Ludwig van Beethoven, Skizzenblatt zu einer Doppelfuge in F-Dur für vierstimmigen gemischten Chor (Hess 246), Autograph

Fugue theory: nothing has changed

In 1792 Beethoven went to Vienna to take lessons with the famed Joseph Haydn and to increase his knowledge of composition. However, he did not enjoy the tuition very much as Haydn's methods were too dry for his taste. So Beethoven was not very sorry when Haydn set off for England in January 1794 and had to break off the lessons. Yet Beethoven wanted to continue his studies and so he turned to Johann Georg Albrechtsberger, an organist, composer and music theorist of repute, and studied counterpoint with him. The autograph leaf shown here dates from this tuition. Beethoven had been given the task of writing a fugue for the first part of the mass, the Kyrie. He did not, however, complete it. He set about it in the same way as it is still taught at music college. First of all he wrote down the theme - in this case with the text "Kyrie eleison" - in all parts. Because he did not complete it, the interlinking of the entries of the theme can be clearly seen, even for those who are not specialists in fugue theory. Then he added the counter-subject to the theme. This part is to the text "Christie eleison" in the first stave. Beethoven also transferred the counter-subject to the other parts, although not quite as consistently. The last stage would be to fill out the four parts according to the rules of harmony, part-writing and counterpoint. Beethoven did not do this. Was he already bored at this point? Or had he already turned his mind to other things? Or had he simply found what he was looking for in the previous stage? (J.R.)