WoO 42 Six Allemandes for Piano and Violin, 1795 – 1796, published in Vienna, Maisch, July 1814. GA. No. 308 (series 25/45) – B. 171 – KH. (WoO)42 L. IV, Pages 343/8 P. 59, Thayer 184 Biamonti 112.

The title of the original edition, “Six Allemandes pour le Pianoforte avec accompagnement d’un violon”, explicitly indicates the complementary nature of the violin part, as was also the case in other earlier works, such as the Variations on “Se vuol ballare” by Mozart, WoO 41. The original manuscript is lost. Sketches for the first and third Allemandes can be found on a sheet noted by Nottebohm, which also contains fragments of the aria “Ah, perfido!” and other notes bearing resemblance to thematic elements from the first movement of the String Quartet in B flat major, Op. 18 No. 6. Additionally, we may note a closer similarity with the Sonatina for Mandolin and Piano in C major. These are small, unpretentious pieces. Traces of both the first and last Allemande can be found in the lively peasant gathering of the Pastoral Symphony.

In the manuscript that has survived, the first reprise of the I Deutsche Tanz is missing an entire bar, specifically the fifth measure, which should be a repeat of the initial one.

In the second reprise of the Trio in the III Deutsche Tanz – measure 4, right hand of the piano – in the final movement, we find a G in the manuscript; this is surely an error, as it should be a C, as in the beginning of the reprise.

A title page and 6 staves of manuscript in oblong format. The name in the dedication may refer to Countess Marie Wilhelmine Thun-Hohenstein, née Countess Urfeld (1744-1800), wife of Franz Joseph, Count Thun-Hohenstein. The second “Contessina” could be her sister Maria Elisabeth (1747-1791), wife of Count Georg Christian Waldstein. The three daughters of the Count, who had a friendly relationship with Beethoven, had all been married for quite some time.

The eldest, Elisabeth, had been married to the Russian Consul, Prince Rasumosky, since 1788; the second, Maria Christiana, was the wife of Prince Karl Lichnovsky; the third, Karoline, had been married since 1793 to Richard I Mead, second Earl of Clanwilliam, later Lord Guilford, an Irish statesman.

Beethoven would therefore never have referred to them as “Contessine”. Their mother was one of the most beautiful women in Viennese society during the last two decades of the 18th century. Fräulein von Kissow (later Frau v. Bernard), mentioned in Beethoven’s recollections, is remembered as “a very eccentric woman”. Very close to Mozart, she is cited in the writings of Wurzbach (volume 45, page 23), who quotes two enthusiastic judgments from English tourists Wraxall and Swinburne, who visited her. The daughters were famous for their beauty, which was painted by the artist Füger.

Although surviving only in a copy, this manuscript is significant for Beethoven research, also for the unique form of the dedication, which offers a new perspective on the friendly relationship between Beethoven and the Thun family.