Variations on “See the conqu’ring hero come” from Judas Maccabeus (1796)

The Handel Variations are thought to have been written in Berlin in 1796 at the same time as the two Cello Sonatas Op.5. Certainly, they were published at the same time, within a few months of the composer’s return to Vienna. While Beethoven might have alighted on a tune by Handel as a theme for variation at any time since he had got to know and admire his music (through Haydn, apparently), his choice in this case might will have been influenced by hearing a performance of Judas Maccabeus that was given in Berlin while he was there.

It seems unlikely, however, that the sonatas and the variations could have been written for the same cellist. In the sonatas, which were first performed by Beethoven with the Prussian court cellist Jean-Louis Duport, the two instruments are integrated on equal terms. In the Variations, on the other hand, the piano – which introduces the theme with minimal cello accompaniment and has the first variation entirely to itself – is clearly the dominant partner. In fact, the nature of the cello part, where bravura activity is restricted to the seventh variation, suggests that it was written for a cellist who, though necessarily more than merely competent, did not have the virtuoso technique of a Duport. Friedrich Wilhelm II himself was an accomplished cellist and it is not entirely impossible that the Variations were intended for him. Interestingly, the cellist in the Variations enjoys a privilege not accorded to the cellist of the sonatas: whereas neither of the sonatas has a slow movement, the eleventh variation, an extended and elaborate Adagio, gives the cello a then rare opportunity to sustain the expressive cantabile line later regarded as essential to any piece featuring the instrument in a solo role.