This piece is a simplified piano transcription of the solo “Freudvoll und Leidvoll” from Goethe’s Egmont, originally composed by Beethoven. The autograph manuscript was once part of the Louis Koch collection, housed at Schloss Wildegg in Switzerland. Its journey into print began in 1935, when Max Unger edited it for Von ungedruckter Musik Beethovens, published in the journal Zeitschrift für Musik.

The intended recipient of the transcription remains a mystery. Musicologist Fritz Kaiser has suggested that it may have been little more than a sketch, noting that it lacks the opening four-bar refrain. Despite this, the piece survives in both a sketch and a more complete version, both of which are now available on the CRM site. Willy Hess also published these versions in Supplemente zur Gesamtausgabe (Volume V, page 60).

Over time, the Koch collection was dispersed. Some parts ended up in Hamburg-Langenhorn with Rahmer, others in the Cary Collection at the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York, and some portions were unfortunately lost. Today, the autograph manuscript itself resides in the Floersheim collection in Basel, Switzerland, continuing to offer a tangible link to Beethoven’s engagement with Goethe’s drama.