WoO 33/a/b, 5 Pieces for Flute Clock or Mechanical Instrument
WoO 33a – I) Adagio assai
WoO 33a – II) Scherzo
WoO 33a – III) Scherzo
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WoO 33b – IV) Allegro non più molto
WoO 33b – V) Allegretto
Official title: WoO 33a Drei Stücke (F-dur, G-dur, G-dur) für Flötenuhr Widmung: — NGAVI/1 AGA-SBG VII/6-8 (Hess 103-105)
Origin and publication: pieces probably composed in 1799 for the “Müllersche Kunst- und Wachsfigurenkabinett mit seinen zahlreichen mechanischen Instrumenten”. The first editions appeared posthumously: No. 1 was published in 1902 as a supplement to the journal Die Musik, No. 2 in 1921 in Gustav Beckings’ Beethoven-Studien, and No. 3 in 1963 as part of the SBG at Breitkopf & Härtel in Wiesbaden.
Albert Kopfermann was the first to explain, in 1902, that these three pieces, originally noted in the manuscript Grasnick 23, were written for a mechanical organ, a so-called Flötenoder Spieluhr. Notably, the notation of No. 1 (written on four staves, three in treble clef and one in bass clef) shows a striking similarity to Mozart’s two works for the same instrument, K. 594 and K. 608, copies of which were found in the “Beethoven Succession” (see Beethoven’s copies of works by other composers). Mozart had composed these works for the Müllersche Kunst- und Wachsfigurenkabinett, managed by Count Joseph Deym von Stritzer. According to Ernst Simon, Beethoven received these manuscripts from Count Deym as a model for new works for his collection. A 35-bar fragment of Beethoven’s arrangement of the fugue from the final part of Mozart’s K. 608 was reported by the Stargardt auction house in Marburg in 1958, described as “verschiedene für Klavier unmögliche Stellen” (“various passages impossible for piano”).
In addition to WoO 33a, the manuscript Grasnick 23 contains four variations from the WoO 74 series, which Beethoven also noted in the family book of the sisters Therese and Josephine von Brunsvik in May 1799. Since Scherzo WoO 33a No. 2 is written on the same paper as the four variations of WoO 74, it was likely composed at the same time. It is probable that numbers 1 and 3 were composed earlier. Douglas Johnson gives no further details, only dating No. 1 as “probably in 1799”. The compilation in the KH, which includes two other compositions (see WoO 33b), and presents five pieces for Flötenoder Spieluhr as WoO 33, is based on Georg Schünemann’s 1940 edition, which mistakenly combined the works into a single collection of Spieluhr pieces. The date of the first performance is unknown.
Official Title: WoO 33a Drei Stücke (F-dur, G-dur, G-dur) für Flötenuhr Widmung: — NGAVI/1 AGA-SBG VII/6-8 (Hess 103-105)
Origin and publication: pieces probably composed in 1799 for the “Müllersche Kunst- und Wachsfigurenkabinett mit seinen zahlreichen mechanischen Instrumenten”. The first editions appeared posthumously: No. 1 was published in 1902 as a supplement to the journal Die Musik, No. 2 in 1921 in Gustav Beckings’ Beethoven-Studien, and No. 3 in 1963 as part of the SBG at Breitkopf & Härtel in Wiesbaden.
Albert Kopfermann was the first to explain, in 1902, that these three pieces, initially noted in the Grasnick 23 manuscript, were written for a mechanical organ, a so-called Flötenoder Spieluhr. Notably, the notation of No. 1 (written on four staves, three in treble clef and one in bass clef) shows a striking similarity to Mozart’s two works for the same instrument, K. 594 and K. 608, copies of which were found in the “Beethoven Succession” (see Beethoven’s copies of works by other composers). Mozart composed these works for the Müllersche Kunst- und Wachsfigurenkabinett, managed by Count Joseph Deym von Stritzer. According to Ernst Simon, Beethoven received these manuscripts from Count Deym as a model for new works in his collection. A 35-bar fragment of Beethoven’s arrangement of the fugue from the concluding section of Mozart’s K. 608 was reported by the Stargardt firm in Marburg in 1958, described as “verschiedene für Klavier unmögliche Stellen” (“various passages impossible for piano”).
In addition to WoO 33a, the Grasnick 23 manuscript contains four variations from the WoO 74 series, which Beethoven also noted in the family book of the sisters Therese and Josephine von Brunsvik in May 1799. Since Scherzo WoO 33a No. 2 is written on the same paper as the four variations of WoO 74, it was likely composed at the same time. Numbers 1 and 3 were probably composed earlier. Douglas Johnson gives no further details, limiting the dating of No. 1 to “probably in 1799”. The collection in the KH, which includes two other compositions (see below WoO 33b) and five pieces for Flötenoder Spieluhr as WoO 33, is based on Georg Schünemann’s 1940 edition, which mistakenly combined the works into a single collection of Spieluhr pieces. The date of the first performance is unknown.
Official title: WoO 33b Zwei Stücke (C-dur) unbekannter Besetzung Widmung: — NGAVI/1 AGA-SBG VII/10 (Hess 106)
Origin and Publication: The two works were composed before 1795. The first edition was published posthumously in 1940 by Schott in Mainz and Leipzig. According to manuscript findings in the autograph score, Douglas Johnson dates these two pieces to before 1795. Beethoven himself did not provide any information on the instrumentation. While there are numerous indications in the WoO 33a group suggesting that Beethoven composed the three pieces in 1799 for a mechanical musical instrument (Flötenuhr) kept at the Müllers Kunstkabinett, the manuscript (“Artaria 186”) of the Allegro and Allegretto WoO 33b does not specify the instrumentation.
The five movements were first published together, in two series, by Georg Schünemann in 1940 as “probably intended for a Spieluhr” (in a piano arrangement). Schünemann included the two pieces from “Artaria 186” in his edition as the second series, likely because they were marked in the Artaria autograph index as “probably intended for a Spieluhr“. Apparently, Hans Halm followed Schünemann’s lead when the five pieces were combined into a single WoO number in the Kinsky-Halm catalogue in 1955. Georg Kinsky, however, had already rejected this attribution of the two pieces as incorrect in 1927.
At the auction of the “Beethoven Succession” held in November 1827, WoO 33b was perhaps purchased by Artaria under number 157 as “Two complete small pieces from an earlier time for piano”. Ernst Simon suspects that it might be the first and third movements of an incomplete piano sonata. Egon Voss doubts that the score is for piano due to the key used and a passage in measure 38 of No. 1 (the fourth of the series) that cannot be played on the piano. Jose Alberto Ubach considers the two pieces to be compositions for guitar with a triplet feel. The date of the first performance is unknown.
WoO 33a/1 Adagio assai in F major for mechanical music, 1799, described and published for the first time by A. Kopfermann in Musik, appendix to the 20th notebook of March 1902; in the piano version (together with the Scherzo, the Allegro, the Allegro non più molto and Allegretto referred to in the following nos. 198, 199 and 200) by G. Schünemann, Mainz, Schott, 1940; according to the original redaction by W. Hess in the seventh issue of the Supplemente zur GA., 1963. B. 284 – H. 103 – KH. (WoO)33 – P. 110.
The original manuscript is preserved, together with those referred to in the following nos. 198 and 199, in the Deutsche Staatsbibliothek in Berlin. The three pieces were probably written by Beethoven for the Flötenhur (mechanical organ) in the Count Deym Art Gallery (the “Hofstatuarius Müller”) in Vienna. Their attraction must have consisted in the timbral effect of the particular instrument, rich in arpeggios, flourishes and flights around the simple melody.
Hess also gives us information about various transcriptions of this Adagio, for cello and piano, violin and piano, string quartet, quintet and other ensembles of wind instruments, in his catalogue, pp. 34 and 35.
WoO 33a/2 Scherzo in G major for mechanical music (Spielhur, Carillon), 1799, published for piano together with the Allegro referred to in the following no. 199 by Chantavoine (Deux airs pour boite à musique), Paris, Heuge. au Ménestrel, 1902; and in the Sudeten Monatsheften, June 1936; together with the Adagio assai, the Allegro and the Allegro più molto and the Allegretto referred to in the previous no. 197 and the following 199 and 200 by G. Schiinemann, Mainz, Schott, 1940; according to the original manuscript: by E. Becking, Das Scherzo Thema, etc., 1921 and by W. Hess in the seventh fascicle (Appendix) of the Supplemente zur GA., 1963.H. 104 – KH. (WoO)33/2.
The original manuscript (two-lined, treble clef) is also preserved in the Deutsche Staatsbibliothek in Berlin.
WoO 33a/3 Scherzo published by Chantavoine, Paris, Heugel, pcs; and in the Sudeten Monatsheften, June 1936, together with the Adagio, the Scherzo and the Allegro no longer much and the Allegro referred to in nos. 197, 198 by G. Schünemann, Mainz, Schott, 1940; according to the original redaction by W. Hess in Ricordiana, Milan, May 1957 and in the first fascicle of the Supplemente zur GA., 1963.H. 105 – KH. (WoO)33/3. Written for the same destination as in nos. 197 and 198 of the same character.
WoO 33b/1 (fourth in the WoO 33 series) Allegro più non molto in C major, without indication of instrument, 1799, published by G. Schünemann, together with the Adagio, the Scherzo and the Allegro referred to in the previous nos. 197, 198, 199, Mainz, Schott, 1940, and by W. Hess in the seventh issue of the Supplemente zur GA., 1963. B. 317 – H. 106 – KH. (WoO)33/4 and 5 – T. 29.
The original manuscript, formerly preserved in the Preussische Staatsbibliothek in Berlin, disappeared after the end of the 1939-1945 war; however, a photocopy exists at the Beethovenhaus. It is originally written in two staves, respectively in the key to alto and tenor. It is possible, Hess says in the catalogue number, that these two pieces were written in Bonn and in the Supplement he adds “or in the early Vienna days for a Spielhur;” but we know nothing precise about it. The Thayer catalogue also mentions the Bonn period with some doubts. On the other hand, the KH. he assigns them to 1799.
WoO 33b/2 (fifth in the WoO 33 series) Allegretto (Minuet with Trio) in C major, without indication of instrument, 1799, published by G. Schünemann, together with the Adagio, the Scherzo and the Allegro referred to in the previous nos. 197, 198, 199, Mainz, Schott, 1940, and by W. Hess in the seventh issue of the Supplemente zur GA., 1963. B. 317 – H. 106 – KH. (WoO)33/4 and 5 – T. 29.
The original manuscript, formerly preserved in the Preussische Staatsbibliothek in Berlin, disappeared after the end of the 1939-1945 war; however, a photocopy exists at the Beethovenhaus. It is originally written in two staves, respectively in the key of alto and tenor. It is possible, Hess says in the aforementioned catalogue number, that these two pieces were written in Bonn and in the Supplement he adds “or in the early Vienna days for a Spielhur;” but we know nothing precise about it. The Thayer catalogue also mentions the Bonn period with doubts. On the other hand, the KH. he assigns them to 1799.
WoO 33/a/b, 5 Pieces for Flute Clock or Mechanical Instrument
Transcription for Alto and Cello by Willy Hess
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WoO 33b – IV) Allegro non più molto
WoO 33b – V) Allegretto
In Beethovens Nachlaß fanden sich zwei Sätze ohne Überschrift und ohne Instrumentalangaben, lediglich bezeichnet als Allegro non più molto und Allegretto, das letztere in Form eines Menuetts mit Trio. Das Werk hat zu vielen Rätselraten geführt. Blasinstrumente scheiden wegen den Doppelgriffen aus; auch für Streicher sind einige Takte nicht spielbar. Auf dem Klavier sind beide Sätze zwar zur Not wiederzugeben, wirken aber merkwürdig dünn; zudem steht die Notierung im Alt- und Tenorschlüssel der Annahme eines Klavierstückes entgegen.
Dies und das völlige Fehlen von Vortragsbezeichnungen ließ einige Forscher vermuten, es handle sich um Kompositionen für eine Spieluhr. Georg Schünemann erhob diese Vermutung freilich zur Gewißheit und gab 1940 beide Sätze samt den 1799 für den Grafen Josef Deym komponierten Spieluhrstücken in einer Bearbeitung für Klavier bei Schotts Söhnen in Mainz heraus. Indessen entstanden sie ersichtlich früher als jene, mit denen sie nichts zu tun haben. Thayer verlegte sie in die letzten Bonner- oder ersten Wiener-Jahre!
Daß sie zyklisch zusammen gehören, ist offenkundig; sie bilden eine reizvolle Sonatine, deren Schwesterwerk Beethoven für seinen Freund Wegeler schrieb. Eine Bearbeitung für Viola und Violoncello erforderte neben den notwendigen Vortragsbezeichnungen nur wenig Eingriffe in den originalen Notentext und ergab sich fast zwangsläufig durch die Lage beider Stimmen und deren Schlüssel. Grundsätzlich bieten wir in der Partitur Beethovens originale Niederschrift ohne irgendwelche Zutaten. Damit hat jeder Spieler die Möglichkeit, sich seinen Part selber einzurichten, falls ihm die Vorschläge des Herausgebers nicht zusagen.
Beethovens Unschrift ist sehr sauber und bietet kaum Probleme der Entzifferung. Die Wiederholung des zweiten Teiles des ersten Satzes ist wohl zu dessen Beginn angemerkt, nicht aber am Schluß, so daß die Ausführenden hier selber entscheiden müssen. Zweiter Satz: Takt 66 ist 2. Achtel der Cellopartie c; im analogen Takt 81 ändert Beethoven sogar das d in e! Schünemann (und wir mit ihm) gibt aber wohl mit vollstem Recht den d. Im übrigen sei auf den Revisionsbericht in Band VII meiner Supplemente zur Beethoven-Gesamtausgabe verwiesen (Wiesbaden 1963).* Willy Hess
*) Leider wünschte der Verlag in jener Ausgabe die Übertragung in moderne Schlüssel, so daß unsere Ausgabe das Werk erstmals so vorlegt, wie Beethoven es niedergeschrieben hat.
Among Beethoven’s posthumous works were found two untitled movements with no mention of instruments used, simply marked Allegro non più molto and Allegretto, the latter being in the form of a Minuet with Trio. There has been much guesswork about the works. Wind instruments are ruled out on account of the double stops; some bars can’t be played on stringed instruments either. Both movements can, at a pinch, be rendered on the piano, yet they sound peculiarly thin; moreover, the notation in Alto and Tenor clefs also goes against that hypothesis.
These facts, added to a complete lack of performing signs, have led some scholars to suppose the pieces might have been written for a musical clock. In 1940 Georg Schünemann freely promoted this assumption to a certainty by editing, for Schott & Sons in Mainz, a piano arrangement of both movements along with the musical clock pieces composed in 1799 for Count Josef Deym. Yet they were evidently written earlier than those pieces; according to Thayer either during the last years in Bonn or during the first years in Vienna.
The two movements obviously form a charming Sonatina, similar to the one in F major, also in two movements, written by Beethoven for his friend Wegeler. A transcription for viola and cello followed almost inevitably from the range of both voices and their clefs, and required little interference with the text beyond adding the necessary performing signs. As a matter of principle, the full score gives Beethoven’s original, bearing no indications whatsoever. Each player can therefore arrange his part to suit himself, should he disagree with the editor’s suggestions.
Beethoven’s original is very clear, raising no problems of deciphering. The repeat sign for the first movement’s second part, although marked at its beginning, is not repeated at the end; performers will have to decide for themselves. Second movement: in bar 66 the second eighth-note in the cello part is e; in the analogous bar 81 Beethoven alters the d to e! But Schünemann (and we follow him here) is surely right in giving d. For the rest I refer readers to the revision report in volume VII of my supplement to the Complete Edition of Beethoven’s works (Wiesbaden 1963).* Willy Hess
*) The publishers unfortunately wanted modern clefs in that edition; this one therefore presents the work, for the first time, as Beethoven wrote it.
