Biamonti 212 – Fragments (3) based on a single thematic element, 1784–1800

Biamonti writes in commentary to No. 210: “Given the impossibility of assigning a definite date to this piece, we must limit ourselves to placing it within the broad time frame that the aforementioned scholar assigns overall to the manuscripts of the Kafka Collection, of which it is part, preserved at the British Museum.”

These fragments are also reported by M.T. Shedlock, October 1892, page 589, likewise from the Kafka Collection held at the British Museum. For general chronological determination, see the commentary above.

Biamonti writes: “One can discern, especially in the first two fragments, certain points of contact with thematic elements from the third movement of the Piano Sonata in E-flat major Opus 27 No. 1, which Beethoven would compose around 1801. The motif of the third fragment is identical to that of the Cantata for Lobkowitz from 1823.”

First and Second Fragments

The first fragment is found on folio 50 recto, staves 8–9. It is an Allegretto in E-flat major, in 2/4 time. It consists of an 8-bar melody built on a simple anacrustic motif based on the descending arpeggio of the tonic triad, alternating with the descending arpeggio of C minor (its sixth degree). This is followed by an equally simple ascending melody that concludes on the dominant (open) and returns to the initial motif, now an octave higher, followed by u.s.w. (und so weiter = “and so on”).

We might imagine that the continuation of this fragment corresponds to a repetition of the initial motif with inverted octaves, followed by the second fragment in a closed formula. After this theme, separated by a double barline, we find the same initial motif, identified as Biamonti 212b, but with inverted alternation (first in the lower octave, then in the upper), in broader note values, followed by a conclusive formula with a final crowned rest. This second fragment is marked by Beethoven with the word “finis”. What might this new indication mean? Could Beethoven be suggesting a new idea for a set of variations?

My hypothesis is that after the first fragment, a new thematic idea, likely quite different, was intended to lead back to this “b” fragment. This idea may be supported by the two clefs visible at the bottom of staves 8 and 9, which would otherwise have no apparent function.

Third Fragment

This appears on the same folio (50 recto), in the last two staves near the bottom. In my view, it cannot be grouped with the first two fragments—no more than many other notes on this page—since the motif is only vaguely similar to the main theme.

The tempo is Adagio in 2/2, in fugal style at the octave; the entries are spaced two bars apart. Indeed, as Biamonti notes, it resembles the incipit of the Lobkowitz Cantata WoO 106 for soprano, choir, and piano (1822). However, the similarity stops at the first four notes of the melody, and the character is entirely different: Here we have a fugato Adagio, whereas the Cantata is in festive Allegro and non-imitative. Given the scant development of its ideas, we cannot even label it a true “theme,” but rather a pause or a slow connective passage between sections of a longer work. This hypothesis may be supported by the quaver notes found immediately after this motif (at the bottom of the folio), which may continue on the verso. These notes seem to belong to a faster movement, but due to the unclear legibility of the manuscript, I leave this hypothesis to future analysis.