‘Mir ist so wunderbar’: Considering Opera Traditions Interaction in ‘Fidelio’ by Beethoven (Modern Musicologists on the Quartet’s Genesis)

Abstract

The canon in the first act of “Fidelio” was generally regarded as one of the best moments in the opera from the very beginning of its hard scenic life. While 19th century critics admired the quartet, scholars in the 20th century showed true scientific interest in this ensemble. This attention made Beethoven’s quartet one of the most famous canons in music. The article represents an attempt to summarize modern musicology’s views on the first act quartet of Beethoven’s “Fidelio”. On this basis in the paper are considered the reasons for including such composition in “Fidelio”, its stylistic background, and in general the origins of Viennese late 18th century’s practice of vocal and opera canons as the context for analysis of Beethoven’s quartet. The author lists operas of the Viennese repertoire 1780–1800 with canons (among them, operas by Martíny Soler, Salieri, Mozart, Paёr, and Cherubini) as hypothetical models for Beethoven and also traces the continuation of this tradition in Italian and Russian 19th century opera. Connection of the musical form of canon with ideas of the Enlightenment and figurative and meaningful interpretation of its pastoral tone is considered on the basis of works by Heinrich Schwab, Dorothea Link, and Larisa Kirillina. It is remarkable that the pastoral of the quartet allows a Christian interpretation that makes the “Benedictus” of “Fidelio” genuine. “Mir ist so wunderbar” is considered as an example of Beethoven’s contemplative lyric on the basis of experience of its philosophical-aesthetic comprehension, presented in Russian musicology. In the quartet, Leonore appears in the opera for the first time, and so this article accentuates the central role of this canon for understanding the main figure with all richness of her literary and mythological genealogy.