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На слова Рупрехта (Johann Baptist Rupprecht)
Время создания: 1815 г.
Adele Stolte, сопрано
Peter Schreier, тенор
Walter Olbertz, фортепиано
This duet was preceded by another setting of "Merkenstein," from 1814, which was scored for solo vocalist and piano, and carries the designation WoO 144. The text to the songs was written by Johann Baptist Rupprecht. It appears that Beethoven preferred this second setting to the first for two reasons: this one was given an opus number and a dedication (to Count Joseph Karl von Dietrichstein), while the first has neither.
Both settings of "Merkenstein" came near the end of Beethoven's second period and both are worthwhile compositions, if not nearly on the level of his greater efforts from the period in the genre, the song cycle An die ferne Geliebte, Op. 98 (1815-16), and Resignation, WoO 149 (1817). This opus 100 version of "Merkenstein" is a strophic duet of considerable charm. It carries the marking Mässig, jedoch nicht schleppend (moderate, but not sluggish) and features music that is light and colorful. There are six verses which swell the duet to relatively sizable proportions.
This version was first published in Vienna in 1816, and the earlier setting was published the previous year in the Selam Almanac, also in Vienna.
(Robert Cummings, Rovi)