The Beethoven-Haus Bonn has an exceptional
digital archive, from which I drew the graphic below. It is the composer's manuscript fair copy of one of his last compositions, a waltz in D major that is an isolated piece. I am particularly fond of the iconography that reinforces the notion of rising cadence gestures as out of the ordinary (in this case, beyond the staff).
Click on the thumbnail to see the full-size graphic.
Beethoven gave the piece the generic name of "Walzer" (see the beginning, at the left of the treble staff), but the violin-key of D major and the broken interval figures mark it clearly as a Laendler. So do the abrupt dynamic changes (imitations of rural dance practice) that undercut the atmosphere of what otherwise sounds like a keyboard transcription of a delicate Laendler for two violins.
