perfidy

See? This is why I never throw anything away. A late-period Beethoven manuscript from his late-and-stone-deaf period has been discovered in the bottom of a cabinet in Philadelphia. It is a reduction of his Grosse Fugue (originally a string quartet) for two pianos. Although this is a piano reduction and therefore arguably a minor work next to his towering achievements as a non-hearing person, it is still a hugely important find. Beethoven was a merciless reviser and wordy notetaker, so unlike his finished scores which are full of polish, this manuscript in his own hand contains scratch-outs, corrections, emphatic instructions, and even fingerings, thus giving us a rare and precious look into the mind of a genius at work. Check it out.