Hess 331 – Minuet in B-flat Major
Hess 331 – Minuet in B-flat Major, 16 bars long, was published in the Beethoven Album on page 123—a commemorative book of 312 pages prepared in 1846 for the inauguration of the Beethoven monument, which took place in Bonn in 1845.
It is found in the sketchbook Grasnick 2, on page 61, line 8. It is listed as number 306 in the Biamonti catalogue, which describes it as follows:
“In a notebook identified by Fritz Kaiser containing sketches of the first four quartets of Op. 18, there are also four small pieces […] to be performed with the violin, only partially belonging to Quartet Op. 18 No. 5. […] The first is a Minuet in B-flat major of 16 bars (page 61 of the notebook).”
In 1846, on page 123, it was also published in the Beethoven Album (Beethoven-Album – ein Gedenkbuch dankbarer Liebe und Verehrung für den grossen Todten, gestiftet und beschrieben von einem Vereine von Künstlern und Kunstfreunden aus Frankreich, England, Italien, Deutschland, Holland, Schweden, Ungarn und Russland). The Beethoven Album is a commemorative book written collaboratively, consisting of 312 pages, prepared in 1846 for the inauguration of the Beethoven monument held in Bonn the previous year, and published simultaneously in Stuttgart, Paris, London, and Milan.
Manuscript Analysis: Upon examining the manuscript, we immediately notice the word “Menuetto” written in red ink, which is clearly not by Beethoven. W. Virneisel, in his volume Beethoven: ein Skizzenbuch zu Streichquartetten aus op. 18 published in 1974 by the Beethoven Haus in Bonn, where he analyzed and transcribed the entire sketchbook, believes that this Minuet is not limited to the 16 bars shown in the Beethoven Album (line 8), but continues with a kind of Trio in the following lines 9–10.
Mark Zimmer (from www.unheardbeethoven.org) shares this view, writing: “This notebook includes sketches for the six string quartets, Op. 18. Since this minuet is approximately contemporary with other sets of dances for piano, orchestra, or string trio, it might be a sketch for a minuet that would be part of one of those sets. After examining the notebook, we found that the sketch seems to continue beyond the point published in the Beethoven Album.”
Trio Section: This Trio consists of 8 bars with a double bar line at the end, plus another 4 bars ending in two triplets of repeated D notes, giving it an unfinished character. However, if the entire first part of the Trio is repeated (8+4+8), it could be considered complete.
In Virneisel’s transcription, in bar 13 (5th of the second part), the F is missing a sharp—likely due to Beethoven’s frequent omission of accidentals already used shortly before. Also, in bar 4 of the Trio, the last eighth note lacks a flat, which, considering the harmonic progression from the previous measure, should be present, as the key appears to be G minor.
Beethoven-Album: ein Gedenkbuch (1846) dankbarer Liebe und Verehrung für den großen Todten; gestiftet und beschrieben von einem Vereine von Künstlern und Kunstfreunden aus Frankreich, England, Italien, Deutschland, Holland, Schweden, Ungarn und Rußland.
This extremely rare volume is owned by the Beethoven Music Research Center www.lvbeethoven.org
All the music in the book, along with a detailed description of this and the previous volumes, is freely available on our website at the following address: Articles – Beethoven – Albums – Music Research Center www.lvbeethoven.org
“Um der Aufforderung wegen Einsendung eine« Beitrages für das Beethoven-Album zu entsprechen, gebe ich mir die Ehre, hierneben ein Notenblatt zu übersenden, welches vier Thema’s (im Emtwurfe) enthält, die ich aus dem — in meinem Besitze befindlichen — eigenhändigen Skizzenbuche des grossen Tonmeisters L. van Beethoven entnommen habe, und die hier zum ersten male der Oeffentlichkeit übergeben werden.
Dieses Skizzenbuch, in queer Folio 84 Seiten stark, enthält die Entwürfe zu Beethoven’s ersten VI Quartetten für Streich-Instrumente, Op. 18, (Comp. 1801) und dessen berühmtem Septett, auch mehreren Liedern und Clavier-Sonaten aus jener Periode; und die hier mitgetheilten Piecen Nro. 2. 3. 4. gehören zu dem Quartett Nro. 5. in A#, wurden von Beethoven in dieser Gestalt aber nicht benützt,’ wie es überhaupt höchst merkwürdig ist, aus diesem Skizzenbuche zu ersehen., dass Beethoven oft einen Gedanken umgeändert hat, bis er Ihm ganz entsprochen hat.”