Biamonti 155 – Piece in Sonata Form in C Minor, for Unspecified Instruments (Sketch), First Half of 1798
Biamonti 155 – Piece in Sonata Form in C Minor, for Unspecified Instruments (Sketch), First Half of 1798 To
This is the second of two unknown sketches mentioned by Nottebohm, following the previous entry. It takes the form of a sonata movement. Some analogies can be found with the opening movements of the first and second Duets for clarinet and bassoon.
It is located in London at the British Library, specifically within the Kafka Miscellanea, folio 143 verso; the sketch occupies the entire page.
Nottebohm writes on page 515 of his Zweite Beethoveniana: Das zweite Stück (in C-moll) hat die Form eines Sonatensatzes. Welche Instrumente Beethoven dabei im Sinne hatte, ist zweifelhaft. Immerhin können diese arbeiten zum Beweise dienen, dass manche Compositionen unfertig in den Skizzen liegen blieben. In einer Skizze zum ersten Satz des Trios in B-dur ist die Notation auffallend. Hat Beethoven beim 5. bis 8. Takt den sopranschlüssel im Sinne gehabt oder an eine As-Clarinette gedacht? Und hat er im 8. Takt, als er den Bassschlüssel hinschrieb, an das Violoncell gedacht und bei den dann folgenden Noten den Violinschlüssel im Sinne gehabt? Die ersten Entwürfe zum Thema des Adagios des Trios, von denen einer so, ein anderer so lautet, kommen in den ersten Takten der gedruckten Form wenig nahe.
“The second piece (in C minor) has the form of a sonata movement. Which instruments Beethoven had in mind is uncertain. Nevertheless, these works can serve as evidence that some compositions remained unfinished in sketch form. In a sketch for the first movement of the Trio in B-flat major, the notation is striking. Did Beethoven intend the soprano clef for bars 5 to 8, or was he thinking of an A-flat clarinet? And in bar 8, when he wrote the bass clef, was he thinking of the cello, and for the following notes, did he have the treble clef in mind? The first drafts of the Adagio theme of the Trio, one of which reads one way and another differently, are quite distant from the printed version in the opening bars.”
This sketch is part of the preliminary and intermediate drafts for the Sonata in C minor, studied and reconstructed by Kerman. It is also noted that bar 28 of Biamonti 155 is identical to the opening of the first movement, specifically the transition from Adagio to Allegro in the Septet Op. 20, “attacca subito” from bar 19 onward.
