Beethoven was only 19 when in Bonn he was commissioned to write this 40-minute cantata on the Emperor’s death. It was never performed, the musicians claiming it was too difficult, and remained buried for almost a century. Arguably Beethoven’s first major masterpiece, it was one of his few early unpublished works of which the master approved. When he came to write Fidelio, he used the soaring theme from the first of the soprano arias here, “Da stiegen die Menschen an’s Licht”, for Leonore’s sublime moment in the finale, “O Gott! Welch’ ein Augenblick”. Clearly the teenage Beethoven was mesmerized by the soaring phrases, and here repeats them again and again. Listen to this, and I predict that your head will be swimming to the glorious theme for hours afterwards, not least when it is so radiantly sung by Janice Watson.
The tragic C minor power of the choruses framing the work – the last movement a direct repetition except for the final resolution – is equally memorable. Dramatic tension is then kept taut through all seven sections, with recitatives clearly indicating the young composer’s thirst to write opera. Matthew Best conducts a superb performance, at once fresh, incisive and deeply moving, with excellent soloists as well as a fine chorus. In this first cantata the solo quartet simply contribute to the opening and closing choruses. The bass is the only other soloist besides the soprano who has an individual role, and it is good to have so strong and stylish a singer here as Jose van Dam.
The second cantata, only a little more than half the length of the first, was written soon after, when Leopold II had succeeded as Emperor. It is apt to have the two works presented successively, when one seems to develop out of the other. This second work is less ambitious, expressing less deep emotions, yet it brings fascinating anticipation of later masterpieces. Nicholas Marston in his note suggests that the key sequence from the C minor of the earlier cantata leads through the shifting keys of the recitative which opens the second cantata to C major, so pointing forward to the Fifth Symphony.
Much more specific is the way that the finale of the cantata, “Heil! Sturzet nieder, Millionen”, a chorus in a sequence of contrasted sections, clearly anticipates the choral finale of the Ninth Symphony (even with the word “Millionen”), a point reinforced by the key of D major. The two shorter pieces, both dating from Beethoven’s difficult interim period between middle and late, with Jean Rigby as soloist in the Opferlied, make a generous fill-up, performed with equal dedication. With plenty of air round the chorus, the recording has ample weight yet is transparent enough to clarify even the heaviest textures. A revelatory issue.'