Symphony No. 10 (Beethoven/Cooper)
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 10 in E♭ major is a hypothetical work, assembled in 1988 by Barry Cooper from Beethoven's fragmentary sketches for the first movement. All the sketches assembled were clearly intended for the same symphony, which would have followed the Ninth, since they appear together in several small groups, and there is consensus that Beethoven did intend to compose another symphony. Cooper's score was first performed at a concert given in 1988 by the Royal Philharmonic Society, London, to whom Beethoven himself had offered the new symphony in 1827. The score is published by Universal Edition, Vienna, and appeared in a new edition in 2013.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Background
Template:More citations needed section After completing the Ninth Symphony in 1824, Beethoven devoted his energies largely to composing his late string quartets, although there are contemporary references to some work on a symphony (e.g. in his letter of 18 March 1827); allegedly he played a movement of this piece on the piano for his friend Karl Holz, whose description of what he heard matches the sketches identified by Cooper. Cooper claimed that he found over 250 measures of sketches for the first movement, which he wove together to form the first movement, keeping as close as he could to Beethoven's compositional method and sketching processes. Cooper's reconstruction of the first movement consists of an Andante in [[E-flat major|ETemplate:Music major]] enclosing a central Allegro in C minor. Cooper claimed to have also found sketches for a Scherzo which he used as a third movement and other later movements, but he deemed them not extensive or developed enough to be assembled into a performing version.
It's important to note that if Beethoven had written out these initial sketches, they could've initially been written for a 9th symphony, and then later scratched them to go in a different direction. Although his initial sketches do suggest another symphony, it remained unfinished until his death in 1827. Template:Citation needed
There are a few references to this work in Beethoven's correspondence.Template:Efn
Earlier, in 1814 to 1815, Beethoven also began sketches for his 6th piano concerto in D major.Template:Efn
Recordings
Two recordings of Cooper's reconstruction of the first movement of the symphony were released in 1988, one conducted by Wyn Morris<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref> and the other by Walter Weller. The Morris recording was also released in 1988 on a disc that included the music and an audio recording of a lecture titled "The story of Beethoven's tenth symphony", by Barry Cooper.<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref>
Unrelated depictions
An imaginary story of the discovery of Beethoven's 10th symphony was depicted by Sue Latham in her novel The Haunted House Symphony. A similar concept by Richard Kluger in his novel Beethoven's Tenth, published in 2018, identifies many of the concerns and problems that might follow from the discovery of a lost symphony. Thomas Hauser's 1984 suspense novel The Beethoven Conspiracy depicts the 10th symphony being secretly reassembled and performed.
Beethoven's 10th symphony plays a large plot role in Beethoven's Last Night, an album by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
NPR ran a story on the discovery of Beethoven's 10th Symphony on April Fools' Day 2012.<ref>Template:Cite episode</ref>
On the Wagon Train episode "The Dr. Denker Story", Dr. Denker, played by Theodore Bikel, leads a children's "orchestra" in what he refers to as "Beethoven's 10th Symphony".
Beethoven's Tenth is a play by Peter Ustinov.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It was first staged on Broadway at the Nederlander Theatre in April 1984 under the direction of Robert Chetwyn.
Brahms First Symphony reference
Johannes Brahms's First Symphony is sometimes referred to as "Beethoven's Tenth Symphony", after a remark by von Bülow.<ref name="Brodbeck-1997">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="delMar-1993">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:EfnTemplate:Efn Both Brahms' first symphony and Cooper's assembly of Beethoven's sketches for the tenth feature C-minor [[meter (music)#Meter in classical music|Template:Music]] Allegros.