Music TheoryPrint

Ludwig van Beethoven

Elegischer Gesang

"Elegischer Gesang" ("Elegiac Song"), Op. 118, is a short work in E major by Ludwig van Beethoven scored for string quartet and four mixed voices. The text is taken from the poem "Bey der Kunde von

Text#

The text has been variously identified as anonymous, or attributed to Ignaz Franz Castelli (1781–1862). However, an examination of Haug’s poem reveals him as the author. It is a compilation of the first line of stanza three, and half of line three and line four of stanza four. Sanft, wie du lebtest, hast du vollendet, zu heilig für den Schmerz! Kein Auge wein’ ob des himmlischen Geistes Heimkehr. Gentle as you lived, have you completed too sacred for the pain! No eye weep for the Heavenly Spirit’s homecoming. As gentle as you have lived, have you died, too holy for sorrow! Let no eye shed a tear for the spirit’s heavenly homecoming. Life gently touched thee, And passed as softly. Too holy to know pain! No eye could weep for this heavenly spirit, when homeward turning.

    • Fragment of a sketch for the middle section of Opus 118 in Beethoven’s handwriting, Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois (CARLI Digital Collections) *
Composer
Ludwig van Beethoven