Canon, Kurz ist der Schmerz, WoO 166 (mp3)

Kurz ist der Schmerz, Canon, WoO 166

Canon written for the composer Louis Spohr.

Under the music Beethoven writes : 'May you be glad to think of me, dear Spohr, wherever you encounter true art and true artists, Of your friend, Beethoven'. It is dated Vienna, March 3rd, 1815. The words of this canon, for three voices, are : 'Brief, brief is all pain, endless, endless is rejoicing'.

[Michael Hamburger, Beethoven Letters, Journals and Conversations, (Thames and Hudson, 1984) p.133.]

Willem comments : "Yes, yes, you heard that right, the last note of bar 28 I changed from C to C#. You do have good ears, my dear girl! Why did I do that, you ask ? Well, to enliven the melody at that point somewhat, obviously. Harmonically it works perfectly alright, and it also fits in the general character of the piece, since Beethoven is using quite a lot of harmonic trickery throughout."

"May Beethoven strike you with lightning and thunderbolts !!"

"Why, thank you. And a good night to you too."

WoO: 166

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