Hess 102 – 9 Contredanses for Piano, 1800 – Spring 1802, partially published in Vienna by Mollo, Spring 1802.
B. 141 – H. 102 – KH. 14 (p. 451) – L. IV, p. 343/12 – N. p. 138.

This work is a piano reduction of Nos. 8, 7, 4, 10, 9, 1, 2, 5, and 12 from the 12 Contredanses for Orchestra, catalogue number 295. The manuscript—a copy revised by Beethoven himself, originating from the Artaria collection No. 140—is preserved in the archives of the Preußische Staatsbibliothek (Prussian State Library), now housed at the University of Tübingen. The first six numbers were issued by Mollo in an edition published in April 1802; all nine were more recently published by Willy Hess in the eighth fascicle of the Supplemente zur GA (1964).

These are piano arrangements of nine of the twelve Contretänze, WoO 14 (GA, Series 2, No. 17a). In the 1802 Vienna edition by Mollo, they were published in the following order: Nos. 8, 7, 4, 10, 9, and 1. The Berlin autograph (Artaria 140) contains these six, in a version revised by Beethoven, as well as Nos. 2, 5, and 12, which were evidently not published. The question of whether the piano transcriptions of these dances can be definitively attributed to Beethoven remains unresolved.

Initially, it was assumed that the older Gesamtausgabe (GA) would include, in Series 18 No. 197, the six numbers mentioned above, and in No. 200 of the same series, the piano transcription of the Marcia militare in D major (Series 2, No. 15). This did not come to pass, and the four numbers (199–202) of the edition were left unused. We have no concrete evidence to support an attribution of the piano transcription of the aforementioned march (“Marsch zur grossen Wachtparade”) to Beethoven.

[This rather disjointed collection of piano transcriptions has a highly convoluted and conjectural history.]

I am indebted to Mark Zimmer for the following information on the matter:
“Only the first six of the full set of twelve were published in piano arrangement (Mollo, Vienna 1802); however, a copyist’s score contains a further three. It is doubtful whether Beethoven ever produced piano versions of those three additional dances. The numbering of the transcriptions does not correspond to that of the orchestral versions. According to Barry Cooper, Nos. 1 and 9 date back to 1791 in Bonn, No. 3 probably to 1795, while Nos. 4, 5, and 7 originate from late 1801. No. 2 is derived from the ballet music Die Geschöpfe des Prometheus, Op. 43, and was also employed in the finale of the Third Symphony. According to Shin A. Kojima, Nos. 8 and 12 of WoO 14 (that is, Nos. 1 and 9 of Hess 102) ‘… may have been transcribed by Karl van Beethoven, the composer’s brother, on the basis of sketches by Ludwig himself.’ For further insight into the complex history of these dances, see Shin Kojima’s commentary in the Kritischer Bericht that accompanies Beethovens Sämtliche Werke, edited by Martin Staehelin in collaboration with the Beethoven-Archiv, Bonn, Abteilung II, Volume 3, G. Henle Verlag, Munich, 1980.

The piano versions of the first six Contredanses were published by Hess in SBG, vol. VIII (1964), p. 40, while the second group of three appears in the same volume from p. 42 onwards.]

(Green – Hess)