOTOC__
Year 810 ( DCCCX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place Byzantine Empire
* Spring – The Venetian dukes change sides again, submitting to Ki ...
zur Erinnerung von L. v. Bthvn" ("For Elise on April 27 in memory by L. v. Bthvn"). The music was published as part of Nohl's ''Neue Briefe Beethovens'' (New letters by Beethoven) on pages 28 to 33, printed in
Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...
by
Johann Friedrich Cotta
Johann Friedrich, Freiherr Cotta von Cottendorf (April 27, 1764 – December 29, 1832) was a German publisher, industrial pioneer and politician.
Ancestors
Cotta is the name of a family of German publishers, intimately connected with the his ...
.
The version of "Für Elise" heard today is an earlier version that was transcribed by Ludwig Nohl. There is a later version, with drastic changes to the accompaniment which was transcribed from a later manuscript by the Beethoven scholar Barry Cooper. The most notable difference is in the first theme, the left-hand
arpeggio
A broken chord is a chord broken into a sequence of notes. A broken chord may repeat some of the notes from the chord and span one or more octaves.
An arpeggio () is a type of broken chord, in which the notes that compose a chord are played ...
s are delayed by a 16th note. There are a few extra bars in the transitional section into the B section; and finally, the rising A minor arpeggio figure is moved later into the piece. The tempo marking ''Poco moto'' is believed to have been on the manuscript that Ludwig Nohl transcribed (now lost). The later version includes the marking ''Molto grazioso''. It is believed that Beethoven intended to add the piece to a cycle of bagatelles.
Whatever the validity of Nohl's edition, an editorial peculiarity contained in it involves whether the second right-hand note in bar 7, that is, the first note of the three-note upbeat figure that characterizes the main melody, is an E4 or a D4. Nohl's score gives E4 in bar 7, but D4 thereafter in all parallel passages. Many editions change all of the figures to beginning with E4 until the final bars, where D4 is used and resolved by adding a C to the final A octave. A point in favor of the D4 is that the ascending seventh of the motive in this form is repeated in sequence in bars 9 to 11 that begin the second section of the principal theme.
The pianist and musicologist argued in his
thesis
A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...
and his 2010 book ''Beethoven al piano'' (new Italian edition: ''Beethoven al pianoforte'', 2014) that Beethoven might not have been the person who gave the piece the form that we know today. Chiantore suggested that the original signed manuscript, upon which Ludwig Nohl claimed to base his transcription, may never have existed. On the other hand, Barry Cooper wrote, in a 1984 essay in ''
The Musical Times
''The Musical Times'' is an academic journal of classical music edited and produced in the United Kingdom and currently the oldest such journal still being published in the country.
It was originally created by Joseph Mainzer in 1842 as ''Mainze ...
'', that one of two surviving sketches closely resembles the published version.
Identity of "Elise"
It is not certain who "Elise" was, although a list of possible dedicatees have been suggested by various scholars over the years. Evidence suggests that "Elise" was a close friend of Beethoven and probably an important figure in his life.
Therese Malfatti
Max Unger
Maxwell McCandless Unger (born April 14, 1986) is a former American football center (American football), center who played in the National Football League for 10 seasons. He played college football at Oregon Ducks football, Oregon and was draft ...
suggested that Ludwig Nohl may have transcribed the title incorrectly and the original work may have been named "Für Therese", a reference to
Therese Malfatti
Baroness Therese von Droßdik, née Malfatti (1 January 1792 – 27 April 1851), was an Austrian musician and a close friend of Ludwig van Beethoven. She is best known as one of the possible dedicatees of Beethoven's famous bagatelle, ''Für Eli ...
von Rohrenbach zu Dezza (1792–1851). She was a friend and student of Beethoven's to whom he supposedly proposed in 1810, though she turned him down to marry the Austrian nobleman and state official Wilhelm von Droßdik in 1816. Note that the piano sonata no. 24, dedicated to Countess
Thérèse von Brunswick
Countess Therese onBrunsvik (in Hungarian Teréz Brunszvik, sometimes referred to in English as Therese Countess von Brunsvik or Brunswick) (July 27, 1775, Pozsony, Kingdom of Hungary – September 23, 1861, Pest, Kingdom of Hungary) was a mem ...
, is also referred to sometimes as "für Therese". The Austrian musicologist Michael LorenzMichael Lorenz "'Die enttarnte Elise'. Die kurze Karriere der Elisabeth Röckel als Beethovens 'Elise'" , ''Bonner Beethoven-Studien'' vol. 9, (Bonn 2011), 169–90. has shown that Rudolf Schachner, who in 1851 inherited Therese von Droßdik's musical scores, was the son of Babette Bredl, born out of wedlock. Babette in 1865 let Nohl copy the autograph in her possession. Dr. Robert Greenberg, who teaches much music through "The Great Courses", as well as the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and elsewhere, points out that Beethoven's notoriously sloppy handwriting might easily have lead to the title "Fur Therese" being misread as "Fur Elise".
Elisabeth Röckel
According to a 2010 study by
Klaus Martin Kopitz
Klaus Martin Kopitz (born January 29, 1955, Stendal) is a German composer and musicologist. He became known in particular with his album ''Mia Brentano's Hidden Sea. 20 songs for 2 pianos''. In the United States, US, it was 2018 on the annual "W ...
, there is evidence that the piece was written for the 17-year-old German soprano singer
Elisabeth Röckel
Elisabeth Röckel (15 March 1793 – 3 March 1883) was a German soprano opera singer and the wife of the composer Johann Nepomuk Hummel.
Life
Röckel was born in Neunburg vorm Wald, Bavaria, and baptised Maria Eva. She was a sister of the o ...
(1793–1883), the younger sister of
Joseph August Röckel
Joseph August Röckel (28 August 1783 – September 1870) was a German operatic tenor and opera producer. He played Florestan in the 1806 revival of Beethoven's opera ''Fidelio'' in Vienna, and later produced the opera for the first time in London. ...
, who played Florestan in the 1806 revival of Beethoven's opera ''
Fidelio
''Fidelio'' (; ), originally titled ' (''Leonore, or The Triumph of Marital Love''), Op. 72, is Ludwig van Beethoven's only opera. The German libretto was originally prepared by Joseph Sonnleithner from the French of Jean-Nicolas Bouilly, with ...
''. "Elise", as she was called by a parish priest (later she called herself "Betty"), had been a friend of Beethoven's since 1808, who, according to Kopitz, perhaps wanted to marry her. But in April 1810 Elisabeth Röckel got an engagement at the theater in
Bamberg
Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main. The town dates back to the 9th century, when its name was derived from the nearby ' castle. C ...
where she made her stage debut as Donna Anna in Mozart's ''
Don Giovanni
''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; Vienna (1788) title: , literally ''The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spanis ...
'' and became a friend of the writer E. T. A. Hoffmann. In 1811 Röckel came back to Vienna, in 1813 she married there Beethoven's friend
Johann Nepomuk Hummel
Johann Nepomuk Hummel (14 November 177817 October 1837) was an Austrian composer and virtuoso pianist. His music reflects the Transition from Classical to Romantic music, transition from the Classical period (music), Classical to the Romantic ...
.
In 2015 Kopitz published further sources about Beethoven's relationship to Röckel and the famous piano piece. It shows that she was also a close friend of
Anna Milder-Hauptmann
Pauline Anna Milder-HauptmannShe was mostly called Anna Milder. Before her marriage, she was often referred to on playbills, reviews and correspondence as Mlle Milder, sometimes as Nanny Milder. After her marriage, many documents refer to her as ...
and lived together with her and her brother Joseph August in the
Theater an der Wien
The is a historic theatre in Vienna located on the Left Wienzeile in the Mariahilf district. Completed in 1801, the theatre has hosted the premieres of many celebrated works of theatre, opera, and symphonic music. Since 2006, it has served prima ...
. In a letter to Röckel, which she wrote in 1830, she indeed called her "Elise".
In 2020 an extended English version of Kopitz's essay was published with some new sources.
Elise Barensfeld
In 2014, the Canadian musicologist
Rita Steblin
Rita Katherine Steblin (April 22, 1951 – September 3, 2019) obituary, ''Figures of Speech'' was a
Elise Barensfeld might be the dedicatee. Born in
Regensburg
Regensburg or is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the Danube, Naab and Regen rivers. It is capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the state in the south of Germany. With more than 150,000 inhabitants, Regensburg is the f ...
and treated for a while as a
child prodigy
A child prodigy is defined in psychology research literature as a person under the age of ten who produces meaningful output in some domain at the level of an adult expert. The term is also applied more broadly to young people who are extraor ...
, she first travelled on concert tours with Beethoven's friend
Johann Nepomuk Mälzel
A metronome by Maelzel, Paris, 1815.
Johann Nepomuk Maelzel (or Mälzel; August 15, 1772 – July 21, 1838) was a German inventor, engineer, and showman, best known for manufacturing a metronome and several music-playing automatons, and displayin ...
, also from Regensburg, and then lived with him for some time in Vienna, where she received singing lessons from
Antonio Salieri
Antonio Salieri (18 August 17507 May 1825) was an Italian classical composer, conductor, and teacher. He was born in Legnago, south of Verona, in the Republic of Venice, and spent his adult life and career as a subject of the Habsburg monarchy ...
. Steblin argues that Beethoven dedicated this work to the 13-year-old Elise Barensfeld as a favour to Therese Malfatti who lived opposite Mälzel's and Barensfeld's residence and who might have given her piano lessons. Steblin admits that question marks remain for her hypothesis."Geheimnis um Beethovens 'Elise' gelüftet?" ''
Die Welt
''Die Welt'' ("The World") is a German national daily newspaper, published as a broadsheet by Axel Springer SE.
''Die Welt'' is the flagship newspaper of the Axel Springer publishing group. Its leading competitors are the ''Frankfurter Allg ...
'', 16 November 2012 ; Steblin, Rita: "Who was Beethoven's 'Elise'? A new solution to the mystery." In: ''
The Musical Times
''The Musical Times'' is an academic journal of classical music edited and produced in the United Kingdom and currently the oldest such journal still being published in the country.
It was originally created by Joseph Mainzer in 1842 as ''Mainze ...
'' 155 (2014), pp. 3–39
Music
The piece can be heard as a five-part
rondo
The rondo is an instrumental musical form introduced in the Classical period.
Etymology
The English word ''rondo'' comes from the Italian form of the French ''rondeau'', which means "a little round".
Despite the common etymological root, rondo ...
, with the form A-B-A-C-A. It is in
A minor
A minor is a minor scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has no flats and no sharps. Its relative major is C major and its parallel major is A major.
The A natural minor scale is:
:
Changes ...
and in time. It begins with the refrain A, a flowing melody in binary form marked ''Poco moto'' (literally "a little motion," a tempo indication that does not appear elsewhere in Beethoven's works), with an
arpeggiated
A broken chord is a chord broken into a sequence of notes. A broken chord may repeat some of the notes from the chord and span one or more octaves.
An arpeggio () is a type of broken chord, in which the notes that compose a chord are played ...
left hand accompaniment. The unaccompanied oscillation between the dominant E and its chromatic lower neighbor D-sharp that begins the melody has become one of the most recognizable openings in classical music, but it also serves as a main topic of musical discussion. The digression at measure 9 glances at the relative major before returning to the original theme and key, preceded by a prolongation of the dominant, E that extends the opening lower-neighbor oscillation. The pitch outline of these bars, E-F-E-D-C-B, i.e. an upper-neighbor ascent to F5 followed by a descending scale, also forms the basis of the two episodes B and C, thus unifying the piece. The B section that begins in bar 23 is in the
submediant
In music, the submediant is the sixth degree () of a diatonic scale. The submediant ("lower mediant") is named thus because it is halfway between tonic and subdominant ("lower dominant") or because its position below the tonic is symmetrical to t ...
,
F major
F major (or the key of F) is a major scale based on F, with the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat. Its relative minor is D minor and its parallel minor is F minor
F minor is a minor scale based on F, consis ...
. Its theme begins by tracing the outline mentioned above in somewhat elaborated fashion and modulates to the dominant, followed by 32nd-note runs repeating a cadential progression in C major in a
codetta
In music, a coda () (Italian for "tail", plural ''code'') is a passage that brings a piece (or a movement) to an end. It may be as simple as a few measures, or as complex as an entire section.
In classical music
The presence of a coda as a st ...
-like passage. (The chordal three-note upbeats in the left hand have been anticipated by the transition to this episode in bar 22, a clever unifying touch.) This suggests a rather expansive form, but Beethoven suddenly returns to the dominant of A minor in bar 34, once again lingering on the dominant E and its lower neighbor and leading to an exact repeat of the A section. Although another nominal episode follows (C) at bar 59, it does not leave the tonic and is rather coda-like in feel, unfolding over a dramatic, throbbing tonic pedal in the bass and emphatically cadencing in the home key. Once again, there are unifying relationships with previously heard material. The melody retraces the descending outline alluded to earlier, and the cadence in bars 66-67 is an augmented version of the theme's cadence in bars 7–8. After a glance at a Neapolitan harmony (B-flat major) and a cadence at bar 76 that brings the music to a complete halt for the first and only time, an ascending A minor arpeggio and a
chromatic
Diatonic and chromatic are terms in music theory that are most often used to characterize scales, and are also applied to musical instruments, intervals, chords, notes, musical styles, and kinds of harmony. They are very often used as a pair, ...
descent over two octaves follows, sort of a ''cadenza in tempo'', leading to a final repetition of the A section. The piece concludes without an added postlude.
Kopitz presents the finding by the German organ scholar that the letters that spell Elise can be decoded as the first three notes of the piece. Because an E is called an ''Es'' in German and is pronounced as "S", that makes E–(L)–(I)–S–E: E–(L)–(I)–E–E, which by
enharmonic
In modern musical notation and tuning, an enharmonic equivalent is a note, interval, or key signature that is equivalent to some other note, interval, or key signature but "spelled", or named differently. The enharmonic spelling of a written n ...
equivalents sounds the same as the written notes E–(L)–(I)–D–E.
Incipit
The incipit () of a text is the first few words of the text, employed as an identifying label. In a musical composition, an incipit is an initial sequence of notes, having the same purpose. The word ''incipit'' comes from Latin and means "it beg ...
Mutopia Project
The Mutopia Project is a volunteer-run effort to create a library of free content sheet music, in a way similar to Project Gutenberg's library of public domain books. It started in 2000.Portal page at thInternet ArchiveRetrieved January 24, 20 ...