Beethoven, Schoenberg, Bach manuscripts auctioned for huge prices

18 October 2012, 10:31 | Updated: 18 October 2012, 16:01

A Beethoven manuscript has sold for €252,750 in an auction at Sotheby's, Paris, along with scores by Schoenberg and Bach.

An auction at Sotheby's in Paris has seen an unpublished Beethoven manuscript sell for €252,750. The manuscript was part of a collection previously belonging to the French banker Andre Meyer.

The Beethoven manuscript, containing exercises and draft compositions, was initially expected to sell for €100,000 - €150,000 according to auctioneer Sotheby's. They previously had belonged to fellow piano great Frederic Chopin.

Also sold from the same collection was a signed string quartet from Arnold Schoenberg, which went for €240,750. It is the highest price ever paid for a Schoenberg manuscript.

A first edition print of Bach's Six Partitas for Keyboard was also sold for a record-breaking price, slightly lower at €228,750. The whole Meyer collection eventually sold for a total price of around €3.3m.