Cantata on the Death of emperor Joseph II, for solo voices, chorus and orchestra WoO 87

On 20 February 1790, Emperor Joseph II died. Four days later the bad news arrived in the Rhineland. Joseph II, an advocate of the Enlightenment and an innovator in many fields, was the brother of the reigning Elector Archbishop of Cologne, Maximilian Franz. Bonn's Reading Society therefore decided to organise a funeral service for him. Eulogius Schneider, a professor of fine arts, was chosen to hold the commemorative speech. He also suggested the performance of a cantata for which a young local poet, Severin Anton Averdonk, had written the text. An excellent musician, Ludwig van Beethoven, was asked to compose the music. The celebration was planned for 19 March. However, the cantata was not performed. According to the records of the Reading Society for 17 March, the cantata could not be played for various reasons. Perhaps Beethoven failed to complete it within the tight deadline or performance-related problems made it impossible. However, it seems likely that the Prince Elector himself prevented the performance, because he wanted a silent celebration without instruments.

Whatever the case, Beethoven finally finished the cantata and gave early proof of his skills. He probably submitted the piece to Joseph Haydn as a sample of his work when Haydn visited Bonn on his way to England. According to Franz Wegeler's Biographische Notizen, Haydn held the piece in high regard and encouraged its composer to continue. He later accepted Beethoven as a student, which led to Beethovens relocation to Vienna in November 1792.

Beethoven never discarded musical material once he decided it was useful. A good 15 years later, while composing his first opera Leonore (Fidelio) at the peak of his success, he remembered the cantata and reused some of its musical elements for the introduction to the dungeon scene and for the last finale. (J.R.)