Biamonti 292 – Marcia con Variazioni

Kessler Sketchbook, pages 29–32 (Nottebohm, Skizzen I, pp. 12–13). Autumn 1801.

At the beginning of the fragment, Beethoven wrote (in Italian): “Marcia con variazioni” and then: “Tutti.” It is found in the Kessler Sketchbook.

Gustav Nottebohm describes it in his book Ein Skizzenbuch von Beethoven as follows: “Dann folgen (Seite 29 bis 32) verschiedene. Größtenteils unbekannte, nicht ausgeführte Entwürfe, denen wir einen Satz entnehmen…” [“Then follow (pages 29 to 32) various sketches, mostly unknown and not carried forward, from which we extract a movement…”]

As in the preceding entry (Biamonti 291), Biamonti indicates that this piece was sketched across four full pages of manuscript. In reality, however, it occupies only lines 3–13 of folio 15v (page 29).

Beethoven writes a march of 8 bars with a repeat, followed by a triplet section and a recapitulation of the final part of the march, also marked with a repeat. Both Nottebohm—and consequently Biamonti—as well as Brandenburg, consider the march to end at this point. However, in line 12, the incipit of the initial theme reappears, and thus I have chosen to include this entire section, concluding with the two bars that begin line 10, ending with a diminuendo.