A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/In Questa Tomba Oscura

IN QUESTA TOMBA OSCURA. A song of Beethoven's for contralto, with P.F. accompaniment, to words by Carpani, written probably at the invitation of the Countess von Rzewuska, and forming one of sixty-three compositions to the same words by various musicians, professional and amateur. Among the most eminent of the contributors are Salieri, Sterkel, Cherubini, Asioli, Righini, Zingarelli, Weigl, Dionis Weber, Tomaschek, Alois Förster, Paer, Eberl, Czerny. Zingarelli sent ten versions with quartet accompaniment. Czerny's single setting occupied 11 folio pages. Beethoven's was the last in the volume, and is the only one which has survived. The Allgemeine Musik. Zeitung for Oct. 19, 1808, in announcing the publication, prints two of the settings, by Salieri and Sterkel, and in Jan. 1810, two more by Reichardt. For another joint-stock volume in which Beethoven took part, see Vaterländische Künstlerverein.

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