the famous love-letters, and of the discussion as to which of these
two they were addressed. Maximiliane Brentano was a niece of the
famous Bettine Brentano.

The Baroness Ertmann was an excellent performer on the pianoforte, and
is said to have been unrivalled as an interpreter of Beethoven's
music. Mendelssohn met her at Rome in 1831, and in a letter describes
her playing of the C sharp minor and D minor Sonatas.

We must now turn to the sonatas, yet neither for the purpose of
analysis nor of admiration. We shall briefly discuss how far Beethoven
worked on the lines established by his predecessors, and how far he
modified them. And, naturally, the question of music on a poetic basis
will be touched upon.

The number of movements of which Beethoven's sonatas consist varies
considerably: some have two, some three, others four. The three very
early sonatas dedicated to Maximilian, Archbishop of Cologne, have
only three movements (the second opens with a brief Larghetto, which,
however, really forms part of the first movement). But the four
Sonatas Op. 2 (Nos. 1, 2 and 3) and Op. 7 all have four movements--an
Allegro, a slow movement, a Scherzo or Minuet and Trio, and a final
Allegro or Rondo. There are examples in later sonatas of similar
grouping; but it is an undeniable fact that in some of his greatest
sonatas--Op. 31 (No. 2), Op. 27 (No. 2), Op. 53, Op. 57--he reverts to
the three-movement sonata so faithfully adhered to by Emanuel Bach,
Haydn, Mozart, and Clementi. And there is evidence that the omission
of the Minuet or Scherzo in Op. 10 (Nos. 1 and 2), in Op. 13, and in
others named above, was the result of reflection and not caprice.

Among sketches for the Sonatas, Op. 10, Beethoven writes: "Zu den
neuen Sonaten ganz kuerze Menuetten" (to the new sonatas quite short
Minuets); and also, a little further on, "Die Menuetten zu den Sonaten
ins kuenftige nicht laenger als von 16 bis 24 Takte" (in future the
Minuets to the sonatas not to exceed from 16 to 24 bars). Then, again,
there are two sketches for a movement of the Minuet or Scherzo kind,
which were almost certainly intended for the Sonata No. 1 in C minor.
One of these was afterwards completed, and has been published in the
Supplement to Breitkopf & Haertel's edition of Beethoven's works. Both
these were finally rejected, yet Beethoven made still another attempt.
There is a sketch for an "Intermezzo zur Sonate aus C moll," and at
the end of the music the c