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Wellington's Victory

Off Topic » Wellington's Victory (Posts 1 to 5 of 5)

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      CommentAuthorsdtom
    • CommentTimeDec 10th 2007
    Some of you might be familiar with this lesser known work of Beethoven. In the 15+ minute piece there is quite a strong reference to the tune "The Bear Went Over the Mountain", a nursery rhyme. Does anyone know where this melody came from or is it an original theme from Beethoven?
    Tom
    listen to more classical music!
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      CommentAuthorMartijn
    • CommentTimeDec 10th 2007 edited
    The melody is an old French nursery rhyme originally called "Malbrouck s'en va-t-en guerre" (Malbrouck is off to war). Beethoven used that (and many other popular references) in his work, so no, it's not a Beethoven original.

    Quite unjustly that's the reason that Wellington's Victory isn't considered a "Beethoven classic" by purists or "serious"critics, much like the fate that befell Tschaikovsky's 1812 Overture.

    "The Bear Went Over The Mountain" incidentally is far better known in Europe as "For He's A Jolly Good Fellow".
    'no passion nor excitement here, despite all the notes and musicians' ~ Falkirkbairn
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      CommentAuthorMartijn
    • CommentTimeDec 10th 2007
    Interesting little tidbits I found about the song on the French version of Wikipedia:
    Marlbrough s'en va-t-en guerre est une chanson française dont les paroles datent du XVIIIe siècle. L'air est probablement plus ancien encore. Il aurait, d'après Chateaubriand, été emprunté aux Arabes durant les croisades. La mélodie a été adaptée par les Britanniques avec le refrain suivant : "For he's a jolly good fellow…". Ce chant aurait été le premier chant européen transmis aux aborigènes d'Australie d'après le folkloriste australien John Meredith.


    Roughly translated:
    Marlbrough (as it's also spelled) Is Off To War is a French song of the which the words date back to the 18th century (for reference's sake: Wellington's Victory was written in 1813). the ditty itself is probably older still. It could, according to Chateaubriand (a French writer), have been borrowed from teh Arabs during the Crusades. The melody was adapted by the English with the chorus "For He's A Jolly Good Fellow". This song was the first European one to be brought over to the Australian Aboriginese, according to Australian folklorist John Meredith.
    'no passion nor excitement here, despite all the notes and musicians' ~ Falkirkbairn
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      CommentAuthorsdtom
    • CommentTimeDec 10th 2007
    Thanks as always for the info Martijn. I was going thru some old Everest recordings, thus the listen. Now I am also going to have to put a Ferde Grofe into a new cassette shell to save it. It is a recording he did with the Rochester Philharmonic conducting the Grand Canyon Suite as well as a premiere recording of his piano concerto.
    listen to more classical music!
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      CommentAuthorMartijn
    • CommentTimeDec 10th 2007
    I have a recording from The Berliner Philharmoniker under -of course- Herbert von Karajan... but they've mixed musket fire sound effects all throughout it! slant

    It's probably because side B features the 1812 Overture, but that's supposed to have cannon and bells ringing out, while I'm pretty sure no such thing was intended for Wellington's Victory.

    It's not one of the recordings I tend to frequent.
    'no passion nor excitement here, despite all the notes and musicians' ~ Falkirkbairn

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