[138] Dr. Riemann thinks that Beethoven originally wrote “1802” on the autograph, and that subsequently he, or somebody else, changed the 8 into a 7 and the 0 into an 8. (See the facsimile in Frimmel’s “Beethovenjahrbuch” of 1909); yet the German Editor finds suggestions of Beethoven’s latest style in the “Bagatelles” and calls attention to the fact that Beethoven detected intimations of No. 5 in the set Op. 119 in the Kessler sketchbook. Dr. Riemann’s conclusion is thus worded: “If Ries in his ‘Notizen’ meant these ‘Bagatelles’, he was surely in error. Beethoven’s complaint to Breitkopf and Härtel in the letter of October, 1803, ‘since unfortunately so many unlucky old things of mine have been sold and stolen,’ cannot possibly have referred to them. Beethoven himself thought highly of these ‘trifles’, as is shown by his anger at Peters’s depreciation of Op. 119. it is very likely that Ries meant the Two Preludes in all the Keys (Op. 39), which may have been surreptitiously published.”
Transcriber’s Note
Page headers in the original text have been moved above the paragraph to which they relate.
The paragraph beginning “For my Brothers Carl” on p. 354 was printed vertically.
The following printing errors have been corrected:
- p. xx “Sympathethic” changed to “Sympathetic”
- p. 24 “200 th.”” changed to “200 th.”
- p. 70 (note) “Variations” changed to ““Variations”
- p. 96 (note) “Beethoven’s mother.” changed to “Beethoven’s mother.””
- p. 115 “the the hour” changed to “the hour”
- p. 135 “bass”).” changed to “bass).””
- p. 138 “pianofore” changed to “pianoforte”
- p. 141 “these years” changed to “these years’”
- p. 202 (note) “continally” changed to “continually”
- p. 241 “Hadyn” changed to “Haydn”
- p. 258 “neighboring page.” changed to “neighboring page.]”
- p. 295 (header) “String Quartet” changed to “String Quintet”
- p. 303 “familarly” changed to “familiarly”
- p. 321 (note) ““je la méprisois” changed to ““je la méprisois””
- p. 365 “(not complete).” changed to “(not complete).””
- p. 368 ““Once when he” changed to “Once when he”
The following possible errors have not been corrected:
- p. 31 Schuster.
- p. 57 (note) May 23. 1827.
- p. 107 Il Convivo
- p. 231 (for I am
- p. 263 an opera—
Inconsistencies in spelling have otherwise been left as printed. They include: