Beethoven wrote his Third Symphony between May 1803 and early 1804. The first known public performance took place at the Theater an der Wien the following year, on 7 April 1805. A Viennese publisher then printed the work, but only in October 1806.

The state of the sources for this key work is complex and incomplete; even the autograph is lost. For this new edition, Peter Hauschild was able to consult for the first time parts from the first edition which contain autographic markings by Beethov...