"der glorreiche augenblick" was written for the opening of the congress of vienna after the end of the napoleonic wars. while beethoven had initially supported napoleon, famously dedicating his eroica symphony to him, he rejected him after he declared himself emperor and scratched the dedication off the title page so violently that he tore the page. the cantata is scored for two sopranos, tenor and bass soloists, chorus and orchestra. it sets texts by alois weissenbach. although it was written in 1814 it was not published until 1837, hence the high opus number. "der glorreiche augenblick" was one of the few beethoven compositions between the writing of his eight symphony and his late period works.