This is one of three occasional overtures which show Beethoven on less than his most inspired form (the other two are Die Ruinen von Athen and Namensfeier). In 1815 he sold all three to the Viennese publisher Steiner, then a few weeks later sold them again to Charles Neate who was in Vienna to solicit new works for the Philharmonic Society of London. The members of the Society, expecting and hoping for grand works in the vein of Coriolan or Egmont, paid for them, but were far from happy and firmly declined ever to play them. Even Steiner sat on them for some years, eventually publishing one in 1823, another in 1825, finally this one in 1826. Sadly, on this occasion neither the music nor Beethoven's business dealings shows the renowned composer in a favourable light. But König Stephan has (at least) a second theme that is attractive, foreshadowing once again (cf. Choral Fantasia op.80) the main choral theme of the Ninth Symphony.

sources

A  Autograph score (1811), in the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin

B  Manuscript score in the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Vienna; Stichvorlage for E,P. There are no LvB corrections; B adds no information to E itself

C  Manuscript score, copied by Wenzel Rampl, in the British Library. To the title page Beethoven himself added the words Zu Ungarns ersten [sic] / Wohlthäter (To Hungary's first benefactor), but sadly there are again no LvB corrections. Again the text is very close to that of E, but it differs significantly in 318–22 2.Fag (see below), and it seems Rampl may have had a set of manuscript parts as Vorlage

Readings “in E” below may be assumed thus also in B, C and P unless otherwise stated.

E,P  First edition score and parts, published in 1826 by Steiner just before they were taken over by Haslinger, but no more than a single Steiner copy is known, and to all intents and purposes the Haslinger copies rate as first editions

Br  Full score, published as part of the Gesamtausgabe by Breitkopf & Härtel in 1863

EE  Miniature score with Revisionsbericht by Max Unger, published by Eulenburg c.1930. Unger says “it may be assumed that Beethoven read the proofs of E, even if only cursorily”.