Beethoven score sale exceeds £1m

The score includes alterations made by Beethoven's hand

A signed manuscript by composer Ludwig van Beethoven has fetched more than £1m at a Sotheby's auction in London.

The 31-page score of Scherzo from the String Quartet Opus 127, dating from 1825, was sold to a telephone bidder for £1,180,600.

It is part of a quartet Beethoven composed at the request of Prince Gallitzin of Russia.

Earlier this year Beethoven's working manuscript of his Ninth Symphony fetched £2.1m at Sotheby's.

The latest score, which had a reserve price of £1m, includes alterations and additions made by the composer.

After Beethoven's death it had various owners, including French composer Pauline Viardot.

In 1925 Rudolf Nydahl - a Swedish collector and music enthusiast - acquired the manuscript privately.

It was sold on behalf of the Nydahl collection at the Foundation for the Furthering of Music Culture in Stockholm.

Dr Stephen Roe, head of Sotheby's Manuscripts department, said he was "delighted" by the sale.

"It was a great day and a great sale - we are really happy," he said.

Dr Roe said the price for the Beethoven manuscript had "more than met" his expectations.

"Beethoven is one of the greats of music and Western culture and these things are few and far between these days," he added.

An original manuscript of title theme from Star Trek on sale at Sotheby's failed to sell, despite expectations it might fetch up to £25,000.