In 1806, Scottish publisher and music folklorist George Thomson wrote Beethoven to propose that he compose settings of British folksongs that Thomson would provide. Other composers had done so, including Haydn, who had been paid £1 apiece.
Between 1809 and 1820, Beethoven composed settings for voice, piano, violin, and cello of 179 folksongs, largely of Scottish, Irish, and Welsh origins supplied by George Thomson, but also including English folksongs and some Continental folksongs that Beethoven found.
Beethoven’s knowledge of English was very sparse, and George Thomson apparently didn’t know much German. The two men corresponded mostly in French.
The definitive book on the subject of Beethoven’s folksong settings is by renowned Beethoven scholar Barry Cooper and published by Oxford University Press:
Much of the information in my posts about these folksong settings comes from this book.
Here’s how George Thomson assembled his folksong settings:
Thomson collected British folksongs, mostly Scottish, Irish, and Welsh. Almost always he would discard the existing lyrics, many being nonsensical or bawdy.
Thomson then commissioned British poets to write new lyrics for these tunes. These poets included his friend Robert Burns, Walter Scott, and Lord Byron, but Thomson had most success with William Smyth, an English poet and Cambridge professor of history.
Thomson would send the tunes to Beethoven. Particularly in the early years, these tunes would have no lyrics attached to them, but later they did. Beethoven composed settings for piano, violin, and cello, and sent those scores back to Thomson.
Thomson then united the lyrics and Beethoven’s accompaniments into songs that he published in volumes beginning in 1814 with titles such as A Select Collection of Original Irish Airs.
See Cooper, Beethoven’s Folksong Settings (and particularly ch. 5) for more detail.
George Thomson’s target audience were the young ladies of Britain. One can easily imagine the Dashwood sisters or Bennet girls playing and singing these songs. Although Beethoven’s accompaniments were for piano trio, the violin and cello parts are not essential. (Cooper, p. 196)
Sometimes George Thomson would reject Beethoven’s settings because they were too difficult. After receiving one batch, Thomson wrote to Beethoven:
The Ritornellos and accompaniments of these nine airs are in general excellent; I have been ravished by them; but my dear sir, there are some which are much too difficult for our public. It is a fact that not one young lady in a hundred here will even look at the accompaniment of an air, if it is the least bit difficult. (Cooper, p. 17)
George Thomson published many of Beethoven’s folksong settings in London beginning in 1814, but they didn’t sell as well as he anticipated. Thomson wrote:
I have no expectation for ever receiving any benefit from what Beethoven has done for me. He composes for posterity; I hoped that his gigantic genius would bend and accommodate itself to the simple character of national Melodies, but in general he has been too learned and eccentric for my purpose… (Cooper, p. 43)
Although Beethoven published 25 Scottish songs as Opus 108 in 1818, most of his other folksong settings were collected posthumously as WoO 152 through WoO 158. The WoO collections are grouped by national origin, and do not reflect the order in which the settings were composed.
In his book on Beethoven’s Folksong Settings, Barry Cooper has established a chronology for these compositions based on the groups of settings that Beethoven sent to George Thomson. There are 18 such groups, ranging in quantity from 1 setting to 43 settings.
Barry Cooper devised his own chronology-based numbering system for the folksongs. Each of the 18 groups is identified with a Roman numeral, followed by an Arabic number for the song in that group, for example, IV/7 refers to Group IV, setting 7, the song “O Harp of Erin.”
When posting videos of Beethoven’s folksong settings, I will adhere to Barry Cooper’s chronology. I will restrict these posts to live performances; I will not attempt to be complete.
I will generally post multiple songs per day, but not more than a dozen or so per day.
In these posts of YouTube videos, the title of the song will be preceded with the words “Setting of” so they can be isolated alphabetically on my web site.
Each song will also be identified with its CFS (“Cooper Folk Song”) group and number.
I will not be posting texts for these songs because English lyrics are available with the scores on the IMSLP site. Scroll down to Opus 108, or the WoO numbers 152 through 158. (And subscribe to IMSLP to help preserve this valuable resource!)
The first group of folksong settings that Beethoven sent to George Thomson consisted of 43 songs likely composed between November 1809 and March 1810.
Today I’ll focus on the first half of Group I, most of which were later collected in WoO 155, “26 Welsh Songs.”
#Beethoven250 Day 237
Setting of “The Dream,” CFS I/6 (WoO 155, No. 14), 1809–10
This duet, translated from the Welsh, tells of a restless night that finally results in sleep and a dream of a wedding, cruelly interrupted by morning bells.
#Beethoven250 Day 237
Setting of “The Dairy House,” CFS I/8 (WoO 155, No. 17), 1809–10
London poet Anne Hunter tells of a garden retreat where “fairies dance upon the green” and “keep my dairy farm.”
#Beethoven250 Day 237
Setting of “Farewell, thou Noisy Town,” CFS I/11 (WoO 155, No. 8), 1809–10
Poet William Smyth celebrates getting out of the miserable city for the comforts of streams, woods, mountains, “and leisure to be blest.”
#Beethoven250 Day 237
Setting of “Constancy,” CFS I/16 (WoO 155, No. 22), 1809–10
This duet with text by Robert Burns (who was a friend of George Thomson’s) bemoans a separation, which despite the obstacles “I still would love my Jean.”
#Beethoven250 Day 237
Setting of “The Vale of Clwyd,” CFS I/18 (WoO 155, No. 19), 1809–10
The title refers to an area of northeast Wales. The poet recalls her thwarted love for Henry, finally overcome only to find “Henry’s grave.”
#Beethoven250 Day 237
Setting of “Cupid’s Kindness” CFS I/20 (WoO 155, No. 21), 1809–10
William Smyth’s text is about the folly of love. Were it not that Cupid strives to “rule the world more kindly,” women might find themselves with apes.
#Beethoven250 Day 237
Setting of “To the Aeolian Harp” CFS I/22 (WoO 155, No. 9), 1809–10
London poet Anne Hunter enters a revelry when listening to the sounds of wind blowing through an aeolian harp, “now softly sighing, loudly swelling.”
#Beethoven250 Day 237
Setting of “Sion, the son of Evan” CFS I/23 (WoO 155, No. 1), 1809–10
This duet from a text by Anne Grant is also known as “The Chase of the Wolf,” which pretty much sums it up.