" Für Elise " (English: " For Elise ") is the popular name of one of Ludwig van Beethoven's (1770–1827) most popular compositions, the Bagatelle in A minor (WoO 59 and Bia 515) for solo piano, marked poco moto, dated 27 April 1810. The original autographed manuscript has been lost and the piece itself was not published until 1865.
History
It is not certain who "Elise" was. Some scholars have suggested she was Beethoven's fifth mistress, while others have suggested that the discoverer of the piece, Ludwig Nohl, may have transcribed the title incorrectly and the original work may have been named "Für Therese" (Therese being Therese Malfatti von Rohrenbach zu Dezza (1792–1851), a friend and student of Beethoven's to whom he proposed in 1810 but she turned down to marry the Austrian nobleman and state official Wilhelm von Droßdik in 1816.) Another—somewhat dubious—theory is that Elise was Elisabeth Röckel (1793–1883), a German soprano and sister of Joseph August Röckel. How the autograph of the Albumblatt WoO 59 ended up in the possession of a certain Babette Bredl (who also owned other copies of Beethoven's works in Therese Malfatti's hand) in Munich, during Röckel's lifetime, is still to be explained.
On 13 October 2009 the pianist and musicologist Luca Chiantore presented his doctoral thesis at the Autonomous University of Barcelona and asserted that the piece, while an original work of Beethoven as is proved by the drafts of manuscript BH 116, was influenced in the transcription by Ludwig Nohl to the form we know today. Chiantore stated his beliefs that the original signed manuscript upon which Ludwig Nohl claimed to base his transcription, may never have existed. Following widely spread sensationalistic reporting, Chiantore clarified his position.
- ^ Titel: Beethoven y sus ejercicios técnicos, entre composición, improvisación e investigación sonora
Music
The piece begins in 3/8 with a right-hand theme accompanied by arpeggios in the left hand; the harmonies used are A minor and E major. The next section moves to the relative major, using the chords C major and G major. A lighter section follows, written in the key of F major, then a few bars in C major before the first section returns without alteration. Next the piece moves into an agitated theme set over a pedal point on A. After a gauntlet of arpeggios and a chromatic descend over an octave and a half, the main theme returns, and the piece ends in its starting key of A minor with an authentic cadence. The piece, though called a bagatelle, is in rondo form. It provides a good basic exercise on piano pedaling technique.
References
- ^ Kindermann, William (2000). The Cambridge companion to Beethoven . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 125-126. ISBN 9780521589345.
- ^ de Val, Dorothy (1998). The Cambridge companion to the piano . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 131. ISBN 9780521479868. "Beethoven is here only by virtue of 'Für Elise', but there is a better representation of later composers such as Schubert ... , Chopin ... , Schumann ... and some Liszt."
- ^ Manus, Morton (1996). Alfred's Basic Adult All-In-One Piano Course, Book 3 . New York: Alfred Publishing. p. 132. ISBN 9780739000687.
- ^ Max Unger, translated by Theodore Baker, "Beethoven and Therese von Malfatti," The Musical Quarterly 11, no. 1 (1925): 63–72.
- ^ Michael Lorenz: "Baronin Droßdik und die verschneyten Nachtigallen. Biographische Anmerkungen zu einem Schubert-Dokument", Schubert durch die Brille 26, (Tutzing: Schneider, 2001), pp. 47–88.
- ^ "Expert finds identity of Beethoven's mysterious Elise", 1 July 2009 (with a wrong date of birth for Hummel's son)
- ^ "¿Escribió Beethoven Para Elisa?" (12 October 2009) (Spanish)
- ^ "¿Quién escribió "Para Elisa"?" (Spanish)
- ^ Clarification
External links
- Für Elise sheet music and recording
- Typeset sheet music from Cantorion.org
- Für Elise WoO 59 in A minor for piano solo.
- Für Elise: Free scores at the International Music Score Library Project.
- "Für Elise" at the Mutopia Project
- Für Elise For Guitar – arrangement of the opening part with guitar tabs
- List of Beethoven's works WoO
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