Beethoven: Early Cantatas: Cantata for Joseph II; Cantata for Leopold II etc.

Featuring

Janice Watson
Jean Rigby
John Mark Ainsley
José van Dam
Matthew Best
Judith Howarth

Roger Smith
Corydon Singers
Corydon Orchestra
Ludwig van Beethoven

Did you know?

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Composer's Artistic Vision

Beethoven had a high regard for Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the poet whose texts he set for Meeresstille und Glückliche Fahrt, and sought his help in raising subscriptions for the Missa solemnis.

Compositional Technique

Beethoven's setting of Goethe's 'Meeresstille und Glückliche Fahrt' uses extreme musical contrasts, such as the frenetic 'Glückliche Fahrt' contrasting with the rapt stillness of the opening, achieved through idiosyncratic scoring and slow-moving harmonies.

Composer Biography

Beethoven's birthplace, Bonn, was under Viennese dominion, and his connection to the city was strengthened when Maximilian Franz, brother of Emperor Joseph II, became the Elector of Cologne in Bonn.

Notable Performances

Neither of Beethoven's cantatas on this album, the Cantata on the death of Emperor Joseph II nor the Cantata on the accession of Emperor Leopold II, were performed during his lifetime.

Composition History

The Lesegesellschaft (Reading Society) in Bonn commissioned Beethoven to set a text by Severin Anton Averdonk commemorating Emperor Joseph II's death.

Historical Context

The death of Empress Maria Theresia in 1780 and the succession of her son Joseph II led to a decade of enlightened reform in Vienna and the Holy Roman Empire.

Critical Reception

Johannes Brahms, after studying the rediscovered score of the 'Joseph' Cantata in 1884, wrote to Eduard Hanslick, saying: 'Even if there were no name on the title page, none other could be conjectured—it is Beethoven through and through!'