LONDON: A unique manuscript by Ludwig van Beethoven that was lost for more than a century will go on sale in London in December for more than £1 million.
Discovered in July at the bottom of a dusty filing cabinet at a religious school in Philadelphia, the manuscript is a work in progress for the composer's Grosse Fuge in B flat major - one of his most revolutionary works.
"This is an amazing find," said Stephen Roe, head of auction house Sotheby's manuscript department. "The manuscript was only known from a brief description in a catalogue in 1890, and it has never before been seen or described by Beethoven scholars."
Not only is the 80-page document a working manuscript for the only piano version of a major work by Beethoven, it is one of his few compositions for a piano duet.
Sotheby's, which will auction the document on December 1st, said it was the most important Beethoven manuscript to have come to market in living memory and would prompt a complete reassessment of his works.
Beethoven, who continued to work as he went slowly deaf, wrote the work in 1826 - one year before his death - as the finale for his String Quartet in B flat major.
The piece is notoriously difficult to perform and was musically far ahead of its time. Scholars say it illustrates the methods and thought processes of a musical genius.
