View source for Für Elise

{{Short description|Composition for piano by Ludwig van Beethoven}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Infobox musical composition
| name                = Für Elise
| image               = Beethoven_WoO_59_Erstausgabe.png
| caption             = First edition, 1867
| translation         = For Elise
| type                = Piano music
| composer            = [[Ludwig van Beethoven]]
| full_title          = Bagatelle No. 25 A minor: Für Elise
| key                 = [[A  minor]]
| catalogue           = {{plainlist|
* [[WoO]] 59—
* [[Biamonti Catalogue|Bia]] 515
}}
| genre               = Bagatelle, [[Classical Music]]
| dedication          = 
| language            = German
| composed            = {{Start date|1810|04|27|df=y}}
| published           = {{Start date|1867}}
| publisher           = 
| scoring             = 
| misc                = {{Listen|plain=yes|filename=FurElise.ogg|title=Bagatelle in A minor}}
}}
'''Bagatelle No. 25'''{{Efn|Assuming that Beethoven's [[Bagatelles, Op. 33 (Beethoven)|Op. 33 Bagatelles]] are numbers 1 to 7, [[Bagatelles, Op. 119 (Beethoven)|Op. 119 Bagatelles]] are numbers 8 to 18 and [[Bagatelles, Op. 126 (Beethoven)|Op. 126 Bagatelles]] are numbers 19 to 24|group=lower-alpha|name=numbering}} in [[A minor]] ([[WoO]]{{Spaces}}59, [[Biamonti Catalogue|Bia]]{{Spaces}}515) for solo [[piano]], commonly known as "'''Für Elise'''" ({{IPA|de|fyːɐ̯ ʔeˈliːzə|lang|}}, {{Translation|For Elise}}), is one of [[Ludwig van Beethoven]]'s most popular compositions.<ref>[[William Kinderman]], ''[[Cambridge Companions to Music|The Cambridge Companion to Beethoven]]'', Cambridge: [[Cambridge University Press]], 2000, {{pp.|125–126}}, {{ISBN|978-0-521-58934-5}}</ref><ref>Dorothy de Val, ''The Cambridge Companion to the piano'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998, p. 131, {{ISBN|978-0-521-47986-8}}, "Beethoven is here [in the 1892 ''Repertory of select pianoforte works''] only by 'Für Elise', but there is a better representation of later composers such as Schubert ..., Chopin ..., Schumann ... and some Liszt."</ref><ref>Morton Manus, ''Alfred's Basic Adult All-In-One Piano Course'', Book 3, New York: Alfred Publishing, p. 132, {{ISBN|978-0-7390-0068-7}}</ref> It was not published during his lifetime but discovered (by [[Ludwig Nohl]]) 40 years after his death, and may be termed either a [[Bagatelle (music)|''Bagatelle'']] or an {{Lang|de|[[Album leaf|Albumblatt]]}}. The identity of "Elise" is unknown; researchers have suggested [[Therese Malfatti]], [[Elisabeth Röckel]], and [[Elise Barensfeld]].

== History ==
The score was published in 1867, 40 years after Beethoven's death. The discoverer of the piece, [[Ludwig Nohl]], affirmed that the original autograph manuscript, now lost, had the title: "Für Elise am 27 April [1810] zur Erinnerung von L. v. Bthvn" ("For Elise on April 27 in memory by L. v. Bthvn").<ref name="Fuld2000">{{cite book|last=Fuld|first=James J.|title=The Book of World-famous Music: Classical, Popular, and Folk|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EVninY59ul0C&pg=PA241|date=2000|publisher=Courier Dover Publications|isbn=978-0-486-41475-1|page=241}}</ref> The music was published as part of Nohl's ''Neue Briefe Beethovens'' (''New Letters by Beethoven'') on pages 28 to 33, printed in [[Stuttgart]] by [[Johann Friedrich Cotta (publisher)|Johann Friedrich Cotta]].<ref>{{cite book|editor=Ludwig Nohl|editor-link=Ludwig Nohl|title=Neue Briefe Beethovens|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=0_EoAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA28 28]|location=Stuttgart|year=1867|publisher=[[Johann Friedrich Cotta (publisher)|Cotta]]'sche Buchhandlung}}</ref>

The version of "Für Elise" heard today is an earlier version transcribed by Nohl. A revised version from 1822, with drastic changes to the accompaniment, was transcribed from a manuscript by the Beethoven scholar [[Barry Cooper (musicologist)|Barry Cooper]]. The most notable difference is that in the first theme, the left-hand [[arpeggio]]s are delayed by a 16th note. There are a few extra [[Bar (music)|bars]] in the transitional section into the B section; and finally, the rising A minor arpeggio figure comes later in the piece. The tempo marking ''Poco moto'' is believed to have been on the manuscript Nohl transcribed (now lost). The later version includes the marking ''Molto grazioso''. It is believed that Beethoven intended to add the piece to a cycle of bagatelles.<ref>''Ludwig van Beethoven, Klavierstück a-Moll WoO 59 "Für Elise"''. Kritische Ausgabe mit Faksimile der Handschrift BH 116, Skizzentranskription und Kommentar. [[Sieghard Brandenburg]], Bonn 2002, pp. 8 and 15</ref>

Whatever the validity of Nohl's edition, an editorial peculiarity of it involves whether the second right-hand note in bar 7, that is, the first note of the three-note upbeat figure that characterizes the main melody, is an E4 or a D4. Nohl's score gives E4 in bar 7 but D4 in all parallel passages. Many editions change all the figures to beginning with E4 until the final bars, where D4 is used and resolved by adding a C to the final A octave. But the use of D4 in bar 7 can be traced to a draft Beethoven wrote that is today housed in the [[Beethoven House|Beethoven-Haus Bonn]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Oppermann |first=Annette |date=2011-11-30 |title=Beethoven, Für Elise WoO 59 – Do you strike the right note? |url=https://www.henle.de/blog/en/2011/11/30/beethoven-fur-elise-woo-59-%E2%80%93-do-you-strike-the-right-note/ |access-date=2023-05-19 |website=G. Henle Verlag |language=en-US}}</ref> Another point in favor of D4 is that the ascending seventh of the motive in this form is repeated in sequence in bars 9 to 11, which begin the second section of the [[Subject (music)|principal theme]].<ref>{{YouTube|Ts8fvQHH41Q|Für Elise – the piece students love and teachers love to hate}}, 30-minute talk by Prof. Dr. Joachim Reinhuber</ref>

The pianist and musicologist [[Luca Chiantore]] argues in his [[thesis]] and his 2010 book ''Beethoven al piano'' (new Italian edition: ''Beethoven al pianoforte'', 2014) that Beethoven might not have given the piece the form in which we know it today. Chiantore suggests that the original signed manuscript, which Nohl claimed to have transcribed, might not have existed.<ref>Luca Chiantore: ''Beethoven al piano''. Barcelona: Nortesur, 2010, p.&nbsp;333–360, {{ISBN|978-84-937357-6-0}}</ref> On the other hand, Barry Cooper wrote, in a 1984 essay in ''[[The Musical Times]]'', that one of two surviving sketches closely resembles the published version.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Who Wrote 'Für Elise'?|date=16 October 2009|magazine=[[The New Yorker]]|author=Alex Ross|author-link=Alex Ross (music critic)|url=http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/alexross/2009/10/who-wrote-fur-elise.html}}</ref>

== Identity of "Elise" ==
It is not certain who "Elise" was, although scholars have suggested possibilities. Evidence suggests that "Elise" was a close friend of Beethoven and probably an important figure in his life.

=== Therese Malfatti ===
[[File:Therese Malfatti Anonymus.jpg|thumb|upright|Therese Malfatti, widely believed to have been the dedicatee of "Für Elise"]]
[[Max Unger (musicologist)|Max Unger]] suggested that Nohl may have transcribed the title incorrectly and the original work may have been named "Für Therese",<ref>[[Max Unger (musicologist)|Max Unger]], translated by [[Theodore Baker]], "Beethoven and Therese von Malfatti," ''[[The Musical Quarterly]]'' 11, no. 1 (1925): 63–72.</ref> a reference to [[Therese Malfatti]] von Rohrenbach zu Dezza. She was a friend and student of Beethoven's to whom he supposedly proposed in 1810, and who married the Austrian nobleman and state official Wilhelm von Droßdik in 1816.<ref>[[Michael Lorenz (musicologist)|Michael Lorenz]]: "Baronin Droßdik und die verschneyten Nachtigallen. Biographische Anmerkungen zu einem Schubert-Dokument", ''Schubert durch die Brille'' 26, (Tutzing: Schneider, 2001), pp.&nbsp;47–88.</ref> The [[Piano Sonata No. 24 (Beethoven)|piano sonata no. 24]], dedicated to Countess [[Thérèse von Brunswick]], is also sometimes called "für Therese". The Austrian musicologist [[Michael Lorenz (musicologist)|Michael Lorenz]]<ref name=ML>[[Michael Lorenz (musicologist)|Michael Lorenz]]: [http://homepage.univie.ac.at/michael.lorenz/beethovens_elise/ "'Die enttarnte Elise'. Die kurze Karriere der Elisabeth Röckel als Beethovens 'Elise'"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170429201226/http://homepage.univie.ac.at/michael.lorenz/beethovens_elise/ |date=29 April 2017 }}, ''Bonner Beethoven-Studien'' vol. 9, (Bonn 2011), 169–90.</ref> has shown that Rudolf Schachner, who inherited Therese von Droßdik's musical scores in 1851, was the son of Babette Bredl, born out of wedlock. In 1865, Bredl let Nohl copy the autograph in her possession. Robert Greenberg, who teaches music through [[Wondrium|The Great Courses]] and at the [[San Francisco Conservatory of Music]], has said that Beethoven's sloppy handwriting might easily have led anyone to misread "Für Therese" as "Für Elise".{{citation needed|date=November 2022}}

=== Elisabeth Röckel ===
[[File:Elisabeth Röckel.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=A portrait of Elizabeth Röckel.|Portrait of Elisabeth Röckel by [[Joseph Willibrord Mähler]]]]
[[File:Milder Hummel Brief.jpg|thumb|Anna Milder-Hauptmann, letter to "Frau Kapellmeisterin Elise Hummel", 1830]]
According to a 2010 study by [[Klaus Martin Kopitz]], there is evidence that the piece was written for the 17-year-old German soprano singer [[Elisabeth Röckel]], the younger sister of [[Joseph August Röckel]], who played Florestan in the 1806 revival of Beethoven's opera ''[[Fidelio]]''. "Elise", as she was called by a parish priest (she later called herself "Betty"), had been a friend of Beethoven's since 1808,<ref>{{cite book|last=Kopitz|first=Klaus Martin|author-link=Klaus Martin Kopitz|title=Beethoven, Elisabeth Röckel und das Albumblatt "Für Elise"|location=Cologne|publisher=Dohr|year=2010|isbn=978-3-936655-87-2}}</ref> and according to Kopitz, he may have wanted to marry her.{{sfn|Kopitz|2015|p=55}} But in April 1810 Elisabeth Röckel got an engagement at the theater in [[Bamberg]], where she made her stage debut as Donna Anna in Mozart's ''[[Don Giovanni]]'' and became a friend of the writer [[E. T. A. Hoffmann]].{{sfn|Kopitz|2015|p=53f.}} In 1811 Röckel returned to Vienna,{{sfn|Kopitz|2015|p=54}} where in 1813 she married Beethoven's friend [[Johann Nepomuk Hummel]].

In 2015 Kopitz published more material about Beethoven's relationship to Röckel and "Für Elise". It shows that she was also a close friend of [[Anna Milder-Hauptmann]] and lived with her and her brother Joseph August in the [[Theater an der Wien]]. In an 1830 letter to Röckel, Milder-Hauptmann called her "Elise".<ref>{{cite journal|last=Kopitz|first=Klaus Martin|author-link=Klaus Martin Kopitz|url=http://www.klaus-martin-kopitz.de/Texte/Elise.pdf|title=Beethovens 'Elise' Elisabeth Röckel. Neue Aspekte zur Entstehung und Überlieferung des Klavierstücks WoO 59|journal={{ill|Die Tonkunst|de}}|volume=9|number=1|date=January 2015|pages=48–57}}</ref>

In 2020 an extended English version of Kopitz's essay was published with some new sources.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Kopitz|first=Klaus Martin|title=Beethoven's 'Elise' Elisabeth Röckel: a forgotten love story and a famous piano piece|journal=[[The Musical Times]]|volume=161|number=1953|date=Winter 2020|pages=9–26|url=http://klaus-martin-kopitz.de/Texte/Elise2020.pdf}}</ref>

=== Elise Barensfeld ===
In 2014, the Canadian musicologist [[Rita Steblin]] suggested that [[Elise Barensfeld]] might be the dedicatee. Born in [[Regensburg]] and treated for a while as a [[child prodigy]], she first took concert tours with Beethoven's friend [[Johann Nepomuk Mälzel]], also from Regensburg, and then lived with him for some time in Vienna, where she received singing lessons from [[Antonio Salieri]]. Steblin argues that Beethoven dedicated this work to the 13-year-old Barensfeld as a favor to Therese Malfatti, who lived opposite Mälzel's and Barensfeld's residence and might have given her piano lessons.<ref>[http://www.nmz.de/online/war-maelzels-saengerin-auch-beethovens-elise-die-kanadische-musikforscherin-rita-steblin-ist- "War Mälzels Sängerin auch Beethovens 'Elise'?"] by Juan Martin Koch, ''[[Neue Musikzeitung]]'', 15 November 2012 {{in lang|de}}</ref> Steblin says her hypothesis is uncertain.<ref>[https://www.welt.de/regionales/muenchen/article111178742/Geheimnis-um-Beethovens-Elise-gelueftet.html "Geheimnis um Beethovens 'Elise' gelüftet?"], ''[[Die Welt]]'', 16 November 2012 {{in lang|de}}; [[Rita Steblin|Steblin, Rita]]: "Who was Beethoven's 'Elise'? A new solution to the mystery." In: ''[[The Musical Times]]'' 155 (2014), pp. 3–39</ref>

== Music ==
The piece can be heard as a five-part [[rondo]] in the form A-B-A-C-A. It is in [[A minor]] and in [[time signature|{{music|time|3|8}} time]]. It begins with the refrain (A), a flowing melody in binary form marked ''Poco moto'' (literally "a little motion", a marking that appears nowhere else in Beethoven's works), with an [[Arpeggio|arpeggiated]] accompaniment. The unaccompanied oscillation between the dominant E and its chromatic lower neighbor D-sharp that begins the melody has become one of the most recognizable openings in classical music, but it also serves as a main topic of musical discussion. The digression at measure 9 glances at the relative major before returning to the original theme and key, preceded by a prolongation of the dominant, E, that extends the opening lower-neighbor oscillation. The pitch outline of these bars, E-F-E-D-C-B, i.e. an upper-neighbor ascent to F5 followed by a descending scale, also forms the basis of the two episodes, B and C, thus unifying the piece. The B section that begins in bar 23 is in the [[submediant]], [[F major]]. Its theme begins by tracing the above outline in somewhat elaborated fashion and modulates to the dominant, followed by [[Thirty-second note|32nd-note]] runs repeating a [[cadential]] progression in C major in a [[Coda (music)|codetta]]-like passage. (The chordal three-note upbeats in the left hand are anticipated by the transition to this episode in bar 22.) This suggests a rather expansive form, but Beethoven suddenly returns to the dominant of A minor in bar 34, once again lingering on E and its lower neighbor and leading to an exact repeat of the A section. Although another nominal episode follows (C) at bar 59, it does not leave the tonic and is rather coda-like, unfolding over a tonic pedal and emphatically cadencing in the home key. Once again, there are unifying relationships with previous material. The melody retraces the descending outline alluded to earlier, and the cadence in bars 66–67 is an augmented version of the theme's cadence in bars 7–8. After a glance at a [[Neapolitan harmony]] (B-flat major) and a cadence at bar 76 that brings the music to a complete halt for the only time, an ascending A minor arpeggio and a [[Chromatic scale|chromatic]] descent over two octaves follows, sort of a ''cadenza in tempo'', leading to a final repetition of the A section. The piece concludes without a postlude.

Kopitz presents the finding by the German organ scholar {{ill|Johannes Quack (organist)|de|Johannes Quack|lt=Johannes Quack}} that the letters that spell Elise can be decoded as the first three notes of the piece. Because E{{music|flat}} is called ''Es'' in German and pronounced "S", we have '''E'''–(L)–(I)–'''S'''–'''E''': '''E'''–(L)–(I)–'''E{{music|flat}}'''–'''E''', which by [[enharmonic]] equivalence sounds the same as the written notes '''E'''–(L)–(I)–'''D{{music|sharp}}'''–'''E'''.<ref name=ML />{{sfn|Kopitz|2010|pp=50f}}

[[Incipit]]:
<score sound="1">
\new PianoStaff <<
  \time 3/8
  \new Staff = "up" {
    \tempo "Poco moto" 4=70
    \set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t
    \partial 8 e''16\pp dis''
    e'' dis'' e'' b' d'' c''
    a'8 r16 c' e' a'
    b'8 r16 e' gis' b'
    c''8 r16 e' e'' dis''
    e'' dis'' e'' b' d'' c''
  }

  \new Staff = "down" {
    \clef bass
    \set Staff.pedalSustainStyle = #'bracket
    \partial 8 r8
    R8*3
    a,16\pp\sustainOn e a r8.
    e,16\sustainOff\sustainOn e gis r8.
    a,16\sustainOff\sustainOn e a r8.
    R8*3\sustainOff
  }
>>
</score>

== Popularity ==
"Für Elise" is widely recognized. It is of intermediate difficulty, graded at a level 7 out of 10 by [[The Royal Conservatory of Music]].<ref>{{cite book | last=Music | first=Royal Conservatory of Music | title=Piano Syllabus | date=2022 | isbn=978-1-55440-953-2 | page=60}}</ref> Many children's toys incorporate the tune. In Taiwan, it is one of two melodies played on garbage trucks to alert residents of their presence; the other is [[Maiden's Prayer]].<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Qin |first1=Amy |last2=Chang Chien |first2=Amy |date=2022-02-08 |title=When You Hear Beethoven, It's Time to Take Out the Trash (and Mingle) |language=en |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/08/world/asia/taiwan-waste-management-beethoven.html |access-date=2023-08-12 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220209045119/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/08/world/asia/taiwan-waste-management-beethoven.html |archive-date=2022-02-09}}</ref>

"Für Elise" has become a standard [[ringtone]], and nearly every ringtone website features at least one version.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Yang |first=Mina |date=2006-02-01 |title=Für Elise, circa 2000: Postmodern Readings of Beethoven in Popular Contexts |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03007760500142613 |journal=Popular Music and Society |language=en |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=1–15 |doi=10.1080/03007760500142613 |s2cid=191457480 |issn=0300-7766|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Mina Yang suggests that the melody is popular because the first eight bars can so easily be adapted into a limited "sonic palette", making the melody well-suited to ringtones and music boxes. Moreover, the first eight bars have some interesting structural properties:<blockquote>The opening chromatic trill allows immediate identification of the work. The first four antecedent bars are answered neatly by the next four consequent bars, and then the whole eight bars can be looped and repeated ''ad infinitum''.<ref name=":0" /></blockquote>

===Piano demos===
"Für Elise" is on the piano playlist on [[Yamaha Corporation|Yamaha's]] [[List_of_Yamaha_Corporation_products#ARIUS/YDP_series|YDP-101]] digital piano model, featuring 50 piano tracks. It is track #12 on the YDP-101 model.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://br.yamaha.com/files/download/other_assets/3/318143/YDP101E.pdf|title=Yamaha Digital Piano YDP-101 Owner's Manual - Demo and Piano Song List |page=33 |publisher=Manuals Library |date=2003-07-29 }}</ref> On the YDP-101S model, it is track #1.{{fact|date=July 2025}} It is also one of the demo tracks on the [[Casio]] [[Privia#Standard_models|Privia PX-110]] [[digital piano]], where it is listed as track #24 of 59.<ref name="casio-privia-px-110-manual">{{cite web |url=https://support.casio.com/pdf/008/px_110_01_e.pdf |format=PDF |title=Privia PX-110 User's Guide - Appendix - Song List |page=A-1 |date=2006-03-28 |author=Casio Computer Co, Ltd |accessdate=2025-07-03 }}</ref>

== Notes ==
<references group="lower-alpha" responsive="1"></references>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Für Elise}}
* {{IMSLP|work=Für Elise, WoO 59 (Beethoven, Ludwig van)|cname="Für Elise"}}
* [http://www.mutopiaproject.org/cgibin/piece-info.cgi?id=931 "Für Elise"] at the [[Mutopia Project]]
* {{cantorion|music/4/Für_Elise_Original_version/|"Für Elise"}}
* [https://unheardbeethoven.org/search.php?Identifier=woo59 1822 revised version]
* [[Michael Lorenz (musicologist)|Michael Lorenz]]: [http://michaelorenz.blogspot.co.at/2013/07/maria-eva-hummel-postscript.html "Maria Eva Hummel. A Postscript"], Vienna 2013
* Michael Lorenz: [http://michaelorenz.blogspot.co.at/2014/11/a-letter-to-he-editor-of-musical-times.html "A Letter to the Editor of ''The Musical Times''"], Vienna 2014
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jblFQ1whX5s The Music Professor: "You've Never Heard This Version of Für Elise"]

{{Beethoven piano solos}}
{{Portal bar|Classical music}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fur Elise}}
[[Category:1810 compositions]]
[[Category:Compositions by Ludwig van Beethoven published posthumously]]
[[Category:Compositions in A minor]]
[[Category:Music with dedications]]
[[Category:Piano solos by Ludwig van Beethoven]]
[[Category:Bagatelles (music)]]