This brief Adagio, spanning just ten measures, was clearly conceived as an instrumental study. Yet, it stands as a self-contained composition and could be published as-is in a hunting horn score. Although Willy Hess labeled it “unpublished,” this is inaccurate: the piece was first printed by Georg Schünemann in Beethovens Studien zur Instrumentation (Neues Beethoven Jahrbuch, XII, Henry Litolff Verlag, Braunschweig, 1938, pp. 148–149), and later republished by Hess himself in 1963 in the seventh volume of Supplemente zur Gesamtausgabe (pp. 274–275).

Biamonti catalogued the work as No. 643, reproducing Hess’s version due to its more logical interpretation of certain notes. Hess provides a detailed explanation of these divergences on page 61 of his edition.

Context: The Artaria Sketchbook 153. The Artaria Sketchbook 153, housed at the Berlin State Library and described by librarians as Kontrapunkt- und Instrumentations-Studien, comprises sheets of varying formats containing contrapuntal and orchestration exercises. These materials were likely intended for pedagogical use—possibly for Beethoven’s pupil, Archduke Rudolph.

This context suggests that the Adagio may not have been conceived as a standalone composition, but rather as an orchestration exercise for three horns. Supporting this theory, page 4 of the sketchbook’s verso contains a lengthy explanatory text accompanying contrapuntal examples. Nonetheless, Beethoven’s inclusion of tempo (Adagio), key signature, dynamics, and a double barline at the end strongly supports the notion that this ten-bar fragment is a finished piece.

Analytical Notes Instrumentation: Three horns in F Key Signature: F minor Notational Curiosity: In the second horn’s staff, Beethoven writes the key signature twice—first in treble clef, then again in a different position. This is not a mistake but a deliberate cue to interpret the notes in baritone clef (a fifth lower), using the C clef on the fifth line. This reinforces the pedagogical nature of the fragment. Compositional Detail: In the penultimate measure, Beethoven duplicates the same notes for the second and third horns—likely an oversight. Hess corrects this by placing the third horn’s notes a third lower, creating a descending 3/6 motion across all voices and resolving to a tonic chord in first inversion. Editorial Insight: In measure seven, Hess omits a slur between two B-flats in the second horn. Graziano Denini proposes a third version that includes this slur, offering a more fluid interpretation.