Beethoven’s WoO 123 is a song entitled “Ich Liebe Dich” (“I Love You”), also known as “Zärtliche Liebe” (“Tender Love”). It’s based on a poem by a Protestant rector that portrays marital love in terms of mutual affection and support, with the sharing of troubles and grief.
In The Beethoven Song Companion, Paul Reid writes that “the recognition of marriage as an equal partnership was a social breakthrough and led directly to improved educational opportunities for women throughout the second half of the [18th] century.”
#Beethoven250 Day 54
“Ich liebe Dich” (WoO 123), c. 1795
The late Peter Schreier in a live performance: “I love you as you love me, Evening and morning.”
#Beethoven250 Day 54
“Ich liebe Dich” (WoO 123), c. 1795
Not a live performance, but an animated score with the text translated into English.
“If it is reason that makes man, it is sentiment that guides him” — Jean-Jacques Rousseau from “Julie, or the New Heloise” (1761)