Biamonti 479 – Sketches from Spring 1809, contained in a group of sheets described by Nottebohm in the preceding 477 and 478, and reported as follows (Nottebohm, II, page 264). They are found in the Landsberg 5 Sketchbook on page 46, staves 1–5 (at the bottom of the staves) and are written in ink without corrections.

Thus Nottebohm describes them: “Following (pp. 36–40) [46–52? ed.] are the sketches for the first movement of the Sonata in E-flat major op. 81a, which we omit because they have already been described elsewhere.” [see Chapter 13]

For the discrepancy between Nottebohm’s page numbering, see Biamonti 478. In reality, in my opinion, these are two different sketches relating to the Sonata op. 81a, since the first (staves 1–2) is in 2/4 time, while the second (staves 3–5) is in 6/8 time; it is noteworthy that Beethoven wrote these sketches in the second half of the staves, leaving the first halves empty. On the same staves 1–2, and immediately before the first sketch, we see hinted the same notes of the first bar of the first sketch, while halfway through the fourth stave we find descending double stops in 6/8 coinciding with the notes of the second sketch (third stave); but these notes, if written in the bass clef, would be very low and not in harmony with those of the right-hand melody.

The solution, in my view, could be to play those double stops as if they were written in the treble clef, and only the last triple stop, on the fifth stave (G–B natural–D), in the bass clef.