Biamonti 783 – Unused Sketches for the Bagatelles Opus 126, 1823

These sketches were reported by Nottebohm in Volume II, Chapter XXI, pages 192–193. They are likely connected to the Bagatelles Op. 126, composed in 1823 and published in 1825.

The sketches are found in the sketchbook known as “Skizzenbuch 1823,” preserved in the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin. They are written in pencil and are difficult to decipher. Nottebohm transcribed them with great care, and his version served as the basis for our editorial reconstruction.

Although these sketches were not used in the final version of Op. 126, they offer valuable insight into Beethoven’s compositional process and his search for thematic material.

The sketches in Biamonti 783 seem to reflect Beethoven’s search for new musical language, possibly too daring or incomplete to be included in the final set. The published Bagatelles show a radical distillation of musical thought—each piece is brief but dense, as if Beethoven retained only what was absolutely essential. Some motifs in the sketches may be embryonic versions of ideas later developed elsewhere—or simply discarded for stylistic reasons.