WoO 43b Adagio for Mandolin and Piano in E-flat Major
I) Adagio
WoO 43b – Adagio (ma non troppo in the first version Hess 44) for mandolin and piano in E-flat major, 1796, first published in the Supplement zur G.A. in 1888 and more recently by W. Hess in the ninth issue of the Supplemente zur G.A. in 1965, together with the other version referred to in the following number. G.A. number 296 (series 25/33) – Bruers 150 – KH. (WoO) 43/2. (b)
The original manuscript is preserved at the Deutsche Staatsbibliothek in Berlin. This is also a small piece, though more extensive than the previous one. Its form, albeit miniature, is that of a genuine first movement of a sonata. Piano and mandolin are of equal importance, integrating with each other in a continuous, dialogic line. Worth noting are some fleeting similarities with thematic fragment gestures from other Beethovenian works—for example, the Adagio of the Pathetique Sonata. It is possible that this piece too was written for Wenzel Krumpholz.
Origin and Publication: Composed between February and April 1796 in Prague. The first edition appeared posthumously in 1888 as part of the AGA by Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig.
For mandolin pieces in general, see WoO 43a. – WoO 43b is preserved in two autograph scores currently held in Berlin (source 1.2) and Prague (source 1.3). Due to numerous corrections Beethoven made to the Berlin score, which was originally intended as the fair copy, he produced another copy for Josephine von Clary-Aldringen (to whom Beethoven’s mandolin pieces were dedicated; see WoO 43a). However, this version differs from the original in several respects (Raab/NGA V/4 pp. 168f). The first AGA edition is based on the Berlin source.
The Prague source was rediscovered for the first time by Arthur Chitz during his inspection of the Clam Gallas Archive between 1905 and 1912 (Chitz/Mandoline). (See our forthcoming article)
The first performance is unknown.
SOURCES
I Autographs and sketches
(1) GB-lbl, Add. Ms. 29801 (“Kafka”), page 104r. Date: 1796 (Johnson/Fischhof vol. 1 p. 421), facsimile and transcription: Kerman/Kafka.
(2) D-B, Mus. ms. ms. autogr. Beethoven 28 (“Fischhof”), p. 43r. The assignment to WoO 43b is unclear (Johnson/Fischhof, vol. 1, p. 419). Date: 1796 (Johnson/Fischhof vol. 1 p. 421), facsimile: SBB/Microfiche, transmission: Johnson/Fischhof vol. 2 p. 126. perhaps belonging to a fifth piece.
2 Score: D-B, Mus. ms. ms. autogr. Beethoven Grasnick 25b, pp. 8-11. First transcription. Sketches: from February to April 1796 (Johnson/Fischhof vol. 1 p. 157).
Support: 4 sheets; 8-page music sheet 8r-1 lv. Paper: horizontal format, 25 x 30.5 cm, 8 lines.
Provenance: Friedrich August Grasnick, Berlin. – Acquired in 1879, in facsimile: SBB/Microfiche. Description: Raab/NGA V/4 S. I67f.
3 points: CZ-Pnm, Tr B 84 (= Ms XLII D 98). Second transcription. Meetings: from February to April 1796 (Johnson/Fischhof vol. 1 p. 157).
Title: Bl. Ir on the top right “pour la belle J par LB.“. Size: 2 sheets; 4 pages of sheet music Bl. Ir-2v. Paper: landscape format, 22.5 x 31 cm, lines I6.
Provenance: Clam-Gallas Archive, Frydlant vs. Cechach (old signature 364b). (Recovered by Arthur Chitz between 1905 and 1912 during the reconnaissance of the Clam-Gallass music collection.) – Transferred in 1949 to the music department of the National Museum. Description: Raab/NGA V/4 p. 168f.
II Unverified copies.
After 23 June 1912 (letter from Chitz to the Clam-Gallas counts, see WoO 43a) the trace of a copy is lost that can no longer be traced.
III First editions
1 According to the Berlin score (source 1.2): 1888. In AGA. – Unique edition: 1938 Leipzig, Schuberth & Co., edited by Otto Bahlmann.
2 Based on the Prague score (source 1.3): 1940. Reichenberg, Edmund Ullmann. -Title: “LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN / ADAGIO MA MA NON TROPPO / FÜR MANDOLINE UND KLAVIER / (HARPSICHORD) / Practical Edition / (with mandolin and violin part)” (Sudetendeutsches Musikarchiv, edited by Karl Michael Komma, 2).
Letteratura: Buchner/Mandoline. – Chitz/Mandoline. – Chitz/Wo044. – Chitz/1796. – John-son/Tourl796. – Johnson/Fischhof vol. 1, fl 92-102, 154-158, 417-442. – Raab/NGA V/4 S.Xf, 166-171.
