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"'''Für Elise'''" ([[German language|German]] for "''For Elise''") is the popular name of the "'''Bagatelle in A minor'''", [[WoO]] 59, a famous piece of music for solo [[piano]] by [[Ludwig van Beethoven]], written in about [[1810]]. |
"'''Für Elise'''" ([[German language|German]] for "''For Elise''") is the popular name of the "'''Bagatelle in A minor'''", [[WoO]] 59, a famous piece of music for solo [[piano]] by [[Ludwig van Beethoven]], written in about [[1810]]. |
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Beethoven scholars and critics are not entirely certain who "Elise" was. The most reasonable theory is that Beethoven originally titled his work "Für Therese", Therese being [[Therese Malfatti von Rohrenbach zu Dezza]] ([[1792]]-[[1851]]), whom Beethoven intended to marry in 1810. Unfortunately, she declined Beethoven's proposal. In 1816 Therese Malfatti, who was the daughter of the [[Vienna|Viennese]] merchant Jacob Malfatti von Rohrenbach ([[1769]]-[[1829]]), married the Austrian nobleman and state official Wilhelm von Droßdik ([[1771]]-[[1859]]). When the work was published in 1865, the discoverer of the piece Ludwig Nohl mistranscribed the title as "Für Elise". The autograph is lost.{{Fact|date=March 2007}} |
Beethoven scholars and critics are not entirely certain who "Elise" was. The most reasonable theory is that Beethoven originally titled his work "Für Therese", Therese being [[Therese Malfatti von Rohrenbach zu Dezza]] ([[1792]]-[[1851]]), whom Beethoven intended to marry in 1810. Unfortunately, she declined Beethoven's proposal. In 1816 Therese Malfatti, who was the daughter of the [[Vienna|Viennese]] merchant Jacob Malfatti von Rohrenbach ([[1769]]-[[1829]]), married the Austrian nobleman and state official Wilhelm von Droßdik ([[1771]]-[[1859]]). When the work was published in 1865, the discoverer of the piece Ludwig Nohl mistranscribed the title as "Für Elise". The autograph is lost.{{Fact|date=March 2007}} |
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Other sources however point to Elisabeth de Robiano, born in 1773, and since 1799 married to Charles Pierre le Candèle de Gyseghem (1761-1830). |
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==The music== |
==The music== |
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Revision as of 20:13, 22 April 2007
"Für Elise" (German for "For Elise") is the popular name of the "Bagatelle in A minor", WoO 59, a famous piece of music for solo piano by Ludwig van Beethoven, written in about 1810. Beethoven scholars and critics are not entirely certain who "Elise" was. The most reasonable theory is that Beethoven originally titled his work "Für Therese", Therese being Therese Malfatti von Rohrenbach zu Dezza (1792-1851), whom Beethoven intended to marry in 1810. Unfortunately, she declined Beethoven's proposal. In 1816 Therese Malfatti, who was the daughter of the Viennese merchant Jacob Malfatti von Rohrenbach (1769-1829), married the Austrian nobleman and state official Wilhelm von Droßdik (1771-1859). When the work was published in 1865, the discoverer of the piece Ludwig Nohl mistranscribed the title as "Für Elise". The autograph is lost.[citation needed] Other sources however point to Elisabeth de Robiano, born in 1773, and since 1799 married to Charles Pierre le Candèle de Gyseghem (1761-1830).
The music
The piece begins in 3/8 with a right-hand theme accompanied by arpeggios in the left hand; the harmonies used are A minor and E major. The next section maintains the same texture, but broadens the harmony to include C major, which is it its relative major, and G major, C major's dominant key. A faster section follows, written in the key of F major, then a few bars in C major. This section is the bane of many pianists who easily play the opening, but then are forced to either skip the section or spend a lot of time developing the required coordination. The first section returns without alteration; next, the piece moves into D minor with a theme set over a pedal point. After a modulation back to A minor and a gauntlet of arpeggios, the main theme returns, and the piece quietly ends in its starting key of A minor, with an Authentic Cadence.
In popular culture
External links
- Für Elise - and other Beethoven resources (includes the free sheet music)