Minuet in C, Gardi 19 (1819-1820)

Minuet in C, Gardi 19 (1819-1820) This charming minuet, apparently scored for piano, is found in the Wittgenstein sketchbook SV 154, which was once owned by a young Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, at page 83 and presently held by the Bonn Beethovenhaus. Marked "geschwind," the minuet is found amongst sketches for the Credo and the Sanctus from the Missa Solemnis, op. 123. The first section of the Minuet is complete, but only the first half of the second section is present in the sketchbook. Understanding this sketchbook has proven somewhat problematical; as Douglas Johnson notes, the 43 leaves that remain in the sketchbook today come from 15 different sheets, making it likely that at least 17 leaves are missing altogether. Parts of it are found in the Berlin miscellany Grasnick 206, folios 2-6, and in Paris Ms 77, pages 5-12. Johnson concludes from the inclusion of early sketches for op. 109, and the song Abendlied WoO 150, (the final version of which is dated March 4, 1820), that Beethoven used this sketchbook in late 1819 and early 1820, probably ceasing work in it no later than June of that year.

Gardi: 19

Click here to help us continue bringing more Unheard Beethoven compositions to the Internet