First Appearance

• Movements 2 and 3 appeared in Odeon, Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 50-59 and 66-73 (January/February 1830).
• Advertised in Adresseavisen on February 12, 1830, and all three movements were advertised in the February 15, 1830 issue.

Details of the First Edition Score

• Three Easy Rondos on Favorite Melodies, Composed for Pianoforte by F. Kuhlau: No. 1 on 'The Little Drummer', No. 2 on a Theme from Rossini's Semiramide, No. 3 on a 'German Folk Song', Op. 109, 5th delivery, copyright held by the publisher, Nos. 1-3, C.C. Lose, Copenhagen, and Farrenc, Paris, in three volumes, 7, 11, 9 pages, oblong format, engraved.
• Advertised in Adresseavisen on February 15, 1830.
• Sent to Farrenc on November 13, 1829.
• Autograph manuscripts for Movements 1 and 2 are preserved in the Austrian National Library in Vienna.

• No. 1: The melody of 'I am a Little Drummer' has several German-style counter-melodies and is likely a military song of French origin.
• No. 2: Rossini's Semiramide premiered in Venice on February 3, 1823. Its Copenhagen premiere at the Royal Danish Theatre was on March 28, 1845.
• No. 3: The origin of this German song is unknown. The first eight measures are a typical melody found in many folk songs. However, the subsequent melody is not identifiable in modern folk song research, and the use of at least a seventh leap and a turn in its melodic structure is rare in folk songs. Therefore, it is possible that the latter part of this melody is Kuhlau's own composition.