Ludwig van Beethoven, "Der glorreiche Augenblick", Kantate für vier Singstimmen, Chor und Orchester op. 136, Titelblatt, Autograph

A separate title sheet

The separate title sheet of the cantata "The glorious moment" (op. 136) that Beethoven composed during the Vienna Congress in 1814 bears Beethoven's handwriting. What manuscript does the sheet belong to? Two owner stamps on the front of the sheet provide the answer.

The older stamp "Dom / Musick Verein / u. / Mozarteum" (Cathedral / Music Association / and Mozarteum) refers to an association founded in Salzburg in 1841 which later became the "Internationale / Stiftung Mozarteum / 1881" (International / Foundation Mozarteum / 1881) as can be deduced from the second stamp. The score copy that belongs to the title sheet can be found at the famous Mozarteum Foundation in Salzburg. It probably came to Salzburg and into possession of the Dom-Musik-Verein on the initiative of Aloys Weißenbach (1766-1821), a doctor and poet, who lived in Salzburg since 1804. Weißenbach is the author of the cantata's text. He witnessed the Vienna Congress and reported on it in 1816 in his publication "Meine Reise zum Congress, Wahrheit und Dichtung" (My journey to the Vienna Congress, truth and fiction). The title sheet of the Salzburg score was separated from the manuscript in 1919 and sold to the Günther Koch Company in Munich. As part of the H. C. Bodmer Collection it was transferred into the possession of the Beethoven-Haus in 1956. (B.R.A.)