Serenade after the serenade op. 25 for piano and flute (D major) op. 41

Beethoven was not responsible for the arrangements of his Serenade op. 25 for piano and flute (op. 41) or the Serenade op. 8 for piano and viola (op. 42). To quote his letter of 20 September 1803 to the publishers Hoffmeister & Kühnel in Leipzig: 'The arrangements are not by myself, although I looked through them and have corrected them in various places, so do not write that I arranged them, because this would be a lie and I did not have the time and patience to do so'. Both serenades were arranged by Franz Xaver Kleinheinz (1765-1832) and offered to the publishers by Beethoven's brother Kaspar Karl in May 1803. Hoffmeister & Kühnel did not, however, follow Beethoven's instructions: despite his express wish to the contrary he was named as the author on the title page of each work. (J.R.)