Biamonti 337 – Sketch for the Third‑Movement Rondo of the Piano Concerto in C Minor, Op. 37 | Beethoven Music Research Center www.lvbeethoven.org

Biamonti 337 – Sketch for the Third Movement – Rondo – of the Piano Concerto in C Minor, Opus 37

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Biamonti 337 – Sketch for the Third Movement – Rondo – of the Piano Concerto in C Minor, Opus 37

Three sketches for this concerto, dating to a few years before 1800, are preserved in the Kafka Collection at the British Museum, and were first reported by Shedlock (Musical Times, September 1892, p. 525). Two of these clearly pertain to the first movement (folio 82 recto, line 8 and folio 155 verso, lines 10 and 11); the third, originally intended for the Rondo, remained unused.

Date: Late 1802 – Early 1803. This sketch is found, along with other drafts for the first movement and possibly for a cadenza, on Kafka Miscellanea, page 82 recto, lines 8 and 9. The sketch for the third movement consists of 32 measures, presenting the Rondo theme and the beginning of the second section. The markings “Solo” and “Tutti” clearly indicate the alternation between solo instrument and orchestra.

Although similar in mood, this theme appears at first glance to be quite different from the known version. Yet there are notable analogies: both themes begin with the notes G – A-flat, and both contain the motif G – E-flat – D – G – C to conclude the phrase—although in Opus 37 this is transposed a fourth lower (D – B-flat – A – D – G, modulating to the dominant). A striking feature of the sketch is the alternation between the soloist’s key of C minor and the orchestral response in a radiant C major, which clearly marks the beginning of section B of the Rondo. This dramatic contrast is conceptually quite different from what would become the final version of the movement.

On this page, all these sketches are presented, along with an extended version of the third movement by Albert Willem Holsbergen.

Biamonti 337 – Sketch for the first movement of the Concerto in C minor for piano and orchestra Opus 37.

Biamonti 337 – Sketch for a cadenza from the Concerto in C minor for piano and orchestra Opus 37.

Biamonti 337 – Sketch for the third movement – Rondò – of the Concerto in C minor for piano and orchestra Opus 37.

Biamonti 337 – Sketch for the third movement – Rondò – of the Concerto in C minor for piano and orchestra Opus 37 (Willem)

Biamonti-337 Sketch for the third movement of the Piano Concerto Opus 37 (conjectural reconstruction)

The Musical Times in the Late 19th Century

Founded in 1844 as The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular, this venerable periodical stands as the longest-running English-language journal of music. By the latter decades of the 19th century, it had evolved into a formidable organ of musical thought, chronicling the artistic pulse of Britain and beyond with erudition and editorial finesse.

Under the stewardship of editors such as Henry Charles Lunn, William Alexander Barrett, and Frederick George Edwards, the journal expanded both in scope and stature. Its pages—eventually numbering up to seventy-two per issue—were adorned not only with incisive criticism and scholarly essays, but also with complete vocal compositions, ranging from madrigals to anthems, often published in collaboration with the Novello firm.

The journal’s editorial ethos was steeped in a reverence for choral traditions, particularly the oratorios of Mendelssohn, Spohr, and Handel, while also embracing the burgeoning works of native composers such as Arthur Sullivan, Edward Elgar, and Frederick Cowen. Foreign luminaries—Berlioz, Gounod, Verdi, Brahms, and Dvořák—were likewise afforded rigorous attention, their performances in London and provincial festivals meticulously reviewed.

M.T. Shedlock: Scholar and Contributor

M.T. Shedlock (Mary T. Shedlock), though not as widely chronicled as some of her contemporaries, emerges in the annals of The Musical Times as a discerning voice in Beethoven scholarship. Her article of August 1st, 1892, published in The Musical Times, brought to light a fragmentary sonata movement attributed to Beethoven, preserved in the Kafka Miscellanea at the British Museum.

Shedlock’s work is notable for its philological precision and its reliance on the authority of Nottebohm, the preeminent Beethoven scholar of the age. She cautiously refrains from assigning a definitive date to the fragment, instead situating it within the broader temporal bounds of the Kafka manuscripts. Her scholarship exemplifies the Victorian ideal of rigorous musical historiography, combining archival diligence with interpretive restraint.

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