Engraver's model "No 2"
As with the autograph score for the Fantasia for Piano op. 77 (HCB Mh 8), the autograph score for the Piano Sonata in F sharp major op. 78 is a fair copy. The external similarities of both works are not a coincidence: Beethoven composed them at the same time (they are both dated 1809) and sold them to the Leipzig publishers Breitkopf & Härtel. Both of the autograph scores were used as the engraver's models for the first edition. Even the titles reflect the connection between the two manuscripts. While the Fantasia bears "No. 1" in the title, Beethoven numbers the autograph score shown here "No. 2". The works are also linked as far as the dedication is concerned. In a letter of 21 August 1810, Beethoven instructed the publishers to engrave the following on the title page, "the Sonata in F sharp major à Madame La Comtesse Therese Brunswick: the fantasia for pianoforte solo à mon ami Monsieur Le Comte François de Brunswick" (from the translation by Emily Anderson, 1961). The brother and sister Franz and Therese von Brunsvik were very close friends of the composer's. (J.R.)
