"For Elise" is one of
Ludwig van Beethoven's most popular compositions, it was not published during
his lifetime but was discovered by Ludwig Nohl 40 years after the composer
death. The exact identity of
"Elise" is unknown. Nohl, affirmed that the original autograph
manuscript, now lost, had the title: "Für Elise am 27 April [1810] zur
Erinnerung von L. v. Bthvn" ("For Elise on April 27 in memory of L.
v. Bthvn").
The pianist and musicologist Luca
Chiantore argued that Beethoven might not have been the person who gave the
piece the form that we know today. Chiantore suggested that the original signed
manuscript, upon which Ludwig Nohl claimed to base his transcription, may never
have existed
Therese Malfatti, widely believed to be the dedicatee of
"Für Elise"Bagatelle.