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COUNT FERDINAND ERNST VON WALDSTEIN (1762-1823) Silhouette from Beethoven's album The Count was an Austrian. When his friend, Archduke Maximilian Franz, was appointed Kurfürst of Cologne, the Count followed him to Bonn. Waldstein, himself a gifted musician and composer, made Beethoven's acquaintance in Frau von Breuning's home and immediately became interested in him. He probably helped promote Beethoven's appointment as court organist. Later he frequently helped his young protégé and finally convinced the Kurfürst of the necessity of sending Beethoven to Vienna so he would be able to complete his education. ( National Library, Vienna)
PAGE OF BEETHOVEN'S MANUSCRIPT OF THE PIANO VERSION OF THE "RITTERBALLET" Beethoven composed the "Ritterballet" in 1790-91. On March 6, 1791, the nobility performed it on the occasion of Mardi gras at the Bonn Palace. Composition and choreography are ascribed to Waldstein! The Former State Library ( Berlin) is in possession of the orchestral score of this composition. The piano version was published in 1872, the orchestral score in 1888. (Beethovenhaus, Bonn)
"VARIATIONS À QUATRE MAINS POUR LE PIANO-FORTE" Title page with dedication to Count von Waldstein Variations on a theme composed by the Count. They were written during Beethoven's last Bonn period, 1791-92. The first edition was published by Simrock Bonn, in 1794. The manuscript is in the library of the Paris Conservatory. ( Society of Friends of Music, Vienna)
AUTOGRAPH OF THE RONDO FOR EIGHT WIND INSTRUMENTS IN E FLAT The work was composed in 1792 for two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, and two horns, as dinner music for the court of the Kurfürst Maximilian Franz. It was published in 1850, after Beethoven's death, by Diabelli in Vienna, under the title "Rondino für achtstimmige Harmonie" (Rondino for eight part harmony). (Beethovenhaus, Bonn)