Grossen Dank fuer solche Gnade, Canon WoO 225, Hess 303, worked out for Two, Four and Eight Voices (mp3)
This canon is found among the sketches for the Adagio from the Ninth Symphony. While Kinsky-Halm and the rest of the Beethoven literature (Nottebohm, Unger and Hess) refer to this as a two-part canon, it can be worked out as no less than an 8-part(!) canon.
We provide here the original score and also the working out in two, four and eight parts. The first canon is obvious: the 2nd voice follows at an interval of 2 bars. Looking more closely, there is also a 4-part canon: the voices enter each at a one-bar interval, the trick being that each voice starts a tone lower than the previous voice. The real surprise comes upon discovering that these two canons can be combined, resulting in a 8-part canon. Truly a Miniature Monument of Musical Mastery!
Canons with more than 6 voices are rare. The world record, although probably not mentioned in the Guiness Book of Records, is held by Johannes Ockeghem (Dutch/Flemish composer from the 15th century, http://consider.ferris.edu/~atwells/ockeghem.html) who wrote a 36-part canon: Deo Gratias.
The last section on the midi is just the 8-part canon again, only scored slightly differently. In English, "Grossen Dank, grossen Dank, fuer solche Gnade" = "Many thanks, many thanks for such great mercy."
Yet another world premiere for the Unheard Beethoven site. Our visitors don't expect anything less.
WoO: 225
Hess: 303