Biamonti 810 – Sketches Possibly Intended for the Oratorio “The Victory of the Cross”
The musical examples and texts on this page are by Graziano Denini
Biamonti 810 – Sketches Possibly Intended for the Oratorio “The Victory of the Cross”. February – August 1825 (De Roda, pages 85–86).
This notebook, once owned by the Spanish Marquis of Bogaraya, was later donated by his widow to Professor Cecilio de Roda (of the School of Advanced Studies at the University of Madrid), who made it the subject of study, publishing his findings in volumes XI–XIV of the Rivista Musicale Italiana (excerpted as: An Autograph Notebook of Beethoven from 1825, Turin, Bocca, 1907). Its whereabouts were lost after De Roda’s death in 1912.
The notebook would have been written during the period February–March / August 1825; it would thus be placed between the notebook of 1824 (see chapter LVII of Nottebohm’s Zweite Beethoveniana, II, pages 540–551) and the six referred to in chapter I of the same author (II, pages 1–13). Besides the various unused sketches reported here, it contains others clearly related to the quartets Opus 130, Opus 132, and the Große Fuge Opus 133. (See the full transcription of this book on our site.)
Regarding the Oratorio, it is worth recalling some antecedents.
Schindler writes:
“Having completed the Ninth Symphony, Beethoven intended to devote himself without delay to a work worthy of him: the composition of an Oratorio, written for his friend C. Bernard and titled ‘The Victory of the Cross.’”
First, the organization of the concert in which the Overture in C, the Mass in D, and the Ninth Symphony were performed for the first time, and then the commission from Prince Nikolai Galitzin for the composition of other quartets, distracted him from his intention to the point of no longer thinking about the Oratorio, nor the Tenth Symphony, nor another work he had nearly sketched out and which was to be the great effort of his life, the apex of his artistic striving: the composition of music for Goethe’s Faust.
Despite Schindler’s testimony, Beethoven must not have entirely abandoned the idea of composing the Oratorio, since on the third page of this notebook—written after the Quartet in E-flat (Op. 127) and also after the first two movements of the one in A minor—he wrote the following indication in red pencil:
“Only once a Fl. I Oboe I Clarinet — bassoon — etc. The first ones whose harmony…”
And later in black pencil: “The overture of the Oratorio: the pagans rage with passionate murder — the soloists at the end: ‘Glory of the Cross.’”
These are autograph annotations for the Oratorio The Victory of the Cross, found on page 3 of the De Roda Sketchbook (source: Beethoven-Haus Bonn).
On the previous page (2 verso), there are two notes that may have been intended for the Oratorio.
As well as another on page four: a link between a slow tempo and an Allegro
followed by another sketch without barlines or measure divisions, which—despite being written in a different meter and key—might have been conceived as a continuation of the preceding one.
New Insights from the Beethoven Music Research Center (July 2026)
The sketches are found in the De Roda notebook on folios 1v and 2v. They are written in pencil, with a rapid and somewhat imprecise hand. In particular, the sketch—or rather the two sketches—on staves 3–4 (“Andante”), despite being connected by a vertical bracket, correspond to the same musical idea first notated in 9/8 and then in 9/16.
The third sketch, Biamonti c, is an outline in 4/4, in the key of F minor (“in F moll”), intended also for the horns (“auch Horn”). The melody lies in a register unusually high for the horn and is characterized by a syncopated figuration; it begins on D-flat. Biamonti, following De Roda’s indications, states that this sketch is preceded by an Allegro extending for nine additional measures:
“to which the following comes immediately after, without separation of bars nor of measure, and which, despite being written in a different meter and key, might have been conceived as a continuation of the preceding.” (Cecilio De Roda, Un Quaderno di autografi di Beethoven del 1825, p. 86, Fratelli Bocca Editori, 1907)
I must personally disagree with this assertion, especially considering that it is not true that there is no “separation of bars.” In the manuscript, two clear double barlines appear after this fragment, and the subsequent sketch is written in E major or C-sharp minor.
The final sketch is likewise found on folio 2v. It begins in the last measure of the penultimate staff and continues throughout the final one. It is written on a single staff, except for the first measure, where the accompanying parts appear. According to Biamonti, it should be a passage to be performed in A major and in Allegro tempo. Indeed, between the preceding sketch and this one there is no separation, and the key could plausibly be the same—suggesting that De Roda’s remark may refer to these two fragments, rather than to the earlier ones.
The only difference is that the first is in 4/4, whereas this one is in 2/4.
Der Sieg des Kreuzes, music by Philipp Jakob Riotte (1776–1856)
Libretto by Joseph Carl Bernard
Bernard was born in Horatitz (now Hořetice, Žiželice, Czech Republic), studied in Saaz (Žatec), Prague, and Heidelberg. He moved to Vienna around 1800 and worked for the Hofkriegsrat. He edited the journal Thalia (1810–1813) and Friedensblätter (1814), and contributed to Wiener Zeitschrift für Kunst, Literatur und Mode. For 30 years, until 1847, he directed the Wiener Zeitung, and from 1849 published the daily Austria.
He wrote librettos for Spohr’s Faust (1814) and Kreutzer’s Libussa (1823). Bernard was a longtime friend of Beethoven and appears frequently in the composer’s conversation books (used from 1817 to 1827 during Beethoven’s deafness). Beethoven often sought his advice. In 1815, Bernard rewrote the text—originally by Aloys Weissenbach—for the cantata Der glorreiche Augenblick, Opus 136 (first performed in 1814). Later, he wrote the libretto for the planned Oratorio Der Sieg des Kreuzes, commissioned in 1818 by the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde. He delivered the text in 1823 (expected since 1820); Beethoven, dissatisfied, told the Gesellschaft that corrections were needed. The music was never written, except for these sketches. (You can find the full text in our “Complete Books Online” section.)
Philipp Jakob Riotte (Trier, August 16, 1776 – Vienna, August 20, 1856) was a German composer who lived primarily in Vienna. In 1820, his works were among the most frequently performed at the Theater an der Wien. A contemporary of Beethoven, today very few of his compositions remain in the repertoire.
Riotte was born in Sankt Wendel (Saarland), in the old diocese of Trier. He was probably descended from a family of Huguenots who had emigrated from France. Early records indicate he was expelled from the choir of his hometown. He studied violin, cello, and later piano and organ. In 1793, he received his first job as an organist in a seminary in Trier. From 1794 to 1805, he lived in Blieskastel (residence of the Imperial Counts of Leyen), Frankfurt am Main, and Offenbach. In Offenbach, he continued his studies with composer and music publisher Johann Anton André.
From 1806 to 1808, Riotte was active as Kapellmeister in Danzig and as principal conductor in Magdeburg. In 1808, he settled in Vienna. At first, he earned a living by giving piano lessons and selling his compositions. He was also active as a music correspondent.
Between 1810 and 1815, he contributed four “characteristic sound paintings” (Charakteristische Tongemälde), which helped establish his reputation. One of these “paintings” was the celebrated: “Battle of Leipzig or the Liberation of Germany,” a work that enjoyed considerable success throughout Germany.
He also wrote operas and oratorios, piano reductions, and variations on popular works for the domestic salon market. In 1818, Riotte became assistant Kapellmeister of the renowned Theater an der Wien, shortly after its acquisition by a group of Viennese court nobles, including Ferdinand Palffy von Erdödy. The new owners decided to overhaul the theater’s repertoire, and Riotte composed music for several new productions, including ballets for children.
In 1828, Riotte left the Theater an der Wien, shortly after its forced sale in 1826. During the 1830s, he composed extensively for the Theater in der Leopoldstadt. With over 300 performances of his works, Riotte’s exposure surpassed that of Ignaz von Seyfried and Mozart, though he remained well behind the leading opera composer of the day, Gioachino Rossini. Riotte died in Vienna in 1856 without leaving descendants. Rooted in his origins and hometown of Sankt Wendel, he left his estate to a local charitable institution.
