BEETHOVEN, Ludwig van 1770-1827

Wellingtons Sieg oder Die Schlacht bey Vittoria. Für das Piano=Forte ... 91tes Werk. [Piano score]

Wien: S.A. Steiner und Comp. [PN C.D.S. 2361], [ca. 1817].

Oblong folio. Unbound, as issued. 1f. (illustrated title depicting General Wellington leading his troops into battle), [i] (advertisement), 2-29, [i] (blank) pp. Engraved throughout.

Publisher’s advertisement ("Pränumerations-Anzeige") to page 1 soliciting subscriptions to first editions of Beethoven's symphonies no. 7 and 8 and announcing full scores, parts, and various arrangements.

Occasional minor wear, soiling, and foxing, mainly to first and last leaves.

First Viennese edition, second issue. LvBWV I, p. 583. Hoboken 2, 391 (first issue). Hirsch IV, 344.

The arrangement of this orchestral work is by Beethoven himself. It was first published by Birchall in London in January of 1816. The Viennese edition by Steiner was first published in the following month.

"Beethoven's 'Battle Symphony,' more correctly entitled Wellington's Victory of the Battle of Victoria (op. 91), came into being as the result of an idea by Maelzel that Beethoven should write a work for his latest invention, the panharmonicon, a sort of mechanical orchestra. The timing coincided with Wellington's defeat of Napoleon in 1813. ... It is a programmatic piece for a large orchestra with a battery of military and Turkish percussion instruments, including cannons and muskets. The first section opens with an English bugle call followed by the patriotic tune Rule, Britannia, answered by a French bugle call and marching tune, known in Britain as For he's a jolly good fellow. Then comes a depiction of the battle. Part 2, called 'Victory Symphony,' begins and ends with martial music but is otherwise based largely on the British national anthem, which is treated fugally." Cooper: The Beethoven Compendium, p. 220.

Item #40804

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