After the editor's introduction, devoted to an overall view of Beethoven's significance, there are essays by Joseph Kerman and Boris Schwarz concerning the composer's sketches. Alan Tyson discusses the oratorio Christus am Oelberge; Philip Downes, the Eroica Symphony; F. E. Kirby, the Pastoral Symphony; Warren Kirkendale, the Missa Solemnis; and Myron Schwager, and arrangement of the Septet. Lewis Lockwood explores the question of the unfinished piano concerto of 1815; Alfred Mann takes up Beethoven's counterpoint studies with Haydn, and Alexander Ringer discusses Beethoven and the London Pianoforte School. Other topics include "Beethoven and Romantic Irony," by Rey M. Longyear; "Beethoven's Birth Year," by Maynard Solomon; "On Beethoven's Thematic Structure," by Dénes Bartha; and Edward T. Cone examines a striking instance of Beethoven's influence on Schubert.