Music Manuscripts and Facsimiles

The Music Division holds several music manuscripts specific to Beethoven. The sections on this page describe the Music Division's unique holdings: Beethoven's holograph manuscripts and sketches for his own works, printed scores with the composer's own edits, manuscript arrangements of Beethoven's works by others, and facsimile reproductions of Beethoven manuscripts held by other institutions.

Ludwig van Beethoven, composer. Trio in E-flat major for violin, viola and cello, op. 3, mvt. 6. Undated. Library of Congress Music Division.

Ludwig van Beethoven, composer. Piano Sonata No. 15 in D major, op. 28, mvt. 2. [1810?]. Library of Congress Music Division.

Ludwig van Beethoven, composer. Romance No. 2 in F major, op. 50. [1802?]. Library of Congress Music Division.

Ludwig van Beethoven, composer. Piano sonata No. 28 in A major, op. 101, mvt. 4. Undated. Library of Congress Music Division.

Ludwig van Beethoven, composer. Piano sonata No. 30 in E major, op. 109. [1820]. Library of Congress Music Division.

Ludwig van Beethoven, composer. String quartet No. 13 in B-flat major, op. 130, mvt. 2. [1825]. Library of Congress Music Division.

Ludwig van Beethoven, composer. Jüngling in der Fremde [Lied aus der ferne], WoO 138. 1809. Library of Congress Music Division.

Ludwig van Beethoven, composer. Das Schweigen, WoO 168. Undated. Library of Congress Music Division.

Ludwig van Beethoven, composer. Sketches Piano sonata No. 29 in B-flat major, op. 106, mvt. 4. [1817?]. Library of Congress Music Division.

Ludwig van Beethoven, composer. Sketches for String quartet No.14 C-sharp minor, op. 131, mvt. 1. Undated. Library of Congress Music Division.

Ludwig van Beethoven, composer. Sketches for String quartet No. 14 in C-sharp minor, op. 131, mvt. 7. 1827. Library of Congress Music Division.

How to Find Holograph Manuscripts by Beethoven

The Music Division holds over a dozen music manuscripts and sketches in Beethoven's own hand. The physical manuscripts live in several different places in the Music Division's collections, a reflection of how they were acquired. Search for them using the following information:

Search the Online Catalog using the call number ML30.8b .B4
Find the six Beethoven manuscripts purchased through the Gertrude Clarke Whittall Foundation collection
Search the finding aid for the Moldenhauer Archives
Three manuscripts by Beethoven are held within the collection
Search the Online Catalog using the call number ML96 .B44
Other Beethoven manuscripts acquired by the Music Division

Some of the Music Division's most important manuscripts include sketches for the third and fourth movements of the op. 106 "Hammerklavier" piano sonata. No complete manuscript in Beethoven's hand exists for the work, and the Music Division holds eight pages of sketches from the piece's third and fourth movements. The Music Division also holds the complete manuscript for the Piano sonata in E major, op. 109, as well as several sketches for the first and final movements of the op. 131 string quartet.

Holograph Manuscripts by Beethoven

The following Beethoven manuscripts have been scanned and made available to search, view, and download through the Library's Digital Collections. View scans of these manuscripts using the following links:

Manuscript scores:

Manuscript sketches:

The Music Division holds two other holograph sketches that warrant additional explanation:

Undated holograph sketches
There is sketch material identified as Allegretto for piano; on the same side are sketches for a Fugetta. On the reverse side are sketches from the op. 15 finale and sketches for the melody of a Cavatine, partly with figured bass and fragments of Goethe's poem "Wonne der Wehmuth." The music for these text fragments differs from Beethoven's op. 83, no. 1 setting of the same poem.
Piano sonata, op. 14, no. 1, mvts. 1 & 3
This item links to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog.
Portion of a leaf of the 1st movement (on recto) and sketches for the 3rd movement (on verso) of the Piano sonata, op. 14, no. 1. Other portions of this leaf are in the Deutsche Staatsbibliothek in Berlin and the Royal Musical Academy in Stockholm. The remaining portions of the leaf are lost.

Search for additional and related manuscripts held by other institutions in the Music Treasures Consortium Digital Collection. See also the "Databases and External Resources" page of this research guide for more information of locating scanned manuscripts held by other institutions.

Request and view items that have not been scanned in the Performing Arts Reading Room.

Other Materials in Beethoven's Hand

The Music Division's collections include several items that are not holograph manuscripts of Beethoven's works, but do include material written in his hand:

Beethoven's autograph copy of the vocal parts from two scenes in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera Don Giovanni, Nos. 16 and 20, the Terzett and Sextett
Purchased through the Moldenhauer Archives. Includes sketches of both scenes' orchestral parts.
First edition printed by Artaria of a set of the three op. 2 piano sonatas
Contains holograph notations in crayon, pencil, and ink.
One leaf of manuscript corrections in Beethoven's hand for the Piano sonata No. 30 in E major, op. 109
Complements the complete holograph manuscript also held by the Music Division.

Request and view items that have not been scanned in the Performing Arts Reading Room.

Manuscript Arrangements of Beethoven by Others

The Music Division has several manuscript arrangements of Beethoven's works from during or within several decades of his lifetime, particularly by the composer Franz Liszt:

Adelaide, op. 46
Arranged by Franz Liszt for solo piano
Piano concerto No. 4 in G major, op. 58
Arranged by Franz Liszt for two pianos
Piano concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, op. 73
Orchestra parts arranged for second piano by Franz Liszt
Carl Czerny's accompaniments of Beethoven's op. 37, 58, and 73 piano concertos; op. 61 violin concerto
The manuscript is both signed by Czerny and includes the dates when begun and finished

Find these and additional items by searching in the Library's Online Catalog.

Other Manuscript Material

One significant manuscript, although not in Beethoven's hand, is worth mentioning: an orchestral work by the the American composer Anthony Philip Heinrich.

To the Spirit of Beethoven: The Monumental Symphony for a Grand Orchestra.
Holograph manuscript. Includes the inscription, "An echo from America to the inauguration of Beethoven's Monument at Bonn."

Facsimiles

The Music Division holds several facsimile reproductions of Beethoven holograph manuscripts held by other institutions, such as:

Find more facsimiles by searching in the Library's Online Catalog or by browsing the catalog under the call number ML96.5 B44.

Beethoven: A Guide to Primary and Secondary Resources at the Library of Congress

Performing Arts: Ask a Librarian