Editions of Ludwig van Beethoven's Works

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Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

Overview of repertory:

Beethoven was an extremely important composer of instrumental music (sonatas, concertos, symphonies, and string quartets). He also composed some vocal music, including the Missa Solemnis and the opera Fidelio. In our holdings, Beethoven's works are classified by genre.

Method of identification of works:

Beethoven's works are currently identified by Opus number and, when one exists, by the number of the work within the opus. Many works not published in Beethoven's lifetime do not have opus numbers, but at present none are included in our databases.

Overview of sources used:

Our encodings of Beethoven were initiated with the Breitkopf und H~Drtel edition. Some works have been revised for modern performance. At present one work, the piano concerto No. 2, omits the solo part.

Reference catalogue:

There are many catalogues of Beethoven's works. One of the most widely used is that of G. Kinsky and H. Halm, Das Werk Beethovens: thematische-bibliographisches Berzeichnis seiner sämtlichen vollendeten Kompositionen (Munich and Duisburg, 1955).

Work titles/numbers:

Beethoven's instrumental works are generally known by perfunctory generic titles e.g., the Fifth Symphony and the Fourth Piano Concerto.

For large works, one work is the equivalent of one opus. Shorter works were published in sets. Thus Op. 18, a set of six quartets, contains Nos. 1-6, but the Violin Concerto, Op. 61, has no further designation. Some works by Beethoven have acquired nicknames, but in general (e.g., the "Moonlight" Sonata, the "Emperor" Concerto, the "Rasoumovsky" quartets) these are later accretions and we have not gone out of our way to include them.

Movement titles/numbers:

Most movements in Beethoven's instrumental works have tempo indications (Allegretto, Un poco adagio). Some additionally have genre or function titles (e.g., Scherzo, Funeral March). We include all that are available.