BEETHOVEN 200 YEARS AGO TODAY: Monday, November 21, 1825

The first music festival in Demmin, in Western Pomerania, begins today. The local cantor named Wangemann had founded a singing society two years earlier in a town of only 4000 mostly poor inhabitants without any musical education. Through determination, Cantor Wangemann overcame these difficulties, so the small club was able to flourish.

Cantor Wangemann organized a real music festival for today and tomorrow, inviting musicians from the neighboring towns of Greifswalde, Neubrandenburg, Friedland, etc., with both amateurs and professional musicians. The total number of singers and players was between 80 and 90. They were only able to do one rehearsal on the 20th, with the performance this afternoon. The works presented today began with Beethoven’s Mass in C op.86, followed by the second part of Handel’s Messiah, and concluding with Beethoven’s oratorio Christ on the Mount of Olives, op.85. The soprano part in Christ on the Mount of Olives is sung by Fraulein Karoline Lithander, “to everyone’s delight with a beautiful voice, great skill and excellent performance.”

“All three pieces of music (the speaker refrains from any criticism of these masterpieces) were excellent and exceeded our expectations. We cannot thank Mr. W. enough for the great pleasure he has given us.” The festival will continue tomorrow, with more Beethoven.

Berliner allgemeine musikalische Zeitung of February 8, 1826 (Nr.6) at 47.

The Wiener Zeitung for today (Nr.265) at 1115 has an advertisement from Anton Diabelli & Co. for the newest dances for the pianoforte for Carneval 1826. Prominently featured are Franz Schubert’s Galoppe and Ecossaises for piano, op.49 (today catalogued as D.735); and Valses sentimentales for the pianoforte, op.50 (D.779).

Schubert’s 34 Valses Sentimentales D.779 are here performed by Michael Endres:

The same advertisement from Diabelli includes a very early set of 7 waltzes for pianoforte by Johann Strauss (the Elder), predating his opus 1 by two years.