{"id":6084,"date":"2020-11-09T08:00:37","date_gmt":"2020-11-09T07:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.henle.de\/blog\/en\/?p=6084"},"modified":"2020-11-03T10:11:16","modified_gmt":"2020-11-03T09:11:16","slug":"abandoned-alas-beethovens-unfinished-works","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.henle.de\/en\/2020\/11\/09\/abandoned-alas-beethovens-unfinished-works\/","title":{"rendered":"Abandoned, alas! \u2013 Beethoven\u2019s unfinished works"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>In the run-up to the Beethoven anniversary year, I kept getting enquiries from musicians looking for unknown Beethoven compositions, that is, rejected or fragmentary works to record or programme in concerts. Understandably so, for in 2020 they would want to explore the appeal of the \u201cunknown Beethoven\u201d in addition to the well-known core repertoire. The new Beethoven works\u2019 catalogue<\/a> has been an indispensable aid in answering such questions \u2013 which were often also about scoring and authenticity. Whereas the first volume of the catalogue is devoted to works with opus numbers, the second contains information on all compositions not assigned an opus number either during Beethoven\u2019s lifetime or posthumously. This second volume is divided into works without opus numbers (WoO), unfinished works (Unv) and an appendix (Anh) with spurious or dubious works<\/a>. Separate sections are furthermore devoted to Beethoven\u2019s numerous plans for operas and oratorios.<\/p>\n

In fact, it is by no means true that remaining in the shadow of opus-number music have been all compositions not intended by Beethoven for publication or assigned a work number. We think, for example, of the famous Bagatelle in A minor WoO 59, first published 40 years after Beethoven\u2019s death under the title \u201cF\u00fcr Elise\u201d, which has become today one of the most popular of all his works. But as a whole, this second catalogue volume records in both main sections for \u201cWoOs\u201d and \u201cUnvs\u201d, a wealth of largely unknown works, finished or unfinished. Beethoven was one of those composers who dealt quite carelessly with their manuscripts \u2013 especially with full-score autographs as soon as the work in question was published \u2013 though, conversely, he usually did not destroy sketches or drafts even after they had served their immediate purpose. Considering the great length time that has elapsed since Beethoven\u2019s lifetime, the number of extant sketches and manuscripts is astonishingly high.<\/p>\n

In the following I\u2019d like to make a little foray into the very special world of \u201cunfinished\u201d works. The extent of completion, or better yet, \u201cnon-completion\u201d, varies greatly. Listed are compositions not going beyond a few sketches, right up to those for which almost complete sonata movements are extant. But upon examination surprises are always turning up.<\/p>\n

So, it\u2019s probably known that Beethoven made two other attempts at symphonies beyond the nine completed, usually designated as No. 0 in C major (Unv 2, sketched as of 1794) and as No. 10 in c minor or E-flat major (Unv 3, initially sketched in 1822 together with the later 9th<\/sup> symphony). Far less known, although already described in 1911, is another attempt in this genre, recorded in Bonn around 1788\/90 on page 70 in the so-called \u201cKafka\u201d sketchbook<\/a> with at least 111 measures of a movement in c minor (Unv 1), headed \u201cSinfonia\u201d.<\/p>\n

Even more interesting appear to be the fragments in the realm of concerto music. Examples include an aborted attempt at a violin concerto in C major (WoO 5, full score of 259 measures, ca. 1790\/92) as well as an incomplete piano concerto in D major (Unv 6, sketches, together with a full score of 256 measures). Were there any other attempts at concertos for other solo instruments? We may assume so, though as of now there is no evidence of anything like a cello or bassoon concerto. Exceptionally, there is the concerto for oboe in F major from the late Bonn period (WoO 206, ca. 1792). Extant is only a sketch for the 2nd<\/sup> movement plus a folio described by Anton Diabelli as containing the incipits of all three movements, though several documents indicate that at the time it was not only concluded but also performed \u2013 strictly speaking, it therefore doesn\u2019t belong at all in our list, because what is fragmentary here does not refer to what once existed, but to what has survived. Not only oboists will regret that Beethoven did not revise it again later and have it printed.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Incipits of the lost oboe concerto WoO 206, Beethoven-Haus Bonn<\/a>, shelfmark BH 135<\/p><\/div>\n

Directly adjacent to the oboe concerto in the works\u2019 catalogue is a work appearing curious at first glance, a \u201cRomance cantabile\u201d for flute, bassoon, piano and orchestra in e minor (WoO 207), which nevertheless breaks off after 57 measures. That it was a fragment of a slow movement belonging to a \u201csinfonia concertante\u201d has reasonably been suggested. The tradition of such concertante symphonies was still very much alive at the end of the 18th<\/sup> century and the transition to concertos with several solo instruments was relatively seamless. If completed, could WoO 207 have become a counterpart to the famous Triple Concerto op. 56?<\/p>\n

These few examples already raise two general questions:<\/p>\n