Ludwig van Beethoven, Skizzenblatt zum Streichquartett op. 132 und ein Gedanke zu einer Ouvertüre in Es, Autograph

Promised – received?

As early as November 1822 Prince Nikolaus Galitzin wrote to Beethoven from St. Petersburg asking him to compose three string quartets for him. Galitzin was a very talented amateur cellist and a real music lover (for example he had Beethoven's Missa solemnis first performed in St. Petersburg in 1824). Beethoven complied - after all the Prince was paying for the works (or at least announced his intention of doing so, Beethoven did not live to see the money) - although did not hurry writing them. The Prince continually sent reminders about the quartets and Beethoven kept on saying the works were in progress and would soon be finished (he had many years of practice - he had held off numerous publishers using this method). Beethoven wanted to have finished the first of the so-called Galitzin Quartets op. 127 in March 1823. However only one single sketch can be found for the whole of 1823. The first Quartet op. 127 was only completed in February 1825, the second, op. 132, in July1825 and the third, op. 130 with op. 133 as its final movement, in December 1825. This sketch leaf is also only from 1824 or 1825. It contains sketches for the first and second movement of the Galitzin Quartet op. 132. Beethoven later used a sketch for the second movement in the finale. (J.R.)