Biamonti 849 – Instrumental Sketch, March 1827. This fragment, catalogued as Biamonti 849, is an instrumental sketch from March 1827, reported by Nottebohm in Neue Beethoveniana II (p. 523). It is preserved in a notebook that also contains sketches for Beethoven’s Op. 130 and Op. 135 string quartets. According to a note by Anton Schindler, this sketch contains what he described as the last notes Beethoven wrote in his presence, approximately ten to twelve days before his death.

News from the Research Center:

The sketch is located in the pocket sketchbook designated as Autograph 10 (Part II, folio 6). Nottebohm provides the following description in Zweite Beethoveniana (chapter 53, pp. 522–523):

“Später geschriebene und zahlreichere Skizzen finden sich in einem früher bei A. Schindler, jetzt in der königlichen Bibliothek zu Berlin befindlichen kleinen Skizzenbuch. Die ersten zwölf Seiten desselben sind ausschließlich dem Quintett gewidmet. Nach der letzten Skizze (S. 12), welche allerdings nicht dem Quintett zuzurechnen ist, steht in Schindlers Handschrift: ‘Dies hier auf dieser Seite sind die letzten Noten, die Beethoven ungefähr zehn bis zwölf Tage vor seinem Tode in meinem Beisein geschrieben hat.’“

[Translation: Some later and more numerous sketches are found in a small sketchbook formerly in the possession of Anton Schindler, now held by the Royal Library in Berlin. The first twelve pages are almost exclusively devoted to the quintet. On the last sketch (p. 12), which does not appear to belong to the quintet, Schindler annotated in his own hand: “On this page are the last notes that Beethoven wrote in my presence approximately ten to twelve days before his death.”]

Remarks:

This sketch is of particular importance for Beethoven scholarship as it offers a direct connection to the composer’s final creative period. Although its precise relationship to the string quintet remains uncertain, its inclusion in the same notebook as the Op. 130 and Op. 135 sketches highlights its contextual relevance. Schindler’s annotation, while historically significant, is subject to scholarly debate regarding its reliability, yet it continues to serve as a reference point for studies on Beethoven’s last compositional activities.