Biamonti 270 – Fragment (Possibly for Piano), Schm. V, about 1800
The musical examples and texts on this page are by Graziano Denini.
Biamonti 270 – Fragment (Possibly for Piano), Schm. V, about 1800.
This sketch appears in the notebook published by Arnold Schmitz, Beethoven – Unbekannte Skizzen und Entwürfe, Bonn, Beethoven-Haus, 1924. The fragment is located on the first sheet, first page, staves 13–14 (beginning) of the bifolio designated BH 114, held by the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn. This fragment was studied—along with all others from these two bifolios—by Arnold Schmitz in his book Beethoven – Unbekannte Skizzen und Entwürfe. Schmitz writes: “Bei den Nummern III, V, VI, XVI scheint es sich um ein Ausprobieren klanglicher Effekte zu handeln.” (Numbers III, V, VI, XVI seem to be experiments in sound effects.)
Dating the Fragment
- Biamonti dates these sheets to circa 1800
- Schmitz suggests a date between 1793–1795
- Johnson, Tyson, and Winter, in The Beethoven Sketchbooks, place them among the early Vienna papers, possibly as early as 1792–1793
Observations
- The sketch appears hastily written, and some notes are not clearly decipherable (see movement IV, measure I)
- In my view, some notes in Schmitz’s transcription—and consequently in the Biamonti catalogue—are inaccurate
- However, with its descending sevenths and subsequent resolution, the fragment seems to begin in a hypothetical G minor (dominant seventh of the leading tone), resolving into E major
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When heard, this fragment evokes a mood that is almost Debussy-like
