Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 – 1827) was a German
composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most
admired composers in the history of Western music; his
works rank among the most performed of the classical
music repertoire and span the transition from the
Classical period to the Romantic era in classical
music. His career has conventionally been divided into
early, middle, and late periods. His early period,
during which he forged his craft, is typically
considered to have lasted until 1...(+)
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 – 1827) was a German
composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most
admired composers in the history of Western music; his
works rank among the most performed of the classical
music repertoire and span the transition from the
Classical period to the Romantic era in classical
music. His career has conventionally been divided into
early, middle, and late periods. His early period,
during which he forged his craft, is typically
considered to have lasted until 1802. From 1802 to
around 1812, his middle period showed an individual
development from the styles of Joseph Haydn and
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and is sometimes characterized
as heroic. During this time, he began to grow
increasingly deaf. In his late period, from 1812 to
1827, he extended his innovations in musical form and
expression.
Beethoven was born in Bonn. His musical talent was
obvious at an early age. He was initially harshly and
intensively taught by his father, Johann van Beethoven.
Beethoven was later taught by the composer and
conductor Christian Gottlob Neefe, under whose tutelage
he published his first work, a set of keyboard
variations, in 1783. He found relief from a
dysfunctional home life with the family of Helene von
Breuning, whose children he loved, befriended, and
taught piano. At age 21, he moved to Vienna, which
subsequently became his base, and studied composition
with Haydn. Beethoven then gained a reputation as a
virtuoso pianist, and was soon patronised by Karl
Alois, Prince Lichnowsky for compositions, which
resulted in his three Opus 1 piano trios (the earliest
works to which he accorded an opus number) in 1795.
The variations on Mozart’s theme ‘Ein Mädchen oder
Weibchen’, probably composed in 1798, reflect
Beethoven’s great admiration for that composer and
his opera Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute). The
splendid theme is varied here with sovereign skill and
constantly shown from new angles. The buoyant mood of
Papageno’s well-known aria is on occasion transformed
by bold modulations which give it an introverted twist
in the two variations in the minor. Despite the jovial
virtuosity of the concluding variation, Beethoven
brings the work to a cheerful but at the same time
thoughtful conclusion. The theme is Papageno’s aria,
from Mozart’s opera Die Zauberflöte (The Magic
Flute), where he expresses his desire for a wife over a
glass of wine.
Beethoven’s flurry of activity writing for the piano
and cello in 1796 yielded four works. Alongside the two
groundbreaking sonatas published as Op.5 came two sets
of unpublished variations, seemingly inspired by the
same dedicatee and performers. The first set had fun
with music by Handel, yet – as the excellent
Beethoven’s Cello book reveals – this one has
slightly more serious origins. ‘In all likelihood
Beethoven finished these variations after his return to
Vienna’, says the book. They were not published until
1819, when they were assigned the opus number 66 –
overlooked when the Fifth Symphony was published ten
years earlier. The book suggests Beethoven encountered
The Magic Flute in Berlin, thanks to Frederick William
II’s promotion. The roots of the piece, however,
appear to lie in Beethoven’s competitive edge. They
may have been designed in response to Abbé Gelinek, a
pupil of Beethoven’s teacher Albrechtsberger and a
popular piano teacher in Vienna.
Gelinek had already completed a set of ‘frivolous
piano variations’ on Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen three
years earlier. ‘Beethoven seems to have taken his
lead from Gelinek’s six variations by producing
twelve’, says the book, ‘starting in the same
manner so he could eventually ‘out-compose’ his
rival’. Gelinek’s is entertaining and pleasing, but
not musically adventurous; Beethoven’s more
assertively tests the limits of the theme and probes
the possibilities for constructing a little musical
drama around it. A contemporary review questioned
Beethoven’s potential as a composer, for he was
guilty of unusual tonal movements and ‘harmonic
harshness’.
Source: Arcana
(https://arcana.fm/2021/01/29/2020-beethoven-variations
-ein-madchen-oder-weibchen/).
Although originally written for Cello & Piano, I
created this Arrangement of the Variations in F Major
on 'Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen' from Mozart's Die
Zauberflöte (Op 66) for Flute & Piano.
PARTITION