#Beethoven250 Day 39
“Der freie Mann” (WoO 117), 1792–94
A chorus demands “Who, who is the free man?” The soloist’s responses encompass the political, personal, spiritual, and anti-clerical aspects of freedom.
Recordings of “Der freie Mann” (WoO 117) commonly include only a couple of the ten verses by Gottlieb Conrad Pfeffel. The following are English translations of all ten verses from Paul Reid, “The Beethoven Song Companion” (Manchester University Press, 2007), pp. 99–100.
(1)
“Who is a free man?
He, whose laws are given
By his own will and not
By the whim of a tyrant;
He is a free man.”
(2)
“Who is a free man?
He who respects the law,
Does nothing which it forbids,
Desires only what he can do;
He is a free man.”
(3)
“Who is a free man?
He whose radiant faith
Cannot be shaken by rude mockery
Nor suppressed by priests;
He is a free man.”
(4)
“Who is a free man?
He who can see the real person
And value virtue
Even in the heathen;
He is a free man.”
(5)
“Who is a free man?
He who can recognize his brother
Regardless of title or birth,
Velvet jacket or smock;
He is a free man.”
(6)
“Who is a free man?
He to whom a crowned thug
Can offer no more than
The name of citizen merits;
He is a free man”
(7)
“Who is a free man?
He who, confident in himself,
Can withstand the petty
Blandishments of great and small;
He is a free man.”
(8)
“Who is a free man?
He who, firm in his position in life,
Can suffer the ingratitude
Even of his own fatherland;
He is a free man.”
(9)
“Who is a free man?
He who can lose nothing
Even if he must sacrifice
Property and life for freedom;
He is a free man.”
(10)
“Who is a free man?
He who, when death summons him,
Can look confidently towards the grave
And boldly back on his life;
He is a free man.”
What about the free woman? Neither Gottlieb Conrad Pfeffel’s verses for “Der freie Mann” nor Beethoven’s song have anything to say about her. Women were not as prominent in the German Enlightenment as they were in Great Britain and France.