March and chorus from August von Kotzebue's "The Ruins of Athens" for chorus and orchestra (E-flat major) op. 114
Listening samples
Composition
August to September 1811, arranged for reopening of Josephstadt Theatre 1822, enlarged for publication 1826
Rarely did Beethoven record the genesis of his works in such detail as for his overture The Consecration of the House. At the bottom of the first page of the manuscript we can read 'Overture written by L. v. Beethoven in late September 1822 for the inauguration of the Josephstadt Theatre – performed on 3 October 1822'. A similar note appears on a copy of the chorus for the like-named play (WoO 98). The piece was intended for the reopening of the Josephstadt Theatre on 3 October 1822, the emperors name day, by its new manager Karl Friedrich Hensler (1759-1825) after a full year of reconstruction. For the celebration Carl Meisl wrote a play entitled The Consecration of the House, and Beethoven was asked to provide incidental music. In a letter of 13 September 1822, written from his summer retreat in Baden (Vienna), Beethoven told his publisher Carl Friedrich Peters: 'Hardly had I arrived here than I met a theatrical manager who is building a theatre in Vienna which he is opening with one of my compositions. So to please him I have had to compose a few new pieces' (quoted from complete correspondence, 1496). To reduce his workload, Beethoven decided mainly to adapt his music for the play The Ruins of Athens (op. 113), which he had likewise written for the inauguration of a theatre – namely, in Pest in 1811. At the end of September he told his brother Johann: 'Meanwhile I have already composed a new dance with chorus and solo vocal pieces [WoO 98]. Health permitting, I will also compose an overture' (quoted from the complete correspondence, 1497). Although op. 113 already included an overture, Beethoven felt that a new one was indispensable, for the earlier one had entered the concert repertoire and should not be used to open a new theatre.
In addition to the new overture (op. 124), a new choral piece (WoO 98) and the adapted march with chorus (op. 114, formerly op. 113, no. 6), the performance probably included six further retexted numbers from op. 113. Despite the recycled music, the reviewer of Leipzig's Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung enjoyed the work and the festivities: 'Theatre inaugurated in Josephstadt. This resurrected temple of the muses is more spacious than before, very pleasantly adorned with décor provided by the ablest local masters, and the company has many quite bright and versatile members. The prologue bore the title The Consecration of the House, written by Meisl and set to music by L. v. Beethoven – namely to the same music he composed several years ago to inaugurate the theatre in Pest, but enriched with a new overture and a choral dance. The master himself conducted; but unfortunately as one cannot trust his still deficient powers of hearing, Kapellmeister Gläser was positioned behind him to translate the author's will to the newly reconstituted orchestra – a duplicate and sometimes wholly contrary conducting effort that was indeed quite strange to behold. Nevertheless, everything came off fairly well apart from the choruses, which extemporized many a dissonance. The composer was joyously received, called to the stage at the end and regaled with jubilant applause' (vol. 24, 4 December 1822, cols. 794f.).
The new overture was highly appreciated and often performed in the years that followed. In January 1823, after negotiations conducted by Ferdinand Ries in London, the London Philharmonic Society acquired the exclusive rights to the unpublished work for a period of 18 months and duly performed it in its fifth concert on 21 April 1823, conducted by George Smart. Beethoven also presented the overture in his great concerts of May 1824, together with his Ninth Symphony and parts of the Missa solemnis. Critics unanimously called it one of his best creations. In August 1824 the overture was performed as a festive symphony for the opening of the Königstadt Theatre in Berlin, and in December of that same year it was heard at the annual charity concert in Vienna's Redoutensaal. (J.R.)
In addition to the new overture (op. 124), a new choral piece (WoO 98) and the adapted march with chorus (op. 114, formerly op. 113, no. 6), the performance probably included six further retexted numbers from op. 113. Despite the recycled music, the reviewer of Leipzig's Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung enjoyed the work and the festivities: 'Theatre inaugurated in Josephstadt. This resurrected temple of the muses is more spacious than before, very pleasantly adorned with décor provided by the ablest local masters, and the company has many quite bright and versatile members. The prologue bore the title The Consecration of the House, written by Meisl and set to music by L. v. Beethoven – namely to the same music he composed several years ago to inaugurate the theatre in Pest, but enriched with a new overture and a choral dance. The master himself conducted; but unfortunately as one cannot trust his still deficient powers of hearing, Kapellmeister Gläser was positioned behind him to translate the author's will to the newly reconstituted orchestra – a duplicate and sometimes wholly contrary conducting effort that was indeed quite strange to behold. Nevertheless, everything came off fairly well apart from the choruses, which extemporized many a dissonance. The composer was joyously received, called to the stage at the end and regaled with jubilant applause' (vol. 24, 4 December 1822, cols. 794f.).
The new overture was highly appreciated and often performed in the years that followed. In January 1823, after negotiations conducted by Ferdinand Ries in London, the London Philharmonic Society acquired the exclusive rights to the unpublished work for a period of 18 months and duly performed it in its fifth concert on 21 April 1823, conducted by George Smart. Beethoven also presented the overture in his great concerts of May 1824, together with his Ninth Symphony and parts of the Missa solemnis. Critics unanimously called it one of his best creations. In August 1824 the overture was performed as a festive symphony for the opening of the Königstadt Theatre in Berlin, and in December of that same year it was heard at the annual charity concert in Vienna's Redoutensaal. (J.R.)
