Hess 029 – Prelude and Fugue in E Minor for Two Violins and Cello (circa 1795)

Composed during Beethoven’s tutelage under Johann Georg Albrechsberger, this Prelude and Fugue in E minor for two violins and cello stands as a testament to the young composer’s rigorous contrapuntal training. The autograph manuscript, inclusive of sketches, is preserved in the archives of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna.

The Prelude, as documented by Nottebohm (Studien, p. 63), incorporates corrections attributed to Antonio Salieri and is followed by the initial bars of the Fugue. Although Beethoven reportedly intended to conclude the Fugue with a Presto—as noted by Nottebohm—no trace of such a section survives.

The complete modern edition was first published by Willy Hess in the sixth volume of the Supplemente zur Gesamtausgabe (1963), based on the original autograph. An earlier publication appeared in Nagels Musik-Archiv No. 188 (Nagels Verlag, Kassel, 1955). For references to prior or inaccurate editions, see Hess 31 in this catalogue.

A facsimile of the first page is reproduced on p. 70 of Willy Hess’s Beethoven, Büchergilde Gutenberg, Zurich, 1956. The Prelude derives from the first of three imitation movements (Nachahmungssätze), catalogued as Hess 237 and Hess 245. These were originally conceived for keyboard and later transcribed by Beethoven for use in Hess 29, 30, and 31.