In October 1801 Beethoven offered a “grand sonata for the pianoforte” to the Viennese Kunst- und Industrie-Comptoir. His sonata in D major which was published in the following year has been inseparably connected with its nickname ever since the first English edition proclaimed “Sonate Pastorale” on its title page.

The musicologist Jonathan Del Mar, intimate connoisseur of Beethoven’s music, evaluates all sources and editions published during Beethoven’s lifetime for the present scholarly-crit...