WoO 52 – Bagatelle in C Minor for Piano
Presto
WoO 52 – Bagatelle in C minor, for Piano – 1797, first published in the Supplement to the GA, 1888. GA No. 297/1 (series 25/34-1) – Bruers 280 – KH (WoO) 52 – P. 72/1. NGA VII/6 AGA 297/1 = Series 25/34.1
Beethoven had initially planned to include in the Piano Sonata Op. 10 No. 1 a movement titled Intermezzo, and sketched at least three different drafts. The first, found in a notebook from mid-1796 to late 1797 among the sketches for the second movement of the Sonata itself, later became the Bagatelle in question.
Origin and publication: Probably sketched and transcribed in 1795, revised for the first time in 1798. The final revisions of the piece were made later, probably in 1822 in connection with the preparation for the publication of the Bagatelles Op. 119. The first edition appeared posthumously in 1888 as part of the AGA by Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig.
The Bagatelle WoO 52 was originally conceived as a minuet/scherzo for the Piano Sonata Op. 10 No. 1 and was sketched and transcribed together with the first and second movements in 1795 (before Beethoven’s trip to Berlin in 1796) (Johnson/Fischhof Vol. 1 p. 424f).
Beethoven probably later discarded the piece because he considered it too long for the Sonata: „Zu den neuen Sonaten ganz kurze Menuetten. Zu der aus dem C moll bleibt das presto aus“ “Very short minuets for the new sonatas. The Presto remains in C minor” (note on paper purchased in Berlin in 1796, GB-Lbl, Add. Ms. 29801 [“Kafka”], folio 82r)
In 1798, Beethoven tried to rewrite the time signature from 3/4 to 6/8 (source 1.2, sheet 3; Johnson/Fischhof Vol. 1 p. 423). It remains to be seen whether this revision is connected to the Sonata Op. 13, composed in the same period. The Leipzig publisher Carl Friedrich Peters, in his request for new compositions dated May 18, 1822, mentioned among other things: „Solosachen für Pianoforte (worunter auch kleinere Werke sein könten)“ “Solo pieces for piano (which could also include smaller works)” (BGA 1465)
This may have prompted Beethoven to compile a portfolio of about 13 or 14 unpublished piano pieces, which he numbered consecutively (see also Op. 119). WoO 52 was assigned “No. 10” (source 1.2; Cooper/Portfolio p. 211, Cooper/Process p. 265).
In the final selection for the Bagatelles Op. 119, WoO 52 (along with other works such as WoO 56, 59, and 81) was not included. The unmistakable motif of the Bagatelle WoO 52 appears on the last page of a sketchbook (D-B, Mus. Ms. Beethoven autogr. 10, 2nd booklet p. 6 verso), which he wrote in a few days.
Sketches:
- D-B, Mus. SM. autogr. Beethoven 28 (“Fischhof”), folio 24r
- Date: 1795 (Johnson/Fischhof Vol. 1 pp. 140f and 425)
- Facsimile: SBB
- Transcription: Johnson/Fischhof Vol. 2 p. 128
- D-BNba, Coll. H. C. Bodmer, HCB BMh 11/51
- Date: 1795 (pages 1–2) or first half of 1798 (page 3; Johnson/Fischhof Vol. 1 pp. 141, 184, 425)
Title: Folio 1r “No. 10” Size: 3 sheets; 6 pages The notebook for revision, originally a bifolio, with “Presto” written inside on folio 1 verso / 2 recto, and the Trio on the outer folio 2 verso / 1 recto
Paper: Horizontal format, two types:
- (a) Pages 1–2: 22.5 × 32 cm, ruled
- (b) Sheet 3: 22.5 × 31.5 cm, staff-lined
Provenance:
- Johann Nepomuk Kafka, Vienna (see Brandenburg/Kafka p. 111)
- Gabriel Charavay, Paris, May 14, 1881
- On the modern cover (ownership?): note “George R. Dyer Jr., Christmas 1925”
- Hans Conrad Bodmer, Zurich
- Acquired in 1956
Facsimile and description: DBH / online First edition: in AGA
Literature:
- Cooper / Portfolio
- Cooper / Process pp. 263–282
-
Johnson / Fischhof Vol. 1 pp. 134–141, 179–186, 422–425
WoO 52 is part of the “Research Becomes Art” project.
A New Life for the Unknown Works of Ludwig van Beethoven: An Artistic Exploration by pianist maestro Alessandro Lettieri
