Andante for piano (F major) WoO 57

The sonata in C major (opus 53), initially dedicated to Count Waldstein, formerly contained a great Andante. When Beethoven was told by a friend that the sonata was too long, he became fairly angry. Only after having pondered the matter in a quiet moment did my teacher see that the friend was right. He then published the great Andante in F major in 3/8 time and later added the intriguing introduction which is now part of the rondo.' Thus Beethoven’s composition student Ferdinand Ries in his Biographische Notizen (1838), co-written with Franz Gerhard Wegeler.

Beethoven did not want to discard the withdrawn middle movement and had it published by the Bureau des Arts et d'Industrie in September 1805. Before then he had asked Countess Josephine Deym, to whom he had given the manuscript, to return it briefly so that Ries could copy his signature for printing purposes.

According to Carl Czerny, the well-known nickname Andante favori was coined by Beethoven himself because the piece proved quite popular and was often performed as such by the composer. (J.R.)