Beethoven, Bach manuscripts up for auction

8 August 2012, 09:56 | Updated: 8 August 2012, 10:50

Original manuscripts by Beethoven, Bach and Rameau are to be auctioned in October at Sotheby's in Paris.

The manuscripts all come from the collection of André Meyer, who died in 1974, and include a sketch leaf of Beethoven piano music, Bach's Six Partitas for Piano and Rameau's Treatise on Harmony.

The Beethoven sketch (once owned by Frederic Chopin) contains piano exercises including scales and arpeggios, as well as the roots of a more elaborate composition on the back. It is thought that it could've been the seeds of a piano concerto. Its auction value is estimated at $113,000 - $184,000.

The editions of Six Partitas for Piano by Bach up for auction date from 1725 onwards, and are expected to fetch between $98,000 and $147,000. Jean-Philippe's notable work, Traité de l’Harmonie (a Treatise on Harmony) was an important building block for Western harmony, and has an estimated value of $74,000 - $98,000.

The auction for all the items will be held at Sotheby's in Paris on the 16th and 17th October.