Ex. 14-2: Da eben seinen Lauf vollbracht (edited)

No. 10 of Maria Theresia von Paradis's Zwölf Lieder auf ihrer Reise in Musik gesetzt (12 Songs Set to Music on Her Journey), published in 1786. Paradis was an Austrian pianist, singer, and composer who was blind from early childhood. She was named after the Empress Maria Theresa, who gave her a pension. As the title says, she wrote these songs during a long concert tour of Europe (1783–1786) that took her through Salzburg, Paris, London, and several German cities.

Because she was blind, she composed with a special pegboard invented for her by her friend Johann Riedinger. She placed pins by touch to lay out the notes, and others wrote the music down. Riedinger traveled with her on the tour and later wrote the words for her operas.

The song is about the quiet of evening, just after the sun has set.

In Vienna she had studied singing and composition with Antonio Salieri, the leading court composer in the city. On the tour she met some of the most important musicians of the time. The party visited the Mozart family, and Mozart is said to have written his Piano Concerto No. 18 in B-flat major (K. 456) for her — though this is an old story, not a proven fact. In Hamburg she met Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, a son of Johann Sebastian Bach.

In Paris in 1784 she gave fourteen public performances and met Queen Marie Antoinette, who became one of her supporters. She also met Valentin Haüy, who opened the first school for blind children in Paris the next year.

Today the piece most linked to her name is the "Sicilienne" in E-flat. But it is not really hers. The violinist Samuel Dushkin wrote it in the 20th century, based on music by Carl Maria von Weber. These 12 songs are among her earliest surviving works that can be proven genuine. The song is also used today as a cello piece in the ABRSM Grade 2 exam (from 2024).

The version in this app leaves out a repeated section in the middle, to keep the song shorter.