Antonio Salieri, Les Danaides, Oper in 5 Akten, Auszug, Partitur, Autograph Beethovens

Learning from Salieri

Beethoven was very interested in the artistic output of his fellow musicians, studying scores by other composers time after time so as to be able to learn from them. Antonio Salieri's "The Danaides" was one of the great French operas of the time. It was first performed in Paris in 1784 and was so popular that in the first three years it was performed 32 times in Paris alone. It was one of Salieri's greatest successes. The Danaides was even performed in Germany, many times using a translation which had been done specially. It cannot however be ascertained whether the opera was put on in Vienna or not, even though Salieri had worked in Vienna for over 50 years and was very influential and respected there. So what occasioned Beethoven to copy out four numbers from this opera? And where did he get hold of the material for the copy?

The few letters exchanged between Salieri and the Viennese music dealer and publisher Artaria in 1785 are located in the Viennese public library. From these it can be ascertained that Artaria obtained three copies of "The Danaides" score engraved in Paris in 1784 from Salieri in order to sell it in his shop for commission. Among the engraved music sheets the list of Beethoven's bequest indicates a score of the piece under item 231, thus Beethoven owned it. So why did he make a copy of it?

Probably, Beethoven took lessons with Salieri starting in 1798 or between 1801 and 1802 to study dramatic composition. Salieri had composed over 40 operas and was a recognized specialist in the field. Beethoven hoped to learn the finer points of the relationship between music and text, and musical declamation from him, even if at first it was not in connection with a concrete operatic project (which was to follow shortly), but rather out of general interest. Opera was "en vogue" in Vienna at the time. So the copy might have been made while he was having lessons with Salieri. In issue 22 (2007) of the Beethoven-Journal Theodore Albrecht discussed the possibility that the lessons, despite the general opinion, could have taken place earlier. Parallels between a section in the final part of Beethoven's piano concert in C Major op. 15 support the assumption that Beethoven started taking lessons with Salieri as early as 1793 (like Nottebohm suggested) and then learned about Salieri's opera "The Danaides".

There is a further possibility. Beethoven's copies from operas by other composers, such as Mozart or Cherubini, were all made as part of his plans for writing an opera of his own. In order to prepare for his Fidelio, Beethoven copied several extracts from other operas around 1803/04. He was particularly interested in pieces for ensembles and only copied numbers with at least two voices. Might this copy then also have been made as part of Beethoven's work on Fidelio? (J.R.)