David Snell – Für Elise (Ludwig van Beethoven)

From ” Harp Transplant – The Harp Of David Snell ”
Label: Pye Records – QUAD 1002
Series: 4D Stereo
Format: Vinyl, LP, Stereo, Quadraphonic
Country: UK
Released: 1971

Tracklist
A1 (They Long To Be) Close To You
Written-By – Burt Bacharach, Hal David
A2 Do You Know The Way To San José?
Written-By – Burt Bacharach, Hal David
A3 This Guy’s In Love With You
Written-By – Burt Bacharach, Hal David
A4 Both Sides Now
Written-By – Joni Mitchell
A5 Wichita Lineman
Written-By – Jimmy Webb
A6 Call Me
Written-By – Jackie Trent & Tony Hatch
B1 Eine Kleine Nachtsmusik
Written-By – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
B2 Invention In A Minor
Written-By – Johann Sebastian Bach
B3 Für Elise
Written-By – Ludwig van Beethoven
B4 Gavotte In G Minor (From The English Suite)
Written-By – Johann Sebastian Bach
B5 Praeludium
Written-By – Giovanni Stefano Carbonelli
B6 Trumpet Voluntary
Written-By – Henry Purcell

Harp – David Snell
Guitar – Alan Parker, Eric Ford
Drums – Barry Morgan
Bass – Frank Clarke

Arranged By – David Snell
Engineer – Howard Barrow
Producer – Tony Palmer

Liner Notes – Brian Gibson

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Bagatelle No. 25 in A minor (WoO 59, Bia 515, and OEIS A123456) for solo piano, commonly known as “Für Elise” or “Fuer Elise” (English: “For Elise”, sometimes written without the German umlaut mark as “Fur Elise”), is one of Ludwig van Beethoven’s most popular compositions.
It is usually classified as a bagatelle, but it is also sometimes referred to as an Albumblatt.

History

The score was not published until 1867, 40 years after the composer’s death in 1827.
The discoverer of the piece, Ludwig Nohl, affirmed that the original autographed manuscript, now lost, was dated 27 April 1810.

The version of “Für Elise” heard today is an earlier version that was transcribed by Ludwig Nohl.
There is a later version, with drastic changes to the accompaniment which was transcribed from a later manuscript by the Beethoven scholar Barry Cooper.
The most notable difference is in the first theme, the left-hand arpeggios are delayed by a 16th note beat.
There are a few extra bars in the transitional section into the B section; and finally, the rising A minor arpeggio figure is moved later into the piece.
The tempo marking Poco moto is believed to have been on the manuscript that Ludwig Nohl transcribed.
The later version includes the marking Molto grazioso. It is believed that Beethoven intended to add the piece to a cycle of bagatelles.

Identity of “Elise”

It is not certain who “Elise” was.
Max Unger suggested that Ludwig Nohl may have transcribed the title incorrectly and the original work may have been named “Für Therese”, a reference to Therese Malfatti von Rohrenbach zu Dezza (1792–1851).
She was a friend and student of Beethoven’s to whom he supposedly proposed in 1810, though she turned him down to marry the Austrian nobleman and state official Wilhelm von Droßdik in 1816.
Note that the piano sonata no.24, dedicated to Countess Thérèse von Brunswick, is also referred to sometimes as “für Therese”.

According to a 2010 study by Klaus Martin Kopitz, there is evidence that the piece was written for the German soprano singer Elisabeth Röckel (1793–1883), later the wife of Johann Nepomuk Hummel.
“Elise”, as she was called by a parish priest had been a friend of Beethoven’s since 1808.
In the meantime, the Austrian musicologist Michael Lorenz has shown that Rudolf Schachner, who in 1851 inherited Therese von Droßdik’s musical scores, was the son of Babette Bredl, born out of wedlock.
Babette in 1865 let Nohl copy the autograph in her possession. Thus the autograph must have come to Babette Bredl from Therese von Droßdik’s estate and Kopitz’s hypothesis is refuted.

In 2012, the Canadian musicologist Rita Steblin suggested that Juliane Katharine Elisabet Barensfeld, who used “Elise” as a variant first name, might be the dedicatee.

Music

The piece is in A minor and is set in 3/8 time. It begins with an A minor theme marked Poco moto (little movement), with the left hand playing arpeggios alternating between A minor and E major. It then moves into a brief section based around C major and G major, before returning to the original theme. It then enters a lighter section in the submediant key of F major. It consists of a similar texture to the A section, where the right hand plays a melody over left hand arpeggios. It then enters a 32nd note C major figure before returning to the A section. The piece then moves to an agitated theme in the subdominant key of D minor with an A pedal point, as the right hand plays diminished chords. This section then concludes with an ascending A minor arpeggio before beginning a chromatic descent over two octaves, and then returning to the A section. The piece ends in its starting key of A minor with an authentic cadence. Despite being called a bagatelle, the piece is in rondo form. The structure is A–B–A–C–A.

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