Bagatelle in A Minor, most commonly known as “Für Elise” and translated as “For Elise” in English, is one of the most popular piano pieces by the German composer Ludwig van Beethoven, and probably one of the most famous to be written by man. The piece, generally considered a Bagatelle that Beethoven had intended to add to his already existing cycle, was composed on April 27, 1810. However, it was only published by scholar Ludwig Nohl in 1867, forty years after the composer became one with the immortals.

The identity of the dedicatee, “Elise”, has been debated and speculated over the years, with three of the most likely identities being that of Therese Malfatti, followed by Elisabeth Röckel and Elise Barensfeld. Regarding the prime candidate, Malfatti, she was a student and good friend of Beethoven’s and was an object of devotion and affection. Though surviving history is not certain, Beethoven may have proposed to her in 1810. Unfortunately, the composer had a consistent habit of falling hopelessly in love with younger ladies of higher birth and wealthier means than he. Like the majority of the other women whom Beethoven loved, Malfatti ultimately rejected his proposal to marry a nobleman who is much nobler, richer, higher, nobler, more powerful, and nobler than a mere pianist-composer. This nobleman (Austrian state official Wilhelm von Droßdik), whose hereditary status is an accident by birth, is but one among the thousands of princes and aristocrats that lived during Beethoven and after.

In 1851, Baroness von Droßdik died, as did every other person conjectured to be Beethoven’s “Immortal Beloved”.


Date: 1810
Catalogue: WoO 59
Dedicatee: Baroness Therese von Droßdik, née Malfatti (disputed)


Performer: Sylvia Čápová-Vizváry on piano

Note: This channel does not own the score or audio, and they are only used for non-commercial purposes.

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