WoO 023 – Ecossaise in G Major for Piano – Allegro. Composed circa 1810, this piece was first published in an edition by Carl Czerny in the Musikalisches Pfennigmagazin, Vol. I, No. 27, page 108, item 80, and subsequently in the Gesamtausgabe (Supplement), 1888, based on a copy by Nottebohm (from another copy by L. v. Sonnleithner). Catalogue references: GA No. 306 (series 25/43) – B. 275 – KH. (WoO) 23 – T. 294.

This piece, as Thayer notes, was performed around 1810 at the Prater by a wind instrument orchestra (Harmonie-Musik). According to Krumpholz, who retained it in memory, it was later transcribed for piano by Carl Czerny. The original score for wind instruments is now lost (see Hess, catalogue 4), although an intriguing string arrangement can be found on YouTube.

The Ecossaise was likely composed around 1810, possibly in Baden near Vienna. The authentic version for military band has not survived. Czerny’s piano arrangement, however, was first published posthumously in 1834 by Haslinger in Vienna. It is possible that the original wind composition was conceived alongside Beethoven’s marches WoO 21 and 22.

Alexander W. Thayer provides the following account of the work: “Dieses Stück (WoO 23), im Prater um das Jahr 1810 von der Harmonie-Musik gespielt, wurde von Krumpholz im Gedächtnisse behalten, und nach dessen Angabe von Carl Czerny niedergeschrieben” (Thayer 1865, p. 171). This suggests that the Ecossaise may have been memorised by Beethoven’s friend Wenzel Krumpholz and then arranged for piano by Czerny. It remains uncertain whether Czerny also drew on other now-lost sources, perhaps even sketches by Beethoven himself.

If Krumpholz was indeed involved, he must have copied the Ecossaise sometime between circa 1810 and May 2, 1817. Czerny’s piano version, however, did not appear in print until around 1834, when it was published in the Musikalisches Pfennigmagazin, which Czerny edited himself.

The date of the first performance is unknown, and no autograph by Beethoven has been found. There are also no documented transcriptions aside from Czerny’s piano version.

In the A-Wgm archive, a manuscript of Czerny’s piano arrangement survives, prepared by Leopold von Sonnleithner, although the original source he used remains unknown. Gustav Nottebohm later made a copy of this manuscript, which became the basis for the AGA edition (AGA series 25, p. VII).

The first printed edition appeared in Vienna, likely in July 1834, published by Tobias Haslinger under the heading:
WIENER / MUSIKALISCHES PFENNIG-MAGAZIN / für das PIANO-FORTE allein. / Edited by Carl Czerny.

Biographical Notes
Carl Czerny (Vienna, February 21, 1791 – Vienna, July 15, 1857)
Tobias Haslinger (March 1, 1787 – June 18, 1842)
Jan Křtitel Krumpholz (May 8, 1742 – February 19, 1790)