23 песни разных народов, WoO 158a

  • №1 Ridder Stigs Runer
  • №2 Horch auf, mein Liebchen
  • №3 Wegen meiner bleib d’Fraula
  • №4 Wann i in der Früh aufsteh
  • №5 Teppichkramer-Lied
  • №6 A Madel, ja a madel
  • №7 Wer solche Buema afipackt
  • №8 Ih mag di nit nehma
  • №9 Oj, oj upilem sie w karczmie
  • №10 Poszla baba po popiol
  • №11 Yo no quiero embarcarme
  • №12 Seus lindos olhos
  • №13 Vo lesocke komarockov mnogo urodilos’
  • №14 Akh, Rrecen’ki recen’ki
  • №15 Kak posli nasi podruzki
  • №16 Schone Minka, ich muss scheiden
  • №17 Lilla Car (Vaggvisa)
  • №18 An ä Bergli bin i gesasse
  • №19 Una paloma blanca
  • №20 Como la mariposa soy
  • №21 Tiranilla Espanola
  • №22 Edes kinos emlekezet (Magyar Szuretölö Enek)
  • №23 Da brava, Catina

(в том числе 3 рус. "Во лесочке комарочков много народилось", "Ах, реченьки, реченьки, холодные водыньки", "Как пошли наши подружки в лес по ягоды гулять", сб. составлен в 1815-1816)

См. также:
Hess 133: Народная песня Das liebe Kätzchen
Hess 134: Народная песня Der Knabe auf dem Berge
WoO 158d: "Air Français" (Hess 168)

There is some confusion about the origin of these songs. On first examination, some may classify these settings as belonging to the large group done for the Edinburgh-based publisher, George Thomson, from 1809 to the mid-1820s. Beethoven made a financial agreement with Thomson in 1809 to arrange folk songs largely from the British Isles. In all, Thomson published one hundred twenty-five such works, but rejected about twenty-five, some of which were duplicate settings.

While it may appear on superficial examination that these twenty-three arrangements were not born of the agreement between Beethoven and Thomson, some correspondence between the two possibly suggests otherwise. Beethoven may have produced twenty-seven continental settings for Thomson in the late-1810s, among which were most of these twenty-three, but Thomson did not publish them. It is not known whether Beethoven was paid for his efforts in that instance. Still, the composer may have written them all on his own initiative in hopes Thomson would see fit to compensate him and publish this batch of folk song arrangements. Certainly, he did write a number of them on his own, since the grand total in his output was one hundred seventy-nine, far exceeding those requested and published by Thomson.

Most of the arrangements of these are for soprano solo and include folk songs of German, Tyrolean, Polish, Iberian, Russian, Ukrainian-Cossack, Swedish, Spanish, Hungarian, and Venetian origin. They include "Horch auf mein Liebchen" (No. 2; German), "Wann in der Fruh" (No. 4; Tyrolean), "Oj upi?em sie w karczmie" (No. 9; Polish), "Yo no quiero embarcarme" (No. 11; Iberian), "Im Wald sind wiele Mucklein" (No. 13; Russian), "Schone Minka" (No. 16; Ukrainian-Cossack), "Lilla Carl" (No. 17; Swedish), "Bolero a solo: Una paloma blanca" (No. 19; Spanish), "Edes kinos emlekezet" (No. 22; Hungarian) and "Da brava, Catina" (No. 23; Venetian). In addition, the first song, "Ridder Stig tjener" (Danish) is scored for soprano and four-part chorus, and two others are for soprano and alto: "Seus lindos olhos" (Portuguese) and "An a Bergli bin i gesasse" (Swiss).

The twenty-three arrangements here are all imaginatively scored and will attract those with an interest in folk music. Most classically-inclined listeners, however, will find this collection of limited appeal. This set was published posthumously.

(Robert Cummings, Rovi)