On the Flip with Beethoven's Für Elise
The Listen Guide
Bagatelle No. 25 in A minor, WoO 59 ("Für Elise")
I'm Beethoven, and I'm happy to welcome you to the listen guide of Für Elise. You'll learn to follow the five-part shape of this rondo, so you always know whether the familiar tune has returned or something new has arrived, and the piece becomes much more rewarding. If you'd like to practice, head over to the Trainer , where my fellow composers and I teach you to recognize our pieces as soon as they begin.
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One Piano, No Crowd
For this one you only have to listen to a single instrument, a solo piano, with no orchestra and no singers to keep track of. Follow the right hand first, because it carries the tune, while the left hand underneath plays gentle accompanying notes that hold everything together. The tempo is Poco moto, which means with a little movement, so it never rushes but it never stands still either. The notes stay within about two octaves, which suited the keyboards of my day, and that keeps the piece small and intimate.Who on Earth Is Elise?
Here's a confession: the name Für Elise didn't come from a printed title of mine, because the piece wasn't published while I was alive. It comes from a scholar named Ludwig Nohl, who said he had seen my handwritten manuscript and who printed the piece in 1867. That manuscript has been missing ever since, so nobody can check what it really said. People have suggested several Elises, among them Therese Malfatti, if Nohl misread the name, and the soprano Elisabeth Röckel, but the honest answer is that nobody knows.A Rondo in Five Parts
For Für Elise I settled on a rondo. In a rondo the main tune keeps coming back between contrasting episodes, a bit like a friend who drops by again and again between your other errands. Mine has five parts and runs A-B-A-C-A, with the opening tune as A and two different episodes as B and C. I'll only touch on the sections here, because in the next paragraphs I'm going to take you through them one by one.Section 1: The Tune Introduces Itself
The first section, A, sits in A minor at that easy Poco moto pace, and it's the part almost everyone knows even without knowing its name. The right hand sings a short phrase, pauses, and then sings it again, as if it's repeating a question for good measure. Underneath, the left hand rolls out soft, spread-out chords that give the tune a quiet floor to stand on. The mood is gentle and a little sad, and it sets up the home base that I'll keep returning to.Section 2: A Short Walk in the Sunshine
Section B begins in F major, and the change of key feels like stepping out of a dim room onto a bright street. The melody here is warmer and flows more smoothly, with less of the fretting you heard at the start. Then the music moves on to C major, a bright and open place, and the mood turns steady and a touch hopeful. The tempo hasn't changed at all, but the new colors make it feel as though the whole piece has taken a deep breath.Section 3: Oh, It's You Again
Now A comes back in A minor, and it's exactly the tune you met at the beginning. Because you've just spent time in brighter keys, the return sounds a little different, the same melody heard with fresh ears. That's the pleasure of a rondo: you recognize the tune by now, and you can almost hum it before the right hand gets there. The mood slips back to wistful, as though the sunshine had been a pleasant daydream.Section 4: The Clouds Gather
The C section is also in A minor, but it feels far from the cozy opening. The music pushes forward with more weight and more drama, and the calm of the first tune is nowhere to be found. It has a coda-like quality, the feeling of a piece working itself up toward a finish, though the finish hasn't arrived yet. This is the most stirred-up moment of the whole story, and it's all the more striking because the piece is so small.Section 5: Back Home for Good
Finally A returns one last time, in A minor, with the same tune that began the journey. After the stormy stretch it comes as a relief, like hearing a familiar voice after a loud conversation. Nothing new is added, and that's the point: the piece ends where it began, in the mood it started with. By the last notes you've heard the main tune three times, and it feels thoroughly familiar.Press Play and Settle In
Now I invite you to listen to Für Elise yourself, so find a comfortable chair and press play. Let the piano carry you along, and keep in mind what we've talked about: the returning tune, the sunny detour, and the stormier stretch before home. You don't need to know anything about classical music, only to notice when the opening melody walks back in. I hope the journey is as rewarding for you as writing it was for me.---
So that's Für Elise, a small piece that has traveled a long way from the spring of 1810. Did you enjoy this listen guide to Für Elise? I hope it gave you a few new things to notice the next time the opening notes start to sway. Even after all this, there's still a good deal left to discover. The mystery of who Elise really was has kept scholars busy for a long time, and several people have offered their own answers. Since the manuscript is lost, nobody can say for certain which answer is right. I find it rather touching that a piece I never published has had so many people looking for its story. There's also the shape of the music itself, with its returning tune and its brief visits to brighter keys, and you can follow it in more detail each time you listen. Some listeners like to hear it once with their eyes closed and then again while watching a pianist's hands. You'll probably notice something different each time. If you'd like to keep exploring Für Elise, please click on the links below. They'll take you further into the music, the story and the many ways it can be played. Whenever you're ready, sit down somewhere quiet, press play, and let that gentle tune welcome you back.