What does this Beethoven sheet music mean?

[applelover]

Newbie question here. I circled a few places in green. See how there are notes that are kind of connected, but there are some notes on the left, and some immediately to the right. Why are those notes on the right? Do they get played at the same time as the notes they are connected to on the left, or is the reason they are staggered to the right here to show a small pause before playing them?

[lelle]

The notes with the stems pointing up are supposed to be played at the same time as the notes with the stems pointing down, as a chord.

The reason it's notated like that is that whoever made the sheet music thought it would look too crowded if all the noteheads shared the same vertical space, so they chose to offset some of the notes with the stem pointing down to the right for easier readablity.

The rhythmic value of the notes still tells you where they're supposed to sound in relation to the beat.

[jamienc]

This appears to be a transcription of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 movement 2. The ares circled are places where the two melodies happen to meet on the same beat or subdivision. To keep it clear which melody is which, and to facilitate the proper voicing of those melodies to differentiate them in the texture, publishers often “offset” notes that occur in the same place but belong to different layers. These offset notes are not to be played as they physically appear on the page. Rhythmic values and indications still apply!