Vern Wall
From:
Arizona, USA
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Posted 16 Jul 2005 4:10 am |
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Piece Overview
Instrumentation Class: 23 - Songs with Piano/Canons/Musical Jokes
WoO #: 140
Midi Author: Mark S. Zimmer
Running Time: 01:40
Detailed Information
An die Geliebte in C, WoO 140, for Voice and Guitar (December, 1811)
This song was written for Beethoven's friend Antonie Brentano, who was among other things, a guitarist. This song is the only piece known to have been written by Beethoven for guitar. There were two other settings, one very similar to this, in D, and another that is quite different indeed. All are lumped together in the catalog under WoO 140. The fact that the poem set is entitled "To the Beloved" and is an intimate love poem is taken as evidence by some that Brentano was the "Immortal Beloved," but this implication is inconclusive at best.
This first version was not published until 1826, well after publication of the revised third version. The setting is labeled as "for piano or guitar." The piano score can be moved to guitar if one disregards some doubled low C's and a single low D, since a low E is the lowest available note without retuning the guitar. The final two chords also must be abbreviated since eight notes are called for in the score of the penultimate note and seven in the last note, since there are only six strings on a guitar. However, with these minor adjustments, the piece is playable on guitar, though quite difficult. For the adventurous, we provide a suggested tablature of the accompaniment. A simplified version (practically playable on sight) could also be derived from the score if one does some minor transposition by octaves and more or less disregards the bass line.
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