31. THE PIANO SONATA, OPUS 53, SO-CALLED "WALDSTEIN SONATA"

 
SONATA FOR PIANO, C MAJOR, opus 53, BY LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN Title page with dedication to Count Ferdinand von Waldstein The work was composed 1803-04 and published in 1805 by the Bureau d'Arts et d'Industrie, Vienna. With this dedication of one of his most important piano sonatas Beethoven discharged an old indebtedness to one of his first benefactors in Bonn. (van Hoboken, Ascona)
 
FIRST PAGE OF THE MANUSCRIPT OF THE PIANO SONATA, OPUS 53 At the end of this manuscript, Beethoven inscribed: "Sonata grandeda L. van Beethoven," then he crossed out the words "da L. van Beethoven." On the right margin a note in his hand: "NB where it says ped, the total damper, both a little bass and discant, is lifted. 0 means that it is dropped again." This manuscript for a long time belonged to the branch of the Counts within the Waldstein family of Prague. (Bodmer, Zürich)
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