Prelude through All the Keys, op. 39 nr. 1
These preludes date from Beethoven's teenage years in Bonn. They were not published until December 1803, when they were issued by Hoffmeister in Leipzig, along with the Violin Romance opus 40 and the slightly questionable Serenade for Flute, opus 41. These publications of early works and a dubious transcription, apparently with Beethoven's approval, can probably be traced to a simple need for ready money. Though the autograph is lost, Berlin has a copy, Artaria 128, with Beethoven's corrections and a note stating "1789 Von Ludwig van Beethoven"
While somewhat trivial amongst Beethoven's piano output, these preludes are very well-suited to the sonority of an organ, and they are commonly found in classical organ music compilations. One would expect that they were indeed performed by a young Beethoven as a court organist in Bonn, and may well have been written as part of his study with Neefe. The first of the two preludes is more substantial and spends enough time in each key to give a sense of its nature, ascending to a climax in the middle and then returning to earth and C major at the end; the second, clocking in at under two minutes, sometimes spends only a single measure in the various keys as it hastens on to the next key, with almost ridiculous efficiency. The ending of the first prelude was dismembered and released as its own organ composition; Willy Hess being none the wiser to the source, assigned that truncation catalogue number Hess 310.
Opus: 39