Hess 333 – Minuet – Scherzo in A Major

Hess 333 – Minuet – Scherzo in A Major, 10 bars long, was published in the Beethoven Album on page 124—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 67, line 11. The intended instrumentation is not specified, but it appears to be written for two high-pitched instruments. The piece is built from a thematic cell of 2 measures, repeated identically and then transposed a whole tone higher, modulating from A major to B minor. It then moves in the final two bars to conclude in E major. It does not appear to be a finished piece, but rather a fragment missing its entire second part. In the 1846 Gedenkalbum version, the repeat sign is absent, although Beethoven had originally indicated it. Compared to the 1846 version, Beethoven does not mark any dynamics, slurs, or articulation signs.

Monument Records The forgotten String Quartet

The Covington String Quartet has performed many previously unreleased works reconstructed by Mark Zimmer and Albert Willem Holsbergen of www.unheardbeethoven.org for the American label, including this music. A highly recommended CD!