Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg, Abhandlung von der Fuge, Auszüge, Autograph Beethovens

The great art of counterpoint

Even geniuses need the right tools. For composers this means that they have to be able to master the strict rules of counterpoint. Beethoven learnt counterpoint with Haydn and Albrechtsberger at the beginning of his time in Vienna, from 1793. However, he studied its highest form, as for example shown in its perfection by Johann Sebastian Bach, his whole life long. The leaf shown here provides an example from his later life. It contains excerpts from one of the most important publications on the composition of fugues in the 18th century: Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg's "Abhandlungen von der Fuge" (Berlin 1753). Beethoven did not copy the theoretical explanations but the music examples from the plates at the end of the book. They belong to chapter 4 of part 1. Marpurg used to demonstrate his instructions with exemplary music of famous composers. The two models written on the reverse are passages from the fugue C minor of Johann Sebastian Bach's "Well Tempered Clavier Part II". (J.R.)