Biamonti 236 – Sketch in G major, Landsberg 7 Notebook, Page 85, Lines 6–7, 8-bar structure (Mikulicz Page 77). Titled “Les trois Grâces” (sic!). 1800
The musical examples and texts on this page are by Graziano Denini
Biamonti 236 – Sketch in G major, Landsberg 7 Notebook, Page 85, Lines 6–7, 8-bar structure (Mikulicz Page 77). Titled “Les trois Grâces” (sic!). 1800
As defined by Beethoven, this small theme in 6/8 time appears on page 85 of Landsberg 7, on lines 6 and 7, and is followed by another sketch titled “La Muse Tragique”. Mikulicz refers to it as “unbekannt” (unknown), although he perhaps associates it with the fifth scene of the ballet The Creatures of Prometheus, Op. 43. He describes it thus: “Now the Parnassian world reveals itself in all its splendour to the astonished creatures. In the Adagio, the wooden wind instruments play a prominent role, together with the harp, which, it can be said, will not appear again in all of Beethoven’s musical works. At Phoebus’s signal, with Euterpe, seconded by Amphion, they begin to play, and through their modulations the two young men begin to show signs of reason, reflection, the ability to appreciate the beauties of nature, and to feel human affections. Arion and Orpheus strengthen harmony with their harps, and in the end, the deity joins them.” (see our website on the page about Opus 43)
In my hypothetical version, which is merely a suggestion of how this “Three Graces” theme might have evolved in Beethoven’s mind, I have employed the flute and harp, accompanied by strings, in the manner of a bucolic and Parnassian 18th-century scene.
(Graziano Denini)
