Biamonti 222 – Presto, Rondo (Sketch of 16/8 Bars) | Beethoven Music Research Center www.lvbeethoven.org

Biamonti 222 – Presto – Rondo (Sketch) of 16/8 bars, 1798 – 1800.

The musical examples and the accompanying commentary on this page were authored by Graziano Denini.

Biamonti 222 – Presto – Rondo (Sketch of 16/8 Bars), 1798–1800. This sketch appears at the end of page 65 (lines 8–9) of the notebook referenced in the previous entry, known as Landsberg 7, which corresponds to page 61 of Mikulicz’s edition. The earlier lines on the same page contain other fragments: lines 1–5 pertain to the Minuet catalogued as number 252, while lines 5–7 relate to the sketch listed as number 221, item 4.

from Mikulicz: 6)Erste Note: Strich bis zur d2-Linie aber cis2-Kopf, dritte Note h1. Die Lesung d2 cis2 h1 a1 würde zum Vorakt passen: in Zeile 9, Takte 2 aber deutlich dreimal cis2. 7) “Viola” unsicher.

Musical Analysis

Although the sketch is notated with a single sharp in the key signature—suggesting G major or E minor—the harmonic content reveals a more nuanced tonality. The immediate appearance of an A♯ (not reiterated but implied in the following two bars), followed by a natural sign on A in bar 3, and a C♮ in the second section (bar 2), points toward B minor as the true tonal center.

The first of the two sketches clearly presents a thematic idea, structured in two eight-bar phrases with an open–closed form. The second section unfolds as a modulating ascending progression, transitioning from a hypothetical A minor to E minor.

A notable detail concerns rhythmic notation: Mikulicz indicates the first bar in semiquavers, yet Beethoven had evidently erased the double beam in the cello part, leaving only a single beam. This editorial decision implies that the entire fragment should be interpreted in quavers, including the first measure.

Graziano Denini

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