He must have really liked the tune, as after having conceived it when young, he recycled it twice. It stayed in his head when other sounds were denied access.
At age 24, the melody first appeared, tentatively, as it wasn’t assigned an Op..... just one of those no-Opus! But no, 14 years later it appeared, fully Oped, as Op.80, my favourite. Then another 14 years later, as Choral Symphony, it hit Viennese ears with a vengeance, but not Beethoven’s as by then he was totally deaf. Once inside his head it had to come out, and again and again.
Christopher almost 3 years ago
I listened to them all on YouTube. I knew all but the first one, the Gegenliebe one.
Sarah Oakes over 2 years ago
I always think Beethovens end is so sad he was a great musician and composer must have been horrible not to hear the music he loved playing.
Neville Hunt over 2 years ago
Yes indeed, Sarah, but in one way I guess he must have ‘heard’ it in his mind for him to have committed it to paper. With the core choral theme that appears at the end of the Choral Symphony, he will have known it well from Gegenliebe and Choral Fantasy which significantly pre-date his 9th.