Biamonti 817 – Sketches Possibly for a Preliminary Version of the Andante from the String Quartet in B-flat Major, Opus 130
The musical examples and texts on this page are by Graziano Denini
Biamonti 817 – Sketches Possibly for a Preliminary Version of the Andante from the String Quartet in B-flat Major, Opus 130. February – August 1825 (Deroda, pages 94–95).
All four sketches are found together in the De Roda Skizzenbuch, on folio 25 recto. Deroda remarks that “page 50 contains enough ideas for the Andante and Finale [of the Quartet Op. 130]. These four refer to the first,” indicating that these particular sketches are connected to Beethoven’s search for an initial concept for the Andante movement.
The layout of the page is notable. The first sketch occupies the top five staves, while the remaining three sketches are placed on the lower six. Between these two groups, Beethoven inserted material for the Finale, showing how fluidly he moved between ideas for different movements at this stage of composition.
All four sketches are written in pencil, in Beethoven’s characteristic hurried and energetic hand. The writing is large, often difficult to decipher, and particularly challenging in the inner voices. Many notes appear only as extensions of stems, without clear placement, while the bass line is barely indicated and clearly incomplete. This reflects the composer’s primary focus at this stage: developing a strong, compelling melodic idea, a thematic seed for the opening of the Andante. As these are still preliminary studies, the sketches are written on just two staves, with inner voices only suggested.
Even the tonal centres were not yet fixed. The first sketch is in E-flat major, the second appears to move towards D-flat major or possibly D major, the third is in D major, and the fourth returns to D-flat major. The metre is similarly fluid. A compound pulse is beginning to emerge, but Beethoven had not yet settled on a final choice: the first sketch is in 6/8, the second and third in 9/8, and the fourth in 3/8.
To make these early sketches more intelligible, they have been transcribed into a full string quartet score format, allowing one to see more clearly how Beethoven might have intended the lines to interact and how these initial melodic explorations relate to the Andante as it ultimately took shape.
Biamonti 817a
De Roda deciphers the inscription above the sketch as “Quasi allegretto.” Was Beethoven imagining a slightly livelier tempo than Andante? As Biamonti rightly notes, this sketch spans 13 bars.
Biamonti 817b
Found on staves 15–16 of the folio, only 4 bars in ¾ time. De Roda reads Beethoven’s note above the sketch as: “(D♭) oder D dur” (“D-flat or D major”). Given the natural G in the bass in bar 3, the sketch is interpreted in D-flat major. The opening melody seems more like an accompaniment, possibly for viola or second violin, with the first violin entering in the final bar on high A.
Biamonti 817c
Located two staves below 817b, consisting of one full bar and the beginning of a second. In D major, it focuses on accompaniment by second violin (or viola) and cello.
Biamonti 817d
Found on the last two staves of the folio, in D-flat major and 3/8 time. This sketch is more structured, with a developed melody and bass line, and a well-defined second violin part.
