Variations on “Bei Männern, welche Liebe fühlen” from Die Zauberflöte

(1801)

Of Beethoven’s three sets of variations for cello and piano, the first two - on “See the Conquering Hero Come” from Handel’s Judas Maccabaeus and “Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen” from Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte - might well have been written, like the two Sonatas Op.5, in anticipation of a trip to Berlin in 1796. Bearing in mind that the composer was about to visit a court where the cello reigned supreme (thanks to Friedrich Wilhelm II’s enthusiasm for an instrument he played himself), it would not have been a bad idea. But why, five years later, he wrote another set of variations for cello and piano, turning again to his favourite Mozart opera for the theme, no one seems to know. One suggestion is that the stimulus was Schikaneder’s hugely successful revival of Die Zauberflöte at the Theater an der Wien early in 1801. Certainly, it makes chronological sense. There would also have been good commercial sense in choosing this particular time to write a companion piece to the earlier set of Mozart variations, as its prompt publication seems to confirm.

The Variations on Pamina and Papageno’s duet “Bei Männern, welche Liebe fühlen” are a cut above those on Papageno’s “Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen.” While they might not be as amusing - the slow minor-key variation for example, avoids the witty ironies of that in the earlier set - they are more interestingly organised. The ingenuity of the construction is in the last four variations which form a symmetry so cohesive as to elevate the whole set above the bit-by-bit progression of most sets of variations of the time. The first three - in E flat major like the theme itself - are rhythmically and texturally resourceful but structurally unremarkable. The fourth variation in E flat minor, on the other hand, is inspired by a genuine elegiac sentiment, which is particularly evident when the cello takes up the melodic line in its lowest register, and is followed by a delightful little scherzo in a quicker tempo. In just the same way, the expressive and beautifully elaborated sixth variation, an Adagio in E major, is followed by an Allegro ma non troppo which not only balances the fifth variation but also develops into a far more than perfunctory finale. The hint of pathos in the closing bars is a particularly appealing idea.