Beethoven composed two sets of variations for cello and piano at around the same time as the two cello sonatas, and possibly for the same cellist and royal audience. One was based on a tune from Handel’s oratorio “Judas Maccabaeus” and the other from Mozart's “The Magic Flute.”
Beethoven was introduced to Handel’s music by Haydn, who heard a lot of Handel during his trips to England. Beethoven had the opportunity to see a performance of Handel’s oratorio “Judas Maccabaeus” in Vienna in 1794, and possibly again while on concert tour in Berlin in 1796.
Late in life, Beethoven contended that the greatest of all composers wasn’t Mozart or Haydn or even J. S. Bach, but Georg Friederich Handel: “to him I bow the knee,” Beethoven said. (Thayer / Forbes, p. 920)
Handel’s oratorio “Judas Maccabeaus” recounts a famous event in Jewish history when Judas Maccabaeus led a revolt against Greek pagans, but Handel wrote it to commemorate the Duke of Cumberland’s 1746 victory against a Jacobite uprising. It was premiered at Covent Garden in 1747.
The most famous part of “Judas Maccabeaus” is the chorus: “See the conqu’ring hero comes, Sound the trumpet, beat the drums: Sports prepare, the laurel bring, Songs of triumph to him sing.” Did Beethoven write variations on this theme to flatter King Friedrich Wilhelm II?
#Beethoven250 Day 77
Variations on “See the Conqu’ring Hero” from Handel’s “Judas Maccabaeus” (WoO 45), 1796
Houston-born cellist Sophie Shao performs with Lithuanian pianist Ieva Jokubaviciute.
#Beethoven250 Day 77
Variations on “See the Conqu’ring Hero” from Handel’s “Judas Maccabaeus” (WoO 45), 1796
A young cellist in a Star Wars tee performs the variations on Handel’s theme.