Program Notes: Beethoven's Meeresstille und Glückliche Fahrt

The Boston Cecilia performed this work at New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall in Boston on April 13, 1997.

The cantata Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt (A Calm Sea and a Prosperous voyage), Beethoven's opus 112, to a text by Goethe, is a mature work composed in 1815, and first performed in Vienna on December 12th of that year. It is a brief work, but a dazzling study in contrasts. The quiet beginning conjures a seascape that is still, tranquil, deathlike even, one of those sublime moments in music when time almost stops--a moment to be savored, prolonged, cherished. But the sailor knows that a sea without breath, benign though its surface, has an ominous dimension. Flaccid sails don't propel, and the surrounding ocean is vast and deep. The first stirrings of change begin at the very bottom of the orchestra and, as if suddenly roused from sleep, Aeolus exhales, the air quickens, the sails billow. Chorus and orchestra shout their rejoicings. Look! there on the horizon: land, home, safety!

© 2004 Donald Teeters. All rights reserved.