BEETHOVEN: SKETCHES FOR MISSA SOLEMNIS OR 9TH SYMPHONY

MS 5268
MS Short Title BEETHOVEN: SKETCHES FOR MISSA SOLEMNIS OR 9TH
SYMPHONY
Text 1. LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN: SKETCHES FOR EITHER GLORIA IN MISSA SOLEMNIS, OP 123, OR 4TH MOVEMENT OF THE 9TH SYMPHONY, OP. 125, THE THEME OF "FREUDE SCHÖNER GÖTTERFUNKEN" 
2. LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN: NOTES ON "BIBLIOTHEK DER NEUESTEN ENTDECKUNGREISEN" AND OF VÖSLAUER VINE
Description MS in German on paper, Wien, 1823, 1 f., 20x12 cm, single column, (13x10 cm), 9+8 lines in cursive script, 6 bars on 2 handruled systems, autograph.
Context Beethoven's "Konversationshefte" were used for conversation due to his deafness. The present leaf might be the lacking f. 20 in Konversationsheft 47, written 29 Nov. - 6 Dec. 1823, which is the same size as the present, and quotes part of the Freude theme from the 9th symphony on f. 38v, now in Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin; published in Ludwig van Beethovens Konversationshefte, vol. 4, Leipzig 1968, pp. 273-304 
Provenance 1. Ludwig van Beethoven, Wien (1823); 2. Musikantiquariat Hans Schneider, Tutzing, Katalog 180(1973):9, acquired March 1973.
Commentary The musical notation is in 6/4 time. According to Dr. Joseph Braunstein there are only 4 places Beethoven uses 6/4 or 3/2 time in this period. The sketches could be for the fugue Et vitam venturi seculi in the Gloria of Missa Solemnis, or alternatively for passages in the finale of the 9th symphony. The Freude-theme (Song of Joy) actually follows the notes F sharp - F sharp -G-A-A-G as in the sketch. Prof. Dr. Schmidt-Görg at Beethoven-Haus, Bonn, was not able to identify the music, or to date the leaf. Whether it belongs to Missa Solemnis or 9th Symphony, they are nevertheless Beethoven's two greatest compositions.
Place of origin Wien
Dates 1823