Ludwig van Beethoven, Skizzenblatt zur Sinfonie Nr. 6 op. 68, Autograph

Leaf "43" from the Pastoral Symphony Sketchbook

The leaf shown here belongs to the so-called Pastoral Symphony Sketchbook, which is located in London at the British Library. In this sketchbook there are mainly sketches for the Sixth Symphony op. 68 (which is why the sketchbook bears this name) and for the Piano Trios op. 70. This leaf also contains sketches for the Pastoral Symphony, for the fifth movement. Following Beethoven's death the sketchbook was acquired by Anton Gräffer, an employee at Artaria publishers in Vienna, at the auction of the composer's estate in November 1827. Gräffer numbered the leaves in the book and wrote down the corresponding number in the top right-hand corner of each page. Thanks to this foliation research into the sketches has identified the leaves which were removed from the book, sold or given away after Gräffer. HCB Mh 74 had the leaf number 43 and is described in the relevant specialist literature with this number. Unfortunately, this number was erased over time and only the pen's faint impression on the original allows deciphering. (J.R.)