Ludwig van Beethoven, Skizzenblätter zur Kantate "Europens Befreiungsstunde" Unv 17 sowie Vermerke zur Umarbeitung des "Fidelio" op. 72, 3. Fassung 1814, Autograph

Cantata with feelings of resentment against the French

"Und lang und hoch hallt es in's Himmelszelt hinauf: / Europa stehet frey mit Kaiser Franzen auf!" ("And long and high it echoes up into the heavens: / Europe rises free with Emperor Franz") The text of the cantata "Europens Befreiungsstunde" ("Europe's hour of liberation") by Carl Joseph Bernard ends with this praise of Emperor Franz of Austria. Beethoven worked on it in 1814. War had raged in Europe for over twenty years as a result of the French Revolution and Napoleon's expansion. It was a time during which battle music enjoyed a boom. With Napoleon's defeat in 1813 in the Battle of Leipzig there was not only a new political spirit in Europe but a new chapter also began musically. Welcoming music, in which the title already proclaimed the "victorious entry" or "glorious return" of the emperor were just as in demand as musical peace offerings and celebratory hymns on Europe, which had liberated itself from Napoleon. Beethoven also found himself caught up in this Zeitgeist, which not only reflected his own convictions but was also - and this should not be ignored - very profitable. In the wake of the Congress of Vienna Beethoven wrote several works, including the planned cantata "Europens Befreiungsstunde", for which he made sketches on this leaf. Beethoven occupied himself with the text by his friend Bernard in spring 1814, at the same time as he was working on the revision of his opera Fidelio. This is why there are also sketches for Fidelio on this leaf - a juxtaposition of two works not untypical for Beethoven. The canata was not, however, continued as the censor had forbidden it. In 1814 Austria was not in any way a liberal state, but rather a police and informer state in which censorship played an important part. There is no reason for the canata's being banned. Despite all the resentful feelings held by the general public, for reasons of diplomacy it might have been considered more prudent not to show as much hate for the French, as expressed in the text of the cantata. (J.R.)