Beethoven dedicated his song “Man Strebt, die Flamme zu Verhehlen” (WoO 120, “One strives to conceal the flame”) to Johanna Franul von Weissenthurn, an actress, poet, and playwright active in Vienna beginning in 1789.
Here's an English translation of the lyrics to Beethoven’s WoO 120:
One strives to conceal the flame
That steals unnoticed into the hearts
Of sensitive noble souls.
One seals one’s lips in secrecy,
But glances soon betray, alas,
How much one feels the power of love.
A glance says more than a thousand words.
A glance will often unbolt the door
Of passion long concealed.
It shows the dear man whom I love
My heart’s pure and tender desires
And gives it the strength to persevere.”
#Beethoven250 Day 131
“Man Strebt, die Flamme zu Verhehlen” (WoO 120), 1800
A studio recording with animated score.
For many years, the author of the WoO 120 poem “Man Strebt, die Flamme zu Verhehlen” was unknown. Beethoven scholars only recently discovered that dedicatee Johanna von Weissenthurn wrote the poem herself for her 1800 comedy “Das Nachspiel” (“The Aftermath”).
In “Das Nachspiel,” the protagonist of the play (possibly played by Frau Weissenthurn herself) sings the song accompanying herself on the piano, which is why it needed to be set to music, and why it’s fairly simple. See item (3) in this blog post.
“Das Nachspiel” is available beginning on page 173 of this collection of Johanna von Weissenthun’s plays. In Scene 2 (p. 178), Baron Berg reads the poem, and in Scene 10 (p. 199), the Baron’s daughter Leonore “goes to the piano, plays and sings” it.
Unless Beethoven couldn’t complete the song in time for the play’s opening, or Johanna von Weissenthurn decided to go with another composer, the song that Leonore played and sang on stage was very likely what we now know as Beethoven’s WoO 120.
Nothing more seems to be known about Beethoven’s relationship with Frau Weissenthurn, except that she is alluded to in Beethoven’s conversation book in 1819 asking about “Missa Solemnis,” a work that Beethoven would not complete for another four years.