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A Bibliographical Note – Sources for the Beethoven Catalogue

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Foreword

A bibliographical note

This catalogue lists all of Beethoven’s completed works, published or unpublished, together with fragments, notes and musical ideas found in letters, album leaves, sketchbooks and conversation notebooks known to date — excluding, of course, material that is clearly identifiable as preparatory work for the pieces mentioned. It also includes compositions of doubtful authenticity and plans for stage works, cantatas, oratorios, and similar projects.
Each entry provides essential information: dates, editions and references to other catalogues, along with details useful for placing the work within the historical and aesthetic context of Beethoven’s output. You will find expositions, commentary, comparisons, cross-references to other works, and notes on interpretations or critical approaches of varying prominence.
Given the author’s renown, we have chosen to make an exceptional reference to Arnold Schering’s interpretations. In publications from the first half of the twentieth century Schering argued that many of Beethoven’s compositions were inspired or shaped by episodes from certain poetic or dramatic works, classical or modern. These readings often seem arbitrary or overly personal: they rest tenuously on a few phrases attributed to Beethoven or on not always reliable indications from acquaintances such as Schindler and Czerny, and they attempt to identify in the music minute correspondences with gestures, phrases, words, or specific dramatic or descriptive moments. It is possible that reading and reflecting on the works Schering mentions — or others — provided fertile ground for Beethoven’s imagination; nevertheless, reducing music in its developed reality to a conjectural origin in another art, and explaining its formation and course by the logic of that art, always appears to us limiting and contrary to a free and deeper understanding of music itself.
For sketches and fragments we relied on the classic studies by Nottebohm, Nohl, De Roda and Shedlock, and on complete editions of Beethoven’s notebooks edited by Mikulicz and Schmitz; more recently we used work by Prof. Joseph Schmidt-Görg and Dr. Dagmar Weise of the Beethovenhaus and Dr. Nathaniel Fishman of the Glinka Museum in Moscow. The calligraphic preparation of the musical examples for the clichés is the work of Maestro Lorenzo Tolu of Rome.
We are especially grateful to Prof. Willy Hess of Winterthur for the information and interest he showed in our work. We also remember with gratitude Max Unger, Donald W. MacArdle and Hans Halm, who passed away in recent years, and the dear Ludwig Misch, who died suddenly on 22 April 1967.
Our affectionate and grateful thoughts go to Avv. Fortunato Postiglione, CEO of I.L.T.E. in Turin, an ardent promoter of this project who died prematurely before its completion.
The work was neither short nor easy, and we do not claim to be free from shortcomings. We trust, however, in the kind reception of enthusiasts and scholars.

Rome, summer 1968
Giovanni Biamonti

A) Works cited on the website pages

with abbreviations.

A. = Anderson Emily, le lettere di Beethoven, Torino, Ilte, 1968.

B. = Bruers Antonio, Beethoven – catalogo storico-critico di tutte le opere, Roma, Bardi, 1951.

B.J. = Beethoven Jahrbuch (Mies – Schmidt Görg), Bonn, Beethovenhaus: I (1953-1954), II (1955-1956), III (1957-1958), IV (1959-1960), V (1961-1964, published in 1966).

Boett. = Boettcher Hans, Beethoven als Liederkomponist, Augsburg, Benno Filsere Verlag, 1928.

Der. = De Roda Cecilio, Un quaderno di autografi di Beethoven del 1825, Torino, Bocca, 1907.

D. W. F. = Weise Dagmar, Beethoven. Ein Skizzenbuch zu Chorfantasie op. 80 und zu anderen Werke, Bonn, Beethovenhaus, 1957.

D. W. P. = id. id., Beethoven. Ein Skizzenbuch zu Pastoral Symphonie op. 68 und zu den Trios op. 70 nn. 1 u. 2, Bonn, Beethovenhaus, 1961.

Fish. = Fishman Nathaniel, Beethoven’s Sketchbook of 1802-1803 (Wielhorsky Manuscript), complete publication, in facsimile and print, with commentaries, Russian edition, Moscow, 1962. (See also Beethoveniana in Soviet Russia, by Boris Schwarz in The Musical Quarterly, January 1961.)

G.A. = Ludwig van Beethovens, Werke, vollständige kritish durchgesehene überall berechtigte Ausgabe (Gesamtausgabe), Leipzig, Breitkopf & Härtel, serie 1-24, 1864-1867; serie 25 (Supplemen.), 1888.

H. = Hess Willy, Verzeichniss der nicht in der Gesamtausgabe veröffentlichten Werke Ludwig van Beethovens, Wiesbaden, Breitkopf & Härtel, 1957.

K.H. = Kinsky Georg e Halm Hans, Das Werk Beethovens, bibliographisches Verzeichniss, München-Duisburg, G. Henle Verlag, 1955.

L. = Lenz (De) Wilhelm, Kritischer Katalog sämmtlicher Werke Ludwig van Beethovens mit Analysen derselben (I: op. 1-20; II: op. 21-55; III: op. 56-100; IV: op. 101-138 und die Werke ohne Opuszahl), Hamburg, Hoffmann u. Campe, 1860.

M. = Misch Ludwig, Beethoven-Studien, Berlin, Walter De Gruyter, 1950.

M.A. = id. id. e Donald MacArdle, Beethoven- Studies, University of Oklahoma Press: Norman, 1953,

M. A.L. = Misch Ludwig e MacArdlc Donald W., New Beethovens Letters, University of Oklahoma Press: Norman, 1957.

Mik. = Mikulicz Karl L., Ein Notierungsbuch von Beethoven, Leipzig, Breitkopf e Härtel, 1927.

M. I. = Shedlock J. S., Beethoven’s Sketch Books, in The Musical Times, 1892-1894.

M.U. = Unger Max, Die Beethovenhandschriften der Pariser Konservatoriumsbibliothek, in N.B.J., VI, 1935.

M.U.S. = id. id., Eine Schweizer Beethovensammlung, Zürich, Verlag der Corona, 1939.

M.U.W. = Unger Max, Die Beethoven handschriften der Familie W. (Wittgenstein) in Wien, in N.B.J., VII, 1937.

N. = Nottebohm Gustav, Ludwig van Beethoven: Thematisches Verzeichnis, Leipzig, Breitkopf & Härtel, 1932.

N., I. = id. id., Beethoveniana, Leipzig, Peters, 1872.

N., II. = id. id., Zweite Beethoveniana, Leipzig, Peters, 1887.

N., Sk., I = Nottebohm Gustav, Ein Skizzenbuch von Beethoven (1801-1802), Leipzig, Breitkopf & Härtel, 1865 (P. Mies, 1924).

N., Sk., II = id. id., Ein Skizzenbuch von Beethoven, aus dem Jahre 1803, Leipzig, Breitkopf e Härtel, 1880 (reprinted by P. Mies, 1924).

N., St. = id. id., Beethovens Studien, Leipzig u. Winterthur, Rieder-Biedermann, 1873.

N.B.J. = Neues Beethoven Jahrbuch (Sandberger): I (1924), II (1925), III (1927), IV (1930): Augsburg, Benno Filser; V (1933), VI (1935). VII (1937), VIII (1938), IX (1939): Braunschweig, LitolfFs Verlag; X (1942): Augsburg, Reichel u. Sohn.

P. = Prod’homme Jacques Gabriel, La jeunesse de Beethoven (catalogo), Paris, Delagrave, 1927.

P. Quad., = id. id., Les cahiers de Beethoven (1819- 1827)(Summary compendium, compiled from various sources), Paris, Correa, 1946.

Quad. = Schünemann Georg, Quaderni di conversazione di Beethoven, Ilte, Torino, 1968.

Rolland, Ep. = Rolland Romain, Beethoven, les grandes epoques creatrices, Paris, Editions du Sablier: I, De l’ Eroica à l’ Appassionata (1928) – II, Goethe et Beethoven (1930) -III, La Messe solemnelle et les dernieres sonates (1937) – IV, La Neuvieme Symphonie (1943) – V, Finita comoedia (1945) – VI, Les aimées de Beethoven (1949).

Sch. = Schiedermair Ludwig, Der junge Beethoven. First edition: Leipzig,Quelle u. Meyer, 1925; second edition: Weimar, II. Bohlaus, Nachf., 1939; third edition: Bonn, F. Dümmler, 1949.

Schm. = Schmitz Arnold, Beethoven, unbekannte Skizzen und Entwürfe, Bonn, Beethoven-haus, 1924.

T. = Thayer Alexander Wheelock, Chronologisches Verzeichniss der Werke L.v. Beethovens, Berlin, Schneider, 1865.

Th. R. = Thayer Alexander Wheelock, Deiters Hermann, Riemann Hugo, Ludwig van Beethovens Leben, Leipzig, Breitkopf e Härtel: I, 1917; II, 1922; III, IV, V, 1923.

B) Other works cited

on the site pages

Allorto Riccardo, Le sonate per pianoforte di Muzio Clementi, Firenze, Olschki, 1959.

Beethoven Jahrbuch (Frimmel), München und Leipzig, Müller: I (1908), II (1909).

Beethoven Ludwig van: Works: Beethovens Werke, herausgegeben von Beethoven-Archiv, Bonn, unter Leitung von J. Schmidt-Görg, München-Duisburg, G. Henle Verlag; Abteilung VII. Band 5: Variationen für Klavier (Schmidt-Görg), 1961; Abteilung VI. Band 3: Streichquartette, l (Quar-tetti op. 18 e op. 14 n. 2 dalla Sonata per pianoforte op. 14 n. 1) (P. Mies). Klavier-Sonaten, herausgegeben von B. A. Wallner, München-Duisburg, G. Henle Verlag, 1953. Klavierstücke, herausgegeben von Otto von Trmer, München-Duisburg, G. Ilenle Verlag, 1950. Leonore Oper in zwei Akten, vollständiger Kla-vicrauszug der zweiten Bearbeitung (1806) mit den Abweichungen der ersten (O. Jahn), Leipzig, Breitkopf e Härtel, 1851. Leonore, Oper in drei Akten (1805), Klavier Auszug (E. Prieger), Leipzig, Breitkopf e Härtel, 1907. Neues Volksliederheft, für eine Singstimme und Klavier, mit Begleitung von Violine und Violoncelle, herausgegeben von Georg Schünemann, Leipzig, Breitkopf e Härtel, 1940. Quartetti, Milano, Ricordi, 1954. Sinfonie, Milano, Ricordi, 1952. Sonate per pianoforte (Casella), Milano, Ricordi, 1950. Sonaten für Klavier und Violine, herausgegeben von Walter Lampe und Kurt Schäffer, München-Duisburg, G. Henle Verlag, 1949-1950. Die Klaviersonaten L. v. Beethovens, Studien über Form und Vortrag (R. Rosenberg). Urs Graf Verlag, Olten und Lausanne.

Bellague Camille, Les époques de la musique, Paris, Delagrave, 1920.

Bekker Paul, Beethoven, Berlin, Schuster e Loeffler, 1912.

Berlioz Hector, A travers chants (Les symphonies de Beethoven), Paris, Calmann-Lévy, 1927.

Boyer Jean, le «Romantisme» de Beethoven, Paris, Librairie H. Didier, 1938.

Braubach Max, Eins Jugendfreundin Beethovens (Babette Koch-Betderbusch und ihr Kreis), Bonn, Ludwig Röhrscheid Verlag, 1948.

Braunstein Josef, Beethovens Leonore Ouvertüren, Lipsia, Breitkopf e Härtel, 1927.

Breuning Gerhard, Aus dem Schvarzspanierhause, Berlin u. Leipzig, Schuster u. Loeffler, 1907.

Bücken Ernest, Ludwig van Beethoven, Potsdam, Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft Athenaion, 1934.

Casella Alfredo, II pianoforte, Milano, Ricordi, 1954. V. anche: Beethoven, Sonate.

Chantavoine Jean, Beethoven, Paris, Alcan, 1920. id., Les symphonies de Beethoven, Paris, Mellottée. id., Musiciens et poetes, Paris, Alcan, 1912.

Closson Ernest, L’ element flamand dans Beethoven, Bruxelles, Editions universitaires, Les presses de Belgique, 1946.

Cockshoot John V., The fugue in Beethoven’s piano music, London, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1959.

Colombani Alfredo, Le nove Sinfonie di Beethoven, Torino, Bocca, 1897.

Confalonieri Giulio, Prigionia d’un artista (Il romanzo di L. Cherubini), Milano, Genio, 1948.

Cortot Alfred, Cours d’Interpretation, recueilli et rédigé par Jeanne Thieffry, Paris, Librairie Musicale R. Légouix, 1934.

Czerny Carl, Czernys Erinnerungen an Beethoven, a cura di Georg Schünemann, in Neues Beethoven-Jahrbuch, Braunschweig, H. Litolffs Verlag, 1939.

Dal Fabbro Beniamino, Crepuscolo del pianoforte, Torino, Einaudi, 1951.

De Curzon Henri, Les livres et airs détaches de Beethoven, Paris, Fischbacher, 1905.

De Hevesy Andre, Beethoven, vie intime, Paris, Emil-Paul Freres, 1926.

Deldevez E.M.E., Curiosités musicales: Beethoven: Gli uomini di Prometeo, Paris, Didot Freres, 1873.

De Marliave Joseph, Les quatuors de Beethoven, Paris, Alcan, 1925.

De Wizewa Teodor, Beethoven et Wagner, Paris, Perrin, 1914

D’ Indy Vincent, Beethoven, Paris, Laurens, 1913. Cours de composition (I, II), Paris, Durand, 1909.

Fischer Edwin, Ludwig van Beethovens Klaviersonaten, Wiesbaden, im Insel Verlag, 1956.

Frimmel Teodor, Beethoven Handbuch, Leipzig, Breitkopf e Härtel, 1926.

Furtwangler Wilhelm, Diatoghi sulla musica,, trad. di E. Grassi, Milano, Curci, 1950.

Gaveaux P., Léonore ou l’ amour conjugal. ( Représenté pour la prèmiere fois sur le Théâtre de la Rue Feideau 1° Ventôse de l’ An 6°) Paris, Stuber.

Grove George, Beethoven and his nine symphonies, London, Novello, 1896.

Helm Theodor, Beethoven’s Streichquartette, Leipzig, C. F.W. Siegel’s Musikalienhandlung, 1910.

Herriot Edouard, La vie de Beethoven, Paris, Gallimard, 1929.

Herwegh Marcel, Technique d’Interpretation (Sonates pour piano et violon de Beethoven), Paris, Schneider, 1926.

Hess Willy, Supplemente zur Gesamtausgabe (fasc. I-IX), Wiesbaden, Breitkopf e Härtel, 1959-1965. id., Beethoven, Zürich, Büchergilde Gutenberg, 1956. id., Beethovens Oper Fidelio, Zürich, Atlantis Verlag, 1953.

Hohenemser Heinrich, Luigi Cherubini, sein Leben und seine Werke, Leipzig, Breitkopf u. Härtel, 1913.

Huber A. H., Der Held der « Eroica », Strasburg – Zürich, 1947.

Irmer (von) Otto, v. Beethoven: Opere (Klavierstücke). Jahn Otto, v. Beethoven: Opere {Fidelio).

Jolivet Andre, Ludwig van Beethoven, Paris, Richard-Masse, 1955.

Kalischer Alfr. Chr., Beethoven und seine Zeitgenossen, Berlin, Schuster u. Loeffler, 1909, 1910. id., Beethovens Sämtliche Briefe, Berlin, Schuster e Loefiler, 1906-1908.

Kaznelson Sigmund, Beethovens ferne und unsterbliche Geliebte, Zürich, Standard Buch Verlag, 1954.

Kinsky Georg Die Beethoven Handschriften der Sammlung Louis Koch, in Neues Beethoven Jahrbuch, 1953.

Kufferath Maurice, Fidelio de L. van Beethoven, Paris, Fischbacher, 1913

La Mara, see Lipsius.

Lampe Walter, v. Beethoven: Opere (Sonaten für Klavier und Violine).

Lenz (de) Wilhelm, Beethoven et ses trois styles, Paris, Legouix, 1909.

Leux Irmgard, Chr. Gottlob Neefe, Leipzig, Kistner u. C., 1925.

Lipsius Maria (La Mara), Beethovens Unsterbliche Geliebte, Lipsia, 1909.

Liuzzi Fernando, Introduzione alla lirica vocale di Beethoven, in “Annuario 1931-1932 dell’ Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia”, Roma.

Magnani Luigi, I quaderni di conversazione di Beethoven, Milano, Ricciardi, 1962.

Magni Duffloq Enrico, Le Sinfonie di Beethoven, Milano, Magazzino musicale, 1935.

Mahaim Ivan, Beethoven, Naissance et renaissance des derniers quatuors, Paris, Desclee De Brouver, 1964.

Marr A Bernhard Ludwig; van Beethoven, Leben und Schaffen,, Berlin, Janke, 1863.

Mersmann Hans, Beethoven (Kammermusik Kretzebmar), Leipzig, Breitkopf e Härtel, 1928.

Mies Paul, v. Beethoven: Opere (Beethovens Werke).

Mottini G. Edoardo, Beethoven, profilo, Roma, Formiggini, 1928.

Nagel Willibald, Beethoven und seine Klaviersonaten, Langensalza, Beyer, 1903-1905.

Nef Karl, Die neun Sinfonie Beethovens, Leipzig, Breitkopf e Härtel, 1928.

Nelson Robert U., The technique of Variation, Berkeley and Los Angeles, University of California Press, 1948.

Noack Friedrich, Sinfonie und Suite (in Guide Kretzschmar), Leipzig, Breitkopf e Härtel, 1932.

Nohl Ludwig, Beethoven, Liszt u. Wagner, Wien, Braunmüller, 1874.

Paër Ferdinando, Leonora e l’ amor coniugale, opera semi-seria (manuscript score existing in the library of the Royal Conservatory of Brussels).

Pannain Guido, L. van Beethoven, Torino, edizioni Alcione, 1939.

Paribeni Giulio Cesare, Muzio Clementi nella vita e nell’ arte, Milano, Primato editoriale, 1921.

Prieger Erich, v. Beethoven: Opere (Leonore).

Prod’homme Jacques Gabriel, Les symphonies de Beethoven, Paris, Delagrave, 1926. Les sonates pour piano de Beethoven, Paris, Delagrave, 1937.

Riemann Hugo, L. van Beethovens sämtliche Klavier-Solo-sonaten, Berlin, Max Hesses Verlag, 1919.

Ries Ferdinand, v. Wegeler.

Riezler Walter, Beethoven, Zürich, Atlantis Verlag, 1951.

Ritorni Carlo, Commentari della vita e delle opere coreo-drammatiche e delle coreografie e de’ corepei, Milano, Guglielmini e Redaelli, 1838.

Rolland Romain, Vie de Beethoven, Paris, Librairic Hachette, 1927.

Ronga Luigi, Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Venezia, Neri Pozza, 1956. Arte e gusto nella Musica (dall’ Ars Nova a Debussy), Milano, Ricciardi, 1956. V. Schumann.

Rust Friedrich Wilhelm, Sonate (12) per cembalo, pubblicate « conformement aux manuscrits originaux de la Bibliothèque de Berlin» da V. d’Indy, Paris, Rouart Lerolle e C., 1913.

Sandberger Adolf, Ausgewälte Aufsätze zur Musikgeschichte: Beethoven, München, Drei Masken Verlag-1924.

Schäfer Kurt, v. Beethoven: Opere (Sonatas for piano and violin).

Schering Arnold, Beethoven in neuer Deutung Leipzig C. F. Kahnt Verlag, 1934. id., Beethoven und die Dichtung, Berlin, Junker und Dunnhaupt Verlag, 1936.

Schindler Anton, Biographie von  Ludwig van Beethoven – First edition: Münster, Aschendorff, 1840. Second edition: id id, 1945; Third edition: id. id., 1860.

Schmidt-Görg Joseph, Beethoven, dreizehn unbekannte Briefe an Josephine Gräfin Deym geb. v. Brunswik, Bonn, Beethovenhaus, 1957. id., Missa solemnis, Bonn, Dümmler Verlag, 1948. V. Beethoven: Opere (Beethovens Werke).

Schumann Robert, Gesammelte Schriften über Musik und Musiker, Italian translation of a selection by Luigi Ronga: Writings on Music and Musicians, Milan, Bottega di Poesia, 1925; another edition by the same translator with the title: Romantic Music, Turin, Einaudi, 1950.

Schünemann Georg, v. Beethoven: Works (Neues Volks-liederheft).

Scuderi Gaspare, Beethoven, Le Sonate per piano forte, Milano, Bottega di poesia, 1926.

Seyfried Ignaz, Ludwig van Beethoven’s Studien im Generalbasse, Contrapuncte und in der Compositions-Lehre, Wien, Haslinger, 1832.

Tenger Mariam, Beethovens Unsterbliche Geliebte, nach persönlichen Erinnerungen, Bonn, Neusscr, 1890, Cohen, 1903.

Thomas-San Galli Wolfgang A., Ludwig van Beethoven, München, Piper & C., 1913.

Torrefranca Fausto, Le origini italiane del romanticismo musicale, Torino, Bocca, 1930. La vita musicale dello spirito, Torino, Bocca, 1910.

Ulibiscef Alexandre, Beethoven, ses critiques et ses glossateurs, Leipzig, Brockhaus, Paris, Gavelots, 1857.

Unger Max, Auf Spuren von Beethovens unsterblicher Geliebte, Langensalza, H. Beyer & Söhne, 1915. id., Ein Faustoperplan Beethovens und Goethes, Regensburg, G. Bosse, 1952.

Vermeil Edmond, Beethoven, Paris, Ed. Rieder, 1929.

Wallner B. A., v. Beethoven: Opere (Klavier-Sonaten).

Wartel Mme Th., Leçons écrites sur les sonates pour piano seul de L. van Beethoven, Paris, Girod, 1865.

Wasieliewski Joseph Wilhelm, Ludwig van Beethoven, Berlin, Brachvogel u. Rauft, 1888.

Weber Carl Maria, Ausgewälte Schriften, Leipzig;, Verlag von Ph. Reclam.

Wedig Hans, Beethovens Streichquartette op. 18 n. 1 und seine erste Fassung., Lipsia, Quelle u. Meyer, 1922.

Wegeler Franz Gerhard e Ries Ferdinand, Biographische

Notizen über Ludwig van Beethoven, Koblenz, Bädeker, 1838.

Beethoven and Viganò a Partnership: “Raccolta di varj e migliori pezzi di musica”

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Beethoven and Viganò – a Neoclassical Partnership: “Raccolta Di varj e migliori pezzi di musica per Forte Piano del Ballo Prometeo”

Inventato e posto sulle scene del R° Teatro alla Scala dal Signor Salvatore Viganò

The texts and documents on this page are by Luigi Bellofatto.

The musical examples on this page are by Graziano Denini.

On 22 May 1813 Salvatore Viganò staged the ballet Prometheus, regarded by critics as his masterpiece. Viganò—dancer, choreographer, and composer among the foremost of the century—had, in 1801, at the Court Theatre in Vienna, mounted the ballet The Creatures of Prometheus (Opus 43), for which Beethoven had composed an Overture and sixteen numbers.

Although Beethoven was not particularly satisfied with Viganò’s contribution (he wrote as much to the publisher Hoffmeister on 22 April 1801: “the choreographer has not fulfilled his task in the best manner”), nevertheless The Creatures of Prometheus was performed no fewer than 14 times in 1801 and 13 times the following year.

Viganò moved to Italy in 1804, and, through stays in various cities, matured his new idea of ballet as danced drama; and according to this conception, in 1813, when he had by then secured his position at La Scala, he returned to the subject of Prometheus, radically altering its episodes in accordance with the plot of an epic group‑drama inspired by Aeschylus’ tragedy and by the poem of the same name by Vincenzo Monti. The most famous version was the one that premiered at La Scala on 22 May 1813, achieving great public success and arousing the admiration of men of letters and artists such as Appiani, Foscolo, and Stendhal. It is the ballet that marked the beginning of Salvatore Viganò’s full artistic maturity.

Indeed, by reading the plot of the 1801 Viganò–Beethoven ballet and comparing it with that of the 1813 Prometheus, we realize that from an Arcadian fable there had been fashioned a moral spectacle—that is, a sublime and astonishing expression of poetic ideas and dramatic situations, as Ritorni defines it in his book Commentaries on the Life and Choreodramatic Works of Salvatore Viganò (1813). In Ritorni’s ample and meticulous description one can perceive the complete difference in conception from the original myth set to music by Beethoven.

By changing the subject and characters of the work, Beethoven’s music too was for the most part abandoned, and Viganò himself employed various pieces by different artists in order to “compose” its music. In the Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung (AMZ), No. 26 of 30 June 1813 (pp. 434–436) and No. 31 of 4 August 1813 (pp. 514–519), the names of the musicians are listed: Haydn: the Introduction and Ariel’s aria from The Creation, for the episode of Chaos; the Overture from The Seasons; and a scene from The Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross.

And then again Weigl, a piece by Viganò himself, and finally Beethoven. Of Beethoven, as Lichtenthal tells us, there are some of the most beautiful pieces of the first and third acts. In particular, the scene most beloved by the Milanese was that of the falling‑in‑love of Eone and Lino. These characters, as Ritorni observes, are savages who, in the clearing of the chaos, discover love, and in them is awakened pity for Prometeo, collapsed upon the ground.

The success of Prometeo at La Scala led to roughly 18 performances, to its remaining in the repertory for about a year, and the publisher Ricordi issued several pieces reduced for piano under the title: “Raccolta di varj e migliori pezzi di musica per Fortepiano del Ballo Prometeo inventato e posto sulle Scene del R°. Teatro alla Scala dal signor Salvatore Viganò.”

As we have said, among these are two numbers taken from the 1801 ballet. Such success aroused an extraordinary enthusiasm, of which Porta himself has transmitted the memory: “Quand per vedè el Prometti tri mes fa e correva alla Scala tutt Milan e vegveevan giò a tropp de là e de scià i forestee de tanti mia lontan.” Immediately there appeared the Lettere Critiche Intorno al Prometeo, Ballo del Sig. Viganò, which reiterated that the strongest point lay in the parts relating to the civilizing process and to the wedding of Lino and Eone.

The year 1813 thus also marks the date of the first Italian edition of Beethoven’s music. It is an important date for Beethoven and for Italy.

Indeed, in the first catalogue that the publisher Ricordi issued the following year, 1814, there appeared, among the “Musiche per il Forte‑Piano,” Beethoven’s name beside that of Weigl for the music of Viganò’s Prometeo. The first Catalogo della musica stampata della nuova calcografia di Giovanni Ricordi, Editore dell’I. e R. Conservatorio di Musica appeared as an attachment to various Ricordi scores of 1814. In the second column of the first page appear the names of Weigl and Beethoven, with the four pieces from Prometeo: Sortita di Eone e Lino, Zuffa de’ selvaggi, Cupido alla fucina di Vulcano, Innamoramento di Eone e Lino. In reality this “Raccolta di varj e migliori pezzi di musica per Forte Piano del Ballo Prometeo Inventato e portato sulle scene del R° Teatro alla Scala dal Signor Salvatore Viganò” contains five pieces: the first two are taken from Beethoven’s Le creature di Prometeo, precisely the scene of the first act and No. 5 of the second act.

The six movements are the following:

  1. “Sortita di Eone e Lino ed i selvaggi” (Beethoven, Act I, Scene I, No. 1)
  2. Adagio (Beethoven, Act II, No. 5)
  3. “Zuffa de’ selvaggi” (anonymous)
  4. “Cupido alla fucina di Vulcano” (Joseph Weigl)
  5. “Innamoramento di Eone e Lino” (anonymous)
  6. Cantabile (anonymous)

The German AMZ (Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung) returned several times to the subject of Prometeo, comparing Viganò to a Raphael of the scenic tableau, and extolling—significantly—the pieces of the “great Beethoven” as the most moving. Still in 1813, in the January issue of the same gazette, Lichtenthal speaks of the operatic season at La Scala, during which he had made the acquaintance of a young pupil of Padre Martini named Rossini, who had presented a new opera entitled La pietra del paragone.

In the list (which may be consulted on this page) appears the name of Giuseppe Moller (born in Milan in 1738, violinist in the orchestra of La Scala and friend of the violinist Alessandro Rolla, already encountered as the author of the violin part of the extremely rare transcription for violin and piano of the Opus 101 published by Ricordi, to which the website has devoted an article in WP).

Among the group of composers programmed by Rolla and financed by the host Moller appear Mozart, Beethoven, Winters, Gyrowetz, Méhul, Dalayrac. It was the first time that Beethoven’s name, at least in the printed newspapers, appeared as that of the new composer who had entered the Milanese symphonic programmes.

Beethoven and Viganò – a Neoclassical Partnership: “Raccolta di varj e migliori pezzi di musica per Forte Piano del Ballo Prometeo”

Inventato e posto sulle scene del R° Teatro alla Scala dal Signor Salvatore Viganò
The “Marcia d’Ercole” composed by E. Soliva as an introduction to the ballet.

Beethoven and Viganò – a Neoclassical Partnership: “Raccolta di varj e migliori pezzi di musica per Forte Piano del Ballo Prometeo”

Invented and set upon the stage of the Royal Theatre alla Scala by Signor Salvatore Viganò The “Marcia d’Ercole” composed by E. Soliva as an introduction to the ballet.

We thank Yuval Dvoran, researcher and scholar at the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn, for having pointed out to us this “forgotten” score. In reality there exist two versions: the one shown, published by “Francesco Mantegazza e Vincenzo Fazzino Fabbricatori d’Istrumenti e Negozianti di Musica Corsia de’ Servi,” preserved at the Biblioteca Nazionale Universitaria of Turin — and we thank the institution for having granted permission for publication.

A further edition was issued by Giovanni Ricordi, “Presso il Negoziante GIO. RICORDI Editore del R.o Conservatorio. Il Medesimo tiene Stamperia, e / Magazzino [sic] di Musica d’ogni genere, nella Contrada di S.a Margherita al N.o 1065,” with the same title (a copy is preserved at the Biblioteca di Ostiglia, which we thank for having sent us the scan). Ricordi was established at No. 1065 of Contrada Ricordi between the years 1812–1816.

It is a piece that was meant to form part of the collection for the Ballo Prometeo, yet this two‑page score bears no plate number and was no longer included. Why?

The matter has been investigated, and several hypotheses are possible; but perhaps the most plausible is that it may have been used as an “ouverture” to the Ballo Prometeo and then subsequently omitted. A further reason may be inferred from the review of the performance of the ballet Prometeo that appeared in Il Corriere Milanese of 13 October 1813, where it is reported that Viganò introduced modifications and removed certain incongruities, taking away “all the majesty from the sublime tableau of the triumphant descent of Hercules, which was one of the best‑conceived and best‑executed parts of the composition.” It is possible that Viganò eliminated it, and therefore it no longer appeared in Ricordi’s reduced piano edition (the one with plate numbers 154, 157, and 165).

Thus one may suppose that the Marcia was included in the first performance and perhaps later removed, and consequently the same occurred with the piano part. Or perhaps Ricordi intended to include it and then did not insert it in the “Raccolta … Pezzi del Prometeo,” published in 1814. This also explains why Ricordi added no PN to the score. The Elenco manoscritti of the Archivio discografico — which lists all works published by Ricordi with year, number of copies, etc. — has also been checked, but no Marcia d’Ercole has been found.

But why two publishers? We contacted the Archivio Ricordi to inquire whether they had further information, but this small score appears neither in the catalogue, nor in the libroni, nor in the mastrini.

Ricordi may simply have resold it, yet it is strange that he printed it without a plate number, although this would not be the only case. If Ricordi had received the plate from Mantegazza and Fazzino, he would have inserted his own number, or would have written “stampata” and not “incisa”; the opposite could also be true — although indeed rather unlikely — namely that he engraved it in order to have it printed by others, and therefore did not assign his own number. The differences in Ricordi’s plate are minimal and chiefly correct some material errors of the other plate.

Francesco Mantegazza, eldest son of Pietro Giovanni (the principal Milanese luthier of the second half of the eighteenth century), was born in Milan on 29 July 1762. He began signing his own instruments in 1787, still working in contrada S. Margherita (probably in his father’s workshop); in 1811 he is found in contrada de’ Meravigli, and in 1823 in contrada de’ Servi. His instruments reflect the characteristics of his father’s; he too followed the Amati model, seeking to imitate that master. The varnish is predominantly brown, rarely reddish, and the sonority very good. Francesco died in Milan on 9 November 1824.

There is a Giovanni Mantegazza who was an engraver for Casa Ricordi from 1830 to 1842 (with renewal in 1836); his contract with the firm is among the documents preserved in the archive, but we have no further information. It is certainly a curious coincidence.

Nothing is known about the Milanese Vincenzo Fazzino or about his collaboration with Mantegazza, nor of any other publications of theirs.

We note that at the Biblioteca di Casale Monferrato there exists a manuscript copy of this piece, probably later than the two Milanese editions.

Further research — and thanks to the assistance of Yuval Dvoran — allows us to confirm that Viganò took the music for the Marcia d’Ercole from the ballet Die Spanier in Peru by Joseph Weigl. In the piano arrangement of Weigl’s ballet (published in Vienna by the k. k. Hof Theater Music Verlag, plate number 64), the number is entitled Einzug der Spanier und der Indianer über die Berge; Soliva’s arrangement differs from the one published in Vienna.

Unv.19 – Cantata in B major for Four Voices and Piano (Fischhof & Kafka Sketches)

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Unv. 19 Composition (Cantata, in B major) for four voices and piano

(Fischhof folio 1 versus, Kafka folio 66 e 100 recto)
The musical examples on this page are by Gerd Prengel.

Unv. 19 Composition (Cantata, in B major) for Four Voices and Piano.  Source: Fischhof folio 1 verso, Kafka folios 66 and 100 recto Musical examples: By Gerd Prengel Note: This composition is not included in NGA-AGA-e or SBG catalogs.

Origin and Dating: The work was sketched between 1790 and 1792, during Beethoven’s final period in Bonn. All three sheets containing sketches for this cantata originate from this time.

Sketch Details:

  • Sketch 1: Found on the “Fischhof” miscellanea sheet. Also includes sketches for the song Op. 75 No. 3, dated May 1790 (with a later sketch from 1793).
  • Sketch 2: Located in the “Kafka – Skizzenkonvolut” miscellanea. Adjacent to sketches for WoO 67 variations, composed between 1790–1792.
  • Sketch 3: Viennese sketch among sketches for WoO 113, known to be composed by March 1790.

Textual Fragments

  • Only a few words appear in the sketches:
    • “Sind wir gute”
    • “Sind wir”
    • “und zur”
    • “hin zu einer Jugend”
  • Due to the fragmentary nature, the author of the original text cannot be identified.

Location of Sketches

Archive Reference Notes
D-B (Berlin State Library) Mus. ms. autogr. Beethoven 28 (“Fischhof”), Bl. lv Facsimile available; transcription by Johnson/Fischhof Vol. 2, p. 148f
GB-Lbl (British Library, London) Add. Ms. 29801 (“Kafka”), Bl. 100 recto Facsimile and transcription by Kerman Kafka
A-Wgm (Vienna) A 66, Bl. Ir Transcription by Johnson/Fischhof Vol. 2
Sources
  • Johnson / Fischhof Vol. 1, pp. 441–443

Unv.05 – Fragment of a “Concertante” in C major (c. 1802) | Beethoven Music Research Center

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Unv. 5 – Frammento di un “Concertante” in do maggiore

1802 circa

Many times Beethoven began large‑scale works only to abandon the project later. This is the case with this concertante in C major, a double or triple concerto—perhaps for violin, violoncello (piano), and orchestra—which predates by several years the well‑known Triple Concerto, Opus 56.

Beethoven began working intensively on this concertante in the sketchbook known as the “Kessler,” which he used from the first half of 1802. Some sketches already appear on folios 38 verso and 38 recto, continuing densely up to folio 41 verso. From this point onward, the composer was probably becoming dissatisfied with the progress, rewriting the second half of the work in a manner far more disorderly than before.

At the same time, Beethoven also began preparing a complete orchestral score, written on paper bearing the same watermark as the Kessler sketchbook. This score, which has come down to us as a 12‑page fragment, has been catalogued as Artaria 183 and is preserved at the Staatsbibliothek in Berlin. The first pages have been lost, and what remains corresponds to bar 43 of the Kessler project, continuing with the solo entry up to bars 113–126.

Some ideas for further “solo” passages were found on folio 41r of the sketchbook, but the corresponding passages in the score are much more fully developed. What clearly emerges is that the Artaria 183 manuscript lacks its opening pages. Indeed, the very first surviving note is a viola bar with a slur that must necessarily have begun on a preceding (now lost) page.

Whether Beethoven continued writing after bar 126 remains an open question. The last bar of the solo violin part coincides with the end of the page, but from that point onward the score—which until then had been fairly polished (though not complete)—gradually declines into a sketch. Little was developed beyond the first exposition: a few conceptual ideas, only lightly worked out. It is important to note that one of these ideas is marked “for the Concertante,” specifying precisely the aesthetic form Beethoven had in mind for this composition.

The principal study of this material was carried out by Richard Kramer. His work was published in 1977 in the volume Beethoven Studies. Kramer observes:

“The very existence of a fragmentary score for the first movement of the concertante stands as evidence that Beethoven would work intermittently between sketchbook and score within a single movement… Much remained to be worked out in the sketchbook: the solo exposition is not sufficiently drafted; the development has not even been attempted; the recapitulation would surely require at least some sketching. With fundamental aspects of the first movement still unsettled, Beethoven has begun the transfer from sketchbook to score.”

Many times Beethoven began large‑scale works only to abandon the project later. This is the case with this concertante in C major, a double or triple concerto—perhaps for violin, violoncello (piano), and orchestra—which predates by several years the well‑known Triple Concerto, Opus 56.

Beethoven began working intensively on this concertante in the sketchbook known as the “Kessler,” which he used from the first half of 1802. Some sketches already appear on folios 38 verso and 38 recto, continuing densely up to folio 41 verso. From this point onward, the composer was probably becoming dissatisfied with the progress, rewriting the second half of the work in a manner far more disorderly than before.

At the same time, Beethoven also began preparing a complete orchestral score, written on paper bearing the same watermark as the Kessler sketchbook. This score, which has come down to us as a 12‑page fragment, has been catalogued as Artaria 183 and is preserved at the Staatsbibliothek in Berlin. The first pages have been lost, and what remains corresponds to bar 43 of the Kessler project, continuing with the solo entry up to bars 113–126.

Some ideas for further “solo” passages were found on folio 41r of the sketchbook, but the corresponding passages in the score are much more fully developed. What clearly emerges is that the Artaria 183 manuscript lacks its opening pages. Indeed, the very first surviving note is a viola bar with a slur that must necessarily have begun on a preceding (now lost) page.

Whether Beethoven continued writing after bar 126 remains an open question. The last bar of the solo violin part coincides with the end of the page, but from that point onward the score—which until then had been fairly polished (though not complete)—gradually declines into a sketch. Little was developed beyond the first exposition: a few conceptual ideas, only lightly worked out. It is important to underline that one of these ideas is marked “for the Concertante,” specifying precisely the aesthetic form Beethoven had in mind for this composition.

The principal study of this material was carried out by Richard Kramer. His work was published in 1977 in the volume Beethoven Studies. Kramer observes:

“The very existence of a fragmentary score for the first movement of the concertante stands as evidence that Beethoven would work intermittently between sketchbook and score within a single movement… Much remained to be worked out in the sketchbook: the solo exposition is not sufficiently drafted; the development has not even been attempted; the recapitulation would surely require at least some sketching. With fundamental aspects of the first movement still unsettled, Beethoven has begun the transfer from sketchbook to score.”

These considerations indeed prompt reflection on Beethoven’s compositional method. But why, then, did Beethoven ultimately abandon this project?

Kramer believes that the answer may be found in a letter dated 22 April 1802 from Beethoven’s brother Karl to Breitkopf & Härtel:

“My brother would have written in person, but he is unwilling to do so at the moment, since Baron van Braun is a stupid and coarse theatre director and has refused the use of the theatre for the Akademie, turning it instead into a stage for utterly mediocre performers.”

If Beethoven was preparing the concertante for this Akademie and for that theatre, the incident may have discouraged him.

We find Karl again in another letter to Breitkopf & Härtel dated 14 October 1803, offering a “Konzertant für alle Instrumente für Klavier, Violonzello und Violino.” Since the earliest known sketches of the Triple Concerto Op. 56 date from the first months of 1804, it is entirely plausible that Beethoven considered returning to work on this concertante.

Beethoven’s dissatisfaction with this first attempt at a concertante may be attributed to the limited potential of the chosen material. Even though the solo entries are beautiful and interesting, as Kramer notes, the principal theme is at once short and poor, and probably not suited to support a large‑scale composition.

Kramer sees the Triple Concerto as:

“at once a reaction to the failed attempt, and… a realization of images and concepts latent in the fragment. The muted opening bars, barely articulate in the low strings, are common to both works (though we must infer some of this quality from the inconclusive sketches in ‘Kessler’). In both cases, this initial idea is detached from, or introductory to, a principal thematic event, though in Opus 56 the two are motivically akin.”

The Concertante in C major thus seems to have been abandoned when the circumstances that justified its immediate realization ceased to exist. The bitter taste of that disappointment may have reinforced Beethoven’s dissatisfaction with the flaws in the conception of the work—flaws he may have considered irreparable.

Yet it is reasonable to view the Triple Concerto as a definitive stage in the gestation of the same project. The important and fundamental concepts of the earlier concertante are not simply rejected; rather, they are assimilated—consciously or not—into a work that embodies the completion of a temporarily set‑aside undertaking.

Composition

Composed in the first months of 1802, up to April at the latest. The orchestral works drafted in the “Kessler” notebook at the beginning of 1802 (see Brandenburg/Keßler vol. 1, pp. 32f) can almost all be seen in connection with an Akademie that Beethoven planned for April 1802 and which did not take place (see letter BGA 85). Among the unfinished works, the Concertante is the most advanced; Beethoven had already begun to elaborate the exposition of the first movement. There also exist brief sketches and ideas for the other movements.

Sieghard Brandenburg assumes that Beethoven probably would not have been able to complete the work in time, even if the Akademie had taken place (Brandenburg/Keßler vol. 1, p. 14). Perhaps for this reason he had already abandoned the Concertante. Richard Kramer postulates musical reasons for the abandonment, reinforced by the failed Akademie plan (Kramer/Concertante).

In 1803 Beethoven tried again with the same instrumentation in a Concertante in F major (see BGA 163 and Op. 56), and finally composed the Triple Concerto Op. 56 in 1804. For possible musical relationships between Op. 56 and Unv. 5, see Kramer/Concertante and Ferencz/Op56.

Sketches and Drafts

A‑Wgm, A 34 (“Kessler”), folios 38v–39r, 40v–43r, and 71r. Dating: from the first months to April 1802. Facsimiles and transcriptions: Brandenburg/Keßler, Kramer/Concertante.

Autograph Score, 1st Movement

Key: D major – B‑flat. Shelfmark: Mus. SM. autogr. Beethoven Artaria 183. Missing folios at the beginning and possibly at the end; the score is incomplete. Extent: 12 folios; 24 pages in score, 1r–12v. Paper: horizontal format, 23.5 × 32 cm, double‑spaced.

Provenance: Purchased by Artaria at auction in 1827. Artaria publishing house archive, Vienna. Erich Prieger, Bonn, from 1897. Acquired in 1901.

Facsimile of folios 1r and 10v and partial transcription: Kramer/Concertante. Complete facsimile: SBB.

Descriptions: Bartlitz/Catalogue; Johnson/Artaria p. 21ff.; Kramer/Concertante. Biography: Brandenburg/Keßler; Ferencz/Op56 pp. 134–145; Kramer/Concertante.

Unv.16 – Overture “Macbeth” Fragment (Previously Biamonti 454)

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Unv. 16 Overture to a “Macbeth” by H.J. Collin; unfinished work. (Previously Biamonti 454)

(Landsberg 10 Skizzenbuch seite 133 )

Unv. 16 – Biamonti 454. Macbeth, notes for an opera based on a libretto by Collin, drawn from Shakespeare’s tragedy, 1808 (no later than late autumn).

As reported by Nottebohm (Vol. II, pp. 225–227), in 1808—or possibly even earlier—Beethoven had come to an agreement with H. J. von Collin regarding a libretto based on Shakespeare’s Macbeth. The poet completed the first act, which was published in the Wiener-Hof-Theater-Taschenbuch for 1809, but the libretto progressed no further than halfway through the next act. According to a note added by Collin’s brother, Matteo von Collin, in the collected edition of the poet’s works, the opera was abandoned because it “threatened to become too gruesome.”

A sheet preserved in the Royal Library in Berlin contains a musical sketch, reproduced by Nottebohm, which can only refer to the witches’ chorus that opens Collin’s libretto. This sketch is immediately followed by drafts for the Largo of the Piano Trio in D major, Op. 70 No. 1.

The stage direction for the witches’ chorus reads as follows:
“(Waldige Gebirgsgend. Die ganze Bühne erfullt sich mit Wolken. Die Hexen kommen auf Adlern, Greifen in der Luft geflogen).” Act One (mountainous wooded region. The entire stage fills with clouds. The witches arrive flying on eagles and griffins).

First Witch: Thrice the brinded cat hath mew’d.

Second Witch: Thrice and once the hedge-pig whined.

Third Witch: Harpier cries:—’tis time! ’tis time!

First Witch: Round about the cauldron go; In the poison’d entrails throw.— Toad, that under cold stone, Days and nights has thirty-one Swelter’d venom sleeping got, Boil thou first i’ the charmed pot.

ALL: Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and caldron bubble.

The proximity, contemporaneity, and identical key of the sketch with those immediately following for the Largo of the Trio “lead one to suppose,” says Nottebohm, “an association of states of mind. Whether Beethoven, through an earlier reading of the libretto and the thought of Shakespeare’s terrifying drama, was led to the ghostly tone of the Trio’s Largo—or vice versa—is difficult to determine.”

On a second sheet containing sketches for The Ruins of Athens, the following note appears:
“Ouverture Macbeth fällt gleich in den Chor der Hexen ein.”


Sketched between 1808 and 1811. The only existing drafts for the opera Macbeth appear on a sheet that belongs to the Pastoral Symphony and dates back to 1808. According to a short notice in the Fliegenden Blättern aus dem Portefeuille eines Reisenden im Junius und Julius 1808 (in the Journal des Luxus und der Moden, page 705), that year Beethoven set aside Macbeth in favour of a planned staging of Goethe’s Faust:
„Die Oper, zu welcher Herr Collin das Sujet bearbeiten sollte, componiret er nun nicht.“
(“He is no longer composing the opera for which Herr Collin was to develop the subject.”)

However, it seems that the project was not entirely abandoned. At the beginning of the Petter sketchbook, there is the following note:
“Ouverture Macbeths fällt gleich in den Chor der Hexen ein”
The Petter sketchbook likely dates from September 1811. Beethoven brought it with him to Teplitz, where he spent the summer. The news that the librettist Heinrich Joseph Edler von Collin (1771–1811) had died on 28 July of that year, and thus could not complete his libretto, evidently never reached him. Still, Collin had not worked on the text for quite some time. His brother Matthäus von Collin gave the reason for this in 1813:
„Macbeth, den er [Heinrich] gleichfalls für Beethoven nach Shakespeare zu dichten unternahm, ward in der Mitte des zweyten Actes unvollendet liegen gelassen, weil er zu düster zu werden drohte“
(“Macbeth, which [Heinrich] likewise undertook to write for Beethoven from Shakespeare, was left unfinished halfway through the second act because it threatened to become too dark.”) (Collin / Biographie, p. 422f)

Heinrich Joseph von Collin (Vienna, 26 dicembre 1771 – Vienna, 28 luglio 1811) (Litografia Proprietà di Armando Orlandi(

In his Memories, the actor Heinrich Anschütz recounted a conversation he had with Beethoven in the summer of 1822 about the musical setting of Macbeth. However, this did not concern the operatic project from 1808, but rather incidental music for Shakespeare’s tragedy:

„Eines Tages begleitete ich ihn [Beethoven] eine Strecke. Wir sprachen über Kunst, Musik und endlich über Lear und Macbeth. Wie zufällig warf ich die Bemerkung hin, daß mich schon öfter der Gedanke beschäftigt habe, ob er nicht als Seitenstück zur Egmont Musik den Macbeth musikalisch illustriren sollte? Der Gedanke schien ihn zu elektrisirert blieb wie angewurzelt stehen, sah mich mit einem durchdringenden, fast dämonischen Blicke an und erwiderte hastig: ,Ich habe mich auch schon damit beschäftigt. Die Hexen, die Mordscene das Geistermahl, die Kesselerscheinungen, die Nachtwandlerscene, Macbeth’s Todesraserei Es war im höchsten Grade interessant, seinem Mienenspiele zu folgen, in welchem sich die blindschnellen Gedanken jagten. In wenigen Minuten hatte sein Genius das ganze Trauerspiel duruchgearbeitet. Bei der nächsten Frage, die ich an ihn richtete, drehte er sich um und rannte einer flüchtigen Begrüßung davon. Leider aber war einer stürmischen Erregung nicht die Thragefolgt. Als ich nach einiger Zeit das Thema noch einmal berührte, fand ich ihn verdrießlich und schwieg.“
(Heinrich Anschütz, Erinnerungen aus dessen Leben und Wirken, Vienna 1866, p. 269)

Heinrich Joseph Edler von Collin’s Macbeth (1771–1811) was based on Shakespeare, but according to Dieter Martin, it is more likely that Collin had begun composing an opera based on this subject. In 1807, Collin had published a programmatic essay „Sul dramma cantato“, in which he called for a fusion of drama and opera. In Collin’s Macbeth, Martin suspects the attempt „den Versuch, ‚die deutsche Librettistik durch die musikdramatische tion einer Shakespeare-Tragödie zu fördern und damit einen nicht etablierten Opertypus in deutsche Musiktheater einzuführen’“ (Martin/Shakespeare, p. 10).

However, Collin failed in his programme. He did not complete the libretto but broke off halfway through the second act. The completed first act appeared in the Wiener Hof-Theater-Taschenbuch for 1809 (pp. 87–109). An anonymous reviewer of this publication found the plot “dark and horrible,” and also wrote: „Eine Handlung von solcher Beschaffenhet kann nicht der Stoff des Singspieles seyn“ (Review of the Vienna Court Theatre 1809, in: Annalen der Literatur und Kunst 2, 1809, p. 123, cited by Martin/Shakespeare p. 13).

(1) D-B, Mus. SM. autogr. Beethoven Landsberg 10, p. 133. Belonging to the Pastoral sketchbook (GB-Lbl, Add. Ms. 31766). Dated: 1808
(2) D-BNba, Coll. H. C. Bodmer, HCB Mh 59 („Petter“), folio 9verso, September 1811, facsimile: DBH

(see below)

Unv. 16 Overture to a “Macbeth” by H. J. Collin; unfinished work. (Previously Biamonti 454)

Sketches written for the concert held in November 2002 in Rennes (F) and for other circumstances

Programmatic Notes on Beethoven’s Macbeth Overture

Biamonti 454 (1808/11)

Shortly after the premiere of the Macbeth overture in Washington in 2001, an article appeared in the online version of the Encyclopaedia Britannica stating: “The desire of classical music enthusiasts for Beethoven’s music remains insatiable; and this desire is heightened by the knowledge that many of his compositions never saw the light of day.” This observation compels us to reflect: What is it about Beethoven’s music that provokes such enduring fascination? Why do scholars and musicologists dedicate themselves to the study of fragmentary sketches and drafts? The answer lies in Beethoven himself and his music: he wrestled with fate — not only his own, but that of humanity at large. His struggle — one of the great epic poems of the modern world — is embodied in a succession of powerful works that, in their humanity and unmediated immediacy, have never been equalled.

Through his personal battle, Beethoven became one of humanity’s heroes, and through his triumph, he was — and remains — one of its prophets. This is why scholars pursue unfinished works, seeking possibilities of completion. Musicologists and composers who, through their efforts, have shed new light on Beethoven’s genius are themselves musical heroes of the modern age. In expanding our understanding of Beethoven, they have broadened our understanding of ourselves. Against the skepticism of closed minds and at the risk of ridicule, they have liberated these works from silence; from our side, the only fitting response is sincere gratitude.

The sketches for Macbeth are essentially grouped into three collections. One page of sketches, preserved in the Beethoven-Haus, bears the inscription: “introduction… Macbeth suddenly joins the witches’ chorus.” Another notebook, held by the British Library, contains sketches for Macbeth alongside a trio entitled “Geist.” Some scholars, including Gustav Nottebohm — the most eminent Beethoven scholar of the nineteenth century — believed that the trio sketches directly relate to the witches’ chorus in Macbeth. A third sheet of sketches, preserved in Berlin, contains stage directions and outlines the introduction. The version featured on this recording, based on these sketches, was completed in 2000 by Albert Willem Holsbergen and is dedicated to Avishai Kallai, an Israeli musicologist.

The Introduction is a miniature version of the opera’s dramatic action. It begins — as does Shakespeare’s drama and Collin’s libretto — with thematic material representing the “witches’ chorus.” This is followed by the thematic exposition defining the characters of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Macduff and his troops are evoked through a musical depiction of the battle in which “Birnham wood” moves to attack Dunsinane Hill. The material of the witches’ chorus then returns. Holsbergen writes, “I like to imagine a listener familiar with Shakespeare’s drama who, upon hearing this work for the first time, perceives that it has been written solely for Macbeth, and no other drama.”

Preliminary Draft of CD Article: Macbeth Overture

The Macbeth Overture, Biamonti 454: from the virtual to the real.

When, in the spring of 2000, Willem Holsbergen shared with me the definitive reconstruction of the Macbeth overture, Biamonti 454, we had many reasons to feel satisfied. Not only was the website www.unheardbeethoven.org receiving countless monthly visitors, but for the first time a work of considerable intellectual depth had been completed. Both the sketches—of remarkable quality—and the reconstruction appeared to us as the most ambitious project attempted up to that point. The MIDI file was uploaded in the site’s summer update of the same year, yet it took a long time before the work took on the tangible form of a public performance.

The opportunity arose from a meeting between James Green, Mark Zimmer, and the renowned conductor Leonard Slatkin, music director of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, in the spring of 2001. From this fruitful encounter came the world premiere of the overture at the Kennedy Center in Washington on 20 September 2001. Unfortunately, due to a tragic coincidence, this concert was overshadowed by far more momentous events that shook the world at that time. Although the newly unveiled overture was met with warm applause, reflection focused more on the meaning of the word “life” than on the meaning of “art.”

The second public performance took place in a decidedly different atmosphere, in the charming city of Rennes, Brittany. The European premiere was entrusted to the vigorous baton of Stefan Sanderling, conductor of the Orchestre de Bretagne. On 29 November 2002, at the Opera de Rennes, as the second part of a concert-recital by Fazil Say, the overture filled for the first time that Europe Beethoven so cherished. People and artists divided by an ocean met for the first time on that occasion; what distance divides, art unites.

This recording edition is the fruit of the passion and dedication of conductor Roberto Diem Tigani. Roberto honoured us by conducting the overture’s first performance on Italian soil on 9 December 2003, leading the Orchestra Sinfonica Teatro e/o Musica di Sassari at the Sala Concerti “Pietro Sassu.” This concert demonstrated, if ever it were necessary, the sensitivity with which Inedita embraces new musical propositions.

Conceived in 1808 and never completed, the overture has been given new life and brought to completion through the work and love of all these artists. This recording marks the first great step toward the work’s consecration. The final words, therefore, belong to Macbeth himself, and seem addressed to those who, with dedication and passion for research, always feel they have only just begun their journey in Art: “My strange illusion is the fear of the initiate, who needs rigorous practice. We are still novices in the work.”

The overture “Macbeth” Unv. 16 is part of the project “Research becomes Art”

A New Life for the Unknown Works of Ludwig van Beethoven: An Artistic Exploration by Ensemble Accademia Ducale. Musical adaptation by Giovanni Claudio Traversi

Macbeth Overture premiered on 14 September 2022 in Potenza, at the Teatro F. Stabile.
The reduction for instrumental ensemble, by Giovanni Claudio Traversi, was based on the version by Roberto Diem Tigani, composer and conductor, who in turn worked on the version by Albert Willem Holsbergen. The concert, sponsored by the Municipality of Potenza, was part of the concert season I nuovi fiori dell’Accademia, which has received recognition from the Ministry of Culture – General Directorate for Performing Arts for the 2022–2024 triennium.

ENSEMBLE ACCADEMIA DUCALE
Michele Fiore, flute
Maria March Vazquez, oboe
Erminia Nigro, clarinet
Marco Coviello, bassoon
Antonio Fracchiolla, horn
Fabio Macchia, timpani
Francesca Cicolecchia*, violin I
Mirko Palmieri, violin I
Michele Barbieri, violin I
Ludovica Del Bagno*, violin II
Davide Moro, violin II
Maria Grazia D’Agostino, violin II
Carmine Caniani*, viola
Rosalba Potenza, viola
Vito Stano*, cello
Vincenzo Lioy, cello
Giuseppe D’Amico, double bass

CONDUCTOR
Simone Genuini

Opus: Works with opus number (1–138).

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Opus

Works with opus number (1–138).

Opus 001 – Three Piano Trios for Piano, Violin and Cello in E‑flat, G and C Minor

Opus 002 – Three Piano Sonatas in F Minor, A Major and C Major

Opus 003 – Trio in E‑flat Major for Violin, Viola and Cello

Opus 004 – Quintet in E flat major for 2 violins, 2 violas and cello

Opus 005 – Two Sonatas in F Major and G Minor for Piano and Cello

Opus 006 – Piano Sonata for Four Hands in D Major

Opus 007 – Piano Sonata in E‑flat Major

Opus 008 – Serenade in D major for violin, viola and cello

Opus 009 – Three Trios in G major, D major and C minor for violin, viola and cello

Opus 010 – Three Piano Sonatas in C minor, F major and D major

Opus 011 – Trio in B-flat major for piano, clarinet (or violin) and cello

Opus 012 – Three Sonatas for piano and violin in D major, A major and E-flat major

Opus 013 – Sonata in C minor for piano (“Pathétique”)

Opus 014 – Two Piano Sonatas in E major and G major

Opus 015 – Concerto No.1 in C major for piano and orchestra

Opus 016 – Quintet in E-flat major for piano, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon

Opus 016a – Quartet in E-flat major for piano, violin, viola and cello (from Op.16)

Opus 017 – Sonata in F Major for Piano and Horn (or Viola or Cello)

Opus 018 – Six String Quartets in F, G, D, C minor, A and B-flat Major

Opus 019 – Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat Major

Opus 020 – Septet in E-flat Major for Violin, Viola, Cello, Double Bass, Clarinet, Horn and Bassoon

Opus 021 – Symphony No. 1 in C Major

Opus 022 – Sonata in B-flat Major for Piano

Opus 023 – Sonata in A minor, for piano and violin

Opus 024 – Sonata in F major for piano and violin

Opus 025 – Serenade in D major for flute, violin and viola

Opus 026 – Sonata in A-flat major for piano

Opus 027 – Two Sonatas “Quasi una Fantasia” in E-flat Major and C-sharp Minor for Piano

Opus 028 – Piano Sonata in D major

Opus 029 – Quintet in C major for two violins, two violas and cello

Opus 030 – Three Sonatas in A Major, C Minor and G Major for Piano and Violin

Opus 031 – Three Sonate in G major, D minor and E-flat major for piano

Opus 032 – “An die Hoffnung”, “Die du so gern” for Voice and Piano

Opus 033 – Seven Bagatelles for Piano

Opus 034 – Six Variations on an Original Theme for Piano

Opus 035 – Fifteen Variations and a Fugue in E-flat Major for Piano

Opus 036 – Symphony No. 2 in D major

Opus 037 – Concerto No. 3 in C minor for piano and orchestra

Opus 038 – Trio in E flat major for piano, (clarinet), violin and cello (from the Septet op. 20)

Opus 039 – Two Preludes in the Twelve Major Keys for Piano or Organ

Opus 040 – First Romance in G Major for Violin and Orchestra

Opus 041 – Serenade in D Major for Piano and Flute (from Serenade Op. 25)

Opus 042 – Nocturne in D Major for Piano and Viola (from Serenade Op. 8)

Opus 043 – The Creatures of Prometheus, ballet by Salvatore Viganò (1801)

Opus 044 – Fourteen Variations on “Ja, ich muß mich von ihr scheiden” for Piano, Violin and Cello

Opus 045 – Three Marches in C Major, E-flat Major and D Major for Piano Four Hands

Opus 046 – “Adelaïde”, Cantata for Voice and Piano

Opus 047 – Sonata in A Major for Piano and Violin (“Kreutzer”)

Opus 048 – Six Songs of Gellert for Voice and Piano

Opus 049 – Two Sonatas in G Minor and G Major for Piano

Opus 050 – Second Romance in F Major for Violin and Orchestra

Opus 051 – Two Rondos in C Major and G Major for Piano

Opus 052 – Eight Songs for Voice and Piano

Opus 053 – Sonata in C Major for Piano (“Waldstein” / “L’Aurore”)

Opus 054 – Sonata in F major for Piano

Opus 055 – Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major (“Eroica”)

Opus 056 – Concerto in C Major for Piano, Violin, Cello and Orchestra (“Triple Concerto”)

Opus 057 – Sonata in F Minor for Piano (“Appassionata”)

Opus 058 – Concerto No. 4 in G Major for Piano and Orchestra

Opus 059 – Three Quartets in F Major, E Minor and C Major (“Rasumowsky Quartets”)

Opus 060 – Symphony No. 4 in B flat major

Opus 061 – Concerto in D major for violin and orchestra

Opus 061a – Concerto in D Major for Piano and Orchestra (Transcription of the Violin Concerto, Op. 61)

Opus 062 – Overture in C Minor to the Tragedy “Coriolanus” by H. J. von Collin

Opus 063 – Trio in E-flat Major for Piano, Violin and Cello (Arrangement of the String Quintet Op. 4)

Opus 064 – Sonata in E-flat Major for Piano and Cello (Transcription of the Trio Op. 3)

Opus 065 – “Ah, perfido!”, Scene and Aria for Soprano and Orchestra

Opus 066 – Twelve Variations in F Major for Piano and Cello on “Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen”

Opus 067 – Symphony No. 5 in C minor

Opus 068 – Symphony No. 6 in F Major (“Pastoral”)

Opus 069 – Sonata in A major for piano and cello

Opus 070 – Two Trios in D Major and E-flat Major for Piano, Violin and Cello

Opus 071 – Sextet in E-flat Major for 2 Clarinets, 2 Bassoons and 2 Horns

Opus 072 – Fidelio, Opera in Two Acts for Soloists, Chorus, and Orchestra (Third Version)

Opus 073 – Concerto No. 5 in E-flat Major for Piano and Orchestra (“Emperor”)

Opus 074 – Quartet in E-flat Major for 2 Violins, Viola and Cello (“Harp Quartet”)

Opus 075 – Six Lieder (Sechs Gesänge) for Voice and Piano

Opus 076 – Six Variations in D Major for Piano on an Original Theme

Opus 077 – Fantasia in G minor for piano

Opus 078 – Piano Sonata in F-sharp Major

Opus 079 – Sonata in G Major for Piano (“Sonatina”)

Opus 080 – Choral Fantasy in C Minor for Piano, Chorus and Orchestra

Opus 081a – Sonata in B-flat Major for Piano (“Les Adieux”)

Opus 081b – Sextet in E-flat Major for Two Horns, Two Violins, Viola and Cello

Opus 082 – Four Ariettes and a Duet for Voice and Piano

Opus 083 – Three Songs for Voice and Piano on Texts by Goethe

Opus 084 – “Egmont”, Incidental Music for Goethe’s Tragedy

Opus 085 – “Christ on the Mount of Olives”, Oratorio for Soloists, Choir and Orchestra

Opus 086 – Mass in C Major for Soloists, Choir and Orchestra

Opus 087 – Trio in C Major for Two Oboes and English Horn

Opus 088 – “Das Glück der Freundschaft”, Lied for Voice and Piano

Opus 089 – Polonaise in C major for piano

Opus 090 – Sonata in E minor for Piano

Opus 091 – “Wellington’s Victory, or the Battle of Vitoria” for Orchestra

Opus 092 – Symphony No. 7 in A major

Opus 093 – Symphony No. 8 in F major

Opus 094 – “An die Hoffnung”, Lied for Voice and Piano

Opus 095 – String Quartet in F Minor “Serioso”

Opus 096 – Sonata in G major for piano and violin

Opus 097 – “Archduke” Trio in B-flat Major for Piano, Violin and Cello

Opus 098 – “An die ferne Geliebte” (Liederkreis) for Voice and Piano

Opus 099 – “Der Mann von Wort” for voice and piano

Opus 100 – “Merkenstein”, Lied for two voices and piano

Opus 101 – Sonata in A major for Piano

Opus 102 – Two Sonatas in C Major and D Major for Piano and Cello

Opus 103 – Octet in E-flat Major for Winds

Opus 104 – Quintet in C Minor for Two Violins, Two Violas and Cello

Opus 105 – Six Varied Themes for Piano with Optional Flute or Violin

Opus 106 – Piano Sonata in B-flat Major “Hammerklavier”

Opus 107 – Ten Varied Themes for Piano with Optional Flute or Violin

Opus 108 – 25 “Schottische Lieder” for one or more voices, piano, violin, and cello

Opus 109 – Piano Sonata in E Major

Opus 110 – Piano Sonata in A-flat Major

Opus 111 – Piano Sonata in C Minor

Opus 112 – “Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt” for Choir and Orchestra

Opus 113 – “The Ruins of Athens”, Overture and Incidental Music

Opus 114 – March with Chorus in E-flat Major from “Die Ruinen von Athen”

Opus 115 – Overture in C Major “Zur Namensfeier”

Opus 116 – “Tremate, empi, tremate”, Terzetto for Soprano, Tenor, Bass, and Orchestra

Opus 117 – “König Stephan”, Incidental Music for the Opening of the Pest Theater

Opus 118 – Elegiac Song “Sanft wie du lebtest” for Four Voices and String Quartet

Opus 119 – Eleven Bagatelles for Piano

Opus 120 – Thirty-three Variations in C Major on a Waltz by Diabelli

Opus 121a – Ten Variations in G Major for Piano, Violin, and Cello on “Ich bin der Schneider Kakadu”

Opus 121b – “Opferlied”: Song for Soprano, Chorus, and Orchestra (Fourth Version)

Opus 122 – “Bundeslied” for Soloists, Four-Part Choir, and Orchestra

Opus 123 – “Missa solemnis” for Soloists, Choir, Orchestra, and Organ

Opus 124 – Overture “Die Weihe des Hauses” in C Major

Opus 125 – Symphony No. 9 in D minor “Choral”

Opus 126 – Six Bagattelle for Piano

Opus 127 – String Quartet in E-flat Major

Opus 128 – “Der Kuss”: “Ich war bei Chloen ganz allein” Lied for Voice and Piano

Opus 129 – Rondo a Capriccio in G Major “Alla ingharese, quasi un Capriccio” for piano

Opus 130 – String Quartet in B-flat major

Opus 131 – String Quartet in C-sharp Minor

Opus 132 – String Quartet in A minor

Opus 133 – “Grosse Fuge” in B-flat Major for String Quartet

Opus 134 – Piano Four-Hand Reduction of the Great Fugue in B-flat Major, Op. 133

Opus 135 – String Quartet in F Major

Opus 136 – “Der glorreiche Augenblick”, Cantata for Soloists, Choir, and Orchestra

Opus 137 – Fugue in D Major for Two Violins, Two Violas, and Cello

Opus 138 – “Fidelio (Leonora)”: Overture No. 1 in C Major

Works Divided by Musical Genre – 20 Operas

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Operas

Section IX – Tomis 1/6

Unv. 18 – Östrerreich über alles, song for choir and orchestra

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Unvollendete 18 Österreich über alles, song for choir and orchestra

(Mislaid? Left unfinished?)

Unv.18 = Biamonti 477 – “Wehrmanns Lied” Biamonti 478? : Austria above all, to the text by Collin, March – April 1809. A draft included in a group of sheets described by Nottebohm in Zweite Beethoveniana, page 262, and quoted by him as follows (I provide the entire draft, NDA). A patriotic Lied composed on the occasion of Austria and England entering the Fifth Coalition against Bonaparte (April 1809). The war lasted only a few months but was disastrous for Austria: Vienna was occupied by French troops, and it was defeated at Wagram in July. Austria had to sign a peace treaty in October. Many noble families, in addition to the imperial family, had left the city during this period. Beethoven remained there: however, whether the physical and moral hardships had any impact on the character of the works he composed or drafted during this time — except perhaps delaying the completion of some — we cannot say. Only in the first two movements of the Sonata in E-flat Major for Piano, Op. 81a, can we perhaps see signs of a depressed state of mind. (The sketchbook referred to by Biamonti and Nottebohm is the Landsberg 5, NDA).

Sketched in March 1809. The reasons for Beethoven not completing the work remain unknown. Perhaps he did not wish to enter direct competition with the acclaimed works of the genre by Joseph Weigl composed during the same period.

The lyrics of the Lied “Oesterreichischer Wehrmänner” by the poet Heinrich Joseph von Collin were published in Vienna by A. Strauss and later republished in the collection Collin’s sämmtliche Werke, Bd. 4 Epische und lyrische Gedichte, Vienna 1813. The poetic text is based on a lyric by Philipp Wilhelm von Hoernigk, “Oestreich über Alles.”

According to Matthäus von Collin, Heinrich Joseph von Collin’s brother, this poem was published thanks to the insistence of the Austrian army major Catinelli, who urged his friend, the poet, to write compositions celebrating the victories and power of Austria.

On this subject, Collin’s biography reads as follows (from page 433): “In Austria, starting from the year 1808, everything gradually took on a martial character. Preparations were made for a landwehr (citizen militia), and every person able to bear arms was trained for military service; grand events, previously unseen, took place. Collin was invited by his dear friend, the k.k. Lieutenant Colonel Catinelli, to compose a number of lyrics suitable for the occasion, (The allied nations from 1809 formed the so-called ‘Fifth Coalition’ against Napoleon – NDA) and to express the sentiments that had sparked that worthy and noble enthusiasm; the poet said that he had never received a task more sacred, more dear to his innermost desires than this. He therefore created these lyrics full of great enthusiasm, strength, and overflowing emotion, as his heart beat fervently for the homeland, along the same path later followed by other singers, not as inspired, who also ventured into this theme. When the first edition of this lyric was released, accompanied by music by Mr. Weigl, a frenzy of joy seized the assembly; the expression of the most unrestrained enthusiasm erupted, to the extent that many could claim it was the most wonderful day of their lives.” (Collin / Biography, p. 433F.)

The text of Collin’s poems was finished in the autumn of 1808, at least in its first version, but was not published until February 1809 (second edition in print, April). “Oestreich über Alles” immediately became the most popular song in the collection. The Wehrmannslieder were set to music several times, for instance by the aforementioned Joseph Weigl (published by A. Strauss in 1809) and by Adalbert Gyrowetz.

Weigl’s songs were performed on 25 March 1809 at a musical academy at the Court Theatre next to the castle, and the concert was repeated in the presence of the imperial couple on 28 March. Johann Friedrich Reichardt described the details in his “Vertrauten Briefen”, letter dated 31 March 1809.

“The gathering was the most splendid and numerous I have ever seen; the entire hall, all the galleries, every corner and corridor were packed with people from all walks of life, such that many hundreds had to turn back. It was a grand and solemn spectacle — all these people quivering with anticipation, librettos in hand, and with what enthusiasm Collin revived the powerful songs […] And now, even in the song ‘Österreich über alles’: as soon as he began his verses, the enthusiasm reached its peak; there was applause, shouting, loud cries, cheers and sobbing — from the imperial box down to the hall and throughout the ‘mundum’. Never have I experienced such profound emotion.”

The Leipziger Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung also reported:

“On the 25th [March], there was an academy at the theatre near the Kärntnertor Theatre for the three opera inspectors, Mr Saal, Vogel and Weinmüller, and eight war songs by Collin were performed, set to music by Jos. Weigl and Gyrowetz. Given the general enthusiasm that gripped all hearts for our monarchy, especially those in Vienna, these songs […] could not fail to be well received. The same programme was repeated on the 28th, and also on the 2nd and 16th of April in the large Redoutensaal, and each time the hall was filled to overflowing. The enthusiasm grew, and the applause was boundless.”
(AmZ 11, 1808/09, 12 July 1809, column 651.)

(1) A-Wgm, A 62a, one sheet, formerly owned by Guido Peters and Anton Dermota. Brenneis / Landsberg 5, vol. 2, p. 28, 52; JTW p. 187; Wien / Autographe p. 120. Facsimile and transcription in Kienzl / Skizzen, pp. 321, 323.

(2) D-B, Mus. SM. autogr. Beethoven Landsberg 5, page 19. Dating: March 1809. Facsimile and transcription in Brenneis / Landsberg 5, further facsimile: SBB.

(3) D-BNba, Coll. H.C. Bodmer, HCB Mh 79, one sheet. Facsimile: DBH / online.

Bibliography: Brauneis / Unv. 18 – Brenneis / Landsberg 5, vol. 2, pp. 20f, 52 – Collin / Biografie – Kienzl / Skizzen – Nottebohm / Beethoveniana II, p. 262 ff.

Unv.17 – Hess 317 – “Europens Befreyungsstunde” (Cantata, Existence Doubtful)

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Unv. 17 “Europens Befreyungsstunde” — Cantata.

(Existence doubtful). (Formerly Hess 317).

Unv. 17 – Hess 317. Europens Befreyungsstunde.
A cantata bearing this title was sketched beginning in the middle months of 1814. The author of the poetic text is Josef Karl Bernard, as indicated in Michael Ladenburger’s article Der Wiener Kongress im Spiegel der Musik, in Beethoven: Zwischen Revolution und Restauration, Beethoven-Haus, Bonn, 1989, from page 293 (see: Der Wiener Kongreß im Spiegel der Musik, in Beethoven, Zwischen Revolution und Restauration, ed. by Helga Lühning and Sieghard Brandenburg, Sonderveröffentlichungen des Beethoven-Hauses, Bonn, 1989, pp. 275–306).

The complete autograph remains unknown, and it is not certain whether the work was ever finished. Several sketches for the piece have been located in the Deutsche Staatsbibliothek, Berlin (autograph manuscript Grasnick 20b); in the Conservatoire de Paris (Beethoven Ms 93); and in the Bodmer Collection of the Beethoven-Haus, Bonn (Mh 89).
[The Deutsche Staatsbibliothek is now the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin (SBB); the Conservatoire de Paris has transferred its holdings to the Bibliothèque nationale; and the Bodmer manuscript in Bonn has been re-catalogued as SBH 625 (SV 137).]

Two additional sketch leaves have been identified in the Heyer Collection in Cologne. The same work is mentioned in George Kinsky, Musikhistorisches Museum von Wilhelm Heyer in Köln, catalogue, vol. 4, musical autographs no. 223, 1916, p. 182. The complete text of the cantata was first published in Festschrift zum 60. Geburtstag von Joachim Schmidt-Görg, Bonn, 1957, pp. 363–366.

The work is also cited in Wilhelm Virneisel, Kleine Beethoveniana, p. 361. (A copy of the text and one page of the sketches were reproduced in facsimile in Beethoven: Zwischen Revolution und Restauration, Beethoven-Haus, Bonn, pp. 296–297.)

Textanfang: „Nach Frankreichs unheilvollem Sturz“. Sketched at the beginning of 1814. Beethoven had planned this cantata for his grand academy concert in the Redoutensaal on 27 February 1814 in Vienna, as reported by Georg Friedrich Treitschke at the beginning of March that year (BGA 707). However, the performance did not take place owing to censorship on 17 February. The authorities also rejected another application for 10 September 1814—on both occasions without providing justification (notes by Friedrich von Gentz, Hofrat at the State Chancellery, and Freiherr von Bretfeld, concerning the nature of the text; a facsimile of the censorship notes appears in Ladenburger, Kongreß, p. 296; see that source for the text). The cantata text, however, is decidedly anti-French and revanchist. The publicly expressed hostility toward the French—found in Bernard’s text—was probably considered undesirable in light of the reconciliation among nations sought during the Congress of Vienna.

Beethoven’s nephew Karl reported in a conversation book from early May 1825: “Bernard spoke again of an oratorio for which he had written the book, and you had almost finished the music, but which was not passed by the censors?” He then added: “Now they would let it pass” (BKh 7, p. 259ff.). Nevertheless, the surviving sketches do not suggest that Beethoven had progressed very far with the work.

Europens Befreyungsstunde by Joseph Karl Bernard (1780–1850). The handwritten libretto is preserved in D-B (Mus. ms. autogr. Beethoven 37.34; reprinted in Virneisel, Beethoveniana, pp. 363–366).

(1) D-B, Mus. ms. autogr. Beethoven Grasnick 20b, fols. 14r–15r.

(2) D-BNba, Coll. FL C. Bodmer, HCB Mh 89, 2 leaves. Facsimile: DBH/online.

(3) D-BNba, HC Bodmer Coll., HCB BSk 15/63, one leaf. Facsimile: DBH/online.

(4) F-Pc (in: Pn), Ms. 93, one leaf. Facsimile: Gallica.

(5) D-Dl, Mus. 4l93-D-12,l, one leaf. Facsimile: Ullrich, Oratorienpläne, p. 25. (This is the first of the two leaves formerly in the Wilhelm Heyer Collection; see Kinsky/Heyer no. 223.)

Unv.14 – Fragment of Piano Variations (Fischhof, folios 25–26 verso)

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Unv.14 – Fragment of Piano Variations

(Fischhof, folios 25/26 verso)

Sketched at the end of 1794 or the beginning of 1795. The sketches are contained on three leaves of the Fischhof sketchbook and probably represent a theme, eight variations, and a coda.

On folio 25 recto of the notebook, immediately after the variations, there is a brief sketch for the first movement of the Piano Sonata in A major, Op. 2 No. 2. This has led some to suppose that Beethoven may have considered a set of variations as the finale of that sonata. Both this hypothesis and the alternative hypothesis of an independent set of variations remain plausible.

Further variations in A major — therefore in the same key and with the same tempo indication — appear in the “Kafka” miscellany (GB‑Lhl, Add. Ms. 29801, fol. 158v), although they probably refer to “Là ci darem la mano” from Mozart’s Don Giovanni, which is certainly not the subject of the variations in the Fischhof.

Unv.14 – Fragment of Piano Variations

Study of a Possible Reconstruction – by Maestro Graziano Denini

INTRODUCTION

Attempting to reconstruct a coherent musical idea from a Theme with 8 Variations and a final Coda — whose sketches are scattered across three pages of Beethoven’s manuscript — is no simple task. I wish therefore to clarify that my reworking can only be considered a hypothesis of transcription, and that many other, perhaps better, interpretations could be proposed.

One of the difficulties I always encounter when analysing Beethoven’s manuscripts is the absence of key signatures at the beginning of the staves. Beethoven rarely wrote the key signature at the start of each system; more often he simply implied it. At times this practice makes deciphering difficult — even more so in a Theme and Variations where the character and mood shift frequently. Occasionally I have identified a minor mode solely from the otherwise unnecessary presence of a G‑sharp.

I will therefore share my working method.

First, I transcribed — as faithfully as possible — all the sketches that could relate to this work and that appear on three leaves of the Fischhof sketchbook (facsimiles are reproduced on this page).

Second, I sought the fragments closest to one another in character or motion; I then began positioning them within a hypothetical Variation, adding missing notes here and there (below I illustrate, Variation by Variation, the results I obtained), while trying to use as much of the material as possible.

At this point, having a clearer view of the Variations and their thematic idea, I asked myself what the original Theme might have been. I believe the answer is that they refer to the Bagatelle in A major, WoO 213 No. 4, which should be slightly earlier. The key is the same, and the first six notes of the Bagatelle correspond exactly to those of Variation No. 6 (except that they are written in doubled values and in 4/4). The figure E–F♯–E in the middle of the Bagatelle also appears among the fragments of the minor‑mode Variation.

(For our work on this composition and the other three forming WoO 213: Four Bagatelles in D‑flat major, G major, A major, and A major.)

I therefore rewrote the entire Bagatelle in 2/4, halving all note values so that it would correspond more closely to Beethoven’s sketches for the Variations. The Bagatelle includes a Da Capo but has no ending; I therefore repeated the first eight measures (ABA form) and added a concluding bar derived from the ending of Variation 6, which is the closest to the Theme.

Finally, I redistributed the Variations in an order that seemed to me the most coherent.

I hope that my work — again, a hypothetical reconstruction of the eight Variations — will not prove disagreeable to Beethoven enthusiasts. In any case, it has been a valuable “exercise in style.”

RECONSTRUCTION OF THE VARIATIONS

Theme

As stated in the introduction, I believe the Theme of these Variations derives from the Bagatelle in A major, WoO 213 No. 4. These four Bagatelles, dating from 1793, have recently been included in the new Kinsky–Halm catalogue. They are sketches already catalogued by Giovanni Biamonti in 1968, though erroneously dated to 1800. Beethoven used a type of paper associated with compositions from 1793 (I thank my friend Luigi Bellofatto for this valuable historical‑analytical contribution).

Mark Zimmer informs us that these Bagatelles are found together with the Allemande WoO 81, the Anglaise WoO 212, the Bagatelle Hess 60, two nearly complete Bagatelles (Biamonti 269 and 277), and numerous sketches (Biamonti 268–270, 271–274, 276, 278–281) on two leaves in the Beethoven‑Archiv in Bonn, SBH 631 (SV 88).

Variation I

Found on folio 26 recto (staves 1–4). It is essentially complete; my contribution was limited to adding a few notes in the empty passages, mostly doubling the left hand. Note the unusual harmony of the last three measures, which seems to veer toward B minor before returning to A major.

Variation II

Based on the sketch on folio 26 recto (staves 15–16), continuing on folio 26 verso (staves 1–6). It is built on right/left imitations. It is fully developed; my intervention was limited to filling in missing parts of Beethoven’s original.

Variation III

Based on two sketches on folio 25 verso (staves 9–10). Note the indication “6——–” in measures 3–4 of the second sketch, showing how the left hand should proceed. The first three measures are complete; I added the lower parts to allow repetition. I also added semiquaver octaves as a link between the first and second fragment. The second fragment is complete; I added missing notes at the end to allow repetition and a few left‑hand notes to connect back to the first fragment. Finally, I added a descending scale in the left hand to conclude the Variation.

Variation IV

Based on the fragment on folio 25 verso (staves 11–14). No mode change is specified, but the G‑sharp in the penultimate measure of the sketch led me to interpret it in A minor. The theme consists of four measures (which I repeated with open–closed endings) plus two measures for the second part. Because of the scant material, I had to invent almost the entire second part, resolving it with a slightly varied repetition of the second fragment. The left hand is almost entirely missing except for the first and last two measures. The theme is marked “con ottave.”

Variation V

Based on the sketch on folio 26 verso (staves 5–8). It is practically complete. My contribution was limited to repeating the first three measures (suggested by the continuation sign), adding accented quarter notes (also suggested by the manuscript), and adding left‑hand notes mirroring the right. At measure 8 I added repeated notes to connect the two parts.

Variation VI

Sketches appear on folio 26 recto (staves 11–12), folio 25 verso (staves 11–12), and folio 26 recto (staves 5–8). The opening resembles the beginning of the Bagatelle. My additions in the first fragment are limited to the left hand in measure 4 and a different closing for the repetition (measure 7). The second fragment is complete but very fragmented: Beethoven indicates only the demisemiquaver motion, alternating between hands, leaving the other hand blank. I filled in the missing harmony and ended with a descending left‑hand scale and a fermata linking to the third fragment. The third fragment lacks the left hand entirely; I resolved it with a rapid, agitated progression leading to a second suspension and a soft final cadence. In the penultimate measure I added contrary motion to the ascending right‑hand scale. In the last measure I added a cadential left hand (this cadence inspired the final cadence of the Theme).

Variation VII

Begins with the sketch on folio 26 recto (staves 15–16), followed by two measures from folio 25 verso (staves 15–16), and concludes with the fragment on folio 26 verso (staves 9–10). This is the easiest Variation to identify, given the left‑hand sextuplets and the alternation of triplets and quadruplets in the right hand. The left hand follows the indication to repeat the Alberti‑bass pattern found in the first measure. At the fourth measure, third beat, I added a descending A‑major arpeggio, echoing the original on folio 25 verso. This connects to the next sketch, where I again repeated the left‑hand pattern. To conclude, I added an ascending A‑major arpeggio in the left hand, ending on the same note as the right.

Variation VIII

Based on sketches on folio 26 recto (staves 13–14, 15–16) and folio 26 verso (staves 11–12). In the first sketch the left hand begins with real notes, then continues with the indication “ottave.” The second measure is missing (with continuation sign). The fragment is otherwise complete; I added two concluding notes in the right hand at measure 10. The second fragment is also nearly complete; I added a descending A‑major arpeggio in the right hand at measures 17–18. Compositionally, I reused the first four measures of the second fragment and concluded with the closing of the first, in crescendo.

Coda

Based on fragments on folio 26 recto (staves 7–12) and folio 26 verso (staves 11–14). In the first fragment, built on right/left alternation and imitation, I added several parts, drawing on figures from the original. The abrupt interruption at measure 8 suggested a cadential passage: I added a fermata and continued with three slower measures, also with crescendo and final fermata.

The next fragment (folio 26 recto, stave 14) seemed to me insufficiently characteristic for such a piece. I therefore used an unused sketch from folio 26 recto (staves 11–14), whose descending left‑hand scales, taken at an Allegro tempo and with a “deciso” character, seemed far more conclusive.

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