48. THE LAST PIANO SONATAS

 
PIANO SONATA IN A MAJOR, OPUS 101 Title page with Beethoven's autograph dedication to Carl Czerny The Sonata was completed in 1816 and published in 1817 by Steiner & Cie in Vienna. It was part of a collection called "Musée musical des Clavicinistes." Beethoven dedicated the work to Baroness Dorothea Ertmann. ( Society of Friends of Music, Vienna)
 
THE "HAMMERKLAVIER SONATA" IN B FLAT MAJOR, OPUS 106 Title page with the dedication to Archduke Rudolf of Austria The work, partly composed in Mödling during the summer of 1818, was published by Artaria & Cie in Vienna in September, 1819. ( Society of Friends of Music, Vienna)
 
THE E MAJOR PIANO SONATA, OPUS 109 Title page with dedication to Maximiliane Brentano This work was dedicated to the daughter of his friends Franz and Antonie Brentano. Composed in 1820, it was published the following year simultaneously by Schlesinger in Berlin and by Artaria, Cappi & Diabelli, and Steiner in Vienna. ( Society of Friends of Music, Vienna)
 
THE PIANO SONATA IN A FLAT MAJOR, OPUS 110 Title page This, one of the main works of the piano literature, was completed on December 25, 1821 and was published in July, 1822 simultaneously in Paris, Berlin, Vienna and London. ( van Hoboken, Ascona)
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AUTOGRAPH OF THE PIANO SONATA IN C MINOR, OPUS 111 First page of the first movement On the upper left corner of the first page Beethoven's pencilled notation "January 13, 1822"; however, the note is now hardly legible. The annotation at the bottom of the page was made by the publisher Artaria who owned the manuscript. On the right margin a note in Beethoven's hand. This is a precious autograph, a copy of which exists in the Former State Library in Berlin, which in 1903 became part of the collection of the Beethoven Archive in Bonn.
 
PIANO SONATA IN C MINOR, OPUS 111 Title page with dedication to Archduke Rudolf of Austria This last of Beethoven's piano sonatas was first published, in April, 1823, by Schlesinger in Paris. Since the engraved copy contained many errors Schlesinger prepared a new edition in Berlin. ( Society of Friends of Music, Vienna)
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KARL HOLZ (1798-1858) Ivory miniature by Barbara Fröhlich Holz was the violinist in the Schuppanzigh Quartet. He met Beethoven and gained his confidence. In 1826 he replaced the faithful Schindler and Beethoven commissioned him with the writing of his biography. Only during Beethoven's last illness did Schindler take his old place as Beethoven's closest friend. ( Historical Museum of the City of Vienna)
 
ANTON DIABELLI (1781-1858) Lithograph by Josef Kriehuber Having arrived in Vienna in 1804, Diabelli was originally a teacher of piano and guitar. He later became an associate of the publisher Cappi and finally published music under his own name beginning 1824. Besides, Diabelli was a fertile composer. Beethoven, referring to Diabelli's publishing activities, often gave him the nickname "diabolus." (National Library, Vienna)
 
33 VARIATIONS FOR PIANO ON A WALTZ By DIABELLI, OPUS 120, By LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN In 1819 the publisher and composer Diabelli requested a number of composers who had won reputation to write variations on a waltz he had composed himself. Among those asked were, in addition to Beethoven, Schubert and Liszt. Beethoven, not averse to the idea, wrote, instead of the one variation, thirtythree. They form his opus 120 and were published, as a separate publication, by Cappi & Diabelli in 1823. This didactic composition was dedicated to his friend Antonie Brentano, née Birkenstock. ( Society of Friends of Music, Vienna)
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DIPLOMA CERTIFYING THE HONORARY CITIZENSHIP OF BEETHOVEN AS CONFERRED UPON HIM BY THE MUNICIPALITY OF VIENNA On November 16, 1815 the city of Vienna, wishing to distinguish the composer for his exceptional merits and to bind him further to the residence of his choice, made him an honorary citizen. ( City Library, Vienna)
 
DIPLOMA OF MEMBERSHIP IN THE ROYAL Music ACADEMY OF STOCKHOLM On December 28, 1822 the Music Academy of Stockholm honored itself by making Beethoven one of its members. A similar distinction was conferred upon him by the Academy of Amsterdam. ( Former State Library, Berlin)
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