Beethoven’s “Tremate, empi, tremate” (“Tremble, guilty ones, tremble”) is a trio for soprano, tenor, and bass with orchestral accompaniment. It was composed in 1802 under the tutelage of Antonio Salieri and published much later (perhaps with revisions) as Opus 116.
Beethoven’s trio “Tremate, empi, tremate” is a setting of the last scene of Act II of a libretto “Medonte, King of Epirus” by Giovanni de Gamerra that was set by opera composers Giuseppe Sarti in 1774, Josef Mysliveček in 1780, and others.
In this scene, Medonte (king of Epirus, bass) discovers that his fiancée Selene (princess of Argos, soprano) is in love with Arbace (commander of Medonte’s armies, tenor): “Tremble, guilty ones, tremble; the lightning of my immense anger will strike your proud brows!”
Of course, both Selene and Arbace plead with Medonte to punish “me alone.” But Medonte does not relent: “Remove them from my sight, this abhorrent wedded pair.” All three sing tutti “Tyrannous stars, I have endured enough of this fierce cruelty.”
#Beethoven250 Day 164
“Tremate, empi, tremate” for Soprano, Tenor, Bass and Orchestra (Opus 116), 1802
A performance in Seoul with bass Jongmin Park (@JongminParkBass) and conducted by Martin Haselböck (@MusicaAngelicLA).
Salieri criticized one of Beethoven’s airs but the next day confessed “I can’t get your melody out of my head.” Beethoven replied: “Then Herr von Salieri, it cannot have been so utterly bad.”
But Herr van Beethoven (say I), neither do earworms always signify music that is good.