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Beethoven

Last Updated: 16-Mar-2015
 

Beethoven resources at Stanford and beyond.

Subject Librarians

Ray Heigemeir, Music Library
Ray Heigemeir
Public Services Librarian for Music
Music Library
(650) 384-9985

Subjects

Music
Composers

Related guides

Music research essentials

Original manuscripts and facsimiles

At Stanford

These items reside in the Department of Special Collections, Green Library.

Large-scale facsimiles are on display in the Music Library.

The catalog records below link to high-resolution, downloadable digitized images.

In questa tomba oscura.
Special Collections » Memorial Library of Music (non-circulating) » MLM 39
[Elegischer Gesange, opus 118] / Beethoven.
Special Collections » Memorial Library of Music (non-circulating) » MLM 42
Autograph note to Josef August Röckel from Ludwig van Beethoven, undated.
Special Collections » Manuscript Collection: request at Special Collections service desk » MLM 44
[Quintette in C, opus 29] / Beethoven.
Special Collections » Memorial Library of Music (non-circulating) » MLM 46
[Sketch for a song] / Beethoven.
Special Collections » Memorial Library of Music (non-circulating) » MLM 49

At the Ira F. Brilliant Center

Manuscripts in the Beethoven Center's collection
Includes letters, sketches, and copyist's manuscripts.

On the web

The Music Treasures Consortium
"The Music Treasures Consortium provides online access to the world's most valued music manuscripts and print materials, held at the most renowned music archives, in order to further research and scholarship."--website. Contains 46 Beethoven entries.

Complete set of Beethoven manuscripts

Musikhandschriften der Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Preussischer Kulturbesitz. Teil 3, Die Beethoven-Sammlung [microform] / herausgegeben von der Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Preussischer Kulturbesitz.
München : K.G. Saur, 1997-
Music Library » Microtext » M/F 1:356 LFG.1

Browse all Beethoven facsimiles:

› See all 63 results
  1. Artaria 195 : Beethoven's sketchbook for the Missa solemnis and the Piano sonata in E major, opus 109

    transcribed, edited and with a commentary by William Kinderman. 2003

  2. A sketchbook from the year 1821 (Artaria 197) : sketches for the Agnus Dei and other movements of the Missa solemnis, the piano sonatas op. 110 and op. 111, and the Canon WoO 182

    Ludwig van Beethoven ; edited by William Drabkin. 2010

  3. [Sonatas for violoncello and piano] [MICROFORM].
  4. Ludwig van Beethoven zum 150. Todestag im März 1977 : Faksimiles von Handschriften aus dem Besitz der Deutschen Staatsbibliothek Berlin

    mit erläuternden Bemerkungen von Karl-Heinz Köhler. 1977

  5. Ein Skizzenbuch zu den Diabelli-Variationen und zur Missa solemnis : SV 154

    Beethoven. 1968

  6. Zwei Romanzen für Violine und Orchestra, op. 40 und 50 = Two romances for violin and orchestra

    Ludwig van Beethoven ; Faksimile-Ausgabe der autographen Partituren mit Klavierauszug herausgegeben von Willy Hess. 1990

  7. Beethoven's "Eroica" sketchbook : a critical edition

    transcribed, edited, and with a commentary by Lewis Lockwood and Alan Gosman. 2013

  8. Sechs Bagatellen für Klavier : op. 126

    Ludwig van Beethoven ; Faksimile der Handschriften und der Originalausgabe mit einem Kommentar ; herausgegeben von Sieghard Brandenburg. 1984

  9. Klaviersonate F-moll opus 57 in Faksimile der Urschrift
  10. Violin sonata in G major, op. 30, no. 3 : facsimile of the autograph manuscript in the British Library (Add. MS 37767)

    Ludwig van Beethoven ; with an introduction by Alan Tyson. 1980

Early score editions

Sinfonia eroica, op. 55, no. III / composta per festeggiare il souvenire di un gran'uomo da Luigi van Beethoven.
Bonna et Colonia : Presso N. Simrock, [1822]
Music Library » Locked Stacks: ask at circulation desk » M1001 .B41 S93 1822
First German edition of the full score.
Grande simphonie en si ♭ majeur, op. 60 = (B dur) / composée ... par Louis van Beethoven.
Bonn et Cologne : Chez N. Simrock, [1823?]
Music Library » Locked Stacks: ask at circulation desk » M1001 .B41 S94 1823
First edition.
Sixième sinfonie pastorale en fa majeur, oeuvre 68 = F dur / de Louis van Beethoven.
Leipsic : Breitkopf & Hartel, [1826]
Music Library » Locked Stacks: ask at circulation desk » M1001 .B41 S96 1826
First edition.
Sinfonie mit Schluss-Chor über Schiller's Ode "An die Freude" : für grosses Orchester, 4 Solo- und 4 Chor-Stimmen / componirt ... von Ludwig van Beethoven. 125tes Werk.
Mainz und Paris : Bey B. Schotts Söhnen ; Antwerpen : Bey A. Schott., [1826]
Special Collections » Memorial Library of Music (non-circulating) » MLM 48
Andante from Beethoven's fifth symphony. Arr. by Hummel.
[Boston, O. Ditson, 18--]
Music Library » Locked Stacks: ask at circulation desk » M35 .B41 S953 1800Z
Collection des symphonies / de L. van Beethoven ; en grande partition.
Paris : chez A. Farrenc, [18--?]
Music Library » Locked Stacks: ask at circulation desk » (no call number)
6me concerto en ré maj., op. 61 [music] / L. van Beethoven.
Paris : S. Richault, [1859?]
Special Collections » Memorial Library of Music (non-circulating) » MLM 41
Missa / composita, et serenissimo ac eminentissimo domino domino Rudolpho Joanni ... dedicata a Ludovico van Beethoven. ; Opus 123.
Moguntiae : Ex taberna musices B. Schott filiorum. ; Paris : Chez les fils de B. Schott, rue de Bourbon no. 17, ; Anvers, : Chez A. Schott, 1827.
Special Collections » Memorial Library of Music (non-circulating) » MLM 44
Fidelio : drame lyrique en trois actes / paroles françaises et italiennes ; musique de L. van Beethoven ; partition de piano.
Paris : Chez A. Farrenc, professeur et éditeur de musique, rue Vivienne no 19, [1826]
Special Collections » Memorial Library of Music (non-circulating) » MLM 43A
First edition.
Fidelio : Oper in zwei Aufzügen / nNach dem französischen bearbeitet von F. Treifschke ; in Musik gestzt von Lud. van Beethoven ; Clavierauszug.
Bonn : Bei N. Simrock, [ca. 1815]
Special Collections » Memorial Library of Music (non-circulating) » MLM 43A.15
In questa tomba oscura / arietta con accompagnamento di piano-forte composta in diverse maniere da molti autori e dedicata a S.A.U. Sig. Principe Giuseppe di Lobkowitz, etc., etc.
Special Collections » Memorial Library of Music (non-circulating) » MLM 38
66 settings of a text by Giuseppe Antonio Carpani, of which Beethoven's is the last. The original manuscript of Beethoven's setting is in the Memorial Library of Music, Department of Special Collections.
An die ferne Geliebte : ein Liederkreis von Al. Jeitelles : mit Begleitung des Piano-Forte in Musik gesetzt ...
Mainz : Schott, 1816.
Music Library » Locked Stacks: ask at circulation desk » (no call number)
Andenken / von Matthison ; in Musik gesetzt von Louis van Beethoven.
[Leipzig] : Bey Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig, [1810?]
Special Collections » Memorial Library of Music (non-circulating) » MLM 40
Drey Gesaenge von Göthe mit Begleitung des Pianoforte / in Musik gesetzt ... von Ludwig v. Beethoven. 83tes Werk.
In Leipzig : Bey Breitkopf & Härtel, [1811]
Special Collections » Memorial Library of Music (non-circulating) » MLM 47
Quintetto pour 2 violons, 2 altos et violoncelle / composé et dédié à Monsieur le Comte Maurice de Fries par L. van Beethoven. ; Oeuv. 29 ...
A Leipsic : Chez Breitkopf & Härtel, [1802]
Special Collections » Memorial Library of Music (non-circulating) » MLM 45
First edition of the parts. A manuscript fragment of this work is in the Memorial Library of Music, Department of Special Collections.
Trois trios pour le piano-forte, violon, et violoncelle / composés ... par Louis van Beethoven ; Ire. oeuvre nro. [1-3].
A Vienne : chez Jean Cappi, [1802?]
Music Library » Locked Stacks: ask at circulation desk » M312 .B41 T8 OP.1 1802 PTS
Trois trios pour le piano-forte violon, et violoncelle / composés & dediés à son altesse Monseigneur le Prince Charles de Lichnowsky par Louis van Beethoven Oeuvre 1re.
A Vienne : chez Artaria et comp., [1795].
Special Collections » Memorial Library of Music (non-circulating) » MLM 50
Grand quatuor de violon, op. 59, no. I[-III] / composé et arrangé pour le piano forte à quatre mains par L. v. Beethoven.
Bonn : N. Simrock, [1824?]
Music Library » Locked Stacks: ask at circulation desk » (no call number)
Deux sonates pour le pianoforte avec violon obligé, oeuvre 23 [& 24]
Paris, A. Le Duc [1806]
Music Library » Locked Stacks: ask at circulation desk » M1 .A3 V.3

Contemporary scores

In addition to the many printed scores in the Music Library stacks, these databases provide printable (pdf) versions of Beethoven scores:

Classical scores library [electronic resource].
Alexandria, VA : Alexander Street Press, 2007-
Stanford University Libraries » Online resource » (no call number)
LibraryMusicSource.com [electronic resource].
[Cleveland, Ohio] : CD Sheet Music
Stanford University Libraries » Online resource » (no call number)
Center for Computer-Assisted Research in the Humanities
CCARH provides freely-accessible printable pdf scores and some parts for all 9 symphonies; in addition, the MuseData repository provides musical data for computational analysis purposes.

Early sound recordings

Discographies

Beethoven on records / George Marek ; with foreword by Bruno Walter.
New York : Four Corners, c1942.
Archive of Recorded Sound » Reference (non-circulating) » ML156.5 .B4 M3 1942
The Recordings of Beethoven as viewed by the critics from High Fidelity.
Great Barrington, Mass. [1971]
Archive of Recorded Sound » Reference (non-circulating) » ML156.5.B41 R31
Paul Henry Lang reviews the symphonies; Harris Goldsmith reviews the concertos.

Early recordings in the Archive of Recorded Sound

The Archive holds numerous early disc recordings of Beethoven's works; see this page for a list of titles.

The cylinder collection contains one Beethoven recording, of the "Menuett", performed by Kathleen Parlow, violin. Edison Blue Amberol, issue no. 28192 (original issue no. 4M-28026), October 1917. ARS accession no. 1460.

Early recordings online

Beethoven on Edison cylinders (1909-1914)
Six recordings, digitized for streaming, from the UC Santa Barbara Cylinder Digitization Project.
Beethoven on early Victor recordings
Results from the Encyclopedic Discography of Victor Recordings Project. Some entries include streaming audio files.
National Jukebox (Library of Congress)
27 Beethoven recordings, ca. 1910-1923.
The Virtual Gramophone (National Library of Canada)
63 recordings; most provide streaming audio files and label images. Search "Beethoven" under name field.

Reading and research

Reference works

Oxford music online [electronic resource].
[Oxford, England] : Oxford University Press
Stanford University Libraries » Online resource » (no call number)
See the comprehensive Grove article on Beethoven's life and works.
Das Werk Beethovens; thematisch-bibliographisches Verzeichnis seiner sämtlichen vollendeten Kompositionen. Nach dem Tode des Verfassers abgeschlossen und hrsg. von Hans Halm.
München, G. Henle Verlag [c1955]
Music Library » Reference (non-circulating) » ML134 .B41 K56
The classic thematic catalogue. For each work, you'll find incipits for each movement, notes on the compositional process, location and notes regarding manuscript source material, and bibliographical information on first editions.
Werke / Beethoven ; herausgegeben von Beethoven-Archiv, Bonn, unter Leitung von Joseph Schmidt-Görg.
München : G. Henle, 1961-<2014 >
Music Library » Stacks (Limited loan) » M3 .B41 W9 V.1:1
The complete works, published by Henle Verlag, 1961-2011. This set of printed scores includes extensive notes on the editing process for each work.
Beethoven and his world : a biographical dictionary / Peter Clive.
New York : Oxford University Press, 2001.
Music Library » Stacks » ML410 .B4 C62 2001
Provides information on more than 450 persons associated with Beethoven.
Chronology of Western classical music / Charles J. Hall.
New York : Routledge, 2002.
Music Library » Reference (non-circulating) » ML161 .H17 2002 V.1
Place Beethoven's life and works in the context of European arts and culture.

On the web

The Beethoven Gateway (Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies)
"A free online resource that helps direct people interested in Beethoven to books, articles, scores, and other sources on the composer. Although it functions primarily as a catalog of the collections of the Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies, its also serves the broader purpose of providing a comprehensive and fully-indexed bibliography of materials relating to Beethoven, from a wide range of subject areas"--website.

Biography

Browse the shelves at ML410 .B4.

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Criticism and interpretation

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Analysis and appreciation

› See all 80 results
  1. The anatomy of theme in Beethoven's piano sonatas

    Dmitri Smirnov ; text edited by Guy Stockton. 2008

  2. Entwurf einer narratologischen Beethoven-Analytik

    Martina Sichardt. 2012

  3. Musical form in the age of Beethoven : selected writings on theory and method

    A.B. Marx ; edited and translated by Scott Burnham. 1997

Music and culture in Vienna and environs

Empress Marie Therese and music at the Viennese court, 1792-1807 / John A. Rice.
Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2003.
Music Library » Stacks » ML246.3 .R523 2003
Musical life in Biedermeier Vienna / Alice M. Hanson.
London : Cambridge University Press, 1985.
Music Library » Stacks » ML246.8 .V6 H25 1985
Concert life in Haydn's Vienna : aspects of a developing musical and social institution / by Mary Sue Morrow.
Stuyvesant, NY : Pendragon Press, c1989.
Music Library » Stacks » ML246.8 .V6 M98 1989
Keyboard instruments in eighteenth-century Vienna / Richard Maunder.
Oxford : Clarendon Press ; New York : Oxford University Press, 1998.
Music Library » Stacks » ML549 .M38 1998
Listening to reason : culture, subjectivity, and nineteenth-century music / Michael P. Steinberg.
Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, c2004.
Music Library » Stacks » ML196 .S74 2004

Video

Masterclasses and other films

Barenboim on Beethoven [videorecording] : the complete piano sonatas live from Berlin : 8 concerts / directed by Andy Sommer. The masterclasses : 6 films / directed by Allan Miller.
[England] : EMI Classics, c2006.
Music Library » Recordings » MDVD 648 BOOKLET
Maxim Vengerov at the Royal Academy of Music, London [videorecording] : Violin sonata in A minor, op. 23. First movement / Beethoven.
Bristol, England UK : The Masterclass Media Foundation, c2007.
Music Library » Recordings » MDVD 1082
Stephen Kovacevich at the Verbier Festival Academy [videorecording] : piano masterclass.
Bristol, England : Masterclass Media Foundation, c2009.
Music Library » Recordings » MDVD 1370
Bernard Greenhouse at Wigmore Hall [videorecording] : a day of violoncello masterclasses / written and directed by Matthew Percival ; produced by Selma Gokcen and Keith Harvey.
[England] : Cello Classics, p2005.
Music Library » Recordings » MDVD 454
Cello master class with Bernard Greenhouse. Volume 2 [videorecording] / executive producer, Ethan Winer ; director, John Mucci.
Ridgefield, CT : Crescent Software ; [Ann Arbor, MI] : Shar, [2005?]
Music Library » Recordings » MDVD 508
Beethoven's Eroica [videorecording] / a production of the San Francisco Symphony.
San Francisco, Calif. : SFS Media, c2006.
Music Library » Recordings » MDVD 619
In search of Beethoven [videorecording] / filmed, written and directed by Phil Grabsky.
[Brighton, East Sussex, England] : Seventh Art Productions, [2005]
Green Library » Media & Microtext Center (Lower level)
Immortal beloved [videorecording] / Columbia Pictures.
Culver City, Calif. : Columbia TriStar Home Video, 1999.
Green Library » Media & Microtext Center (Lower level)

Performances

› See all 6018 results
  1. Orchesterwerke [sound recording]; Bühnemusik = Orchestral works ; Music for the stage = Oeuvres pour orchester ; Musique de scène

    Ludwig van Beethoven. 1997

  2. Piano sonatas. Vol. 10 [electronic resource].
  3. Piano sonatas. Vol. 9 [electronic resource].
  4. Piano sonatas. Vol. 7 [electronic resource]

    Beethoven. 2010

  5. Piano sonatas. Vol. 8 [electronic resource].

Links

Images

New York Public Library Digital Gallery
Contains many images of engraved portraits.

On the web

Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies, San José State University
The Center is the only institution in North America devoted solely to the life, works, and accomplishments of Ludwig van Beethoven. Access the extensive online guide to research; browse the collections; contact the staff for research assistance. Visit the center to see historical keyboards, Beethoven-themed art and ephemera, and a very famous lock of the composer's hair.
The Beethoven Gateway
"The Beethoven Gateway is a free online resource that helps direct people interested in Beethoven to books, articles, scores, and other sources on the composer. Although it functions primarily as a catalog of the collections of the Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies, its also serves the broader purpose of providing a comprehensive and fully-indexed bibliography of materials relating to Beethoven, from a wide range of subject areas."--website.
Beethoven-Haus Bonn
"Since its foundation in 1889 the Beethoven-Haus has become a unique place, uniting under its roof a historic memorial site (Beethoven's birthplace), collection site, research centre and concert hall."--website. The site provides a virtual tour of the Beethoven-Haus; and a searchable catalog of Beethoven's works including scanned images and audio clips when available.
Beethoven lieder texts
From the lied, art song, and choral text archive site.