In 1803 or so, Beethoven gathered up eight songs that he had earlier composed, some from the Bonn years, others from early Vienna years. He revised at least one of them, maybe touched up others, before the eight songs were published together as Opus 52.
The eight songs of Beethoven’s Opus 52 are:
1. Urians Reise um die Welt
2. Feuerfarb
3. Das Liedchen von der Ruhe
4. Maigesang (a.k.a. Mailied)
5. Mollys Abschied
6. Die Liebe (a.k.a. Lied)
7. Marmotte
8. Das Blümchen Wunderhold
The songs are unrelated in content and mood.
Because the Opus 52 songs date from Beethoven’s earlier years, they are fairly simple and mostly written in simple strophic form, that is, the same music is often used for multiple verses, as many as 14 verses in one case. The last four songs can each be printed on a single page.
In 14 whimsical verses by Matthias Claudius, Beethoven’s “Urians Reise um die Welt” describes a trip around the world. Beethoven’s score requests that it be sung “in a comical manner.” The identity of Urian is not known, but the name has sometimes been used to refer to the devil.
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“Urians Reise um die Welt” (Opus 52, No. 1), before 1793
This video adds English translations to all 14 verses in Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau’s wonderful performance.
Matthias Claudius, who wrote the text that Beethoven used for “Urians Reise um die Welt,” is better known as the author of the poem “Der Tod und das Mädchen” set by Schubert in 1817. Schubert’s use of the same music in a String Quartet gave it the nickname “Death and the Maiden.”
German poet, translator, and novelist Sophie Mereau wrote the poem that Beethoven used for his song “Feuerfarb’” (“Color of Flame”). Beethoven’s original version dates from 1792 during his Bonn years, but he revised it in 1803 prior to publication.
Beethoven’s “Feuerfarb” begins with the poet’s declaration that her favorite color is “the color of truth,” who then compares it with many other colors and their symbolic presentations as love, constancy, innocence, and hope. “Only truth remains for ever and does not change.”
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“Feuerfarb’” (Opus 52, No. 2), c. 1792, rev. 1803
English subtitles accompany this studio performance by tenor Peter Schreier.
In his book on Beethoven’s songs, Paul Reid describes “Das Liedchen von der Ruhe” (“Little Song of Peace”) as
a self-indulgent meditation on love, the travails of life and the sleep of death, the true peace which can be found only beyond the grave.
Hermann Wilhelm Franz Ueltzen’s poem begins:
It is sweet to rest in a lover’s arms,
Sweet also in the bosom of the earth.
Whether it be there or here
That I shall find peace,
This is what my mind wonders and ponders
And pleads to the caring one who grants peace.
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“Das Liedchen von der Ruhe” (Opus 52, No. 3), c. 1793, rev. 1795
A studio recording by the great Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau.
Beethoven’s song “Maigesang” is from a poem by Goethe first published as “Maifest” and then later as “Mailied,” so sometimes the song is known as “Mailied” as well. Regardless, it’s May, and the celebration includes Natur, Liebe, Mädchen, and Tänzen.
In his book on Beethoven’s songs, Paul Reid writes of Goethe’s “Mailied,”
Many a poet has associated May with love, but few have succeeded so gloriously in fusing love and Nature completely, nor in expressing their emotions with such a total lack of inhibition.…
It was the young Goethe’s achievement to breathe new life into German poetry, in the process enriching the German language itself. The breathless enthusiasm of his short lines, on the one hand interrupted by ecstatic exclamations, on the other running on in an unbroken flow from stanza to stanza, is matched by the energy of his diction….
Beethoven responds to all this with music which is as onrushing as the poem.
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“Maigesang” (Opus 52, No. 4), c. 1795
It’s a live performance with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Gerald Moore, and it has English subtitles! For what more can we ask?
In the same year he wrote “Maigesang,” Beethoven orchestrated the music and set it to different lyrics in the first replacement aria “O welch’ ein Leben” for the singspiel by Ignaz Umlauf “The Beautiful Shoemaker’s Wife or The Puce-Colored Shoes” (Day 56).
Beethoven’s song “Mollys Abschied” (“Molly’s Farewell”) is set to a text by German poet Gottfried August Bürger. The poem is written from the perspective of Molly to her lover, who of course is Bürger himself. (Alas, Bürger was at the time married to the sister of “Molly.”)
The poem begins:
Farewell, o man of pleasure and pain!
Man of love, my life’s support!
God be with you, my beloved!
May my blessing echo deep into your heart!
As a remembrance I offer you …
Everything which your eyes found fair
And your heart found dear in your Molly.”
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“Mollys Abschied” (Opus 52, No. 5), c. 1795
The great Irish mezzo-soprano Ann Murray delivers a touching rendition of this simple melody.
Beethoven’s song “Die Liebe” (“Love”) is set to a poem by poet and playwright Gottfried Ephraim Lessing, perhaps best known today as the author of “Nathan the Wise,” a 1779 play that brings together members of the three Abrahamic religions in a plea for religious tolerance.
Let him who can
Live without love.
Even though he remains human,
He is still no man.
Sweet love,
Make my life sweet!
Never quench my passionate desires.
Give them free rein.
It is the duty of fair women
To make us languish!
But let it not be
To make us languish for ever.
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“Die Liebe” (Opus 52, No. 6), c. 1790
A studio recording by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau.
Beethoven’s song “Marmotte” does indeed refer to a rodent. The text by Goethe originated in a Carnival play about a traveling fair. The speaker is a small-statured street musician accompanied by a trained (and undoubtedly cute) marmot, much like an organ grinder with a monkey.
In four verses, the speaker of “Marmotte” tells about how he’s travelled to many places “with my marmot.” He sees men who are fond of girls, sees girls who are fond of him, and then reminds his audience not to leave him empty handed, for “we fellows like to eat and drink.”
Performances of Beethoven’s “Marmotte” are exceptionally prevalent on YouTube in adaptations for various sizes of vocal ensembles and instrumental versions. With one exception, these few selected videos are restricted to vocal renditions.
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“Marmotte” (Opus 52, No. 7), c. 1790–92
Songs about rodents should always be performed with such grace and a fabulous dress.
Goethe’s lyrics to Beethoven’s “Marmotte” are a combination of German and French.
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“Marmotte” (Opus 52, No. 7), c. 1790–92
Posted just two days ago, a very self-assured performance from home.
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“Marmotte” (Opus 52, No. 7), c. 1790–92
Indonesian pianist Kuei Pin Yeo accompanies Youjung Ryu in an isolation video.
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“Marmotte” (Opus 52, No. 7), c. 1790–92
A children’s chorus based in Antwerp, Belgium,
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“Marmotte” (Opus 52, No. 7), c. 1790–92
This children’s chorus in Nieuw Amsterdam, Netherlands, performed this concert in the presence of the royal family.
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“Marmotte” (Opus 52, No. 7), c. 1790–92
With the proper attire and instruments, Beethoven’s song can sound positively medieval.
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“Marmotte” (Opus 52, No. 7), c. 1790–92
The Hebrew description indicates that the girls are named Amit and Tal, and they obviously love singing Beethoven.
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“Marmotte” (Opus 52, No. 7), c. 1790–92
A delightful arrangement by this wonderful trio performing in Germany.
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“Marmotte” (Opus 52, No. 7), c. 1790–92
An all-too-short performance on water glasses. The text description is in Hungarian.
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“Marmotte” (Opus 52, No. 7), c. 1790–92
Three guys in a pool in Bali. This is not the only unusual “Marmotte” video that Maestro Wen Arto (@wenarto) has posted on his YouTube channel.
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“Marmotte” (Opus 52, No. 7), c. 1790–92
A woman and guitar and a public plaza in Antwerp.
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“Marmotte” (Opus 52, No. 7), c. 1790–92
Is this the hurdy-gurdy man that the poet of Winterreise follows into oblivion?
The final song in Beethoven’s Opus 52 collection is “Das Blümchen Wunderhold,” which awkwardly translates into English as “The Little Flower Wondrous Fair.” The poet is Gottfried August Bürger, who also wrote “Mollys Abschied.”
After Bürger’s wife died, he married her sister, who he was in love with prior to his wife’s death. This sister is the person referred as Molly in “Mollys Abschied.” But then she died in childbirth two years later, and “Das Blümchen Wunderhold” is an homage to her.
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“Das Blümchen Wunderhold” (Opus 52, No. 8), c. 1795
Baritone Max von Egmond accompanied by Wilhelm Krumbach on fortepiano.