Ludwig van Beethoven, Skizzenblätter zur Klaviersonate op. 22 und der Violinsonate op. 23, Autograph

From a reconstructed sketchbook

This bifolium is part of a sketchbook from the summer of 1800. The complete book no longer exists, but the sequence of the leaves has been reconstructed by Richard Kramer and a facsimile edition has been made. Beethoven had obviously not bought the sketchbook as a bound book but had assembled it himself. He used all sorts of different music paper, in part leftovers (single leaves, bifolia or complete gatherings, sometimes already written on), before stitching them together. Kramer has identified nine different types of paper with seven different staff-rulings! The stitch holes in the reconstructed sketchbook are not at regular intervals, as with a professional binding; some pages bear additional holes. On the bifolium shown here you can see sketches for the Piano Sonata op. 22 on the first three pages and for the Violin Sonata op. 23 on the last page. Very few sketches for op. 22 remain, all of which are on leaves which formed part of the said sketchbook from the summer of 1800. (J.R.)