Source Materials

Contained in Volume 2 of the manuscript copy by Anton Pauli Wilhelm Nicolai Kaiper (1796-1861), Kuhlau's "assistant" and an officer, titled A Book of Piano Pieces, Waltzes, Canons, etc., mostly by Kuhlau. It is dated September 20, 1818, on the verso of the first leaf. A printed score is included on page 18 of the music appendix in Jørn L. Baunfohl's doctoral dissertation, Friedrich Kuhlau's Concertos and Piano Sonatas in C Major (Hamburg, 1971).

The last eight measures of the waltz are a quotation from Camillo's aria 'I have no courage, but I wish to die' (No. 13/14) from Kuhlau's first opera, The Robber's Castle. Furthermore, the accompaniment is identical. Since Kuhlau did not have a habit of quoting his own works—with the exceptional case of The Charms of Copenhagen, Op. 92, where he juxtaposed his own work with that of other composers—it is doubtful whether this waltz is his genuine work. Considering the lack of Kuhlau's characteristic originality in the piece and the complete inability to estimate its composition date, it is likely Kaiper's work.