Fuer Elise, 1822 Revised Version (mp3)
Most people are familiar with the early version of this popular bagatelle, originally written about 1808 and published by Ludwig Nohl many years after Beethoven's death. However, Beethoven returned to this piece in 1822 and made substantial revisions to the piece, apparently intending to add it to a set of bagatelles. The 1822 version is slightly fragmentary; the midi here uses the score edited by Barry Cooper (published by Novello). Most notable is the change in the accompaniment to the main theme; instead of being constant throughout the melody line, in the 1822 version the melody is unaccompanied for the first beat of each long note. This give a much different effect. Several bars are also inserted in the middle of the piece; it is not clear whether Beethoven intended to add more here, though it sounds slightly incomplete as it stands.
The MIDI of this completion appears on The Unheard Beethoven with the kind permission of Dr. Barry Cooper.
WoO: 59