Cantata on the Death of Emperor Joseph II

Ludwig van Beethoven's Cantata on the Death of Emperor Joseph II, WoO 87 is a cantata with a libretto by Severin Anton Averdonk (1768-1817), made in 1790 for a funeral for Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor to be done in Bonn. Made when Beethoven was nineteen, it was not made public or played until its first playing in Vienna in November 1884, fifty-seven years after Beethoven died. It is still one of Beethoven's less known works.

 Structure 
The cantata, written in C minor, has seven movements.

 Coro. Largo - Larghetto (C minor)
 Recitativo. Presto (A minor)
 Aria. Allegro maestoso - Allegro assai (D major)
 Aria con Coro. Andante con moto (F major)
 Recitativo. Largo (D minor)
 Aria. Adagio con affetto (E♭ major)
 Coro. Largo - Larghetto (C minor) 

 Composition 
The work is made for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, strings and SATB chorus with solo soprano and bass (there is also a solo semichorus SSATB). The seven movements take about 35 minutes to play. The aria with Chorus, the fourth movement, is also used in the opera Fidelio.

References

 Other websites 

The libretto by Severin Anton Averdonk, on the German Wikipedia page.

Category:Cantatas by Ludwig van Beethoven
Category:Funerary and memorial compositions
Category:Compositions in C minor
Category:Choral compositions