Beethvoen Rarity—the Cantata for the Death of Emperor Joseph II

DAILY DOSE of BEETHOVEN (July 17, 2020)

This little known gem, “Cantata on the Death of Emperor Joseph II, WoO 87”, was composed by Beethoven in 1790, at the age of 19! That is a full five years before the performance of his Op. 1 Piano Trios.

The Cantata was intended for the memorial service of Emperor Joseph II, who was a great patron of the arts, especially as a patron of Mozart. This memorial in which Beethoven’s cantata was to be performed, was in Bonn. However, it was considered too difficult at the time, and was not performed until November 1884, a full fifty-seven years after Beethoven's death!

We hear so much of his later choral works in this piece. It gives lie to the idea that he did not know the voice.