Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) - photo 1
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) - photo 2
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) - photo 3
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) - photo 4
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) - photo 5

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

Lot 94
08.11.2023 11:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Starting price
£ 20 000
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
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ID 1053208
Lot 94 | Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Estimate value
£ 20 000 – 30 000
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Contemporary scribal manuscript, the printer’s copy for the String Quartet in E flat, Op.127, n.p. [Mainz], n.d. [1826]
The stichvorlage used for the first edition of the String Quartet in E flat, Op.127, the first of the six late quartets considered Beethoven’s greatest musical achievements.

The stichvorlage used for the first edition of the full score, in four gatherings (one for each movement), written by a single scribe in brown ink on two four-stave systems per page. 117 written pages (29 + 23 + 36 + 29), 230 x 305mm, 10-stave hand-ruled paper, two watermarks visible across the manuscript: (1) ‘JC de R. Im-Hof’ [Basel] and (2) ‘K.L. Real’, title page in German (‘Quartett für II Violinen, Bratsche und Violoncello verfasst und Seine Durchlaucht dem Fürsten Nicolaus v. Galitzin gewidmet von Ludwig von Beethoven’) with plate number ‘2426’ at the base, else in Italian, some alterations in ink in another hand or hands, extensively marked up by and for the printer in pencil and red crayon, paginated in the same red crayon with later pencil modifications, later annotations in pen and pencil to the title page.

Provenance:
(1) With the Schott publishing house, Mainz, from 1826.

(2) Sotheby's, 9 June 2010, lot 10.

(3) Schøyen Collection, MS 5445.

The final years of Beethoven’s life were dedicated to works in a single medium, the string quartet; the Quartet in E flat is the first of these six late masterpieces. Op. 127 was completed in February 1825, nearly two years after Beethoven promised it to Prince Nikolay Golitsïn and was first performed the following month. In March 1826, the first printed edition was published in parts by Schott; the first edition of the full score followed from the Mainz publishing house in June 1826. The present manuscript served as the source for the full score, which was printed with the corresponding ‘2426’ plate number.

It is one of only two known manuscript copies used in the publication of the String Quartet in E flat, transcribed directly from an exemplar in the hand of Ferdinand Wolanek – the copyist who worked for a short time for Beethoven at the beginning of 1825 – with corrections by the composer (for the sources for Op.127, see Sieghard Brandenburg, 'Die Quellen zur Entstehungsgeschichte von Beethovens Streichquartett Es-Dur Op.127', in Beethoven-Jahrbuch, X (1983), pp.221-276). Both our manuscript and the manuscript written by Wolanek were in the Schott Archiv in Mainz until the end of the 20th century; further putative copies of the work – a working score for Beethoven's own use, a set of parts for the first performances in 1826, and a copy of the score for Prince Golitsïn – are lost.

The first edition of the full score appeared in two issues from Schott: the first in 48 pages and the second in 47. Our manuscript bears witness to this change in layout where the red crayon pagination is modified in pencil.
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
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