BEETHOVEN 200 YEARS AGO TODAY: Tuesday, January 31, 1826
Today’s Wiener Theaterzeitung (Nr.13) at 52 in its general music news column includes a brief review of the two new publications of dances by C.F. Müller, including the Waltz WoO 85 and Ecossaise WoO 86 by Beethoven. “In the Sauer & Leidesdorf art gallery, the friends of music were interested in two recently published collections. One is entitled “Seyd uns zum zweyten Mahl willkommen,” [Be Welcome to our Second Time] which contains fifty waltzes by the leading composers and is a continuation of the previous volume, Musikalisches Angebinde zum neuen Jahr, which aroused so much interest, consisting of forty waltzes by the best composers. The other volume, “Ernst und Tändeley” presents a rich selection of minuets, ecossaises, quadrilles, cotillions and galops, likewise composed by the most outstanding masters. Both were published by Herr C.F. Müller and his patrons, the Archduchesses Sophie and Maria Dorothea, who accepted the dedication of both volumes.”
“The thickness of these volumes alone is enough to attract the attention of the public. We find a great deal in them. Sweet and pleasing, we are sure that this collection, which has the richness of the diverse ideas of the classical composers, and offers pleasant comparisons, is capable of being more interesting than many others. Almost no important touch is missing. We find celebrities such as the immortal Beethoven, the long-silent but equally well-known Hummel, and such names as Carl Czerny, Gläser, Gyrowetz, Hellmesberger, Kreutzer, Lannoy, Leidesdorf, Würfel, Riotte, Schubert, Seyfried, Umlauf, among many other popular composers who have enjoyed a good reputation in this country. Also women, the famous-throughout-Germany [Leopoldine] Blahetka, as well as the fine virtuoso on violin and clarinet Mad. Krähmer, also contributed their share. In the first volume alone one can count among them Kapellmeisters, professors, conductors, amateurs and popular pianists and virtuosos.”
“By publishing the second volume, according to the announcement in the Wiener Zeitung, the aim was to alleviate a considerable need for dance soirées, and this is actually the case, for it was often very inconvenient to burden the music stand with two or more different genres of dance, and only then to select the appropriate ones, when one was not actually performing the dance. We believe that Vienna is so rich with composers that we are not making an unpleasant remark when we draw attention to these successful collections of poetry in sound, the latest of which is so tasteful, as is everything that comes from Herr Leidesdorf. The price, 4 florins and 5 florins 30 kreutzers W.W. is moderate, considering the value of the contents.”
Yesterday’s post included the Ecossaise WoO 86. The Waltz WoO 85 is here played by Gianluca Cascioli: