Ludwig van Beethoven Ouverture pour Egmont op. 84 Editeur: Helmut Hell Préface: Ernst Herttrich When Beethoven received a commission from Vienna s Burgtheater to compose stage music for Goethe s tragedy Egmont in 1809, he viewed it as a great honour. The impetus would have been all the stronger since the drama, about a Dutch nobleman who falls victim to a plot by a Spanish ruler, from the outset provided for music at several points. Beethoven repeatedly declared later on that he had received no honorarium from the theatre s management, but had written the music solely out of love for the poet . The overture became separated from the rest of the incidental music very early on; it was separately published and soon performed as a concert piece independent of the stage tragedy. We now issue it as a study score based on the text of the Beethoven Complete Edition, and with a new preface.
