WoO 52 – Bagatelle in C Minor for Piano
Presto
WoO 52 – Bagatelle in C minor, for Piano – 1797, first published in the Supplement to 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 at first planned to include in the Piano Sonata op. 10 number 1 a movement with the title of Intermezzo and sketched at least three different schemes. The first, which is found in a notebook from mid-1796 – late 1797 among the drafts of the second movement of the Sonata itself, later became the Bagattelle in question.
Beethoven probably later discarded the piece because it was considered 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 “], Bl. 82r).
In 1798, Beethoven tried to rewrite time from 3/4 to 6/8 (source 1.2, folio 3; Johnson / Fischhof, vol. 1 p. 423). It remains to be seen whether this revision is related to Sonata op.13, composed in the same period. The Leipzig publisher Carl Friedrich Peters, in his request for new compositions, mentions, on 18 May 1822, among other things, “Solosachen für Pianoforte (worunter auch kleinere Werke sein könten)” “Solo piano things (which could also include smaller works)” (BGA 1465).
This may have prompted Beethoven to put together a portfolio of about 13 or 14 unpublished piano pieces, which he numbered consecutively (see also Op. 119). WoO 52 had the “No. 10” (source 1.2; Cooper / Portfolio p. 211, Cooper / Process p. 265). In the final selection for the Bagatelle op.119, WoO 52 (along with other works such as WoO 56, 59 and 81) was not taken into consideration.
The unmistakable motif of the Bauble WoO 52 appears on the last page of a sketchbook (D-B, Mus. Ms. Beethoven autogr. 10, 2nd booklet p. 6versus), which he wrote in a few days.
Sketches: D-B, Mus. SM. autogr. Beethoven 28 (“Fischhof”), bl. 24r. Date: 1795 (Johnson/Fischhof vol. 1 pp. I40f 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 the first half of 1798 (page 3; Johnson / Fischhof Vol.1 pp.141, 184, 425).
Title: Bl. Ir “No. 10”. Size: 3 sheets; 6 pages. The revision notebook, originally a double sheet, with the “Presto” written on the inside on sheet 1 versusv / 2 recto, and the Trio on the outer sheet 2 versus / 1 recto. Paper: landscape format, two types: (a) Pages. 1-2: 22.5 x 32 cm, lined; (b) Sheet 3: 22.5 x 31.5 cm, in pentagram lines. Provenance: Johann Nepomuk Kafka, Vienna (See Brandenburg / Kafka page 111). – Gabriel Charavay, Paris, May 14, 1881 On the modern (owned?) cover the note “George R. Dyer Jr., Christmas 1925”. – Hans Conrad Bodmer, Zurich. – Purchased 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