Ludwig van Beethoven, Skizzenblatt zu den Klaviervariationen "Kind, willst du ruhig schlafen" WoO 75, Autograph

Not a single leaf

On this sketch leaf Beethoven wrote drafts for the last of seven piano variations on the quartet "Kind, willst du ruhig schlafen" WoO 75. As Beethoven almost certainly did not arrange the last variation on its own, it stands to reason that the single leaf was separated from a larger collection. The paper, characteristic ink blots and the remnants of the original page numbers on this leaf were helpful in finding out to which sketchbook it once belonged. BH 115 was part of a sketchbook which is now held in the Berlin State Library and bears the call number Mus. ms. autogr. Grasnick 2. It continues from the present last page of the sketchbook. The last eight pages of "Grasnick 2" also actually contain sketches for the Variations WoO75. The Variations were published in December 1799. The sketches are from the summer of that year. (J.R.)