BEETHOVEN 200 YEARS AGO TODAY: Sunday, October 30, 1825

The Schuppanzigh Quartet today holds the second in the current series of subscription concerts at the Musikverein. Today’s program includes a Haydn string quartet in B minor [either Quartet Nr.31 op.33/1 Hob.III:37 or Nr.49 op.64/2 Hob.III:68], a Quintet by French composer George Onslow (1784-1853, sometimes called the “French Beethoven”) in C major, op.25; and Beethoven’s Quartet Nr.6, op.18/6. Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung of November 23 (Nr.47) at 783.

The same issue of the AMZ also notes at 783-784 a grand concert by the Fatherland Music Conservatory at the Kärntnertor Theater today. In the second Act of the lengthy program, the final chorus from Beethoven’s oratorio Christ on the Mount of Olives, op.85, is performed by all of the students and members of the Musikverein. According to the March 1, 1826 Berliner allgemeine musikalische Zeitung (Nr.9) at 72, “The house was over-crowded due to the very modest entrance fee, and the curtains rolling up presented a surprising sight, with the well-organized, youthful orchestra consisting of around 200 pupils.”

The Wiener Zeitschrift account of the event in Nr.134 of November 8, 1825 at 2011-2012 mentions that the concert consisted of no fewer than fourteen numbers. “The orchestra, composed solely of members of the Institute, with the sole exception of a few double basses, the trumpets and timpani, and conducted by a teacher, had the opportunity to develop precision, power, and vibrancy in Mozart’s overtures to the operas La clemenza di Tito and Die Zauberflöte, the second of which had to be repeated by popular demand of the listeners.”

“For the entire group of singing students male and female, three choruses without instrumental accompaniment and (at the end) a chorus from Beethoven’s oratorio, Christ am Öhlberge were given for performance. In the former, one could perceive a largely pure intonation, precise observation of the piano and forte, and, to the satisfaction of connoisseurs of verse, also a fairly clear articulation, the latter of which is often neglected in singing lessons, ever since the merit of singing is found more in the quantity than in the meaning of the notes and their agreement with the text. That choruses by Schulz, Bach, Graun or Handel would have been more suitable for such a purpose can hardly be disputed.”

The concert was deemed so successful that it was repeated in its entirety on November 6, with the only change being that a duet by Paccini was performed in place of one by Rossini. The October 30 concert was only for members of the Society, and the second concert was for general admission, and thus a larger audience. “In this way, many will be made aware of this magnificent patriotic influence, which almost defies their attention and yet can only be maintained through the active and extensive participation of an art-loving and patriotic audience.” The Beethoven chorus involved all the students of the Conservatory, as well as members of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde. Wiener Theater-Zeitung Nr.136 at 554-555.