Hess 298: черновики части симфонии c-moll

Время создания: 1791/93 г.

Бетховен работал над симфонией в до-мажоре в 1795 и 1796 гг., о чем свидетельствуют многочисленные наброски. Эти эскизы - наиболее обширные рабочие материалы его первого творческого периода. Причина, по которой Бетховен не стал заканчивать эту симфонию, неизвестна. (Beethoven-Haus Bonn.) Подробнее см. Бетховен. Симфония №0.

 

If Beethoven had completed this symphony movement (from 1791/93), it would have counted, together with the Cantata on the death of Emperor Joseph II, WoO 87, as the most important composition from the Bonn period. If the Cantata already points to the Beethoven we know and love, stronger and more passionate than his contemporaries, this symphony sketch does even more so. It is fascinating to see the youth of a mere 20 or 22 years, already writing music that is so close to the Eroica and Fifth Symphony. Sketched when Robespierre's reign of terror in France was rapidly reaching its bloody climax, one is inclined to say that this is the French Revolution in music. The Hess 298 sketch can be found in the Kafka Sketchbook, which is in the British Library. The heading reads: Sinfonia, and the tempo indication is Presto. It is in 3/4 time. The 111 bars long sketch is written on two staves, as if for piano. We have therefore not only the main melody, but also the bassline, which indicates unambiguously the intended harmonies. Once, in bar 91, there is an indication regarding the orchestration: obo[e]. Following this big chunk there are two little snippets, one 9 bars, the other 5 bars long. Clearly Beethoven intended to write a movement in Sonata form: the sketch covers the larger part of the expostion, with a first theme in C minor (bar 1), a transition (bar 68) and a second theme in the parallel key of E flat major (bar 86). The sketch breaks off halfway the second theme group.