Beethoven-Skizzen digital edieren: über die Transparenz editorischer Entscheidungen

Abstract

The study of Beethoven’s sketches has a long tradition. Nevertheless, barely a third of the 70 surviving sketchbooks have been edited to date. The publication of these sketchbooks in book form introduces various limitations. The research project Beethovens Werkstatt has produced the first digital edition of a Beethoven sketchbook. The digital format opens up new possibilities for presenting the content and changes the role of the editors, making their decisions more transparent. For instance, linking individual characters in the facsimile to the corresponding characters in the transcription makes it easy to verify editorial decisions. This paper demonstrates how the limitations of book publication can be overcome through digital presentation and which new possibilities the digital edition offers for working with and analyzing the sketch material.