Beethoven: Bundeslied, Op. 122 (with Score)

Ludwig van Beethoven:
Bundeslied for soloists, chorus and wind instruments, Op. 122 (with Score)
Composed: 1824
Soprano: Adele Stolte
Mezzo-soprano: Gertraud Prenzlow
Chorus: Grosser Chor des Berliner Rundfunks
Conductor: Helmut Koch
Wind instruments: Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra

This is a short choral work based on a poem by Goethe. While the date of composition is listed as 1823-24, Beethoven appears to have written a first version of it in 1797. He picked the score back up in 1823, but, surprisingly, his second effort was rejected by the publisher. (Beethoven was by then the most respected living composer; thus a rebuff by any publisher was most unusual.) A further reworking ensued in 1824, giving us the version of the piece we know today. While the headnote to the score suggests accompaniment by "orchestra," in fact, the ensemble in reference consists merely of two clarinets, two horns and two bassoons. The vocal half of the performance is carried by the two soloists and a female chorus in three parts.

The text to "Bundeslied" is comprised of four verses. The main theme to this "wedding song" is lively and attractive, fully appropriate for Goethe's text. The melody is carried by the soprano soloists, with the chorus repeating the last two lines in each verse. Beethoven writes in a strophic style in the first three verses, but introduces some changes in the last, not least of which is a brilliant passage for the first clarinet against the background of a sustained note by the vocalists.

Obviously this is not a major work in Beethoven's vast oeuvre, but it is lively and pleasant, and quite attractive. It was first published in Mainz in 1825.

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