William Rhea Meredith, Ph.D. 1985

Advisor: James Haar

Dissertation Title: The Sources for Beethoven’s Piano Sonata in E major, Opus 109

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Dissertation Abstract:

The history and genesis of Opus 109 are recorded in four sketchbooks, some loose sketch leaves in a miscellany, twenty-nine letters, numerous entries in conversation books, and the sources surrounding the first edition. The dissertation investigates these sources in three ways. Collating the letters and conversation books, it reconstructs the particular history of the conception and commission of the sonata. Studying the sketches, it examines the genesis of the sonata in strictly musical terms. Using the sources related to the first edition, it attempts to establish a basis for the preparation of a new edition of Opus 109 and, by implication, for other sonatas. Careful collation of the letters and conversation books reveals that Beethoven had conceived the first movement before the letter commissioning the sonata arrived, and that the first movement was probably first intended as a contribution to a pianoforte anthology. The second and third movements were sketched in a later sketchbook, at much greater length than the first. The different formal procedures in these movements are reflected in different methods of sketching. A study of the sources pertaining to the first edition—the autograph, copyist’s score, and first edition—raises questions regarding the authority of the primary sources. As many as six hundred variants exist between the autograph and the first edition, and it is questionable whether either source can be adopted as the sole basis for an edition. The dissertation attempts to show how the discrepancies arose and to suggest ways of resolving the differences.