Beethoven manuscript up for sale

A manuscript of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, arguably the most important musical document to appear at auction, will go under the hammer next month, Sotheby’s said Tuesday.

The 575-page manuscript, complete with Ludwig van Beethoven’s frenzied revisions and comments in the margins, is expected to fetch up to $4.65 million when it goes on sale in London on May 22, the auctioneers said.

“It is an incomparable manuscript of an incomparable work, one of the highest achievements of man, ranking alongside Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’ and ‘King Lear,’ ” Stephen Roe, head of Sotheby’s manuscripts department, said in a statement.

Beethoven completed the symphony in 1824, and it was given its first triumphant performance in Vienna the same year. The manuscript, which has been in private hands since it was printed, was prepared in 1826.