Music for the ballet "The Creatures of Prometheus" by Salvatore Viganò for orchestra op. 43
Listening samples
Dedication
Composition
1800 to early 1801 (before March)
As a young man Beethoven wrote music for a ballet for the Bonn carnival in 1791: the Ritterballet (Knight's Ballet), WoO 1. Ten years later his situation had obviously changed completely: he was no longer the young protégé who composed music for a count's pleasure without even being named on the concert programme. When the ballet master at the Vienna Hoftheater, Salvatore Viganò, came to Beethoven in 1800 asking him to compose the music for his new ballet Gli uomini di Prometeo (The Men of Prometheus), the composer was already famous. The première took place on 28 March 1801 at the Vienna Hofburgtheater. The ballet was performed 29 times in the 1801-02 season - a great success by the standards of the day. Sadly both Viganò's choreography and the original libretto have disappeared; nothing has remained of the ballet apart from Beethoven's music.
No details are known about the piece's occasion or commission. In the mid-1790s Beethoven had written a set of piano variations on a 'Menuett à la Viganò' (WoO 68) and thus taken sides in a heated dispute between Viganò and his rival Muzzarelli in Vienna. In so doing he may have attracted Viganò's attention or even his sympathies. The young, rising and extraordinarily talented composer was certainly an excellent choice on the part of the choreographer, who was simply looking for the best music for his new ballet. Usually Viganò put together music by different composers for his ballets. Prometheus is the only ballet which he intentionally commissioned from a single composer.
As so often in Beethoven's stage works, the subject (here Prometheus) mirrored his own view of the world. In Greek mythology Prometheus is a titan who violates the gods' wishes by bringing fire to mankind, and is viciously punished in return. An individual's stand against a ruling system for the good of mankind is surely one of the myths that reflected Beethoven's enlightened ideals. (J.R.)
No details are known about the piece's occasion or commission. In the mid-1790s Beethoven had written a set of piano variations on a 'Menuett à la Viganò' (WoO 68) and thus taken sides in a heated dispute between Viganò and his rival Muzzarelli in Vienna. In so doing he may have attracted Viganò's attention or even his sympathies. The young, rising and extraordinarily talented composer was certainly an excellent choice on the part of the choreographer, who was simply looking for the best music for his new ballet. Usually Viganò put together music by different composers for his ballets. Prometheus is the only ballet which he intentionally commissioned from a single composer.
As so often in Beethoven's stage works, the subject (here Prometheus) mirrored his own view of the world. In Greek mythology Prometheus is a titan who violates the gods' wishes by bringing fire to mankind, and is viciously punished in return. An individual's stand against a ruling system for the good of mankind is surely one of the myths that reflected Beethoven's enlightened ideals. (J.R.)
