Symphony No. 10 (Beethoven/Cooper)

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Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 10 in E flat major is a hypothetical work. Barry Cooper assembled it from Beethoven's fragmentary sketches and two recordings were released in 1988, conducted by Wyn Morris and Walter Weller respectively. Cooper assembled material for a first movement consisting of an Adagio in E-flat major enclosing a central Allegro in C minor. Cooper claims to have also found sketches for a Scherzo which are not developed enough to assemble into a performing version.

Beethoven never completed a Symphony No. 10; indeed, he may never have started one. After completing the Ninth Symphony, he devoted his energies largely to composing string quartets, although there are contemporary references to some work on an orchestral piece; allegedly he played some of his ideas for this piece for his friend Karl Holz. Calling Barry Cooper's work the "Symphony No. 10" has proven to be rather controversial, since it cannot be proven that all the sketches assembled were even intended to be part of the same piece. Cooper claimed that he found over fifty separate fragments which he wove together to form the symphony.

Though this work remains controversial, there is a consensus that Beethoven did intend to complete another symphony. There are numerous references to it in his correspondence (originally, he had planned the Ninth Symphony to be entirely instrumental, the Ode to Joy to be a separate cantata, and the Tenth Symphony to conclude with a different vocal work). Most scholars consider Cooper's work to be a useful work of scholarship, but do not consider the Tenth Symphony to be an authentic addition to Beethoven's canon.

Johannes Brahms's First Symphony is sometimes referred to as "Beethoven's Tenth Symphony", after a remark by Hans von Bülow^{[citation needed]}. In a curious coincidence, both the Brahms work and Beethoven's sketches (as realized by Cooper) feature C-minor Allegros in 6/8 meter.