The Flute Sonata in B-flat major, Anh. 4 is a composition for

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

and

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Mus ...

attributed to

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

found amongst his papers after his death. It remained unpublished until 1906.

Background

Following Beethoven's death, a number of unpublished works were discovered amongst his papers including the Piano Trio, WoO. 38, the Piano Sonata, WoO. 51, the Rondino, WoO. 25 and this

sonata In music a sonata (; pl. ''sonate'') literally means a piece ''played'' as opposed to a cantata (Latin and Italian ''cantare'', "to sing"), a piece ''sung''. The term evolved through the history of music, designating a variety of forms until th ...

for flute and keyboard. Alexander Thayer noted that when the sonata was discovered, the manuscript was not in Beethoven's handwriting, making attribution to the composer problematic. Musicologist Willy Hess argued that Beethoven would not have retained the work in his papers unless he had some personal connection with the composition. The manuscript was initially obtained by Artaria & Co., who elected not to publish the composition. The sonata was finally published in 1906 by

Breitkopf & Härtel Breitkopf & Härtel () is a German Music publisher, music publishing house. Founded in 1719 in Leipzig by Bernhard Christoph Breitkopf, it is the world's oldest music publisher. Overview The catalogue contains over 1,000 composers, 8,000 works ...

. The current location of the manuscript is unknown.

Structure

The composition is in four movements. # ''

Allegro Allegro may refer to: Common meanings * Allegro (music), a tempo marking that indicates to playing quickly and brightly (from Italian meaning ''cheerful'') * Allegro (ballet), brisk and lively movement Artistic works * L'Allegro (1645), a poem b ...

'' # '' Polacca'' (polonaise) # ''Largo'' # '' Thema mit variationen: Allegretto'' Typical performances last around 22 minutes. Carla Rees, in a review of a recording of the sonata released by

Naïve Records Naïve Records is a French independent record label based in Paris, specializing in electronic music, pop music, jazz and classical music. Founding and expansion It was founded in 1998 by Patrick Zelnik, former CEO of Virgin France, Gilles Paire ...

in 2008 noted that the sonata is a true duo with both instruments sharing in the

melodic A melody (), also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combination of pitch and rhythm, while more figuratively, the term c ...

material. She also speculated based on the writing for the flute that the work may have been a transcription of a

violin sonata A violin sonata is a musical composition for violin, often accompanied by a keyboard instrument and in earlier periods with a bass instrument doubling the keyboard bass line. The violin sonata developed from a simple Baroque music, baroque form wi ...

References

Notes Citations Sources * * * *

External links

* * * Sonatas by Ludwig van Beethoven Beethoven: spurious and doubtful works Anonymous musical compositions

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

Compositions in B-flat major {{Chamber-composition-stub