The present edition is based on the score published in the Complete Edition of 1864, which in its turn took as its source a print published by André in Offenbach circa 1830. An autograph or transcription has yet to be found. Whereas earlier Beethoven specialists traced the Duets back to the time of the Septet Op. 20, which was composed in 1799/1800, contemporary musicologists tend to believe that these works belong to Beethoven's Bonn years before 1792. This view is supported by the fact that the voice leading of the clarinet (Duet l and 2 in C) is primarily in the clarino register whereas the chalumeau register seems to be avoided. Only in two bars of Variation II in the third duet the g and e are reached in broken chords in the clarinet (in B flat) part. Thus the permanently high register of the clarinet part makes it equally practicable for a flute, oboe or violin.

Wiesbaden, Summer 1979 / Fall 1984