Alla Ingharese quasi un Capriccio in G major, Op. 129 (Rage over the Lost Penny)

Description

This rondo for piano was composed in 1794/95 and has become known primarily by its sobriquet “The rage over the lost penny”. However, this did not originate with the composer himself, but rather added to the autograph later by another hand. In his own original title, Beethoven emphasised its “Hungarian” style, though he wrote “Ingharese” instead of “all'ungharese,” thereby emphasising the humorous nature of this spirited piece.

Robert Schumann aptly remarked that “There can hardly be anything more amusing than this little tale. I had to laugh from the beginning to the end when I played it for the first time recently.” Beethoven specialist Joanna Cobb Biermann was responsible for revising the Urtext edition of this popular work in line with the latest research, while Chinese pianist Haochen Zhang provided his own fingerings for it.