Much confusion surrounds Beethoven’s song “An die Geliebte” (“To his beloved”), WoO 140. Some people count three versions; others count only two, disregarding the first. They are differentiated primarily by the key and the accompaniment:
- Version 1. 1811, C major, triplet accompaniment for piano or guitar
- Version 2. 1811, D major, triplet accompaniment for piano
- Version 3. 1814, D major, eighth-note accompaniment for piano
The C major version of “An die Geliebte” for piano or guitar was published in 1826 and republished in modern times, but I’ve never seen it, and I have not found a guitar performance on YouTube. Here's a MIDI rendition on The Unheard Beethoven site.
In his discussion of “An die Geliebte” in The Beethoven Song Companion, Paul Reid briefly mentions the C major version (p. 59) but focuses mostly on the two D major versions, calling them the “first version” and “second version” of WoO 140 (pp. 58–61).
On the list of Beethoven’s works on the IMSLP site, the two D major settings of WoO 140 are labeled “1st setting” and “2nd setting.” The C major setting is ignored.
The widely used 1864 Breitkopf & Härtel publication of the songs contains both D major settings, first and then, this one labeled “Frühere Bearbeitung” — the earlier version.
A close examination of these two scores reveals other differences: The vocal setting deviates beginning on the second line of the second page, and the words “in Lust” (desire) in the earlier version are replaced by “im Kuss” (kiss) in the later version.
The text to “An die Geliebte” is by Viennese poet and dramatist Joseph Ludwig Stoll, who focuses rather fetishistically on a teardrop rolling down his sweetheart’s cheek, at first desiring to sip it off, and then snatching it with a kiss. “So too your heartache has become mine.”
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“An die Geliebte” (WoO 140, v. 1), 1811
Version 1 (as it correctly identifies itself) with subtitles that are perhaps a bit too literal.
We know this is Version 1 because the piano accompaniment is simpler than that which Breitkopf & Härtel calls the “earlier version.” One obvious difference: the measure with the parallel descending scales prior to “nun sind auch deine Schmerzen mein” is missing.
Paul Reid’s translation of “An die Geliebte” from The Beethoven Song Companion is more sensual than others:
O that I might sip from your cheek
That tear which glistens so charmingly
As it rolls from your silent eye,
Before the ground swallows it up.
It seems to linger, hesitatingly, upon your cheek,
Wishing ardently to dedicate itself to constancy,
As I now receive it through my kiss,
So too your heartache has become mine.
Paul Reid does not address the difference in the penultimate line of “Lust” and “Kuss.”
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“An die Geliebte” (WoO 140, v. 2), 1811
Version 2 with an animated score and a recording by Peter Schreier
“An die Geliebte” has achieved an extra-musical significance among Beethoven’s works as a result of the scholarship of Maynard Solomon and his identification of the subject of Beethoven’s famous Immortal Beloved letter of July 1812.
Beethoven’s manuscript of the 2nd version of “An die Geliebte” is available on the IMSLP website. It is dated (center right) December 1811. In the upper right corner is the inscription “Requested by me from the author on March 2, 1812.”
Maynard Solomon believes that the inscription at the upper right corner was written by Antonie Brentano. The song was a gift from Beethoven to her, and it’s part of the evidence Maynard Solomon amassed to demonstrate that Antonie Brentano is the Immortal Beloved. According to Solomon, Antonie Brentano was an “expert guitarist” and the triplet piano accompaniment in this score is suitable for guitar as well as piano. (Solomon, Beethoven, p. 228–9)
However, this manuscript is of Version 2 of the song. It is not the still earlier and simpler Version 1 that was later published in 1826 specifically with guitar accompaniment
The confusion that surrounds this song has not been fully resolved.