During the period he created Adelaide, Beethoven was in his mid twenties; he had come to Vienna in 1792 to pursue a career and was in the early stages of making a name for himself as pianist and composer. He had only recently completed his studies with Joseph Haydn. A. Peter Brown suggests that in writing Adelaide, Beethoven was strongly influenced by Haydn's song O Tuneful Voice (Hob. XXVIa:42, c. 1795), written by the elder composer shortly before. Like "Adelaide", "O Tuneful Voice" sets a love poem, is in moderate tempo with a steady triplet accompaniment, and wanders from key to key in its middle section.
Librettist | Friedrich von Matthisson (1761–1831) |
Date of composition | 1796 |
First published | 1802 |
Dedicated to | Friedrich von Matthisson |
Type | Lied |
Tonality | B-flat Major |
Catalogue | Op. 46 |
Approx. duration | 6 minutes |
Spoken language | German |
Instruments |
Voice
Piano |
Arrangements |
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Franz Liszt: Adelaide von Beethoven, S. 466a
● Franz Liszt: Adelaide by Beethoven, S. 466 |
Autotranslations beta |
Ludwig van Beethoven: Adelaide en si bémol majeur, Op. 46 Ludwig van Beethoven: Adelaide in si bemolle maggiore, Op. 46 Ludwig van Beethoven: Adelaide B-dur, Op. 46 |