DAILY DOSE of BEETHOVEN (August 7, 2020)
Beethoven and Goethe met in the Bohemian spa town of Teplitz in 1812. They did not get along. Goethe thought that Beethoven has "an absolutely uncontrolled personality" and Beethoven said that Goethe delighted far too much in court atmosphere.
However, Beethoven soon set these two poems of Goethe’s. They were first performed in 1815. Although at first, the poem’s calm sea seems peaceful, ultimately, it is undesirable. A totally calm sea is not a good sign. You needed wind to sail.
German: Meeresstille
Tiefe Stille herrscht im Wasser,
Ohne Regung ruht das Meer,
Und bekümmert sieht der Schiffer
Glatte Fläche ringsumher.
Keine Luft von keiner Seite!
Todesstille fürchterlich!
In der ungeheuern Weite
Reget keine Welle sich.
English: Calm Sea
Deep stillness rules the water
Without motion lies the sea,
And sadly the sailor observes
Smooth surfaces all around.
No air from any side!
Deathly, terrible stillness!
In the immense distances
not a single wave stirs.
German: Glückliche Fahrt
Die Nebel zerreißen,
Der Himmel ist helle,
Und Äolus löset
Das ängstliche Band.
Es säuseln die Winde,
Es rührt sich der Schiffer.
Geschwinde! Geschwinde!
Es teilt sich die Welle,
Es naht sich die Ferne;
Schon seh ich das Land!
English: Prosperous Journey
The fog is torn,
The sky is bright,
And Aeolus releases
The fearful bindings.
The winds whisper,
The sailor begins to move.
Swiftly! Swiftly!
The waves divide,
The distance nears;
Already, I see land!
Felix Mendelssohn admired this work by Beethoven, and as a child, was close to the work of Goethe. He based his concert overture of the same name (“Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt, Op. 27”), on the same two poems of Goethe, and set them in the same key as Beethoven—in D Major. However, the poems were so well known at the time, that he felt it was not necessary to sing them. The orchestra could invoke the poetry.
In Mendelssohn's version, the music concludes with a fanfare of trumpets suggesting the ship's final arrival at its port of destination. He loved this piece of composition so much that he made several dangerous trip to England for its performance.