Biamonti 312 – Piece for Piano in the Manner of a Dance (Sketch) – April 1802

It is found in the Wielhorsky Sketchbook, page 1, lines 1 and 2; see also Fishman Nathaniel, page 1, twelve measures, followed by the sketches for the finale and the scherzo of the Piano Sonata in E-flat major, Opus 31 No. 3.

It consists of 12 measures, probably in the key of D major or G major. Beethoven does not complete this fragment but abandons it precisely at the twelfth measure. The right hand, if one also considers those measures (from measure 5 to the end) written in the bass clef, is practically complete, whereas the left hand stops at measure 8.

The penultimate measure is difficult to decipher. Of particular note is the imitation in measures 5–6, but with the left hand situated in a very low register of the keyboard, which suggests that this sketch was conceived not for instruments, but specifically for piano.