Songs (6) for voice & piano, Op. 48

All Music Guide

Although many of Beethoven's songs were published in collections, very few of them seem to have been conceived of as part of a larger artistic entity. The most obvious exception to this trend is his song cycle from 1816, An die ferne Geliebte, Op. 98 (To the Distant Beloved), the six songs of which are so musically interwoven as to be inseparable; however, an earlier example is his set of six songs, Op. 48, composed to the poetry of Christian Fürchtegott Gellert. Unlike An die ferne Geliebte, the songs of Op. 48 each represent complete musical units and do not share musical material; but they are unified by the spirit of solemnity and devotion that runs through Gellert's poetry, and they are frequently programmed and performed as a group. Published in Vienna by Artaria in 1803, the Six Songs were dedicated to Count Johann von Browne (1767-1827), one of Beethoven's chief early patrons. Recent scholarship shows that the songs were composed before March 1802, and that No. 3 was sketched i...n 1798.The Gellert Lieder were composer during a tumultuous time in Beethoven's life; in an 1801 letter to Dr. Franz Wegeler we find the composer's first mention of the growing deafness that would eventually drive him into near isolation. This distress, combined with the disappointment of his unrequited love for a "dear charming girl" (most likely the Countess Giulietta Guicciardi, a student of Beethoven and the dedicatee of the "Moonlight" Sonata, op. 27, No. 2) may have induced his temporary attraction to religious subjects such as the Gellert poems, or Christus am Ölberg (Mount of Olives), composed in 1803.Beethoven's setting of "Bitten" (Entreaty), relating a narrator's petition to God, is through-composed. The "walking" bass line ceases only for the last line, "Denn ich will vor dir beten" (For I want to pray before you), the profundity of which is conveyed by Beethoven's setting each syllable to a single chord. Beethoven moves down a half step for "Die Liebe des Nächsten" (The love of Another)" instructing people to love their neighbor as they love themselves. In contrast to "Bitten," there is no moving bass line and nearly every syllable is given equal emphasis until "Gott ist die Lieb,'" set to longer notes. "Vom Tode" (Of Death) is one of several texts set by Beethoven concerning death, including "Opferlied," "Klage," and "In questa tomba oscura." Beethoven creates a lugubrious atmosphere through the minor mode, chromatic twists and low piano part. Two repetitions of the last line stress the main point of the text: "Säume nicht, denn Eins ist not" (Delay not, it [your death] is imperative." "Die Ehre Gottes aus der Natur" (The Glory of God in Nature) is a majestic description of nature's declarations of the glory of God. Octaves or block chords in the piano part trace the vocal line, which is more instrumental than vocal in conception. In "Gottes Macht und Vorsehung" (God's Power and Providence) triadic melodies, a chordal accompaniment and forte dynamic create a martial flavor. The narrator of "Busslied" (Song of Penance) begs God for forgiveness. Beethoven sets the first three verses, in which the anguished narrator pleads his case, in A minor and a Poco adagio tempo. The last three verses, describing the narrator's joy at experiencing God's comfort and compassion, are in A major with a running eight-note accompaniment at an Allegro tempo. ~ All Music Guide Read more Less