Hess 243 – Six Double Fugue Exercises
1) Double Fugue for four parts in C major – 2) Double Fugue for four parts in F major 3) – Double Fugue for four parts in C major 4) – Double Fugue for four parts in C major 5) – Double Fugue for four parts in D minor 6) – Fragment of a fugue.
The texts and documents on this page are edited by Luigi Bellofatto, the music by Gerd Prengel.
Hess 243 – 6 double fugues for four voices, in double counterpoint. Of these, four are found in Nottebohm: in C major, pp. 152–154; in F major, pp. 155–157; in C major, pp. 167–170; in D minor, pp. 172–175. The latter remained unpublished. The more extensive fugue in C major for strings has already been listed under no. 31 of this catalog. [In reality, Nottebohm lists five double fugues (for four voices in double counterpoint). Here too, Hess makes the catalog confusing, having already listed one of these fugues under number 31. Evidently, he did so because that is the only one of the five in which Beethoven indicated the instrumental ensemble. The one listed as number 31 is the third of those listed by Nottebohm, on pp. 158–166. Of a sixth fugue of this type, which Hess indicated as “unpublished,” no details are provided regarding its source or location. Most of Beethoven’s autographs on counterpoint studies are found in Autograph 75 at the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna. Hess examined this autograph before writing this catalog, and we can assume he found it there. It should be noted that Nottebohm numbered the fugues in this group as 1, 2, etc., but without, of course, assigning Hess’s numbering to the individual pieces. Hess generically assigned the number “243” to these fugues but did not number them individually. For clarity, I will use Nottebohm’s individual numbering. The sources of the themes used for these fugues are as follows: No. 1 consists of two themes, the first is number 1 from Albrechtsberger’s list of themes, while the second is original by Beethoven; No. 2, the first theme is number 12 from Albrechtsberger’s list, the second is original by Beethoven; No. 3 (the one for string quartet), both themes may be by Beethoven, but more likely come from Albrechtsberger, though not from his theme list; No. 4, the first is a variation of number 1 from Albrechtsberger’s list, the second is by Beethoven; No. 5, the first theme is number 24 from Albrechtsberger’s list, the second is by Beethoven but modified by Albrechtsberger. The sources for No. 6, the unpublished fugue, were unknown until the publication by Julia Ronge.]
The modern reference source for these studies is
BEETHOVEN WERKE
GESAMTAUSGABE BEGRÜNDET VON JOSEPH SCHMIDT-GÖRG HERAUSGEGEBEN VON BERNHARD R. APPEL IM AUFTRAG DES BEETHOVEN-ARCHIVS BONN
ABTEILUNG XIII • BAND 1 (IN DREI TEILEN)
Kompositionsstudien
bei Joseph Haydn, Johann Georg Albrechtsberger und. Antonio Salieri
G. HENLE VERLAG MÜNCHEN
BEETHOVEN
KOMPOSITIONSSTUDIEN
BEI JOSEPH HAYDN, JOHANN GEORG Albrechtsberger UND ANTONIO SALIERI
HERAUSGEGEBEN VON JULIA RONGE
1. TRANSKRIPTIONEN
2014
G. HENLE VERLAG MÜNCHEN
The manuscripts are preserved almost entirely in Vienna, at the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde, also known as the Musikverein. These manuscripts may not be published or reproduced by third parties. Where necessary, we will provide Beethoven’s original version (with deleted variants), Albrechtsberger’s corrections, and the notes of both student and teacher. The orchestration of the fugues is provided by Gerd Prengel
