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IX) Beethoven’s Transcriptions and Studies on the Works of Joseph Haydn

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Ludwig van Beethoven – Transcriptions and Studies of the Works of Joseph Haydn

List of Beethoven’s transcriptions and studies of the works of Joseph Haydn (1732–1809)

Franz Joseph Haydn (1732–1809) stands as one of the central architects of the Classical style, a composer whose long life bridged the world of Baroque traditions and the dawn of Romanticism. Born in the small Austrian village of Rohrau, the son of a wheelwright, Haydn’s beginnings were humble. Yet from an early age his musical gifts were evident: by the age of five he was already studying violin and harpsichord, and at eight he was recruited as a choirboy at St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna. This experience gave him a solid grounding in vocal music and exposed him to the bustling musical life of the imperial capital. When his voice broke at seventeen, he found himself suddenly without position or income, but his resilience and versatility soon carried him forward.

Haydn was largely self-taught as a composer. He later admitted, with characteristic modesty, that he had “more listened than studied.” This autodidactic path gave his music a freshness and independence of thought. He began to support himself through teaching, freelance performance, and composition, gradually building a reputation. His breakthrough came with his appointment as Kapellmeister to the Esterházy family, one of the most powerful noble houses of the Habsburg Empire. For decades, Haydn served them faithfully, producing operas, symphonies, chamber works, sacred music, and instrumental pieces to meet the demands of court life. The relative isolation of the Esterházy estate at Eisenstadt, far from the cosmopolitan pressures of Vienna, paradoxically gave him freedom: “There was no one near to confuse me, so I was forced to become original,” he later remarked.

It was in this environment that Haydn perfected the Classical symphony and string quartet. He did not invent these genres, but he gave them a structural clarity, balance, and expressive range that set the standard for generations. His mastery of sonata form—the dialectic of contrasting themes, their development, and their reconciliation—became a model emulated by Mozart, Beethoven, and countless others. For this reason, he is often called the “father of the symphony” and the “father of the string quartet.” Yet these titles, while accurate, risk making him seem merely a technician. In truth, Haydn’s music is full of wit, surprise, and humanity: sudden pauses, unexpected modulations, rustic dances, and moments of sublime lyricism.

The 1790s brought a dramatic change. With the death of Prince Nikolaus Esterházy, Haydn was released from his daily duties and invited by the impresario Johann Peter Salomon to travel to London. There he was received as a celebrity, feted by audiences and critics alike. His twelve “London Symphonies” (Nos. 93–104) represent the culmination of his orchestral writing: grand in scale, brilliant in orchestration, and infused with both humor and grandeur. London also exposed him to Handel’s monumental oratorios, which inspired Haydn to create his own masterpieces in the genre: The Creation (1798) and The Seasons (1801). These works, blending Enlightenment optimism with vivid musical imagery, secured his reputation as one of Europe’s greatest composers.

Haydn’s relationship with Beethoven is a fascinating chapter. When Haydn passed through Bonn in 1792, the young Beethoven paid him homage and later moved to Vienna to study with him. Their teacher–student bond was not without tension—Beethoven, fiercely independent, sought instruction elsewhere as well—but Haydn’s encouragement and example were crucial in shaping the younger composer’s path.

In his final years, Haydn returned to Vienna, still under the patronage of the Esterházy family, though his creative powers gradually waned. By 1803 he had ceased composing, his health declining. Yet he lived long enough to witness the triumph of his works and the rise of Beethoven as his successor. He died in Vienna in 1809, during the French occupation of the city, mourned as a national treasure.

Haydn’s legacy is immense. He wrote over 100 symphonies, 68 string quartets, 14 masses, numerous operas, concertos, piano sonatas, and oratorios. His music embodies the ideals of the Classical era: clarity, balance, proportion, and expressive depth. But beyond formality, it radiates warmth, humor, and invention. He was both a craftsman and a poet, a servant of aristocratic courts and a pioneer of public concert life. Above all, he was a bridge: between the Baroque and the Romantic, between courtly tradition and the modern concert hall, between Mozart and Beethoven.

Although Beethoven likely copied and studied several of Haydn’s works, only four studies have survived, which we include on this page.

String Quartet in E major, Hob. III: 31
Symphony in E major, Hob. I: 99 (parts of the finale)
Mass in B major, “Schöpfungsmesse,” Hob. XXII: 13 (parts of the Gloria, especially “In gloria Dei Patris”)
String Quartet in F minor, Hob. III: 35

The two string quartets in E major and F minor Hob. III: 31 and 35

Copy of the first dated 1794 (HCB Mh 42 preserved at DBH)
Copy of the second June 1819/July 1820 A-Wgm, A 48, p. 2 versus W/A S.98.

The Mass in B major “Schöpfungsmesse” Hob. XXII: 13

Copy of the Gloria (measures 3-12 and 242/253) – Beginning of the fugue of the “In gloria Dei Patris”, parts for voice, F-PC (PN), Manuscript 60 (2) pages, writings on page 3 versus and following. Written in 1807 as a study and together with the drafts of the Mass Op. 86.

Biamonti 426: Not a Quartettsatz but the Finale of Franz Joseph Haydn’s Symphony Hob. I – 99

Article on Biamonti 426, the fragment for string quartet described by Max Unger and currently preserved in the Bibliothèque National de France, Paris. Paris Ms44, 1Recto – A-Wgm, A 81.

On page 532 of his Chronological and Critical Catalogue of All the Works of Beethoven, Giovanni Biamonti reports verbatim as follows:

Biamonti 426. Quartet (Fragment), circa 1805. Twenty-two autograph bars for a quartet movement, later left unused. They are found among the Beethoven papers in the Library of the Paris Conservatoire, described by Max Unger (M.U. page 100/44), on a sheet also containing sketches for the Scherzo of the Fifth Symphony. Naturally, Biamonti refers to the publication of 1935 in which Max Unger reported this, on page 100, number 44 (Die Beethovenhandschriften der Pariser Konservatoriumsbibliothek, included in N.B.J. Neue Beethoven Jahrbuch, VI, 1935).

Finally, having had the opportunity to examine the manuscript (four pages, of which the two central ones are blank), the result—which corrects both Max Unger and Biamonti—is as follows:

  • Date: 1805
  • Paper format: 23.5 by 30.5 centimeters
  • Provenance: Now in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France; previously in the Paris Conservatoire; before that in the collection of Charles Malherbe (1853–1911); and earlier still in the possession of the famous Johann Nepomuk Kafka (1819–1886).
  • First page: Score copy of the Symphony Hoboken I:99 by Franz Joseph Haydn (bars 128–149, string parts only).
  • Pages 2 and 3: Unused.
  • Page 4: Sketches for the Scherzo (third movement) of the Fifth Symphony in C minor, Opus 67.

Below are the four sheets:

  • First page: Score copy of Symphony Hob. I:99 by Franz Joseph Haydn (string parts only).
  • Pages two and three: Blank.

  • Page four: Sketches for the Scherzo (third movement) of the Fifth Symphony in C minor, Opus 67.

Below are the images of the Neue Beethoven -Jahbuch Begundet und herausgegeben von Adolf Sandberger – Sechster Jahrgeng – 1935 Hery Litoff’s Verlag, Braunschweig (From the library of Luigi Bellofatto)

XXII) Beethoven’s Transcriptions and Studies on the Works of Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg

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Transcription from Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg (1718 – 1795)

List of the transcriptions and studies that Beethoven made of the works of Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg (1718 – 1795).

Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg (1718–1795) was one of the most influential German music theorists and critics of the Enlightenment, a man whose pen shaped the way an entire generation thought about music. Born on 21 November 1718 in the Altmark region of Brandenburg, he grew up in a cultivated environment that encouraged both intellectual and artistic pursuits. Although little is known about his formal musical training, his writings reveal a deep knowledge of philosophy, mathematics, and the arts—hallmarks of the Enlightenment spirit.

In 1746, Marpurg traveled to Paris as secretary to a Prussian general. This sojourn proved decisive: in the French capital he encountered some of the leading minds of the age, including Voltaire, d’Alembert, and the composer Jean-Philippe Rameau. Rameau’s harmonic theories left a lasting impression on him, and Marpurg would later become one of the principal figures responsible for introducing and adapting Rameau’s ideas to German readers.

Returning to Berlin, Marpurg established himself as a prolific writer and critic. He founded one of the earliest German music journals, Der kritische Musicus an der Spree (1749–1750), which set a new standard for public debate about music. His style was sharp, polemical, and often controversial, but it reflected his conviction that music was not merely an art of pleasure but also a field of intellectual inquiry.

Marpurg’s most celebrated theoretical work is the Abhandlung von der Fuge (Treatise on the Fugue, 1753–54), a monumental study that codified the principles of contrapuntal writing. At a time when fugue was beginning to be seen as an old-fashioned art, Marpurg defended its intellectual rigor and expressive power. His treatise not only preserved the legacy of J. S. Bach—whose Well-Tempered Clavier he cited extensively—but also provided a systematic framework for composers and students well into the 19th century.

Beyond the fugue, Marpurg wrote on a wide range of subjects: keyboard technique, figured bass, composition, and even the mathematics of music. His Kritische Briefe über die Tonkunst (Critical Letters on the Art of Music) offered lively essays on contemporary issues, while his Handbuch bey dem Generalbasse und der Composition (Manual of Thoroughbass and Composition) became a practical guide for aspiring musicians. He also contributed to the dissemination of Bach’s Art of Fugue, writing a preface that helped frame the work as a monument of contrapuntal art.

Marpurg was not only a theorist but also a composer. He wrote keyboard sonatas, songs, and sacred works, though these are less remembered today than his writings. His music reflects the Berlin school of the Lied, with its emphasis on clarity, simplicity, and expressive melody.

In his later years, Marpurg held administrative posts in the Prussian state service, which provided him with stability while he continued to publish. He remained active in Berlin’s intellectual circles until his death on 22 May 1795.

Abhandlung von der Fuge nach den Grundsätzen und Exempeln der besten deutschen und ausländischen Meister entworfen, Berlin, Part 1, 1753, Part 2, 1754. (Treatise on the Fugue, designed according to the principles and examples of the best German and foreign masters, Berlin, Part 1, 1753, Part 2, 1754.)

Beethoven’s copy contains extracts from the first part, 1st–6th and 8th main section, and the 2nd part, 4th main section; including sections of fugues from Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier.

  • D-B, Mus. ms. autogr. Beethoven Artaria 153. Dating: 1814/15 (Clemens Brenneis, opac.rism.info), facsimile: FFS / online.
  • D-BNba, Coll. H. C. Bodmer, HCB BSk 5 and Mh 46a-c-d-i. Facsimile and description: DBH / online.
  • Private property unknown, previously Koch Collection 55, and more recently Hassfurther, Vienna (Auction 28.10.1994, lot 216).
  • Sketchbook “Boldrini” (lost).
  • Complete description and transcription of the sources: Ronge / NGA XIII / 2.

XVIII) Beethoven’s Transcriptions from Philipp Dornaus

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Ludwig van Beethoven – Transcriptions from Philipp Dornaus

List of transcriptions and studies that Beethoven made of the works of Philipp Dornaus (1769 – ?)

Philipp Dornaus: A Forgotten Horn Virtuoso

Philipp Dornaus, born in 1769, belonged to that generation of musicians who lived in the shadow of the great Viennese masters yet contributed in their own way to the richness of the musical life around 1800. He was trained in a family of musicians, and from an early age he mastered the natural horn, an instrument that was then enjoying its golden age. The late 18th century was a time when the horn was both a symbol of aristocratic hunting culture and a vehicle for lyrical, expressive writing in the concert hall.

Dornaus’s career unfolded in Vienna, the musical capital of Europe, where he was active as a performer and composer. He was known above all as a horn player of considerable skill, capable of navigating the demanding idiom of the natural horn before the invention of valves. His reputation was strong enough that his works circulated among professional musicians, and even Beethoven himself studied and transcribed some of his music—a telling sign of the esteem in which he was held.

As a composer, Dornaus left only a few works that survive today, the most notable being a Concerto for two horns, preserved in manuscript. This piece reflects the style of its time: brilliant fanfare-like passages alternating with lyrical dialogues between the two soloists, all supported by a Classical orchestral texture. It is music that bridges the hunting traditions of the horn with the more refined concert style of the Viennese school.

Beyond these glimpses, much of Dornaus’s life remains obscure. His exact date of death is unknown, and he seems to have slipped into the margins of history. Yet the traces we do have—his concerto, his presence in Beethoven’s notebooks, and the scattered references in musical lexicons—suggest a musician who was part of the vibrant fabric of Viennese musical life at the dawn of the 19th century.

In short: Philipp Dornaus was a hornist-composer of the Viennese Classical era, remembered today less for a large body of works than for the fact that his music was studied by Beethoven. He stands as a representative of the many skilled instrumentalists whose artistry enriched the musical culture of their time, even if history has left them in the shadows.

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