The discovery in a Pennsylvania seminary last October of the manuscript of Beethoven’s own piano duet transcription of his Grosse Fuge elicited some decidedly inarticulate responses from musical elite. Lewis Lockwood, a Harvard musicologist, memorably commented to The New York Times, “Wow! Oh my God! This is big. This is very big”. Lockwood’s momentary lack of erudition is forgivable, as the manuscript has been considered lost since its sale, 116 years ago, at a Berlin auction. To compound further the potential impact of its discovery stands the fact that the Grosse Fuge has been one of Beethoven’s most enduringly controversial compositions since its first performance in March 1826.