# Fur Elise



## Emmnemms (Nov 3, 2009)

Hey all!  Is fur elise considered to be programmatic music? I know it was written by Beethoven for Elise, and part is her dancing, but is the whole song considered programmatic?


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

I had always thought Für Elise is a bagatelle, meaning nothing very important. I'm not sure how much program it could be burdened with. I had thought it was a piece for someone named Therese (not Elise) to play. Not about her necessarily. I don't think that has been proven however.

In spite of its being overplayed, no one can deny it's a perfect little piece. I don't consider it programmatic, but don't use my take on it as an answer to a test question. Get more opinions.


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## Emmnemms (Nov 3, 2009)

Ah, My piano teacher/book said it was for Elise, but who knows, i have heard alot of ideas about what this song is about, and who it was for. 

Let me know if anyone else has any ideas, its not a major thing, just curious...


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## nickgray (Sep 28, 2008)

Or it may have been Therese, a student of Beethoven. He could've just wrote a simple piece for her to play. It's all speculative  Oh, and Beethoven wrote other Bagatelles too, don't stick with his most famous one (which, by the way, was never a part of his 3 Bagatelle sets, it was just an incidental small piece).


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## Ignis Fatuus (Nov 25, 2008)

It does literally mean For Elise but I heard it was a publishing mistake (due to Beethoven's handwriting). Note that in German you pronounce E's at the end of words (something like: "fyur elisuh")

Be careful with the word "progammatic", since the word is derived from the practice of publishing a written programme to be given to the audience members, a practice pioneer by Berlioz for his Symphony Fantistic, 3 years after Beethoven's death.

As far as I know, it is considered to be absolute music (i.e. not programatic). But I've never played it.


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## Emmnemms (Nov 3, 2009)

according to my research the past little bit, a programmatic piece was any piece that the composer had a specific thought, mood, idea, or memory that he wanted to impart into his audience. In the beginning, the composer did write a little "booklet" or program to go along with the piece, but as with Beethovens 6th (which according to wiki is programmatic) Beethoven was quoted saying " It is left to the listener to find out the situations, anyone that has formed any idea of rural life does not need titles to imagine the composers intentions" though the names of the movements give a glimpse into what is happening in the movement, and he did not include a program.

while absolute music, the composer did not have a specific idea, thought,mood..ect that he wanted to bring up in the minds of the listeners, didn't mean for it to be likened to anything in the "real world." Many people can make these pictures/stories out of absolute music, but b/c the composer did not have a specific story he was imparting, its considered absolute.

(sorry i have spent about 6 hours the past two days researching this)

I was wondering if when Fur Elise was written, if beethoven had a specific person/story in mind.


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