Increasingly in the last 15 years of his life, Beethoven wrote short canons, sometimes as little gifts or tokens for friends, or for people who had done him favors. When these canons appear in Beethoven’s letters, their purpose is obvious, but often the canons are more obscure.
The text of the three-part canon “Ewig dein” (WoO 161) consists solely of the words “ewig dein” — “forever yours.” The published score indicates that it was composed for Baron Pasqualati (in whose house Beethoven had one time lived), but there is no real evidence for this.
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Canon “Ewig dein” (WoO 161), 1811
An animated score accompanies a studio recording.
According to a paragraph on the Beethoven-Haus site, the autograph of the “Ewig dein” canon was once in the possession of Egmont actress Antonie Adamberger (Day 240), but oddly, “family tradition” held that it had not been written for her.
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Canon “Ewig dein” (WoO 161), 1811
A rare live performance of this canon by young men who seem to be engaging in some inside jokes of their own.
More is known about the canon called “Ta ta ta” or “An Mälzel” (WoO 167) than most of Beethoven’s other canons, and it’s sometimes performed in concert.
However, the reason we know so much about it is because Beethoven probably didn’t compose it.
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Canon “Ta ta ta” / “An Mälzel” (WoO 162), attr. 1812
A studio recording with animated score.
According to Beethoven’s secretary and notoriously unreliable biographer Anton Schindler, Beethoven wrote the canon “Ta ta ta” for Johann Nepomuk Mälzel, the maker of mechanical musical instruments, ear trumpets for Beethoven, and metronomes.
In Schindler’s account, the canon was improvised at a party in the spring of 1812. Both Mälzel and Beethoven were leaving Vienna soon, so along with the “ta ta ta” sound of a metronome, the canon wishes Mälzel good luck and mentions the “grosser Metronom.”
One reason why Schindler’s account seemed reasonable is that the canon’s tune later showed up in the second movement of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 8, which he composed in the summer and autumn of 1812.
It is now almost universally believed that Schindler wrote this canon himself in the 1840s and passed it off as Beethoven’s work. One clue is that Mälzel’s device was not called a “metronome” until 1815.
One of the articles that cast doubt on Schindler’s story is the fascinating “Beethoven’s Maelzel Canon. Another Schindler Forgery?” by Standley Howell published in The Musical Times in 1979 (jstor.org/stable/963501).
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Canon “Ta ta ta” / “An Mälzel” (WoO 162), attr. 1812
A mixed quartet performing with metronome accompaniment
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Canon “Ta ta ta” / “An Mälzel” (WoO 162), attr. 1812
Four men, also with metronome accompaniment, and having fun.
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Canon “Ta ta ta” / “An Mälzel” (WoO 162), attr. 1812
A women’s chorus takes the canon at a zippy pace at a concert in Mexico.