Overture to the tragedy "Coriolan" by Heinrich Joseph von Collin (C minor) op. 62

Coriolan, a tragedy by the Austrian writer Heinrich Joseph von Collin (1771-1811), was first performed on 23 November 1802. It was extremely successful and continued to be performed until 5 March 1805. Yet it remains unclear why Beethoven only wrote the overture in spring 1807 when the tragedy had long since disappeared from the stage. Perhaps the composer and dramatist joined forces against the theatre management in pursuit of a common goal. At the end of 1806 there was a change of director at the imperial court theatre: Peter von Braun left and the three Princes Lobkowitz, Schwarzenberg and Esterhazy took over the running of the theatre and its artistic direction. Both Beethoven and Collin had had problems with Braun and felt cheated by him. It might very well be that they wanted this joint venture to draw the attention of the new theatre directors to themselves. In fact the overture was first performed in the Palais Lobkowitz in March 1807. Although the play was given in April 1807 once more with Beethoven's music, it was never included in the programme again.

Beethoven dedicated his Coriolan Overture to the playwright, with whom he had a hearty relationship. He began several oratorio and opera projects with Collin as librettist, but none ever reached completion. (J.R.)