Für Elise

"Für Elise" (German: "For Elise") is the popular name of the "Bagatelle in A minor", WoO 59, a famous piece of music for solo piano by Ludwig van Beethoven, written in about 1810.

Beethoven scholars and critics are not entirely certain who "Elise" was. The most reasonable theory is that Beethoven originally titled his work "Für Therese", Therese being Therese Malfatti von Rohrenbach zu Dezza (1792-1851), whom Beethoven intended to marry in 1810. She was the daughter of the Viennese merchant Jacob Malfatti von Rohrenbach (1769-1829). When the work was published in 1865, the discoverer of the piece Ludwig Nohl mistranscribed the title as "Für Elise". The autograph is lost.

We can only speculate upon whether it was Beethoven's intention to write the piece in the letters of the name of his beloved. The famous melody starts with the tones E - D# - E, or enharmonically E - Eb - E, which in German languages equivalents E - Es - E, the "tuneable" letters in the name ThErESE or EliSE.

The tune is well known and commonly requested of pianists performing in informal settings.

In some parts of Taiwan, Iran and most probably in other countries, the tune is played by garbage trucks to notify people to bring their trash out to be picked up. In Brazil and Turkey the tune is played on trucks that sell gas cylinders to notify people that the truck is nearby .

Nas sampled Für Elise on his 2002 inspirational rap song "I Can." "Für Elise" was also used as a sample in the song "Same Script, Different Cast" by Whitney Houston and Deborah Cox which appeared on Whitney's Greatest Hits album. It also makes an appearance in John Zorn's arrangement of Ennio Morricone's "The Big Gundown" on the album of the same title.

The music

The piece begins with a plaintive right-hand theme accompanied by arpeggios in the left hand; the harmonies used are A minor and E major. The next section maintains the same texture, but broadens the harmony to include C major its dominant, G major. A faster section follows, written in the key of F major. This section is the bane of many pianists who easily play the opening, but then are forced to suddenly slow down. (There is an apocryphal story that Beethoven wrote this part after an argument with Elise, knowing that she would not be able to play it.) The first section returns without alteration; next, the piece moves into D minor with an ominous theme set over a pedal point. After a modulation back to A minor and a flourish of arpeggios, the main theme returns, and the piece quietly ends.

External links

Für Elise - and other Beethoven resources

Compositions by Ludwig van Beethoven | Solo piano pieces

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The music

External links