The glorious moment
Here you can see a corrected copy of a score for the Cantata "Der glorreiche Augenblick" ("The glorious moment") op. 136. The New Complete Edition of Beethoven's Works considers this copy the main source, even though a complete autograph score has also survived. The reason for this is that the copy contains important changes and corrections made by Beethoven, which are missing in the autograph score, making it the most valid version. The cantata was written on the occasion of the Congress of Vienna and is, as regards content, one of a series of works which Beethoven composed in connection with the victory of the European monarchs over Napoleon. The Salzburg surgeon Dr. Aloys Weißenbach, who himself attended the Congress or stayed in Vienna at the time, wrote the text. As befitted the occasion the subject and its setting are showy, bombastic, patriotic and pompous. The cantata reflects the aesthetic of the time, which today we find hard to understand. Yet at the time the premiere afforded Beethoven high praise, popularity and great financial success. (J.R.)
