Minuet in E-flat (WoO 82, minuet and trio (no da capo))

Background

Beethoven gave opus numbers to the works he considered most important. About two hundred others, from songs and dances to canons written for friends, were later gathered in a catalogue compiled by Georg Kinsky, completed by Hans Halm and published in 1955. Its numbers begin "WoO", short for the German Werke ohne Opuszahl, "works without opus number". This Minuet in E-flat major is WoO 82.

It was published in Vienna in 1805. When Beethoven wrote it is less certain: it is often dated around 1803, but some scholars believe it goes back much earlier, to his years in Bonn before he moved to Vienna in 1792. Either way, it is a stylish piece in the courtly dance form Beethoven knew well from Haydn and Mozart.

The minuet itself is followed by a contrasting middle section called a trio, and in a full performance the minuet is then played again from the beginning (da capo). Here the trio is in A-flat major and gentler in character. This arrangement stops at the end of the trio, so for the complete dance, play the minuet once more.

How to practise it

The arrangement is in E-flat major (three flats: B, E and A) and 3/4 time. The minuet, with its repeats written out, ends on the first beat of bar 68, and the trio starts with the upbeat at the end of that bar.

The minuet opens with an upbeat B flat. Its tune is the top line of the right hand, which plays thirds above a held low B flat:

Hold the B flat with the thumb and play the thirds above it with 3 and 5, then 2 and 4, then 2 and 3, keeping the top line smooth. The left hand plays octaves: keep the hand in a fixed octave shape and move it from the arm.

Watch for the quick five-note run at the end of bar 8, squeezed into the last beat after a tiny gap. Practise it as an upbeat into bar 9: rest, five notes, land.

The trio begins with arpeggios shared between the hands. The left hand climbs, and the right hand carries on above it:

Practise the handover slowly until the line sounds continuous, as if one hand played it. Later in the trio both hands play the same notes in octaves, falling through E natural, E flat, D flat and B natural: read those accidentals hands separately first.

Tempo ladder: 60, 76, 88, then the full 100. Feel ONE-two-three, with the tune leading and the left hand softer. The minuet should sound proud and upright, the trio smoother and calmer.

For another Beethoven minuet, try the Tempo di Menuetto from the Sonata in G, Op. 49 No. 2.