To judge by the millions of views given its dozens of YouTube performances, along with the million or so annual Google searches for its title, the most popular solo piano piece ever composed is a short, intermediate-level bagatelle by a composer who thought so little of it he didn’t even bother to publish it in his lifetime.
“Für Elise” translates easily as “For Elise.” The complete title, translated from Beethoven’s German, is “For Elise, in remembrance.”
Ah, but in remembrance of what? And just who was this Elise whose name is forever inscribed in the memory of all the piano students who have ever lived? To learn the historical speculations of who the mysterious Elise might have been, visit a previous article I wrote.
Beethoven's musical score for "Fur Elise." Public Domain
This performance is by German pianist Wilhelm Kempff. (Listen)
A Study in Simplicity
“Bagatelle No. 25 in A minor” (the work’s formal name) is in five-part rondo form (A-B-A-C-A) and simple to follow. There is an A theme in A minor (the part most people recognize), which at :50 in our recording turns to the livelier B theme in F Major. At 1:03 this becomes a flurry of 32nd notes (very short notes) that almost instantly calms, leading back to the A theme’s memorable tune.The last note of the second-iteration A theme coincides with the start of the C theme at 1:52. Where the B section was light and playful, the C section is dark and dramatic. At 2:25, the C theme is cut off and replaced with a series of A minor arpeggios (broken chords) and a chromatic scale (a scale containing all notes, black and white) that pull us swiftly to the last statement of A. All this happens very quickly, and yet it feels fulfilled.
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