Beethoven: 6 National Airs with Variations, Op.105

Introduction

The National Airs with variations, Opp. 105 and 107, are among the last compositions Beethoven pursued for the Scottish publisher George Thomson. Beethoven set about 180 folksongs for the publisher, who commissioned composers throughout Europe for works suitable for amateur musicians. In a letter of December 1817, Thomson advises Beethoven: "You must write the variations in a familiar, easy and slightly brilliant style; so that the greatest number of our ladies can play and enjoy them." A few of the variations, however, tend more toward the brilliant than the easy, with a piano technique similar to that of Beethoven's late piano sonatas. Furthermore, the variations are forward-looking, featuring large-scale structures derived from very simple themes.

Nonetheless, the Airs and their variations are generally easier than other sets of variations by Beethoven, especially the concurrently conceived "Diabelli" variations. The simplicity is at its greatest in the flute part, which usually doubles a line in the piano. Even when the flute gains some measure of independence its material is decidedly subordinate to that of the piano. The addition of the flute was Thomson's idea.

Beethoven's six National Airs with variations for flute/violin & piano, Op.105, were printed by two different publishers in 1819. The first of these, by George Thomson in Edinburgh, appeared in July and is for piano and flute only (as Beethoven intended) and includes Nos. 2, 6 and 7 of Op. 107. In Vienna, Artaria & Co. published the six Airs of Op. 105 in an edition for piano with flute or violin (ad libitum) in September. In Beethoven's manuscripts there is no mention of a violin--it was added by Artaria. Furthermore, the violin part is replete with pizzicatos and double stops that make it nearly an equal with that of the piano--this clearly was not Beethoven's intention.

A combination of folk melodies from Wales, Scotland, Ireland and Austria, the Six Airs and Variations of Op. 105, straddle a line between the decorative variation style of the early Classical era and the probing, harmonically based style that is the mark of Beethoven's later works in the genre. The primacy of the piano is apparent from the first variation, for piano alone, of No. 1, "The Cottage Maid." The third and final variation of this theme is itself more than one variation, with contrasting tempos, keys, and rhythmic ideas.

In the second Air, a Scottish folk song entitled, "Von edlem Geschlecht war Shinkin," Beethoven divides the melody between registers on the piano, the higher passages accompanied by the flute. The contrast continues throughout the ensuing three variations, the second of which moves from the tonic, E flat, to C major and the third closing with a lengthy piano trill.

The Austrian tune, "A Schüsserl und a Reindl," receives the greatest number of variations (six), the second of which reduces the theme to mere harmonic references, while the fifth is in the tonic minor and a slow tempo, maintaining only the basic shape of the theme. Throughout the variations Beethoven imparts a harmonic adventurousness that is not part of the original song.

The piano again reigns supreme in the fourth Air, an Irish melody called, "The Last Rose of Summer." Although "Paddy Whack," an Irish folk song melody in a jig-like 6/8 meter, receives only three variation, they are among the longest of the set. Here, Beethoven amplifies the running-note pattern of the melody with figurations that grow faster from variation to variation, transferring the melody to the left hand of the piano part for the third and final variation, which is a developmental tour de force.

Parts/Movements

1. Air ecossaise [Welsh], Andantino quasi Allegretto [The Cottage Maid]
2. Air ecossaise, Allegretto scherzoso [Of Noble Race Was Shenkin]
3. Air autrichien, Andantino [A Schüsserl und a Reindel]
4. Air eccosais [Irish], Andante espressivo assai [The Last Rose]
5. Air ecossais [Irish], Allegretto spiritoso [Chiling O'Guiry]
6. Air ecossais [Irish], Allegretto piu tosto vivace [Paddy Whack]