This edition brings together all of Beethoven's pieces that he himself associated with the term "bagatelle", a trifle. The Bagatelles reflect Beethoven's diverse compositional cosmos in miniature and span almost his entire oeuvre from 1801/02 to 1824/25. In terms of playing technique, they range from moderate dexterity to demanding virtuosity.

In addition to the well-known collections opp. 33, 119 and 126, ten more pieces were found after Beethoven's death in an envelope labelled “Bagatelles”. These included the revised version of “Für Elise” as well as two further revisions of bagatelles which appear here in print for the first time. Beethoven conceived the cycle, still known today as "op. 119" – although this opus number did not stem from him – as two separate projects with five and six pieces respectively. Our edition presents these two collections separately for the first time, as Beethoven proposed. Variants, additions and revisions in the first print that go beyond the main manuscript source and were most likely intended by Beethoven are presented in grey print.

A variety of new insights, an informative Foreword and insightful notes on Viennese piano playing in Beethoven's time (German/English) as well as a detailed Critical Commentary (Eng) offer the performer an abundance of information and a new perspective on Beethoven's bagatelle oeuvre.