So who was Elise?

So who was Elise?

News

norman lebrecht

January 23, 2023

Dalya Alberge in the Observer has the scoop on a major conclusion in Why Beethoven.

 

It is one of classical music’s most famous compositions and also one of its most intriguing mysteries. Ludwig van Beethoven’s enchanting Für Elise has been played by generations of children learning the piano but musicologists have struggled in vain to find the “Elise” who inspired it.

Now a leading Beethoven expert has come to the conclusion that there never was an Elise – or at least not one that Beethoven knew….

 

Read on here.

Comments

  • Leporello says:

    I fell in love with Elise in 1970 when I
    was 10 years old and taking piano
    lessons from Sister Mary Aquin – and
    over 50 years later I still love her !!!

  • Sue Sonata Form says:

    “Guardian” fodder. Move on please.

  • Michael Lorenz says:

    OMG, there’s nothing new here. That there never was an Elise has been known since the publication of Jürgen May’s article “Eine Bagatelle und andere Kleinigkeiten” in 2011. To present this as “news” is utterly dishonest.

  • MOST READ TODAY: