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Opus 103 – Octet (Parthia) in E flat major for 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets, 2 Horns and 2 Bassoons op. 103

I) Allegro – II) Andante – III) Allegro Minuetto -. IV) Finale – Presto

Opus 103 – Octet in E flat major for 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 horns and 2 bassoons op. 103, 1792 (no later than October), published in detached parts in Vienna, Artaria, autumn 1830; in score in GA., 1863. GA. no. 59 (series 8/1) – B. 103 – KH. 103 – L. IV, p. 362jm – N. 103 – P. 40 – Sch. p. 218/39 – T. 25.

Titolo ufficiale: „Opus 103“ Oktett (Es-dur) Parthia für je zwei Hörner, Oboen, Klarinetten und Fagotte Widmung: – NGA VI/1 AGA 59 = Serie 8/1

The original manuscript, preserved in the Deutsche Staatsbibliothek in Berlin, entitled: Parthia dans un Concert in Es / a / two Clarinets / two Horns / two Bassoons: this has led Thayer-Riemann to suppose that Beethoven took up some Mozartian model of the same title for similar ensembles. The composition had to be written for the voter’s “table music”. A few years later the Maestro reworked it with significant modifications for a Quintet of violins, 2 violas and cello, which was published almost immediately in 1796 with opus number 4 and was therefore disseminated long before the original version for wind instruments.

In the Moravian Museum in Brno (Brünn) there is a manuscript copy that shows a “First Minuet” in the Second Movement and that equates the tempos of this composition with the Serenades of other authors, such as Cartellieri.  Here on track 6 the aforementioned “Minuet prime”.

Composition and publication: Composed presumably before November 1792 in Bonn and revised and rewritten a year later, perhaps under the supervision of Joseph Haydn in Vienna. The first edition in parts was published posthumously in the autumn of 1830 by Artaria in Vienna. The surviving autograph score and part of the sketches are written on paper that Beethoven used mainly in 1793. On 23 November 1793 Haydn had sent many of Beethoven’s works, including an eight-part “parthie” (BGA 13) to Maximilian Franz, Elector of Cologne. The Elector replied on December 23 of that year that “diese Musik […] von demselben schon hier zu Bonn komponirt und produzirt worden, ehe er diese seine zweyte Reise nach Wien machte” (BGA 14). The impetus for the composition of a wind octet may have been given in Bonn by the electoral Tafelmusik, to which Nikolaus Simrock also belonged (see first performance) (TDR I p. 309f, Kerst/Erinnerungen vol. 1 p. 15f). In the musical catalogue of Bonn court music (I-MOe, Cat. 53), preserved until 1794, there is in fact a “Parthia in Es a2 Oboe, 2 Clarinets, 2 Horns, 2 Beethoven’s Bassoons” (Voss /NGA VI/1 p.356f; it is also conceivable that a copy did not arrive in Bonn until 1793/94). If the work cited in the letter and in the musical catalogue were op. 103, the surviving version of 1793 is perhaps a reworking under Haydn’s supervision (Johnson/Fischhof vol. 1 pp. 83-88 and 403-406). Referring to the sketches, Douglas Johnson assumes that Beethoven composed the 3rd Movement from scratch. It would also seem that Beethoven originally planned the Rondo WoO 25 as the Final Movement, because in his score he wrote some bars of this composition after the 3rd Movement, and then stopped and continued with the Presto (see Raab/ Harmoniemusik p. 121). Perhaps the Presto was also the Final Movement of the earlier version, which Beethoven resumed in 1793, although he had originally composed the Rondo as a new Final Movement (Johnson/Fischhof vol. 1 p. 405f). The work was advertised by Hofmeister in November/December 1830, contrary to Nottebohm’s “um 1834” (Nottebohm/1868 p. 99).Regarding the opus number: Opus number 103 was listed as the last missing opus number in Artaria’s survey of July 24, 1819 (BGA 1317). In the later 1837 edition of the catalogue, the octet is listed as the Second of the “Werken ohne Nummern” and in  the “nachgelassenen Werke”. In Haslinger’s list of about 1830 (Seyfried/Studies appendix p. 110: “XXL Musikstücke für Blasinstrumente”) it is completely missing; for opus 103 (p. 108, no. 67) is the “Abendlied [unterm gestirnten Himmel]” WoO 150. We find the octet at Opus number 103, albeit with an imprecise description “nach dem Quintett Op. 4 arrangiert vom Komponisten”, First mentioned in 1851 in the list of Breitkopf & Härtel (B&H/1851). Schindler criticized as an error: “Es existiert weder ein Op. 103 noch ein Op. 104 als Originalwerk. Grund: die Konfusion und ihre Urheber [d. h. die Verleger]” (Schindler/Beethoven 1860 vol. 1 p. 55). First execution unknown. In a letter dated 2 August 1794, Beethoven asked Nikolaus Simrock in Bonn if his “Partie” had already been performed (BGA 17). Simrock was second horn of the electoral chapel.

Sketches (1) 3rd Movement: GB-lbl, Add. Ms. 29801 (“Kafka”), Bl. 74r. Date: 1793? (Johnson/Fischhof vol. 1 p. 405f), facsimile and transcription: Kerman/Kafka. (2) 3rd Movement: D-Bb, mus. SM. autogr. Beethoven 28 (“Fischhof”), pp. 54v-55r. Date: 1793 (Johnson/Fischhof vol. 1 p. 403-406), facsimile: SBB, transcription: Johnson/Fischhof. (3) 4th Movement: unknown private collection (sold by Sotheby’s, London at auction on 10.6.2009, lot 16), one sheet. The page also contains sketches for op. 1 No. 3. Facsimile: Beethoven Journal 21/2 (2006), page 25. 2 Score: D-Bb, Mus. SM. autogr. Beethoven Artaria 132. Date: 1793 (Johnson/Fischhof Vol. 1 p. 88, 108f).

Title: Page 1 recto “Parthia in Es / a / Two oboes / Two clarinets / Two horns / Two bassoons / By L. V. Beethoven”. After “Parthia” one line higher, “dans un Concert” added later (“dans” overwritten with “par” or vice versa).

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