Beethoven Premiere

[Joy]

With all the discussion on the 'new' Beethoven premiere NPR will be presenting it tonight. Here's a synopsis of the program:

"The premiere of a piece by Beethoven? That's right. A sketch of a piano concerto movement Beethoven wrote when he was 18 was found among some other Beethoven sketches and drafts in the British Museum. A Dutch musicologist named Cees Nieuwenhuizen (N'yoo-wen-HOW-zen) took Beethoven's sketch and filled in the orchestral parts as best he could, based on Beethoven's markings and notes. And the world premiere performance was on Tuesday night in Rotterdam. We hear that Beethoven premiere, played by pianist Ronald Brautigam, with Conrad van Alphen leading the Rotterdam Chamber Orchestra."

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'Truth and beauty joined'

[Geratlas]

Thanks to you, Joy, for sharing this info.

Originally posted by Joy:
"---A sketch of a piano concerto movement Beethoven wrote when he was 18 was found among some other Beethoven sketches and drafts in the British Museum.---"

To me this 'sketch' likely possible is identic to the Adagio draft in D firmly stated (by LvB!) to belong to a piano concerto in A major (his own?).
If so it ought not be presented as 'an unknown beethoven work', because the draft mentioned must have been known from at least the 1960's, since it is included in the ambitiously compiled catalogue by Prof. Biamonti who published it 1968.
The date of 1789 is however inferior to dates given for the draft: "about 1792".
Perhaps its date has recently been shown to be some 3 years earlier. / G. sending his opinion, he may be wrong, over to you.

[This message has been edited by Geratlas (edited 02-05-2005).]