24 Variations on the arietta "Venni Amore" by Vincenzo Righini for piano (D major) WoO 65

Beethoven wrote the Righini Variations in 1790-91 while he was still in Bonn. In the summer of 1791 his friend Franz Gerhard Wegeler commented on a public performance by the young composer (Biographische Notizen, Koblenz, 1838, pp. 16f): Beethoven, until then not having heard a great pianist, was unaware of the instrument's finer nuances. His playing was harsh and rough. On a journey from Bonn to Mergentheim, where the Elector resided, Beethoven and his orchestra came to Aschaffenburg, where he was introduced to the pianist Franz Xaver Sterkel by Ries, Simrock and the Rombergs. Sterkel gave a light and pleasant performance and, according to father Ries, played like a lady. During the performance Beethoven stood next to him, listening closely. Now it was his turn, but he did so only after Sterkel told him he doubted whether even the composer of the piece (the Righini Variations) could play them completely. Beethoven played not only the variations by heart (Sterkel could not find the music) but a number of equally difficult compositions. He did so in the same light and pleasant manner that Sterkel had used before, easily adapting his performance style.

It is not known how Beethoven obtained the theme of the variations. Between 1787 and 1792 Vincenzo Righini (1765-1812) was court music director in Mainz. In 1788 the Mainz publisher Schott issued his XII Ariette Italienne, which featured 'Venni Amore' as its last arietta. Righini visited the Bonn court in the summer of the same year but probably did not show Beethoven his arietta on that occasion. Righini's original theme itself comprises five variations, but only for the singing voice. These variations were of little moment to Beethoven, who focused solely on Righini's piano accompaniment.

Beethoven's composition was published by 13 August 1791, when the Vienna Musikalische Magazin announced that his 24 Variations on Righini's 'Venni Amore' was now available. This old edition was long thought lost until Sieghard Brandenburg and Martin Staehelin unearthed a copy im 1984. The Schott print probably appeared in spring 1791, for the Musikalische Magazin mentions that the piece was already being marketed. The print issued by Traeg of Vienna in 1802 is thus not a second original edition, as is frequently claimed, nor a completely revised adaptation by Beethoven, but simply a new edition. Other reprints were issued by Cappi in 1803-04 and Simrock in 1807. (J.R.)