Biamonti 277 – Presto in G Major, 19 Measures (Schm. XIII) | Beethoven Music Research Center www.lvbeethoven.org

Biamonti 277 – Presto in G Major, 19 Measures (Schm. XIII), about 1800

The musical examples and texts on this page are by Graziano Denini.

Biamonti 277 – Presto in G Major, 19 Measures (Schm. XIII), circa 1800

This sketch appears in the notebook published by Arnold Schmitz, Beethoven – Unbekannte Skizzen und Entwürfe, Bonn, Beethoven-Haus, 1924. It is preserved at the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn, in a bifolio designated BH 114, on page 3, staves 9–12. This is a simple piano exercise for the G major scale, written for crossed hands.

Schmitz analyses this sketch in his book, describing it as follows: “Tonleiterpassagen, wie in Skizze XIII, die sich mit oder ohne anhängendes Motivehen in verschiedenen Stimmen abwechselnd übereinanderschichten, finden sich häufig in Beethovens Satzausspinnung, so etwa im Rondo für Klavier op. 51 Nr. 2, oder im ersten Satz des Streichquartetts op. 18 Nr. 6.” (Scale passages, like in Sketch XIII, which alternate with or without attached motifs across different voices and layer over one another, are frequently found in Beethoven’s compositional elaboration—for example, in the Piano Rondo Op. 51 No. 2, or in the first movement of the String Quartet Op. 18 No. 6.)

The sketch is written in ink, with some corrections in pencil.

In measure 3, left hand, there are several corrections, but two minims (A–B) are clearly identifiable—these were not noticed by Schmitz, and thus not included by Biamonti, whose catalogue is based on Schmitz’s aforementioned book.

In measure 5, left hand, there is a clear copying error by Beethoven: he writes the first group of four notes as semiquavers instead of quavers.

The ending is curious: Beethoven writes “Da Capo”, but leaves a final measure of only ¼. In my view, this Da Capo is actually meant to be understood as a superimposition of the final measure with the beginning of the Presto—leaving the high G in the right hand while simultaneously restarting the G scale in the left hand from the first measure, and then concluding the piece with the actual final measure as written.

Biamonti 277 – Presto in G Major, for piano

Biamonti 277 – Presto in G Major, for piano (G. Denini version)

Arnold Schmitz – A Life in Musicology

Arnold Schmitz (11 July 1893 – 1 November 1980) was a distinguished German musicologist, renowned for his profound and lasting scholarship on Ludwig van Beethoven. Born in Le Sablon, near Metz, Schmitz pursued studies in musicology, history, and philosophy at the universities of Bonn, Munich, and Berlin. His mentors included prominent figures such as Friedlaender, Kroyer, Sandberger, Schiedermair, and Wolf. He earned his doctorate in 1919 from the University of Bonn with a dissertation on Robert Schumann’s early aesthetic views, and completed his habilitation there in 1921.

Schmitz held academic positions at the University of Bonn from 1921 to 1928, at Dortmund Conservatory from 1925 to 1929, and at the University of Breslau from 1929 to 1939. He then moved to Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, where he taught from 1947 to 1961, also serving twice as rector (1953–54 and 1960–61). Later, he taught at the University of Basel from 1947 to 1967. His scholarly output includes several landmark publications: Beethovens “zwei Prinzipe” (1923), Unbekannte Skizzen und Entwürfe (1924), a pioneering study of Beethoven’s lesser-known sketches, Das romantische Beethovenbild (1927), a critical examination of the Romantic image of Beethoven, and Die Bildlichkeit der wortgebundenen Musik Johann Sebastian Bachs (1950), which explores the visual dimension of Bach’s text-based music. In 1973, the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn named him an honorary member in recognition of his lifelong contributions to Beethoven research. Schmitz passed away in Mainz at the age of 87. His legacy endures through his meticulous scholarship and his influence on generations of musicologists.

His work Unbekannte Skizzen und Entwürfe is especially relevant to our article on Beethoven’s works for mandolin, as it includes an analysis of the Clam-Gallas manuscripts. You can explore this connection in our dedicated research feature: Beethoven’s Works for Mandolin and Piano – Research by the C.R.M.B.

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