Everyone knows the melody to Ludwig van Beethoven's piano piece "Fuer Elise," but Elise's true identity has remained a mystery. Now a German musicologist says he's discovered who she really was. From hard rock and jazz to cabaret and ring tones, "Fuer Elise" is the quintessential example of the popularization of classical music. If Beethoven got royalties, he'd be a wealthy man. While everyone knows the melody to the short piano piece in A Minor, few stop to wonder what was behind the intimate dedication.
Berlin musicologist Klaus Martin Kopitz believes he has uncovered Elise's true identity - while he wasn't even looking for it. "For years, I've been working on a publication called 'Beethoven in the eyes of his contemporaries,' which includes all the reports from people who knew Beethoven personally: journals, letters, poems, memoires," said Kopitz. "Certain women are mentioned, and one of them was Elisabeth Roeckel."
A close friendship
Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Roeckel was an accomplished pianist
Elisabeth Roeckel, born in 1793, was the younger sister of singer Joseph Roeckel, who sang the role of Florestan in Beethoven's opera "Fidelio," and became a good friend of the composer's. Elise was also musically inclined - she played the piano and later became a singer. In her circle of friends, she was affectionately referred to as "Elise." In the spring of 1810, she went to Bamberg to work in theater, with the hope of impressing none other than ETA Hoffman, who was the theater manager there at the time.
According to Kopitz, Beethoven dedicated the A-Minor piano piece "in the memory of" Elise because they were separated when she relocated to Bamberg. Since Elisabeth Roeckel was referred to in the dedication as "Elise" and not the more formal "Fraeulein Roeckel," she must have known Beethoven well, said Kopitz.
Indeed, their relationship was documented, as Elise herself had written about it.
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