Ludwig van Beethoven, "Oh onochri oh", Lied für Singstimme und Violine, Violoncello und Klavier WoO 156, Nr. 5, Instrumentalvorspiel, Partitur, Autograph

Looking for clues

Beethoven only wrote down six complete bars on the leaf (next to the sketches in red pen in the lower staves), writing in the top left-hand corner "=de no 4". A very cryptic abbreviation! It is actually points to another spot. Beethoven wrote "Vi-de" to indicate parts in the music which were to be left out or replaced. The beginning of the part in question was marked "Vi-" and the end "de". The "=de no 4" on the autograph score shown here indicates that these six bars belonged to no. 4 in another work. The "Vi-" marking the beginning of the passage would be found there. It was actually possible to identify a manuscript which fitted the bill in a collection of several autograph books in the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin Preußischer Kulturbesitz. In book 3 Mus. ms. autogr. Beethoven 29/2 on leaves 40r-41r there is a Scottish lied with the title no. 4 and which bears the missing "Vi-" on the left next to the number. The six bars on the autograph score shown here are the instrumental introduction to the lied, which begins with bar 7 in the autograph score in Berlin. (J.R.)