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ArchivesRe: Pronunciation of Eliza?
in reply to a message by Jay
She seems to have done a merger between Eliza as in Doolittle and Elise as in Beethoven. Actually, I'm not sure if the piano piece is usually given as F"ur Eleeza in the German style or F"ur Eleez in the French. (I always hear it in German in my head, so Elise would sound like Eleeza to me. Depends on what conventions people are used to. But if she wanted a more phonetic spelling, it would do unless her friends all see Elise as Eleez or Elees.)
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BTW, did you know...
...that Für Elise was really called "Für Louise"? Apparently Beethoven didn't write very well, so "Für Louise" was read as "Für Elise". It was a mystery, since no one could find out who Elise was. Then, many years later, a Beethoven "scientist" read the original manuscript and saw that "Elise" really was "Louise", the name of a girl Beethoven had loved.
Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times if only one remembers to turn on the lights
~J.K. Rowling
...that Für Elise was really called "Für Louise"? Apparently Beethoven didn't write very well, so "Für Louise" was read as "Für Elise". It was a mystery, since no one could find out who Elise was. Then, many years later, a Beethoven "scientist" read the original manuscript and saw that "Elise" really was "Louise", the name of a girl Beethoven had loved.
Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times if only one remembers to turn on the lights
~J.K. Rowling
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Good grief! I am amazed and delighted to know that - thanks, Caprice. I'd always believed that she was a young pupil for whom he wrote it as a practice piece ... presumably the real one would have been known as or pronounced as Louisa (Luise) in the German way, unless French names were fashionable at the time. These are deep waters!
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