The list of compositions of Ludwig van Beethoven consists of 722 works written over forty-five years, from his earliest work in 1782 (variations for piano on a march by Ernst Christoph Dressler) when he was only eleven years old and still in Bonn, until his last work just before his death in Vienna in 1827. Beethoven composed works in all the main genres of classical music, including symphonies, concertos, string quartets, piano sonatas and opera. His compositions range from solo works to those requiring a large orchestra and chorus.
Beethoven straddled both the Classical and Romantic periods, working in genres associated with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his teacher Joseph Haydn, such as the piano concerto, string quartet and symphony, while on the other hand providing the groundwork for other Romantic composers, such as Hector Berlioz and Franz Liszt, with programmatic works such as his Pastoral Symphony and Piano Sonata "Les Adieux". Beethoven's work is typically divided into three periods: the "Early" period, where he composed in the "Viennese" style; the "Middle" or "Heroic" period, where his work is characterised by struggle and heroism, such as in the Eroica Symphony, the Fifth Symphony, the Appassionata Sonata and in his sole opera Fidelio; and the "Late" period, marked by intense personal expression and an emotional and intellectual profundity. Although his output greatly diminished in his later years, this period saw the composition of masterpieces such as the late string quartets, the final five piano sonatas, the Diabelli Variations, the Missa Solemnis and the Ninth Symphony.
Beethoven's works are classified by both genre and various numbering systems. The best-known numbering system for Beethoven's works is that by opus number, assigned by Beethoven's publishers during his lifetime. Only 172 of Beethoven's works have opus numbers, divided among 138 opus numbers. Many works that were unpublished or published without opus numbers have been assigned one of "WoO" (Werke ohne Opuszahl—works without opus number), Hess or Biamonti numbers. For example, the short piano piece "Für Elise" is more fully known as the "Bagatelle in A minor, WoO 59 ('Für Elise')". Some works are also commonly referred to by their nicknames, such as the Kreutzer Violin Sonata, or the Archduke Piano Trio.
Works are also often identified by their number within their genre. For example, the 14th string quartet, published as Opus 131, may be referenced either as "String Quartet No. 14" or "the Opus 131 String Quartet". The listings below include all of these relevant identifiers. While other catalogues of Beethoven's works exist, the numbers here represent the most commonly used.
List of works by genre
Beethoven's works are published in several editions, the first of these was Ludwig van Beethovens Werke: Vollständige kritisch durchgesehene überall berechtigte Ausgabe published between 1862 and 1865 with a supplemental volume in 1888 by Breitkopf & Härtel, commonly known as the "Beethoven Gesamtausgabe" [GA]. While this was a landmark achievement at the time, the limitations of this edition soon became apparent. Between 1959 and 1971 Willy Hess prepared a supplemental edition, Beethoven: Sämtliche Werke: Supplemente zur Gesamtausgabe, [HS] containing works that were not in the Gesamtausgabe.
Since 1961, the Beethoven Archive has been publishing a new scholarly–critical Complete Edition of Beethoven's works, Beethoven: Werke: neue Ausgabe sämtlicher Werke [NA]. However, only 42 of the projected 56 volumes have been published so far. As this edition has not been published in full there are works without an NA designation.
Legend for publications – p: parts s: full score vs: vocal score
Orchestral music Beethoven wrote nine symphonies, nine concertos, and a variety of other orchestral music, ranging from overtures and incidental music for theatrical productions to other miscellaneous "occasional" works, written for a particular occasion. Of the concertos, seven are widely known (one violin concerto, five piano concertos, and one triple concerto for violin, piano, and cello); the other two are an early piano concerto (WoO 4) and an arrangement of the Violin Concerto for piano and orchestra (Opus 61a).
Symphonies
No.Unless stated otherwise all information comes from the New Grove Music Dictionary article on Beethoven Title, keyComposition; first performancePublicationDedication, remarksGANAOp. 21Symphony No. 1 in C major1799–2 April 1800p: Leipzig 1801Baron Gottfried van Swieteni/1i/1Op. 36Symphony No. 2 in D major1801–5 April 1803p: Vienna, 1804; for piano, violin, cello: Vienna, 1805Prince Karl von Lichnowskyi/2i/1Op. 55Symphony No. 3 "Eroica" in E major1803–7 April 18051st private performance at Lobkowitz palace, summer 1804,p: Vienna, 1806Prince Franz Joseph von Lobkowitzi/3i/2Op. 60Symphony No. 4 in B major1806–March 1807p: Vienna, 1808Count Franz von Oppersdorff i/4 i/2Op. 67Symphony No. 5 "Fate" in C minor1807preliminary sketches, 1804–22 December 1808p: Leipzig, 1809Prince Lobkowitz and Count Andreas Razumovskyi/5i/3Op. 68Symphony No. 6 "Pastoral" in F major1808–22 December 1808p: Leipzig, 1809Prince Lobkowitz and Count Razumovskyi/6i/3Op. 92Symphony No. 7 in A major1811–8 December 1813s, p: Vienna, 1816Count Moritz von Friesi/7Op. 93Symphony No. 8 in F major1812–27 February 1814s, p: Vienna, 1817shortened version of end of 1st movt, HS ivi/8Op. 125Symphony No. 9 "Choral" in D minor1822–7 May 1824s, p: Mainz, 1826Frederick William III of Prussiai/9i/5
Beethoven is believed to have intended to write a Tenth Symphony in the last year of his life; a performing version of possible sketches was assembled by Barry Cooper.
Concertos
No.Title, keyComposition, first performancePublicationDedication, remarksGANAWoO 4Piano Concerto No. 0 in E major1784s: GA survives only in pf score (with orch cues in solo part) xxv/310iii/5WoO 5Violin Concerto in C major, (fragment)1790–1792Vienna, 1879part of 1st movt only; 1st edn ded. Gerhard von BreuningHS iiiOboe Concerto in F major, (lost)1792–1793?sent to Bonn from Vienna in late 1793; a few sketches surviveOp. 19Piano Concerto No. 2 in B majorbegun , rev. 1790–1801p: Leipzig, 1801Carl Nicklas von Nickelsberg; score frag. rejected from early version, HS iiiix/66iii/2cadenza for first movement1809GAix/70avii/7Op. 15Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major18 December 1795 rev. 1800p: Vienna, 1801Princess Barbara Odescalchi (née Countess von Keglevics)ix/65iii/23 cadenzas for first movement1809GAix/70avii/7Op. 37Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor1800–5 April 1803?p: Vienna, 1804Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussiaix/67iii/2cadenza for first movement1809GAix/70avii/7Op. 56Triple Concerto for Violin, Cello, and Piano in C major1804–May 1808p: Vienna, 1807Prince Lobkowitzix/70iii/1Op. 58Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major1804–22 December 1808p: Vienna, 1808Archduke Rudolph of Austriaix/68iii/32 cadenzas for first movement, cadenza for finale1809?GAix/70avii/7cadenza for first movement, 2 cadenzas for finale (Hess 81, 82, 83)1809?NAHSxvii/7Op. 61Violin Concerto in D major23 December 1806p: Vienna, 1808; London, 1810Stephan von Breuningiv/29; HSxiii/4Op. 61aBeethoven's arrangement of Opus 61 for Piano in D major1807p: Vienna, 1808; London, 1810Julie von Breuningix/73 (solo part)iii/5Cadenza for first movement, cadenza for finale1809?GAix/70avii/72 cadenzas for finale (Hess 84–85)1809?NAHSxvii/7Op. 73Piano Concerto No. 5 "Emperor" in E major1809–28 November 1811p: London, 1810; Leipzig, 1811Archduke Rudolphix/69iii/3Piano Concerto No. 6 in D major, (fragment)1814–1815unfinished (performing version completed by Nicholas Cook)
Other works for soloist and orchestra
No.Title, keyComposition, first performancePublicationDedication, remarksGANARomance Cantabile1786?Wiesbaden, 1952intended as slow movement of larger workHS iiiWoO 6Rondo for Piano and Orchestra in B major1793p: Vienna, 1829orig. finale of op.19; solo part completed by Carl Czerny for 1st ed.ix/72; HS iiiiii/5Op. 50Romance for Violin and Orchestra No. 2 in F major 1798–November 1798?p: Vienna, 1805iv/31iii/4Op. 40Romance for Violin and Orchestra No. 1 in G major1801–1802p: Leipzig, 1803iv/30iii/4Romance for Violin and Orchestra No. 3, (lost)1816reported by W. Altmann in Preface to the Steiner edition of 1816 of the Violin ConcertsOp. 80Choral Fantasy in C minor22 December 1808, rev. 1809p: London, 1810; Leipzig, 1811Maximilian Joseph, King of Bavaria;HS xix/71x/2
Overtures and incidental music
No.Title, keyComposition, first performancePublicationDedication, remarksGANAWoO 1"Ritterballet" in D major1790–Bonn, 6 March 1791pf: Leipzig and Winterthur, 1872; s: GAxxv/286; HS viiiii/2Op. 43"The Creatures of Prometheus"1800–Burgtheater, Vienna, 28 March 1801for pf: Vienna, 1801; p: Leipzig, 1804 [ov. only]; s: GAPrincess Christiane von Lichnowskyii/11; HX viiiii/2Op. 62"Coriolan" Overture in C minorMarch 1807p: Vienna, 1808Heinrich Joseph von Colliniii/18ii/1Op. 138"Leonore" Overture No. 1 in C major1807–7 February 1828s, p: Vienna, 1838 iii/19ix/1Op. 72a"Leonore" Overture No. 2 in C major1804–Theater an der Wien, Vienna, 20 November 1805s: HSHS ii. xi–xiiiix/1Op. 72b"Leonore" Overture No. 3 in C major1805–Theater an der Wien, 29 March 1806s: HSHS xi–xiiiix/1Op. 84"Egmont" in F minor1809–15 June 1810p: Leipzig, 1810 [ov.], Leipzig, 1812 [remainder]; vs: Leipzig, 1812 [without ov.]; s: Leipzig, 1831ii/12, iii/27; HS v (no.4)ix/7Op. 113"The Ruins of Athens" (Die Ruinen von Athen) in G major1811–10 February 1812s: Vienna, 1823 [ov. only], Vienna, 1846 [complete],ded. (by publisher) König Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussiaxx/207, iii/28x/8Op. 117"King Stephen" (König Stephan) in Eb major1811–10 February 1812s: Vienna, 1826 [ov. only], GA [complete]xx/207b, iii/23ix/8WoO 2aTriumphal March, for Tarpeja in C major26 March 1813p: Vienna, 1840; s: GAii/14ix/7WoO 2bIntroduction to Act 2 of Leonore, 1805 version1805, discardeds: Mainz, 1938HS ivOp. 91Wellington's Victory "Battle Symphony"8 December 1813s, p: Vienna, 1816; for pf: London and Vienna, 1816Prince Regent of England (later King George IV)ii/10; HS viii (for pf)ii/1Op. 115"Zur Namensfeier" (Feastday) in C major1814–25 December 1815s, p: Vienna, 1825Prince Antoni Radziwiłłiii/22ii/1WoO 96Leonore Prohaska1815s: GAxxv/272ix/7Op. 114March and Chorus for "The Consecration of the House"1822Op. 124"The Consecration of the House" (Die Weihe des Hauses) in CJosefstadt-Theater, 3 October 1822s: Mainz, 1825Prince Nikolay Golitsïniii/24ii/1Wo sich die Pulse, chorus for "The Consecration of the House"1822s:GAxxv/266ix/8WoO 3Gratulations-Minuet in E3 November 1822p: Vienna, 1832written for Carl Friedrich Hensler, ded. (by publisher) Karl Holzii/13ii/3
Chamber music Beethoven wrote 16 string quartets and numerous other forms of chamber music, including piano trios, string trios, and sonatas for violin and cello with piano, as well as works with wind instruments.
Chamber music for strings
String quartets