Beethoven’s song “Der Wachtelschlag” (“Song of the Quail”) is on a religious theme, somewhat reminiscent of the Opus 48 Gellert Lieder (Day 150). The verse is by a village schoolmaster named Samuel Friedrich Sauter.
Decades later, the poetry of Samuel Friedrich Sauter was parodied and attributed to “the Swabian schoolmaster Gottlieb Biedermeier and his friend Horatius Treuherz.” This is the origin of the word “Biedermeier” to describe provincial middle-class taste.
Beethoven’s “Song of the Quail” begins with seven repetitions of a quail cry in the piano, often described as the rhythm “wet my lips.” The motif reappears throughout the song.
In the three verses of Beethoven’s “Song of the Quail,” the quail’s cry becomes symbolic of pious entreaties to “Fear the Lord!”, “Love the Lord!”, “Praise the Lord!”, “Thank the Lord!”, “Ask the Lord!”, “Trust the Lord!”
In Beethoven’s “Song of the Quail,” the bird is associated with divine providence. This idea perhaps originated from Exodus 16 with the Lord’s promise that “When the sun goes down, you will eat meat.” Sure enough, “That evening quail came and covered the camp.”
#Beethoven250 Day 171
“Der Wachtelschlag” (WoO 129), 1803
A live performance by the great proponent of Beethoven lieder, Peter Schreier.
Five years after the “Song of the Quail,” Beethoven included quail cries in the Pastoral Symphony. Barry Cooper believes it was intended to remind listeners of the song. He writes:
By incorporating the quail in the symphony Beethoven is recalling the words associated with its call and making this part of the symphony represent nature’s song of praise and thanks to God, just as the last movement is mankind’s.
Almost two decades after Beethoven set Sauter’s “Song of the Quail” to music, so did Schubert (D. 742), who apparently used Beethoven’s score as his source for Sauter’s verse.