Opus 17 Sonata in F Major for piano and horn (or viola or cello)
I) Allegro moderato – II) Poco adagio, quasi andante – III) Rondò – Allegro moderato
Opus 17 – Sonata in F Major for piano and horn (or viola or cello) – 1800 Dedicated to the Baroness of Braun, first half of April 1800, published in Vienna, Tranquillo & Mollo, March 1801. G.A. number 112 (series 14/1) Bruers 17 Kinsky -Halm 17, Lenz I, page 166, Nottebohm 17, S. 114, Thayer 76.
Official title: Opus 17 Sonata (F major) for piano and horn (violoncello or violin) Dedication: Josephine (Josepha) Freifrau von Braun NGA V/4 AGA 112= Series 14/1
The original manuscript is lost. Six bars of the Adagio are found on the first page of a sheet originally intended, according to Nottebohm, for a beautiful copy of the composition and then used on the following pages for drafts of the first, second and fourth movements of the Sonata op. 22 for piano and the first and second movement of the Sonata op. 23 for piano and violin.
In the winter of 1800, after an absence of many years, the Bohemian horn player Johann Stich, better known in art by the Italianized name of Giovanni Punto, returned to Austria. Welcomed and admired in all the Viennese musical centers, he became familiar with Beethoven, who composed the Sonata in question for him. It seems that this Sonata was written only a few days before or even on the eve of the performance, which took place in a concert at the Hoftheater on April 18, with the author himself at the piano. It may also be that for the first performance Beethoven, who in writing the horn part had taken into account — according to Czerny — the particular desires of the virtuoso, traced for the piano only a guide or a sketch — as in other compositions of the genre — to be developed at the right time with his natural resources as an improviser.
The work is somewhat affected by this extemporaneous character and on the other hand we cannot ignore some authoritative precedents of the genre, such as Haydn’s two Concertos, the Rondo and Mozart’s four Concertos; but the independence of Beethoven’s personality must not be denied here either. Typical is the entry of the horn into the exposition of the two themes of the Allegro (the second more original, both for the rhythmic structure of the phrase and for the modulation in E minor).
This instrument, so eloquent in its own field of expression, but limited, and on the other hand not too ductile, harmonically and melodically, especially in Beethoven’s time, certainly requires, more than a violin, for example, or a cello, the integrative support of the piano.
But precisely for this reason his part, skilfully exploited in what is most particular and characteristic, stands out the most (so much so that the participation, often musically more important, of the other instrument almost takes a back seat), while performed by the cello (see Opus 17a) it loses much of its effectiveness.
We are therefore convinced that the indication given to the Sonata from the first edition that the horn can be replaced by the cello, as in the Trio op. 11 that the clarinet can be replaced by the violin, suggests a fallback, but does not authorize full freedom of choice. See in this regard the episode that leads to the reprise, the expressive dialogue between the horn and the piano of the short Poco Adagio quasi Andante introductory of the Rondo, and in the latter particularly the central couplet in minor. Typical of the instrument are the ringtones with which the two movements end.
Composition and publication: Composed in April 1800, shortly before the first performance of the opera, on April 18. The original edition in parts was published by Mollo in Vienna in March 1801.
Ferdinand Ries reports – probably with some anecdotal exaggeration – that the work was made only the day before the academy organized by Johann Wenzel Stich (alias Giovanni Punto) (Wegeler/Ries, p. 82). Born in the Czech Republic, Stich was considered the most famous horn player of his time. The tamping technique he perfected provided him with a range of tones that went far beyond natural tones (see also BGA 56).
The only verifiable sketch designed for op. 17 (piano part – bars 1-6 of the 2nd movement) is found in a notebook that Beethoven used between the late spring and summer of the 1800s. The composer probably jotted down other drafts on lost sheets (JTW, p. 96-99 and Kramer/Sommer1800, p. 18f).
According to Carl Czerny, “hat Beethoven selber die Violoncellstimme dazu arrangirt” (Czerny/Klavierschule p. 89). The original edition mentions only equal horn and cello, while in a later edition by Mollo there is a reference to the added violin part, not Beethoven. As a further indication of the authenticity of the cello part, Armin Raab cites the numerous changes in the part for this instrument, which go far beyond the adjustments due to a transcriber. Raab considers it unlikely that these interventions could have been carried out without Beethoven’s consent (Raab/Op.17 and Raab/Arrangements).
Changes were made to the plates of the original edition before it went to press, but it is unlikely that careful proofreading by Beethoven took place. The Simrock reprint (1801/02) corrects some errors from the original edition, but there is no evidence that the composer revised this edition. The original Mollo edition was frequently modified throughout the company’s eventful history. This is reflected in changes to the title page, price information, engraving number, as well as plate repairs and new engravings. It was not until 1829/30 that it was replaced by a new edition in portrait format instead of landscape (see Raab/NGA V/4, pp. 145-147 on this in detail).
The first performance was on April 18, 1800 in an academy organized by Johann Wenzel Stich at the Hofburgtheater in Vienna, with Beethoven at the piano. Review: AmZ 2 (1799/1800), 2 July 1800, column 704; see also AmZ 3 (1800/01), 15 October 1800, column 48.
Beethoven and Stich performed the work several times, both publicly and privately, presumably on 7 May 1800 in Budapest (Thayer/Forbes Vol. 1 p. 256f), on 30 January 1801 in a concert in Vienna for the benefit of wounded soldiers (announcement: Wiener Zeitung 24 and 28 January 1801) and in the house of Josephine Deym shortly before 2 May 1801 (LaMara/Brunsvik p. 17).
In March/April 1809 the work was perhaps performed in one of the Sunday concerts organized by Nikolaus Zmeskall (1759-1833) with Baroness Dorothea Ertmann (1781-1849) at the piano (BGA 372). In 1812 op. 17 with the horn player Friedrich Starke (1774-1835) for a private performance by Beethoven. The composer was again at the piano (Nohl/Zeitgenossen, p. I44f). Carl Czerny performed the horn sonata together with Friedrich Hradetzky (ca 1766/69-1846) on 30 April 1809 in the small Redoutensaal in Vienna. Review: AmZ 11 (1808/09), 13 July 1809, columns 668f. Sources
Sketches: 2nd movement, piano part T. 1-6: D-Bb, Mus. SM. autogr. Beethoven 19e (“Summer 1800”), folio 31r (in Richard Kramer’s reconstruction). Date: Summer 1800 (sketch on folio 31recto but probably annotated before collation in the notebook), facsimile and transcription: Kramer/Summer 1800, further facsimile: SBB. Armin Raab does not consider this sketch (in contrast to Richard Kramer and Nottebohm/Beethovenianall, p. 381) as the beginning of a beautiful copy (Raab/NGA V/4, p. 147). First edition: 1801 (March). Vienna, T. Mollo et Comp., VN/PN 147. – Title: “SONATE / pour le / Forte-Piano / avec un Cor, où Violoncelle / composée et dediée / A Madame la Baronne de Braun / par / LOUIS VAN BEETHOVEN / Oeuvre 17 /
