transcriber's note minor punctuation errors have been changed without notice. all other inconsistencies are as in the original. the author's spelling has been maintained. sketch of handel and beethoven. two lectures, delivered in the lecture hall of the wimbledon village club, on monday evening, dec. , ; and monday evening, jan. , . by the rev. t. hanly ball, a.b., curate and lecturer of st. mary's, wimbledon. published at the request and expense of a parishioner. london: charles j. skeet, , king william street, charing cross. . dedication. to john a. beaumont esq., wimbledon park house. my dear mr. beaumont, seneca has well said, "the three main points in the question of benefits, are, first, a judicious choice in the object; secondly, in the matter of our benevolence; and thirdly, in the manner of expressing it." of the first, it would not be becoming in me to speak; of the second, you are the rightful judge; of the third, i beg leave thus publicly to state, that not only in requesting permission to publish this lecture at your own expense but _on many other occasions_, you have fully come up to seneca's idea of what a benefactor ought to be. i shall not attempt describing what i hope you give me credit for; _furnius_ never gained so much upon _augustus_ as by a speech, upon the getting of his father's pardon for siding with _anthony_, "this grace," says he, "is the only injury that ever cÆsar did me; for it has put me upon a necessity of living and dying ungrateful." allow me to dedicate the little volume to you, and believe me, ever to remain, your obedient and faithful servant, t. hanly ball. _wimbledon, th february, ._ preface. a brief account of "the wimbledon village club" will explain the origin and object of the two following lectures. "the design of the institution is to afford to the inhabitants, and more especially the working and middle classes of wimbledon and its vicinity, opportunities of intellectual and moral improvement, and rational and social enjoyment, through the medium of a reading room and library, lectures and classes."[a] the reading room is supplied with daily and weekly newspapers, periodicals, and books. the library contains upwards of six hundred volumes, all which have been presented to the institution. the lectures are on various literary and scientific subjects. to these have been recently added, _readings_ and _chat meetings_. _readings_, are three short readings from some popular author, by different readers, on the same evening. "_chat meetings_ are simplifications of a soirée, or a conversazione. they originated in the idea that many parishioners, having in their homes interesting objects, the examination of which would afford pleasure and instruction to their fellow-parishioners, would on certain occasions gladly take these objects to a room appointed for the purpose, and display and explain them."[b] mr. toynbee, the _fidus achates_ of the club, has, in his admirable "hints on the formation of local museums," well said--"the wimbledon club is admirably calculated to meet the wants of the working classes, as regards their recreation and instruction. while it furnishes amusement and instruction to all classes, it brings them together at its various meetings in friendly intercourse; the management of the institution, and the organization of its several proceedings, afford a valuable experience to the committee, who portion among themselves their respective work; and the preparation of the lectures, &c., proves a healthy mental stimulus to those intelligent inhabitants who desire to take part in _one of the most delightful of duties, viz., the conveyance to the minds of others an interest in those pleasing and elevating subjects from which, happily their own minds derive gratification_."--"hints," pp. , . should these lectures again interest any of the large and attentive audiences with which they were honoured, i will consider myself justified in having consented to their publication, and feel happy to be the medium of imparting information, even on a secular subject, to those whom it is my duty, and is my pleasure, to profit and please. it is scarcely necessary for me to say, biographical lectures are chiefly the result of reading and research;[c] i have, however, somewhat fully expressed my opinions on the advantages of music, and very freely on one or two cognate subjects, and others incidentally alluded to. footnotes: [footnote a: "rules and regulations of the wimbledon village club," p. .] [footnote b: "hints on the formation of local museums, by the treasurer of the wimbledon museum committee," p. .] [footnote c: works referred to, and extracted from, in the following lectures:--besides those mentioned in the lectures, the following works are alluded to, or quoted;--beattie's essays; burnet's history of music; hogart's musical history; edwards's history of the opera; the harmonicon; schlegel's life of handel; holmes' life of mozart; moschele's life of beethoven.] a sketch of handel. a lecture. before i say of that great composer and extraordinary man whose life i have undertaken to sketch, it will not be out of place, i hope, to make a few remarks on the history and utility of music. i.--the history. it has been well said by latrobe, that--though the concise and compressed character of the mosaic history admits no data upon which to found this supposition, yet we may readily conclude from the nature of music, and the original perfection of the human powers, that the garden of eden was no stranger to "singing and the voice of melody." we read in scripture that before the fall, the state of our first parents was a state of unmingled happiness. now, it is the very nature of joy to give utterance to its emotions. happiness must have its expression. and thus it may well be supposed that man in his primal felicity would seek to express, by every conceivable mode, the love, gratitude, and joy which absorbed every affection of his nature. now, the most natural, as well as powerful, medium for conveying those feelings with which we are acquainted, is music. if then music be the expression of joy, it cannot be supposed unknown to our first parents, whose exultation was as intense as it was hallowed. milton says:-- "neither various style, nor holy rapture wanted they to praise their maker in fit strains, pronounced or sung unmeditated, such prompt eloquence flowed from their lips, in prose or numerous verse, more tuneable, than needed lute or harp to add more sweetness." but soon the voice of unalloyed thanksgiving was silenced. sin brought with it sorrow; and, ever since, the hallelujahs of the saints have been strangely intermingled with the moanings of self-reproach, and the cries of judicial sufferings. the heart, now become the seat of a tremendous conflict between sin and holiness, lost its elasticity, and needed some outward excitement to call forth its song of praise. hence the invention of instrumental music, which is assigned by scripture to jubal. longfellow says:-- "when first in ancient time, from jubal's tongue, the tuneful anthem filled the morning air, to sacred hymnings and elysian song his music-breathing shell the minstrel woke-- devotion breathed aloud from every chord, the voice of praise was heard in every tone, and prayer and thanks to him the eternal one, to him, that, with bright inspiration touched the high and gifted lyre of everlasting song, and warmed the soul with new vitality. "to the element of air," says bishop horne, "god has given the power of producing sounds; to the ear the capacity of receiving them; and to the affections of the mind an aptness to be moved by them, when transmitted through the body." the philosophy of the thing is too deep and wonderful for us; we cannot attain to it! but such is the fact; with that we are concerned, and that is enough for us to know. ii.--utility. of the utility of music there can be no question. lycurgus, one of the wisest of all ancient legislators, gave great encouragement to music. polybius, one of the most ancient historians ascribes the humanity of the arcadians to the influence of this art and the barbarity of their neighbours the cynethians to their neglect of it. quintilian, the great rhetorician, is very copious in the praise of music; and extols it as an incentive to valour, as an instrument of moral and intellectual discipline, as an auxiliary to science, as an object of attention to the wisest men, and a source of comfort and an assistant in labour even to the very meanest. the heroes of ancient greece were ambitious to excel in music. in armies music has always been cultivated as a source of pleasure, a principle of regular motion, and an incentive to valour and enthusiasm. and there is this in music, that it is suited to please all the varieties of the human mind. the illiterate and the learned, the thoughtless and the giddy, the phlegmatic and the sanguine, all confess themselves to be its votaries. it is a source of the purest mental enjoyment, and may be obtained by all. it is suited to all classes, and never ceases to please all. many of you, i am sure, are familiar with what shakespeare says:-- "nought is so stockish, hard, and full of rage, but music for the time doth change his nature. the man that hath no music in himself, nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds, is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils; the motions of his spirit are dull as night, and his affections dark as erebus: let no such man be trusted." you recollect, too, what lord byron has so pathetically sung:-- "my soul is dark--oh! quickly string the harp i yet can brook to hear, and let thy gentle fingers fling its melting murmurs o'er mine ear. "if in this heart a hope be dear, that sound shall charm it forth again; if in these eyes there lurk a tear, 't will flow, and cease to burn my brain. "but bid the strain be wild and deep, nor let thy notes of joy be first, i tell thee, minstrel, i must weep, or else this heavy heart will burst. "for it hath been by sorrow nursed, and ached in sleepless sorrow long; and now 't is doomed to know the worst, and break at once, or yield to song." all, however, do not agree with byron and shakespeare. charles lamb says:-- "some cry up haydn, some mozart, just as the whim bites.--for my part, i do not care a farthing candle for either of them, or for handel. cannot a man live free and easy without admiring pergolesi? or through the earth with comfort go, that never heard of doctor blow? i hardly have; and yet i eat, and drink, and shave, like other people, if you watch it, and know no more of stave or crotchet than did the primitive peruvians, or those old ante queer diluvians, that lived in the unwash'd earth with jubal, before that dirty blacksmith, tubal, by stroke on anvil, or by summ'at, found out, to his great surprise, the gamut." witty essayist, your "free thoughts," like many other of your clever writings, are erroneous. in all ages, and even by the least enlightened of mankind, the efficacy of music has been acknowledged, and considered as a genuine and natural source of delight. now it awakens the latent courage in the breast of the soldier, and now administers to the pensive sorrow of the weeping mother. at one moment it inspires the soul with sublime and hallowed awe, and at the next gives life to unbounded mirth. it is suited to stimulate the feeling of devotion, and to increase the boisterous pleasures of a village harvest-home. wearied with the oppression of the noon-day sun, and exhausted with labour, the husbandman sits beneath the shade of his native oak, and sings the songs he heard in infancy. the man of business, the man of letters, and the statesman, wearied with the exertion of mind and burden of care, seek relief round the family hearth, and forget awhile ambition and fears under the influence of music. and the dejected emigrant sings the songs of fatherland, whilst recollections, sad but sweet, arise and disappear. "in far-distant climes, when the tear gushes o'er for home, love, and friendship, that charm us no more, oh! what on the exiles' dark sorrows can shine like the rapture that flows at the songs of lang-syne! "the music of britain is sweet 'midst the scene; but, ah! could you hear it, when seas roll between! 'tis then, and then only, the soul can divine the music that dwells in the songs of lang-syne. "the spirit, when torn from earth's objects of love, loses all its regrets in the chorus above: so in exile we cannot but cease to repine, when it hallows with ecstacy songs of lang-syne." but i must allow music herself to prove her influence and assert her sway. (caprice hongrois.) "cease gentle sounds, nor kill me quite with such excess of sweet delight. each trembling note invades my heart, and thrills through every vital part: a soft--a pleasing pain pursues my heated blood through every vein. what--what does the enchantment mean? now, wild with fierce desire, my breast is all on fire! in softened raptures now i die! can empty sound such joys impart? can music thus transport the heart with melting ecstacy! oh! art divine! exalted blessing, each celestial charm expressing-- kindest gift the heavens bestow, sweetest food that mortals know! but give the charming magic o'er-- my beating heart can bear no more!" george frederick handel was born at halle, in lower saxony, on the th february, . his father (who was a surgeon, and was sixty-three years old when this child first saw the light) determined to make a lawyer of him: but nature had resolved to make him a composer; and the struggle between nature and the father commenced at the very cradle of the future author of the "messiah." scarcely had he begun to speak when he articulated musical sounds. the doctor was terribly alarmed, when he discovered instincts which in his eyes were of so low an order. he understood nothing of art, nor of the noble part which artists sustain in the world. he saw in them nothing but a sort of mountebank, who amuse the world in its idle moments. uneasy, and almost ashamed at the inclinations of his son, the father of handel opposed them by all possible means. he would not send him to any of the public schools, because there not only grammar but the gamut would be taught him--he would not permit him to be taken to any place, of whatever description, where he could hear music--he forbade him the slightest exercise of that nature and banished every kind of musical instrument far from the house. but he might as well have told the river that it was not to flow. nature surmounted every obstacle to her decree. the precautions taken to stifle the instincts of the child served only to fortify by concentrating them. he found means to procure a spinet, and to conceal it in a garret, whither he went to play when all the household was asleep--without any guidance finding out everything for himself, and merely by permitting his little fingers to wander over the keyboard, he produced harmonic combinations; and at _seven_ years of age he discovered that he knew how to play upon the spinet. the poor father soon discovered his mistake, and in the following manner. he had, by a former marriage, a son who was valet to the duke of saxe weisenfield. he wished to go and visit him; and george, who was then seven years old, and who was not acquainted with this brother, begged of his father to take him with him. when this was refused he did not insist, but watched for the moment when the coach set off, and followed it on foot. the father saw him, stopped the coach and scolded him; when the child, as if he did not hear the scolding, recommenced his supplications to be allowed to take part in the journey, and at last (thanks to that persistance which predicted the man of energy which he eventually proved to be) his request was granted. when they had arrived at the palace of the duke, the boy stole off to the organ in the chapel as soon as the service was concluded, and was unable to resist the temptation of touching it. the duke, not recognizing the style of his organist, made inquiries; and when the trembling little artist was brought before him he encouraged him, and soon won his secret from him. the duke then addressed himself to the father, and represented to him that it was a sort of crime against humanity to stifle so much genius in its birth. the old doctor was greatly astonished, and had not much to answer. the opinion of a sovereign prince must have had, moreover, a great influence over the mind of a man who considered musicians mountebanks. he permitted himself to be convinced, and promised, not without some regret, to respect a vocation which manifested itself by such unmistakeable signs. handel was present, his eyes fastened upon his powerful protector, without losing a word of the argument. never did he forget it, and for ever afterwards he regarded the duke of saxe-weisenfeld as his benefactor, for having given such good advice to his father. on his return home his wishes were gratified, and he was permitted to take lessons from sackau, the organist of the cathedral at halle. sackau was an organist of the old school, learned and fond of his art. he was not long in discovering what a pupil fortune had sent him. he began by carefully instructing him in general principles, and then laid before him a vast collection of german and italian music which he possessed, and which they analyzed together. sackau was every day more and more astonished at his marvellous progress; and, as he loved wine nearly as well as music, he often sent him to take his place at the organ on sundays, whenever he had a good _dejeuner_ to take part in. at length, although he found him of great use, this worthy man confessed, with excellent and admirable pride, that his pupil knew more than himself, and advised that he should be sent to berlin, where he might strengthen himself by studying other models. handel was eleven years of age when he went to berlin. there he passed for a prodigy. the elector, wishing to become the patron of so rare a genius, manifested a disposition to attach him to himself, and to send him to italy to complete his musical education. but when the father was consulted, he did not think it wise to enchain the future of his son to the court of berlin, and he excused himself, saying that he was now an old man, and that he wished to keep near him the only son who remained to him; and, as in those days it was not prudent to oppose a prince on his own land, handel was brought back somewhat hastily to his native town. handel's father died shortly after the return of his son from berlin, in , leaving him poor; and it became necessary to provide for his _existence_ as well as his _renown_. halle was too small to contain him. he wished to visit italy, but not having the means of such a journey, he went to hamburg in the month of july, . soon after his arrival in hamburg, the place of the organist of lubeck was offered for competition, upon the _retirement_ of the old incumbent. handel canvassed for the vacancy; but finding a rather singular condition attached to the programme, which was _that the successor was to marry the daughter of the retiring organist_, as this was not quite agreeable to him, he returned to hamburg as happy as he went. this adventure, at the very outset of his career, appears all the more original, when we remember that handel never manifested any taste for matrimony. i shall not occupy your time by describing handel's peregrinations through italy--whereever he went his fame preceded him. in he left italy, with an intent to settle in germany. he came to hanover. the elector george of brunswick, afterwards george i. of england, was delighted to receive such a man in his principality, and offered to retain him as his chapel master, at a salary of ducats, about £ a year. handel was not very desirous of occupying this post. for at the court of the elector he had already met some british noblemen who had pressed him to visit england; and being persuaded by them to undertake that journey, he did not wish to engage himself, except upon the condition of being allowed to accomplish it. the condition was accepted and he set out at the end of the year. passing through dusseldorf he could scarcely tear himself away; for the elector palatine wished to keep him at any price. thence he went to halle to embrace his mother, who was now blind; and his good old master, sackau. afterwards he visited holland and arrived in london at the close of . handel's first work in england was the opera of rinaldo, and this at once established his reputation. the cavatina in the first act, "cairo sposa," was to be found, in , upon all the harpsichords of great britain, as a model of pathetic grace. the march was adopted by the regiment of life guards, who played it every day for forty years. like the regiments themselves, marches have their days and their strokes of fortune; and this one, after a long and honourable existence, was subsequently pressed into the service of the highway robbers. twenty years later pepusch made out of it the robber's chorus in the beggar's opera, "let us take road." the brilliant morceau in the second act, "il tri cerbero," was also set to english words--"let the waiter bring clean glasses," and was a long time the most popular song at all merry-makings. but what shall be said of "lascia che io pianza?" stradella's divine air of "i miei sospiri," has nothing more moving, or more profoundly tender. it has been asserted that in music the _beau ideal_ changes every thirty years, but that is an ill-natured criticism. certain forms of accompaniment may grow out of fashion like the cut of a coat. but a fine melody remains eternally beautiful and always agreeable to listen to. the th psalm of the middle ages is as magnificent to-day as it was when nearly four centuries ago it came from the brain of its composer, franc.[d] "laschia che io pianza" and "i miei sospiri" will be admirable and admired to the very end of the world. handel's publisher was said to have gained £ , from the publication of rinaldo, which drew from handel this complaint, "my dear sir, as it is only right that we should be upon an equal footing, _you_ shall _compose_ the next opera, and i will sell it." publishers then, as now, not only lived by the brains of others, but had the lion's share of the profits. handel's success as an harpsichordist was equal to that which he enjoyed as a composer. he very often played solos in the theatre, and at the house of thomas britton. britton, the small coal merchant of clerkenwell green, deserves a passing remark. thomas britton belonged to that class of men whom persons of limited views are accustomed to term _the lower orders_ of society, for he gained his daily bread by crying small coal, which he carried about the streets in a sack upon his shoulders. he lived near clerkenwell green, a quarter of the town with which fashionable people were scarcely acquainted before he made it illustrious. how it came to pass that he learnt to play upon the _viola de gamba_ is not known, but he played upon it, and he was so much of an artist, that he grouped around him a number of amateurs who were happy to perform concerted music under his direction. britton was the tenant of a stable which he divided horizontally by a floor--on the ground floor was his coal shop. the upper story formed a long and narrow room, and it was in this chamber that the first meetings in the nature of private concerts took place in england, and instrumental music was first played regularly. here it was that from to (the period of his death), the itinerant small coal merchant weekly entertained the intelligent world of london at his musical soirées, always gratuitously. among others, the duchess of queensbury, one of the most celebrated beauties of the court, was very regular in her attendance. pepusch and handel played the harpsichord and the organ there. hawkins mentions, as a proof of the great consideration which britton acquired, that he was called "_sir_;" and many persons, unable to believe that a man of that class and of such a business could arrive by natural means to be called "sir," took him for a magician, an atheist, and a jesuit. in , handel had produced at the theatre in the haymarket, a new opera _amadiji_. the _poem_ of amadiji is signed, in right of his authorship, by the new manager of the theatre james heidegger, commonly called the "_swiss count_." he was said to be the ugliest man of his time; lord chesterfield wagered that it was impossible to discover a human being so disgraced by nature. after having searched through the town, a hideous old woman was found, and it was agreed that heidegger was handsomer. but as heidegger was pluming himself upon his victory, chesterfield required that he should put on the old woman's bonnet. thus attired the swiss count appeared horribly ugly, and chesterfield was unanimously declared the winner, amid thunders of applause. heidegger, who made so light of a joke at his own expense, dedicated the libretto of amadis to the earl of burlington, at whose house, in piccadilly, the music had been composed by handel. when the king asked the earl why he went so far to live, he replied that he was fond of solitude, and that he was certain that he had found a place where no one could come and build beside him. it is one hundred and forty seven years since he said this. piccadilly, where the house of this solitary lord is to be found, is now, i need scarcely tell you, one of the most central and fashionable parts of london. in , handel paid a flying visit to his native town. when he returned to london, in , he found the italian theatre closed, being unable to support itself; but the chapel of the duke of chandos was in a flourishing condition. the duke of chandos, formerly paymaster-general of queen anne's army, had built near the village of edgeware a mansion called cannons. in "a journey through england," by miss spence, this mansion is thus described:-- "the palace of the duke of chandos was erected in the eighteenth century. this magnificent structure with its decorations and furniture cost £ , . the pillars of the great hall were of marble, as were the steps of the principal staircase, each step consisting of one piece twenty-two feet long. the establishment of the household was not inferior to the splendour of the habitation. notwithstanding the three successive shocks which his fortune received by his concern in the african company and the mississippi and south sea speculations in - - , the duke lived in splendour at cannons till his death in , rather as the presumptive heir to a diadem than as one of her majesty's subjects. so extraordinary indeed, was his style of living, that he was designated '_the grand duke_.'" among other objects of luxury this duke had a chapel furnished like the churches of italy. it was situate a short distance from the mansion, and we are told that he went there with true christian humility, "attended by his swiss guards," ranged as the yeoman of the guard. every sunday the road from london to edgeware was thronged with carriages of the members of the nobility and gentry, who went to pray to god with his grace. dr. pepusch, one of the greatest musical celebrities of the time, was the first chapel master; but the duke of chandos, who loved ever to worship the lord with the best of everything, made proposals to the illustrious handel, and persuaded him to take the place of pepusch. the musical biography tells us that "dr. pepusch fully acquiesced in the opinion of handel's superior merit, and retired from his eminent and honourable situation without any expression whatever either of chagrin or disappointment." the wise labour for their own sakes, for their own satisfaction, and in the midst of general indifference; but artists only work when they are excited by public attention. the most fruitful have need of external animation to become productive, and require immediate applause. handel, having an orchestra and singers at his disposal, with the guests of a wealthy nobleman for audience, set himself passionately to work. it was at cannons that he wrote the two te deums and the twelve famous anthems, called the chandos anthems. of the splendid residence wherein the duke of chandos gave these magnificent "feasts of reason and flow of soul," nothing is now left but the chapel, which, as i said before, was constructed apart from the mansion. it is now the parish church of edgeware. the most interesting relic is an organ, of moderate size, which stands behind the altar. upon this may be found a little brass plate, bearing this inscription:-- -------------------------------------- | | | handel | | was organist of this church | | from the year to , | | and composed | | the oratorio of esther | | on this organ | -------------------------------------- the mansion was sold in , three years after the duke's death, for eleven thousand pounds. (it had cost, you recollect, two hundred and thirty thousand pounds.) not a vestige of it is left; and, as the site is now in a state of cultivation, pope's prediction is realized: "another age shall see the golden ear imbrown the slope and nod on the parterre. deep harvests bury all his pride has planned, and laughing ceres reassume the land." _essay_--"_of the use of riches_." the magnificent duke himself is now almost forgotten. a marble statue, which was erected to his memory in the crypt of the chapel, is now in the last state of dilapidation. the wind whistles through the broken windows of its funereal abode; and the plaster of the roof, detached from its skeleton of laths, powders his enormous wig, and soils the imperial robe that drapes his shoulders. but the spirit of the master of cannons may console itself; for in the verses of the poets are monuments of infinitely greater durability than marble. and has not pope sung:-- "true, some are open, and to all men known; others so very close, they're hid from none. (so darkness strikes the sense no less than light;) thus gracious chandos is beloved at sight." _essay_--"_of the characters of man_." on either side of the statue stand two long figures, clothed, like it, in roman costume. these are the first two wives of the duke. but he married a third wife, who has not, however, been permitted to enter the sanctuary. the story of this third marriage is worth telling you. one day the duke being on a journey, he saw, at the door of an inn at which the horses were changed, a groom beating a young servant girl with a horse-whip. taking pity on the poor girl, the duke went to interpose between them, when he was informed that the groom and the girl were married. this being the case, nothing could be said; for the law of england at that time permitted husbands to beat their wives to any excess short of death. the groom, who had noticed the movement of the duke, came up and offered to sell him his wife, if he would buy her; and in order to save her from further punishment he did so. but when the bargain was concluded, the duke did not know what to do with his new acquisition, and so he sent her to school. soon after this the duchess of chandos died, and the duke took it into his head that he would marry his purchase--so that eventually the poor servant girl, whom a groom had beaten by the road side before every passer by, became duchess of chandos, and comported herself in her new rank with perfect dignity. * * * * * but to return to handel and to cannons. one day, as he was going there, he was overtaken by a shower in the midst of the village of edgeware, and took shelter in the house of one powell, who was a blacksmith as well as parish clerk of whitchurch. after the usual salutations, powell fell to work again at his forge, singing an old song the while. by an extraordinary phenomenon, the hammer, striking in time, drew from the anvil two harmonic sounds, which, being in accord with the melody, made a sort of continuous bass. handel was struck by the incident, listened, remembered the air and its strange accompaniment, and, when he returned home, composed out of it a piece for the harpsichord. this is the piece which has been published separately a thousand times under the title of _the harmonious blacksmith_. after an existence of upwards of a hundred and forty years, this piece is continually being reprinted, and it will be reprinted so long as the human race is sensible to music. judge for yourselves, as it shall now be kindly played for you. harmonious blacksmith. * * * * * in the "london daily post" of the th august, , there is the following paragraph: "the entertainment at vauxhall gardens concluded with the coronation anthems of mr. handel, to the great pleasure of the company, and amidst a great concourse of people." the coronation anthems here alluded to are those composed for the coronation of george ii. he was too fond of music to be satisfied at his coronation with that of the court composer, whom an old law compelled him to have attached to the household, so he requested handel to give his assistance, who wrote the four anthems which are called the coronation anthems. these were performed at westminster, during the ceremony of the th october, , after having been solemnly rehearsed in the cathedral on the th, in the presence of a numerous assemblage. this work forms one of the most solid foundations of its author's glory. "zadok the priest" especially is an inspiration of prodigious grandeur--the chorus, "god save the king" (not the national anthem), is comparable in beauty to the "hallelujah" chorus, in the "messiah." most of you are familiar with these anthems; they are always performed at the annual meeting of charity children in st. paul's;[e] and who ever tires of listening to them? grand music has this advantage over all the other productions of the artistic faculties of man, that people are never tired of it. it is like daily bread, an aliment always new, always wished for. the oftener you hear a fine piece of music, the greater pleasure you take in hearing it again. it charms you in proportion as you have familiarized yourself with it, therefore it is not to be feared that people will be tired of listening to the coronation anthems of handel to the end of time. i have given you a quotation from the principal daily paper of the period we are now speaking of; allow me to give you another. in the "daily post" of the th april, , there is the following announcement:-- "we are informed, from very good authority, that there is now nearly finished a statue of the justly celebrated mr. handel, exquisitely done, by the ingenious mr. roubilliac, of st. martin's lane statuary, out of one entire block of white marble, which is to be placed in a grand _nich_, erected on purpose, in the great grove of vauxhall gardens (the great grove at vauxhall gardens!--sic transit gloria mundi), at the sole expense of mr. tyers, undertaker of the entertainment there, who, in consideration of the real merit of that inimitable master, thought it proper that his effigy should preside there, where his harmony has so often charmed even the greatest crowds into the profoundest calm and most decent behaviour." and in the following copy, that of the nd may, , there is the following:-- "last night vauxhall was opened, and there was a considerable appearance of both sexes. the several pieces of music played on that occasion had never been heard before in the gardens: the company expressed the greatest satisfaction at the marble statue of mr. handel." some of you may have seen this marble statue in the great grove at vauxhall gardens. i never have; but we may all see the self-same statue any day, in the great room at exeter hall. apropos of a statue--england has shown great gratitude to handel--handel, a _foreigner_--has she shown anything like equal gratitude to as great, if not a greater genius, and that genius _her own son_? who ever loved england more dearly than shakespeare? his was not merely the love of a son for his mother, but it was as tender as that of a mother for her son. his works are full of delicious passages, in which his patriotism becomes manifest. no corner of the globe has been sung by native poets as england has by shakespeare. many of you, i dare say, are familiar with that beautiful passage in "richard ii." he is describing england, and he says-- "this other eden, demi-paradise, this fortress, built by nature for herself, against infection and the hand of war; this happy breed of men--this little earth; this precious stone set in the silver sea." yes, shakespeare so loved his country, that he divined by intuition the heart-anguish of those who have lost theirs. romeo, when friar laurence tells him that he is banished from verona, cries:-- "ha! banishment? be merciful; say _death_! for exile hath more terror in his look; much more than death: do not say 'banishment.' _friar._--be patient, for the world is broad and wide. _romeo._--there is no world outside verona's walls! hast thou no poison mixed to kill me? but 'banished!' 'banished!' o friar! the damned use that word in hell!" he who spoke thus was shakespeare, and yet _his_ compatriots could not find the means of erecting a statue to him! even at the present day in london, where you may find in every square a herd of dukes, to whom not even bronze can give celebrity, shakespeare is nowhere to be found. his image remains shut up in westminster abbey, instead of being set upon a column whose height should dominate over the metropolis, as his genius dominates over the world.[f] i must necessarily pass over much that is interesting in the life of handel: recollect i have undertaken to give you only a "sketch," not a history. my sketch, however, would be incomplete did i overlook his greatest production, or his visit to "that generous and polite nation," as he was pleased to call ireland, for which nation his masterpiece was composed, and in which it was first performed. for a long time handel had been wished for in ireland. the duke of devonshire, the lord lieutenant of the country at that period, had directly invited him to pay a visit to the island, and the irish professed great admiration for him. almost all the musical societies of dublin, which were composed of amateurs, gave their entertainments for the furtherance of charitable objects. handel put himself into communication with the most important of these, that "for the benefit and enlargement (freedom) of poor distressed prisoners for debt," and promised to give an oratorio for its benefit. for this society he composed the "messiah," the masterpiece of this great master. whoever has listened to his music will admit that its most distinctive character is the sublime. no one, without exception, neither beethoven nor mozart, has ever risen nearer to the grandeur of the ideal than handel did, and he was never more sublime than in the "messiah;" and, remembering this, read the dates which are inscribed with his own hand upon the manuscript:-- "commenced nd august, . "end of st part, th august. "end of nd, th september. "end of rd, th september, . "filled up on the th." this herculean work was therefore accomplished in twenty-three days; and handel was then fifty-six years old! it is a strange phenomenon: when men of genius are to die young, they complete their masterpieces at _once_. mozart rendered up his soul at thirty-nine; raphael painted "the school of athens" at twenty-five, and "the transfiguration" at thirty-seven; paul potter his "bull" at twenty-two; rossini composed "the barber of sevile" when he was twenty-three, "william tell" at thirty-seven, and afterwards wrote no more. if these men had lived longer, it would have been impossible for them to surpass themselves. great artists, on the other hand, who are destined to have _long lives_ are _slow in production_, or rather they produce their best things in the _decline of life_. handel, _e.g._, composed his greatest works, "the funeral anthem," "israel," "the messiah," "samson," "the dettingen te deum," and "judas macabbeus," _after he was fifty-two_ years old. gluck had not composed one of his operas when he was fifty. haydn was an old man of sixty-five when he produced the "creation." murillo became murillo only at forty years of age. poussin was seventy when he painted "the deluge," which is the most poetically great of all his noble pictures. michael angelo counted more than sixty years when he encrusted his incomparable fresco, "the last judgment," upon the walls of the sistine chapel; and he was eighty-seven when he raised the cupola of st. peter's to the heavens. and our own milton was sixty-three when he wrote "paradise lost!" but, to return--handel set out on his journey and charitable mission, th august, . it is to this journey pope alludes in his "dunciad:"-- "but soon, ah! soon, rebellion will commence, if music meanly borrows aid from sense; strong in new arms, lo! giant handel stands, like bold briareus, with his hundred hands, to stir, to rouse, to shake the soul he comes, and jove's own thunders follow mars' drums." he was stayed by contrary winds in the ancient and picturesque city of chester. dr. burney says, "i was at the public school in chester, and very well remember seeing him smoke a pipe over a dish of coffee at the exchange coffee house; and, being extremely curious to see so extraordinary a man, i watched him narrowly as long as he remained in chester, where he stayed on account of the wind being unfavourable for his embarking at park gate." wishing to employ this delay in trying over some pieces of his new oratorio--the messiah, he sought for some one who could read music at sight, and a house painter named janson was indicated to him as one of the best musicians attached to the cathedral. a meeting took place, but poor janson managed so badly, that the irascible composer became purple with anger, and after swearing, as was his wont, in four or five languages at a time, cried out, "you schountrel! tit you not tell me dat you could sing at soite?" "yes sir," replied the good fellow, "but not at _first sight_." handel upon this burst out laughing, and the rehearsal proceeded no further. he arrived in dublin on the th november, . it was not till april following, however, that the messiah was for the first time heard. in the dublin papers of march , the following advertisement appeared:-- "for the relief of the prisoners in the several gaols, and for the support of mercer's hospital; on monday, the th april, will be performed at the music hall, in fishamble-street, mr. handel's new grand oratorio called the _messiah_." the performance having taken place, the newspapers vied with each other in commendation and praise. i give you an extract from one:-- "on tuesday last, (the day i suppose was changed), mr. handel's sacred grand oratorio, the messiah, was performed in the new music hall, in fishamble-street. the best judges allowed it to be the most finished piece of music. words are wanted to express the delight it afforded to the admiring crowded audience. the sublime, the grand and the tender, adapted to the most elevated, majestic, and moving words, conspired to transport and charm the ravished heart and ear. it is but justice to mr. handel, that the world should know, he generously gave the money arising from this grand performance to be equally shared by the society for relieving prisoners, the charitable infirmary, and mercer's hospital, for which they will ever gratefully remember his name. this is high encomium, but the audience paid him higher still. when the chorus all struck up, "for the lord god omnipotent reigneth," in the hallelujah, they were so transported that they all together started up and remained standing till the chorus ended." a few days after the performance of the messiah, handel waited on lord kinnoul, with whom he was particularly acquainted. his lordship, as was natural, paid him some compliments on the noble _entertainment_ which he had lately given in the town. "my lord, said handel, i should be sorry if i _only entertained them_, i wish to make them better." the messiah has remained the most popular of oratorios. it is never announced in anything like a fitting manner without attracting the public. it invariably forms part of the programme at all the festivals, and the day on which it is performed is always the most productive. the sacred harmonic societies particularly give it every year for the benefit of distressed musicians. truly does it deserve the touching eulogy that "it has fed the hungry, clothed the naked, and fostered the orphans." but i must hasten to a conclusion. before i conclude this sketch of handel, i must introduce you to one more of his oratorios, "l'allegro." this magnificent composition has been eulogized by an eminent poet,--a beautiful pigeon! and an old parson! i will briefly tell you the eulogy of each, for brief is the eulogy itself. the poet having heard the oratorio performed, wrote thus:-- "if e'er arion's music calm'd the floods and orpheus ever drew the dancing woods! why do not british trees and forest throng to hear the sweeter notes of handel's song? this does the falsehood of the fable prove-- or seas and woods when handel harps would move." the pigeon.--"let me wander not unseen," is considered one of handel's finest inspirations. hawkins says, "of the air, the late mr. john lockman relates the following story, assuring his reader, that himself was an eye-witness to it," viz:-- "when at the house of mr. lee, a gentleman in cheshire, whose daughter was a very fine performer on the harpsichord, he saw a pigeon which, whenever the young lady played this song, and _this only_, would fly from an adjacent dove-house to the window in the parlour where she sat, and listen to it with the most pleasing emotions, and the instant the song was over would fly away to her dove-house."[g] the parson, old dr. delaney, f.t.c.d. once heard at the opera a lady[h] sing this song. he was so captivated and excited that he could not control himself, but standing up in front of his box exclaimed, "oh! woman, for this be all thy sins forgiven!" now i do not know whether there is a poet present, or a pigeon, but there is an old parson; and although i shall not give my lady friend absolution for the song, still i am sure she will merit approbation, and receive applause. "let me wander not unseen." _words by milton. music by handel._ * * * * * on the st january, , handel commenced "jephtha," the last of his works. it was not finished till the th august following. it is the only work he ever took so long to complete. this can be easily accounted for. during its progress his eyesight became impaired; by the last pages of the ms. it appears only too plainly that his vision was no longer clear when he traced them: yet sick as he was, the intrepid old man arose once more when charity had need of him. he gave two performances of the "messiah" for the foundling hospital, one on the th april, the other on the th may, . the sum for the tickets delivered for the th april came to six hundred pounds; that for may, nine hundred and twenty-five guineas. the "london magazine" of that month says there were eight hundred coaches and chairs. handel presented this hospital with the copyright of the "messiah." the performances alone during handel's life time enriched the hospital with thousands of pounds. handel submitted three times to a painful operation, the last time in , but without effect. blind he became, and was to remain as his mother had been in her old days. handel blind--beethoven deaf!--sad similitude! this cruel misfortune afflicted him at first profoundly; but when he was compelled to recognise that the evil was without a remedy, his manly soul got the upper hand, he resigned himself to his fate, and resolved to continue his oratorio performances. "samson," one of his favourite oratorios, was in the programme of the season. in spite of all his moral energy, the author could not listen untroubled to the pathetic air of the sightless hercules of the hebrews, in which he gave utterance to his immense grief. "total eclipse. no sun--no moon!" then it was that they saw the grand old man, who was seated at the organ, grow pale and tremble; and when they led him forward to the audience, which was applauding, many persons present were so forcibly affected that they were moved even to tears. and we may still be sharers in that emotion, as when we recall the circumstances of that scene, and remember that the verses were composed by milton, who, you recollect, was himself blind. "total eclipse! no sun!--no moon! all dark amidst the blaze of noon! oh! glorious light! no cheering ray to glad my eyes with welcome day. why thus deprived thy prime decree? sun, moon, and stars are dark to me." on the th april, , the "messiah" was performed for the last time under the direction of the author. after returning home from this performance, he went to bed, never to rise again. seized with a mortal exhaustion, and feeling that his last hour was come, in the full plenitude of his reason, he gently rendered up his soul to die, _on the anniversary of the first performance of the "messiah_," good friday, th april, , aged seventy-four years. he was buried with all honour and respect in westminster abbey, the pantheon of great britain. his remains were placed in what is called "the poet's corner," wherein lie buried shakspere, milton, dryden, thompson, sheridan, gray. and he is in his place there; for who was ever more of a poet than handel?--who deserved better than he to enter the pantheon. they might have written upon his tomb the words which antony spoke when he beheld the body of cæsar, "_this_ was a man." yes: this was a man who had done honour to music as much by the nobility of his character as by the sublimity of his genius. he was one of the too few artists who uphold the dignity of art to the highest possible standard. he was the incarnation of honesty. the unswerving rigidity of his conduct captivates even those who do not take him for a model. he worked ceaselessly for the improvement of others without ever feeling weary. he was virtuous and pure, proud and intrepid. his love of good was as unconquerable as his will. he died at his post, working to the last hour of his life. he has left behind him a luminous track and a noble example. a handel, like a homer or a milton, a shakspere or a dante, is only once given to a nation. no man need ever expect to rival the genius of handel, or approach his powers of expression; but all may emulate his love for his fellow-man--his sympathy for the distressed--his desire to promote the glory of his god. for these noble qualities i commend handel to your consideration; and for these i hold him forth this evening as a man worthy of our imitation. "lives of great men all remind us we can make our lives sublime, and departing leave behind us footprints on the sands of time. "footprints which perhaps another, sailing o'er life's solemn main, a forlorn and shipwrecked brother, seeing, shall take heart again. "then let us be up and doing, with a heart for any fate-- still achieving, still pursuing, learn to labour and to wait." footnotes: [footnote d: see note, p. .] [footnote e: see note, p. .] [footnote f: see note, p. .] [footnote g: see note, p. .] [footnote h: the lady was mrs. cibber.] a sketch of beethoven. a lecture. (overture.) "give me sweet music when i'm glad-- give me sweet music when i'm sad; for music softens every woe, and brightens every rapture's flow. "oh! give me music! in my years of childhood's hopes and childhood's fears, one sweetly-breathing vocal lay could steal my griefs, my fears away. "yes, music, come! thou dying voice of distant days--of far-past joys-- come, softly breathe into mine ear, and thine shall be the flowing tear! "come in the strain i loved so well, and of the lip that breathed it tell. oh! be the lingerings of thy lays the voice of those departed days!" association not only gives significancy to music, but contributes greatly to heighten its agreeable effect. we have heard it performed, some time or other, in an agreeable place, perhaps, or by an agreeable person, or accompanied with words that describe agreeable ideas; or we have heard it in our early years--a period of life which we seldom look back upon without pleasure, and of which bacon recommends the frequent recollection, as an expedient to preserve health. nor is it necessary that musical compositions should have much intrinsic merit, or that they should call up any distinct remembrance of the agreeable ideas associated with them. there are seasons at which we are gratified with very moderate excellence. in childhood every tune is delightful to a musical ear: in our advanced years, an indifferent tune will please, when set off by the amiable qualities of the performer, or by any other agreeable circumstance. the flute of a shepherd, heard at a distance, on a fine summer day, amidst beautiful scenery, will give rapture to the wanderer, though the tune, the instrument, and the musician be such as he could not endure in any other place. if a song, or piece of music, should call up only a faint remembrance that we were happy the last time we heard it, nothing more would be needful to make us listen to it again with peculiar satisfaction. well has cowper said-- "there is in souls a sympathy with sounds; and as the mind is pitch'd, the ear is pleased with melting airs, or martial, brisk or grave, some chord in unison with what we hear is touched within us, and the heart replies. how soft the music of those village bells, falling at intervals upon the ear in cadence sweet, now dying all away, now pealing loud again, and louder still, clear and sonorous, as the gale comes on! with easy force it opens all the cells where mem'ry slept. wherever i have heard a kindred melody, the scene recurs, and with it all its pleasures and its pains." of its influence very many anecdotes, i should rather say, _facts_ are recorded. naturalists assert that animals and birds are sensible to the charms of music--take one or two instances:-- an officer was confined in the bastile; he begged the governor to permit him the use of his lute, to soften by the harmonies of his instrument, the rigours of his prison. at the end of a few days, this modern orpheus, playing on his lute, was greatly astonished to see frisking out of their holes, great numbers of _mice_, and descending from their woven habitations crowds of _spiders_, who formed a circle about him, while he continued breathing his soul-subduing instrument. he was petrified with astonishment. having ceased to play, the assembly who did not come to see him, but to hear his instrument, immediately broke up. as he had a great dislike to spiders, it was two days before he ventured again to touch his instrument. at length, having overcome, for the novelty of his company, his dislike of them, he recommenced his concert, when the assembly was by far more numerous than at first; and in the course of further time, he found himself surrounded by a hundred _musical amateurs_. having thus succeeded in attracting this company, he treacherously contrived to get rid of them at his will. for this purpose he begged the keeper to give him a cat, which he put in a cage, and let loose at the very instant when the little hairy people were most enchanted by the orphean skill he displayed. haydyn tells the following story:-- i went, with some other young people equally devoid of care, one day during the extreme heat of summer, to seek for coolness and fresh air on one of the lofty mountains, which surround the lago maggiore in lombardy. having reached by daybreak the middle of the ascent, we stopped to contemplate the borromean isles, which were displayed under our feet, in the middle of the lake, when we were surrounded by a large flock of sheep, which were leaving the fold to go to their pasture. one of our party, who was no bad performer on the flute, and who always carried his instrument along with him, took it out of his pocket. "i am going," said he, "to turn corydon; let us see whether virgil's sheep will recognize their pastor." he began to play. the sheep and goats, which were following one another towards the mountain, with their heads hanging down, raised them at the first sound of the flute, and all with a general and hasty movement turned to the side from whence the agreeable noise proceeded. gradually they flocked round the musician, and listened with motionless attention. he ceased playing; still the sheep did not stir. the shepherd with his staff, obliged those nearest to him to move on; they obeyed; but no sooner did the fluter begin to play, than his innocent audience again returned to him. the shepherd, out of patience, pelted them with clods of earth; but not one would move. the fluter played with additional skill. the shepherd fell into a passion, whistled, scolded, and pelted the poor fleecy amateurs with stones. such as were hit by them began to march; but the others still refused to stir. marville gives us the following curious account:-- doubting the truth of those who say that the love of music is a natural taste, especially the sound of instruments, and that beasts themselves are touched by it; being one day in the country, i tried an experiment. while a man was playing on the trump marine, i made my observations on a _cat_, a _dog_, a _horse_, an _ass_, a _hind_, _cows_, _small birds_, and a _cock and hens_, who were in a yard, under a window on which i was leaning. i did not perceive that the _cat_ was the least affected, and i even judged by her air that she would have given all the instruments in the world for a mouse, sleeping in the sun all the time. the _horse_ stopped short from time to time before the window, raising his head up now and then, as he was feeding on the grass. the _dog_ continued for above an hour seated on his hind legs, looking steadfastly at the player. the _ass_ did not discover the least indication of his being touched, eating his thistles peaceably. the _hind_ lifted up her large, wide ears, and seemed very attentive. the _cows_ slept a little, and after gazing, as though they had been acquainted with us, went forward. some _little birds_, who were in an aviary, and others on the trees and bushes, almost tore their little throats with singing. but the _cock_, who minded only his hens, and the hens, who were solely employed in scratching a neighbouring dunghill, did not show in any manner that they took the least pleasure in hearing the trump marine. one of the best descriptions of the influence of music i consider to be wordsworth's lines on the blind fiddler of oxford street. many of you, doubtless, are familiar with them; but for the information of those who may not, i shall quote them. "an orpheus! an orpheus! yes, faith may grow bold, and take to herself all the wonders of old. near the stately pantheon you'll meet with the same in the street that from oxford hath borrowed its name. "his station is there, and he works on the crowd: he sways them with harmony merry and loud: he fills with his power all their hearts to the brim. was aught ever heard like his fiddle and him? "what an eager assembly! what an empire is this! the weary have life, and the hungry have bliss; the mourner is cheered, and the anxious have rest; and the guilt-burthened soul is no longer opprest. "as the moon brightens round her the clouds of the night, so he, where he stands, is a centre of light; it gleams on the face there of dusk-browed jack and the pale-visaged bakers, with basket on back. "that errand-bound 'prentice was passing in haste-- what matter! he's caught--and his time runs to waste; the newsman is stopped, though he stops on the fret; and the half-breathless lamplighter he's in the net! "the porter sits down on the weight which he bore; the lass with her barrow wheels hither her store. if a thief could be here, he might pilfer at ease: she sees the musician--'tis all that she sees! "that tall man, a giant in bulk and in height, not an inch of his body is free from delight. can he keep himself still, if he would? oh not he! the music stirs in him, like wind through a tree. "mark that cripple, who leans on his crutch, like a tower that long has leaned forward, leans hour after hour! that mother, whose spirit in fetters is bound, while she dandles the babe in her arms to the sound. "now coaches and chariots roar on like a stream; here are twenty souls happy as souls in a dream; they are deaf to your murmurs--they care not for you, nor what ye plying, nor what ye pursue! "he stands, backed by the wall--he abates not his din; his hat gives him vigour, with boons dropping in from the old and the young--from the poorest; and there-- the one-pennied boy has his penny to spare! "oh! blest are the hearers! and proud be the hand of the pleasure it spreads through so thankful a band! i'm glad for him, blind as he is! all the while, if they speak 'tis to praise, and they praise with a smile." but why should i occupy your time by quotations from celebrated poets or prose writers, to prove the influence of music, when i have it in my power to verify the saying of that eminent composer whose life i have undertaken to sketch? "the effect of music on a man should be to strike fire from his soul." (sonata pathetique.) ludwig von beethoven was born on the th december, , at bonn. his father and grandfather were both musicians by profession. the former occupied the situation of principal vocal tenor, and the latter that of first bass singer in the chapel of the elector of cologne. from the earliest age beethoven evinced a disposition for music; or, in other words, he learnt the language of music and his mother tongue both at the same time; and as modulated sounds seldom fail to make a deep impression on a young, fervid mind, when they are almost constantly presented to it, as was the case in the present instance, he soon acquired, and as speedily manifested, a taste for the art of which they are the foundation. his father began to instruct him when he was only in his fifth year. an anecdote is told of his early performances, which corroborates what i have already said on the influence of music. it is said that, whenever little ludwig was playing in his closet on the violin, a spider would let itself down from the ceiling and alight upon the instrument. the story, i am sorry, goes on to say that his mother one day, discovering her son's companion, destroyed it, whereupon little ludwig dashed his violin to shatters. at the early age of thirteen, beethoven published at mannheim, in his own name, variations on a march, sonatas, and songs. but at this time his genius displayed itself more decidedly in musical improvisations. his extempore fantasias are mentioned by gerber, in his lexicon, as having excited the admiration of the most accomplished musicians of the time. the fame of his youthful genius attracted the attention of the elector of cologne, who sent him at his own expense to vienna, in character of his court organist, to study under the celebrated haydyn, in order to perfect himself in the art of composition. vienna was at this time ( ), the central point of every thing great and sublime, that music had till then achieved on the soil of germany. mozart, the source of all light in the region of harmony, whose acquaintance beethoven had made on his first visit to vienna in , who when he heard beethoven extemporize upon a theme that was given him, exclaimed to those present, "this youth will some day make a noise in the world"--mozart, though he had been a year in his grave, yet lived freshly in the memory of all who had a heart susceptible of his divine revelations, as well as in beethoven's. gluck's spirit still hovered around the inhabitants of the old city--f. haydyn and many other distinguished men in every art, and in every branch of human knowledge, yet lived and worked together harmoniously. in short, no sooner had beethoven, then but twenty-two, looked around him in this favoured abode of the muses, and made a few acquaintances, than he said to himself, "here will i stay, and not return to bonn even though the elector should cut off my pension." beethoven did not long enjoy the instructions of his master, for haydyn handed him over to the care and instructions of the learned allrechtsberger. it appears, that the character of beethoven was marked by great singularity from his earliest years. both haydyn and allrechtsberger, but particularly the latter, have recorded that he was not willing to profit by good advice. beethoven has himself been heard to confess, that among other peculiarities which he prided himself on displaying, when a young man, was that of refusing to acknowledge himself as the pupil of haydyn, at which this master took great offence. the consequence of this self-confident spirit was, that at this period, he made but little progress in composition, and was more ambitious to become a brilliant performer. hence by the periodicals of that day, he is not allowed to possess the ability of composition; harshness of modulation, melodies more singular than pleasing, and a constant struggle to be original, are among the principal faults of which he was accused. as to the latter charge it may be remarked, that it is the besetting sin which has adhered to beethoven through life; and who can help wishing that with it, he had also possessed the power of spreading the vice among his contemporaries, and of bequeathing it to his successors. but if this indefatigable search after originality be a sin, to what new and extraordinary effects, to what wonders, has it not given birth? to whom so justly than to this author can these lines be applied-- "great wits may sometimes gloriously offend, and rise to faults true critics dare not mend?" beethoven never defended himself against criticisms or attacks, he never suffered them to have more than a superficial effect upon him. not indifferent to the opinions of the good, he took no notice of the attacks of the malicious, and allowed them to go on unchecked, even when they proceeded so far as to assign him a place, sometimes in one madhouse, sometimes in another. "if it _amuses_ people to say or to write such stuff concerning me, let them continue so to do as long as they please." (this may remind you of an anecdote of the earl of derby; being once attacked in the house of lords by the duke of argyle, the earl in his reply said, "a certain navvy, who happened to be married to a very violent woman, a regular virago, was asked why he allowed his wife to abuse him, or use such intemperate language. 'poor creature,' said the navvy, 'it amuses her, and does not hurt me.' so say i, the attack of the noble duke may amuse him but cannot injure me.") as in that classic period of musical activity, beethoven was the sun which all strove to approach, and rejoiced if they could but catch a glance of his brilliant eyes, it was natural that he should converse much with ladies, several of whom were always contending for his affections at once, as it is well known, and he more than once found himself like hercules in a dilemma. dr. wegeler, in his life of beethoven says, "he was never without an attachment, and that mostly he was very deeply smitten." this is quite true. how could any rational person who is acquainted with beethoven, or ever heard his compositions, maintain the contrary. whoever is capable of feeling how powerfully the pure flame of love operates upon the imagination, more especially of the sensitive and highly endowed artist, and how in all his productions it goes before him like a light sent down from heaven to guide him, will take it for granted without any evidence that beethoven was susceptible of the purest love, and that he was conducted by it. what genius could have composed the fantasia in c, commonly called the "moonlight or the moonshine sonata," without such a passion? it was love, for bettine, to whom that imaginative composition is dedicated, (and to whom i shall again have occasion to allude,) which inspired him while engaged upon it. this piece will now be performed, and judge for yourselves whether i have said too much in its praise:-- [fantasia in c., commonly called the "moonlight sonata," to designate this enthusiastic period of beethoven's passion.] in the year , we find beethoven engaged in the composition of his "christ on the mount of olives." he wrote this work during his summer residence at hetzendorf, a pleasant village, closely contiguous to the gardens of the imperial palace of shönbrunn, where he passed several summers of his life in profound seclusion. a circumstance connected with this great work, and of which beethoven many years afterwards still retained a lively recollection, was that he composed it in the thickest part of the wood, in the park of shönbrunn, seated between the two stems of an oak, which shot out from the main trunk at the height of about two feet from the ground. about this period beethoven endured much family annoyance and domestic trouble. his brothers who had some years previously followed him to vienna, began to govern him and to make him suspicious of his sincerest friends and adherents, from wrong notions or even from jealousy. surrounded by friends who loved and esteemed him--his fame already established--with an ample income, he ought to have been completely happy; and he certainly would have been but for an infirmity which began to afflict him, and the persecution of his brothers. his misery both of mind and body, i can best describe by reading a portion of his extraordinary will, which he at this time executed, and having that song sung which he at the same time composed, with special reference to the torture he was undergoing. _extracts from beethoven's will._ "o ye who consider or declare me to be hostile, obstinate, or misanthropic, what injustice ye do me! ye know not the secret causes of that which to you wears such an appearance. my heart and my mind were from childhood prone to the tender feelings of affection. nay, i was always disposed even to perform great actions. born, with a lively, ardent disposition, susceptible to the diversions of society, i was forced at an early age to renounce them and to pass my life in seclusion. if i strove at any time to set myself above all this, o, how cruelly was i driven back, by the doubly painful experience of my defective hearing! and yet it was not possible for me to say to people, 'speak louder, for i am deaf.' ah! how could i proclaim the defect of a sense, that i once possessed in the highest perfection, in a perfection in which few of my colleagues possess or ever did possess it? indeed, i cannot. forgive me then, if ye see me draw back when i would gladly mingle among you. "o god, thou lookest down upon my misery; thou knowest that it is accompanied with love of my fellow creatures, and a disposition to do good! o, men, when ye shall read this, think that ye have wronged me! i go to meet death with joy; if he comes before i have had occasion to develop all my professional abilities, he will come too soon for me, in spite of my hard fate, and i should wish that he had delayed his arrival. but even then i am content, for he will release me from a state of endless suffering. come when thou wilt, i shall meet thee with firmness. farewell." "there is a calm for those who weep; a rest for weary pilgrims found; and while the mouldering ashes sleep low in the ground, the soul of origin divine, god's glorious image, freed from day, in heaven's eternal sphere shall shine a star of day." [_in questa tomba oscura._ words by göthe; music by beethoven.] let us proceed from grave to gay. i have already told you that beethoven was a man of ardent feeling, and passionately in love with a young lady, madame von arnim. i will read to you, one of his love letters, and i recommend the style to all the unmarried i have the pleasure to address:-- vienna, _august th, _. "dearest bettine, "never was a fairer spring than this year's; this i say and feel, too, as in it i made your acquaintance. you must, indeed, have yourself seen, that, in society, i was like a fish cast on the sand, that writhes, and struggles, and cannot escape, until some benevolent galatea helps back again into the mighty sea; in very truth, i was fairly aground. dearest bettine, unexpectedly i met you, and at a moment when chagrin had completely overcome me; but, truly, your aspect put it to flight. i was aware in an instant that you belong to a totally different world from this absurd one, to which, even with the best wish to be tolerant, it is impossible to open one's ears. i am myself a poor creature, and yet complain of others! this you will, however, forgive, _with the kindly heart that looks out from your eyes, and with the intelligence that dwells in your ears_--at least, your ears know how to flatter when they listen. mine, alas! are a barrier through which i can have hardly any friendly intercourse with mankind, else, perhaps, i might have acquired a still more entire confidence in you. as it was, i could only comprehend the full, expressive glance of your eyes, and this has so moved me that i shall never forget it. divine bettine! dearest girl! art! who comprehends the meaning of this word? with whom may i speak of this great divinity? how i love the recollections of the few days when we used to chat with each other, or rather correspond. i have preserved every one of the little scraps of paper on which your intelligent, precious, most precious replies were given--thus, at least, may i thank my worthless ears that the best portion of our fugitive discourse is retained in writing. "since you went, i have had many uncomfortable hours, in which the power to do anything is lost. after you had gone away, i rambled about for some three hours in the museum at schönbrunn; but no good angel met me there, to chide me into good humour, as an angel like you might have done. forgive, sweetest bettine, this transition from the fundamental key--but i must have such intervals to vent my feelings. "and you have written of me to göethe, have you not? saying that i would fain pack up my head in a cask, where i should see nothing and hear nothing of what passes in the world, since you, dearest angel, meet me here no longer. but, surely i shall at least have a letter from you. hope supports me--she is, indeed, the nursing mother of half the world, and she has been my close friend all my life long--what would have become of me else? i send with this 'knowest thou the land,' which i have just composed, as a memorial of the time when i first became acquainted with you." this song will now be sung for you. the words are from the german of göthe. ("knowest thou the land where the sweet citron blows.") beethoven's interviews with bettine were not all wasted in rhapsodies of love. in one of his conversations with this accomplished lady he thus eloquently describes the power of poetry and the philosophy of music:-- "göthe's poems exercise a great sway over me, not only by their meaning but by their rhythm also. it is a language that urges me on to composition, that builds up its own lofty standard, containing in itself all the mysteries of harmony, so that i have but to follow up the radiations of that centre from which melodies evolve spontaneously. i pursue them eagerly, overtake them, then again see them flying before me, vanish in the multitude of my impressions, until i seize them anew with increased vigour no more to be parted from them. it is then that my transports give them every diversity of modulation: it is i who triumph over the first of these musical thoughts, and the shape i give it i call symphony. yes, bettina, _music is the link between intellectual and sensual life_. "melody gives a sensible existence to poetry; for does not the meaning of a poem become embodied in melody? the mind would embrace all thoughts, both high and low, and embody them into one stream of sensations, all sprung from simple melody, and without the aid of its charms doomed to die in oblivion. this is the unity which lives in my symphonies--numberless streamlets meandering on, in endless variety of shape, but all diverging into one common bed. thus it is i feel that there is an indefinite something, an eternal, an infinite to be attained; and although i look upon my works with a foretaste of success, yet i cannot help wishing, like a child, to begin my task anew, at the very moment that my thundering appeal to my hearers seems to have forced my musical creed upon them, and thus to have exhausted the insatiable cravings of my soul after my 'beau ideal.' "music alone ushers man into the portal of an intellectual world, ready to encompass _him_, but which _he_ may never encompass. that mind alone whose every thought is rhythm can embody music, can comprehend its mysteries, its divine inspirations, and can alone speak to the senses of its intellectual revelations. although spirits may feed upon it as we do upon air, yet it may not nourish all mortal men; and those privileged few alone, who have drawn from its heavenly source, may aspire to hold spiritual converse with it. how few are these! for, like the thousands who marry for love, and who profess love, whilst love will single out but one amongst them, so also will thousands court music, whilst she turns a deaf ear to all but the chosen few. she, too, like her sister arts, is based upon morality--_that fountain-head of genuine invention_! and would you know the true principle on which the arts _may_ be won? it is to bow to their immutable terms, to lay all passion and vexation of spirit prostrate at their feet, and to approach their divine presence with a mind so calm and so void of littleness as to be ready to receive the dictates of fantasy and the revelations of truth. thus the art becomes a divinity, man approaches her with religious feelings, his inspirations are god's divine gifts, and his aim fixed by the same hand from above which helps him to attain it." and he adds:--"we know not whence our knowledge is derived. the seeds which lie dormant in us require the dew, the warmth, and the electricity of the soil to spring up, to ripen into thought, and to break forth. music is the electrical soil in which the mind thrives, thinks, and invents. music herself teaches us harmony; for _one_ musical thought bears upon the whole kindred of ideas, and each is linked to the other, closely and indissolubly, by the ties of harmony." hearken to proof of the truth of this eloquent and beautiful description of music. (waltz.--beethoven.) the talents of a haydyn and mozart raised instrumental composition in germany to an astonishing elevation; and beethoven may be said not only to have maintained the art in that stupendous altitude, but even in some respects to have brought it to a still higher degree of perfection. "haydyn," says reichardt, "drew his quartets from the pure source of his sweet and unsophisticated nature, his captivating simplicity and cheerfulness. in these works he is still without an equal. mozart's mightier genius and richer imagination took a more extended range, and embodied in several passages the most profound and sublime qualities of his own mind. moreover, he was much greater as a performer than haydyn, and as such expected more from instruments than the latter did. he also allowed more merit to highly-wrought and complicated compositions, and thus raised a gorgeous palace within haydyn's fairy bower. of this palace beethoven was an early inmate; and in order adequately to express his own peculiar forms of style, he had no other means but to surmount the edifice with that defying and colossal tower which no one will probably presume to carry higher with impunity. "if any man," says an able writer in the quarterly, "can be said to enjoy an almost universal admiration as composer, it is beethoven--who, disdaining to copy his predecessors in any, the most distant manner, has, notwithstanding, by his energetic, bold, and uncommon style of writing, carried away a prize from our modern olympus." beethoven, like most great men, had many peculiarities. in winter, well as in summer, it was his practice to rise at daybreak, and immediately to sit down to his writing-table. there he would labour till two or three o'clock, his usual dinnertime. scarcely had the last morsel been swallowed, when, if he had no more distant excursion in view, he took his usual walk--that is to say, he ran in double quick time, as if hunted by bailiffs, twice round the town--whether it rained, or snowed, or hailed, or the thermometer stood an inch or two below the freezing point--whether boreas blew a chilling blast from the bohemian mountains, or whether the thunder roared, and forked lightnings played, what signified it to the enthusiastic lover of his art, in whose genial mind, perhaps, were budding, at that very moment, when the elements were in fiercest conflict, the harmonious feelings of a balmy spring. the use of the bath was as much a necessity to beethoven as to a turk--and he was in the habit of submitting himself to frequent ablutions. when it happened that he did not walk out of doors to collect his ideas, he would, not unfrequently, in a fit of the most complete abstraction, go to his washhand basin, and pour several jugs of water upon his hands, all the time humming and roaring. after dabbling in the water till his clothes were wet through, he would pace up and down the room with a vacant expression of countenance, and his eyes distended, the singularity of his aspect being often increased by an unshaven beard. then he would seat himself at his table and write; and afterwards get up again to the washhand basin and dabble and hum as before. ludicrous as were these scenes, no one dared venture to notice them, or to disturb him while engaged in his inspiring ablutions, for these were his moments of profoundest meditation. many anecdotes are told of him likewise. the wife of an esteemed pianoforte player, residing in vienna, was a great admirer of beethoven, and she earnestly wished to possess a lock of his hair--her husband, anxious to gratify her, applied to a gentleman who was very intimate with beethoven, and who had rendered him some service. beethoven sent the lady a lock of hair cut from a _goat's beard_--and beethoven's own hair being very grey and harsh, there was no reason to fear that the hoax would be very readily detected. the lady was overjoyed at possessing this supposed memorial of her saint, proudly showing it to all her acquaintance; but, when her happiness at its height, some one who happened to know the secret, made her acquainted with the deception that had been practised on her--the lady's wrath who will attempt to describe? beethoven's name i have already told you was ludwig von beethoven. in some legal proceedings in which he was concerned, it was intimated by the court that the word von, of dutch origin, does not ennoble the family to whose name it is prefixed--according to the laws of holland--that, in the province of the rhine in which beethoven was born, it was held to be of no higher value--that, consequently, the halo of nobility ought to be stripped from this von in austria also. beethoven was accordingly required to produce proofs of his nobility. "my _nobility_! my _nobility_!" he exclaimed--"_why, my nobility is here, here!_"--clapping his forehead. right, beethoven, brains are the highest nobility, if not the richest. i love birth, and ancestry, when they are incentives to exertion not the title deeds to sloth. who would not prefer being the descendant of a stephenson, an arkwright, or a crompton, or any other of those great architects of their own fortunes, and to feel some of their noble energies, firing their blood to efforts of industry, than to be for ever falling back on some legend or fiction of ancestry; and in the absence of any _personal_ claim to greatness to be referring back and depending on those great mistakes of our forefathers, when he who waded through slaughter to a peerage was honoured _above_ those whose brains and whose industry were the means of promoting the comfort of their fellow men. believe me, my young friends, the highest honour of earth, is the honour of independence, and the highest nobility, _to be the rodolph of your own fortune, and a benefactor to mankind_. beethoven died th march, , in the fifty-sixth year of his age. although his warmth of temper, extreme frankness and singularity of manners, his little reserve in judging of people, and above all, that deplorable calamity--the greatest which can befall a man of his profession--his extreme deafness, seemed little calculated to endear him to the true admirers of his genius. still, notwithstanding his foibles, which much more frequently belong to great than to ordinary men, his character as a man and as a citizen ranked deservedly high. although his originality induced him to deviate from ordinary rules, in the little affairs of common life, yet his high feeling of honour and right produced a rectitude in his moral conduct, which ensured to him the esteem of every honourable man. beethoven--the master spirit of his age-- has passed away to his eternal rest, his name belongs to history's page, enrolled with men the noblest and the best. we to whom it was not given to view his living lineaments with wond'ring eye, may in his tones behold him pictured true in breathing colours that can never die. for he could paint in tones of magic force the moody passions of the varying soul; now winding round the heart with playful course; now storming all the breast with wild control. forthdrawing from his unexhausted store, 'twas his to bid the burden'd heart o'erflow, infusing joys it never knew before, and melting it with soft luxuriant woe! he liveth! it is wrong to say he's dead-- the sun, tho' smoking in the fading west, again shall issue from his morning bed, like a young giant vigorous from his rest. he lives! for that is truly living when our fame is a bequest from mind to mind, his life is in the breathing hearts of men, transmitted to the latest of his kind. notes. _note on page ._ the earliest copy of the tune, as far as is known, stands in a genevan edition of a portion of the english psalter, preserved as an article of rare value in the library of st. paul's cathedral. the date of the psalter is . the tune is therein given to sternhold's version of the hundredth psalm. this fairly settles the _vexata questio_ as to the authorship of the tune. there is no evidence that it originated with luther, to whom it is generally attributed--but there is evidence that it did originate with franc, of geneva; and the only claim to originality is grounded on the discovery of the sources from whence franc derived the phrases of the tune. those phrases are so palpably gregorian, that franc's construction of the tune can be regarded only a fragmentary compilation. considered, then, as gregorian in its texture, "the old hundredth" is, indeed, very old, much older than is commonly imagined. its several strains had been sung by christian voices not only one thousand years before luther was born, but for centuries before the papal system was developed. viewed in this light, the old tune assumes a new interest, and its antique tones vibrate with freshened impulse. _note on page ._ in and the following years many schools were established under the agency of the christian knowledge society, in and about the metropolis; and, in the year , when the first meeting of the children educated in these charity schools took place, in st. andrew's church, holborn, the number of children present amounted to no less than two thousand! from that time to the present, the children of these schools assemble yearly in some church of the metropolis, when a sermon, appropriate to the occasion, is preached. in , they first met in st. paul's cathedral, where they have ever since assembled. _note on page ._ we may reasonably hope that something will now be done towards effecting this object. committees have been formed, and numerous meetings are being held to consider the subject. as might be expected, many and diverse tributes of respect are proposed, not the least sensible or suitable that of our national _thersites_. "it will be hard to find a better site for the memorial than in the temple garden, which is seen from the river, and will be seen from the embankment."--punch, _ th december, _. _note on page ._ a lady who heard this lecture has since told me an equally strange fact. in her native parish there was an amateur choir, which assembled twice a week in the parish church to practise. on the lobby of the gallery wherein the choir assembled, there was a piano, to lead and accompany the voices; as regularly as the piano was played, a _robin red breast_--an old tenant of the churchyard--would perch on the instrument, and remain as long as the music continued. my informant was frequently the performer and always had the pleasure of _dicky's_ company. the end. c. j. skeet, , king william street, charing cross. beethoven's letters. ( - .) from the collection of dr. ludwig nohl. also his letters to the archduke rudolph, cardinal-archbishop of olmÜtz, k.w., from the collection of dr. ludwig ritter von kÖchel. translated by lady wallace. _with a portrait and fac-simile._ in two volumes. vol. i. boston: oliver ditson & co., washington street. new york: c.h. ditson & co. translator's preface. since undertaking the translation of dr. ludwig nohl's valuable edition of "beethoven's letters," an additional collection has been published by dr. ludwig ritter von köchel, consisting of many interesting letters addressed by beethoven to his illustrious pupil, h.r.h. the archduke rudolph, cardinal-archbishop of olmütz. these i have inserted in chronological order, and marked with the letter k., in order to distinguish them from the correspondence edited by dr. nohl. i have only omitted a few brief notes, consisting merely of apologies for non-attendance on the archduke. the artistic value of these newly discovered treasures will no doubt be as highly appreciated in this country as in the great _maestro's_ father-land. i must also express my gratitude to dr. th.g. v. karajan, for permitting an engraving to be made expressly for this work, from an original beethoven portrait in his possession, now for the first time given to the public. the grand and thoughtful countenance forms a fitting introduction to letters so truly depicting the brilliant, fitful genius of the sublime master, as well as the touching sadness and gloom pervading his life, which his devotion to art alone brightened, through many bitter trials and harassing cares. the love of beethoven's music is now become so universal in england, that i make no doubt his letters will receive a hearty welcome from all those whose spirits have been elevated and soothed by the genius of this illustrious man. grace wallace. ainderby hall, march , . preface by dr. ludwig nohl to the letters of ludwig van beethoven. in accompanying the present edition of the letters of ludwig van beethoven with a few introductory remarks, i at once acknowledge that the compilation of these letters has cost me no slight sacrifices. i must also, however, mention that an unexpected christmas donation, generously bestowed on me with a view to further my efforts to promote the science of music, enabled me to undertake one of the journeys necessary for my purpose, and also to complete the revision of the letters and of the press, in the milder air and repose of a country residence, long since recommended to me for the restoration of my health, undermined by overwork. that, in spite of every effort, i have not succeeded in seeing the original of each letter, or even discovering the place where it exists, may well be excused, taking into consideration the slender capabilities of an individual, and the astonishing manner in which beethoven's letters are dispersed all over the world. at the same time, i must state that not only have the hitherto inaccessible treasures of anton schindler's "beethoven's nachlass" been placed at my disposal, but also other letters from private sources, owing to various happy chances, and the kindness and complaisance of collectors of autographs. i know better, however, than most people--being in a position to do so--that in the present work there can be no pretension to any thing approaching to a complete collection of beethoven's letters. the master, so fond of writing, though he often rather amusingly accuses himself of being a lazy correspondent, may very probably have sent forth at least double the amount of the letters here given, and there is no doubt whatever that a much larger number are still extant in the originals. the only thing that can be done at this moment, however, is to make the attempt to bring to light, at all events, the letters that could be discovered in germany. the mass of those which i gradually accumulated, and now offer to the public (with the exception of some insignificant notes), appeared to me sufficiently numerous and important to interest the world, and also to form a substantial nucleus for any letters that may hereafter be discovered. on the other hand, as many of beethoven's letters slumber in foreign lands, especially in the unapproachable cabinets of curiosities belonging to various close-fisted english collectors, an entire edition of the correspondence could only be effected by a most disproportionate outlay of time and expense. when revising the text of the letters, it seemed to me needless perpetually to impair the pleasure of the reader by retaining the mistakes in orthography; but enough of the style of writing of that day is adhered to, to prevent its peculiar charm being entirely destroyed. distorted and incorrect as beethoven's mode of expression sometimes is, i have not presumed to alter his grammar, or rather syntax, in the smallest degree: who would presume to do so with an individuality which, even amid startling clumsiness of style, displays those inherent intellectual powers that often did violence to language as well as to his fellow-men? cyclopean masses of rock are here hurled with cyclopean force; but hard and massive as they are, the man is not to be envied whose heart is not touched by these glowing fragments, flung apparently at random right and left, like meteors, by a mighty intellectual being, however perverse the treatment language may have received from him. the great peculiarity, however, in this strange mode of expression is, that even such incongruous language faithfully reflects the mind of the man whose nature was of prophetic depth and heroic force; and who that knows anything of the creative genius of a beethoven can deny him these attributes? the antique dignity pervading the whole man, the ethical contemplation of life forming the basis of his nature, prevented even a momentary wish on my part to efface a single word of the oft-recurring expressions so painfully harsh, bordering on the unaesthetic, and even on the repulsive, provoked by his wrath against the meanness of men. in the last part of these genuine documents, we learn with a feeling of sadness, and with almost a tragic sensation, how low was the standard of moral worth, or rather how great was the positive unworthiness, of the intimate society surrounding the master, and with what difficulty he could maintain the purity of the nobler part of his being in such an atmosphere. the manner, indeed, in which he strives to do so, fluctuating between explosions of harshness and almost weak yieldingness, while striving to master the base thoughts and conduct of these men, though never entirely succeeding in doing so, is often more a diverting than an offensive spectacle. in my opinion, nevertheless, even this less pleasing aspect of the letters ought not to be in the slightest degree softened (which it has hitherto been, owing to false views of propriety and morality), for it is no moral deformity here displayed. indeed, even when the irritable master has recourse to expressions repugnant to our sense of conventionality, and which may well be called harsh and rough, still the wrath that seizes on our hero is a just and righteous wrath, and we disregard it, just as in nature, whose grandeur constantly elevates us above the inevitable stains of an earthly soil. the coarseness and ill-breeding, which would claim toleration because this great man now and then showed such feelings, must beware of doing so, being certain to make shipwreck when coming in contact with the massive rock of true morality on which, with all his faults and deficiencies, beethoven's being was surely grounded. often, indeed, when absorbed in the unsophisticated and genuine utterances of this great man, it seems as if these peculiarities and strange asperities were the results of some mysterious law of nature, so that we are inclined to adopt the paradox by which a wit once described the singular groundwork of our nature,--"the faults of man are the night in which he rests from his virtues." indeed, i think that the lofty morality of such natures is not fully evident until we are obliged to confess with regret, that even the great ones of the earth must pay their tribute to humanity, and really do pay it (which is the distinction between them and base and petty characters), without being ever entirely hurled from their pedestal of dignity and virtue. the soul of that man cannot fail to be elevated, who can seize the real spirit of the scattered pages that a happy chance has preserved for us. if not fettered by petty feelings, he will quickly surmount the casual obstacles and stumbling-blocks which the first perusal of these letters may seem to present, and quickly feel himself transported at a single stride into a stream, where a strange roaring and rushing is heard, but above which loftier tones resound with magic and exciting power. for a peculiar life breathes in these lines; an under-current runs through their apparently unconnected import, uniting them as with an electric chain, and with firmer links than any mere coherence of subjects could have effected. i experienced this myself, to the most remarkable degree, when i first made the attempt to arrange, in accordance with their period and substance, the hundreds of individual pages bearing neither date nor address, and i was soon convinced that a connecting text (such as mozart's letters have, and ought to have) would be here entirely superfluous, as even the best biographical commentary would be very dry work, interrupting the electric current of the whole, and thus destroying its peculiar effect. and now, what is this spirit which, for an intelligent mind, binds together these scattered fragments into a whole, and what is its actual power? i cannot tell; but i feel to this day just as i felt to the innermost depths of my heart in the days of my youth when i first heard a symphony of beethoven's,--that a spirit breathes from it bearing us aloft with giant power out of the oppressive atmosphere of sense, stirring to its inmost recesses the heart of man, bringing him to the full consciousness of his loftier being, and of the undying within him. and even more distinctly than when a new world was thus disclosed to his youthful feelings is the _man_ fully conscious that not only was this a new world to him, but a new world of feeling in itself, revealing to the spirit phases of its own, which, till beethoven appeared, had never before been fathomed. call it by what name you will, when one of the great works of the sublime master is heard, whether indicative of proud self-consciousness, freedom, spring, love, storm, or battle, it grasps the soul with singular force, and enlarges the laboring breast. whether a man understands music or not, every one who has a heart beating within his breast will feel with enchantment that here is concentrated the utmost promised to us by the most imaginative of our poets, in bright visions of happiness and freedom. even the only great hero of action, who in those memorable days is worthy to stand beside the great master of harmony, having diffused among mankind new and priceless earthly treasures, sinks in the scale when we compare these with the celestial treasures of a purified and deeper feeling, and a more free, enlarged, and sublime view of the world, struggling gradually and distinctly upwards out of the mere frivolity of an art devoid of words to express itself, and impressing its stamp on the spirit of the age. they convey, too, the knowledge of this brightest victory of genuine german intellect to those for whom the sweet muse of music is as a book with seven seals, and reveal, likewise, a more profound sense of beethoven's being to many who already, through the sweet tones they have imbibed, enjoy some dawning conviction of the master's grandeur, and who now more and more eagerly lend a listening ear to the intellectual clearly worded strains so skilfully interwoven, thus soon to arrive at the full and blissful comprehension of those grand outpourings of the spirit, and finally to add another bright delight to the enjoyment of those who already know and love beethoven. all these may be regarded as the objects i had in view when i undertook to edit his letters, which have also bestowed on myself the best recompense of my labors, in the humble conviction that by this means i may have vividly reawakened in the remembrance of many the mighty mission which our age is called on to perform for the development of our race, even in the realm of harmony,--more especially in our father-land. ludwig nohl. la tour de perlz--lake of geneva, march, . contents of volume i. first part. life's joys and sorrows - . . to the elector of cologne, frederick maximilian. . to dr. schade, augsburg . to the elector maximilian francis . to eleonore von breuning, bonn . to the same . to herr schenk . to dr. wegeler, vienna . to the same . lines written in the album of l. von breuning . to baron zmeskall von domanowecz . ukase to zmeskall, schuppanzigh, and lichnowsky . to pastor amenda, courland . to the same . to wegeler . to countess giulietta guicciardi . to matthisson . to frau frank, vienna . to wegeler . to kapellmeister hofmeister, leipzig . to the same . to the same . to the same . dedication to dr. schmidt . to ferdinand ries . to herr hofmeister, leipzig . to carl and johann beethoven . notice . to ferdinand ries . to herr hofmeister, leipzig . caution . to ries . to the same . to the same . to the same . to the composer leidesdorf, vienna . to ries . to the same . to the same . to messrs. artaria & co. . to princess liechtenstein . to herr meyer . testimonial for c. czerny . to herr röckel . to herr collin, court secretary and poet . to herr gleichenstein . to the directors of the court theatre . to count franz von oppersdorf . notice of a memorial to the archduke rudolph, prince kinsky, and prince lobkowitz . memorial to the same . to zmeskall . to ferdinand ries . to zmeskall . to the same . to the same . to the same . to the same . to the same . to the same . to freiherr von hammer-purgstall . to the same . to baroness von drossdick . to mdlle. de gerardi . to zmeskall . to wegeler . to zmeskall . to bettina brentano . to the same . to zmeskall . to the same . to the archduke rudolph . to a dear friend . to the dramatic poet treitschke . to zmeskall . to the same . to the same . to the same . to the same . to the same . to the same . to kammerprocurator varenna, gratz . to zmeskall . to the same . to varenna, gratz . to zmeskall . to varenna . to archduke rudolph . to the same . to varenna, gratz . to joseph freiherr von schweiger . to varenna, gratz . lines written in the album of mdme. auguste sebald . to archduke rudolph . to bettina von arnim . to princess kinsky . to archduke rudolph . to the same . to the same . to princess kinsky . to the same . to zmeskall . to herr joseph varenna, gratz . to the same . to zmeskall . to the same . to the same . to the same . to the same . to the same . to the same . to archduke rudolph . to the same . to the same . to freiherr josef von schweiger . to herr von baumeister . to zmeskall . letter of thanks . to the archduke rudolph . to the same . to the same . to treitschke . to the same . to the same . to count lichnowsky. . to the same . to the archduke rudolph . to the same . deposition . to dr. kauka, prague. . address and appeal to london artists . to dr. kauka . to count moritz lichnowsky . to the archduke rudolph . to the same . to the same . to the same . to the same . to the same . to the same . to the same . to dr. kauka . to the same . to the same . to the members of the landrecht . to baron von pasqualati . to dr. kauka . to the archduke rudolph second part. life's mission. - . . music written in spohr's album . to dr. kauka . to the same . to the same . to mr. salomon, london . to the archduke rudolph . to the same . to the same . to the same . to the same . to the same . to mr. birchall, music publisher, london . to zmeskall . to the archduke rudolph . to messrs. birchall, london . to herr ries . to zmeskall . to mdlle. milder-hauptmann . to ries . to mr. birchall, london . to czerny . to the same . to ries, london . to giannatasio del rio, vienna . to the same . to the same . to the same . to ferdinand ries, london . to the same . power of attorney . to ferdinand ries . to giannatasio del rio . to the same . to the archduke rudolph . to mr. birchall london . to the same . to giannatasio del rio . to the same . to zmeskall . to dr. kauka . query . to giannatasio del rio . to the same . to wegeler . to mr. birchall, london . to zmeskall . to the archduke rudolph . to freiherr von schweiger . to giannatasio del rio . to the same . to the same . to the same . to herr tschischka . to mr. birchall . to zmeskall . to frau von streicher . to the same . to the same . to the same . to the same . to the archduke rudolph . to giannatasio del rio . to the same . to the same . to hofrath von mosel . to s.a. steiner, music publisher, vienna . to the same . to the same . to zmeskall first part. life's joys and sorrows. to . beethoven's letters. part i. . to the elector of cologne, frederick maximilian.[ ] illustrious prince,-- music from my fourth year has ever been my favorite pursuit. thus early introduced to the sweet muse, who attuned my soul to pure harmony, i loved her, and sometimes ventured to think that i was beloved by her in return. i have now attained my eleventh year, and my muse often whispered to me in hours of inspiration,--try to write down the harmonies in your soul. only eleven years old! thought i; does the character of an author befit me? and what would more mature artists say? i felt some trepidation; but my muse willed it--so i obeyed, and wrote. may i now, therefore, illustrious prince, presume to lay the first-fruits of my juvenile labors at the foot of your throne? and may i hope that you will condescend to cast an encouraging and kindly glance on them? you will; for art and science have ever found in you a judicious protector and a generous patron, and rising talent has always prospered under your fostering and fatherly care. encouraged by this cheering conviction, i venture to approach you with these my youthful efforts. accept them as the pure offering of childlike reverence, and graciously vouchsafe to regard with indulgence them and their youthful composer, ludwig van beethoven. [footnote : the dedication affixed to this work, "three sonatas for the piano, dedicated to my illustrious master, maximilian friedrich, archbishop and elector of cologne, by ludwig van beethoven in his eleventh year," is probably not written by the boy himself, but is given here as an amusing contrast to his subsequent ideas with regard to the homage due to rank.] . to dr. schade,--augsburg. bonn, . autumn. my most esteemed friend,-- i can easily imagine what you must think of me, and i cannot deny that you have too good grounds for an unfavorable opinion. i shall not, however, attempt to justify myself, until i have explained to you the reasons why my apologies should be accepted. i must tell you that from the time i left augsburg[ ] my cheerfulness, as well as my health, began to decline; the nearer i came to my native city, the more frequent were the letters from my father, urging me to travel with all possible speed, as my mother's health was in a most precarious condition. i therefore hurried forwards as fast as i could, although myself far from well. my longing once more to see my dying mother overcame every obstacle, and assisted me in surmounting the greatest difficulties. i found my mother indeed still alive, but in the most deplorable state; her disease was consumption, and about seven weeks ago, after much pain and suffering, she died [july ]. she was indeed a kind, loving mother to me, and my best friend. ah! who was happier than i, when i could still utter the sweet name of mother, and it was heard? but to whom can i now say it? only to the silent form resembling her, evoked by the power of imagination. i have passed very few pleasant hours since my arrival here, having during the whole time been suffering from asthma, which may, i fear, eventually turn to consumption; to this is added melancholy,--almost as great an evil as my malady itself. imagine yourself in my place, and then i shall hope to receive your forgiveness for my long silence. you showed me extreme kindness and friendship by lending me three carolins in augsburg, but i must entreat your indulgence for a time. my journey cost me a great deal, and i have not the smallest hopes of earning anything here. fate is not propitious to me in bonn. pardon my intruding on you so long with my affairs, but all that i have said was necessary for my own justification. i do entreat you not to deprive me of your valuable friendship; nothing do i wish so much as in any degree to become worthy of your regard. i am, with all esteem, your obedient servant and friend, l. v. beethoven, _cologne court organist._ [footnote : on his return from vienna, whither max franz had sent him for the further cultivation of his talents.] . to the elector maximilian francis.[ ] . most illustrious and gracious prince,-- some years ago your highness was pleased to grant a pension to my father, the court tenor van beethoven, and further graciously to decree that r. thalers of his salary should be allotted to me, for the purpose of maintaining, clothing, and educating my two younger brothers, and also defraying the debts incurred by our father. it was my intention to present this decree to your highness's treasurer, but my father earnestly implored me to desist from doing so, that he might not be thus publicly proclaimed incapable himself of supporting his family, adding that he would engage to pay me the r.t. quarterly, which he punctually did. after his death, however (in december last), wishing to reap the benefit of your highness's gracious boon, by presenting the decree, i was startled to find that my father had destroyed it. i therefore, with all dutiful respect, entreat your highness to renew this decree, and to order the paymaster of your highness's treasury to grant me the last quarter of this benevolent addition to my salary (due the beginning of february). i have the honor to remain, your highness's most obedient and faithful servant, lud. v. beethoven, _court organist._ [footnote : an electoral decree was issued in compliance with this request on may , .] . to eleonore von breuning,--bonn. vienna, nov. , . my highly esteemed eleonore, my dearest friend,-- a year of my stay in this capital has nearly elapsed before you receive a letter from me, and yet the most vivid remembrance of you is ever present with me. i have often conversed in thought with you and your dear family, though not always in the happy mood i could have wished, for that fatal misunderstanding still hovered before me, and my conduct at that time is now hateful in my sight. but so it was, and how much would i give to have the power wholly to obliterate from my life a mode of acting so degrading to myself, and so contrary to the usual tenor of my character! many circumstances, indeed, contributed to estrange us, and i suspect that those tale-bearers who repeated alternately to you and to me our mutual expressions were the chief obstacles to any good understanding between us. each believed that what was said proceeded from deliberate conviction, whereas it arose only from anger, fanned by others; so we were both mistaken. your good and noble disposition, my dear friend, is sufficient security that you have long since forgiven me. we are told that the best proof of sincere contrition is to acknowledge our faults; and this is what i wish to do. let us now draw a veil over the whole affair, learning one lesson from it,--that when friends are at variance, it is always better to employ no mediator, but to communicate directly with each other. with this you will receive a dedication from me [the variations on "se vuol ballare"]. my sole wish is that the work were greater and more worthy of you. i was applied to here to publish this little work, and i take advantage of the opportunity, my beloved eleonore, to give you a proof of my regard and friendship for yourself, and also a token of my enduring remembrance of your family. pray then accept this trifle, and do not forget that it is offered by a devoted friend. oh! if it only gives you pleasure, my wishes will be fulfilled. may it in some degree recall the time when i passed so many happy hours in your house! perhaps it may serve to remind you of me till i return, though this is indeed a distant prospect. oh! how we shall then rejoice together, my dear eleonore! you will, i trust, find your friend a happier man, all former forbidding, careworn furrows smoothed away by time and better fortune. when you see b. koch [subsequently countess belderbusch], pray say that it is unkind in her never once to have written to me. i wrote to her twice, and three times to malchus (afterwards westphalian minister of finance), but no answer. tell her that if she does not choose to write herself, i beg that she will at least urge malchus to do so. at the close of my letter i venture to make one more request--i am anxious to be so fortunate as again to possess an angola waistcoat knitted by your own hand, my dear friend. forgive my indiscreet request; it proceeds from my great love for all that comes from you; and i may privately admit that a little vanity is connected with it, namely, that i may say i possess something from the best and most admired young lady in bonn. i still have the one you were so good as to give me in bonn; but change of fashion has made it look so antiquated, that i can only treasure it in my wardrobe as your gift, and thus still very dear to me. you would make me very happy by soon writing me a kind letter. if mine cause you any pleasure, i promise you to do as you wish, and write as often as it lies in my power; indeed everything is acceptable to me that can serve to show you how truly i am your admiring and sincere friend, l. v. beethoven. p.s. the variations are rather difficult to play, especially the shake in the _coda_; but do not be alarmed at this, being so contrived that you only require to play the shake, and leave out the other notes, which also occur in the violin part. i never would have written it in this way, had i not occasionally observed that there was a certain individual in vienna who, when i extemporized the previous evening, not unfrequently wrote down next day many of the peculiarities of my music, adopting them as his own [for instance, the abbé gelinek]. concluding, therefore, that some of these things would soon appear, i resolved to anticipate this. another reason also was to puzzle some of the pianoforte teachers here, many of whom are my mortal foes; so i wished to revenge myself on them in this way, knowing that they would occasionally be asked to play the variations, when these gentlemen would not appear to much advantage. beethoven. . to eleonore von breuning,--bonn. the beautiful neckcloth, embroidered by your own hand, was the greatest possible surprise to me; yet, welcome as the gift was, it awakened within me feelings of sadness. its effect was to recall former days, and to put me to shame by your noble conduct to me. i, indeed, little thought that you still considered me worthy of your remembrance. oh! if you could have witnessed my emotions yesterday when this incident occurred, you would not think that i exaggerate in saying that such a token of your recollection brought tears to my eyes, and made me feel very sad. little as i may deserve favor in your eyes, believe me, my dear _friend_, (let me still call you so,) i have suffered, and still suffer severely from the privation of your friendship. never can i forget you and your dear mother. you were so kind to me that your loss neither can nor will be easily replaced. i know what i have forfeited, and what you were to me, but in order to fill up this blank i must recur to scenes equally painful for you to hear and for me to detail. as a slight requital of your kind _souvenir_, i take the liberty to send you some variations, and a rondo with violin accompaniment. i have a great deal to do, or i would long since have transcribed the sonata i promised you. it is as yet a mere sketch in manuscript, and to copy it would be a difficult task even for the clever and practised paraquin [counter-bass in the electoral orchestra]. you can have the rondo copied, and return the score. what i now send is the only one of my works at all suitable for you; besides, as you are going to kerpen [where an uncle of the family lived], i thought these trifles might cause you pleasure. farewell, my friend; for it is impossible for me to give you any other name. however indifferent i may be to you, believe me, i shall ever continue to revere you and your mother as i have always done. if i can in any way contribute to the fulfilment of a wish of yours, do not fail to let me know, for i have no other means of testifying my gratitude for past friendship. i wish you an agreeable journey, and that your dear mother may return entirely restored to health! think sometimes of your affectionate friend, beethoven. . to herr schenk. june, . dear schenk,[ ]-- i did not know that i was to set off to-day to eisenstadt. i should like to have talked to you again. in the mean time rest assured of my gratitude for your obliging services. i shall endeavor, so far as it lies in my power, to requite them. i hope soon to see you, and once more to enjoy the pleasure of your society. farewell, and do not entirely forget your beethoven. [footnote : schenk, afterwards celebrated as the composer of the "dorf barbier," was for some time beethoven's teacher in composition. this note appears to have been written in june, , and first printed in the "freischütz," no. , about , at the time of schenk's death, when his connection with beethoven was mentioned.] . to dr. wegeler,--vienna.[ ] ... in what an odious light have you exhibited me to myself! oh! i acknowledge it, i do not deserve your friendship. it was no intentional or deliberate malice that induced me to act towards you as i did, but inexcusable thoughtlessness alone. i say no more. i am coming to throw myself into your arms, and to entreat you to restore me my lost friend; and you will give him back to me, to your penitent, loving, and ever-grateful beethoven. [footnote : dr. wegeler, in answer to my request that he would send me the entire letter, replied that "the passages omitted in the letter consisted chiefly in eulogiums of his father, and enthusiastic expressions of friendship, which did not seem to him to be of any value; but besides this, the same reasons that induced his father to give only a portion of the letter were imperative with him also." i do not wish to contest the point with the possessor of the letter; still i may remark that all the utterances and letters of a great man belong to the world at large, and that in a case like the present, the conscientious biographer, who strives faithfully to portray such a man, is alone entitled to decide what portion of these communications is fitted for publication, and what is not. any considerations of a personal character seem to me very trivial.] . to dr. wegeler,--vienna. vienna, may . god speed you, my dear friend! i owe you a letter which you shall shortly have, and my newest music besides, _i am going on well; indeed, i may say every day better._ greet those to whom it will give pleasure from me. farewell, and do not forget your beethoven. . written in the album of lenz von breuning. vienna, oct. , . truth for the wise, beauty for a feeling heart, and both for each other. my dear, good breuning,-- never can i forget the time i passed with you, not only in bonn, but here. continue your friendship towards me, for you shall always find me the same true friend, l. v. beethoven. . to baron zmeskall von domanowecz. .[ ] [music: alto, tenor, bass clefs, c major, / time, grave. alto. ba-ron. tenore. ba-ron. basso. ba-ron. ba-ron. ba-ron.] my cheapest (not dearest) baron,-- desire the guitar-player to come to me to-day. amenda (instead of an _amende_ [fine], which he sometimes deserves for not observing his rests properly) must persuade this popular guitarist to visit me, and if possible to come at five o'clock this evening; if not then, at five or six o'clock to-morrow morning; but he must not waken me if i chance to be still asleep. _adieu, mon ami à bon marché._ perhaps we may meet at the "swan"? [footnote : as it appears from the following letters that amenda was again at home in , the date of this note is thus ascertained. it is undoubtedly addressed to baron zmeskall von domanowecz, royal court secretary, a good violoncello-player, and one of beethoven's earliest friends in vienna. the "guitarist" was probably the celebrated giuliani, who lived in vienna.] . the musical count is from this day forth _cashiered_ with infamy. the first violin [schuppanzigh] ruthlessly transported to _siberia_. the baron [see no. ] for a whole month _strictly interdicted from asking questions_; no longer to be so hasty, and to devote himself exclusively to his _ipse miserum_.[ ] b. [footnote : written in gigantic characters in pencil on a large sheet of paper. the "musical count" is probably count moritz lichnowsky, brother of prince carl lichnowsky, in whose house were held those musical performances in which beethoven's works were first produced. even at that time he behaved in a very dictatorial manner to those gentlemen when his compositions were badly executed. thence the name given him by haydn of "the great mogul."] . to pastor amenda,--courland. does amenda think that i can ever forget him, because i do not write? in fact, never have written to him?--as if the memory of our friends could only thus be preserved! the _best man i ever knew_ has a thousand times recurred to my thoughts! two persons alone once possessed my whole love, one of whom still lives, and you are now the third. how can my remembrance of you ever fade? you will shortly receive a long letter about my present circumstances and all that can interest you. farewell, beloved, good, and noble friend! ever continue your love and friendship towards me, just as i shall ever be your faithful beethoven. . to pastor amenda. . my dear, my good amenda, my warm-hearted friend,-- i received and read your last letter with deep emotion, and with mingled pain and pleasure. to what can i compare your fidelity and devotion to me? ah! it is indeed delightful that you still continue to love me so well. i know how to prize you, and to distinguish you from all others; you are not like my vienna friends. no! you are one of those whom the soil of my fatherland is wont to bring forth; how often i wish that you were with me, for your beethoven is very unhappy. you must know that one of my most precious faculties, that of hearing, is become very defective; even while you were still with me i felt indications of this, though i said nothing; but it is now much worse. whether i shall ever be cured remains yet to be seen; it is supposed to proceed from the state of my digestive organs, but i am almost entirely recovered in that respect. i hope indeed that my hearing may improve, but i scarcely think so, for attacks of this kind are the most incurable of all. how sad my life must now be!--forced to shun all that is most dear and precious to me, and to live with such miserable egotists as ----, &c. i can with truth say that of all my friends lichnowsky [prince carl] is the most genuine. he last year settled florins on me, which, together with the good sale of my works, enables me to live free from care as to my maintenance. all that i now write i can dispose of five times over, and be well paid into the bargain. i have been writing a good deal latterly, and as i hear that you have ordered some pianos from ----, i will send you some of my compositions in the packing-case of one of these instruments, by which means they will not cost you so much. to my great comfort, a person has returned here with whom i can enjoy the pleasures of society and disinterested friendship,--one of the friends of my youth [stephan von breuning]. i have often spoken to him of you, and told him that since i left my fatherland, you are one of those to whom my heart specially clings. z. [zmeskall?] does not seem quite to please him; he is, and always will be, too weak for true friendship, and i look on him and ---- as mere instruments on which i play as i please, but never can they bear noble testimony to my inner and outward energies, or feel true sympathy with me; i value them only in so far as their services deserve. oh! how happy should i now be, had i my full sense of hearing; i would then hasten to you; whereas, as it is, i must withdraw from everything. my best years will thus pass away, without effecting what my talents and powers might have enabled me to perform. how melancholy is the resignation in which i must take refuge! i had determined to rise superior to all this, but how is it possible? if in the course of six months my malady be pronounced incurable then, amenda! i shall appeal to you to leave all else and come to me, when i intend to travel (my affliction is less distressing when playing and composing, and most so in intercourse with others), and you must be my companion. i have a conviction that good fortune will not forsake me, for to what may i not at present aspire? since you were here i have written everything except operas and church music. you will not, i know, refuse my petition; you will help your friend to bear his burden and his calamity. i have also very much perfected my pianoforte playing, and i hope that a journey of this kind may possibly contribute to your own success in life, and you would thenceforth always remain with me. i duly received all your letters, and though i did not reply to them, you were constantly present with me, and my heart beats as tenderly as ever for you. i beg you will keep the fact of my deafness a profound secret, and not confide it to any human being. write to me frequently; your letters, however short, console and cheer me; so i shall soon hope to hear from you. do not give your quartet to any one [in f, op. , no. ], as i have altered it very much, having only now succeeded in writing quartets properly; this you will at once perceive when you receive it. now, farewell, my dear kind friend! if by any chance i can serve you here, i need not say that you have only to command me. your faithful and truly attached l. v. beethoven. . to wegeler. vienna, june , . my dear and valued wegeler,-- how much i thank you for your remembrance of me, little as i deserve it, or have sought to deserve it; and yet you are so kind that you allow nothing, not even my unpardonable neglect, to discourage you, always remaining the same true, good, and faithful friend. that i can ever forget you or yours, once so dear and precious to me, do not for a moment believe. there are times when i find myself longing to see you again, and wishing that i could go to stay with you. my father-land, that lovely region where i first saw the light, is still as distinct and beauteous in my eyes as when i quitted you; in short, i shall esteem the time when i once more see you, and again greet father rhine, as one of the happiest periods of my life. when this may be i cannot yet tell; but at all events i may say that you shall not see me again till i have become eminent, not only as an artist, but better and more perfect as a man; and if the condition of our father-land be then more prosperous, my art shall be entirely devoted to the benefit of the poor. oh, blissful moment!--how happy do i esteem myself that i can expedite it and bring it to pass! you desire to know something of my position; well! it is by no means bad. however incredible it may appear, i must tell you that lichnowsky has been, and still is, my warmest friend (slight dissensions occurred occasionally between us, and yet they only served to strengthen our friendship). he settled on me last year the sum of florins, for which i am to draw on him till i can procure some suitable situation. my compositions are very profitable, and i may really say that i have almost more commissions than it is possible for me to execute. i can have six or seven publishers or more for every piece, if i choose; they no longer bargain with me--i demand, and they pay--so you see this is a very good thing. for instance, i have a friend in distress, and my purse does not admit of my assisting him at once; but i have only to sit down and write, and in a short time he is relieved. i am also become more economical than formerly. if i finally settle here, i don't doubt i shall be able to secure a particular day every year for a concert, of which i have already given several. that malicious demon, however, bad health, has been a stumbling-block in my path; my hearing during the last three years has become gradually worse. the chief cause of this infirmity proceeds from the state of my digestive organs, which, as you know, were formerly bad enough, but have latterly become much worse, and being constantly afflicted with diarrhoea, has brought on extreme weakness. frank [director of the general hospital] strove to restore the tone of my digestion by tonics, and my hearing by oil of almonds; but alas! these did me no good whatever; my hearing became worse, and my digestion continued in its former plight. this went on till the autumn of last year, when i was often reduced to utter despair. then some medical _asinus_ recommended me cold baths, but a more judicious doctor the tepid ones of the danube, which did wonders for me; my digestion improved, but my hearing remained the same, or in fact rather got worse. i did indeed pass a miserable winter; i suffered from most dreadful spasms, and sank back into my former condition. thus it went on till about a month ago, when i consulted vering [an army surgeon], under the belief that my maladies required surgical advice; besides, i had every confidence in him. he succeeded in almost entirely checking the violent diarrhoea, and ordered me the tepid baths of the danube, into which i pour some strengthening mixture. he gave me no medicine, except some digestive pills four days ago, and a lotion for my ears. i certainly do feel better and stronger, but my ears are buzzing and ringing perpetually, day and night. i can with truth say that my life is very wretched; for nearly two years past i have avoided all society, because i find it impossible to say to people, _i am deaf!_ in any other profession this might be more tolerable, but in mine such a condition is truly frightful. besides, what would my enemies say to this?--and they are not few in number. to give you some idea of my extraordinary deafness, i must tell you that in the theatre i am obliged to lean close up against the orchestra in order to understand the actors, and when a little way off i hear none of the high notes of instruments or singers. it is most astonishing that in conversation some people never seem to observe this; being subject to fits of absence, they attribute it to that cause. i often can scarcely hear a person if speaking low; i can distinguish the tones, but not the words, and yet i feel it intolerable if any one shouts to me. heaven alone knows how it is to end! vering declares that i shall certainly improve, even if i be not entirely restored. how often have i cursed my existence! plutarch led me to resignation. i shall strive if possible to set fate at defiance, although there must be moments in my life when i cannot fail to be the most unhappy of god's creatures. i entreat you to say nothing of my affliction to any one, not even to lorchen [see nos. and ]. i confide the secret to you alone, and entreat you some day to correspond with vering on the subject. if i continue in the same state, i shall come to you in the ensuing spring, when you must engage a house for me somewhere in the country, amid beautiful scenery, and i shall then become a rustic for a year, which may perhaps effect a change. resignation!--what a miserable refuge! and yet it is my sole remaining one. you will forgive my thus appealing to your kindly sympathies at a time when your own position is sad enough. stephan breuning is here, and we are together almost every day; it does me so much good to revive old feelings! he has really become a capital good fellow, not devoid of talent, and his heart, like that of us all, pretty much in the right place. [see no. .] i have very charming rooms at present, adjoining the bastei [the ramparts], and peculiarly valuable to me on account of my health [at baron pasqualati's]. i do really think i shall be able to arrange that breuning shall come to me. you shall have your antiochus [a picture], and plenty of my music besides--if, indeed, it will not cost you too much. your love of art does honestly rejoice me. only say how it is to be done, and i will send you all my works, which now amount to a considerable number, and are daily increasing. i beg you will let me have my grandfather's portrait as soon as possible by the post, in return for which i send you that of his grandson, your loving and attached beethoven. it has been brought out here by artaria, who, as well as many other publishers, has often urged this on me. i intend soon to write to stoffeln [christoph von breuning], and plainly admonish him about his surly humor. i mean to sound in his ears our old friendship, and to insist on his promising me not to annoy you further in your sad circumstances. i will also write to the amiable lorchen. never have i forgotten one of you, my kind friends, though you did not hear from me; but you know well that writing never was my _forte_, even my best friends having received no letters from me for years. i live wholly in my music, and scarcely is one work finished when another is begun; indeed, i am now often at work on three or four things at the same time. do write to me frequently, and i will strive to find time to write to you also. give my remembrances to all, especially to the kind frau hofräthin [von breuning], and say to her that i am still subject to an occasional _raptus_. as for k----, i am not at all surprised at the change in her: fortune rolls like a ball, and does not always stop before the best and noblest. as to ries [court musician in bonn], to whom pray cordially remember me, i must say one word. i will write to you more particularly about his son [ferdinand], although i believe that he would be more likely to succeed in paris than in vienna, which is already overstocked, and where even those of the highest merit find it a hard matter to maintain themselves. by next autumn or winter, i shall be able to see what can be done for him, because then all the world returns to town. farewell, my kind, faithful wegeler! rest assured of the love and friendship of your beethoven. . to countess giulietta guicciardi.[ ] morning, july , . my angel! my all! my second self! only a few words to-day, written with a pencil (your own). my residence cannot be settled till to-morrow. what a tiresome loss of time! why this deep grief when necessity compels?--can our love exist without sacrifices, and by refraining from desiring all things? can you alter the fact that you are not wholly mine, nor i wholly yours? ah! contemplate the beauties of nature, and reconcile your spirit to the inevitable. love demands all, and has a right to do so, and thus it is _i feel towards you_ and _you towards me_; but you do not sufficiently remember that i must live both _for you_ and _for myself_. were we wholly united, you would feel this sorrow as little as i should. my journey was terrible. i did not arrive here till four o'clock yesterday morning, as no horses were to be had. the drivers chose another route; but what a dreadful one it was! at the last stage i was warned not to travel through the night, and to beware of a certain wood, but this only incited me to go forward, and i was wrong. the carriage broke down, owing to the execrable roads, mere deep rough country lanes, and had it not been for the postilions i must have been left by the wayside. esterhazy, travelling the usual road, had the same fate with eight horses, whereas i had only four. still i felt a certain degree of pleasure, which i invariably do when i have happily surmounted any difficulty. but i must now pass from the outer to the inner man. we shall, i trust, soon meet again; to-day i cannot impart to you all the reflections i have made, during the last few days, on my life; were our hearts closely united forever, none of these would occur to me. my heart is overflowing with all i have to say to you. ah! there are moments when i find that speech is actually nothing. take courage! continue to be ever my true and only love, my all! as i am yours. the gods must ordain what is further to be and shall be! your faithful ludwig. monday evening, july . you grieve! dearest of all beings! i have just heard that the letters must be sent off very early. mondays and thursdays are the only days when the post goes to k. from here. you grieve! ah! where i am, there you are ever with me; how earnestly shall i strive to pass my life with you, and what a life will it be!!! whereas now!! without you!! and persecuted by the kindness of others, which i neither deserve nor try to deserve! the servility of man towards his fellow-man pains me, and when i regard myself as a component part of the universe, what am i, what is he who is called the greatest?--and yet herein are displayed the godlike feelings of humanity!--i weep in thinking that you will receive no intelligence from me till probably saturday. however dearly you may love me, i love you more fondly still. never conceal your feelings from me. good-night! as a patient at these baths, i must now go to rest [a few words are here effaced by beethoven himself]. oh, heavens! so near, and yet so far! is not our love a truly celestial mansion, but firm as the vault of heaven itself? july . good-morning! even before i rise, my thoughts throng to you, my immortal beloved!--sometimes full of joy, and yet again sad, waiting to see whether fate will hear us. i must live either wholly with you, or not at all. indeed i have resolved to wander far from you [see no. ] till the moment arrives when i can fly into your arms, and feel that they are my home, and send forth my soul in unison with yours into the realm of spirits. alas! it must be so! you will take courage, for you know my fidelity. never can another possess my heart--never, never! oh, heavens! why must i fly from her i so fondly love? and yet my existence in w. was as miserable as here. your love made me the most happy and yet the most unhappy of men. at my age, life requires a uniform equality; can this be found in our mutual relations? my angel! i have this moment heard that the post goes every day, so i must conclude, that you may get this letter the sooner. be calm! for we can only attain our object of living together by the calm contemplation of our existence. continue to love me. yesterday, to-day, what longings for you, what tears for you! for you! for you! my life! my all! farewell! oh! love me forever, and never doubt the faithful heart of your lover, l. ever thine. ever mine. ever each other's. [footnote : these letters to his "immortal beloved," to whom the c sharp minor sonata is dedicated, appear here for the first time in their integrity, in accordance with the originals written in pencil on fine notepaper, and given in schindler's _beethoven's nachlass_. there has been much discussion about the date. it is certified, in the first place, in the church register which alex. thayer saw in vienna, that giulietta was married to count gallenberg in ; and in the next place, the th of july falls on a monday in . the other reasons which induce me decidedly to fix this latter year as the date of the letter, i mean to give at full length in the second volume of _beethoven's biography_. i may also state that beethoven was at baths in hungary at that time. whether the k---- in the second letter means komorn, i cannot tell.] . to matthisson. vienna, august , . most esteemed friend,-- you will receive with this one of my compositions published some years since, and yet, to my shame, you probably have never heard of it. i cannot attempt to excuse myself, or to explain why i dedicated a work to you which came direct from my heart, but never acquainted you with its existence, unless indeed in this way, that at first i did not know where you lived, and partly also from diffidence, which led me to think i might have been premature in dedicating a work to you before ascertaining that you approved of it. indeed, even now i send you "adelaide" with a feeling of timidity. you know yourself what changes the lapse of some years brings forth in an artist who continues to make progress; the greater the advances we make in art, the less are we satisfied with our works of an earlier date. my most ardent wish will be fulfilled if you are not dissatisfied with the manner in which i have set your heavenly "adelaide" to music, and are incited by it soon to compose a similar poem; and if you do not consider my request too indiscreet, i would ask you to send it to me forthwith, that i may exert all my energies to approach your lovely poetry in merit. pray regard the dedication as a token of the pleasure which your "adelaide" conferred on me, as well as of the appreciation and intense delight your poetry always has inspired, and _always will inspire in me_. when playing "adelaide," sometimes recall your sincere admirer, beethoven. . to frau frank,--vienna october, . dear lady,-- at the second announcement of our concert, you must remind your husband that the public should be made acquainted with the names of those whose talents are to contribute to this concert. such is the custom here; and indeed, were it not so, what is there to attract a larger audience? which is after all our chief object. punto [the celebrated horn-player, for whom beethoven wrote sonata ] is not a little indignant about the omission, and i must say he has reason to be so; but even before seeing him it was my intention to have reminded you of this, for i can only explain the mistake by great haste or great forgetfulness. be so good, then, dear lady, as to attend to my hint; otherwise you will certainly expose yourself to _many annoyances_. being at last convinced in my own mind, and by others, that i shall not be quite superfluous in this concert, i know that not only i, but also punto, simoni [a tenorist], and galvani will demand that the public should be apprised of our zeal for this charitable object; otherwise we must all conclude that we are not wanted. yours, beethoven. . to herr von wegeler. vienna, nov. , . my dear wegeler,-- i thank you for this fresh proof of your interest in me, especially as i so little deserve it. you wish to know how i am, and what remedies i use. unwilling as i always feel to discuss this subject, still i feel less reluctant to do so with you than with any other person. for some months past vering has ordered me to apply blisters on both arms, of a particular kind of bark, with which you are probably acquainted,--a disagreeable remedy, independent of the pain, as it deprives me of the free use of my arms for a couple of days at a time, till the blisters have drawn sufficiently. the ringing and buzzing in my ears have certainly rather decreased, particularly in the left ear, in which the malady first commenced, but my hearing is not at all improved; in fact i fear that it is become rather worse. my health is better, and after using the tepid baths for a time, i feel pretty well for eight or ten days. i seldom take tonics, but i have begun applications of herbs, according to your advice. vering will not hear of plunge baths, but i am much dissatisfied with him; he is neither so attentive nor so indulgent as he ought to be to such a malady; if i did not go to him, which is no easy matter, i should never see him at all. what is your opinion of schmidt [an army surgeon]? i am unwilling to make any change, but it seems to me that vering is too much of a practitioner to acquire new ideas by reading. on this point schmidt appears to be a very different man, and would probably be less negligent with regard to my case. i hear wonders of galvanism; what do you say to it? a physician told me that he knew a deaf and dumb child whose hearing was restored by it (in berlin), and likewise a man who had been deaf for seven years, and recovered his hearing. i am told that your friend schmidt is at this moment making experiments on the subject. i am now leading a somewhat more agreeable life, as of late i have been associating more with other people. you could scarcely believe what a sad and dreary life mine has been for the last two years; my defective hearing everywhere pursuing me like a spectre, making me fly from every one, and appear a misanthrope; and yet no one is in reality less so! this change has been wrought by a lovely fascinating girl [undoubtedly giulietta], who loves me and whom i love. i have once more had some blissful moments during the last two years, and it is the first time i ever felt that marriage could make me happy. unluckily, she is not in my rank of life, and indeed at this moment i can marry no one; i must first bestir myself actively in the world. had it not been for my deafness, i would have travelled half round the globe ere now, and this i must still do. for me there is no pleasure so great as to promote and to pursue my art. do not suppose that i could be happy with you. what indeed could make me happier? your very solicitude would distress me; i should read your compassion every moment in your countenance, which would make me only still more unhappy. what were my thoughts amid the glorious scenery of my father-land? the hope alone of a happier future, which would have been mine but for this affliction! oh! i could span the world were i only free from this! i feel that my youth is only now commencing. have i not always been an infirm creature? for some time past my bodily strength has been increasing, and it is the same with my mental powers. i feel, though i cannot describe it, that i daily approach the object i have in view, in which alone can your beethoven live. no rest for him!--i know of none but in sleep, and i do grudge being obliged to sacrifice more time to it than formerly.[ ] were i only half cured of my malady, then i would come to you, and, as a more perfect and mature man, renew our old friendship. you should then see me as happy as i am ever destined to be here below--not unhappy. no! that i could not endure; i will boldly meet my fate, never shall it succeed in crushing me. oh! it is so glorious to live one's life a thousand times over! i feel that i am no longer made for a quiet existence. you will write to me as soon as possible? pray try to prevail on steffen [von breuning] to seek an appointment from the teutonic order somewhere. life here is too harassing for his health; besides, he is so isolated that i do not see how he is ever to get on. you know the kind of existence here. i do not take it upon myself to say that society would dispel his lassitude, but he cannot be persuaded to go anywhere. a short time since, i had some music in my house, but our friend steffen stayed away. do recommend him to be more calm and self-possessed, which i have in vain tried to effect; otherwise he can neither enjoy health nor happiness. tell me in your next letter whether you care about my sending you a large selection of music; you can indeed dispose of what you do not want, and thus repay the expense of the carriage, and have my portrait into the bargain. say all that is kind and amiable from me to lorchen, and also to mamma and christoph. you still have some regard for me? always rely on the love as well as the friendship of your beethoven. [footnote : "too much sleep is hurtful" is marked by a thick score in the odyssey ( , ) by beethoven's hand. see schindler's _beethoven's nachlass_.] . to kapellmeister hofmeister,--leipzig.[ ] vienna, dec. , . my dear brother in art,-- i have often intended to answer your proposals, but am frightfully lazy about all correspondence; so it is usually a good while before i can make up my mind to write dry letters instead of music. i have, however, at last forced myself to answer your application. _pro primo_, i must tell you how much i regret that you, my much-loved brother in the science of music, did not give me some hint, so that i might have offered you my quartets, as well as many other things that i have now disposed of. but if you are as conscientious, my dear brother, as many other publishers, who grind to death us poor composers, you will know pretty well how to derive ample profit when the works appear. i now briefly state what you can have from me. st. a septet, _per il violino, viola, violoncello, contra-basso, clarinetto, corno, fagotto;--tutti obbligati_ (i can write nothing that is not _obbligato_, having come into the world with an _obbligato_ accompaniment!) this septet pleases very much. for more general use it might be arranged for one more _violino, viola_, and _violoncello_, instead of the three wind-instruments, _fagotto, clarinetto_, and _corno_.[ ] d. a grand symphony with full orchestra [the st]. rd. a pianoforte concerto [op. ], which i by no means assert to be one of my best, any more than the one mollo is to publish here [op. ], (this is for the benefit of the leipzig critics!) because _i reserve the best for myself_ till i set off on my travels; still the work will not disgrace you to publish. th. a grand solo sonata [op. ]. these are all i can part with at this moment; a little later you can have a quintet for stringed instruments, and probably some quartets also, and other pieces that i have not at present beside me. in your answer you can yourself fix the prices; and as you are neither an _italian_ nor a _jew_, nor am i either, we shall no doubt quickly agree. farewell, and rest assured, my dear brother in art, of the esteem of your beethoven. [footnote : the letters to hofmeister, formerly of vienna, who conducted the correspondence with beethoven in the name of the firm of "hofmeister & kühnel, bureau de musique," are given here as they first appeared in in the _neue zeitschrift für musik_. on applying to the present representative of that firm, i was told that those who now possess these letters decline giving them out of their own hands, and that no copyist can be found able to decipher or transcribe them correctly.] [footnote : this last phrase is not in the copy before me, but in marx's _biography_, who appears to have seen the original.] . to kapellmeister hofmeister. vienna, jan. (or thereabouts), . i read your letter, dear brother and friend, with much pleasure, and i thank you for your good opinion of me and of my works, and hope i may continue to deserve it. i also beg you to present all due thanks to herr k. [kühnel] for his politeness and friendship towards me. i, on my part, rejoice in your undertakings, and am glad that when works of art do turn out profitable, they fall to the share of true artists, rather than to that of mere tradesmen. your intention to publish sebastian bach's works really gladdens my heart, which beats with devotion for the lofty and grand productions of this our father of the science of harmony, and i trust i shall soon see them appear. i hope when golden peace is proclaimed, and your subscription list opened, to procure you many subscribers here.[ ] with regard to our own transactions, as you wish to know my proposals, they are as follows. i offer you at present the following works:--the septet (which i already wrote to you about), ducats; symphony, ducats; concerto, ducats; grand solo sonata, _allegro, adagio, minuetto, rondo_, ducats. this sonata [op. ] is well up to the mark, my dear brother! now for explanations. you may perhaps be surprised that i make no difference of price between the sonata, septet, and symphony. i do so because i find that a septet or a symphony has not so great a sale as a sonata, though a symphony ought unquestionably to be of the most value. (n.b. the septet consists of a short introductory _adagio_, an _allegro, adagio, minuetto, andante_, with variations, _minuetto_, and another short _adagio_ preceding a _presto_.) i only ask ten ducats for the concerto, for, as i already wrote to you, i do not consider it one of my best. i cannot think that, taken as a whole, you will consider these prices exorbitant; at least, i have endeavored to make them as moderate as possible for you. with regard to the banker's draft, as you give me my choice, i beg you will make it payable by germüller or schüller. the entire sum for the four works will amount to ducats; i understand no currency but vienna ducats, so how many dollars in gold they make in your money is no affair of mine, for really i am a very bad man of business and accountant. now this _troublesome_ business is concluded;--i call it so, heartily wishing that it could be otherwise here below! there ought to be only one grand _dépôt_ of art in the world, to which the artist might repair with his works, and on presenting them receive what he required; but as it now is, one must be half a tradesman besides--and how is this to be endured? good heavens! i may well call it _troublesome_! as for the leipzig oxen,[ ] let them talk!--they certainly will make no man immortal by their prating, and as little can they deprive of immortality those whom apollo destines to attain it. now may heaven preserve you and your colleagues! i have been unwell for some time; so it is rather difficult for me at present to write even music, much more letters. i trust we shall have frequent opportunities to assure each other how truly you are my friend, and i yours. i hope for a speedy answer. adieu! l. v. beethoven. [footnote : i have at this moment in my hands this edition of bach, bound in one thick volume, together with the first part of nägeli's edition of the _wohltemperirtes clavier_, also three books of exercises (d, g, and c minor), the _toccata in d minor_, and _twice fifteen inventions_.] [footnote : it is thus that schindler supplies the gap. it is probably an allusion to the _allgemeine musikalische zeitung_, founded about three years previously.] . to herr hofmeister. vienna, april , . you have indeed too good cause to complain not a little of me. my excuse is that i have been ill, and in addition had so much to do, that i could scarcely even think of what i was to send you. moreover, the only thing in me that resembles a genius is, that my papers are never in very good order, and yet no one but myself can succeed in arranging them. for instance, in the score of the concerto, the piano part, according to my usual custom, was not yet written down; so, owing to my hurry, you will receive it in my own very illegible writing. in order that the works may follow as nearly as possible in their proper order, i have marked the numbers to be placed on each, as follows:-- solo sonata, op. . symphony, op. . septet, op. . concerto, op. . i will send you their various titles shortly. put me down as a subscriber to sebastian bach's works [see letter ], and also prince lichnowsky. the arrangement of mozart's sonatas as quartets will do you much credit, and no doubt be profitable also. i wish i could contribute more to the promotion of such an undertaking, but i am an irregular man, and too apt, even with the best intentions, to forget everything; i have, however, mentioned the matter to various people, and i everywhere find them well disposed towards it. it would be a good thing if you would arrange the septet you are about to publish as a quintet, with a flute part, for instance; this would be an advantage to amateurs of the flute, who have already importuned me on the subject, and who would swarm round it like insects and banquet on it. now to tell you something of myself. i have written a ballet ["prometheus"], in which the ballet-master has not done his part so well as might be. the f---- von l---- has also bestowed on us a production which by no means corresponds with the ideas of his genius conveyed by the newspaper reports. f---- seems to have taken herr m---- (wenzel müller?) as his ideal at the kusperle, yet without even rising to his level. such are the fine prospects before us poor people who strive to struggle upwards! my dear friend, pray lose no time in bringing the work before the notice of the public, and write to me soon, that i may know whether by my delay i have entirely forfeited your confidence for the future. say all that is civil and kind to your partner, kühnel. everything shall henceforth be sent finished, and in quick succession. so now farewell, and continue your regards for your friend and brother, beethoven. . to herr hofmeister. vienna, june, . i am rather surprised at the communication you have desired your business agent here to make to me; i may well feel offended at your believing me capable of so mean a trick. it would have been a very different thing had i sold my works to rapacious shopkeepers, and then secretly made another good speculation; but, from _one artist to another_, it is rather a strong measure to suspect me of such a proceeding! the whole thing seems to be either a device to put me to the test, or a mere suspicion. in any event i may tell you that before you received the septet from me i had sent it to mr. salomon in london (to be played at his own concert, which i did solely from friendship), with the express injunction to beware of its getting into other hands, as it was my intention to have it engraved in germany, and, if you choose, you can apply to him for the confirmation of this. but to give you a further proof of my integrity, "i herewith give you the faithful assurance that i have neither sold the septet, the symphony, the concerto, nor the sonata to any one but to messrs. hofmeister and kühnel, and that they may consider them to be their own exclusive property. and to this i pledge my honor." you may make what use you please of this guarantee. moreover, i believe salomon to be as incapable of the baseness of engraving the septet as i am of selling it to him. i was so scrupulous in the matter, that when applied to by various publishers to sanction a pianoforte arrangement of the septet, i at once declined, though i do not even know whether you proposed making use of it in this way. here follow the long-promised titles of the works. there will no doubt be a good deal to alter and to amend in them; but this i leave to you. i shall soon expect a letter from you, and, i hope, the works likewise, which i wish to see engraved, as others have appeared, and are about to appear, in connection with these numbers. i look on your statement as founded on mere rumors, which you have believed with too much facility, or based entirely on supposition, induced by having perchance heard that i had sent the work to salomon; i cannot, therefore, but feel some coolness towards such a credulous friend, though i still subscribe myself your friend, beethoven. . dedication to dr. schmidt.[ ] . monsieur,-- je sens parfaitement bien, que la celebrité de votre nom ainsi que l'amitié dont vous m'honorez, exigeroient de moi la dédicace d'un bien plus important ouvrage. la seule chose qui a pu me déterminer à vous offrir celui-ci de préférence, c'est qu'il me paroît d'une exécution plus facile et par la même plus propre à contribuer à la satisfaction dont vous jouissez dans l'aimable cercle de votre famille.--c'est surtout, lorsque les heureux talents d'une fille chérie se seront developpés davantage, que je me flatte de voir ce but atteint. heureux si j'y ai réussi et si dans cette faible marque de ma haute estime et de ma gratitude vous reconnoissez toute la vivacité et la cordialité de mes sentiments. louis van beethoven. [footnote : grand trio, op. .] . to his scholar, ferdinand ries.[ ] . dear ries,-- i send you herewith the four parts corrected by me; please compare the others already written out with these. i also enclose a letter to count browne. i have told him that he must make an advance to you of fifty ducats, to enable you to get your outfit. this is absolutely necessary, so it cannot offend him; for after being equipped, you are to go with him to baden on the monday of the ensuing week. i must, however, reproach you for not having had recourse to me long ago. am i not your true friend? why did you conceal your necessities from me? no friend of mine shall ever be in need, so long as i have anything myself. i would already have sent you a small sum, did i not rely on browne; if he fails us, then apply at once to your beethoven. [footnote : ries names as the date of this letter, and it was no doubt during that summer that count browne was in baden. ries's father had assisted the beethoven family in every way in his power at the time of the mother's death.] . to herr hofmeister,--leipzig. vienna, april , . do you mean to go post-haste to the devil, gentlemen, by proposing that i should write _such_ a _sonata_? during the revolutionary fever, a thing of the kind might have been appropriate, but now, when everything is falling again into the beaten track, and bonaparte has concluded a _concordat_ with the pope--such a sonata as this? if it were a _missa pro sancta maria à tre voci_, or a _vesper_, &c., then i would at once take up my pen and write a _credo in unum_, in gigantic semibreves. but, good heavens! such a sonata, in this fresh dawning christian epoch. no, no!--it won't do, and i will have none of it. now for my answer in quickest _tempo_. the lady can have a sonata from me, and i am willing to adopt the general outlines of her plan in an _aesthetical_ point of view, without adhering to the keys named. the price to be five ducats; for this sum she can keep the work a year for her own amusement, without either of us being entitled to publish it. after the lapse of a year, the sonata to revert to me--that is, i can and will then publish it, when, if she considers it any distinction, she may request me to dedicate it to her. i now, gentlemen, commend you to the grace of god. my sonata [op. ] is well engraved, but you have been a fine time about it! i hope you will usher my septet into the world a little quicker, as the p---- is waiting for it, and you know the empress has it; and when there are in this imperial city people like ----, i cannot be answerable for the result; so lose no time! herr ---- [mollo?] has lately published my quartets [op. ] full of faults and _errata_, both large and small, which swarm in them like fish in the sea; that is, they are innumerable. _questo è un piacere per un autore_--this is what i call engraving [_stechen_, stinging] with a vengeance.[ ] in truth, my skin is a mass of punctures and scratches from this fine edition of my quartets! now farewell, and think of me as i do of you. till death, your faithful l. v. beethoven. [footnote : in reference to the musical piracy at that time very prevalent in austria.] .[ ] to my brothers carl and johann beethoven. heiligenstadt, oct. , . oh! ye who think or declare me to be hostile, morose, and misanthropical, how unjust you are, and how little you know the secret cause of what appears thus to you! my heart and mind were ever from childhood prone to the most tender feelings of affection, and i was always disposed to accomplish something great. but you must remember that six years ago i was attacked by an incurable malady, aggravated by unskilful physicians, deluded from year to year, too, by the hope of relief, and at length forced to the conviction of a _lasting affliction_ (the cure of which may go on for years, and perhaps after all prove impracticable). born with a passionate and excitable temperament, keenly susceptible to the pleasures of society, i was yet obliged early in life to isolate myself, and to pass my existence in solitude. if i at any time resolved to surmount all this, oh! how cruelly was i again repelled by the experience, sadder than ever, of my defective hearing!--and yet i found it impossible to say to others: speak louder; shout! for i am deaf! alas! how could i proclaim the deficiency of a sense which ought to have been more perfect with me than with other men,--a sense which i once possessed in the highest perfection, to an extent, indeed, that few of my profession ever enjoyed! alas, i cannot do this! forgive me therefore when you see me withdraw from you with whom i would so gladly mingle. my misfortune is doubly severe from causing me to be misunderstood. no longer can i enjoy recreation in social intercourse, refined conversation, or mutual outpourings of thought. completely isolated, i only enter society when compelled to do so. i must live like an exile. in company i am assailed by the most painful apprehensions, from the dread of being exposed to the risk of my condition being observed. it was the same during the last six months i spent in the country. my intelligent physician recommended me to spare my hearing as much as possible, which was quite in accordance with my present disposition, though sometimes, tempted by my natural inclination for society, i allowed myself to be beguiled into it. but what humiliation when any one beside me heard a flute in the far distance, while i heard _nothing_, or when others heard _a shepherd singing_, and i still heard _nothing_! such things brought me to the verge of desperation, and wellnigh caused me to put an end to my life. _art! art_ alone, deterred me. ah! how could i possibly quit the world before bringing forth all that i felt it was my vocation to produce?[ ] and thus i spared this miserable life--so utterly miserable that any sudden change may reduce me at any moment from my best condition into the worst. it is decreed that i must now choose _patience_ for my guide! this i have done. i hope the resolve will not fail me, steadfastly to persevere till it may please the inexorable fates to cut the thread of my life. perhaps i may get better, perhaps not. i am prepared for either. constrained to become a philosopher in my twenty-eighth year![ ] this is no slight trial, and more severe on an artist than on any one else. god looks into my heart, he searches it, and knows that love for man and feelings of benevolence have their abode there! oh! ye who may one day read this, think that you have done me injustice, and let any one similarly afflicted be consoled, by finding one like himself, who, in defiance of all the obstacles of nature, has done all in his power to be included in the ranks of estimable artists and men. my brothers carl and johann, as soon as i am no more, if professor schmidt [see nos. and ] be still alive, beg him in my name to describe my malady, and to add these pages to the analysis of my disease, that at least, so far as possible, the world may be reconciled to me after my death. i also hereby declare you both heirs of my small fortune (if so it may be called). share it fairly, agree together and assist each other. you know that anything you did to give me pain has been long forgiven. i thank you, my brother carl in particular, for the attachment you have shown me of late. my wish is that you may enjoy a happier life, and one more free from care, than mine has been. recommend _virtue_ to your children; that alone, and not wealth, can ensure happiness. i speak from experience. it was _virtue_ alone which sustained me in my misery; i have to thank her and art for not having ended my life by suicide. farewell! love each other. i gratefully thank all my friends, especially prince lichnowsky and professor schmidt. i wish one of you to keep prince l----'s instruments; but i trust this will give rise to no dissension between you. if you think it more beneficial, however, you have only to dispose of them. how much i shall rejoice if i can serve you even in the grave! so be it then! i joyfully hasten to meet death. if he comes before i have had the opportunity of developing all my artistic powers, then, notwithstanding my cruel fate, he will come too early for me, and i should wish for him at a more distant period; but even then i shall be content, for his advent will release me from a state of endless suffering. come when he may, i shall meet him with courage. farewell! do not quite forget me, even in death; i deserve this from you, because during my life i so often thought of you, and wished to make you happy. amen! ludwig van beethoven. (_written on the outside._) thus, then, i take leave of you, and with sadness too. the fond hope i brought with me here, of being to a certain degree cured, now utterly forsakes me. as autumn leaves fall and wither, so are my hopes blighted. almost as i came, i depart. even the lofty courage that so often animated me in the lovely days of summer is gone forever. o providence! vouchsafe me one day of pure felicity! how long have i been estranged from the glad echo of true joy! when! o my god! when shall i again feel it in the temple of nature and of man?--never? ah! that would be too hard! (_outside._) to be read and fulfilled after my death by my brothers carl and johann. [footnote : this beautiful letter i regret not to have seen in the original, it being in the possession of the violin _virtuoso_ ernst, in london. i have adhered to the version given in the leipzig _allgemeine musikalische zeitung_, oct. .] [footnote : a large portion of the _eroica_ was written in the course of this summer, but not completed till august, .] [footnote : beethoven did not at that time know in what year he was born. see the subsequent letter of may , . he was then far advanced in his thirty-third year.] . notice. november, . i owe it to the public and to myself to state that the two quintets in c and e flat major--one of these (arranged from a symphony of mine) published by herr mollo in vienna, and the other (taken from my septet, op. ) by herr hofmeister in leipzig--are not original quintets, but only versions of the aforesaid works given by the publishers. arrangements in these days (so fruitful in--arrangements) an author will find it vain to contend against; but we may at least justly demand that the fact should be mentioned in the title-page, neither to injure the reputation of the author nor to deceive the public. this notice is given to prevent anything of the kind in future. i also beg to announce that shortly a new original quintet of my composition, in c major, op. , will appear at breitkopf & härtel's in leipzig. ludwig van beethoven. . to ferdinand ries. summer of . you no doubt are aware that i am here. go to stein, and ask if he can send me an instrument, on hire. i am afraid of bringing mine here. come to me this evening about seven o'clock. i lodge in oberdöbling, on the left side of the street, no. , going down the hill towards heiligenstadt. . to herr hofmeister,--leipzig. vienna, sept. , . i hereby declare all the works you have ordered to be your property. the list of these shall be made out and sent to you with my signature, as the proof of their being your own. i also agree to accept the sum of fifty ducats for them. are you satisfied? perhaps, instead of the variations with violoncello and violin,[ ] i may send you variations for the piano, arranged as a duet on a song of mine; but goethe's poetry must also be engraved, as i wrote these variations in an album, and consider them better than the others. are you satisfied? the arrangements are not by me, though i have revised and much improved various passages; but i do not wish you to say that i have arranged them, for it would be false, and i have neither time nor patience to do so. are you satisfied? now farewell! i sincerely wish that all may go well with you. i would gladly make you a present of all my works, if i could do so and still get on in the world; but--remember most people are provided for, and know what they have to live on, while, good heavens! where can an appointment be found at the imperial court for such a _parvum talentum com ego_? your friend, l. v. beethoven. [footnote : these are the six variations in d, on the air _ich denke dein_ written in in the album of the countesses josephine deym and thérèse of brunswick.] . caution. november, . herr carl zulehner, a piratical engraver in mayence, has announced an edition of my collected works for the pianoforte and also stringed instruments. i consider it my duty publicly to inform all friends of music that i have no share whatever in this edition. i would never have in any way authorized any collection of my works (which, moreover, i consider premature) without previously consulting the publishers of single pieces, and ensuring that correctness in which editions of my individual works are so deficient. i must also observe that this illegal edition cannot be complete, as several new works of mine are shortly to appear in paris, and these herr zulehner, being a french subject, dare not pirate. i intend to take another opportunity of enumerating the details of the collection of my works to be brought out under my own auspices and careful revision. ludwig van beethoven. . to herr ries.[ ] . be so good as to make out a list of the mistakes and send it at once to simrock, and say that the work must appear as soon as possible. i will send him the sonata [op. ] and the concerto the day after to-morrow. beethoven. [footnote : ries relates that the three following notes refer to the pianoforte sonata, op. , no. , carefully engraved by nägeli in zurich, which beethoven consequently sent forthwith to simrock in bonn, desiring him to bring out "_une édition très-correcte_" of the work. he also states that beethoven was residing in heiligenstadt at the time the work was first sent [see no. ]. in nottebohm's _skizzenbuch von beethoven_, he says (p. ) that the first notice of the appearance of this sonata was on may st, ; but simrock writes to me that the date of the document making over the sonata to him is .] . to herr ries. i must again ask you to undertake the disagreeable task of making a fair copy of the errors in the zurich sonata. i have got your list of _errata_ "_auf der wieden_." . to herr ries. dear ries,-- the signs are wrongly marked, and many of the notes misplaced; so be careful! or your labor will be vain. _ch' a detto l' amato bene?_ . to herr ries. dear ries,-- may i beg you to be so obliging as to copy this _andante_ [in the kreuzer sonata] for me, however indifferently? i must send it off to-morrow, and as heaven alone knows what its fate may then be, i wish to get it transcribed. but i must have it back to-morrow about one o'clock. the cause of my troubling you is that one of my copyists is already very much occupied with various things of importance, and the other is ill. . to the composer leidesdorf,--vienna.[ ] dorf des leides [village of sorrow--leidesdorf],-- let the bearer of this, herr ries, have some easy duets, and, better still, let him have them for nothing. conduct yourself in accordance with the reformed doctrines. farewell! beethoven _minimus._ [footnote : date unknown. leidesdorf was also a music-seller.] . to herr ries. baden, july , . dear ries,-- if you can find me better lodgings, i shall be very glad. tell my brothers not to engage these at once; i have a great desire to get one in a spacious, quiet square or on the bastei. it it really inexcusable in my brother not to have provided wine, as it is so beneficial and necessary to me. i shall take care to be present at the rehearsal on wednesday. i am not pleased to hear that it is to be at schuppanzigh's. he may well be grateful to me if my impertinences make him thinner! farewell, dear ries! we have bad weather here, and i am not safe from visitors; so i must take flight in order to be alone. your true friend, l. v. beethoven. . to herr ries. baden, july, . dear ries,-- as breuning [see nos. , , and ] by his conduct has not scrupled to display my character to you and the house-steward as that of a mean, petty, base man, i beg you will convey my reply at once in person to breuning. i answer only one point, the first in his letter, and i do so solely because it is the only mode of justifying myself in your eyes. say also to him that i had no intention of reproaching him on account of the delay of the notice to quit, and even if breuning were really to blame for this, our harmonious relations are so dear and precious in my sight, that, for the sake of a few hundreds more or less, i would never subject any friend of mine to vexation. you are aware, indeed, that i jestingly accused you as the cause of the notice arriving too late. i am quite sure that you must remember this. i had entirely forgotten the whole matter, but at dinner my brother began to say that he thought breuning was to blame in the affair, which i at once denied, saying that you were in fault. i think this shows plainly enough that i attributed no blame to breuning; but on this he sprang up like a madman, and insisted on sending for the house-steward. such behavior, in the presence of all those with whom i usually associate, and to which i am wholly unaccustomed, caused me to lose all self-control; so i also started up, upset my chair, left the room, and did not return. this conduct induced breuning to place me in a pretty light to you and the house-steward, and also to send me a letter which i only answered by silence. i have not another word to say to breuning. his mode of thinking and of acting, with regard to me, proves that there never ought to have been such friendly intimacy between us, and assuredly it can never more be restored. i wished to make you acquainted with this, as your version of the occurrence degraded both my words and actions. i know that, had you been aware of the real state of the affair, you would not have said what you did, and with this i am satisfied. i now beg of you, dear ries, to go to my brother, the apothecary, as soon as you receive this letter, and say to him that i mean to leave baden in the course of a few days, and that he is to engage the lodging in döbling as soon as you have given him this message. i had nearly left this to-day; i detest being here--i am sick of it. for heaven's sake urge him to close the bargain at once, for i want to take possession immediately. neither show nor speak to any one of what is written in the previous page of this letter. i wish to prove to him in every respect that i am not so meanly disposed as he is. indeed i have written to him, although my resolve as to the dissolution of our friendship remains firm and unchangeable. your friend, beethoven. . to herr ries. berlin, july , . ... you were no doubt not a little surprised about the affair with breuning; believe me, my dear friend, that the ebullition on my part was only an outbreak caused by many previous scenes of a disagreeable nature. i have the gift of being able to conceal and to repress my susceptibility on many occasions; but if attacked at a time when i chance to be peculiarly irritable, i burst forth more violently than any one. breuning certainly possesses many admirable qualities, but he thinks himself quite faultless; whereas the very defects that he discovers in others are those which he possesses himself to the highest degree. from my childhood i have always despised his petty mind. my powers of discrimination enabled me to foresee the result with breuning, for our modes of thinking, acting, and feeling are entirely opposite; and yet i believed that these difficulties might be overcome, but experience has disproved this. so now i want no more of his friendship! i have only found two friends in the world with whom i never had a misunderstanding; but what men these were! one is dead, the other still lives. although for nearly six years past we have seen nothing of each other, yet i know that i still hold the first place in his heart, as he does in mine [see no. ]. the true basis of friendship is to be found in sympathy of heart and soul. i only wish you could have read the letter i wrote to breuning, and his to me. no! never can he be restored to his former place in my heart. the man who could attribute to his friend so base a mode of thinking, and could himself have recourse to so base a mode of acting towards him, is no longer worthy of my friendship. do not forget the affair of my apartments. farewell! do not be too much addicted to tailoring,[ ] remember me to the fairest of the fair, and send me half a dozen needles. i never could have believed that i could be so idle as i am here. if this be followed by a fit of industry, something worth while may be produced. _vale!_ your beethoven. [footnote : ries says, in wegeler's _biographical notices_:--"beethoven never visited me more frequently than when i lived in the house of a tailor, with three very handsome but thoroughly respectable daughters."] . to messrs. artaria & co.[ ] vienna, june , . i must inform you that the affair about the new quintet is settled between count fries and myself. the count has just assured me that he intends to make you a present of it; it is too late to-day for a written agreement on the subject, but one shall be sent early in the ensuing week. this intelligence must suffice for the present, and i think i at all events deserve your thanks for it. your obedient servant, ludwig van beethoven. [footnote : the quintet is probably not that in c, op. , dedicated to count v. fries, previously published in by breitkopf & härtel [see no. ]. it is more likely that he alludes to a new quintet which the count had no doubt ordered.] . to madame la princesse liechtenstein, &c.[ ] november, . pray pardon me, illustrious princess, if the bearer of this should cause you an unpleasant surprise. poor ries, my scholar, is forced by this unhappy war to shoulder a musket, and must moreover leave this in a few days, being a foreigner. he has nothing, literally nothing, and is obliged to take a long journey. all chance of a concert on his behalf is thus entirely at an end, and he must have recourse to the benevolence of others. i recommend him to you. i know you will forgive the step i have taken. a noble-minded man would only have recourse to such measures in the most utter extremity. confident of this, i send the poor youth to you, in the hope of somewhat improving his circumstances. he is forced to apply to all who know him. i am, with the deepest respect, yours, l. van beethoven. [footnote : communicated by ries himself, who, to beethoven's extreme indignation, did not deliver the note. see wegeler's work, p. . the following remark is added:--"date unknown; written a few days before the entrance of the french in " (which took place nov. ). ries, a native of bonn, was now a french subject, and recalled under the laws of conscription. the sonata, op. , no. , is dedicated to princess liechtenstein.] . to herr meyer.[ ] . dear meyer,-- pray try to persuade herr v. seyfried to direct my opera, as i wish on this occasion to see and hear it myself _from a distance_; in this way my patience will at all events not be so severely tried as when i am close enough to hear my music so bungled. i really do believe that it is done on purpose to annoy me! i will say nothing of the wind-instruments; but all _pp._'s, _cresc._, _discresc._, and all _f._'s and _ff._'s may as well be struck out of my opera, for no attention whatever is paid to them. i shall lose all pleasure in composing anything in future, if i am to hear it given thus. to-morrow or the day after i will come to fetch you to dinner. to-day i am again unwell. your friend, beethoven. if the opera is to be performed the day after to-morrow, there must be another private rehearsal to-morrow, or _each time it will be given worse and worse_. [footnote : meyer, the husband of mozart's eldest sister-in-law, josepha (hofer's widow), sang the part of pizarro at the first performance of _fidelio_, nov. , , and also at a later period. seyfried was at that time kapellmeister at the theatre "an der wien."] . testimonial for c. czerny. vienna, dec. , . i, the undersigned, am glad to bear testimony to young carl czerny having made the most extraordinary progress on the pianoforte, far beyond what might be expected at the age of fourteen. i consider him deserving of all possible assistance, not only from what i have already referred to, but from his astonishing memory, and more especially from his parents having spent all their means in cultivating the talent of their promising son. ludwig van beethoven. . to herr rÖckel.[ ] dear rÖckel,-- be sure that you arrange matters properly with mdlle. milder, and say to her previously from me, that i hope she will not sing anywhere else. i intend to call on her to-morrow, to kiss the hem of her garment. do not also forget marconi, and forgive me for giving you so much trouble. yours wholly, beethoven. [footnote : röckel, in tenor at the theatre "an der wien," sang the part of florestan in the spring of that year, when _fidelio_ was revived. mdlle. milder, afterwards mdme. hauptmann, played leonore; mdme. marconi was also prima donna.] . to herr collin,[ ] court secretary and poet. my esteemed collin,-- i hear that you are about to fulfil my greatest wish and your own purpose. much as i desire to express my delight to you in person, i cannot find time to do so, having so much to occupy me. pray do not then ascribe this to any want of proper attention towards you. i send you the "armida"; as soon as you have entirely done with it, pray return it, as it does not belong to me. i am, with sincere esteem, yours, beethoven. [footnote : collin, court secretary, was the author of _coriolanus_, a tragedy for which beethoven in wrote the celebrated overture dedicated to that poet. according to reichardt, collin offered the libretto of _bradamante_ to beethoven in , which reichardt subsequently composed. this note evidently refers to a _libretto_.] . to herr gleichenstein.[ ] i should like very much, my good gleichenstein, to speak to you this forenoon between one and two o'clock, or in the afternoon, and where you please. to-day i am too busy to call early enough to find you at home. give me an answer, and don't forget to appoint the place for us to meet. farewell, and continue your regard for your beethoven. [footnote : probably in reference to a conference with regard to a contract for the publication of his works, op. , , , , and , that beethoven had made on the th april, , with muzio clementi, who had established a large music firm in london; it was also signed by baron gleichen. beethoven's first intention was to dedicate op. to him, which is evident from a large page in schindler's work, on which is written in bold characters, by the master's own hand, "_quatrième concerto pour le piano, avec accompagnement, etc., dédié à son ami gleichenstein_," &c. the name of the archduke rudolph had been previously written, and was eventually adopted, and gleichenstein afterwards received the dedication of the grand sonata with violoncello, op. .] . to the directors of the court theatre.[ ] vienna, december, . the undersigned has cause to flatter himself that during the period of his stay in vienna he has gained some favor and approbation from the highest nobility, as well as from the public at large, his works having met with an honorable reception both in this and other countries. nevertheless he has had difficulties of every kind to contend against, and has not hitherto been so fortunate as to acquire a position that would enable him _to live solely for art_, and to develop his talents to a still higher degree of perfection, which ought to be the aim of every artist, thus ensuring future independence instead of mere casual profits. the mere wish _to gain a livelihood_ has never been the leading clew that has hitherto guided the undersigned on his path. his great aim has been the _interest of art_ and the ennobling of taste, while his genius, soaring to a higher ideal and greater perfection, frequently compelled him to sacrifice his talents and profits to the muse. still works of this kind won for him a reputation in distant lands, securing him the most favorable reception in various places of distinction, and a position befitting his talents and acquirements. the undersigned does not, however, hesitate to say that this city is above all others the most precious and desirable in his eyes, owing to the number of years he has lived here, the favor and approval he has enjoyed from both high and low, and his wish fully to realize the expectations he has had the good fortune to excite, but most of all, he may truly say, from his _patriotism as a german_. before, therefore, making up his mind to leave a place so dear to him, he begs to refer to a hint which the reigning prince lichnowsky was so kind as to give him, to the effect that the directors of the theatre were disposed to engage the undersigned on reasonable conditions in the service of their theatre, and to ensure his remaining in vienna by securing to him a permanent position, more propitious to the further exercise of his talents. as this assurance is entirely in accordance with the wishes of the undersigned, he takes the liberty, with all due respect, to place before the directors his readiness to enter into such an engagement, and begs to state the following conditions for their gracious consideration. . the undersigned undertakes and pledges himself to compose each year at least _one grand opera_, to be selected by the directors and himself; in return for this he demands a _fixed salary_ of florins a year, and also a free benefit at the third performance of each such opera. . he also agrees to supply the directors annually with a little _operetta_ or a _divertissement_, with choruses or occasional music of the kind, as may be required, _gratis_; he feels confident that on the other hand the directors will not refuse, in return for these various labors, to grant him _a benefit concert_ at all events once a year in one of the theatres. surely the above conditions cannot be thought exorbitant or unreasonable, when the expenditure of time and energy entailed by the production of an _opera_ is taken into account, as it entirely excludes the possibility of all other mental exertion; in other places, too, the author and his family have a share in the profits of every individual performance, so that even _one_ successful work at once ensures the future fortunes of the composer. it must also be considered how prejudicial the present rate of exchange is to artists here, and likewise the high price of the necessaries of life, while a residence in foreign countries is open to them. but in any event, whether the directors accede to or decline this present proposal, the undersigned ventures to request that he may be permitted to give a concert for his own benefit in one of the theatres. for if his conditions be accepted, the undersigned must devote all his time and talents to the composition of such an opera, and thus be prevented working in any other way for profit. in case of the non-acceptance of these proposals, as the concert he was authorized to give last year did not take place owing to various obstacles, he would entreat, as a parting token of the favor hitherto vouchsafed to him, that the promise of last year may now be fulfilled. in the former case, he would beg to suggest _annunciation day_ [march .] for his concert, and in the latter a day during the ensuing christmas vacation. ludwig van beethoven, m.p. [_manu propria._] [footnote : this application was fruitless. see reichardt's _vertraute briefe_. "these two (lobkowitz and esterhazy) are the heads of the great theatrical direction, which consists entirely of princes and counts, who conduct all the large theatres on their own account and at their own risk." the close of this letter shows that it was written in december.] . to count franz von oppersdorf.[ ] vienna, nov. , [_sic!_]. my dear count,-- i fear you will look on me with displeasure when i tell you that necessity compelled me not only to dispose of the symphony i wrote for you, but to transfer another also to some one else. be assured, however, that you shall soon receive the one i intend for you. i hope that both you and the countess, to whom i beg my kind regards, have been well since we met. i am at this moment staying with countess erdödy in the apartments below those of prince lichnowsky. i mention this in case you do me the honor to call on me when you are in vienna. my circumstances are improving, without having recourse to the intervention of people _who treat their friends insultingly_. i have also the offer of being made _kapellmeister_ to the king of westphalia, and it is possible that i may accept the proposal. farewell, and sometimes think of your attached friend, beethoven. [footnote : the fourth symphony is dedicated to count oppersdorf.] .[ ] i fear i am too late for to-day, but i have only now been able to get back your memorial from c----, because h---- wished to add various items here and there. i do beg of you to dwell chiefly on the great importance to me of adequate opportunities to exercise my art; by so doing you will write what is most in accordance with my head and my heart. the preamble must set forth what i am to have in westphalia-- ducats in gold, ducats for travelling expenses; all i have to do in return for this sum being to direct the king's [jerome's] concerts, which are short and few in number. i am not even bound to direct any opera i may write. so, thus freed from all care, i shall be able to devote myself entirely to the most important object of my art--to write great works. an orchestra is also to be placed at my disposition. n.b. as member of a theatrical association, the title need not be insisted on, as it can produce nothing but annoyance. with regard to the _imperial service_, i think that point requires delicate handling, and not less so the solicitation for the title of _imperial kapellmeister_. it must, however, be made quite clear that i am to receive a sufficient salary from the court to enable me to renounce the annuity which i at present receive from the gentlemen in question [the archduke rudolph, prince kinsky, and prince lobkowitz], which i think will be most suitably expressed by my stating that it is my hope, and has ever been my most ardent wish, to enter the imperial service, when i shall be ready to give up as much of the above salary as the sum i am to receive from his imperial majesty amounts to. (n.b. we must have it to-morrow at twelve o'clock, as we go to kinsky then. i hope to see you to-day.) [footnote : this note, now first published, refers to the call beethoven had received, mentioned in the previous no. the sketch of the memorial that follows is not, however, in beethoven's writing, and perhaps not even composed by him [see also no. ]. it is well known that the archduke rudolph, prince kinsky, and prince lobkowitz had secured to the _maestro_ a salary of gulden.] . the aim and endeavor of every true artist must be to acquire a position in which he can occupy himself exclusively with the accomplishment of great works, undisturbed by other avocations or by considerations of economy. a composer, therefore, can have no more ardent wish than to devote himself wholly to the creation of works of importance, to be produced before the public. he must also keep in view the prospect of old age, in order to make a sufficient provision for that period. the king of westphalia has offered beethoven a salary of gold ducats for life, and ducats for travelling expenses, in return for which his sole obligations are, occasionally to play before his majesty, and to conduct his chamber concerts, which are both few and short. this proposal is of a most beneficial nature both to art and the artist. beethoven, however, much prefers a residence in this capital, feeling so much gratitude for the many proofs of kindness he has received in it, and so much patriotism for his adopted father-land, that he will never cease to consider himself an austrian artist, nor take up his abode elsewhere, if anything approaching to the same advantages are conferred on him here. as many persons of high, indeed of the very highest rank, have requested him to name the conditions on which he would be disposed to remain here, in compliance with their wish he states as follows:-- . beethoven must receive from some influential nobleman security for a permanent salary for life: various persons of consideration might contribute to make up the amount of this salary, which, at the present increased price of all commodities, must not consist of less than florins _per annum_. beethoven's wish is that the donors of this sum should be considered as cooperating in the production of his future great works, by thus enabling him to devote himself entirely to these labors, and by relieving him from all other occupations. . beethoven must always retain the privilege of travelling in the interests of art, for in this way alone can he make himself known, and acquire some fortune. . his most ardent desire and eager wish is to be received into the imperial service, when such an appointment would enable him partly or wholly to renounce the proposed salary. in the mean time the title of _imperial kapellmeister_ would be very gratifying to him; and if this wish could be realized, the value of his abode here would be much enhanced in his eyes. if his desire be fulfilled, and a salary granted by his majesty to beethoven, he will renounce so much of the said florins as the imperial salary shall amount to; or if this appointment be florins, he will give up the whole of the former sum. . as beethoven wishes from time to time to produce before the public at large his new great works, he desires an assurance from the present directors of the theatre on their part, and that of their successors, that they will authorize him to give a concert for his own benefit every year on palm sunday, in the theatre "an der wien." in return for which beethoven agrees to arrange and direct an annual concert for the benefit of the poor, or, if this cannot be managed, at all events to furnish a new work of his own for such a concert. . to zmeskall. december, . my excellent friend,-- all would go well now if we had only a curtain, without it the _aria_ ["ah! perfido"] _will be a failure_.[ ] i only heard this to-day from s. [seyfried], and it vexes me much: a curtain of any kind will do, even a bed-curtain, or merely a _kind of gauze screen_, which could be instantly removed. there must be something; for the aria is in the _dramatic style_, and better adapted for the stage than for effect in a concert-room. _without a curtain, or something of the sort, the aria will be devoid of all meaning, and ruined! ruined! ruined!! devil take it all!_ the court will probably be present. baron schweitzer [chamberlain of the archduke anton] requested me earnestly to make the application myself. archduke carl granted me an audience and promised to come. the empress _neither promised nor refused_. a hanging curtain!!!! or the aria and i will both be hanged to-morrow. farewell! i embrace you as cordially on this new year as in the old one. _with or without a curtain!_ your beethoven. [footnote : reichardt, in his _vertraute briefe_ relates among other things about the concert given by beethoven in the royal theatre "an der wien," oct. , , as follows:--"poor beethoven, who derived from this concert the first and only net profits which accrued to him during the whole year, met with great opposition and very slender support in arranging and carrying it out. first came the _pastoral symphony; or, reminiscences of rural life_; then followed, as the sixth piece, a long italian _scena_, sung by demoiselle killitzky, a lovely bohemian with a lovely voice." the above note [to zmeskall?] certainly refers to this concert.] . to ferdinand ries.[ ] . my dear fellow,-- your friends have at any rate given you very bad advice; but i know all about them: they are the very same to whom you sent that fine news about me from paris; the very same who inquired about my age--information that you contrived to supply so correctly!--the very same who have often before injured you in my opinion, but now permanently. farewell! beethoven. [footnote : ries himself gives the date of this note as , though he cannot recall what gave rise to it. it is probably connected with a fact mentioned by wegeler, p. , that reichardt, who was at that time in vienna, had advised beethoven's young pupil, ries, to apply to the king of westphalia for the appointment of kapellmeister, which he had recently given up. this was reported to beethoven, and roused his ire. ries, too, had written from paris that the taste in music there was very indifferent; that beethoven's works were little known or played in that city. beethoven was also very susceptible with regard to his age. at the request of some of beethoven's friends, ries, in , obtained beethoven's baptismal certificate, and sent it to vienna. but the _maestro's_ wrath on this occasion passed away as quickly as usual.] . to zmeskall.[ ] march , . it is just what i expected! as to the blows, that is rather far-fetched. the story is at least three months' old, and very different from what he now makes it out to be. the whole stupid affair was caused by a female huckster and a couple of low fellows. i lose very little. he no doubt was corrupted in the very house where i am now living. [footnote : [see no. .] the notes to zmeskall generally have the dates written by himself. this one bears the date march , . in all points connected with domestic life, and especially in household matters and discords, zmeskall was always a kind and consolatory friend. beethoven at that time lived in the same house with countess erdödy. [see no. .]] . to zmeskall. my most excellent, high, and well-born herr v. zmeskall, court secretary and member of the society of the single blessed,--if i come to see you to-day, ascribe it to the fact that a person wishes to speak to me at your house whom i could not refuse to see. i come without any _card_ from you, but i hope you will not on that account _discard_ me. yours truly--most truly, l. v. beethoven. . to zmeskall. it seems to me, dear zmeskall, if war really does break out, when it comes to an end you will be the very man for an appointment in the peace legation. what a glorious office!!! i leave it entirely to you to do the best you can about my servant, only henceforth countess erdödy must not attempt to exercise the smallest influence over him. she says she made him a present of twenty-five florins, and gave him five florins a month, solely to induce him to stay with me. i cannot refuse to believe this trait of generosity, but i do not choose that it should be repeated. farewell! i thank you for your friendship, and hope soon to see you. yours ever, beethoven. . to zmeskall.[ ] april , . if i cannot come to-day, dear zmeskall which is very possible, ask baroness von ---- [name illegible] to give you the pianoforte part of the trios, and be so good as to send them and the other parts to me to-day. in haste, your beethoven. [footnote : april , . by the terzetts he no doubt means the trios, op. , dedicated to countess erdödy.] . to zmeskall. april , . dear z.,-- a suitable lodging has just been found out for me, but i need some one to help me in the affair. i cannot employ my brother, because he only recommends what costs least money. let me know, therefore, if we can go together to look at the house. it is in the klepperstall.[ ] [footnote : an der mölker bastei.] . to zmeskall. april , . i shall be glad, right glad, to play. i send you the violoncello part; if you find that you can manage it, play it yourself, or let old kraft[ ] do so. i will tell you about the lodging when we meet. your friend, beethoven. [footnote : anton kraft (and likewise his son, nicolaus kraft) was a most admirable violoncello-player, with whom beethoven from the earliest days of his residence in vienna had played a great deal at prince lichnowsky's. kraft was at that time in prince lobkowitz's band.] . to zmeskall.[ ] may , . my dear little musical old count!-- i think after all it would be advisable to let old kraft play, as the trios are to be heard for the first time (in society), and you can play them afterwards; but i leave it all to your own option. if you meet with any difficulties, one of which may possibly be that kraft and s. [schuppanzigh] do not harmonize well together, then herr v. zmeskall must distinguish himself, not as a mere musical count, but as an energetic musician. your friend, beethoven. [footnote : kraft and schuppanzigh were then each giving quartet _soirées_.] . to freiherr v. hammer-purgstall.[ ] . i feel almost ashamed of your complaisance and kindness in permitting me to see the ms. of your as yet unknown literary treasures. pray receive my sincere thanks. i also beg to return both your operettas. wholly engrossed by my professional avocations, it is impossible for me to give an opinion, especially with regard to the indian operetta; as soon as time permits, i will call on you for the purpose of discussing this subject, and also the oratorio of "the deluge." pray always include me among the warm admirers of your great talents. i am, sir, with sincere esteem, your obedient beethoven. [footnote : i see in schindler's _beethoven_, that he wished to have "an indian chorus of a religious character" from this renowned orientalist, who, in sending his _persian operetta_, written "rather with an ideal than a musical object," and likewise an oratorio, _the deluge_, remarks:--"should you not find these works in all respects executed quite to your taste, still i feel convinced that through the genius of a beethoven alone can music portray the rising of the great flood and the pacifying of the surging waters."] . to freiherr v. hammer-purgstall.[ ] . forgive me, my dear h----, for not having brought you the letter for paris. i have been, and still am, so much occupied, that day after day i am obliged to delay writing it, but you shall have it to-morrow, even if i am unable to come myself to see you, which i am most anxious to do. there is another matter that i would most earnestly press on you; perhaps you might succeed in doing something for a _poor unfortunate man_. i allude to herr stoll, son of the celebrated physician. with many persons the question is whether a man has been ruined by his own fault or by that of others, but this is not so with either you or me; it is sufficient that stoll is unfortunate, and looks on a journey to paris as his sole resource, having last year made many influential acquaintances, who, when he goes there, are to endeavor to procure him a professorship in westphalia. stoll has therefore applied to herr v. neumann, in the state chancery office, to send him with a government courier to paris, but the latter refuses to take him for less than twenty-five louis d'or. now i request you, my dear friend, to speak to herr v. neumann to arrange, if possible, that the courier should either take stoll _gratis_, or for a small sum. i am persuaded that if there is nothing particular against it, you will be glad to interest yourself in poor stoll. i return to the country to-day, but hope soon to be so fortunate as to enjoy an hour of your society. in the mean time i send you my best wishes, and beg you will believe in the sincere esteem of your obedient ludwig v. beethoven. [footnote : reichardt states that stoll was in vienna in the spring of , which fixes the date of this letter. napoleon bestowed a pension on the young poet (who appears to have gone to paris), mistaking him for his father, the celebrated physician.] . to baroness von drossdick. my esteemed thÉrÈse,-- you will receive with this what i promised. had not many serious obstacles intervened, i would have sent you more, in order to show you that where my friends are concerned _i always perform more than i promise_. i hope, and do not doubt, that you are agreeably occupied and enjoying society, but not too much, i trust, to prevent your thinking of us. it would show too much confidence in you, or too high an estimation of my own merits, were i to attribute the sentiment to you, "that people are not together only when present, but that the absent and the dead also live with us." who could ascribe such a thought to the volatile thérèse, who takes the world so lightly? among your various occupations, do not forget the piano, or rather, music in general, for which you have so fine a talent: why not then seriously cultivate it? you, who have so much feeling for the good and the beautiful, should strive to recognize the perfections of so charming an art, which in return always casts so bright a reflection on us. i live in entire quiet and solitude, and even though occasional flashes of light arouse me, still since you all left this i feel a hopeless void which even my art, usually so faithful to me, has not yet triumphed over. your pianoforte is ordered, and you shall soon have it. what a difference you must have discovered between the treatment of the theme i extemporized on the other evening and the mode in which i have recently written it out for you? you must explain this yourself, only do not find the solution in the punch! how happy you are to get away so soon to the country! i cannot enjoy this luxury till the th. i look forward to it with the delight of a child. what happiness i shall feel in wandering among groves and woods, and among trees, and plants, and rocks! no man on earth can love the country as i do! thickets, trees, and rocks supply the echo man longs for! you shall soon receive some more of my compositions, which will not cause you to complain so much of difficulties. have you read goethe's "wilhelm meister," and schlegel's "translations of shakspeare"? people have so much leisure in the country, that perhaps you would like me to send you these works? it happens that i have an acquaintance in your neighborhood; so perhaps you may see me some morning early for half an hour, after which i must be off again. you will also observe that i intend to bore you for as short a time as possible.[ ] commend me to the regard of your father and mother, though i have as yet no right to claim it. remember me also to your cousin m. [mathilde]. farewell, my esteemed thérèse; i wish you all the good and charm that life can offer. think of me kindly, and forget my follies. rest assured that no one would more rejoice to hear of your happiness, even were you to feel no interest in your devoted servant and friend, beethoven. n.b. it would be very amiable in you to write me a few lines, to say if i can be of any use to you here. [footnote : herr v. malfatti rohrenbach, nephew of the renowned physician who was so prominent in beethoven's last illness, lately related to me in vienna as follows:--beethoven went to pay a visit to young frau thérèse, baroness drossdick, at mödling, but not finding her at home, he tore a sheet of music-paper out of a book, and wrote some music to a verse of matthisson's, and on the other side, inscribed, in large letters, "to my dear thérèse." the "mathilde" mentioned farther on was, according to bärmann, a baroness gleichenstein. [see no. .]] . À mdlle. mdlle. de gerardi.[ ] dear mdlle. g.,-- i cannot with truth deny that the verses you sent have considerably embarrassed me. it causes a strange sensation to see and hear yourself praised, and yet to be conscious of your own defects, as i am. i consider such occurrences as mere incitements to strive to draw nearer the unattainable goal set before us by art and nature, difficult as it may be. these verses are truly beautiful, with the exception of one fault that we often find in poets, which is, their being misled by fancy to believe that they really do see and hear _what they wish to see and hear_, and yet even this is far below their ideal. you may well believe that i wish to become acquainted with the poet or poetess; pray receive also yourself my thanks for the kindly feeling you show towards your sincere friend, l. v. beethoven. [footnote : nothing has hitherto been ascertained respecting either the date of this note, or the lady to whom it is addressed.] . to zmeskall.[ ] january , . what are you about? my gayety yesterday, though only assumed, has not only vexed but offended you. the _uninvited guests_ seemed so little to deserve your ill-humor, that i endeavored to use all my friendly influence to prevent your giving way to it, by my pretended flow of spirits. i am still suffering from indigestion. say whether you can meet me at the "swan" to-day. your true friend, beethoven. [footnote : the cause that gave rise to this note is not known.] . to wegeler. vienna, may , . my dear old friend,-- these lines may very possibly cause you some surprise, and yet, though you have no written proof of it, i always retain the most lively remembrance of you. among my mss. is one that has long been destined for you, and which you shall certainly receive this summer. for the last two years my secluded and quiet life has been at an end, and i have been forcibly drawn into the vortex of the world; though as yet i have attained no good result from this,--nay, perhaps rather the reverse,--but who has not been affected by the storms around us? still i should not only be happy, but the happiest of men, if a demon had not taken up his settled abode in my ears. had i not somewhere read that man must not voluntarily put an end to his life while he can still perform even one good deed, i should long since have been no more, and by my own hand too! ah! how fair is life; but for me it is forever poisoned! you will not refuse me one friendly service, which is to procure me my baptismal certificate. as steffen breuning has an account with you, he can pay any expenses you may incur, and i will repay him here. if you think it worth while to make the inquiry in person, and choose to make a journey from coblenz to bonn, you have only to charge it all to me. i must, however, warn you that i had an _elder brother_ whose name was also ludwig, with the second name of _maria_, who died. in order to know my precise age, the date of my birth must be first ascertained, this circumstance having already led others into error, and caused me to be thought older than i really am. unluckily, i lived for some time without myself knowing my age [see nos. and ]. i had a book containing all family incidents, but it has been lost, heaven knows how! so pardon my urgently requesting you to try to discover _ludwig maria's_ birth, as well as that of the present ludwig. the sooner you can send me the certificate of baptism the more obliged shall i be.[ ] i am told that you sing one of my songs in your freemason lodge, probably the one in e major, which i have not myself got; send it to me, and i promise to compensate you threefold and fourfold.[ ] think of me with kindness, little as i apparently deserve it. embrace your dear wife and children, and all whom you love, in the name of your friend, beethoven. [footnote : wegeler says:--"i discovered the solution of the enigma (why the baptismal certificate was so eagerly sought) from a letter written to me three months afterwards by my brother-in-law, stephan von breuning, in which he said: 'beethoven tells me at least once a week that he means to write to you; but i believe his _intended marriage is broken off_; he therefore feels no ardent inclination to thank you for having procured his baptismal certificate.'"] [footnote : beethoven was mistaken; wegeler had only supplied other music to the words of matthisson's _opfer lied_.] . to zmeskall. july , . dear z.,-- you are about to travel, and so am i on account of my health. in the mean time all goes topsy-turvy with me. the _herr_[ ] wants to have me with him, and art is not less urgent in her claims. i am partly in schönbrunn and partly here; every day assailed by messages from strangers and new acquaintances, and even as regards art i am often driven nearly distracted by my undeserved fame. fortune seeks me, and for that very reason i almost dread some new calamity. as for your "iphigénie," the facts are these. i have not seen it for the last two years and a half, and have no doubt lent it to some one; but to whom?--that is the question. i have sent in all directions, and have not yet discovered it, but hope still to find it. if lost, you shall be indemnified. farewell, my dear z. i trust that when we meet again you will find that my art has made some progress in the interim. ever remain my friend, as much as i am yours, beethoven. [footnote : the "herr" is his pupil, the archduke rudolph.] . to bettina brentano.[ ] vienna, august , . my dearest friend,-- never was there a lovelier spring than this year; i say so, and feel it too, because it was then i first knew you. you have yourself seen that in society i am like a fish on the sand, which writhes and writhes, but cannot get away till some benevolent galatea casts it back into the mighty ocean. i was indeed fairly stranded, dearest friend, when surprised by you at a moment in which moroseness had entirely mastered me; but how quickly it vanished at your aspect! i was at once conscious that you came from another sphere than this absurd world, where, with the best inclinations, i cannot open my ears. i am a wretched creature, and yet i complain of others!! you will forgive this from the goodness of heart that beams in your eyes, and the good sense manifested by your ears; at least they understand how to flatter, by the mode in which they listen. my ears are, alas! a partition-wall, through which i can with difficulty hold any intercourse with my fellow-creatures. otherwise, perhaps, i might have felt more assured with you; but i was only conscious of the full, intelligent glance from your eyes, which affected me so deeply that never can i forget it. my dear friend! dearest girl!--art! who comprehends it? with whom can i discuss this mighty goddess? how precious to me were the few days when we talked together, or, i should rather say, corresponded! i have carefully preserved the little notes with your clever, charming, most charming answers; so i have to thank my defective hearing for the greater part of our fugitive intercourse being written down. since you left this i have had some unhappy hours,--hours of the deepest gloom, when i could do nothing. i wandered for three hours in the schönbrunn allée after you left us, but no _angel_ met me there to take possession of me as you did. pray forgive, my dear friend, this deviation from the original key, but i must have such intervals as a relief to my heart. you have no doubt written to goethe about me? i would gladly bury my head in a sack, so that i might neither see nor hear what goes on in the world, because i shall meet you there no more; but i shall get a letter from you? hope sustains me, as it does half the world; through life she has been my close companion, or what would have become of me? i send you "kennst du das land," written with my own hand, as a remembrance of the hour when i first knew you; i send you also another that i composed since i bade you farewell, my dearest, fairest sweetheart! herz, mein herz, was soll das geben, was bedränget dich so sehr; welch ein neues fremdes leben, ich erkenne dich nicht mehr. now answer me, my dearest friend, and say what is to become of me since my heart has turned such a rebel. write to your most faithful friend, beethoven. [footnote : the celebrated letters to bettina are given here exactly as published in her book, _ilius pamphilius und die ambrosia_ (berlin, arnim, ) in two volumes. i never myself had any doubts of their being genuine (with the exception of perhaps some words in the middle of the third letter), nor can any one now distrust them, especially after the publication of _beethoven's letters_. but for the sake of those for whom the weight of innate conviction is not sufficient proof, i may here mention that in december, , professor moritz carrière, in munich, when conversing with me about _beethoven's letters_, expressly assured me that these three letters were genuine, and that he had seen them in berlin at bettina v. arnim's in , and read them most attentively and with the deepest interest. from their important contents, he urged their immediate publication; and when this shortly after ensued, no change whatever struck him as having been made in the original text; on the contrary, he still perfectly remembered that the much-disputed phraseology (and especially the incident with goethe) was precisely the same as in the originals. this testimony seems to me the more weighty, as m. carrière must not in such matters be looked on as a novice, but as a competent judge, who has carefully studied all that concerns our literary heroes, and who would not permit anything to be falsely imputed to beethoven any more than to goethe. beethoven's biography is, however, the proper place to discuss more closely such things, especially his character and his conduct in this particular case. at present we only refer in general terms to the first chapter of _beethoven's jugend_, which gives all the facts connected with these letters to bettina and the following ones--a characteristic likeness of beethoven thus impressed itself on the mind of the biographer, and was reproduced in a few bold outlines in his _biography_. these letters could not, however, possibly be given _in extenso_ in a general introduction to a comprehensive biography.] . to bettina brentano. vienna, feb. , . dear and beloved friend,-- i have now received two letters from you, while those to tonie show that you still remember me, and even too kindly. i carried your letter about with me the whole summer, and it often made me feel very happy; though i do not frequently write to you, and you never see me, still i write you letters by thousands in my thoughts. i can easily imagine what you feel at berlin in witnessing all the noxious frivolity of the world's rabble,[ ] even had you not written it to me yourself. such prating about art, and yet no results!!! the best description of this is to be found in schiller's poem "die flüsse," where the river spree is supposed to speak. you are going to be married, my dear friend, or are already so, and i have had no chance of seeing you even once previously. may all the felicity that marriage ever bestowed on husband and wife attend you both! what can i say to you of myself? i can only exclaim with johanna, "compassionate my fate!" if i am spared for some years to come, i will thank the omniscient, the omnipotent, for the boon, as i do for all other weal and woe. if you mention me when you write to goethe, strive to find words expressive of my deep reverence and admiration. i am about to write to him myself with regard to "egmont," for which i have written some music solely from my love for his poetry, which always delights me. who can be sufficiently grateful to a great poet,--the most precious jewel of a nation! now no more, my dear sweet friend! i only came home this morning at four o'clock from an orgy, where i laughed heartily, but to-day i feel as if i could weep as sadly; turbulent pleasures always violently recoil on my spirits. as for clemens [brentano, her brother], pray thank him for his complaisance; with regard to the cantata, the subject is not important enough for us here--it is very different in berlin; and as for my affection, the sister engrosses so large a share, that little remains for the brother. will he be content with this? now farewell, my dear, dear friend; i imprint a sorrowful kiss on your forehead, thus impressing my thoughts on it as with a seal. write soon, very soon, to your brother, beethoven. [footnote : an expression which, as well as many others, he no doubt borrowed from bettina, and introduced to please her.] . to zmeskall. . i am disposed to engage a man who has just offered me his services,--a music-copyist. his parents live in vienna, which might be convenient in many respects, but i first wish to speak to you about the terms; and as you are disengaged to-morrow, which i, _alas_! am every day, i beg you will take coffee with me in the afternoon, when we can discuss the matter, and then proceed from _words to deeds_. we have also the honor to inform you that we intend shortly to confer on you some of the decorations of the order of our household,--the first class for yourself, the others for any one you choose, except a priest. we shall expect your answer early to-morrow. we now present you with some blotches of ink. your beethoven. . to zmeskall. . most high-born of men!-- we beg you to confer some goose-quills on us; we will in return send you a whole bunch of the same sort, that you may not be obliged to pluck out your own. it is just possible that you may yet receive the grand cross of the order of the violoncello. we remain your gracious and most friendly of all friends, beethoven. . to the archduke rudolph.[ ] the spring of . your royal highness,-- as in spite of every effort i can find no copyist to write in my house, i send you my own manuscript; all you have to do is to desire schlemmer to get you an efficient copyist, who must, however, write out the trio in your palace, otherwise there would be no security against piracy. i am better, and hope to have the honor of waiting on you in the course of a few days, when we must strive to make up for lost time. i always feel anxious and uneasy when i do not attend your royal highness as often or as assiduously as i wish. it is certainly the truth when i say that the loss is mine, but i trust i shall not soon again be so unwell. be graciously pleased to remember me; the time may yet come when i shall be able to show you doubly and trebly that i deserve this more than ever. i am your royal highness's devoted servant, ludwig v. beethoven. [footnote : schlemmer was for many years beethoven's copyist.] . my dear friend,--[ ] i have taken this trouble only that i might figure correctly, and thus be able sometimes to lead others. as for mistakes, i scarcely ever required to have them pointed out to me, having had from my childhood such a quick perception, that i exercised it unconscious that it ought to be so, or in fact could be otherwise. [footnote : written on a sheet of music-paper (oblong folio) numbered , and evidently torn out of a large book. on the other side ( ) is written, in beethoven's hand, instructions on the use of the fourth in retardations, with five musical examples. the leaf is no doubt torn from one of the books that beethoven had compiled from various text-books, for the instruction of the archduke rudolph. i have therefore placed beethoven's remark here.] . to the dramatic poet treitschke. june , . dear treitschke,-- have you read the book, and may i venture to hope that you will be persuaded to undertake it? be so good as to give me an answer, as i am prevented going to you myself. if you have already read it, then send it back to me, that i may also look over it again before you begin to work at it. above all, if it be your good pleasure that i should soar to the skies on the wings of your poetry, i entreat you to effect this as soon as possible. your obedient servant, l. v. beethoven. . to zmeskall. sept. , . dear zmeskall,-- let the rehearsal stand over for the present. i must see my doctor again to-day, of whose bungling i begin to tire. thanks for your metronome; let us try whether we can measure time into eternity with it, for it is so _simple_ and _easily managed_ that there seems to be no impediment to this! in the mean time we will have a conference on the subject. the mathematical precision of clockwork is of course greater; yet formerly, in watching the little experiments you made in my presence, i thought there was something worthy of notice in your metronome, and i hope we shall soon succeed in _setting it thoroughly right_. ere long i hope to see you. your friend, beethoven. . to zmeskall. oct. , . i shall be at the "swan" to-day, and hope to meet you there _to a certainty_, but don't come too late. my foot is better; the author of so many poetical _feet_ promises the _head_ author a sound foot within a week's time. . to zmeskall. nov. , . we are deucedly obliged to you. we beg you to be careful not to lose your well-earned fame. you are exhorted to pursue the same course, and we remain once more your deucedly attached ludwig van beethoven. . to zmeskall. jan. , . i shall be at the "swan" to-day, dear z. i have, alas! _too much_ leisure, and you _none_! your beethoven. . to zmeskall.[ ] . confounded little quondam musical count! what the deuce has become of you? are you to be at the "swan" to-day? no? ... yes! see from this enclosure what i have done for hungary. when a german undertakes a thing, even without pledging his word, he acts very differently from one of those hungarian counts, such as b. [brunswick], who allowed me to travel by myself--from what paltry, miserable motive who can tell?--and kept me waiting, though he did not wait for me! my excellent little quondam musical count, i am now, as ever, your attached beethÖverl. return the enclosure, for we wish to bring it, and something else, pretty forcibly under the notice of the count. [footnote : the date of this and the following note is decided by the allusion to his compositions written for hungary (pesth). see the subsequent letter to varenna.] . to zmeskall. you are summoned to appear to-day at the "swan;" brunswick also comes. if you do not appear, you are henceforth excluded from all that concerns us. excuses _per excellentiam_ cannot be accepted. obedience is enjoined, knowing that we are acting for your benefit, and that our motive is to guard you against temptations and faithlessness _per excellentiam--dixi_. beethoven. . to zmeskall. dear zmeskall,-- the well-known watchmaker who lives close to the freiung is to call on you. i want a first-rate repeater, for which he asks forty ducats. as you like that kind of thing, i beg you will exert yourself on my behalf, and select a really good watch for me. with the most enthusiastic admiration for a man like yourself, who is soon to give me an opportunity of displaying in his favor my particular knowledge of horn-playing, i am your ludwig van beethoven. . to kammerprocurator varenna,--gratz.[ ] . if the wish to benefit the poor were not so evident in your letter, i should have felt not a little offended by your accompanying your request to me by the offer of payment. from my childhood, whenever my art could be serviceable to poor suffering humanity, i have never allowed any other motive to influence me, and never required anything beyond the heartfelt gratification that it always caused me. with this you will receive an oratorio--(a), the performance of which occupies half an evening, also an overture and a fantasia with chorus--(b). if in your benevolent institution you possess a _dépôt_ for such things, i beg you will deposit these three works there, as a mark of my sympathy for the destitute; to be considered as their property, and to be given at any concerts intended for their sole benefit. in addition to these, you will receive an introduction to the "ruins of athens," the score of which shall be written out for you as soon as possible. likewise a grand overture to "ungarn's erste wohlthäter" [hungary's first benefactors]. both form part of two works that i wrote for the hungarians at the opening of their new theatre [in pesth]. pray give me, however, your written assurance that these works shall not be performed elsewhere, as they are not published, nor likely to be so for some time to come. you shall receive the latter grand overture as soon as it is returned to me from hungary, which it will be in the course of a few days. the engraved fantasia with chorus could no doubt be executed by a lady, an amateur, mentioned to me here by professor schneller.[ ] the words after the chorus no. , in c major, were altered by the publishers, and are now quite contrary to the musical expression; those written in _pencil_, therefore, on the music must be sung. if you can make use of the oratorio, i can send you _all the parts written out_, so that the outlay may be less for the poor. write to me about this. your obedient ludwig van beethoven. [footnote : the correspondence with varenna, consisting of fourteen letters and four notes, was purchased some years ago by a collector of autographs in leipzig, and sold again by public auction, probably to different persons. it would be like pursuing leaves scattered by the wind to try to recover these letters. those here given have for the most part appeared in newspapers; i cannot, therefore, be responsible for the text, farther than their publication goes, which, however, has evidently been conducted by a clever hand. the date of the first letter is to be gleaned from the second, and we also learn from them that _the ruins of athens_ and _king stephen_ (or at all events the overture) were already finished in january, .] [footnote : this _dilettante_ was mdlle. marie koschak, subsequently the wife of dr. pachler, an advocate in gratz, from whom two letters are given by schindler of the dates of august th, , and november th, , in which she invites beethoven to visit her in gratz. schindler considers as applicable to this lady the words of a note in beethoven's writing of which he has given a fac-simile in his _biography_, i. ; the date or . they are as follows:--"love alone, yes! love alone can make your life happier. o god! grant that i may at last find her who can strengthen me in virtue, whom i can legitimately call my own. on july th, when she drove past me in baden, she seemed to gaze at me." this lady also plays a friendly part in franz schubert's _life_. see her _biography_ by dr. kreissle.] . to zmeskall. feb. , . by no means _extraordinary_, but _very ordinary_ mender of pens! whose talent has failed on this occasion (for those i send require to be fresh mended), when do you intend at last to cast off your fetters?--when? you never for a moment think of me; accursed to me is life amid this austrian barbarism. i shall go now chiefly to the "swan," as in other taverns i cannot defend myself against intrusion. farewell! that is, _fare as well_ as i wish you to do without your friend, beethoven. most wonderful of men! we beg that your servant will engage a person to fit up my apartment; as he is acquainted with the lodgings, he can fix the proper price at once. do this soon, you carnival scamp!!!!!!! the enclosed note is at least a week old. . to zmeskall. feb. , . most extraordinary and first and foremost man of the pendulum in the world, and without a lever too!!! i am much indebted to you for having imparted to me some share of your motive power. i wish to express my gratitude in person, and therefore invite you this morning to come to the "swan,"--a tavern, the name of which itself shows that it is a fitting place when such a subject is in question, yours ever, beethoven. . to varenna,--gratz. vienna, feb. , . herr rettich has already got the parts of the oratorio, and when you no longer require them i beg you will send them back to me. it is not probable that anything is wanting, but even in that case, as you have the score, you can easily remedy this. i only yesterday received the overtures from hungary, and shall have them copied and forwarded to you as soon as possible. i likewise send a march with a vocal chorus, also from the "ruins of athens." altogether you will now have sufficient to fill up the time. as these pieces are only in manuscript, i shall let you know at the time i send them what precautions i wish you to take with regard to the overtures and the march with chorus. as i do not publish any new work until a year after its composition, and, when i do so, am obliged invariably to give a written assurance to the publisher that no one is in possession of it, you can yourself perceive that i must carefully guard against any possible contingency or casualty as to these pieces. i must, however, assure you that i shall always be disposed to show the warmest zeal in aid of your charity, and i here pledge myself to send you every year works that exist solely in manuscript, or compositions written expressly for this charitable purpose. i beg you will also let me know what your future plans are with regard to your institution, that i may act accordingly. farewell! i remain, with the highest consideration, your obedient ludwig van beethoven. . to zmeskall.[ ] feb. , . dear z.,-- i only yesterday received the written information that the archduke pays his share in the new paper-money of the full value [_einlösungsschein_]. i beg you will write out for me, as nearly as you can, the substance of what you said on sunday, and which we thought it advisable to send to the other two. i am offered a certificate that the archduke is to pay in _einlösungsschein_, but i think this unnecessary, more especially as the people about court, in spite of all their apparent friendship for me, declare that my demands are _not just_!!!! o heaven! aid me in enduring this! i am no hercules, to help atlas in carrying the world, or to strive to do so in his place. it was only yesterday that i heard the particulars of the handsome manner in which baron von kraft had judged and spoken of me to zisius! but never mind, dear z.! my endurance of these shameful attacks cannot continue much longer; persecuted art will everywhere find an asylum--daedalus, though imprisoned in a labyrinth, found wings to carry him aloft. oh! i too shall find wings! yours ever, beethoven. if you have time, send me this morning the draft of the memorial;--probably for nothing, and to receive nothing! so much time is already lost, and only to be kept in suspense by civil words! [footnote : the finance patent appeared in austria in , by which the value of money was depreciated by a fifth. this also affected the salary that beethoven drew from the archduke rudolph, prince kinsky, and prince lobkowitz. the first of these gentlemen paid his full share in _einlösungsschein_. lobkowitz, at the request of beethoven, soon after did the same; with kinsky's share alone difficulties arose subsequently, owing to his death.] . to varenna. lent, . in spite of my anxiety to serve the cause of your charity, i have been quite unable to do so. i have no copyist of my own to write for me as formerly, and the limited time renders it impossible for me to do so myself; thus i am obliged to have recourse to strangers as copyists. one of these promised to write out the overtures, &c., &c., for you; but passion week intervening, when there are so many concerts, prevented his being able to keep his word, in spite of every effort on my part. even if the overtures and the march with chorus were transcribed, it would not be possible to send them by this post, and if we wait for the next, the music will arrive too late for easter sunday. let me know if there are any means you could adopt to gain a little more time, or any chance opportunity of sending these works to you, and i will do all that lies in my power to aid the cause of your charity. i am, with esteem, yours obediently, ludwig van beethoven. . to the archduke rudolph.[ ] . your imperial highness,-- i was much vexed not to receive y.i.h.'s message to come to you till very late yesterday evening--indeed nearly at eleven o'clock. contrary to my usual custom, i did not go home at all during the afternoon, the fine weather having tempted me to spend the whole afternoon in walking, and the evening at the banda, "auf der wieden," and thus i was not aware of your wish till i returned home. in the mean time, whenever y.i.h. desires it, i am ready at any hour or moment to place myself at your disposal. i therefore await your gracious commands. i am your imperial highness's most obedient ludwig van beethoven. [footnote : the date is marked on the sheet by another hand, and the close of the second note proves that it was at the commencement of this year.] . to the archduke rudolph. . your imperial highness,-- i was unable till to-day, when i leave my bed for the first time, to answer your gracious letter. it will be impossible for me to wait on you to-morrow, but perhaps the day after. i have suffered much during the last few days, and i may say two-fold from not being in a condition to devote a great part of my time to you, according to my heartfelt wish. i hope now, however, to have cleared off all scores for spring and summer (i mean as to health). i am your imperial highness's most obedient servant, ludwig van beethoven. . to varenna,--gratz. vienna, may , . sir,-- being still far from well, and much occupied, i have been unable to reply to your letters. how in the world did such an unfounded idea ever occur to you as that i was displeased? it would certainly have been better had you returned the music as soon as it had been performed; for at that period i could have produced it here, whereas now, unluckily, it comes too late; but i only say _unluckily_ because it prevents my being able to spare the worthy ladies the expenses of copying. at any other time i would on no account have allowed them to pay for writing out the works, but it so happens that at this moment i am visited with every kind of _contretemps_, so i cannot avoid doing so. possibly herr o., although with the best intentions, has delayed informing you of this, which obliged me to apply to him for repayment of the expenses of copying; perhaps, too, in my haste, i did not express myself distinctly. you can now, esteemed sir, have the overture and the chorus again if you require them. i feel convinced that in any event you will prevent my confidence being abused; in the mean time you may keep the overture on the conditions i have stated. if i find that i am able to pay for the copying, i will redeem it for my own use. the score of the oratorio is a gift, and also the overture to "egmont." keep the parts of the oratorio beside you till you can have it performed. select whatever you choose for the concert which i hear you now intend to give, and if you decide on the chorus and the overture, they shall be forwarded to you at once. for the future concert, for the benefit of the venerable ursulines, i promise you an entirely new symphony at all events, and perhaps also a work of some importance for voices, and as i have now a favorable opportunity, the copying shall not cost you a farthing. my joy would be beyond all bounds if the concert were to be successful, and i could spare you all expense;--at all events, take my good-will for granted. remember me to the admirable teachers of the children, and say to them that i shed tears of joy at the happy result of my poor good-will, and that so far as my humble capabilities can serve them, they shall always find in me the warmest sympathy. my cordial thanks for your invitation; i would fain become acquainted with the interesting scenery of styria, and possibly i may one day enjoy that pleasure. farewell! i heartily rejoice in having found in you a friend to the poor and needy, and am always yours to command. ludwig van beethoven, m.p. . to joseph freiherr von schweiger, chamberlain of the archduke rudolph.[ ] . the most insignificant of mortals has just been to wait on his gracious master, when he found everything closed; so he came here, where indeed all was _open_, but no one to be found except the trusty servant. i had a heavy packet of music with me, in order to ensure a good musical evening before we parted; but in vain. malfatti[ ] is resolved that i shall go to töplitz, which is anything but agreeable to me. as, however, i must obey, i hope at least that my gracious master will not enjoy himself quite so much without me. _o vanitas!_ for it is nothing else. before i set off for töplitz i will either go to baden to see you or write. farewell! pray present my homage to my gracious master, and continue your regard for your friend, [k.] beethoven. [footnote : the journey to töplitz took place in the year .] [footnote : a very celebrated physician in vienna at that time, consulted by beethoven.] . to varenna,--gratz. töplitz, july , . my thanks have been too long delayed for all the dainties which the worthy ladies sent for my enjoyment; being constantly ill in vienna, i was at last forced to take refuge here. however, better late than never; so i beg you will say all sorts of kind things in my name to the admirable ursuline ladies, though i did not deserve so much gratitude; indeed it is rather for me to thank him who enables me to render my art occasionally useful to others. when you next wish to make use of my poor abilities for the benefit of the venerable ladies, you have only to write to me. a new symphony is now ready for you, and as the archduke rudolph has had it copied out, it will cost you nothing. perhaps i may one of these days be able to send you something vocal. i only wish and hope that you will not ascribe my anxiety to serve these venerable ladies to a certain degree of vanity or desire for fame, as this would grieve me exceedingly. if these good ladies wish to do me any service in return, i beg they will include me with their pupils in their pious orisons. i remain, with esteem, your friend, ludwig van beethoven. i shall remain here for some weeks; so if there is any occasion to write, address to me here. . written in the album of the singer, mdme. auguste sebald. töplitz, august , . ludwig van beethoven, who even if you would, forget you never should. . to h.r. highness the archduke rudolph. franzensbrunn, aug. , . it was my bounden duty long ago to have recalled myself to y.r.h.'s recollection, but partly my occupations and the state of my health, as well as my own insignificance, made me reluctant to do so. i missed y.r.h. by one night only in prague; for when proceeding to pay my respects to you in the morning, i found you had set off the very night before. in töplitz i heard a military band four times a day,--the only musical report which i can give you. i was a great deal with goethe.[ ] my physician staudenheim, however, ordered me off to carlsbad,[ ] and from thence here, and probably i shall have to go back to töplitz from this. what flights! and yet it seems very doubtful whether any improvement in my condition has hitherto taken place. i receive the best accounts of y.r.h.'s health, and also of the persistent devotion you exhibit towards the musical muse. y.r.h. has no doubt heard of a concert that i gave for the benefit of the sufferers by fire in the stadt baden,[ ] assisted by herr polledro.[ ] the receipts were nearly florins w.w., and if i had not been restricted in my arrangements we might easily have taken florins. it was literally a _poor concert for the poor_. i could only find at the publisher's here some of my earlier sonatas with violin accompaniments, and as polledro had set his heart on these, i was obliged to content myself with playing an old sonata.[ ] the entire concert consisted of a trio, in which polledro played, my sonata with violin, then again something was played by polledro, and, lastly, i extemporized. meanwhile i do sincerely rejoice that by this means something has fallen to the share of the poor _badeners_. pray deign to accept my best wishes for your welfare, and my entreaty that you will sometimes think of me. [k.] [footnote : beethoven speaks very briefly of his meeting with goethe. goethe in his _tag- und jahrschriften_ of makes no allusion to beethoven during his stay at töplitz. it does not, therefore, appear that either of these master-minds found any particular pleasure in each other when they met personally. beethoven, indeed, dedicated to "the immortal goethe" ( ) his composition the _meeresstille und glückliche fahrt_, but only wrote once to him in to obtain a subscription from the grand duke of weimar for his grand mass, and received no answer from goethe. in the complete edition of goethe's works beethoven's name is only once mentioned by goethe, when he refers to his funeral obsequies.] [footnote : dr. staudenheim was, like malfatti, one of the most celebrated physicians in vienna. beethoven, too, was well acquainted with staudenheim, but in his regimen he neither followed the prescriptions of staudenheim nor of malfatti.] [footnote : the stadt baden, near vienna, had been visited on july th by a most destructive conflagration.] [footnote : giov. batt. polledro, kapellmeister in turin, born , travelled through germany as a violinist from to . he gave a concert in vienna in march, .] [footnote : the violin sonata with pianoforte was probably op. (composed in and published in , according to thayer, no. ), or one of his earlier compositions, op. , or , or .] . to bettina von arnim. töplitz, august , . my most dear kind friend,-- kings and princes can indeed create professors and privy-councillors, and confer titles and decorations, but they cannot make great men,--spirits that soar above the base turmoil of this world. there their powers fail, and this it is that forces them to respect us.[ ] when two persons like goethe and myself meet, these grandees cannot fail to perceive what such as we consider great. yesterday, on our way home, we met the whole imperial family; we saw them coming some way off, when goethe withdrew his arm from mine, in order to stand aside; and, say what i would, i could not prevail on him to make another step in advance. i pressed down my hat more firmly on my head, buttoned up my great-coat, and, crossing my arms behind me, i made my way through the thickest portion of the crowd. princes and courtiers formed a lane for me; archduke rudolph took off his hat, and the empress bowed to me first. these great ones of the earth _know me_. to my infinite amusement, i saw the procession defile past goethe, who stood aside with his hat off, bowing profoundly. i afterwards took him sharply to task for this; i gave him no quarter, and upbraided him with all his sins, especially towards you, my dear friend, as we had just been speaking of you. heavens! if i could have lived with you as _he_ did, believe me i should have produced far greater things. a musician is also a poet, he too can feel himself transported into a brighter world by a pair of fine eyes, where loftier spirits sport with him and impose heavy tasks on him. what thoughts rushed into my mind when i first saw you in the observatory during a refreshing may shower, so fertilizing to me also![ ] the most beautiful themes stole from your eyes into my heart, which shall yet enchant the world when beethoven no longer _directs_. if god vouchsafes to grant me a few more years of life, i must then see you once more, my dear, most dear friend, for the voice within, to which i always listen, demands this. spirits may love one another, and i shall ever woo yours. your approval is dearer to me than all else in the world. i told goethe my sentiments as to the influence praise has over men like us, and that we desire our equals to listen to us with their understanding. emotion suits women only; (forgive me!) music ought to strike fire from the soul of a man. ah! my dear girl, how long have our feelings been identical on all points!!! the sole real good is some bright kindly spirit to sympathize with us, whom we thoroughly comprehend, and from whom we need not hide our thoughts. _he who wishes to appear something, must in reality be something._ the world must acknowledge us, it is not always unjust; but for this i care not, having a higher purpose in view. i hope to get a letter from you in vienna; write to me soon and fully, for a week hence i shall be there. the court leaves this to-morrow, and to-day they have another performance. the empress has studied her part thoroughly. the emperor and the duke wished me to play some of my own music, but i refused, for they are both infatuated with _chinese porcelain_. a little indulgence is required, for reason seems to have lost its empire; but i do not choose to minister to such perverse folly--i will not be a party to such absurd doings to please those princes who are constantly guilty of eccentricities of this sort. adieu! adieu! dear one; your letter lay all night next my heart, and cheered me. musicians permit themselves great license. _heavens! how i love you!_ your most faithful friend and deaf brother, beethoven. [footnote : fräulein giannatasio del rio, in the journal she sent to the _grenz boten_ in , states that beethoven once declared, "it is very pleasant to associate with the great of the earth, but one must possess some quality which inspires them with respect."] [footnote : according to bettina (see _goethe's correspondence with a child_, ii. ), their first acquaintance was made in beethoven's apartments.] . to princess kinsky,--prague vienna, dec. , . your highness,-- the dreadful event which deprived you of your husband, prince von kinsky, snatching him from his father-land and from all those who love him,[ ] as well as from many whom he generously supported, filling every heart capable of appreciating goodness and greatness with the deepest sorrow, affected me also in the most profound and painful degree. the stern duty of self-interest compels me to lay before your highness a humble petition, the reasonable purport of which may, i hope, plead my excuse for intruding on your highness at a time when so many affairs of importance claim your attention. permit me to state the matter to your highness. y.h. is no doubt aware that when i received a summons to westphalia in the year , his highness prince von kinsky, your late husband, together with his i.h. archduke rudolph and h.h. the prince von lobkowitz, offered to settle on me for life an annual income of gulden, provided i declined the proposal in question, and determined to remain in austria. although this sum was by no means in proportion to that secured to me in westphalia, still my predilection for austria, as well as my sense of this most generous proposal, induced me to accept it without hesitation. the share contributed by h.h. prince kinsky consisted of florins, which i have received by quarterly instalments since from the prince's privy purse. though subsequent occurrences partially diminished this sum, i rested satisfied, till the appearance of the finance patent, reducing bank-notes into _einlösung schein_. i applied to h.i.h. the archduke rudolph to request that the portion of the annuity contributed by h.i.h. should in future be paid in _einlösung schein_. this was at once granted, and i received a written assurance to that effect from h.i.h. prince von lobkowitz agreed to the same with regard to his share,-- florins [see no. ]. h.h. prince von kinsky being at that time in prague, i addressed my respectful petition to him last may, through herr varnhagen von ense, an officer in the vogelsang regiment, that his highness's contribution to my salary-- florins--should be paid like the rest in _einlösung schein_. herr von varnhagen wrote as follows, and the original of the letter is still extant:-- "i had yesterday the desired interview with prince kinsky. with the highest praise of beethoven, he at once acceded to his demand, and is prepared to pay up the arrears, and also all future sums from the date of the _einlösung schein_, in that currency. the cashier here has received the necessary instructions, and beethoven can draw for the whole sum on his way through prague, or, if he prefers it, in vienna, as soon as the prince returns there. "prague, june , ." when passing through prague some weeks afterwards, i took the opportunity of waiting on the prince, and received from him the fullest confirmation of this promise. h.h. likewise assured me that he entirely admitted the propriety of my demand, and considered it quite reasonable. as i could not remain in prague till this affair was finally settled, h.h. was so kind as to make me a payment of sixty ducats on account, which, according to h.h.'s calculation, were good for florins vienna currency. the arrears were to be paid up on my return to vienna, and an order given to the cashier to pay my salary in future in _einlösung schein_. such was h.h.'s pleasure. my illness increasing in töplitz, i was obliged to remain there longer than i originally intended. in the month of september i therefore addressed to h.h., who was then in vienna, through one of my friends here, herr oliva, a written memorial, claiming his promise, when h.h. graciously repeated to this friend the assurance he had already given me, adding that in the course of a few days he would give the necessary instructions on the subject to his cashier. a short time afterwards he left vienna. when i arrived there, i inquired from the prince's secretary whether h.h. had given directions about my salary before leaving vienna, when, to my surprise, i was told that h.h. had done nothing in the matter. my title to the liquidation of my claim is proved by the testimony of the herren von varnhagen and oliva, to whom h.h. spoke on the subject, reiterating his consent. i feel convinced that the illustrious heirs and family of this prince will in the same spirit of benevolence and generosity strive to fulfil his intentions. i therefore confidently place in y.h.'s hands my respectful petition, viz., "to pay up the arrears of my salary in _einlösung schein_, and to instruct your cashier to transmit me the amount in future, in the same currency." relying on your sense of justice according me a favorable decision, i remain y.h.'s most obedient servant, ludwig van beethoven. [footnote : prince josef ferdinand kinsky, born december, , and killed by a fall from his horse, november , .] . to the archduke rudolph. .[ ] i have been far from well since last sunday, but have suffered more in mind than in body. i beg your forgiveness a thousand times for not having sooner sent my apologies; each day i had the strongest inclination to wait on you, but heaven knows that in spite of the best will that i always entertain for the best of masters i was unable to do so, distressing as it is to me not to have it in my power to sacrifice all to him for whom i cherish the highest esteem, love, and veneration. y.r.h. would perhaps act wisely in making a pause at present with the lobkowitz concerts; even the most brilliant talent may lose its effect by too great familiarity. [k.] [footnote : prince franz josef lobkowitz died december th, . his musical meetings were certainly continued till , or longer.] . to the archduke rudolph. .[ ] at early dawn to-morrow the copyist shall begin the last movement. as i am in the mean time writing several other works, i did not hurry myself much with this last movement merely for the sake of punctuality, especially as i must write this more deliberately, with a view to rode's[ ] playing; we like quick, full-toned passages in our _finales_, which do not suit r., and this rather cramps me. at all events, all is sure to go well next tuesday. i very much doubt whether i shall be able to present myself at y.r.h.'s on that evening, in spite of my zeal in your service; but to make up for this, i mean to come to you to-morrow forenoon and to-morrow afternoon, that i may entirely fulfil the wishes of my illustrious pupil. [k.] [footnote : . january-february.] [footnote : pierre rode, the violinist, arrived in vienna in january, , and gave a concert in the redoutensaal on february th, but did not give universal satisfaction (_a.m.z._, , p. ), and a second concert that he had projected does not appear to have taken place. he played in gratz on february th and th. it seems that rode was to play with beethoven at the archduke rudolph's, for which occasion beethoven prepared a composition for them both. was this the sonata for pianoforte and violin, op. , which he afterwards dedicated to the archduke? thayer states that it was written by beethoven in , and sold to the music-publisher steiner in vienna in april, . no other composition for the violin and pianoforte is so likely to be the one as this. it is, however, a mistake in the _bibliothèque universelle_, tome xxxvi. p. , to state that beethoven during rode's stay in vienna composed the "délicieuse romance" which was played with so much expression by de baillot on the violin. there are only two romances known for the violin by beethoven, the one in g major, op. , in the year , and the second in f major, op. , published in . (thayer, and .)] . to the archduke rudolph. . i had just gone out yesterday when your gracious letter reached me. as for my health, it is pretty much the same, particularly as moral causes affect it, which do not seem likely to be removed; particularly as i can have recourse to no one but myself for aid, and can find help in my own head alone; and more particularly still, because in these days neither words, nor honor, nor written pledges, seem binding on any one. as for my occupations, i have come to an end with some of them, and, even without your gracious invitation, i intended to appear at the usual hour to-day. with regard to rode [see no. ], i beg y.r.h. to be so good as to let me have the part by the bearer of this, and i will send it to him at once, with a polite note from me. _he certainly will not take amiss my sending him the part. oh! certainly not! would to heaven that i were obliged to ask his forgiveness on this account! for in that case things would really be in a better position._ is it your pleasure that i should come to you this evening at five o'clock as usual, or does y.r.h. desire another hour? i shall endeavor to arrange accordingly, and punctually to fulfil your wishes. [k.] . to princess kinsky. vienna, feb. , . your highness!-- you were so gracious as to declare with regard to the salary settled on me by your deceased husband, that you saw the propriety of my receiving it in vienna currency, but that the authority of the court of law which has assumed the guardianship of the estate must first be obtained. under the conviction that the authorities who represent their princely wards could not fail to be influenced by the same motives that actuated the late prince in his conduct towards me, i think i am justified in expecting the ratification of my claim from the aforesaid court, as i can prove, by the testimony of well-known, respectable, and upright men, the promise and intentions of h.h. in my behalf, which cannot fail to be binding on his heirs and children. if, therefore, the proofs submitted should even be found deficient in legal formality, i cannot doubt that this want will be supplied by the noble mode of thinking of this illustrious house, and by their own inclination to generous actions. possibly another question may at present arise from the condition of the inheritance, which is no doubt heavily burdened, both owing to the melancholy and sudden death of the late prince, and by the state of the times, which renders it equally just and indispensable to husband carefully all possible resources. on this account it is far from my wish to claim more than is absolutely necessary for my own livelihood, and grounded on the contract itself,--the legality of such a claim on the heirs of the late prince not being in any way disputed. i beg, then, that y.h. will be pleased to direct the arrears of my salary, due since the st september, , calculated in vienna currency, in accordance with the scale of the contract, making in w.w. florins kreuzers, to be paid, and _in the interim_, the question whether this salary ought to be paid in vienna currency can be deferred until the affairs are settled, when the subject is again brought before the trustees, and my claims admitted to be just by their consent and authority. the late prince having given me sixty ducats merely on account of my salary, which was to be paid by agreement in vienna currency, and as this agreement (as every intelligent man will inform y.h.) must be accepted to its full extent, or at all events not cause me loss, it follows as a matter of course that y.h. will not object to my considering the sixty ducats as only an instalment of the arrears due to me beyond the usual scale of payment, agreed to be paid in vienna currency, so that the amount must not be deducted from the sum still due to me. i feel sure that y.h.'s noble feelings will do justice to the equity of my proposal, and my wish to enter into every detail of this affair, so far as circumstances permit, and also my readiness to postpone my claims to suit your convenience. the same elevated sentiments which prompted you to fulfil the engagement entered into by the late prince, will also make y.h. apprehend the absolute necessity entailed on me by my position again to solicit immediate payment of the arrears of my salary, which are indispensable for my maintenance. anxiously hoping for a favorable answer to my petition, i have the honor to remain, with profound respect, y.r.h.'s obedient servant, ludwig van beethoven. . to princess kinsky. highly honored princess!-- as the prince's counsel declared that my claim could not be heard till the choice of a guardian had been made, and as i now hear that y.h. has been graciously pleased yourself to assume that office, but decline receiving any one, i present my humble petition in writing, requesting at the same time your early consideration; for you can easily understand that, relying on a thing as a certainty, it is painful to be so long deprived of it, especially as i am obliged entirely to support an unfortunate sickly brother and his whole family,[ ] which (not computing my own wants) has entirely exhausted my resources, having expected to provide for myself by the payment of my salary. you may perceive the justice of my claims from the fact of my faithfully naming the receipt of the sixty ducats, advanced to me by the late prince in prague, the prince's counsel himself declaring that i might have said nothing about this sum, the late prince not having mentioned it either to him or to his cashier. forgive my being obliged to intrude this affair on you, but necessity compels me to do so. some days hence i shall take the liberty of making inquiries on the subject from the prince's counsel, or from any one y.h. may appoint. i remain, most esteemed and illustrious princess, your devoted servant, ludwig van beethoven. [footnote : see a letter to ries, nov. d, :--"he was consumptive for some years, and, in order to make his life easier, i can safely compute what i gave him at , florins w.w."] . to zmeskall. dear z.,-- forward the accompanying letter to-day without fail to brunswick, that it may arrive as soon and as safely as possible. excuse the trouble i give you. i have been again applied to, to send some of my works to gratz, in styria, for a concert to be given in aid of the ursuline convent and its schools: last year they had very large receipts by this means. including this concert, and one i gave in carlsbad for the benefit of the sufferers from fire at baden, three concerts have been given by me, and through me, for benevolent purposes in one year; and yet if i ask a favor, people are as deaf as a post. your beethoven. i. letter to sclowonowitsch (maître des bureaux des postes) in cassel. i can no longer do without the books of tiedge and frau von der recke, as i am expected to give some opinion about them. . to herr joseph varenna,--gratz. my good sir,-- rode was not quite correct in all that he said of me; my health is not particularly good, and from no fault of my own,--my present condition being the most unfortunate of my life. but neither this nor anything in the world shall prevent me from assisting, so far as it lies in my power, the innocent and distressed ladies of your convent by my poor works. i therefore place at your disposal two new symphonies, a bass aria with chorus, and several minor choruses; if you desire again to perform "hungaria's benefactors," which you gave last year, it is also at your service. among the choruses you will find a "dervise chorus," a capital bait for a mixed public. in my opinion, your best plan would be to select a day when you could give the "mount of olives," which has been everywhere performed. this would occupy one half of the concert, and the other half might consist of a new symphony, the overtures, and various choruses, and likewise the above-named bass aria and chorus; thus the evening would not be devoid of variety. but you can settle all this more satisfactorily with the aid of your own musical authorities. i think i can guess what you mean about a gratuity for me from a _third person_. were i in the same position as formerly, i would at once say, "beethoven never accepts anything _where the benefit of humanity is concerned_;" but owing to my own too great benevolence i am reduced to a low ebb, the cause of which, however, does not put me to shame, being combined with other circumstances for which men devoid of honor and principle are alone to blame; so i do not hesitate to say that i would not refuse the contribution of the rich man to whom you allude.[ ] but there is no question here of any _claim_. if, however, the affair with the _third person_ comes to nothing, pray rest assured that i shall be equally disposed to confer the same benefit as last year on my friends the respected ursuline ladies, and shall at all times be ready to succor the poor and needy so long as i live. and now farewell! write soon, and i will zealously strive to make all necessary arrangements. my best wishes for the convent. i am, with esteem, your friend, ludwig van beethoven. [footnote : reichardt, on the st march, , writes in his _vertraute briefe_,--"beethoven, by 'a rich third person,' as the following letter proves, meant louis bonaparte, who, after abdicating the dutch throne, lived in gratz."] . to varenna. my excellent v. [varenna],-- i received your letter with much pleasure, but with much displeasure the florins allotted to me by our poor convent ladies; in the mean time i will apply part of this sum to pay the copyists--the surplus and the accounts for copying shall be sent to these good ladies. i never accept anything for such a purpose. i thought that perhaps the _third person_ to whom you alluded might be the ex-king of holland, in which case i should have had no scruples, under my present circumstances, in accepting a gratuity from him, who has no doubt taken enough from the dutch in a less legitimate way; but as it is, i must decline (though in all friendship) any renewal of this subject. let me know whether, were i to come myself to gratz, i could give a concert, and what the receipts would probably be; for vienna, alas! can no longer continue my place of abode. perhaps it is now too late? but any information from you on the point will be very welcome. the works are being copied, and you shall have them as soon as possible. you may do just what you please with the oratorio; where it will be of most use it will best fulfil my intentions. i am, with esteem, your obedient beethoven. p.s. say all that is kind from me to the worthy ursuline ladies. i rejoice in being able to serve them. . to zmeskall. confounded, invited guest! _domanowetz!_--not musical count, but gobbling count! dinner count! supper count! &c., &c. the quartet is to be tried over to-day at ten o'clock or half-past, at lobkowitz's.[ ] his highness, whose wits are generally astray, is not yet arrived; so pray join us, if you can escape from your chancery jailer. herzog is to see you to-day. he intends to take the post of my man-servant; you may agree to give him thirty florins, with his wife _obbligata_. firing, light, and morning livery found. i must have some one who knows how to cook, for if my food continues as bad as it now is, i shall always be ill. i dine at home to-day, because i get better wine. if you will only order what you like, i very much wish you to come to me. you shall have the wine _gratis_, and of far better quality than what you get at the scoundrelly "swan." your very insignificant beethoven. [footnote : reichardt, in his _vertraute briefe_, writes: "the beautiful quartets and evening concerts for the archduke rudolph still continue at prince von lobkowitz's, although the prince himself is about to join his battalion in bohemia." reichardt, vol. i. p. , calls lobkowitz "an indefatigable, insatiable, genuine enthusiast for art."] . to zmeskall. feb. , . i have been constantly indisposed, dear zmeskall, since i last saw you; in the mean time the servant who lived with you before your present one has applied for my situation. i do not recollect him, but he told me he had been with you, and that you had nothing to say against him, except that he did not dress your hair as you wished. i gave him earnest-money, though only a florin. supposing you have no other fault to find with the man (and if so i beg you will candidly mention it), i intend to engage him, for you know that it is no object with me to have my hair dressed; it would be more to the purpose if my finances could be dressed, or _re-dressed_. i hope to get an answer from you to day. if there is no one to open the door to your servant, let him leave the note in the entrance to the left, and should he find no one there either, he must give it to the porter's wife below stairs. may heaven prosper you in your musical undertakings! your beethoven, _miserabilis._ . to zmeskall. feb. , . let us leave things as they are for to-day, dear z., till we meet [and so on about the servant]. farewell! carefully guard the fortresses of the realm, which, as you know, are no longer virgins, and have already received many a shot. your friend, beethoven. . to zmeskall. most worthy counsellor, owner of mines and lord of fastnesses in burgundy and buda!-- be so good as to let me know how matters stand, as this afternoon at latest i shall take advantage of your reply to my question, by giving my servant warning for this day fortnight. his wages, &c., &c. [the rest relates to his servant.] . to zmeskall. april , . my dear zmeskall,-- i have been refused the university hall. i heard this two days since; but being indisposed yesterday i could not go to see you, nor can i to-day either. we have no resource now but the kärnthnerthor theatre, or the one "an der wien." i believe there will only be one concert. if both these fail, we must then have recourse to the augarten, in which case we ought certainly to give two concerts. reflect on this, my dear friend, and let me have your opinion. to-morrow the symphonies may perhaps be tried over at the archduke's if i am able to go out, of which i will apprise you. your friend, beethoven. . to zmeskall. april , . dear z.,-- all will go right, the archduke being resolved to take this prince _fizlypuzly_ roundly to task. let me know if you are to dine at the tavern to-day, or where? pray tell me if "sentivany" is properly spelt, as i wish to write to him at the same time about the chorus. we must also consult together what day to choose. by the by, be cautious not to mention the intercession of the archduke, for prince _fizlypuzly_ is not to be with him till sunday, and if that evil-minded creditor had any previous hint of the affair, he would still try to evade us. yours ever, beethoven. . to zmeskall. april , . lobkowitz will give me a day on the th of may, or after that period, which seems to me scarcely better than none at all; so i am almost disposed to give up all idea of a concert. but the almighty will no doubt prevent my being utterly ruined. yours, beethoven. . to the archduke rudolph. baden, may , . i have the honor to inform you of my arrival in baden, which is indeed still very empty of human beings, but with all the greater luxuriance and full lustre does nature shine in her enchanting loveliness. where i fail, or ever have failed, be graciously indulgent towards me, for so many trying occurrences, succeeding each other so closely, have really almost bewildered me; still i am convinced that the resplendent beauties of nature here, and the charming environs, will gradually restore my spirits, and a double share of tranquillity be my portion, as by my stay here i likewise fulfil the wishes of y.r.h. would that my desire soon to hear that y.r.h. is fully restored were equally fulfilled! this is indeed my warmest wish, and how much i grieve that i cannot at this moment contribute to your recovery by means of _my_ art! this is reserved for the goddess hygeia alone, and i, alas! am only a poor mortal, who commends himself to y.r.h., and sincerely hopes soon to be permitted to wait on you. [k.] . to the archduke rudolph. vienna, july , . from day to day i have been expecting to return to baden; in the mean time, the discords that detain me here may possibly be resolved by the end of the ensuing week. to me a residence in a town during the summer is misery, and when i also remember that i am thus prevented waiting on y.r.h., it is still more vexatious and annoying. it is, in fact, the lobkowitz and kinsky affairs that keep me here. instead of pondering over a number of bars, i am obliged constantly to reflect on the number of peregrinations i am forced to make; but for this, i could scarcely endure to the end. y.r.h. has no doubt heard of lobkowitz's misfortunes,[ ] which are much to be regretted; but after all, to be rich is no such great happiness! it is said that count fries alone paid gold ducats to duport, for which he had the security of the ancient lobkowitz house. the details are beyond all belief. i hear that count rasumowsky[ ] intends to go to baden, and to take his quartet with him, which is really very pretty, and i have no doubt that y.r.h. will be much pleased with it. i know no more charming enjoyment in the country than quartet music. i beg y.r.h. will accept my heartfelt wishes for your health, and also compassionate me for being obliged to pass my time here under such disagreeable circumstances. but i will strive to compensate twofold in baden for what you have lost. [k.] [footnote : prince lobkowitz's "misfortunes" probably refer to the great pecuniary difficulties which befell this music and pomp loving prince several years before his death. beethoven seems to have made various attempts to induce the prince to continue the payment of his share of the salary agreed on, though these efforts were long fruitless. the subject, however, appears to have been again renewed in , for on the th of march in this year beethoven writes to ries to say that his salary consists of florins e.s., and this sum he received till his death.] [footnote : those who played in count rasumowsky's quartets, to whom beethoven dedicated various compositions, were the _virtuosi_ schuppanzigh ( st), sina ( d violin), linke (violoncello), weiss (violin).] . to the archduke rudolph. .[ ] i beg to inquire whether, being in some degree restored, i am to wait on you this evening? i at the same time take the liberty to make a humble request. i was in hopes that by this time, at all events, my melancholy circumstances would have brightened, but all continues in its old state, so i must determine on giving two concerts.[ ] i find that i am compelled to give up my former resolution never to give any except for benevolent purposes; as self-maintenance demands that i should do so. the hall of the university would be the most advantageous and distinguished for my present object, and my humble request consists in entreating y.r.h. to be so gracious as to send a line to the present _rector magnificus_ of the university, through baron schweiger, which would certainly ensure my getting the hall. in the hope of a favorable answer, i remain, &c., &c. [k.] [footnote : late in the autumn of .] [footnote : the concerts here referred to were given in the university hall on the th and th december, , when the _battle of vittoria_ and the a major symphony were performed for the first time. beethoven himself conducted.] . to freiherr josef von schweiger. late in the autumn of . my dear friend,-- i have to-day applied (by letter) to my gracious master to interest himself in procuring the university hall for two concerts which i think of giving, and in fact must give, for all remains as it was. always considering you, both in good and evil fortune, my best friend, i suggested to the duke that you should apply in his name for this favor to the present rector of the university. whatever may be the result, let me know h.r.h.'s decision as soon as possible, that i may make further efforts to extricate myself from a position so detrimental to me and to my art. i am coming this evening to the archduke. your friend, beethoven. [k.] . to herr von baumeister.[ ] dear sir,-- i request you will send me the parts of the symphony in a, and likewise my score. his i.h. can have the ms. again, but i require it at present for the music in the augarten to-morrow. i have just received two tickets, which i send to you, and beg you will make use of them. i am, with esteem, yours, l. v. beethoven. [footnote : private secretary to the archduke rudolph.] . to zmeskall. oct. , . my dear good z.,-- don't be indignant with me for asking you to address the enclosed letter properly; the person for whom it is intended is constantly complaining that he gets no letters from me. yesterday i took one myself to the post-office, when i was asked where the letter was meant to go. i see, therefore, that my writing seems to be as little understood as myself. thence my request to you. your beethoven. . letter of thanks. i esteem it my duty to express my gratitude for the great zeal shown by all those artists who so kindly coöperated on the th and th december [ ] in the concerts given for the benefit of the austrian and bavarian soldiers wounded at the battle of hanau. it was a rare combination of eminent artists, where all were inspired by the wish to be of use to their father-land, and to contribute by the exercise of their talents to the fulfilment of the undertaking, while, regardless of all precedence, they gladly accepted subordinate places.[ ] while an artist like herr schuppanzigh was at the head of the first violins, and by his fiery and expressive mode of conducting kindled the zeal of the whole orchestra, herr kapellmeister salieri did not scruple to give the time to the drums and cannonades; herr spohr and herr mayseder, each worthy from his talents to fill the highest post, played in the second and third rank. herr siboni and herr giuliani also filled subordinate places. the conducting of the whole was only assigned to me from the music being my own composition; had it been that of any one else, i would willingly, like herr hummel, have taken my place at the big drum, as the only feeling that pervaded all our hearts was true love for our father-land, and the wish cheerfully to devote our powers to those who had sacrificed so much for us. particular thanks are due to herr maelzel, inasmuch as he first suggested the idea of this concert, and the most troublesome part of the enterprise, the requisite arrangements, management, and regulations, devolved on him. i more especially thank him for giving me an opportunity by this concert of fulfilling a wish i have long cherished, to compose for such a benevolent object (exclusive of the works already made over to him) a comprehensive work more adapted to the present times, to be laid on the altar of my father-land.[ ] as a notice is to be published of all those who assisted on this occasion, the public will be enabled to judge of the noble self-denial exercised by a mass of the greatest artists, working together with the same benevolent object in view. ludwig van beethoven. [footnote : the a major symphony and _wellington's victory at vittoria_ were performed.] [footnote : "obsolete" is written in pencil by beethoven.] . to the archduke rudolph.[ ] . i beg you will send me the score of the "final chorus"[ ] for half a day, as the theatrical score is so badly written. [k.] [footnote : the spring of .] [footnote : the _schlusschor_, the score of which beethoven requests the archduke to send him, is in all probability the finale _germania! germania!_ intended for treitschke's operetta _die gute nachricht_, which refers to the taking of paris by the allies, and was performed for the first time at vienna in the kärnthnerthor theatre on the th april, . the same _final chorus_ was substituted for another of beethoven's (_es ist vollbracht_) in treitschke's operetta _die ehrenpforten_, first given on the th july, , in the kärnthnerthor theatre. both these choruses are printed in score in breitkopf & härtel's edition of beethoven's works.] . to the archduke rudolph. . having only so recently received the score of the "final chorus," i must ask you to excuse your getting it back so late. the best thing h.r.h. can do is to have it transcribed, for in its present form the score is of no use. i would have brought it myself, but i have been laid up with a cold since last sunday, which is most severe, and obliges me to be very careful, being so much indisposed. i never feel greater satisfaction than when y.r.h. derives any pleasure through me. i hope very soon to be able to wait on you myself, and in the mean time i pray that you will keep me in remembrance. [k.] . to the archduke rudolph. . the song "germania" belongs to the whole world who sympathize with the subject, and to you beyond all others, just as i myself am wholly yours. i wish you a good journey to palermo. [k.] . to treitschke. march, . my dear, worthy t.,-- i have read with the greatest satisfaction your amendments of the opera ["fidelio" which was about to be again performed]. it has decided me once more to rebuild the desolate ruins of an ancient fortress. your friend, beethoven. . to treitschke. the affair of the opera is the most troublesome in the world, and there is scarcely one part of it which quite satisfies me now, and that i have not been obliged to _amend by something more satisfactory_. but what a difference between this, and giving one's self up to freely flowing thought and inspiration! . to treitschke. . i request, my dear t., that you will send me the score of the song [in "fidelio," _geld ist eine schöne sache_], that the interpolated notes may be transcribed in all the instrumental parts; though i shall not take it at all amiss if you prefer that girowetz or any other person, perhaps weinmüller [who sang the part of rocco], should do so. this i have nothing to say against, but i will not suffer my composition to be altered by any one whatever, be he who he may. i am, with high consideration, your obedient beethoven. . to count moritz lichnowsky.[ ] my dear count,-- if you wish to attend our council [about the alterations in "fidelio"], i beg to inform you that it assembles this afternoon at half-past three o'clock, in the spielmann haus, auf dem graben, no. , th etage, at herr weinmüller's. i shall be very glad if you have leisure to be present. [footnote : the mention of weinmüller decides the date of this note, as it was in the spring of that he, together with the singers saal and vogl, brought about the revival of _fidelio_.] . to count moritz lichnowsky.[ ] my dear, victorious, and yet sometimes nonplussed (?) count! i hope that you rested well, most precious and charming of all counts! oh! most beloved and unparalleled count! most fascinating and prodigious count! [music: treble clef, e-flat major, / time. graf graf graf graf (in -part harmony) graf (in -part counterpoint) graf graf graf, liebster graf, liebstes schaf, bester graf, bestes schaf! schaf! schaf!] (_to be repeated at pleasure_.) at what hour shall we call on walter to-day? my going or not depends entirely on you. your beethoven. [footnote : in schindler's _beethoven's nachlass_ there is also an autograph canon of beethoven's in f major, / , on count lichnowsky, on the words, _bester herr graf, sie sind ein schaf_, written (according to schindler) feb. th, , in the coffee-house "die goldne birne," in the landstrasse, where beethoven usually went every evening, though he generally slipped in by the backdoor.] . to the archduke rudolph. . i hope you forgive me for not having come to you. your displeasure would be totally undeserved, and i will amply compensate for lost time in a few days. my opera of "fidelio"[ ] is again to be performed, which gives me a great deal to do; moreover, though i look well, i am not so in reality. the arrangements for my second concert[ ] are partly completed. i must write something new for mdlle. milder.[ ] meanwhile it is a consolation to me to hear that y.r.h. is so much better. i hope i am not too sanguine in thinking that i shall soon be able to contribute towards this. i have taken the liberty to apprise my lord falstaff[ ] that he is ere long to have the honor of appearing before y.r.h. [k.] [footnote : letters and refer to the revival of the opera of _fidelio_, which had not been given since , and was not again produced on the stage till the d may, , in the kärnthnerthor theatre. beethoven's benefit took place on the th july, two newly composed pieces being inserted.] [footnote : beethoven gave a concert on the d january, , when _wellington's victory_ was performed, and on the th march another for the benefit of the theatrical fund, at which the _overture to egmont_ and _wellingtons's victory_ were given, directed by beethoven himself.] [footnote : anna milder, royal court opera singer, a pupil of vogl's, who first sang the part of leonore in _fidelio_.] [footnote : by "my lord falstaff" he means the corpulent violinist schuppanzigh.] . to the archduke rudolph. vienna, july , . whenever i inquire about you i hear nothing but good news. as for my own insignificant self, i have been hitherto hopelessly detained in vienna, and unable to approach y.r.h.; i am also thus deprived of the enjoyment of beautiful nature, so dear to me. the directors of the theatre are so _conscientious_, that, contrary to their faithful promise, they have again given my opera of "fidelio," without thinking of giving me any share in the receipts. they would have exhibited the same commendable good faith a second time, had i not been on the watch like a french custom-house officer of other days. at last, after a great many troublesome discussions, it was settled that the opera of "fidelio" should be given on monday the th of july, for my benefit. these _receipts_ at this season of the year may more properly be called _deceits_; but if a work is in any degree successful it often becomes a little feast for the author. to this feast the master invites his illustrious pupil, and hopes--yes! i hope that y.r.h. will graciously consent to come, and thus add lustre to everything by your presence. it would be a great boon if y.r.h. would endeavor to persuade the other members of the imperial family to be present at the representation of my opera, and i on my part will not fail to take the proper steps on the subject which duty commands. vogl's illness[ ] enabled me to satisfy my desire to give the part of pizarro to forti,[ ] his voice being better suited to it; but owing to this there are daily rehearsals, which cannot fail to have a favorable effect on the performance, but which render it impossible for me to wait upon y.r.h. before my benefit. pray give this letter your favorable consideration, and think graciously of me. [k.] [footnote : joh. mich. vogl, born august th, , was court opera singer (tenor) in vienna from to ; he died november th, .] [footnote : forti, born june th, , a member of the royal court theatre (a barytone), pensioned off in .] . deposition. . i voluntarily presented maelzel _gratis_ with a "battle symphony" for his panharmonica. after having kept it for some time, he brought me back the score, which he had already begun to engrave, saying that he wished it to be harmonized for a full orchestra. the idea of a battle had already occurred to me, which, however, could not be performed on his panharmonica. we agreed to select this and some more of my works [see no. ] to be given at the concert for the benefit of disabled soldiers. at that very time i became involved in the most frightful pecuniary difficulties. forsaken by every one in vienna, and in daily expectation of remittances, &c., maelzel offered me fifty gold ducats, which i accepted, saying that i would either repay them, or allow him to take the work to london, (provided i did not go there myself with him,) referring him to an english publisher for payment. i got back from him the score written for the panharmonica. the concerts then took place, and during that time herr maelzel's designs and character were first fully revealed. without my consent, he stated on the bills of the concert that the work was _his property_. indignant at this, i insisted on his destroying these bills. he then stated that i had given it to him as a friendly act, because he was going to london. to this i did not object, believing that i had reserved the right to state the conditions on which the work should be his own. i remember that when the bills were being printed, i violently opposed them, but the time was too short, as i was still writing the work. in all the fire of inspiration, and absorbed in my composition, i scarcely thought at all on the subject. immediately after the first concert in the university hall, i was told on all sides, and by people on whom i could rely, that maelzel had everywhere given out he had paid me gold ducats for the symphony. i sent what follows to a newspaper, but the editor would not insert it, as maelzel stands well with them all. as soon as the first concert was over, i repaid maelzel his fifty ducats, declaring that having discovered his real character, nothing should ever induce me to travel with him; justly indignant that, without consulting me, he had stated in the bills that all the arrangements for the concert were most defective. his own despicable want of patriotism too is proved by the following expressions: "i care nothing at all about l.; if it is only said in london that people have paid ten gulden for admission here, that is all i care about; the wounded are nothing to me." moreover, i told him that he might take the work to london on certain conditions, which i would inform him of. he then asserted that it was a _friendly gift_, and made use of this phrase in the newspapers after the second concert, without giving me the most remote hint on the subject. as maelzel is a rude, churlish man, entirely devoid of education or cultivation, it is easy to conceive the tenor of his conduct to me during this time, which still further irritated me. who could bear to be forced to bestow a _friendly gift_ on such a man? i was offered an opportunity to send the work to the prince regent, [afterwards george iv.] it was therefore quite impossible for me to _give away the work unconditionally_. he then called on a mutual friend to make proposals. he was told on what day to return for an answer, but he never appeared, set off on his travels, and performed the work in munich. how did he obtain it? he could not possibly _steal_ it; but herr maelzel had several of the parts for some days in his house, and he caused the entire work to be harmonized by some obscure musical journeyman, and is now hawking it about the world. herr maelzel promised me ear-trumpets. i harmonized the "battle symphony" for his panharmonica from a wish to keep him to his word. the ear-trumpets came at last, but were not of the service to me that i expected. for this slight trouble herr maelzel, after my having arranged the "battle symphony" for a full orchestra, and composed a battle-piece in addition, declared that i ought to have made over these works to him as _his own exclusive property_. even allowing that i am in some degree obliged to him for the ear-trumpets, this is entirely balanced by his having made at least gulden in munich by my mutilated or stolen battle-piece. he has therefore paid himself in full. he had actually the audacity to say here that he was in possession of the battle-piece; in fact he showed it, written out, to various persons. i did not believe this; and, in fact, with good reason, as the whole is not by me, but compiled by some one else. indeed the credit he assumes for the work should alone be sufficient compensation. the secretary at the war office made no allusion whatever to me, and yet every work performed at both concerts was of my composition. herr maelzel thinks fit to say that he has delayed his visit to london on account of the battle-piece, which is a mere subterfuge. he stayed to finish his patchwork, as the first attempt did not succeed. beethoven. . to herr j. kauka, doctor of laws in prague, in the kingdom of bohemia. the summer of . a thousand thanks, my esteemed kauka. at last i meet with a _legal representative_ and a _man_, who can both write and think without using unmeaning formulas. you can scarcely imagine how i long for the end of this affair, as it not only interferes with my domestic expenditure, but is injurious to me in various ways. you know yourself that a sensitive spirit ought not to be fettered by miserable anxieties, and much that might render my life happy is thus abstracted from it. even my inclination and the duty i assigned myself, to serve suffering humanity by means of my art, i have been obliged to limit, and must continue to do so.[ ] i write nothing about our monarchs and monarchies, for the newspapers give you every information on these subjects.[ ] the intellectual realm is the most precious in my eyes, and far above all temporal and spiritual monarchies. write to me, however, what you wish _for yourself_ from my poor musical capabilities, that i may, in so far as it lies in my power, supply something for your own musical sense and feeling. do you not require all the papers connected with the kinsky case? if so i will send them to you, as they contain most important testimony, which, indeed, i believe you read when with me. think of me and do not forget that you represent a disinterested artist in opposition to a niggardly family. how gladly do men withhold from the poor artist in one respect _what they pay him in another_, and there is no longer a zeus with whom an artist can invite himself to feast on ambrosia. strive, my dear friend, to accelerate the tardy steps of justice. whenever i feel myself elevated high, and in happy moments revel in my artistic sphere, circumstances drag me down again, and none more than these two lawsuits. you too have your disagreeable moments, though with the views and capabilities i know you to possess, especially in your profession, i could scarcely have believed this; still i must recall your attention to myself. i have drunk to the dregs a cup of bitter sorrow, and already earned martyrdom in art through my beloved artistic disciples and colleagues. i beg you will think of me every day, and imagine it to be an _entire world_, for it is really asking rather too much of you to think of so humble an _individual_ as myself. i am, with the highest esteem and friendship, your obedient ludwig van beethoven. [footnote : he supported a consumptive brother and his wife and child.] [footnote : at the vienna congress beethoven was received with much distinction by the potentates present.] . address and appeal to london artists by l. van beethoven. vienna, july , . herr maelzel, now in london, on his way thither performed my "battle symphony" and "wellington's battle of vittoria" in munich, and no doubt he intends to produce them at london concerts, as he wished to do in frankfort. this induces me to declare that i never in any way made over or transferred the said works to herr maelzel; that no one possesses a copy of them, and that the only one verified by me i sent to his royal highness the prince regent of england. the performance of these works, therefore, by herr maelzel is either an imposition on the public, as the above declaration proves that he does not possess them, or if he does, he has been guilty of a breach of faith towards me, inasmuch as he must have got them in a surreptitious manner. but even in the latter case the public will still be deluded, for the works that herr maelzel performs under the titles of "wellington's battle of vittoria" and "battle symphony" are beyond all doubt spurious and mutilated, as he never had any portion of either of these works of mine, except some of the parts for a few days. this suspicion becomes a certainty from the testimony of various artists here, whose names i am authorized to give if necessary. these gentlemen state that herr maelzel, before he left vienna, declared that he was in possession of these works, and showed various portions, which, however, as i have already proved, must be counterfeit. the question whether herr maelzel be capable of doing me such an injury is best solved by the following fact,--in the public papers he named himself as sole giver of the concert on behalf of our wounded soldiers, whereas my works alone were performed there, and yet he made no allusion whatsoever to me. i therefore appeal to the london musicians not to permit such a grievous wrong to be done to their fellow-artist by herr maelzel's performance of the "battle of vittoria" and the "battle symphony," and also to prevent the london public being so shamefully imposed upon. . to dr. kauka. vienna, august , . you have shown a feeling for harmony, and you can resolve a great discord in my life, which causes me much discomfort, into more pleasing melody, if you will. i shortly expect to hear something of what you understand is likely to happen, as i eagerly anticipate the result of this most _unjust_ affair with the kinskys. when the princess was here, she seemed to be well disposed towards me; still i do not know how it will end. in the mean time i must restrict myself in everything, and await with entire confidence what is _rightfully my own_ and _legally devolves on me_; and though unforeseen occurrences caused changes in this matter, still two witnesses recently bore testimony to the wish of the deceased prince that my appointed salary in _banco zettel_ should be paid in _einlösung schein_, making up the original sum, and the prince himself gave me sixty gold ducats _on account_ of my claim. should the affair turn out badly for me by the conduct of the kinsky family, i will publish it in every newspaper, to their disgrace. if there had been an heir, and the facts had been told to him _in all their truth_, just as i narrated them, i am convinced that he would at once have adopted the words and deeds of his predecessor. has dr. wolf [the previous advocate] shown you the papers, or shall i make you acquainted with them? as i am by no means sure that this letter will reach you safely, i defer sending you the pianoforte arrangement of my opera "fidelio," which is ready to be dispatched. i hope, in accordance with your usual friendliness, soon to hear from you. i am also writing to dr. wolf (who certainly does not treat any one _wolfishly_), in order not to arouse his _passion_, so that he may have _compassion_ on me, and neither take my purse nor my life. i am, with esteem, your true friend, ludwig van beethoven. . to count moritz lichnowsky. baden, sept. , .[ ] most esteemed count and friend,-- i unluckily only got your letter yesterday. a thousand thanks for your remembrance of me. pray express my gratitude also to your charming princess christiane [wife of prince carl lichnowsky]. i had a delightful walk yesterday with a friend in the brühl, and in the course of our friendly chat you were particularly mentioned, and lo! and behold! on my return i found your kind letter. i see you are resolved to continue to load me with benefits. as i am unwilling you should suppose that a step i have already taken is prompted by your recent favors, or by any motive of the sort, i must tell you that a sonata of mine [op. ] is about to appear, _dedicated to you_. i wished to give you a surprise, as this dedication has been long designed for you, but your letter of yesterday induces me to name the fact. i required no new motive thus publicly to testify my sense of your friendship and kindness. but as for anything approaching to a gift in return, you would only distress me, by thus totally misinterpreting my intentions, and i should at once decidedly refuse such a thing. i beg to kiss the hand of the princess for her kind message and all her goodness to me. _never have i forgotten what i owe to you all_, though an unfortunate combination of circumstances prevented my testifying this as i could have wished. from what you tell me about lord castlereagh, i think the matter in the best possible train. if i were to give an opinion on the subject, i should say that lord castlereagh ought to hear the work given here before writing to wellington. i shall soon be in vienna, when we can consult together about a grand concert. nothing is to be effected at court; i made the application, but--but-- [music: treble clef, c major, / time, adagio. al-lein al-lein al-lein] _silentium!!!_ farewell, my esteemed friend; pray continue to esteem me worthy of your friendship. yours, beethoven. a thousand compliments to the illustrious princess. [footnote : the date reversed, as written by beethoven, is here given.] . to the archduke rudolph. . i perceive that y.r.h. wishes to try the effect of my music even upon horses.[ ] we shall see whether its influence will cause the riders to throw some clever summersets. ha! ha! i can't help laughing at y.r.h. thinking of me on such an occasion; for which i shall remain so long as i live, &c., &c., &c. the horse-music that y.r.h. desires shall set off to you full gallop. [k.] [footnote : a tournament was held on the d november, , in the royal riding school. beethoven was probably requested by the archduke to compose some music for it, which, however, has not been traced.] . to the archduke rudolph. . it is impossible for me to-day to wait on you, much as i wish it. i am dispatching the work on wellington's victory[ ] to london. such matters have their appointed and fixed time, which cannot be delayed without final loss. to-morrow i hope to be able to call on y.r.h. [k.] [footnote : the cantata _der glorreiche augenblick_, the poetry by dr. alois weissenbach, set to music by beethoven for chorus and orchestra (op. ), was first given in vienna on the th november, , and repeated on the d december.] . to the archduke rudolph. (in a different hand) dec. . i really feel that i can never deserve your goodness towards me. i beg to offer my most respectful thanks for y.r.h.'s gracious intervention in my affairs at prague. i will punctually attend to the score of the cantata.[ ] i trust y.r.h. will forgive my not having yet been to see you. after the concert for the poor, comes one in the theatre, equally for the benefit of the _impresario in angustia_, for they have felt some just shame, and have let me off with one third and one half of the usual charges. i have now some fresh work on hand, and then there is a new opera to be begun,[ ] the subject of which i am about to decide on. moreover, i am again far from well, but a few days hence i will wait on y.r.h. if i could be of any service to y.r.h., the most eager and anxious wish of my life would be fulfilled. [k.] [footnote : what concert beethoven alludes to i cannot discover, but no mention of it being made in the very exact _allgemeine leipziger musikalische zeitung_, it appears not to have taken place.] [footnote : the new opera, with the subject of which beethoven was occupied, was no doubt treitschke's _romulus_.] . to the archduke rudolph. . my warmest thanks for your present.[ ] i only regret that you could not participate in the music. i have now the honor to send you the score of the cantata [see no. ]. y.r.h. can keep it for some days, and afterwards i shall take care that it is copied for you as soon as possible. i feel still quite exhausted from fatigue and worry, pleasure and delight!--all combined! i shall have the honor of waiting on you in the course of a few days. i hope to hear favorable accounts of y.r.h.'s health. how gladly would i sacrifice many nights, were it in my power to restore you entirely! [k.] [footnote : the present he refers to was probably for the concert of november th, or december d, .] . to the archduke rudolph. .[ ] i see with real pleasure that i may dismiss all fears for your well-being. as for myself, i hope (always feeling happy when able to give you any pleasure) that my health is also rapidly recruiting, when i intend forthwith to compensate both you and myself for the _pauses_ that have occurred. as for prince lobkowitz, his _pauses_ with me still continue, and i fear he will never again come in at the right place; and in prague (good heavens! with regard to prince kinsky's affair) they scarcely as yet know what a figured bass is, for they sing in slow, long-drawn choral notes; some of these sustained through sixteen bars |======|. as all these discords seem likely to be very slowly resolved, it is best to bring forward only those which we can ourselves resolve, and to give up the rest to inevitable fate. allow me once more to express my delight at the recovery of y.r.h. [k.] [footnote : or . prince lobkowitz was still alive at that time (died december st, ).] . to the archduke rudolph. . as you were so kind as to let me know through count troyer[ ] that you would write a few lines on my affairs in prague to the _oberstburggraf_ count kolowrat, i take the liberty to enclose my letter to count k.; i do not believe that it contains anything to which y.r.h. will take exception. there is no chance of my being allowed payment in _einlösung schein_, for, in spite of all the proofs, the guardians cannot be persuaded to consent to this; still it is to be hoped that by the friendly steps we have meanwhile had recourse to, _extra-judicially_, a more favorable result may be obtained,--as, for instance, the rate of the scale to be higher. if, however, y.r.h. will either write a few words yourself, or cause it to be done in your name, the affair will certainly be _much accelerated_, which induces me earnestly to entreat y.r.h. to perform your gracious promise to me. this affair has now gone on for three years, and is still--undecided. [k.] [footnote : count ferdinand troyer was one of the archduke's chamberlains.] . to the archduke rudolph. . i have again for a fortnight past been afflicted with severe headaches, though constantly hoping to get better, but in vain. now, however, that the weather is improved, my physician promises me a speedy cure. though as each day i expected to be the last of my suffering, i did not write to you on the subject; besides, i thought that y.r.h. probably did not require me, as it is so long since y.r.h. sent for me. during the festivities in honor of the princess of baden,[ ] and the injury to y.r.h.'s finger, i began to work very assiduously, and as the fruit of this, among others, is a new pianoforte trio.[ ] myself very much occupied, i had no idea that i had incurred the displeasure of y.r.h., though i now begin almost to think this to be the case. in the mean time i hope soon to be able to present myself before your tribunal. [k.] [footnote : the festivities in honor of the princess of baden were probably during the congress, .] [footnote : the new trio, if the one in b flat for the pianoforte, violin, and violoncello, op. , was first performed on the th april, , in the hall of the "komischer kaiser." letter also mentions this trio, composed in and published in july, .] . to the archduke rudolph. . i beg you will be so good as to let me have the trio in b flat with all the parts, and also both parts of the violin sonata in g,[ ] as i must have them written out for myself with all speed, not being able to hunt out my own scores among so many others. i hope that this detestable weather has had no bad effect on y.r.h.'s health; i must own that it rather deranges me. in three or four days at least i shall have the honor to restore both works to their proper place. do the musical pauses still continue? [k.] [footnote : the sonata for pianoforte and violin in g major, op. , was purchased by haslinger, april st, , and published the end of july, . it was composed in --perhaps in . thayer thinks in .] . to herr kauka. vienna, jan. , . my good, worthy k.,-- i received baron pasqualati's letter to-day, by which i perceive that you wish me to defer any fresh measures. in the mean time all the necessary papers are lodged with pasqualati; so be so good as to inform him that he must delay taking any further steps. to-morrow a council is to be held here, and you and p. shall learn the result probably to-morrow evening. meanwhile i wish you to look through the paper i sent to the court through pasqualati, and read the appendix carefully. you will then see that wolf and others have not given you correct information. one thing is certain, that there are sufficient proofs _for any one who wishes to be convinced_. how could it ever occur to me _to think of written legal testimony_ with such a man as kinsky, whose integrity and generosity were everywhere acknowledged? i remain, with the warmest affection and esteem, in haste, your friend, b. . to herr kauka. . my dear and esteemed k.,-- what can i think, or say, or feel? as for w. [wolf], it seems to me that he not only showed _his weak points_, but gave himself no trouble to conceal them. it is impossible that he can have drawn up his statement in accordance with all the actual evidence he had. the order on the treasury about the rate of exchange was given by kinsky previous to his consent to pay me my salary in _einlösung schein_, as the documents prove; indeed it is only necessary to examine the date to show this, so the first instruction is of importance. the _species facti_ prove that i was more than six months absent from vienna. as i was not anxious to get the money, i allowed the affair to stand over; so the prince thus forgot to recall his former order to the treasury, but that he neither forgot his promise to me, nor to varnhagen [an officer] in my behalf, is evident by the testimony of herr von oliva, to whom shortly before his departure from hence--and indeed into another world--he repeated his promise, making an appointment to see him when he should return to vienna, in order to arrange the matter with the treasury, which of course was prevented by his untimely death. the testimony of the officer varnhagen is accompanied by a document (he being at present with the russian army), in which he states that he is prepared to _take his oath_ on the affair. the evidence of herr oliva is also to the effect that he is willing to confirm his evidence by oath before the court. as i have sent away the testimony of col. count bentheim, i am not sure of its tenor, but i believe the count also says that he is prepared at any time to make an affidavit on the matter in court, and i am myself _ready to swear before the court_ that prince kinsky said to me in prague, "he thought it only fair to me that my salary should be paid in _einlösung schein_." these were his own words. he gave me himself sixty gold ducats in prague, on account (good for about florins), as, owing to my state of health, i could remain no longer, and set off for töplitz. the prince's word was _sacred_ in my eyes, never having heard anything of him to induce me either to bring two witnesses with me or to ask him for any written pledge. i see from all this that dr. wolf has miserably mismanaged the business, and has not made you sufficiently acquainted with the papers. now as to the step i have just taken. the archduke rudolph asked me some time since whether the kinsky affair was yet terminated, having probably heard something of it. i told him that it looked very bad, as i knew nothing, absolutely nothing, of the matter. he offered to write himself, but desired me to add a memorandum, and also to make him acquainted with all the papers connected with the kinsky case. after having informed himself on the affair, he wrote to the _oberstburggraf_, and enclosed my letter to him. the _oberstburggraf_ answered both the duke and myself immediately. in the letter to me he said "that i was to present a petition to the provincial court of justice in prague, along with all the proofs, whence it would be forwarded to him, and that he would do his utmost to further my cause." he also wrote in the most polite terms to the archduke; indeed, he expressly said "that he was thoroughly cognizant of the late prince kinsky's intentions with regard to me and this affair, and that i might present a petition," &c. the archduke instantly sent for me, and desired me to prepare the document and to show it to him; he also thought that i ought to solicit payment in _einlösung schein_, as there was ample proof, if not in strictly legal form, of the intentions of the prince, and no one could doubt that if he had survived he would have adhered to his promise. if he [the archduke] were this day the heir, _he would demand no other proofs than those already furnished_. i sent this paper to baron pasqualati, who is kindly to present it himself to the court. not till after the affair had gone so far did dr. adlersburg receive a letter from dr. wolf, in which he mentioned that he had made a claim for florins. as we have come so far as florins with the _oberstburggraf_, we may possibly get on to florins. i do not esteem this any _favor_, for the late prince was one of those who urged me most to refuse a salary of gold ducats per annum, offered to me from westphalia; and he said at the time "that he was resolved i should have no chance of eating hams in westphalia." another summons to naples somewhat later i equally declined, and i am entitled to demand a fair compensation for the loss i incurred. if the salary were to be paid in bank-notes, what should i get? not florins in _conventionsgeld_!!! in lieu of such a salary as ducats! there are ample proofs for those who wish to act justly; and what does the _einlösung schein_ now amount to??!!! it is even at this moment no equivalent for what i refused. this affair was pompously announced in all the newspapers while i was nearly reduced to beggary. the intentions of the prince are evident, and in my opinion the family are bound to act in accordance with them unless they wish to be disgraced. besides, the revenues have rather increased than diminished by the death of the prince; so there is no sufficient ground for curtailing my salary. i received your friendly letter yesterday, but am too weary at this moment to write all that i feel towards you. i can only commend my case to your sagacity. it appears that the _oberstburggraf_ is the chief person; so what he wrote to the archduke must be kept a profound secret, for it might not be advisable that any one should know of it but you and pasqualati. you have sufficient cause on looking through the papers to show how improperly dr. wolf has conducted the affair, and that another course of action is necessary. i rely on your friendship to act as you think best for my interests. rest assured of my warmest thanks, and pray excuse my writing more to-day, for a thing of this kind is very fatiguing,--more so than the greatest musical undertaking. my heart has found something for you to which yours will respond, and this you shall soon receive. do not forget me, poor tormented creature that i am! and _act for me_ and _effect for me_ all that is possible. with high esteem, your true friend, beethoven. . to herr kauka. vienna, jan. , . my good and worthy k.,-- the long letter i enclose was written when we were disposed to claim the florins. baron pasqualati's last letter, however, again made me waver, and dr. adlersburg advised me to adhere to the steps already taken; but as dr. wolf writes that he has offered in your name to accept florins a year, i beg you will at least make every effort to get that sum. for this purpose i send you the long letter written before we received baron p.'s dissuasive one, as you may discover in it many reasons for demanding _at least_ the florins. the archduke, too, has written a second time to the _oberstburggraf_, and we may conclude from his previous reply that he will certainly exert himself, and that we shall at all events succeed in getting the florins. farewell! i cannot write another syllable; such things exhaust me. may your friendship accelerate this affair!--if it ends badly, then i must leave vienna, because i could not possibly live on my income, for here things have come to such a pass that everything has risen to the highest price, and that price must be paid. the last two concerts i gave cost me florins, and had it not been for the empress's munificent present i should scarcely have derived any profit whatever. your faithful friend, beethoven. .[ ] to the honorable members of the landrecht. vienna, . gentlemen,-- quite ignorant of law proceedings, and believing that all claims on an inheritance could not fail to be liquidated, i sent to my lawyer in prague [dr. kauka] the contract signed by the archduke rudolph, prince lobkowitz, and prince von kinsky, in which these illustrious personages agreed to settle on me an annual allowance of florins. my constant efforts to obtain a settlement of my claim, and also, as i am bound to admit, my reproaches to dr. kauka for not conducting the affair properly (his application to the guardians having proved fruitless), no doubt prompted him to have recourse to law. none but those who are fully aware of my esteem for the deceased prince can tell how repugnant it is to my feelings to appear as a complainant against my benefactor. under these circumstances i have recourse to a shorter path, in the conviction that the guardians of the prince's estate will be disposed to mark their appreciation of art, and also their desire to fulfil the engagements of the late prince. according to the terms of the contract in question, the archduke rudolph, prince lobkowitz, and prince v. kinsky granted me these florins until i should obtain a situation of equal value; and further, if by misfortune or old age i was prevented exercising my art, these distinguished contracting parties secured this pension to me for life, while i, in return, pledged myself not to leave vienna. this promise was generous, and equally generous was its fulfilment, for no difficulty ever occurred, and i was in the peaceful enjoyment of my pension till the imperial finance patent appeared. the consequent alteration in the currency made no difference in the payments of the archduke rudolph, for i received his share in _einlösung schein_, as i had previously done in bank-notes, without any reference to the new scale. the late illustrious prince v. kinsky also at once assured me that his share ( florins) should also be paid in _einlösung schein_. as however, he omitted giving the order to his cashier, difficulties arose on the subject. although my circumstances are not brilliant, i would not have ventured to bring this claim before the notice of the guardians of the estate, if respectable, upright men had not received the same pledge from the late prince's own lips, namely, that he would pay my past as well as my future claims in vienna currency, which is proved by the papers b, c, d, appended to the pleas. under these circumstances i leave the guardians to judge whether, after so implicitly relying on the promise of the deceased prince, i have not cause to complain of my delicacy being wounded by the objection advanced by the curators to the witnesses, from their not having been present together at the time the promise was made, which is most distressing to my feelings. in order to extricate myself from this most disagreeable lawsuit, i take the liberty to give an assurance to the guardians that i am prepared, both as to the past and the future, to be satisfied with the florins, vienna currency; and i flatter myself that these gentlemen will admit that i on my part make thus no small sacrifice, as it was solely from my esteem for those illustrious princes that i selected vienna for my settled abode, at a time when the most advantageous offers were made to me elsewhere. i therefore request the court to submit this proposal to the guardians of the kinsky estates for their opinion, and to be so good as to inform me of the result. l. v. beethoven. [footnote : see no. . on the th january, , the court of justice at prague decreed that the trustees of prince kinsky's estate should pay to l. v. beethoven the sum of florins w.w. from november d, , instead of the original written agreement of florins. dr. constant, of wurzbach, in his _biographical austrian lexicon_, states that beethoven dedicated his splendid song _an die hoffnung_, op. , to princess kinsky, wife of prince ferdinand kinsky, who died in .] . to baron von pasqualati. january, . my esteemed friend,-- i beg you will kindly send me by the bearer the proper form for the kinsky receipt (_but sealed_) for florins half-yearly from the month of april. i intend to send the receipt forthwith to dr. kauka in prague,[ ] who on a former occasion procured the money for me so quickly. i will deduct your debt from this, but if it be possible to get the money here before the remittance arrives from prague, i will bring it at once to you myself. i remain, with the most profound esteem, your sincere friend, beethoven [footnote : this man, now ninety-four years of age and quite blind, was at that time beethoven's counsel in prague. pasqualati was that benefactor of beethoven's who always kept rooms for him in his house on the mölker bastei, and whose kind aid never deserted him to the close of his life.] . to herr kauka. vienna, feb. , . my much esteemed k.,-- i have repeatedly thanked you through baron pasqualati for your friendly exertions on my behalf, and i now beg to express one thousand thanks myself. the intervention of the archduke could not be very palatable to you, and perhaps has prejudiced you against me. you had already done all that was possible when the archduke interfered. if this had been the case sooner, and we had not employed that one-sided, or many-sided, or weak-sided dr. wolf, then, according to the assurances of the _oberstburggraf_ himself, the affair might have had a still more favorable result. i shall therefore ever and always be grateful to you for your services. the court now deduct the sixty ducats i mentioned of my own accord, and to which the late prince never alluded either to his treasurer or any one else. where truth could injure me it has been accepted, so why reject it when it could have benefited me? how unfair! baron pasqualati requires information from you on various points. i am again very tired to-day, having been obliged to discuss many things with poor p.; such matters exhaust me more than the greatest efforts in composition. it is a new field, the soil of which i ought not to be required to till. this painful business has cost me many tears and much sorrow. the time draws near when princess kinsky must be written to. now i must conclude. how rejoiced shall i be when i can write you the pure effusions of my heart once more; and this i mean to do as soon as i am extricated from all these troubles. pray accept again my heartfelt thanks for all that you have done for me, and continue your regard for your attached friend, beethoven. . to the archduke rudolph. . i heard yesterday, and it was indeed confirmed by meeting count troyer, that y.r.h. is now here. i therefore send the dedication of the trio [in b flat] to y.r.h., whose name is inscribed on it; but all my works on which i place any value, though the name does not appear, are equally designed for y.r.h. i trust, however, that you will not think i have a motive in saying this,--men of high rank being apt to suspect self-interest in such expressions,--and i mean on this occasion to risk the imputation so far as _appearances_ go, by at once asking a favor of y.r.h. my well-grounded reasons for so doing you will no doubt at once perceive, and graciously vouchsafe to grant my request. i have been very much indisposed in baden since the beginning of last october; indeed, from the th of october i have been entirely confined to my bed, or to my room, till about a week ago. i had a very serious inflammatory cold, and am still able to go out very little, which has also been the cause of my not writing to y.r.h. in kremsir. may all the blessings that heaven can shower upon earth attend you. [k.] second part. life's mission. to . part ii. . written in spohr's album.[ ] vienna, march , . [music: treble clef, f major, / time. kurz, kurz, kurz, kurz ist der schmerz, der schmerz, e-wig, e-wig ist die freu-de, ist die freu-de, ja die freu-de, e-wig ist die freu-de. kurz, kurz, kurz, kurz ist der schmerz, der schmerz, der schmerz, e-wig, e-wig ist die freu-de, ist die freu-de, e-wig ist die freude, e-wig, e-wig ist die freu-de. kurz, kurz, kurz, kurz ist der schmerz, der schmerz, der schmerz, e-wig, e-wig ist die freude, e-wig ist die freu-de.] whenever, dear spohr, you chance to find true art and true artists, may you kindly remember your friend, ludwig van beethoven. [footnote : from the fac-simile in spohr's _autobiography_, vol. i.] . to herr kauka. vienna, april , . it seems scarcely admissible to be on the friendly terms on which i consider myself with you, and yet to be on such unfriendly ones that we should live close to each other and never meet!!!!![ ] you write "_tout à vous_." oh! you humbug! said i. no! no! it is really too bad. i should like to thank you times for all your efforts on my behalf, and to reproach you , that you came and went as you did. so all is a delusion! friendship, kingdom, empire; all is only a vapor which every breeze wafts into a different form!! perhaps i may go to töplitz, but it is not certain. i might take advantage of that opportunity to let the people of prague hear something--what think you? if _indeed you still think of me at all_! as the affair with lobkowitz is now also come to a close, we may write _finis_, though it far from _fine is_ for me. baron pasqualati will no doubt soon call on you again; he also has taken much trouble on my account. yes, indeed! it is easy to talk of _justice_, but to obtain it from others is _no easy matter_. in what way can i be of service to you in my own art? say whether you prefer my celebrating the monologue of a fugitive king, or the perjury of a usurper--or the true friends, who, though near neighbors, never saw each other? in the hope of soon hearing from you--for being now so far asunder it is easier to hold intercourse than when nearer!--i remain, with highest esteem, your ever-devoted friend, ludwig van beethoven. [footnote : kauka evidently had been recently in vienna without visiting beethoven.] . to herr kauka. . my dear and worthy k.,-- i have just received from the syndic baier in r. the good news that you told him yourself about prince f.k. as for the rest, you shall be perfectly satisfied. i take the liberty to ask you again to look after my interests with the kinsky family, and i subjoin the necessary receipt for this purpose [see no. ]. perhaps some other way may be found, though it does not as yet occur to me, by means of which i need not importune you in future. on the th october [ ] i was attacked by an inflammatory cold, from the consequences of which i still suffer, and my art likewise; but it is to be hoped that i shall now gradually recover, and at all events be able once more to display the riches of my little realm of sweet sounds. yet i am very poor in all else--owing to the times? to poverty of spirit? or what???? farewell! everything around disposes us to _profound silence_; but this shall not be the case as to the bond of friendship and soul that unites us. i loudly proclaim myself, now as ever, your loving friend and admirer, beethoven. . to herr kauka. . my most worthy friend,-- my second letter follows that of yesterday, may d. pasqualati tells me to-day, after the lapse of a month and six days, that the house of ballabene is too _high and mighty_ to assist me in this matter. i must therefore appeal to your _insignificance_ (as i myself do not hesitate to be so mean as to serve other people). my house-rent amounts to florins, and must be paid out of the sum in question. as soon as the newly engraved pianoforte pieces appear, you shall receive copies, and also of the "battle," &c., &c. forgive me, forgive me, my generous friend; some other means must be found to forward this affair with due promptitude. in haste, your friend and admirer, beethoven. . to mr. salomon,--london.[ ] vienna, june , . my good fellow-countryman,-- i always hoped to meet you one day in london, but many obstacles have intervened to prevent the fulfilment of this wish, and as there seems now no chance of such a thing, i hope you will not refuse a request of mine, which is that you will be so obliging as to apply to some london publisher, and offer him the following works of mine. grand trio for piano, violin, and violoncello [op. ], ducats. pianoforte sonata, with violin accompaniment [op. ], ducats. grand symphony in a (one of my very best); a short symphony in f [the th]; quartet for two violins, viola, and violoncello in f minor [op. ]; grand opera in score, ducats. cantata with choruses and solos ["the glorious moment"], ducats. score of the "battle of vittoria" and "wellington's victory," ducats; also the pianoforte arrangement of the same, if not already published, which, i am told here, is the case. i have named the prices of some of these works, on a scale which i hold to be suitable for england, but i leave it to you to say what sum should be asked both for these and the others. i hear, indeed, that cramer [john, whose pianoforte-playing was highly estimated by beethoven] is also a publisher, but my scholar ries lately wrote to me that cramer not long since _publicly expressed his disapproval of my works_: i trust from no motive but that of _being of service to art_, and if so i have no right to object to his doing this. if, however, cramer should wish to possess any of my _pernicious_ works, i shall be as well satisfied with him as with any other publisher; but i reserve the right to give these works to be published here, so that they may appear at the same moment in london and vienna. perhaps you may also be able to point out to me in what way i can recover from the prince regent [afterwards george iv.] the expenses of transcribing the "battle symphony" on wellington's victory at vittoria, to be dedicated to him, for i have long ago given up all hope of receiving anything from that quarter. i have not even been deemed worthy of an answer, whether i am to be authorized to dedicate the work to the prince regent; and when at last i propose to publish it here, i am informed that it has already appeared in london. what a fatality for an author!!! while the english and german papers are filled with accounts of the success of the work, as performed at drury lane, and that theatre drawing great receipts from it, the author has not one friendly line to show, not even payment for the cost of copying the work, and is thus deprived of all profit.[ ] for if it be true that the pianoforte arrangement is soon to be published by a german publisher, copied from the london one, then i lose both my fame and my _honorarium_. the well-known generosity of your character leads me to hope that you will take some interest in the matter, and actively exert yourself on my behalf. the inferior paper-money of this country is now reduced to one fifth of its value, and i am paid according to this scale. after many struggles and considerable loss, i at length succeeded in obtaining the full value; but at this moment the old paper-money has again risen far beyond the fifth part, so that it is evident my salary becomes for the second time almost _nil_, and there is no hope of any compensation. my whole income is derived from my works. if i could rely on a good sale in england, it would doubtless be very beneficial to me. pray be assured of my boundless gratitude. i hope soon, very soon, to hear from you. i am, with esteem, your sincere friend, ludwig van beethoven. [footnote : j.p. salomon was likewise a native of bonn, and one of the most distinguished violin-players of his time. he had been kapellmeister to prince heinrich of prussia, and then went to london, where he was very active in the introduction of german music. it was through his agency that beethoven's connection with birchall, the music publisher, first commenced, to whom a number of his letters are addressed.] [footnote : undoubtedly the true reading of these last words, which in the copy before me are marked as "difficult to decipher."] . to the archduke rudolph. . pray forgive my asking y.r.h. to send me the two sonatas with violin _obbligato_[ ] which i caused to be transcribed for y.r.h. i require them only for a few days, when i will immediately return them. [k.] [footnote : if by the two sonatas for the pianoforte with violoncello _obbligato_, op. is meant, they were composed in july-august, , and appeared on jan. th, . the date of the letter appears also to be .] . to the archduke rudolph. . i beg you will kindly send me the sonata in e minor,[ ] as i wish to correct it. on monday i shall inquire for y.r.h. in person. _recent occurrences_[ ] render it indispensable to complete many works of mine about to be engraved as quickly as possible; besides, my health is only partially restored. i earnestly entreat y.r.h. to desire _some one_ to write me a few lines as to the state of your own health. i trust i shall hear a better--nay, the best report of it. [k.] [footnote : the letters and speak sometimes expressly of the pianoforte sonata in e minor, op. , these being engraved or under revision, and sometimes only indicate them. this sonata, dedicated to count lichnowsky, was composed on august th, , and published in june, .] [footnote : what "recent occurrences" beethoven alludes to, unless indeed his well-known misfortunes as to his salary and guardianship we cannot discover.] . to the archduke rudolph. . you must almost think my illness a mere fiction, but that is assuredly not the case. i am obliged always to come home early in the evening. the first time that y.r.h. was graciously pleased to send for me, i came home immediately afterwards, but feeling much better since then, i made an attempt the evening before last to stay out a little later. if y.r.h. does not countermand me, i intend to have the honor of waiting on you this evening at five o'clock. i will bring the new sonata with me, merely for to-day, for it is so soon to be engraved that it is not worth while to have it written out. [k.] . to the archduke rudolph. . i intended to have given you this letter myself, but my personal attendance might possibly be an intrusion; so i take the liberty once more to urge on y.r.h. the request it contains. i should also be glad if y.r.h. would send me back my last ms. sonata, for as i _must_ publish it, it would be labor lost to have it transcribed, and i shall soon have the pleasure of presenting it to you engraved. i will call again in a few days. i trust these joyous times may have a happy influence on your precious health. [k.] . to the archduke rudolph. vienna, july , . when you were recently in town, the enclosed chorus[ ] occurred to me. i hurried home to write it down, but was detained longer in doing so than i at first expected, and thus, to my great sorrow, i missed y.r.h. the bad custom i have followed from childhood, instantly to write down my first thoughts, otherwise they not unfrequently go astray, has been an injury to me on this occasion. i therefore send y.r.h. my impeachment and my justification, and trust i may find grace in your eyes. i hope soon to present myself before y.r.h., and to inquire after a health so precious to us all. [k.] [footnote : in the chorus of _die meeresstille_ was composed by beethoven. was this the chorus which occurred to him? the style of the letter leaves his meaning quite obscure.] . to the archduke rudolph. . it is neither presumption, nor the pretension of advocating any one's cause, still less from the wish of arrogating to myself the enjoyment of any especial favor with y.r.h., that induces me to make a suggestion which is in itself very simple. old kraft[ ] was with me yesterday; he wished to know if it were possible for him to be lodged in your palace, in return for which he would be at y.r.h.'s service as often as you please it. he has lived for twenty years in the house of prince lobkowitz, and during a great part of that time he received no salary; he is now obliged to vacate his rooms without receiving any compensation whatever. the position of the poor deserving old man is hard, and i should have considered myself equally hard, had i not ventured to lay his case before you. count troyer will request an answer from y.r.h. as the object in view is to brighten the lot of a fellow-creature, pray forgive your, &c., &c. [k.] [footnote : old kraft was a clever violoncello-player who had an appointment in prince lobkowitz's band, but when the financial crisis occurred in the prince's affairs he lost his situation, and was obliged to give up his lodging.] . written in english to mr. birchall, music publisher, london. mr. beethoven send word to mr. birchall that it is severall days past that he has sent for london wellington's battel sinphonie and that mr. b[irchall] may send for it at thomas coutts. mr. beethoven wish mr. b. would make ingrave the sayd sinphonie so soon as possible and send him word in time the day it will be published that he may prevend in time the publisher in vienna. in regard the . sonata which mr. birchall receive afterwerths there is not wanted such a g't hurry and mr. b. will take the liberty to fixe the day when the are to be published. mr. b[irchall] sayd that mr. salomon has a good many tings to say concerning the synphonie in g [? a]. mr. b[eethoven] wish for a answer so soon as possible concerning the days of the publication. . to zmeskall. october , . i only wish to let you know that i am _here_, and not _elsewhere_, and wish in return to hear if you are _elsewhere_ or _here_. i should be glad to speak to you for a few minutes when i know that you are at home and alone. _farewell_--but not _too well_--sublime commandant pacha of various mouldering fortresses!!! in haste, your friend, beethoven. . to the archduke rudolph. nov. , . since yesterday afternoon i have been lying in a state of exhaustion, owing to my great distress of mind caused by the sudden death of my unhappy brother. it was impossible for me to send an answer to y.r.h. yesterday, and i trust you will graciously receive my present explanation. i expect, however, certainly to wait on y.r.h. to-morrow. [k.] . to the messrs. birchall,--london. vienna, nov. , . you will herewith receive the pianoforte arrangement of the symphony in a. "wellington's battle symphony," and "victory at vittoria" were sent a month since, through herr neumann, to the care of messrs. coutts; so you have no doubt received them long ere this. in the course of a fortnight you shall have the trio and sonata, when you are requested to pay into the hands of messrs. coutts the sum of gold ducats. i beg you will make no delay in bringing out these works, and likewise let me know on what day the "wellington symphony" is to appear, so that i may take my measures here accordingly. i am, with esteem, your obedient ludwig van beethoven. . to ries. vienna, wednesday, nov. , . my dear ries,-- i hasten to apprise you that i have to-day forwarded by post the pianoforte arrangement of the symphony in a, to the care of messrs coutts. as the court is absent, few, indeed almost no couriers go from here; moreover, the post is the safest way. the symphony ought to be brought out about march; the precise day i will fix myself. so much time has already been lost on this occasion that i could not give an earlier notice of the period of publication. the trio in [??] and the violin sonata may be allowed more time, and both will be in london a few weeks hence. i earnestly entreat you, dear ries, to take charge of these matters, and also to see that i get the money; i require it, and it costs me a good deal before all is sent off. i have lost florins of my yearly salary; at the time of the _bank-notes_ there was no loss, but then came the _einlösungsscheine_ [reduced paper-money], which deprives me of these florins, after entailing on me several years of annoyance, and now the total loss of my salary. we are at present arrived at a point when the _einlösungsscheine_ are even lower than the _bank-notes_ ever were. i pay florins for house-rent: you may thus conceive all the misery caused by paper-money. my poor unhappy brother [carl v. beethoven, a cashier in vienna] is just dead [nov. th, ]; he had a bad wife. for some years past he has been suffering from consumption, and from my wish to make his life less irksome i may compute what i gave him at , florins (_wiener währung_). this indeed does not seem much to an englishman, but it is a great deal for a poor german, or rather austrian. the unhappy man was latterly much changed, and i must say i lament him from my heart, though i rejoice to think i left nothing undone that could contribute to his comfort. tell mr. birchall that he is to repay the postage of my letters to you and mr. salomon, and also yours to me; he may deduct this from the sum he owes me; i am anxious that those who work for me should lose as little as possible by it. "wellington's victory at vittoria"[ ] must have arrived long ago through the messrs. coutts. mr. birchall need not send payment till he is in possession of all the works; only do not delay letting me know when the day is fixed for the publication of the pianoforte arrangement. for to-day, i only further earnestly recommend my affairs to your care; i shall be equally at your service at any time. farewell, dear ries. your friend, beethoven. [footnote : "this is also to be the title of the pianoforte arrangement." (note by beethoven.)] . to zmeskall. jan. . my good zmeskall,-- i was shocked to discover to-day that i had omitted replying to a proposal from the "society of friends to music in the austrian states" to write an oratorio for them. the death of my brother two months ago, which, owing to the guardianship of my nephew having devolved on me, has involved me in all sorts of annoyances and perplexities, has caused this delay in my answer. in the mean time, the poem of herr van seyfried is already begun, and i purpose shortly to set it to music. i need not tell you how very flattering i consider such a commission, for how could i think otherwise? and i shall endeavor to acquit myself as honorably as my poor talents will admit of. _with regard to our artistic resources_, when the time for the performance arrives i shall certainly take into consideration those usually at our disposal, without, however, strictly limiting myself to them. i hope i have made myself clearly understood on this point. as i am urged to say what gratuity i require in return, i beg to know whether the society will consider gold ducats a proper remuneration for such a work? i once more entreat the forgiveness of the society for the delay in my answer, but i am in some degree relieved by knowing that, at all events, you, my dear friend, have already verbally apprised the society of my readiness to write a work of the kind.[ ] ever, my worthy z., your beethoven. [footnote : in the _fischof'sche handschrift_ we are told:--"the allusion to 'our artistic resources' requires some explanation. herr v. zmeskall had at that time received instructions to give a hint to the great composer (who paid little regard to the difficulty of executing his works) that he must absolutely take into consideration the size of the orchestra, which at grand concerts amounted to performers. the society only stipulated for the exclusive right to the work for one year, and did not purchase the copyright; they undertook the gratuity for the poem also, so they were obliged to consult their pecuniary resources, and informed the composer that they were prepared to give him gold ducats for the use of the work for a year, as they had proposed. beethoven was quite satisfied, and made no objection whatever; he received an advance on this sum according to his own wish, the receipt of which he acknowledged in . beethoven rejected the first poem selected, and desired to have another. the society left his choice quite free. herr bernhard undertook to supply a new one. beethoven and he consulted together in choosing the subject, but herr bernhard, overburdened by other business, could only send the poem bit by bit. beethoven, however, would not begin till the whole was in his hands."] . to mdlle. milder-hauptmann.[ ] vienna, jan. , . my highly valued mdlle. milder, my dear friend,-- i have too long delayed writing to you. how gladly would i personally participate in the enthusiasm you excite at berlin in "fidelio!" a thousand thanks on my part for having so faithfully adhered to _my_ "fidelio." if you will ask baron de la motte-fouqué, in my name, to discover a good subject for an opera, and one suitable likewise to yourself, you will do a real service both to me and to the german stage; it is also my wish to write it expressly for the _berlin theatre_, as no new opera can ever succeed in being properly given here under this very penurious direction. answer me soon, very soon--quickly, very quickly--as quickly as possible--as quick as lightning--and say whether such a thing is practicable. herr kapellmeister b. praised you up to the skies to me, and he is right; well may he esteem himself happy who has the privilege of enjoying your muse, your genius, and all your splendid endowments and talents;--it is thus i feel. be this as it may, those around can only call themselves your fellow-creatures [nebenmann], whereas i alone have a right to claim the honored name of captain [_hauptmann_]. in my secret heart, your true friend and admirer, beethoven. my poor unfortunate brother is dead, which has been the cause of my long silence. as soon as you have replied to this letter, i will write myself to baron de la motte-fouqué. no doubt your influence in berlin will easily obtain for me a commission to write a grand opera (in which you shall be especially studied) on favorable terms; but do answer me soon, that i may arrange my other occupations accordingly. [music: tenor clef, c major, / time. ich küs-se sie, drü-cke sie an's herz! ich der haupt-mann, der haupt-mann.] away with all other false _hauptmänner_! [captains.] [footnote : mdlle. milder married hauptmann, a jeweller in munich, in , travelled in , and was engaged at berlin in .] . to ries vienna, jan. , . dear ries,-- the symphony is to be dedicated to the empress of russia. the pianoforte score of the symphony in a must not, however, appear before june, for the publisher here cannot be ready sooner. pray, dear ries, inform mr. birchall of this at once. the sonata with violin accompaniment, which will be sent from here by the next post, can likewise be published in london in may, but the trio at a later date (it follows by the next post); i will myself name the time for its publication. and now, dear ries, pray receive my heartfelt thanks for your kindness, and especially for the corrections of the proofs. may heaven bless you more and more, and promote your progress, in which i take the most sincere interest. my kind regards to your wife. now as ever, your sincere friend, ludwig van beethoven. . to mr. birchall,--london. vienne, le . febr. den vous receues ci joint-- le grand trio p. pf. v. et vllo. sonata pour pf. et violin--qui form le reste de ce qu'il vous a plus à me comettre. je vous prie de vouloir payer la some de ducats d'holland come le poste lettre a mr. th. cutts et co. de votre ville e de me croire avec toute l'estime et consideration votre tres humble serviteur, louis van beethoven. . to czerny.[ ] my dear czerny,-- pray give the enclosed to your parents for the dinners the boy had recently at your house; i positively will not accept these _gratis_. moreover, i am very far from wishing that your lessons should remain without remuneration,--even those already given must be reckoned up and paid for; only i beg you to have a little patience for a time, as nothing can be _demanded_ from the widow, and i had and still have heavy expenses to defray;--but i _borrow_ from you for the moment only. the boy is to be with you to-day, and i shall come later. your friend, beethoven. [footnote : carl czerny, the celebrated pianist and composer, for whom beethoven wrote a testimonial in (see no. ). he gave lessons to beethoven's nephew in , and naturally protested against any payment, which gave rise to the expressions on the subject in many of his notes to czerny, of which there appear to be a great number.] . to czerny.[ ] vienna, feb. , . dear czerny,-- i cannot see you to-day, but i will call to-morrow being desirous to talk to you. i spoke out so bluntly yesterday that i much regretted it afterwards. but you must forgive this on the part of an author, who would have preferred hearing his work as he wrote it, however charmingly you played it. i will, however, _amply_ atone for this by the violoncello sonata.[ ] rest assured that i cherish the greatest regard for you as an artist, and i shall always endeavor to prove this. your true friend, beethoven. [footnote : czerny, in the _a.m. zeitung_, , relates:--"on one occasion (in ), at schuppanzigh's concert, when playing beethoven's quintet with wind-instruments, i took the liberty, in my youthful levity, to make many alterations,--such as introducing difficulties into the passages, making use of the upper octaves, &c., &c. beethoven sternly and deservedly reproached me for this, in the presence of schuppanzigh, linke, and the other performers."] [footnote : opera , which czerny (see _a.m. zeitung_) was to perform with linke the following week.] . to ries,--london. vienna, feb. , . ... for some time past i have been far from well; the loss of my brother affected both my spirits and my works. salomon's death grieves me much, as he was an excellent man whom i have known from my childhood. you are his executor by will, while i am the guardian of my late poor brother's child. you can scarcely have had as much vexation from salomon's death as i have had from that of my brother!--but i have the sweet consolation of having rescued a poor innocent child from the hands of an unworthy mother. farewell, dear ries; if i can in any way serve you, look on me as your true friend, beethoven. . to giannatasio del rio,--vienna. feb. . sir,-- i have great pleasure in saying that at last i intend to-morrow to place under your care the dear pledge intrusted to me. but i must impress on you not to permit any influence on the mother's part to decide when and where she is to see her son. we can, however, discuss all this more minutely to-morrow.... you must keep a watchful eye on your servant, for mine was _bribed by her_ on one occasion. more as to this verbally, though it is a subject on which i would fain be silent; but the future welfare of the youth you are to train renders this unpleasant communication necessary. i remain, with esteem, your faithful servant and friend, beethoven. . to g. del rio. . your estimable lady, mdme. a.g. [giannatasio] is politely requested to let the undersigned know as soon as possible (that i may not be obliged to keep it all in my head) how many pairs of stockings, trousers, shoes, and drawers are required, and how many yards of kerseymere to make a pair of black trousers for my tall nephew; and for the sake of the "castalian spring" i beg, without any further reminders on my part, that i may receive an answer to this. as for the lady abbess [a nickname for their only daughter], there shall be a conference held on carl's affair to-night, viz., if things are to continue as they are. your well (and ill) born beethoven. . to g. del rio. . i heard yesterday evening, unluckily at too late an hour, that you had something to give me; had it not been for this, i would have called on you. i beg, however, that you will send it, as i have no doubt it is a letter for me from the "queen of the night."[ ] although you gave me permission to fetch carl twice already, i must ask you to let him come to me when i send for him at eleven o'clock to-morrow, as i wish to take him with me to hear some interesting music. it is also my intention to make him play to me to-morrow, as it is now some time since i heard him. i hope you will urge him to study more closely than usual to-day, that he may in some degree make up for his holiday. i embrace you cordially, and remain, yours truly, ludwig van beethoven. [footnote : the "queen of the night" was the name given to carl's mother by beethoven. she was a person of great levity of conduct and bad reputation, and every effort was made by beethoven to withdraw her son from her influence, on which account he at once removed him from her care, and placed him in this institution. she consequently appealed to the law against him,--the first step in a long course of legal proceedings of the most painful nature.] . to g. del rio.[ ] . i send you, dear sir, the cloak, and also a school-book of my carl's, and request you will make out a list of his clothes and effects, that i may have it copied for myself, being obliged, as his guardian, to look carefully after his property. i intend to call for carl to-morrow about half-past twelve o'clock, to take him to a little concert, and wish him to dine with me afterwards, and shall bring him back myself. with respect to his mother, i desire that _under the pretext_ of the boy being _so busy_, you will not let her see him; no man on earth can know or judge of this matter better than myself, and by any other line of conduct all my well-matured plans for the welfare of the child might be materially injured. i will myself discuss with you when the mother is henceforth to have access to carl, for i am anxious on every account to prevent the occurrence of yesterday ever being repeated. i take all the responsibility on myself; indeed, so far as i am concerned, the court conferred on me full powers, and the authority at once to counteract anything adverse to the welfare of the boy. if they could have looked on her in the light of an estimable mother, they assuredly would not have excluded her from the guardianship of her child. whatever she may think fit to assert, nothing has been done in a clandestine manner against her. there was but one voice in the whole council on the subject. i hope to have no further trouble in this matter, for the burden is already heavy enough. from a conversation i had yesterday with adlersburg [his lawyer], it would appear that a long time must yet elapse before the court can decide what really belongs to the child. in addition to all these anxieties am i also to endure a persecution such as i have recently experienced, and from which i thought i _was entirely rescued by your institution_? farewell! i am, with esteem, your obedient l. v. beethoven. [footnote : beethoven's arbitrary authority had been previously sanctioned by a decree of the court, and the mother deprived of all power over her son.] . to ferdinand ries,--london. vienna, march , . my answer has been too long delayed; but i was ill, and had a great press of business. not a single farthing is yet come of the ten gold ducats, and i now almost begin to think that the english are only liberal when in foreign countries. it is the same with the prince regent, who has not even sent me the cost of copying my "battle symphony," nor one verbal or written expression of thanks. my whole income consists of florins in paper-money. i pay for house-rent, and to my servant and his wife; so you may reckon for yourself what remains. besides this, the entire maintenance of my young nephew devolves on me. at present he is at school, which costs florins, and is by no means a good one; so that i must arrange a proper household and have him with me. how much money must be made to live at all here! and yet there seems no end to it--because!--because!--because!--but you know well what i mean. some commissions from the philharmonic would be very acceptable to me, besides, the concert. now let me say that my dear scholar ries must set to work and dedicate something valuable to me, to which his master may respond, and repay him in his own coin. how can i send you my portrait? my kind regards to your wife. i, alas! have none. one alone i wished to possess, but never shall i call her mine![ ] this, however, has not made me a woman-hater. your true friend, beethoven. [footnote : see the statement of fräulein del rio in the _grenzboten_. we read:--"my father's idea was that marriage alone could remedy the sad condition of beethoven's household matters; so he asked him whether he knew any one, &c., &c. our long-existing presentiment was then realized." his love was unfortunate. five years ago he had become acquainted with a person with whom he would have esteemed it the highest felicity of his life to have entered into closer ties; but it was vain to think of it, being almost an impossibility! a chimera! and yet his feelings remained the same as the very first day he had seen her! he added, "that never before had he found such harmony! but no declaration had ever been made, not being able to prevail on himself to do so." this conversation took place in sept. , at helenenthal, in baden, and the person to whom he alluded was undoubtedly marie l. pachler-koschak in gratz. (see no. .)] . to f. ries. vienna, april , . neate[ ] is no doubt in london by this time. he took several of my works with him, and promised to do the best he could for me. the archduke rudolph [beethoven's pupil, see no. ] also plays your works with me, my dear ries; of these "il sogno" especially pleased us. farewell! remember me to your charming wife, and to any fair english ladies who care to receive my greetings. your true friend, beethoven. [footnote : charles neate, a london artist, as schindler styles him in his _biography_ (ii. ), was on several different occasions for some time resident in vienna, and very intimate with beethoven, whom he tried to persuade to come to london. he also was of great service in promoting the sale of his works. a number of neate's letters, preserved in the berlin state library, testify his faithful and active devotion and attachment to the master.] . power of attorney. vienna, may , . i authorize herr v. kauka, doctor of laws in the kingdom of bohemia, relying on his friendship, to obtain for me the receipt of florins w.w., payable at the treasury of prince kinsky, from the house of ballabene in prague, and after having drawn the money to transmit the same to me as soon as possible. witness my hand and seal. ludwig van beethoven. . to f. ries. vienna, june , . my dear ries,-- i regret much to put you to the expense of postage on my account; gladly as i assist and serve every one, i am always unwilling myself to have recourse to others. i have as yet seen nothing of the ten ducats, whence i draw the inference that in england, just as with us, there are idle talkers who prove false to their word. i do not at all blame you in this matter. i have not heard a syllable from neate; so i do wish you would ask him whether he has disposed of the f minor concerto. i am almost ashamed to allude to the other works i intrusted to him, and equally so of myself, for having given them to him so confidingly, devoid of all conditions save those suggested by his own friendship and zeal for my interests. a translation has been sent to me of an article in the "morning chronicle" on the performance of the symphony. probably it will be the same as to this and all the other works neate took with him as with the "battle symphony;" the only profit i shall derive will be reading a notice of their performance in the newspapers. . to g. del rio. . my worthy g.,-- i beg you will send carl to me with the bearer of this letter; otherwise i shall not be able to see him all day, which would be contrary to his own interest, as my influence seems to be required; in the same view, i beg you will give him a few lines with a report of his conduct, so that i may enter at once on any point where improvement is necessary. i am going to the country to-day, and shall not return till rather late at night; being always unwilling to infringe your rules, i beg you will send some night-things with carl, so that if we return too late to bring him to you to-day, i can keep him all night, and take him back to you myself early next morning. in haste, always yours, l. v. beethoven. . to g. del rio. . i must apologize to you, my good friend, for carl having come home at so late an hour. we were obliged to wait for a person who arrived so late that it detained us, but i will not soon repeat this breach of your rules. as to carl's mother, i have now decided that your wish not to see her again in your house shall be acceded to. this course is far more safe and judicious for our dear carl, experience having taught me that every visit from his mother leaves a root of bitterness in the boy's heart, which may injure, but never can benefit him. i shall strive to arrange occasional meetings at my house, which is likely to result in everything being entirely broken off with her. as we thoroughly agree on the subject of carl's mother, we can mutually decide on the mode of his education. your true friend, beethoven. . to the archduke rudolph. vienna, july , . your kindness towards me induces me to hope that you will not attribute to any _selfish_ design on my part the somewhat audacious (though only as to the surprise) dedication annexed. the work[ ] was written for y.r.h., or rather, it owes its existence to you, and this the world (the musical world) ought to know. i shall soon have the honor of waiting on y.r.h. in baden. notwithstanding all the efforts of my physician, who will not allow me to leave this, the weakness in my chest is no better, though my general health is improved. i hope to hear all that is cheering of your own health, about which i am always so much interested. [k.] [footnote : does beethoven here allude to the dedication of the sonata for pianoforte and violin in g major, op. , which, though sold to a publisher in april, , was designated as quite new in the _allgemeine zeitung_ on july, , ?] . written in english to mr. birchall. . received, march, , of mr. robert birchall, music-seller, new bond street, london, the sum of one hundred and thirty gold dutch ducats, value in english currency sixty-five pounds, for all my copyright and interest, present and future, vested or contingent, or otherwise within the united kingdom of great britain and ireland in the four following compositions or pieces of music composed or arranged by me, viz.:-- st. a grand battle sinfonia, descriptive of the battle and victory at vittoria, adapted for the pianoforte and dedicated to his royal highness the prince regent-- ducats. d. a grand symphony in the key of a, adapted to the pianoforte and dedicated to-- d. a grand trio for the pianoforte, violin, and violoncello in the key of b. th. a sonata for the pianoforte, with an accompaniment for the violin in the key of g, dedicated to-- and, in consideration of such payment i hereby, for myself, my executors, and administrators, promise and engage to execute a proper anignment thereof to him, his executors and administrators or anignees, at his or their request and costs, as he or they shall direct. and i likewise promise and engage as above, that none of the above shall be published in any foreign country, before the time and day fixed and agreed on for such publication between r. birchall and myself shall arrive. l. van beethoven. . written in french to mr. birchall,--london. vienne . juilliet, . monsieur,-- j'ai reçu la déclaration de proprieté de mes oeuvres entierement cedé a vous pour y adjoindre ma signature. je suis tout a fait disposer a seconder vos voeux si tôt, que cette affaire sera entierement en ordre, en egard de la petite somme de # d'or la quelle me vient encore pour le fieux de la copieture de poste de lettre etc. comme j'avois l'honneur de vous expliquier dans une note detaillé sur ses objectes. je vous invite donc monsieur de bien vouloir me remettre ces petits objects, pour me mettre dans l'état de pouvoir vous envoyer le document susdit. agrées monsieur l'assurance de l'estime la plus parfait avec la quelle j'ai l'honneur de me dire louis van beethoven. copying . . . . . . . postage to amsterdam . . . ---- trio . . . . . -- ----------- £ . . . . to g. del rio. july , . my good friend,-- various circumstances compel me to take charge of carl myself; with this view permit me to enclose you the amount due at the approaching quarter, at the expiry of which carl is to leave you. do not, i beg, ascribe this to anything derogatory either to yourself or to your respected institution, but to other pressing motives connected with carl's welfare. it is only an experiment, and when it is actually carried out i shall beg you to fortify me by your advice, and also to permit carl sometimes to visit your institution. i shall always feel the most sincere gratitude to you, and never can forget your solicitude, and the kind care of your excellent wife, which has fully equalled that of the best of mothers. i would send you at least four times the sum i now do, if my position admitted of it; but at all events i shall avail myself at a future and, i hope, a brighter day, of every opportunity to acknowledge and to do justice to the foundation _you_ have laid for the moral and physical good of my carl. with regard to the "queen of the night," our system must continue the same; and as carl is about to undergo an operation in your house which will cause him to feel indisposed, and consequently make him irritable and susceptible, you must be more careful than ever to prevent her having access to him; otherwise she might easily contrive to revive all those impressions in his mind which we are so anxious to avoid. what confidence can be placed in any promise to reform on her part, the impertinent scrawl i enclose will best prove [in reference, no doubt, to an enclosed note]. i send it merely to show you how fully i am justified in the precautions i have already adopted with regard to her. on this occasion, however, i did not answer like a sarastro, but like a sultan. i would gladly spare you the anxiety of the operation on carl, but as it must take place in your house, i beg you will inform me of the outlay caused by the affair, and the expenses consequent on it, which i will thankfully repay. now farewell! say all that is kind from me to your dear children and your excellent wife, to whose continued care i commend my carl. i leave vienna to-morrow at five o'clock a.m., but shall frequently come in from baden. ever, with sincere esteem, your l. v. beethoven. . to g. del rio. mdme. a.g. is requested to order several pairs of good linen drawers for carl. i intrust carl to her kindness, and entirely rely on her motherly care. . to zmeskall. baden, september , . dear z.,-- i don't know whether you received a note that i recently left on the threshold of your door, for the time was too short to enable me to see you. i must therefore repeat my request about another servant, as the conduct of my present one is such that i cannot possibly keep him.[ ] he was engaged on the th of april, so on the th of september he will have been five months with me, and he received florins on account. the money for his boots will be reckoned from the third month (in my service), and from that time at the rate of florins per annum; his livery also from the third month. from the very first i resolved not to keep him, but delayed discharging him, as i wished to get back the value of my florins. in the mean time if i can procure another, i will let this one leave my service on the th of the month, and also give him florins for boot money, and florins a month for livery (both reckoned from the third month), making altogether florins. i ought therefore still to receive florins, but these i am willing to give up; in this way i shall at all events receive some equivalent for my florins. if you can find a suitable person, i will give him florins a day while i am in baden, and if he knows how to cook he can use my firewood in the kitchen. (i have a kitchen, though i do not cook in it.) if not, i will add a few kreutzers to his wages. as soon as i am settled in vienna, he shall have florins a month, and board and livery as usual, reckoned from the third month in my service, like other servants. it would be a good thing if he understood a little tailoring. so now you have my proposals, and i beg for an answer by the th of this month at the latest, that i may discharge my present servant on the d, with the usual fortnight's warning; otherwise i shall be obliged to keep him for another month, and every moment i wish to get rid of him. as for the new one, you know pretty well what i require,--_good, steady conduct_, a _good character_, and _not to be of a bloodthirsty nature_, that i may feel my life to be safe, as, for the sake of various scamps in this world, i should like to live a little longer. by the th, therefore, i shall expect to hear from you on this affair. if you don't run restive, i will soon send you my treatise on the four violoncello strings, very profoundly handled; the first chapter devoted exclusively to entrails in general, the second to catgut in particular. i need scarcely give you any further warnings, as you seem to be quite on your guard against wounds inflicted before certain fortresses. the most _profound peace_ everywhere prevails!!! farewell, my good _zmeskällchen_! i am, as ever, _un povero musico_ and your friend, beethoven. n.b. i shall probably only require my new servant for some months, as, for the sake of my carl, i must shortly engage a housekeeper. [footnote : during a quarrel, the servant scratched beethoven's face.] . to herr kauka. baden, sept. , . my worthy k.,-- i send you herewith the receipt, according to your request, and beg that you will kindly arrange that i should have the money by the st october, and without any deduction, which has hitherto been the case; i also particularly beg _you will not assign the money to baron p._ (i will tell you why when we meet; for the present let this remain between ourselves.) send it either direct to myself, or, if it must come through another person, do not let it be baron p. it would be best for the future, as the house-rent is paid here for the great house belonging to kinsky, that my money should be paid at the same time. this is only my own idea. the terzet you heard of will soon be engraved, which is infinitely preferable to all written music; you shall therefore receive an engraved copy, and likewise some more of my unruly offspring. in the mean time i beg that you will see only what is truly good in them, and look with an indulgent eye on the human frailties of these poor innocents. besides, i am full of cares, being in reality father to my late brother's child; indeed i might have ushered into the world a second part of the "flauto magico," having also been brought into contact with a "queen of the night." i embrace you from my heart, and hope soon in so far to succeed that you may owe some thanks to my muse. my dear, worthy kauka, i ever am your truly attached friend, beethoven. . query? what would be the result were i to leave this, and indeed the kingdom of austria altogether? would the life-certificate, if signed by the authorities of a non-austrian place, still be valid? _a tergo._ i beg you will let me know the postage all my letters have cost you. . to g. del rio. sunday, september , . certain things can never be fully expressed. of this nature are my feelings, and especially my gratitude, on hearing the details of the operation on carl from you. you will excuse my attempting even remotely to shape these into words. i feel certain, however, that you will not decline the tribute i gladly pay you; but i say no more. you can easily imagine my anxiety to hear how my dear son is going on; do not omit to give me your exact address, that i may write to you direct. after you left this i wrote to bernhard [bernard], to make inquiries at your house, but have not yet got an answer; so possibly you may have thought me a kind of half-reckless barbarian, as no doubt herr b. has neglected to call on you, as well as to write to me. i can have no uneasiness about carl when your admirable wife is with him: that is quite out of the question. you can well understand how much it grieves me not to be able to take part in the sufferings of my carl, and that i at least wish to hear frequently of his progress. as i have renounced such an unfeeling, unsympathizing friend as herr b. [bernard], i must have recourse to your friendship and complaisance on this point also, and shall hope soon to receive a few lines from you. i beg to send my best regards and a thousand thanks to your admirable wife. in haste, your beethoven. i wish you to express to smetana [the surgeon] my esteem and high consideration. . to g. del rio. if you do not object, i beg you will allow carl to come to me with the bearer of this. i forgot, in my haste, to say that all the love and goodness which mdme. a.g. [giannatasio] showed my carl during his illness are inscribed in the list of my obligations, and i hope one day to show that they are ever present in my mind. perhaps i may see you to-day with carl. in haste, your sincere friend, l. v. beethoven. . to wegeler. i take the opportunity through j. simrock to remind you of myself. i hope you received the engraving of me [by letronne], and likewise the bohemian glass. when i next make a pilgrimage through bohemia you shall have something more of the same kind. farewell! you are a husband and a father; so am i, but without a wife. my love to your dear ones--to _our_ dear ones. your friend, l. v. beethoven. . written in english to mr. birchall, music seller, london. vienna, . oct. . my dear sir,-- i have duly received the £ and thought previously you would non increase the number of englishmen neglecting their word and honor, as i had the misfortune of meeting with two of this sort. in replic to the other topics of your favor, i have no objection to write variations according to your plan, and i hope you will not find £ too much, the accompaniment will be a flute or violin or a violoncello; you'll either decide it when you send me the approbation of the price, or you'll leave it to me. i expect to receive the songs or poetry--the sooner the better, and you'll favor me also with the probable number of works of variations you are inclined to receive of me. the sonata in g with the accompan't of a violin to his imperial highnesse archduke rodolph of austria--it is op'a . the trio in bb is dedicated to the same and is op. . the piano arrangement of the symphony in a is dedicated to the empress of the russians--meaning the wife of the emp'r alexander--op. . concerning the expences of copying and packing it is not possible to fix him before hand, they are at any rate not considerable, and you'll please to consider that you have to deal with a man of honor, who will not charge one p. more than he is charged for himself. messrs. fries & co. will account with messrs. coutts & co.--the postage may be lessened as i have been told. i offer you of my works the following new ones. a grand sonata for the pianoforte alone £ . a trio for the piano with accomp't of violin and violoncello for £ . it is possible that somebody will offer you other works of mine to purchase, for ex. the score of the grand symphony in a.--with regard to the arrangement of this symphony for the piano i beg you not to forget that you are not to publish it until i have appointed the day of its publication here in vienna. this cannot be otherwise without making myself guilty of a dishonorable act--but the sonata with the violin and the trio in b fl. may be published without any delay. with all the _new works_, which you will have of me or which i offer you, it rests with you to name the day of their publication at your own choice: i entreat you to honor me as soon as possible with an answer having many ordres for compositions and that you may not be delayed. my address or direction is monsieur louis van beethoven no. & sailerstette d. stock. vienna. you may send your letter, if you please, direct to your most humble servant ludwig van beethoven. . to zmeskall. oct. , . well born, and yet evil born! (as we all are!) we are in baden to-day, and intend to bring the celebrated naturalist ribini a collection of dead leaves. to-morrow we purpose paying you not only a _visit_ but a _visitation_. your devoted ludwig van beethoven. . to the archduke rudolph. november, .[ ] i have been again much worse, so that i can only venture to go out a little in the daytime; i am, however, getting better, and hope now to have the honor of waiting on y.r.h. three times a week. meanwhile, i have many and great cares in these terrible times (which surpass anything we have ever experienced), and which are further augmented by having become the father since last november of a poor orphan. all this tends to retard my entire restoration to health. i wish y.r.h. all imaginable good and happiness, and beg you will graciously receive and not misinterpret your, &c., &c. [k.] [footnote : a year after carl von beethoven's death (nov. , ).] . to freiherr von schweiger. best! most amiable! first and foremost turner meister of europe! the bearer of this is a poor devil! (like many another!!!) you could assist him by asking your gracious master whether he is disposed to purchase one of his small but neat pianos. i also beg you will recommend him to any of the chamberlains or adjutants of the archduke carl, to see whether it is possible that h.r.h. would buy one of these instruments for his duchess. we therefore request an introduction from the illustrious _turner meister_ for this poor devil[ ] to the chamberlains and adjutants of the household. likewise poor devil, [k.] l. v. beethoven. [footnote : a name cannot now be found for the "poor devil."] . to g. del rio. nov. , . my dear friend,-- my household seems about to make shipwreck, or something very like it. you know that i was duped into taking this house on false pretexts; besides, my health does not seem likely to improve in a hurry. to engage a tutor under such circumstances, whose character and whose very exterior even are unknown to me, and thus to intrust my carl's education to hap-hazard, is quite out of the question, no matter how great the sacrifices which i shall be again called on to make. i beg you, therefore, to keep carl for the ensuing quarter, commencing on the th. i will in so far comply with your proposal as to the cultivation of the science of music, that carl may come to me two or three times a week, leaving you at six o'clock in the evening and staying with me till the following morning, when he can return to you by eight o'clock. it would be too fatiguing for carl to come every day, and indeed too great an effort and tie for me likewise, as the lessons must be given at the same fixed hour. during this quarter we can discuss more minutely the most suitable plan for carl, taking into consideration both his interests and my own. i must, alas! mention my own also in these times, which are daily getting worse. if your garden residence had agreed with my health, everything might have been easily adjusted. with regard to my debt to you for the present quarter, i beg you will be so obliging as to call on me, that i may discharge it; the bearer of this has the good fortune to be endowed by providence with a vast amount of stupidity, which i by no means grudge him the benefit of, provided others do not suffer by it. as to the remaining expenses incurred for carl, either during his illness or connected with it, i must, for a few days only, request your indulgence, having great calls on me at present from all quarters. i wish also to know what fee i ought to give smetana for the successful operation he performed; were i rich, or not in the same sad position in which all are who have linked their fate to this country (always excepting _austrian usurers_), i would make no inquiries on the subject; and i only wish you to give me a rough estimate of the proper fee. farewell! i cordially embrace you, and shall always look on you as a friend of mine and of carl's. i am, with esteem, your l. v. beethoven. . to g. del rio. though i would gladly spare you all needless disagreeable trouble, i cannot, unluckily, do so on this occasion. yesterday, in searching for some papers, i found this pile, which has been sent to me respecting carl. i do not quite understand them, and you would oblige me much by employing some one to make out a regular statement of all your outlay for carl, so that i may send for it to-morrow. i hope you did not misunderstand me when i yesterday alluded to _magnanimity_, which certainly was not meant for you, but solely for the "queen of the night," who is never weary of hoisting the sails of her vindictiveness against me; so on this account i require vouchers, more for the satisfaction of others than for her sake (as i never will submit to render her any account of my actions). no stamp is required, and the sum alone for each quarter need be specified, for i believe most of the accounts are forthcoming; so all you have to do is to append them to your _prospectus_ [the conclusion illegible]. l. v. beethoven. . to g. del rio. nov. , . my good friend,-- i beg you will allow carl to come to me to-morrow, as it is the anniversary of his father's death [nov. th], and we wish to visit his grave together. i shall probably come to fetch him between twelve and one o'clock. i wish to know the effect of my treatment of carl, after your recent complaints. in the mean time, it touched me exceedingly to find him so susceptible as to his honor. before we left your house i gave him some hints on his want of industry, and while walking together in a graver mood than usual, he pressed my hand vehemently, but met with no response from me. at dinner he scarcely eat anything, and said that he felt very melancholy, the cause of which i could not extract from him. at last, in the course of our walk, he owned that _he was vexed because he had not been so industrious as usual_. i said what i ought on the subject, but in a kinder manner than before. this, however, proves a certain delicacy of feeling, and such _traits_ lead me to augur all that is good. if i cannot come to you to-morrow, i hope you will let me know by a few lines the result of my conference with carl. i once more beg you to let me have the account due for the last quarter. i thought that you had misunderstood my letter, or even worse than that. i warmly commend my poor orphan to your good heart, and, with kind regards to all, i remain your friend, l. v. beethoven. . to g. del rio. my good friend,-- pray forgive me for having allowed the enclosed sum to be ready for you during the last twelve days or more, and not having sent it. i have been very much occupied, and am only beginning to recover, though indeed the word _recovery_ has not yet been pronounced. in haste, with much esteem, ever yours, l. v. beethoven. . to herr tschischka. sir,-- it is certainly of some moment to me _not to appear in a false light_, which must account for the accompanying statement being so prolix. as to the future system of education, i can at all events congratulate myself on having done all that i could possibly effect at present _for the best_, and trust _that the future may be in accordance with it_. but if the welfare of my nephew demands a _change_, i shall be the first not only to propose such a step, but _to carry it out_. i am no self-interested guardian, but i wish to establish a new monument to my name through my nephew. i _have no need of my nephew_, but he has need of me. idle talk and calumnies are beneath the dignity of a man with proper self-respect, and what can be said when these extend even to the subject of linen!!! this might cause me great annoyance, _but a just man ought to be able to bear injustice_ without in the _most remote degree_ deviating from the path of _right_. in this conviction i will stand fast, and nothing shall make me flinch. to deprive me of my nephew would indeed entail a heavy responsibility. as a matter of _policy_ as well as of morality, such a step would be productive of evil results to my nephew. _i urgently recommend his interests to you._ as for me, _my actions_ for _his_ benefit (not for my _own_) must speak for me. i remain, with esteem, your obedient beethoven. being very busy, and rather indisposed, i must claim your indulgence for the writing of the memorial. . written in english to mr. birchall,--london. vienna . december -- sailerstette. dear sir,-- i give you my word of honor that i have signed and delivered the receipt to the home fries and co. some day last august, who as they say have transmitted it to messrs. coutts and co. where you'll have the goodness to apply. some error might have taken place that instead of messrs. c. sending it to you they have been directed to keep it till fetched. excuse this irregularity, but it is not my fault, nor had i ever the idea of withholding it from the circumstance of the £ not being included. should the receipt not come forth as messrs. c., i am ready to sign any other, and you shall have it directly with return of post. if you find variations--in my style--too dear at £ , i will abate for the sake of your friendship one third--and you have the offer of such variations as fixed in our former lettres for £ each air. please to publish the symphony in a immediately--as well as the sonata--and the trio--they being ready here. the grand opera fidelio is my work. the arrangement for the pianoforte has been published here under my care, but the score of the opera itself is not yet published. i have given a copy of the score to mr. neate under the seal of friendship and whom i shall direct to treat for my account in case an offer should present. i anxiously hope your health is improving, give me leave to subscrive myself dear sir your very obedient serv. ludwig van beethoven. . to zmeskall. dec. , . with this, dear zmeskall, you will receive my friendly dedication [a stringed quartet, op. ], which may, i hope, serve as a pleasant memorial of our long-enduring friendship here; pray accept it as a proof of my esteem, and not merely as the extreme end of a thread long since spun out (for you are one of my earliest friends in vienna). farewell! beware of mouldering fortresses! for an attack on them will be more trying than on those in a better state of preservation! as ever, your friend, beethoven. n.b. when you have a moment's leisure, let me know the probable cost of a livery, without linen, but including hat and boots. strange changes have come to pass in my house. the man is off to the devil, i am thankful to say, whereas his wife seems the more resolved to take root here. . to frau von streicher--nÉe stein. dec. , . n---- ought to have given you the new year's tickets yesterday, but it seems she did not do so. the day before i was occupied with maelzel, whose business was pressing, as he leaves this so soon; otherwise you may be sure that i would have hurried up again to see you. your dear kind daughter was with me yesterday, but i scarcely ever remember being so ill; my _precious servants_ were occupied from seven o'clock till ten at night in trying to heat the stove. the bitter cold, particularly in my room, caused me a chill, and the whole of yesterday i could scarcely move a limb. all day i was coughing, and had the most severe headache i ever had in my life; so by six o'clock in the evening i was obliged to go to bed, where i still am, though feeling somewhat better. your brother dined with me yesterday, and has shown me great kindness. you are aware that on the same day, the th of december, i discharged b. [baberl]. i cannot endure either of these vile creatures; i wonder if nany will behave rather better from the departure of her colleague? i doubt it--but in that case i shall send her _packing_ without any ceremony. she is too uneducated for a housekeeper, indeed quite a _beast_; but the other, in spite of her pretty face, is even _lower than the beasts_. as the new year draws near, i think five florins will be enough for nany; i have not paid her the charge for _making her spencer_, on account of her _bad behavior to you_. the other certainly _deserves no new year's gift_; besides, she has nine florins of mine on hand, and when she leaves i don't expect to receive more than four or five florins of that sum. i wish to have _your opinion about all this_. pray accept my best wishes for your welfare, which are offered in all sincerity. i am your debtor in so many ways, that i really often feel quite ashamed. farewell; i trust i may always retain your friendship. now, as ever, your friend, l. v. beethoven. . to frau von streicher. i thank you for the interest you take in me. i am rather better, though to-day again i have been obliged to endure a great deal from nany; but i shied half a dozen books at her head by way of a new year's gift. we have stripped off the leaves (by sending off baberl) and lopped off the branches, but we must extirpate the _roots_, till nothing is left but the actual soil. . to frau von streicher. nany is not strictly _honest_, and an odiously stupid _animal_ into the bargain. such people must be managed not by _love_ but by _fear_. i now see this clearly. her account-book alone cannot show you everything clearly; you must often drop in unexpectedly at dinner-time, like an avenging angel, to see with your own eyes _what_ we actually have. i never dine at home now, _unless_ i have some friend as my guest, for i have no wish to pay as much for one person as would serve for four. i shall _now soon_ have my dear son carl with me, so economy is more necessary than ever. i cannot prevail on myself to go to you; i know you will forgive this. i am very sensitive, and not used to such things, so the less ought i to expose myself to them. in addition to twelve kreutzers for bread, nany has a roll of white bread every morning. is this usual?--and it is the same with the cook. a daily roll for breakfast comes to eighteen florins a year. _farewell_, and _work well_ for me. mdlle. nany is wonderfully changed for the better since i sent the half-dozen books at her head. probably they chanced to come in collision with her _dull brain_ or her _bad heart_; at all events, she now plays the part of a penitent swindler!!! in haste, yours, beethoven. . to frau von streicher. nany yesterday took me to task in the vulgar manner usual with people of her _low class_, about my complaining to you; so she evidently knew that i had written to you on the subject. all the devilry began again yesterday morning, but i made short work of it by throwing the heavy arm-chair beside my bed at b.'s head, which procured me peace for the rest of the day. they always take their revenge on me when i write to you, or when they discover any communication between us. i do thank heaven that i everywhere find men who interest themselves in me; one of the _most distinguished professors_ in this university has in the kindest manner undertaken _all that concerns carl's education_. if you happen to meet any of the giannatasios at czerny's, you had better _know nothing of what is going on about carl_, and say that it is _contrary_ to my _usual habit to disclose my plans, as when a project is told to others it is no longer exclusively your own_. they would like to interfere in the matter, and i do not choose that these _commonplace people should do so, both for_ my _own sake and carl's_. over their portico is inscribed, in golden letters, "educational institution," whereas "_non_-educational institution" would be more appropriate. as for the servants, there is only _one voice_ about their immorality, to which _all_ the other annoyances here may be ascribed. pray receive my benediction in place of that of the klosterneuburgers.[ ] in haste, your friend, beethoven. [footnote : frau von streicher was at that time in klosterneuburg.] . to frau von streicher. judgment was executed to-day on the notorious criminal! she bore it nearly in the same spirit as caesar did brutus's dagger, except that in the former case truth formed the basis, while in hers only wicked malice. the kitchen-maid seems more handy than the former _ill-conducted beauty_; she no longer shows herself,--a sign that she does not expect a _good character_ from me, though i really had some thoughts of giving her one. the kitchen-maid at first made rather a wry face about carrying wood, &c. . to the archduke rudolph. last day of december, . i have been again obliged to keep my room ever since the burgher concert,[ ] and some time must no doubt elapse before i shall be able to dismiss all precautions as to my health. the year is about to close; and with this new year my warmest wishes are renewed for the welfare of y.r.h.; but indeed these have neither beginning nor end with me, for every day i cherish the same aspirations for y.r.h. if i may venture to add a wish for myself to the foregoing, it is, that i may daily thrive and prosper more in y.r.h.'s good graces. the master will always strive not to be unworthy of the favor of his illustrious master and pupil. [k.] [footnote : beethoven directed his a major symphony in the burgher concert in the royal redoutensaal on the th december, .] . to g. del rio. ... as to his mother, she urgently requested to see carl in my house. you have sometimes seen me tempted to place more confidence in her, and my feelings would lead me to guard against harshness towards her, especially as it is not in her power to injure carl. but you may well imagine that to one usually so independent of others, the annoyances to which i am exposed through carl are often utterly insupportable, and above all with regard to his mother; i am only too glad to hear nothing of her, which is the cause of my avoiding her name. with respect to carl, i beg you will enforce the strictest discipline on him, and if he refuses to obey your orders or to do his duty, i trust you will at once _punish_ him. treat him as if he were your own child rather than a _mere pupil_, for i already told you that during his father's lifetime he only submitted to the discipline of blows, which was a bad system; still, such was the fact, and we must not forget it. if you do not see much of me, pray ascribe it solely to the little inclination i have for society, which is sometimes more developed and sometimes less; and this you might attribute to a change in my feelings, but it is not so. what is good alone lives in my memory, and not what is painful. pray impute therefore solely to these hard times my not more practically showing my gratitude to you on account of carl. god, however, directs all things; so my position may undergo a favorable change, when i shall hasten to show you how truly i am, with sincere esteem, your grateful friend, l. v. beethoven. i beg you will read this letter to carl. . to g. del rio. carl must be at h.b.'s to-day before four o'clock; i must request you therefore to ask his professor to dismiss him at half-past three o'clock; if this cannot be managed he must not go into school at all. in the latter case, i will come myself and fetch him; in the former, i will meet him in the passage of the university. to avoid all confusion, i beg for an explicit answer as to what you settle. as you have been loudly accused of showing great party feeling, i will take carl myself. if you do not see me, attribute it to my distress of mind, for i am now only beginning to feel the full force of this terrible incident.[ ] in haste, your beethoven. [footnote : probably the reversal of the first decree in the lawsuit with carl's mother, who in order to procure a verdict more favorable to her claims, pointed out to the austrian "landrecht," where the lawsuit had been hitherto carried on, an error in their proceedings, the "van," prefixed to beethoven's name, having been considered by them a sign of nobility. beethoven was cited to appear, and on the appointed day, pointing to his head and his heart, he said, "my nobility is here, and here." the proceedings were then transferred to the "magistrate," who was in universal bad odor from his mode of conducting his business.] . to g. del rio. the assertions of this wicked woman have made such a painful impression on me, that i cannot possibly answer every point to-day; to-morrow you shall have a detailed account of it all; but on no pretext whatever allow her to have access to carl, and adhere to your rule that she is only to see him once a month. as she has been once this month already, she cannot come again till the next. in haste, your beethoven. . to hofrath von mosel. . sir,-- i sincerely rejoice that we take the same view as to the terms in use to denote the proper time in music which have descended to us from barbarous times. for example, what can be more irrational than the general term _allegro_, which only means _lively_; and how far we often are from comprehending the real time, so that the piece itself _contradicts the designation_. as for the four chief movements,--which are, indeed, far from possessing the truth or accuracy of the four cardinal points,--we readily agree _to dispense with them_, but it is quite another matter as to the words that indicate the character of the music; these we cannot consent to do away with, for while the time is, as it were, part and parcel of the piece, the _words denote the spirit in which it is conceived_. so far as i am myself concerned, i have long purposed giving up those inconsistent terms _allegro_, _andante_, _adagio_, and _presto_; and maelzel's metronome furnishes us with the best opportunity of doing so. i here _pledge_ myself _no longer_ to make use of them in any of my new compositions. it is another question whether we can by this means attain the necessary universal use of the metronome. i scarcely think we shall! i make no doubt that we shall be loudly proclaimed as _despots_; but if the cause itself were to derive benefit from this, it would at least be better than to incur the reproach of feudalism! in our country, where music has become a national requirement, and where the use of the metronome must be enjoined on every village schoolmaster, the best plan would be for maelzel to endeavor to sell a certain number of metronomes by subscription, at the present higher prices, and as soon as the number covers his expenses, he can sell the metronomes demanded by the national requirements at so cheap a rate, that we may certainly anticipate their _universal use_ and _circulation_. of course some persons must take the lead in giving an impetus to the undertaking. you may safely rely on my doing what is in my power, and i shall be glad to hear what post you mean to assign to me in the affair. i am, sir, with esteem, your obedient ludwig van beethoven. . to s.a. steiner, music publisher,--vienna. highest born! most admirable! and marvellous lieutenant-general![ ] we beg you to give us bank-notes for twenty-four gold ducats at yesterday's rate of exchange, and to send them to us this evening or to-morrow, in order that we may forthwith _remit_ and _transmit_ them. i should be glad and happy if your trustworthy adjutant were to bring me these, as i have something particular to say to him. he must forget all his resentment, like a good christian; we acknowledge his merits and do not contest his demerits. in short, and once for all, we wish to see him. this evening would suit us best. we have the honor to remain, most astounding lieutenant-general! your devoted generalissimus. [footnote : beethoven styled himself "generalissimus," herr a. steiner "lieutenant-general," and his partner, tobias haslinger, "adjutant" and "adjutant-general."] . to lieutenant-general von steiner.--private. publicandum,-- after due consideration, and by the advice of our council, we have determined and decreed that henceforth on all our works published with german titles, the word _pianoforte_ is to be replaced by that of _hammer clavier_, and our worthy lieutenant-general, his adjutant, and all whom it may concern, are charged with the execution of this order. instead of pianoforte--_hammer clavier_. such is our will and pleasure. given on the d of january, , by the _generalissimus_. _manu propria._ . to steiner. the following dedication occurred to me of my new sonata:-- "sonata for the pianoforte, or _hammer clavier_. composed and dedicated to frau baronin dorothea ertmann--née graumann, by ludwig van beethoven." if the title is already engraved, i have the two following proposals to make; viz., that i pay for one title--i mean that it should be at my expense, or reserved for another new sonata of mine, for which purpose the mines of the lieutenant-general (or _pleno titulo_, lieutenant-general and first councillor of state) must be opened to usher it into the light of day; the title to be previously shown to a good linguist. _hammer clavier_ is certainly german, and so is the device. honor to whom honor is due! how is it, then, that i have as yet received no reports of the carrying out of my orders, which, however, have no doubt been attended to? ever and always your attached _amicus ad amicum de amico._ [music: treble clef. o ad-ju-tant!] n.b. i beg you will observe the most profound silence about the dedication, as i wish it to be a surprise! . to zmeskall. jan. , . dear z.,-- you seem to place me on a level with schuppanzigh, &c., and have distorted the plain and simple meaning of my words. you are not my debtor, but i am yours, and now you make me so more than ever. i cannot express to you the pain your gift has caused me, and i must candidly say that i cannot give you one friendly glance _in return_. although you confine yourself to the practice of music, still you have often recourse to the power of imagination, and it seems to me that this not unfrequently leads to uncalled-for caprice on your part; at least, so it appeared to me from your letter after my dedication. loving as my sentiments are towards you, and much as i prize all your goodness, still i feel provoked!--much provoked!--terribly provoked! your debtor afresh, who will, however, contrive to have his revenge, l. van beethoven. note: project gutenberg also has an html version of this file which includes sound files and the original illustrations. see -h.htm or -h.zip: (http://www.gutenberg.net/dirs/ / / / / / -h/ -h.htm) or (http://www.gutenberg.net/dirs/ / / / / / -h.zip) transcriber's notes: . corrected spelling of maelzel's invention in one place from 'panharmonican' to 'panharmonicon'. . in the index, corrected 'krumpholtz' to 'krumpholz', 'origen of the dance' to 'origin of the dance', and 'neafe' to 'neefe'. beethoven a character study together with wagner's indebtedness to beethoven by george alexander fischer es kann die spur von meinen erdentagen nicht in aeonen untergehn. goethe. new york dodd, mead and company the trow press, new york [illustration: beethoven] to the memory of my father contents chapter i. early promise ii. the morning of life iii. the new path iv. heroic symphony v. fidelio vi. the eternal feminine vii. victory from defeat viii. meeting with goethe ix. optimistic trend x. at the zenith of his fame xi. methods of composition xii. sense of humor xiii. missa solemnis xiv. ninth symphony xv. capacity for friendship xvi. the day's trials xvii. last quartets xviii. in the shadows xix. life's purport wagner's indebtedness to beethoven index chapter i early promise god acts upon earth only by means of superior chosen men. --herder: _ideas toward a history of mankind_. as life broadens with advancing culture, and people are able to appropriate to themselves more of the various forms of art, the artist himself attains to greater power, his abilities increase in direct ratio with the progress in culture made by the people and their ability to comprehend him. when one side or phase of an art comes to be received, new and more difficult problems are invariably presented, the elucidation of which can only be effected by a higher development of the faculties. there is never an approach to equilibrium between the artist and his public. as it advances in knowledge of his art, he maintains the want of balance, the disproportion that always exists between the genius and the ordinary man, by rising ever to greater heights. if bach is the mathematician of music, as has been asserted, beethoven is its philosopher. in his work the philosophic spirit comes to the fore. to the genius of the musician is added in beethoven a wide mental grasp, an altruistic spirit, that seeks to help humanity on the upward path. he addresses the intellect of mankind. up to beethoven's time musicians in general (bach is always an exception) performed their work without the aid of an intellect for the most part; they worked by intuition. in everything outside their art they were like children. beethoven was the first one having the independence to think for himself--the first to have ideas on subjects unconnected with his art. he it was who established the dignity of the artist over that of the simply well-born. his entire life was a protest against the pretensions of birth over mind. his predecessors, to a great extent subjugated by their social superiors, sought only to please. nothing further was expected of them. this mental attitude is apparent in their work. the language of the courtier is usually polished, but will never have the virility that characterizes the speech of the free man. as with all valuable things, however, beethoven's music is not to be enjoyed for nothing. we must on our side contribute something to the enterprise, something more than simply buying a ticket to the performance. we must study his work in the right spirit, and place ourselves in a receptive attitude when listening to it to understand his message. often metaphysical, particularly in the work of his later years, his meaning will be revealed only when we devote to it earnest and sympathetic study. no other composer demands so much of one; no other rewards the student so richly for the effort required. the making a fact the subject of thought vitalizes it. it is as if the master had said to the aspirant: "i will admit you into the ranks of my disciples, but you must first prove yourself worthy." an initiation is necessary; somewhat of the intense mental activity which characterized beethoven in the composition of his works is required of the student also. there is a tax imposed for the enjoyment of them. like thoreau, beethoven came on the world's stage "just in the nick of time," and almost immediately had to begin hewing out a path for himself. he was born in the workshop, as was mozart, and learned music simultaneously with speaking. stirring times they were in which he first saw the light, and so indeed continued with ever-increasing intensity, like a good drama, until nearly his end. the american revolution became an accomplished fact during his boyhood. nearer home, events were fast coming to a focus, which culminated in the french revolution. the magic words, liberty, equality, fraternity, and the ideas for which they stood, were everywhere in the minds of the people. the age called for enlightenment, spiritual growth. on reaching manhood, he found a world in transition; he realized that he was on the threshold of a new order of things, and with ready prescience took advantage of such as could be utilized in his art. through beethoven the resources of the orchestra were increased, an added range was given the keyboard of the piano, the human voice was given tasks that at the time seemed impossible of achievement. he established the precedent, which wagner acted on later, of employing the human voice as a tool, an instrument, to be used in the exigencies of his art, as if it were a part of the orchestra. beethoven's birthplace, bonn, no doubt proved a favorable soil for the propagation of the new ideas. the unrest pervading all classes, an outcome of the revolution, showed itself among the more serious-minded in increased intellectuality, and a reaching after higher things. this _zeitgeist_ is clearly reflected in his compositions, in particular the symphonies and sonatas. "under the lead of italian vocalism," said wagner, speaking of the period just preceding the time of which we write, "music had become an art of sheer agreeableness." the beautiful in music had been sufficiently exploited by mozart and haydn. beethoven demonstrated that music has a higher function than that of mere beauty, or the simple act of giving pleasure. the beautiful in literature is not its best part. to the earnest thinker, the seeker after truth, the student who looks for illumination on life's problem, beauty in itself is insufficient. it is the best office of art, of beethoven's art in particular, that it leads ever onward and upward; that it acts not only on the esthetic and moral sense, but develops the mental faculties as well, enabling the individual to find a purpose and meaning in life. * * * * * ludwig van beethoven was born at bonn, december , . he came of a musical family. his father and grandfather were both musicians at bonn, at the court of the elector of cologne. the family originally came from louvain, and settled in antwerp in , from which place they moved to bonn. this old city on the rhine, frequently mentioned by tacitus, older than christianity, the scene of innumerable battles from roman times up to the beginning of the nineteenth century, has much that is interesting about it, but is distinguished chiefly on account of having been beethoven's birthplace. it was for five centuries (from to ) in the possession of the electors of cologne. the last one of all, max franz, who succeeded to the electorate when beethoven was fourteen years of age, and who befriended him in various ways was, in common with the entire imperial family, a highly cultivated person, especially in music. he was the youngest son of maria therese, empress of austria, herself a fine singer and well versed in the music of the time. the elector played the viola and his chief interest in life seems to have been music. in beethoven's time and long before, the aristocracy led lives of easy, complacent enjoyment, dabbling in art, patronizing music and the composers, seemingly with no prevision that the musicians whom they attached to their train, and who in the cases of mozart and haydn were at times treated but little better than lackeys, were destined by the irony of fate to occupy places in the temple of fame, which would be denied themselves. ludwig van beethoven, the grandfather of the composer, received his appointment as kapellmeister at bonn in march of , then twenty-one years of age. a little more than a century afterward a statue was erected there in the münster platz to his illustrious grandson, liszt being the moving spirit in the matter. the grandfather was in every way a worthy man, but he died when our composer was three years of age, and from that time poverty and hardship of all kinds was the portion of the family. beethoven's father was careless and improvident. his salary of florins, about $ , was all they had upon which to live. the mother was the daughter of a cook and the widow of a _valet de chambre_ to one of the electors. she was kind-hearted, of pleasant temper and lovable disposition, and the affection between mother and son was deep and lasting. the father was stern, and a strict disciplinarian, as so often happens in such cases. he was determined that the son should do better than himself, being willing to furnish the precept, if not the example. reared in this school of adversity the boy had a hard life. his father was his first teacher, teaching him both violin and clavier. he began with him as early as his fourth year; he seems to have been aware of the boy's ability, but had no consideration, and was a hard taskmaster. before he was nine years of age, however, the boy's progress was so great that the father had no more to teach him. in those times the musical life centered about the court. beethoven studied the organ under the court organist, van den eeden, an old friend of his grandfather's. van den eeden was succeeded shortly after by christian neefe, and beethoven, then eleven years of age, was transferred to him. neefe had an important bearing on beethoven's life. he was in his best years, thirty-three, when he began teaching him, and was a thorough musician, who had had a varied experience before assuming this post. he was a university man as well, and it was fortunate for beethoven in every way that he was brought in childhood under the influence of so cultivated and enthusiastic a musician. neefe saw the boy's talent and became his friend. on one occasion the elector took his musicians to münster where he had a palace, neefe's duties requiring that he go with them. beethoven, then under twelve years of age, was left behind as organist. frimmel states that neefe, on assuming the position, reserved the privilege of absenting himself frequently from his post, on condition that he provide a substitute. after the münster episode, the twelve-year-old beethoven became the regular substitute. when we consider the important rôle that church music played in those times, such precocity is remarkable. this connection with church music bore good fruit in later years. neefe was soon after promoted, the elector giving him charge of the secular as well as the sacred music of the court, upon which beethoven received his first appointment, that of cembalist of the orchestra. the duty of the cembalist is to preside at the piano. only a good musician would be capable of filling such a position, as all the accompaniments were played from the score. he held this for two years, afterward playing viol in the orchestra for several years more. this work in the orchestra was later of the greatest possible benefit to him in composing. there was no salary at first, but the post had an important bearing on his life, as he was obliged to attend all the rehearsals as well as the performances of the opera, always taking an active part. before he reached the age of fifteen he was appointed second court organist. during this year he studied the violin with franz ries, which enabled him a few years later to play in the band. it was in beethoven's fifteenth year that he played the organ every morning at the six o'clock mass in the minorite church. for some years before and during this period he was busy trying his hand at musical composition, but nothing which he composed during his youth amounts to much. he could improvise in a marvelous manner and he attracted much attention by the exercise of this talent, becoming famous in this connection long before he was known as a composer. his creative talent unfolded itself slowly. he had high ideals and worked faithfully toward their attainment. failure to reach the level of his aspirations did not dishearten him; rather it spurred him on to greater effort. the discerning intellect is always in advance of the creative. his delight in bach was great; he studied him to such purpose that, at twelve years, he was able to play the greater part of the well-tempered clavichord. his wonderful interpretation of bach, later, on his arrival in vienna, immediately placed him in the front rank of _virtuosi_, according to hüttenbrenner, schubert's friend. as a boy he was docile, shy and reserved, caring nothing for the ordinary games of boys, or at least not participating in them to any extent. at an age when other boys begin learning their games, he began in composition, being forced to it, no doubt, by his father. he is said to have written a cantata at the age of ten to the memory of an english friend of the family, who died early in the year . some variations on a march in c minor bear the following statement: _composées par un jeune amateur l v b age de dix ans_. from year to year he kept on in musical composition, feeling his way, not discouraged by his inability to produce anything great, although mozart's precocity and genius were no doubt frequently held up to him by others as an example to profit by. when he was seventeen he went to vienna, the funds for the trip probably being furnished by the elector. here he met mozart, then at the height of his fame, whose operas were frequently produced in bonn and throughout germany. he probably had some lessons from him. mozart was very much occupied with the approaching production of don giovanni, which took place in prague shortly after the young man's arrival. as beethoven's visit terminated in three months, it is not likely that he derived much benefit from these lessons. on his first meeting with the master he extemporized for him on a subject given him by mozart. that this was a momentous occasion to the impressionable beethoven is certain. the emotions called up by the meeting enabled him to play with such effect that when he had finished, the well-known remark was elicited from mozart: "pay attention to him. he will make a noise in the world some day." beethoven, however, was compelled to return to bonn, owing to the serious illness of his mother, who died of consumption july , . he now took charge of the family and had a hard life from almost every point of view, his one enjoyment probably being in the exercise of his art. the affection between mother and son was one of the few bright spots in a boyhood of toil and privation. the father's harshness served to accentuate the kindness of the mother, and he felt her death keenly. he gave a few lessons, most unwillingly, the money from which, together with his salary as assistant organist and a portion of the father's salary, kept the family together, affording them some degree of comfort. his return, no doubt, retarded his artistic development. the musical atmosphere of vienna would have been much better for him, especially at this period, when he was entering manhood and eager to get at the works of contemporary composers. in those times only a small amount of the music that was written, was published. many of the lesser works were composed merely to grace some social function, with but little thought given them as to their ultimate fate. it was customary to play from manuscript, copies of which were not readily attainable. in a city like vienna new music was constantly being produced, occasionally at public concerts, but most often at social gatherings. the freemasonry existing among musicians and the wealthy amateurs was such that a musician of any talent was sure to be received, and put on a friendly footing. no other city in europe afforded such opportunities for musical culture as did vienna. it was the home of mozart and haydn and a host of lesser composers, as well as instrumentalists and singers. music in one form or another was the chief diversion of the better classes, the wealthier of whom maintained their private orchestra. many of these latter were fine performers, taking part regularly in the concerts given by their orchestras. the next year we find beethoven taking his meals at the zehrgarten, where artists, professors from the university, and other notable people congregated. it was at this period that he made the acquaintance of count ferdinand waldstein, the first of the aristocratic circle of friends which surrounded him all his life. count waldstein at twenty-four, on coming of age, entered the germanic order, passing the year of his novitiate at the court of the elector at bonn. the senior by eight years, his influence over beethoven was considerable, as is evidenced in many ways. the count was an enthusiastic amateur, visiting him frequently. he gave him a piano, and was useful to him in many ways. the social position of count waldstein was such that his friendly attitude toward beethoven at once attracted the attention of others to the young musician. from this time on he was able to choose his friends from among the best people of his native city. the young man commemorated the friendship by taking an air of the count's, who was somewhat of a composer, and composing twelve variations for four hands for the piano from it. later, in , after the eroica symphony and fidelio, when the master had become famous, he composed the great waldstein sonata, opus , and dedicated it to him. the waldstein family became extinct with ferdinand, but the name will live for centuries through these compositions. about the time of his first meeting with count waldstein, beethoven made another acquaintance, which had an important bearing on his subsequent life. this was von breuning. he and beethoven took violin lessons of franz ries. stephen von breuning liked beethoven from the start and introduced him at his mother's house. the breunings were in good circumstances, cultivated, good-natured and hospitable. they delighted in having him about, and treated him with the utmost consideration. madame von breuning formed a sincere, motherly affection for him; he was soon on a footing in their house almost equal to that of a member of the family. he went with them about this time on a visit to some of their relations in another city. they were instrumental in shaping his destiny in various ways, and their friendship was of great moment to him throughout life. beethoven, then in his eighteenth year, gave lessons to the daughter eleonore, as well as to the youngest son, lenz. eleonore afterward married dr. wegeler, who was in the same circle. many years later he collaborated with ries's son ferdinand in writing reminiscences of the master. the names of count waldstein and the von breunings are indelibly associated with beethoven's name as friends from the beginning. when we consider how every circumstance of beethoven's family and mode of life tended against his forming desirable friendships, how rough in exterior and careless of his appearance he was, we can ascribe it only to the force of his character that he should have the friendship of such people. he had done nothing as yet to lead people to believe that he would ever become a great composer. as has been stated, however, he was a pianist of great originality, with a remarkable talent for improvising, which, no doubt, had much to do in making him a welcome guest wherever he went. madame von breuning, with her woman's tact, and the fine intuitive perceptions that were characteristic of her, looked after his intellectual development, and was helpful to him in various ways, encouraging him as well in his musical studies. but beethoven was by no means an easy person to get along with, as she soon found out. he was fiery and headstrong, disliking all restraint, being especially impatient of anything that savored of patronage. she seems to have known that in beethoven she had before her that rarest product of humanity, a man of genius, and had infinite patience with him. his dislike for teaching was pronounced, then, as in after years, and she was often at her wits' end to get him to keep his engagements in this respect. she, in short, did for beethoven what madame boehme did for goethe many years before, when the poet left his native frankfort and came to leipsic. he was but sixteen, and found in her a friend, counsellor, almost a mother, who not only instructed him about dress and deportment, which soon enabled him to obliterate his provincialism, but showed a motherly solicitude for him, which must have been of great help to him in many ways. madame von breuning interested beethoven in the classics, as well as in contemporary philosophical literature. lessing, goethe and schiller became favorite authors with him. a much-thumbed translation of shakespeare was a valued part of his small library in after years. he devoted much study to homer and to plato. beethoven left school at the age of thirteen, and could not have given much time to his studies even when at school, as so much was required of him in his music. he learned a little--a very little, of french, also some latin and italian, and made up for his deficiencies by studying at home. intellectual gifts were valued by the von breunings; to the youth, in his formative period, association with people like these was an education in itself. about this time the elector enlarged the sphere of his musical operations by establishing a national opera at bonn, modeled after the one maintained by his imperial brother at vienna. the works were produced on a good scale, and some excellent singers were engaged. beethoven was appointed to play the viola, and this connection with the orchestra was of inestimable value to him in many ways. it not only gave him a knowledge of orchestration; it also made him familiar with the noted operas, which must have been greatly enjoyed by him. mozart's operas were given a prominent place in the _répertoire_, and many others that were noteworthy were introduced. but it was not opera alone which was being performed; the drama was also represented, and his connection with the orchestra gave him an intimate acquaintance with the masterpieces of literature, which greatly influenced his subsequent career. the tragedies of shakespeare were occasionally produced, special prominence, however, being given to the works of the great germans, lessing, schiller and other philosophers and poets of the fatherland, the exalted sentiments and pure intellectuality of which are unmatched by any people. this early acquaintance with the best literature of his time gave him an intellectual bias which served him well all his life. it is fortunate that his opportunity came so early in life, when the activity of the brain is at its highest and when lasting impressions are produced. the mental pictures called up by the portrayal of these tragedies came to the surface again in after years sublimated, refined, in symphony and sonata, in mass and opera. every one of his works has its own story to tell; sometimes it is just the record of the events of a day as in the pastoral symphony, but told with a glamour of poetry and romance, that for the time gives us back our own youth in listening to it; sometimes it is a tragedy which is unfolded, as in the appassionata sonata or the fifth symphony; or it will be a coriolanus overture, that seething, boiling ferment of emotion and passion, the most diverse, contradictory, unlike, that can be imagined. from these impressions, acquired in the ardor of youth, when the intellect grasps at knowledge and experience with avidity, when its capacity is at its greatest, and the whole world is laid under contribution, came a rich harvest which untold generations may enjoy. no one of the many that made up the audiences night after night, probably ever formed a guess at what was going on in the brain of this quiet reserved youth during the progress of these plays. the keen discriminating intelligence which was always sifting and sorting these pictures and stowing them away for use in after years,--the flashes of enthusiasm,--the intuitive discernment of intellectual subtleties that brought him into _rapport_ with the author and gave him the perception of being on an equality with the great ones of the earth, here were forces already in operation which were destined to influence the world for generations to come. to fall from this ideal world of the intellect and the emotions, at the cue of the conductor, back to the cognitions of ordinary life, and a realization of its limitations, must have been as tragic an experience to this youth, who said of himself: "i live only in my art," as any he had seen depicted on the stage. mental processes like these write their lines deeply on the faces of gifted people. of the thirty-one members of the orchestra some had already attained fame, and others achieved it in after years. in this collection of geniuses the attrition of mind on mind must have been of benefit to each. the conductor, joseph reicha, had a nephew, anton reicha, whom he adopted, who played the flute in the orchestra. he and beethoven were intimate, and the prominence which beethoven gives to the flute in his orchestral works may in part be explained by this intimacy. reicha afterward joined beethoven at vienna, remaining there until , when he took up his residence in paris. he was a prolific composer and the author of numerous theoretical works. many of his operas were produced in paris during his lifetime. he taught at the paris conservatoire, and was a member of the institute. then there was bernhard romberg, and his cousin andreas romberg. the latter was a musical prodigy, having played the violin in concerts as early as his seventh year. at seventeen, his virtuosity was such that he was engaged for the concerts spirituels at paris. some years later he journeyed to bonn to be near his cousin bernhard, with whom he was intimate, and accepted a position in the elector's orchestra as violinist. he later went to vienna, then hamburg, and afterward became kapellmeister at gotha. he composed all kinds of music, instrumental and vocal, symphonies, operas, etc. his setting of schiller's "song of the bell" is well known at the present day, as well as the oratorio, "the transient and the eternal." he was made doctor of music by kiel university. bernhard romberg was a distinguished violoncellist. when his connection with the elector's orchestra ceased, he made a professional tour to italy and spain with his more famous cousin andreas and was very successful. in they came to vienna and gave a concert at which beethoven assisted. bernhard afterward was a professor in the paris conservatoire and later became kapellmeister at berlin. he was a composer of operas, concertos, etc. while he and beethoven were not in accord on the subject of musical composition, each disliking the other's works, there is no question but that his proximity to him at bonn, was one of the forces that had much to do with beethoven's artistic development. then there was franz ries, pupil of salomon, the distinguished violinist. ries had already achieved fame in vienna as soloist, and had been before the public since childhood. he was beethoven's teacher, as stated. we must not forget neefe, beethoven's former teacher, who was pianist, or simrock, all of whom formed a galaxy of _virtuosi_ and composers unequalled by any similar organization. beethoven greatly profited by his association with these chosen spirits, assimilating their experiences and endeavoring to emulate them. thus passed a few years pleasantly enough during this formative period at bonn, music in one form or another taking up most of his waking moments. he fell in love a few times, first with a mlle. de honrath of cologne, who visited the von breunings frequently and was their intimate friend. she had a bright, lively disposition, and like a true daughter of eve, took great pleasure in bantering him. there was also a miss westerhold who made a deep impression on him. both were the subject of conversation by him in after years. the visit of haydn, who with salomon made a short sojourn at bonn, on their return from london to vienna in july of , gave beethoven an opportunity for an interview with the great master, which had an important bearing on the young man's career. salomon was acquainted with the beethovens as he was a native of bonn. the fame of the young musician had reached his ears, and he brought about the meeting with haydn. beethoven at twenty-two, had, unlike so many promising children, fulfilled the promise of his youth. he was not only a distinguished performer: his compositions were also attracting attention in his circle. in honor of the distinguished guests, a breakfast was arranged at godesburg, a resort near bonn, at which some compositions of beethoven's were performed by the elector's orchestra. some of this music had been submitted to the master previously. haydn, who was in holiday humor, seems to have been specially attracted to it, and encouraged beethoven to continue. some of the sketch-books of the bonn period are in the british museum, and an examination of them is of interest as it shows his method of composing. beethoven all through life was a hard worker and a hard taskmaster to himself. he elaborated and worked over his first inspiration, polishing, cutting down, altering, making additions, never satisfied, always aiming after the attainment of his highest ideals, never considering himself, always placing his art first and personal comfort and convenience afterward. this is apparent in the sketch-books of this early date. his industry was extraordinary, although his work grew but slowly. it was elaborated bit by bit in much the same way in which nathaniel hawthorne built up his romances. haydn's approbation was an important link in the chain of circumstances that was soon to enable beethoven to leave for vienna. count waldstein was the moving spirit in this matter, the elector furnishing the funds. he knew that the artistic atmosphere of vienna would be of incalculable benefit to beethoven and encouraged him in the project. accordingly we find him setting out for vienna in , leaving bonn never to return to it even for a visit. chapter ii the morning of life thou, o god! who sellest us all good things at the price of labor. --leonardo da vinci. closely following his arrival in vienna, beethoven began studying composition with haydn, applying himself with great diligence to the work in hand; but master and pupil did not get along together very well. there were many dissonances from the start. it was not in the nature of things that two beings so entirely dissimilar in their point of view should work together harmoniously. beethoven, original, independent, iconoclastic, acknowledged no superior, without having as yet achieved anything to demonstrate his superiority; haydn, tied down to established forms, subservient, meek, was only happy when sure of the approbation of his superiors. his attitude toward those above him in rank was characterized by respect and deference; he probably expected something similar from beethoven toward himself. haydn was then at the height of his fame, courted and admired by all, and his patience was sorely tried by the insolence of his fiery young pupil. he nicknamed beethoven the grand mogul, and did not have much good to say of him to others. the pittance which he received for these lessons was no inducement to him, as he was in receipt of an income much beyond his requirements. the time given up to these lessons could have been better employed in composing. haydn and beethoven, however, were in a measure supplementary to one another as regards the life-work of each. haydn paved the way for beethoven, who was his successor in the large orchestral forms. he and also mozart were pioneers in the field which beethoven made peculiarly his own. haydn also directed beethoven's attention to the study of händel and bach, whose works beethoven always held most highly in esteem. it is true that beethoven, even in the old bonn days, was familiar to some extent with the works of these masters; but his opportunity for getting at this kind of music was limited in bonn. vienna, the musical center of the world at that time, was, as may be supposed, a much better field in this respect. the study of these profound works of genius under the leadership and eulogy of so prominent a musician as haydn had much to do with shaping beethoven's ideals. these masters gave an example of solidity and earnestness which is characteristic of their work. haydn and mozart, on the other hand, appealed to him in his lighter moods, in the play of fancy, in the capricious and humorous conceits of which he has given such fine examples in the symphonies and sonatas. the lessons to beethoven continued for a little over a year, or until haydn left on another visit to england in january of . so eager was he for advancement, that he took lessons from another teacher at the same time, carefully concealing the fact from haydn. beethoven always maintained that he had not learned much from him. strangely, haydn had no idea at this time or for some years after that his pupil would ever amount to much in musical composition. he lived long enough to find beethoven's position as a musician firmly established, but not long enough to witness his greatest triumphs. on the departure of haydn he began with albrechtsberger in composition, also having violin, and even vocal lessons from other masters. beethoven realized, on coming to vienna, more fully than before, the necessity for close application to his studies. though a finished performer, he knew but little of counterpoint, and the more purely scientific side of his art had been neglected. that he applied himself with all the ardor of his nature to his studies we know. they were given precedence over everything else. he even delayed for a long while writing a rondo which he had promised to eleonore von breuning and when he finally sent it, it was with an apology for not sending a sonata, which had also been promised. it is characteristic of beethoven that his teachers in general were not greatly impressed by him. we have seen how it was in the case of haydn. albrechtsberger was more pronounced in his disapproval. "he has learned nothing; he never will learn anything," was his verdict regarding beethoven. this was surely small encouragement. beethoven's original and independent way of treating musical forms brought on this censure. as he advanced in musical knowledge he took the liberty to think for himself; a very culpable proceeding with teachers of the stamp of albrechtsberger. the young man's intuitive faculties, the surest source of all knowledge according to schopenhauer, were developed to an abnormal degree. by the aid of this inner light he was able to see truer and farther than his pedantic old master, with the result that the pupil would argue out questions with him on subjects connected with his lessons which subverted all discipline, and well-nigh reversed their relative positions. beethoven's audacity--his self-confidence, is brought out still more strongly when we reflect on the distinguished position held by albrechtsberger, both as teacher and composer. he was director of music at st. stephen's and was in great demand as a teacher. some of his pupils became distinguished musicians, among them hümmel, seyfried and weigl. he excelled in counterpoint, and was a prolific composer, although his works are but little known at the present day. he was set in his ways, a strict disciplinarian, conservative to the backbone, and upward of sixty years of age. we can readily believe there were stormy times during these lessons. there is no doubt however, that beethoven learned a great deal from him, as is evident from the exercises still in existence from this period, embracing the various forms of fugue and counterpoint, simple, double, and triple, canon and imitation. he was thorough in his teaching and beethoven was eager to learn, so they had at least one point in common, and the pupil made rapid headway. but his originality and fertility in ideas, which showed itself at times in a disregard for established forms when his genius was hampered thereby--qualities which even in albrechtsberger's lifetime were to place his pupil on a pinnacle above all other composers of the period, were neither understood nor approved by the teacher. under the circumstances, it is not surprising that the lessons continued but little over a year. his studies in theory and composition seem to have come to an end with albrechtsberger; we hear of no other teacher having been engaged thereafter. shortly after beethoven came to vienna, his father died, and soon after the two brothers johann and caspar, having no ties to keep them in bonn, followed the elder brother, who kept a fatherly watch over them. they gave him no end of trouble for the rest of his life, but beethoven bore the burden willingly and was sincerely attached to them. all the honor and nobility of the family seems to have centered in him. on his arrival in vienna he carried letters of introduction from count waldstein and from the elector, which opened to him the doors of the best houses. his intrinsic worth did the rest. one of his earliest vienna friends was prince lichnowsky, a person who seems to have possessed a combination of all those noble qualities that go to make up the character of a gentleman. highly cultivated and enthusiastic on the subject of music, he had the penetration to see that in beethoven he had before him one of the elect of all time. the prince had been a pupil of mozart and an ardent admirer of the deceased master. providentially, beethoven appeared on the scene soon after mozart's decease, and received the devotion and admiration that had formerly been given mozart. in this he was ably seconded by his wife, who shared with him the admiration and reverential wonder which such highly endowed people would be apt to accord to a man of genius. one of the first acts of this princely couple was to give beethoven a pension of florins per year. this was but the beginning of unexampled kindness on their part. they followed this by giving him a home in their residence on the schotten bastion, and we find him well launched in the social life of the gayest capital in europe. this practical help was invaluable to beethoven, for with the aid which he had from the elector, it was almost enough to assure him independence. it not only increased his opportunities for study, but, his mind being free from care, he was enabled to profit more by his studies. the lichnowskys were older than beethoven and were childless. he was allowed to do as he pleased; a privilege of which he availed himself without hesitation. they entertained considerably and their social position was unexceptionable. they maintained a small orchestra for the performance of the music he liked and for his own compositions. he was always the honored guest, and met the best people of vienna. the devotion of the princess, in particular, was always in evidence. it can be readily understood that with such an original character as beethoven, headstrong and impatient of restraint, a pleasant smooth life was not to be expected. the arrangement would seem to have been an excellent one for him, but he did not so regard it. already at odds with the world, misunderstanding people and being misunderstood, he soon came to realize that a life of solitude was the only resource for a man constituted as he was. he never considered himself under any obligation to the prince, or rather, he acted as though he felt the obligation to be the other way. he acted independently from the start, taking his meals at a restaurant whenever it suited his convenience, and showing an ungovernable temper when interfered with in any way. but the kindness and patience of the princess never failed her; after any trouble it was she who smoothed the difficulty and restored harmony. she was like an indulgent mother to him; in her eyes he could do no wrong. prince lichnowsky was wholly unaccustomed to this sort of thing. it is certain that he never met with anything of the kind from mozart, and there were times when his patience was sorely tried by beethoven. the princess, with a sweetness and graciousness which beethoven appreciated, always made peace between them. he afterward said that her solicitude was carried to such a length that she wished to put him under a glass shade, "that no unworthy person might touch or breathe on me." of course this kind of thing only confirmed the young man in his course. it was kindness, but it was not wisdom. few people are so constituted as to be able to stand praise and adulation without the character suffering thereby. censure would have been much better for him. when the individual is attacked, when he is made to assume the defensive, he first discovers the vulnerable points in his armor, and as opportunity offers strengthens them. beethoven's ungovernable temper and apparent ingratitude are frequently commented on, but the ingratitude was only apparent. when he came to a knowledge of himself and discovered that he was in the wrong in any controversy or quarrel, and it must be admitted they were frequent enough all through his life, he would make amends for it so earnestly, with such vehement self-denunciation, and show such contrition, that it would be impossible for any of his friends to hold out against him. then there would be a short love-feast, during which the offended party would possibly be the recipient of a dedication from the master, and things would go on smoothly until the next break. the prince soon learned to make all sorts of concessions to his headstrong guest, and even went so far as to order his servant to give beethoven the precedence, in case he and beethoven were to ring at the same time. but beethoven did not like the new life. even the little restraint that it imposed was irksome to him, and the arrangement came to an end in about two years. but the friendship continued for many years. beethoven's opus is dedicated to the prince, as well as the grand sonata pathetique, and the second symphony, also the opus , consisting of nine variations, and the grand sonata in a flat. to the princess lichnowsky he dedicated opus , variations on "see the conquering hero comes." he also dedicated several of his compositions to count moritz lichnowsky, a younger brother of the prince. among the other friends of this period may be mentioned prince lobkowitz, who was an ardent admirer of beethoven, prince kinski, and also count browne to whose wife beethoven dedicated the set of russian variations. in acknowledgment of this honor, the count presented beethoven with a horse. he accepted it thankfully and then forgot all about it until some months after, when a large bill came in for its keep. there was also count brunswick and the baron von swieten, and most of the music-loving aristocracy of vienna, who it appears could not see enough of him. his music and his individuality charmed them and he was beset with invitations. baron von swieten was one of his earliest and staunchest friends. his love and devotion to music knew no bounds. he gave concerts at his residence with a full band, and produced music of the highest order, händel and sebastian bach being his favorites, the music being interpreted in the best manner. it is related that the old baron would keep beethoven after the others had left, making him play far into the night and would sometimes put him up at his own house so that he might keep him a little longer. a note from the baron to beethoven is preserved, in which he says, "if you can call next wednesday i shall be glad to see you. come at half-past eight in the evening with your nightcap in your pocket." these social successes, however, did not lead to idleness. he kept up the practise all his life of recording his musical thoughts in sketch-books, which latter are an object lesson to those engaged in creative work as showing the extraordinary industry of the man and his absorption in his work. many of these are preserved in the different museums, those in the british museum being a notable collection. some of the work of this period was afterwards utilized by being incorporated into the work of his riper years. beethoven's talents as a performer were freely acknowledged by all with whom he came in contact. when we come to the question of his creative talent, we can only marvel at the slowness with which his powers unfolded themselves. his opus appeared in , when he was twenty-four years old. there was nothing of the prodigy about him in composition. at twenty-four, mozart had achieved some of his greatest triumphs. beethoven's work however, shows intellectuality of the highest kind, and this, whether in music or literature, is not produced easily or spontaneously; it is of slow growth, the product of a ripened mind, attained only by infinite labor and constant striving after perfection, with the highest ideals before one. he had been trying his hand at composition for many years, but was always up to this time known as a performer rather than as a composer, although he frequently played his own compositions, and had as we have seen, great talent at improvising, which in itself is a species of composition, and an indication of musical abilities of the highest order. all the great masters of music delighted in the exercise of this talent, although it is now rarely attempted in public, chopin having been one of the last to exercise it. bach excelled in it, sometimes developing themes in the form of a fugue at a public performance. no preparation would be possible under these circumstances, as in many cases the theme would be given by one of the audience. this art of improvising, as these masters practised it,--who can explain it or tell how it is done? all we know is that the brain conceives the thought, and on the instant the fingers execute it in ready obedience to the impulse sent out by the brain, the result being a finished performance, not only so far as the melody is concerned, but in harmony and counterpoint as well. mozart, at the age of fourteen, at mantua, on his second italian tour, improvised a sonata and fugue at a public concert, taking the impressionable italians by storm, and such performances he repeated frequently in after years. beethoven excelled in this direction as greatly as he afterward did in composition, towering high over his contemporaries. czerny, pupil of beethoven and afterward teacher of liszt, states that beethoven's improvisations created the greatest sensation during the first few years of his stay in vienna. the theme was sometimes original, sometimes given by the auditors. in allegro movements there would be bravura passages, often more difficult than anything in his published works. sometimes it would be in the form of variations after the manner of his choral fantasia, op. , or the last movement of the choral symphony. all authorities agree as to beethoven's genius in improvising. his playing was better under these circumstances than when playing a written composition, even when it was written by himself. once hümmel undertook a contest with beethoven in improvising. after he had been playing for some time beethoven interrupted him with the question, "when are you going to begin?" it is needless to say that beethoven, when his turn came to play, distanced the other so entirely that there was no room for comparison. chapter iii the new path i tremble to the depths of my soul and ask my dæmon: "why this cup to me?" --wagner. life at last has found a meaning. --wagner: _letter to frau wille_. reference has already been made to the fact that beethoven's opus was published in , something like three years after taking up his residence in vienna, and when he was twenty-four years of age. it consists of three trios for piano and strings. when haydn returned from london and heard these trios, the master criticised one of them and advised him not to publish it. beethoven thought this particular one the best of the three, and others concur with him in this opinion. shortly after, he published his opus , consisting of three sonatas dedicated to haydn, besides variations and smaller pieces. but this does not by any means give the amount of his compositions for this period, some of which were not published until many years afterward. all this time, beethoven, though playing frequently at the houses of his aristocratic friends, had not yet made his appearance in public, but about the time that his opus appeared, he played at a concert given in aid of the widow's fund of the artists' society. he composed for this occasion a grand concerto (opus ) in c major for piano and orchestra, taking the piano part himself. it was finished on the day preceding that on which the concert was held, the copyists waiting in another room for their parts. at the rehearsal, the piano being one-half note out of tune, he transposed it into c sharp, playing it without the notes. very soon after, he appeared again in public, at a concert given for the benefit of mozart's widow, when he played one of mozart's concertos. the beginning once made, he appeared rather frequently as a performer, not only in vienna, but extended his trips the next year as far as berlin, where he encountered hümmel. but beethoven's mind was always turned toward composition. it had been the aim of his life, even at bonn, to become a great creative artist. for this he had left his native city, and the larger opportunities for musical culture afforded by his life in vienna must have directed his thoughts still more strongly into this channel. an important social event of the period was the annual ball of the artists' society of vienna. süsmayer, pupil and intimate friend of mozart, the composer of several of the "mozart masses," had composed music for this ball and beethoven was asked to contribute something likewise, with the result that he composed twelve waltzes and twelve minuets for it. he also had in hand at the same time piano music, songs, and studies in orchestral composition. nothing which he produced in these years, however, gave any forecast of what he would eventually attain to. this is paralleled in the case of bach, who, up to his thirtieth year was more famous as a performer than as composer. beethoven's earlier compositions were regarded as the clever product of an ambitious young musician. although later in life, he all but repudiated the published work of these years, some of the thoughts from the sketch-books of this period were utilized in the work of his best years. he acquired a habit early in life of carrying a note-book when away from his rooms, in which he recorded musical ideas as they came to him. his brain teemed with them; these he entered indiscriminately, good and bad, assorting them later, discarding some, altering others, seldom retaining a musical thought exactly as it was first presented to his consciousness. music became the one absorbing passion of his life. it took the place of wife and children; it was of more importance to him than home or any other consideration. his compositions show continual progress toward artistic perfection to the end of his life, and this was attained only by infinite labor. it may not be out of place here to reflect on the essentially unselfish character of the man of genius. he lives and strives, not for himself, but for others; he pursues an objective end only. among the forces making for the regeneration of mankind, he is foremost. there is little of importance to record concerning beethoven for the few years following the publication of his opus . he continued to perform occasionally in public, and also gave a few lessons, but his time was taken up with study and composition for the most part. it was a period of earnest endeavor, the compositions of which consist of the better class of piano music, as well as trios, quartets and occasional songs, his work being much in the style of mozart and haydn; the quality of emotional power and intellectuality not yet having appeared to any extent. his great productions, those that show his genius well developed, are coincident with the beginning of the nineteenth century. the years and were an epoch with him as a composer. he was now thirty, and was beginning to show of what stuff he was made. these two years saw the production of some of the imperishable works of the master, namely: the first symphony, the oratorio _christus am oelberg_, and the prometheus ballet music. it is probable that he had given earnest thought to these works for some years previously, and had had them in hand for two years or more before their appearance. the first symphony calls for special mention as in it the future symphonist is already foreshadowed. he was almost a beginner at orchestral work, but it marks an epoch in this class of composition, raising it far beyond anything of the kind that had yet appeared. viewed in the light of later ones it is apparent that he held himself in; that he was tentative compared with his subsequent ones. considered as a symphony and compared with what had been produced in this class up to that time, it is a daring innovation and was regarded as such by the critics. he broadened and enlarged the form and gave it a dignity that was unknown to it before this time. beethoven's sonatas are as superior to those that had preceded them as are his symphonies. he enlarged them, developed the scherzo from the minuet and made them of more importance in every way. with haydn the minuet was gay and lively, a style of music well adapted to haydn's particular temperament and character; but beethoven in the scherzo carried the idea further than anything of which haydn had dreamed. before beethoven's first symphony appeared, he had composed a dozen or more sonatas and was in a position to profit by the experience gained thereby. he felt his way in these, the innovations all turning out to be improvements. one has only to compare the sonatas of mozart and haydn with those of beethoven to be at once impressed with the enormous importance of the latter. as has been stated, the experience gained with the sonata was utilized in the first symphony, each succeeding one showing growth. beethoven's artistic instinct was correct, but he did not trust to this alone. he proceeded carefully, weighing the matter well, and his judgment was usually right. there is evidence from his exercise books that he had this symphony in mind as early as . it was first produced on april , , at a concert which he gave for his own benefit at the burg theatre. on this occasion he improvised on the theme of the austrian national hymn, recently composed by haydn, well known in this country through its insertion in the hymnal of the protestant episcopal church, under the title of austria. beethoven's hearing was sufficiently intact at this time to enable him to hear his symphonies performed, an important matter while his judgment was being formed. the prometheus ballet music, opus , consisting of overture, introduction and sixteen numbers, was first performed early in , and achieved immediate success, so much so that it was published at once as pianoforte music. in addition to the prometheus, there is to be credited to this period the c minor concerto, opus , a septet for strings and wind, opus , a number of quartets, and other compositions. the _christus am oelberg_ (the mount of olives), opus , beethoven's first great choral work, has already been mentioned. in this oratorio jesus appears as one of the characters, for which he has been severely criticised. his judgment was at fault in another respect also in having the concert stage too much in mind. the composition at times is operatic in character, while the text calls for a mode of treatment solemn and religious, as in passion-music. if set to some other text, this work would be well nigh faultless; the recitatives are singularly good, and there is a rich orchestration. it is reminiscent of händel and prophetic of wagner. the hallelujah chorus in particular is a magnificent piece of work. as is the case with the messiah, its beauties as well as its defects are so apparent, so pronounced, that the latter serve as a foil to bring out its good qualities in the strongest relief. it was first performed in the spring of , in vienna, on which occasion beethoven played some of his other compositions. it was repeated three times within the year. other contributions of are two grand sonatas, the "pastorale" in d, opus , the andante of which is said to have been a favorite of beethoven's and was often played by him, and the one in a flat, opus , dedicated to prince karl lichnowsky and containing a grand funeral march. then there are the sonatas in e flat and c sharp minor, published together as opus , and designated quasi una fantasia. the latter is famous as the "moonlight" sonata, dedicated to julia guicciardi. neither of these names were authorized by beethoven. besides these, there are the two violin sonatas, a minor, and f, dedicated to count fries, and lesser compositions. the second symphony (in d) is the chief production of . in addition there are the two piano sonatas in g, and d minor, opus , and three sonatas for violin and piano, opus , the latter dedicated to the emperor of russia. they form a striking example of beethoven's originality and the force of his genius, and must have been caviar to his public. the second symphony is a great advance on the first, and consequently a greater departure from the advice laid down to him by others. his independence and absolute faith in himself and the soundness of his judgment are clearly illustrated here. the composition is genial and in marked contrast to the gloomy forebodings that filled his mind at this time. the second movement, the larghetto, is interesting on account of the introduction of conversation among the groups of instruments, an innovation which he exploited to a much greater extent in subsequent works. in the larghetto one group occasionally interrupts the other, giving it piquancy. there is a rhythm and swing to it which makes it the most enjoyable of the four movements. the critics hacked it again as might have been expected, the result being that the next one diverged still more from their idea of what a good symphony should be. it was at this period that life's tragedy began to press down on him. he had left youth behind, and had entered on a glorious manhood. he was the idol of his friends, although his fame as a great composer had yet to be established. the affirmations of his genius were plainly apparent to him, if not to others, and he knew that he was on the threshold of creating imperishable masterpieces. a great future was opening out before him, which, however, was in great part to be nullified by his approaching deafness and other physical ailments. his letters at this time to his friend dr. wegeler, at bonn, and to others, are full of misgivings. but not alone is this unhappy frame of mind to be attributed to approaching deafness or any mere physical ailment. the psychological element also enters into the account and largely dominates it. the extraordinary character of the first and second symphonies seem to have had a powerful effect on his trend of thought making him introspective and morbidly conscientious. in a mind constituted as was his, it is quite within bounds to assume that the revelation of his genius was largely the cause of the morbid self-consciousness which appears in his letters of the period, and in the "will." he recognized to the full how greatly superior this work was to anything of the kind that had yet appeared; singularly the knowledge made him humble. what he had accomplished thus far was only an earnest of the great work he was capable of, but to achieve it meant a surrender of nearly all the ties that bound him to life. the human qualities in him rebelled at the prospect. with the clairvoyance superinduced by much self-examination, he was able to forecast the vast scope of his powers, and the task that was set him. the whole future of the unapproachable artist that he was destined to become, was mirrored out to him almost at the beginning of his career, but he saw it only with apprehension and dread. there were periods when a narrower destiny would have pleased him more. "unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be required." he at times recoiled from the task, and would have preferred death instead. this was probably the most unhappy period of his life. he had yet to learn the hardest lesson of all, resignation, renunciation. that harsh mandate enunciated by goethe in faust: "entbären sollst du, sollst entbären," had been thrust on him with a force not to be gainsaid or evaded. with such a man but one issue to the conflict was possible: obedience to the higher law. in a conversation held with his friend krumpholz, he expressed doubts as to the value of his work hitherto. "from now on i shall strike out on a new road," he said. he is now dominated by a greater seriousness; his mission has been shown him. adieu now to the light-hearted mode of life characteristic of his friends and of the time. his new road led him into regions where they could not follow; from now on he was more and more unlike his fellows, more misunderstood, isolated, a prophet in the wilderness. placed here by providence specially for a unique work, he at first does not seem to have understood it in this light, and reached out, the spirit of the man, after happiness, occasional glimpses of which came to him, as it does to all sooner or later. he soon found, however, that happiness was not intended for him, or rather, that he was not intended for it. something higher and better he could have, but not this. on coming to vienna, and while living with prince lichnowsky, he made so much of a concession to public opinion as to buy a court suit, and he even took dancing lessons, but he never learned dancing, never even learned how to wear the court suit properly, and soon gave up both in disgust. the principle on which he now conducted his life was to give his genius full play, to obey its every mandate, to allow no obstacle to come in the way of its fullest development. that this idea controlled him throughout life, is apparent in many ways, but most of all in his journal. "make once more the sacrifice of all the petty necessities of life for the glory of thy art. god before all," he wrote in , when beginning the mass in d. all sorts of circumstances and influences were required to isolate him from the world to enable him the better to do his appointed work. probably no other musician ever made so complete a surrender of all impedimenta for the sake of his art as did beethoven. music as an art does not conduce to renunciation, since its outward expression always partakes more or less of the nature of a festival. the claims of society come more insistently into the life of the musician than in that of other art-workers, the painter or literary man, for instance, whose work is completed in the isolation of his study. the musician, on the contrary, completes his work on the stage. he must participate in its rendering. he is, more than any other, beset by social obligations; he perforce becomes to a certain extent gregarious, all of which has a tendency to dissipate time and energy. it is only by a great effort that he can isolate himself; that he can retain his individuality. beethoven's reward on these lines was great in proportion to his victory over himself. chapter iv heroic symphony ach, der menschliche intellekt! ach "genie"! es ist nicht so gar viel einen "faust" eine schopenhauerische philosophie, eine eroika gemacht zu haben. --friederich nietzshe. the immediate fruit of this mental travail was a sudden growth or expansion of his creative powers. this is apparent in his work, marking the beginning of the second period. his compositions now suggest thought. there is a fecundating power in them which generates thought, and it is in the moral nature that this force is most apparent. his work now begins to be a vital part of himself, the spiritual essence, communicating to his followers somewhat of his own strength and force of character. once having entered on the new path, he reached, in the third symphony, the pinnacle of greatness almost at a bound. he was now, at thirty-four, at the height of his colossal powers. his titanic genius in its swift development showed an ability almost preternatural. one immortal work of genius succeeded another with marvelous rapidity. the third symphony calls for more than passing notice. beethoven's altruism is well known. the brotherhood of man was a favorite theme with him. by the aid of his mighty intellect and his intuitional powers, he saw more clearly than others the world's great need. the inequalities in social conditions were more clearly marked in those times than now. the french revolution had set people thinking. liberty and equality was what they were demanding. beethoven personally had nothing to gain and everything to risk by siding with the people. all his personal friends were of the aristocracy. it was this class which fostered the arts, music in particular. from the time that beethoven came to vienna as a young man, up to the end of his life, he enjoyed one or more pensions given him by members of the upper classes. but his sympathies were with the people. by honoring napoleon with the dedication of the third symphony, he would have antagonized the imperial family, and perhaps many of the aristocracy, but this phase of the question may not have occurred to him, and if it had, it would not have deterred him. beethoven's attitude toward napoleon could have had no other construction placed upon it than that of strong partisanship, since there was no artistic bond to unite them. the arch-enemy of imperialism, as he was considered at this time, the mightiest efforts of the young corsican had hitherto been directed specially against austria. beethoven did not approve of war; he expressed himself plainly on this point in after years, but at this period considered it justifiable and necessary as a means of abolishing what remained of feudal authority. austria had been the first to feel the iron hand of napoleon. his first important military achievement, and what is generally conceded to be the greatest in his entire military career, was his campaign against the austrians in italy, which took place in the spring of , shortly after his marriage. his victories over them first gave him fame, not only in france, but throughout europe. within a month from the time that he took command in the italian campaign, he won six victories over them, giving the french army the command of the whole range of the alps. within a year he had driven the austrians out of italy, many thousands of prisoners were taken, ten thousand men had been killed or wounded, fifty-five pieces of cannon had been taken, besides rich provinces, which he looted to enrich france. he pursued his campaign into austria, getting to within ninety miles of vienna with his army, where he dictated terms of peace to the emperor, which were highly advantageous to france. appalled by these catastrophies, the court was even preparing to flee from vienna and was arranging for the safe carriage of the treasure, when the emperor accepted napoleon's terms. the humiliation to austria was accentuated by the fact that her armies were nearly twice that of france. they were also in good condition, while the french armies were ragged and half starved. with this inferior equipment bonaparte humbled the most haughty nation in europe in the space of a year. he defeated them again in , at marengo, and was at all times their arch-enemy. all this happened some years before the period of which we are writing. beethoven regarded napoleon as a liberator, a savior, on account of his success in restoring order out of chaos in france. it showed considerable moral courage on his part to come out so plainly for napoleon. a broader question than patriotism, however, was here involved. patriotism seeks the good of a small section. altruism embraces the good of all, thus including patriotism. the idea of writing the symphony to napoleon may have been suggested to beethoven by general bernadotte, who was then the ambassador of the french at vienna. he and count moritz lichnowsky were intimate friends and saw a good deal of beethoven at that time. the three young men no doubt discussed social conditions and politics, as well as music, and it would have been an easy task for the general, who had served under napoleon, to excite beethoven's enthusiasm for the liberator of france. in after years, when general bernadotte became king of sweden, he still retained his interest in the events of this period. this symphony was the best work which beethoven had yet accomplished; a work the grandeur and sublimity of which must have been a surprise to himself. it was conceived in the spirit of altruism, to show his appreciation of the man whom he believed was destined more than any other to uplift humanity. in the quality of its emotional expression, and also in its dimensions, it far exceeded anything of the kind that had yet appeared. beethoven himself advised, on account of its great length, that it be placed at the beginning of a program rather than at its end. it is unique as a symphony, just as napoleon was unique as a man. on finishing the work he put the name of bonaparte on the title-page. bonaparte ludwig van beethoven. with perfect propriety the concept is here established that two great men are before the world, napoleon and beethoven, and that the latter is as great in his own province as was napoleon in his, each being the exponent of a new order of things, co-equal in the achievement of great deeds. posterity, in exalting the one and debasing the other, shows how modest beethoven was in the matter. he was on the point of sending it to paris when the news was brought him by his pupil ries, that napoleon was declared emperor. in a rage beethoven tore off the title-page containing the dedication, and threw it to the floor. "the man will become a tyrant and will trample all human rights under foot. he is no more than an ordinary man!" was beethoven's exclamation. he finally gave it the name of sinfonia eroica, in memory of a great man. it is dedicated to prince lobkowitz, who had it performed before prince louis ferdinand. the prince was greatly taken with it, at once recognizing its worth and insisting on hearing it three times in succession the same evening. this year saw the production of two of beethoven's most famous pianoforte sonatas, the waldstein, already referred to in this work, dedicated to the friend of his youth, count waldstein, and the appassionata, dedicated to count von brunswick, sublime conceptions that glow with the fire of genius. mention must also be made of the famous kreutzer sonata, opus , for piano and violin, which was completed prior to the third symphony. this great work was originally intended for an english violinist resident at vienna by the name of bridgetower, and was first performed at a morning concert at the augarten in may of . beethoven was at the piano and bridgetower played the violin part. beethoven had completed a portion of the work the previous year, but the violin part had to be played almost before the ink was dry, the piano accompaniment being made up by beethoven as he went along. notwithstanding this entire want of preparation, the value of the work was so apparent that it produced an encore. beethoven changed his mind about the dedication, and a year or two later this distinction was conferred on a friend, rudolph kreutzer, violinist and composer, who had come to vienna in with bernadotte, and as a matter of course, became acquainted with beethoven. kreutzer had been a protégé of marie antoinette; afterward he was taken up by napoleon, and still later by louis xviii, each of whom he served in his musical capacity. the kreutzer sonata has had a wide notoriety given it through tolstoy's work of that name. chapter v fidelio in the mind as in a field, some things may be sown and carefully brought up, yet that which springs naturally is most pleasing. --tacitus. the year saw beethoven hard at work in a field new to him,--operatic composition. it had probably been in his mind for some years to write an opera. in those days almost every composer wrote operas, and to have written a successful one carried with it, not only a certain prestige, but substantial rewards in a financial sense. outside of the church but little opportunity was afforded the general public to gratify its love for music other than in opera. orchestral concerts were comparatively rare,--song recitals unknown. the development of the orchestra was just beginning, through the genius of beethoven, and the viennese were to a great extent, still unconscious of its importance, as a means of musical expression. the many symphonies, quartets, and other forms of chamber-music of haydn, mozart and contemporaneous composers, were for the most part written for private performance at musical functions in the houses of the nobility, or for friends of the composers. beethoven believed that if he were to write one or two operas, his income would be reinforced to such an extent as to enable him to give his attention wholly to the production of symphonies and masses, a style of composition to which he was inclined by temperament. in the early symphonies we already have a foreshadowing of what he could do in the production of great orchestral music, the desire for which in later years controlled him wholly. like most men of genius beethoven had little regard for money, and until middle age was reached, never thought of saving any. he valued it only in so far as he could use it for himself or others. it may be said in passing that he gave it away freely, glad to be of service to others. his income, augmented by his copyrights, did not keep pace with his expenditures; when a friend needed money and he had none, he would give him a composition instead, which the other would turn into cash. the manager of the theatre, an der wien, had, before this, made overtures to beethoven to write an opera, and he went so far as to take up his quarters in the theatre, preparatory to this work; but a change in the management made it necessary to give up the idea for the time being. in , the offer in regard to the opera was renewed, and work was begun upon it. it took up a large part of his time until its production in november of . it is probable that he took more pains with this work than was devoted to any other of his compositions with the exception of the mass in d. his capacity for work was extraordinary, particularly at this time, and the delight that he experienced in producing these masterpieces was still new to him, which in itself was an incentive to great exertion. his approaching deafness also had a good deal to do with his great activity. the ailment had progressed steadily from the time of its first appearance; at the time of which we write he had abandoned all hope of any aid from medical treatment; by throwing himself heart and soul into his work, he could forget for the time the misfortune which was closing in on him. he feared that a period of absolute deafness might set in when he would be unable to hear any of his works, and the desire must have been great to accomplish as much as possible before that time should come. beethoven does not seem to have been very hard to suit in the way of a libretto at this time. he probably gave the matter very little consideration except on one point,--its morality. his high ideals, and his innate purity of mind, caused him to dislike and condemn the sort of story which was usually worked up into operatic libretti in those days, in which intrigue and illicit love formed the staple material. he expressed himself strongly on this subject, even criticising mozart for having set don giovanni to music, saying that it degraded the art. so strongly did he feel about it that he seems to have thought almost any libretto would do, provided the moral sentiment contained in it were sufficiently prominent. later, the experience which he gained with fidelio showed him that the libretto of an opera is indeed a very important matter; then he went to the other extreme, and was unable to find anything which would satisfy him, although many libretti were submitted to him at various times during the remainder of his life. a quantity of them were found among his papers after his death. bouilly's libretto leonore, which had been set to music by two different composers before beethoven took it in hand, was finally selected, and sonnleithner was employed to translate it from the french. the name of the opera was changed to fidelio, but the various overtures written for it are still known as the leonore overtures. beethoven took up his quarters in the theatre again as soon as the libretto was ready for him and went to work at it with a will. but he was not at his best in operatic writing,--this symphonist, this creator of great orchestral forms. the opera was an alien soil to him; composition--never an easy matter to beethoven, was more difficult than ever in the case of fidelio. the sketch-books show the many attempts and alterations in the work, at its every stage. in addition, he was handicapped at the outset by an unsuitable libretto. the spanish background, for one thing, was a clog, as his trend of thought and sympathies were thoroughly german. but this is a slight matter compared with the forbidding nature of the drama itself, with its prison scenes, its dungeons and general atmosphere of gloom. one dreary scene after another is unfolded, and the action never reaches the dignity of tragedy nor the depth of pathos which should be awakened by the portrayal of suffering. we are unable to feel that the two principal characters are martyrs; as one tiresome scene succeeds another, we come to care nothing whatever about them and are unable to sympathize with them in their suffering or rejoice in their deliverance. the first requisite in opera, it would appear, is that it be pervaded by an atmosphere of romanticism. other things are necessary; the libretto must have dramatic situations; but above all, the romantic element must prevail. if it is difficult for the listener to become interested in an opera with such a libretto as is fidelio, it must be doubly so for the composer who undertakes the task of writing music for it. a dull story hinders the play of fancy; the imagination remains dormant, and the product under such conditions has the air of being forced. the musician is in bonds. musically, it is a work of surpassing beauty; but there is a dissonance between music and libretto which gives the impression of something lacking; there is not the harmony which we expect in a work of this kind. wagner has taught us better on these points. the music of fidelio has force and grandeur; some of it has a sensuous beauty that reminds us of mozart at his best. had beethoven's choice fallen to a better libretto, the result might have been an altogether better opera. fidelio affords a good instance of the fact that operatic composition, considered strictly as music, is not the highest form in which the art can be portrayed, and that, in itself, it is not so strictly confined to the domain of music as is the symphony, or the various forms of sacred music (the oratorio or the mass, for instance). it may, in the right hands, come to be a greater work of art, viewed in its entirety, than either of the forms just mentioned. in the hands of a man like wagner, it undoubtedly is, but in such a case the result is achieved by means other than those obtained through the domain of music. much is contributed by the literary quality of the libretto, its poetic and romantic qualities, its dramatic possibilities, as well as its stage setting and the ability of the singers to act well their parts. an opera is a combination of several arts, in which music is often subordinated. not so in the case of sacred music, in which the entire portrayal rests absolutely on the musician's art. of the works of the great composers who wrote both classes of music, those which are devoted to religious subjects will be found vastly superior in almost every instance, with the one exception of mozart's and in the case of this composer, his mass in b flat and the requiem will bear comparison with any of his operas. with no regular income, mozart was compelled to write operas in order to live, but his preference was for sacred music. haydn, on the other hand, spent no time on grand opera. through his connection with the princes esterhazy, which gave him an assured income from his twenty-ninth year to the end of his life, he was in a position to write only the style of music to which he was best adapted by his talents and preference. above all other considerations, the opera must be made to pay. the composers expected to make money from it, and its presentation was always accompanied by enormous expense. everything conspired to get them to write what their audience would like, without considering too closely whether this was the best they were capable of producing. in those times all that people required of an opera was that it should entertain. if we compare the best opera before wagner's time with such works as bach's grand mass in b minor, or beethoven's mass in d, we will readily see that the composers of those times put their best thought into their sacred compositions. bach, protestant that he was, but with the vein of religious mysticism strong in him, which is usually to be found in highly endowed artistic natures (wagner is an instance, also liszt), was attracted by the beautiful text of the mass, its stateliness and solemnity, and the world is enriched by an imperishable work of genius. it is significant that he wrote no opera, and beethoven only one. both composers probably regarded the opera as being less important artistically than the other great forms in which music is embodied. in operatic composition, as we have seen, the musicians of those times were too apt to write down to their public. no such temptation came to them in their religious works, as no income was expected from this source. here the composer could be independent of his public, so this branch of the art was developed to a much greater degree than the other. a high standard was thus reached and maintained in religious music. beethoven by temperament was not adapted to operatic composition. he was too much the philosopher, his aims being higher than were desired by an operatic audience of that time. he could best express himself in orchestral music, and his genius drew him irresistibly in this direction. this predilection appears throughout his works. in his purely orchestral compositions, his genius has absolute freedom. when he came to opera he found himself constantly hampered by new and untried conditions. he soon found that opera has to do with something besides music. having once begun, however, he carried it through, perforce, by almost superhuman efforts. wagner, poet that he was, builded better. he had the temperament for opera. he was adapted to operatic composition as if he had been specially created for the purpose. here was the union of the poet and the musician in the same individual. knowing the importance of the drama, and aided by his literary instinct, he was able to select interesting subjects which were well adapted to musical treatment. it was the spirit of romanticism pervading these dramas of wagner's which enabled him to weave such music about them. we cannot imagine him making good music to a poor libretto,--with wagner the libretto and the music were of equal importance, the two usually having been produced simultaneously; his music fits the words so well that no other would be desired. early in the summer, beethoven left his quarters in the theatre and went into the country nearby, where he could work with more freedom than in the city. no labor seems to have been too great for him in the composition of this work. the opera was finished early in the fall of , and as soon as he returned to town he began with the rehearsals. then he had almost as much work as in writing the opera, everything possible having been done to worry him. his simplicity and want of tact seem to have been very much in evidence at this time; he was like a child compared with the astute men of affairs with whom he now came in contact. his greatest difficulty, however, was with his singers. a man following so faithfully the intimations of his genius as did beethoven, withal a man of such striking individuality and force of character, would be sure to disregard to some extent the capacity of his performers. his singers made no end of trouble, stating that their parts were unsingable and asking for alterations. some of the members of the orchestra also complained about technical difficulties, but the master was obdurate, refusing to make any changes. instead of placating them, by which means only, a good performance was possible as things went at that time, he overrode their wishes and would make no concessions whether in large or in small matters. to beethoven, music as an art was the most serious fact in his existence; to the others, it was no more than a means of enjoyment or of subsistence. his point of view being so different from that of the others, it is not surprising that he was always at odds with them. trifles often annoyed him more than gross derelictions. at one of the rehearsals the third bassoon player was absent and beethoven was enraged. that anything short of illness or disaster should keep this man from his post was a piece of insolence, an insult to the art. prince lobkowitz was present, and in the effort to pacify him, made light of the affair; he told him that this man's absence did not matter much, as the first and second bassoonists were present, a line of argument that served to include the prince in beethoven's wrath. hofsekretär mahler relates the dénouement of the incident. on the way home, after the rehearsal, as he and beethoven came in sight of the lobkowitz platz, beethoven, with the delinquent third bassoonist still in his mind, could not resist crossing the platz, and shouting into the great gateway of the palace, "lobkowitzscher esel" (ass of a lobkowitz). meanwhile, the french army, with napoleon at its head, was advancing on vienna and almost at the time that the opera was ready for presentation, took possession of the city. this was on november , . the imperial family, the members of the nobility and every one else who could do so, had left the city on the approach of the french forces, but this did not discourage beethoven. the opera was ready and must be presented. he could not have expected much of an audience as the very people who were interested in the subject had left the city. it was actually put on the stage on november , the audience consisting, it appears, mainly of french officers. it is not to be supposed that such a work would appeal to them, as there was no ballet, and the melodrama, instead of containing good jokes and risque anecdotes, was simply the tale of a wife's devotion. no doubt the intendant of the theatre, as well as beethoven and the whole company were anathematized freely. it was continued for three nights and then withdrawn. the work involved was enormous, both in the composition and in getting it ready for the stage. the rewards during beethoven's lifetime were always slow. in its original form the opera was considered too long for the patience of the average audience, and also in parts too abstruse, which latter was probably its chief fault. the idea of revising it does not seem to have occurred to beethoven, even after it was withdrawn; it required the utmost diplomacy on the part of his friends, prince lichnowsky in particular, to bring this about. beethoven had taken extraordinary pains with it up to the time of its representation. to make alterations now would be to acknowledge himself in error. the opera, however, was the most ambitious work he had yet attempted; to make it a success it was necessary that it be revised and altered considerably. with this object in view, beethoven was invited by prince lichnowsky to meet some friends at his house to discuss the opera. the singers, roeke and meyer, who appeared in the cast, were of the party; also stephen von breuning and sonnleithner. the score was studied at the piano and freely criticised. when one of the singers plainly stated that several pieces should be omitted entire and other portions shortened, beethoven's rage knew no bounds. the conflict lasted well into the night, beethoven at bay, with all his friends pitted against him. he defended every attack on this child of his brain, the latest product of his genius, and at first refused any compromise, but better counsels finally prevailed, aided probably by the princess lichnowsky, who so often assumed the part of peacemaker. beethoven consented to some important excisions, and an entire revision of the opera. stephen von breuning, who was somewhat of a poet, and had considerable literary ability, was commissioned to make the desired changes in the libretto, cutting it down to two acts from three. the conference lasted until one in the morning, when, the point being gained, the prince ordered supper to be brought in. being germans and musicians, they finished the night in the utmost good humor, beethoven being the best natured of all, once his consent to the revision had been gained. he immediately set about writing a new overture for it, and that imperishable work of genius, the third leonore overture appeared. here we have an epitome of the succeeding music of the opera, foreshadowing in dramatic language, the grief and despair, and the final deliverance and joy of the principal actors of the drama. wagner says of this work, "it is no longer an overture, but the mightiest of dramas in itself." here beethoven could use his accustomed freedom once more. he was back again in the familiar realm of instrumental music, and the storm and stress of recent experiences no doubt supplied some of the material which went into it. it is frequently used as a concert work. the opera was produced the following spring in the revised form and with the new overture. the wisdom of the revision was at once apparent, but a quarrel between beethoven and the intendant of the theatre led to its final withdrawal after two representations. it did not see the light again until . it was about this time that beethoven first met cherubini, whose operas were favorites with the vienna public. the italian master made a stay of several months' duration in vienna, and attended a performance of fidelio. chapter vi the eternal feminine if that beauty of shiraz would take my heart in hand, i would give for her dark mole samarkand and bokhara. --hafiz. in beethoven's time, vienna was the gayest capital in europe, the paris of the world. the population was , , every nationality in europe being represented. it was cosmopolitan in the widest sense. the germans of course predominated; then there were hungarians, italians, sclavs, sczechs, magyars, poles and turks. the italian element was particularly strong, and these southern and eastern races with their tendency toward art in any form, and the particular bias of the italians toward music had an important influence on the germans, modifying their seriousness. the theatres were splendidly equipped and there were at least four large orchestras. concerts for the general public were not common, the orchestras being required for operatic performances in private houses, which were splendidly given, as well as for state balls and other functions. the chief business of the well-to-do (and vienna was a rich city), was to gratify a love for music. the cultivated class lived a life of elegant leisure, music being its alpha and omega. as already stated, it was an established custom with the wealthy to maintain a small orchestra, consisting of four or five pieces for the performance of chamber-music in their homes. prince karl lichnowsky gave concerts every friday evening, frequently taking a part in the orchestra. regular weekly concerts were given by baron von swieten, prince lobkowitz, count rasoumowsky and many others. it is stated that at this period there were ten private theatres in vienna, each with its complement of actors. it was a common occurrence to give operettas at these private theatres,--the ordinary parts being taken by amateurs. how could they, we naturally ask, get an audience, when so many performances were in progress, and how could the people get around to so many places? the answer is: these performances were given daily, including sunday, and at all hours of the day, some concerts being given as early as six o'clock in the morning. it was indeed a "golden age for beethoven," as schindler remarks. thayer gives a list of twenty-one great houses open to beethoven, nine of which belonged to princes. the young musician was often the guest of honor at the various musical functions given by these people, and received much attention from illustrious persons who were attracted to him by the force of his character as well as his genius. not in any degree a society man, rough in exterior and careless of appearance, he was sought after by the most exclusive of vienna society. that a man of such force and originality, such independence, should have won the lifelong friendship of those of his own sex, goes without saying. his very scorn for the conventions and refinements of life, the manliness which was reflected in his every act, in the tones of his voice and the expression of his face, all this, united to such talents, would be sure to win the enthusiastic admiration of his fellow-men. but that the beautiful society women of the capital should have been attracted to a man so uncouth may at first sight seem surprising, until we consider that he attracted them in spite of these drawbacks and on account of other qualities, such as his sensibility, his earnestness and devotion to his art, and the wealth of his emotional and intellectual nature. he thoroughly enjoyed standing so well socially with these ladies, who in family connections were above him, but who were willing to sit at his feet in homage to his genius. beginning with hero worship on the part of these devotees, the sentiment usually developed into the more intimate relation of friendship or love. the "ewig weibliche" appears constantly in his music and was always in his life. he formed many romantic attachments which may not always have been platonic, but they were always pure. beethoven had as chivalrous a regard for women as had any knight of the middle ages. among those with whom he became intimate are the baroness ertmann, the countess erdödy, the sisters of the count of brunswick and many others. it is interesting to note the affectionate familiarity which these ladies permitted him. taking into account the extreme sensibility of the artistic temperament and the sentimental character of the germans, it is still surprising to meet with a letter to the countess erdödy, which he begins: "liebe, liebe, liebe, liebe, liebe gräfin" ("dear, dear, dear, dear, dear countess"), although the letter itself is simple enough and ends: "ihr wahrer freund und verehrer." he begins another letter to this lady in a strain courtly and dignified, in marked contrast to the excessive warmth of the previous example: "alles gute und schöne meiner lieben, verehrten, mir theure freundin, von ihrem wahren und verehrenden freund." the countess erdödy, who is described as being witty, cultivated and beautiful, exercised a very strong fascination on the susceptible heart of our master, and on her side, she seems to have been powerfully drawn to him. the friendship lasted many years. music, the bond that united them, sanctified their intimacy and kept it always on a high level. beethoven lived at her house for a time. he used to allude to her as his father confessor. madame erdödy erected in honor of beethoven, in the park of one of her seats in hungary, a temple, the entrance to which is decorated with a characteristic inscription expressing her homage to the great composer. later in life she was banished and died in munich. the baroness ertmann was also a good friend to beethoven. he called on her frequently and her ability to interpret his works acceptably must have cemented the friendship between them. others with whom he came in contact were the countess babette de keglivics (princess odeschalchi), and julia guicciardi, who became the countess gallenberg, and to whom he dedicated the sonata fantasia, which is called the language of resignation. these people on the whole were quite democratic in their relations toward artists. there was a very elaborate ceremonial at court, but elsewhere, cultivated people met on common ground. ries relates an incident illustrating the cameraderie existing between beethoven and the aristocratic ladies of his circle. in this instance. princess lichnowsky, who was a countess thun, and connected with some of the best families in europe, was the central figure. one evening at count browne's, ries was asked to play a sonata with which he was not familiar. ries preferring to play something else, begged to be excused from playing this particular one. the company was obdurate, however, and finally appealed to beethoven, knowing that he, if any one, could carry the point. beethoven turned to ries and asked him to play it, saying: "i am sure you will not play it so badly that you would not want me to hear it," whereupon ries complied, beethoven turning the leaves for him. he made a break in the bass part, at which beethoven tapped him on the head with his finger, whether to discipline him or only in play does not appear. later in the evening beethoven played a sonata (opus ), entirely new, with which he himself was not very familiar. princess lichnowsky, who had observed beethoven's act in disciplining ries earlier in the evening, stationed herself back of beethoven's chair, while ries turned the pages. when beethoven made a mistake similar to that of ries, the princess playfully hit him several taps on the head with her hand, saying: "if the scholar is punished for making a slight mistake, the master should not escape, when making a graver one," at which all laughed, beethoven taking the lead. then he began again and fairly outdid himself, particularly in the adagio, in which the mistake occurred. the virtuosity of some of the viennese of the period was marvellous. allusion has been made to the ability of the professional musicians, but the amateur performers were in many cases equally proficient. it is related that beethoven's friend, marie bigot, played the appassionata sonata at sight from the manuscript for the delectation of some friends. madame bigot was the wife of the librarian of count rasoumowsky and evidently took a prominent part in these entertainments. sight-reading before a critical audience is surely a difficult enough task under the most favoring conditions; how much more so from the manuscript, with its excisions and corrections and general indistinctness! it was, however, an every-day matter especially in chamber-music. hümmel is reported as saying: "in vienna there are a hundred ladies who can play the piano better than i." another musician, writing from vienna in , said: "in every house there is a good instrument; at one, a banker's, there are five." on one occasion, some one laid before beethoven a quartet in manuscript which had just been composed. the band essayed it, of course at sight, not one of the party having seen the manuscript before. the cellist got out in the first movement. beethoven got up, and while he kept on playing his own part, sang the cellist's part. when this was commented on, he remarked that the bass part _had_ to be this way if the composer understood his business. the composer in this instance was förster, his old teacher. on another occasion, beethoven played at sight a new and difficult composition which had been brought him. the composer told him that he (beethoven), had played the presto so fast that it would have been impossible to see the single notes. "that is not necessary," beethoven replied. "if you read rapidly, many misprints may occur; you do not heed them, if you only know the language." wagner in his life of beethoven says: "the power of the musician is not to be appreciated otherwise than through the idea of magic." it would seem so in very fact. consider the million combinations of which the brain has to take cognizance while doing so comparatively simple a thing as transposing. not to play the particular notes which are indicated on the staff, but some others, one or two steps higher or lower; to play four or five at a stroke, as in piano, and to do it quickly, sixty or eighty or a hundred in a minute,--this is almost like magic, but it is nothing to what beethoven frequently did in music. at a public concert at which he played, he asked his friend seyfried, a distinguished composer and all-round musician, to turn the leaves for him of a new concerto written for the occasion. "but that was easier said than done," said seyfried who told the story. "i saw nothing but blank leaves with a few utterly incomprehensible egyptian hieroglyphics which served him as guides, for he played nearly the whole of the solo part from memory, not having had time to write it out in full; he always gave me a sign, when he was at the end of one of these unintelligible passages." seyfried, thorough musician that he was, understood the difficulties of the position for beethoven, and was so apprehensive of turning a page at the wrong time, that his nervousness was observed by the master, who afterward rallied him about it. extempore playing is not to be compared with this, as the concerto was written for strings and piano, beethoven taking the piano part. the three quartets, opus , known as the rasoumowsky quartets, to which a passing reference has been made, take their name from having been dedicated to count rasoumowsky, who was the russian ambassador. the count had married a sister of the princess lichnowsky and was a cultivated man whose greatest delight was music. he lived in great state in a palace, then on the outskirts of vienna, now used as the geological institute. he was closely identified with the musical life of vienna, and shortly after these quartets appeared, formed a string quartet of distinguished musicians, which he maintained for many years, taking the part of second violin himself. it is almost needless to state that beethoven's work took precedence in the repertoire. the first of the three quartets, the one in f, has an adagio movement on which beethoven inscribed in the sketch-book, "eine trauerweide oder akazienbaum aufs grab meines bruders." [a weeping willow or acacia tree over my brother's grave.] beethoven had indeed lost an infant brother twenty-three years before this event, but it is not likely that he was thus tardily commemorating him. his brother kaspar karl was married the day before this quartet was begun and it is probably a humorous allusion to that circumstance. but if his brother's marriage was an occasion for humor at the beginning, it lapsed afterward into the sternest tragedy in its effect on the master's life, as will be seen further on in these pages. these quartets are monuments to beethoven's genius and are classed among the best examples of chamber-music. the adagio of the second one was thought out by beethoven one night while contemplating the stars. somewhat of the infinite calm and serenity of his mood is imparted to it. the incident is related by czerny to whom it was related by beethoven himself. the quartets were generally disliked and condemned by musicians when first produced. cherubini said that they made him sneeze. others said that beethoven was music-mad, that they could not be called music, that they were too difficult, unintelligible, and so on. that was close onto a century ago, and they are still unintelligible to some, but we now know that this is not the fault of the quartets as was so naively assumed at that time. the condemnation of them by the performers has a show of reason in it as they taxed their capacity too severely. wagner had the same thing to contend with for the same reason. after the withdrawal of fidelio, noted in the last chapter, and with the advent of summer, beethoven left vienna on a visit to count brunswick, at his seat in hungary. the count was a man of exceptional intellectual ability, who had the greatest reverence and admiration for beethoven's genius. beethoven was also on excellent terms with the count's sisters, and later became engaged to one of them, the countess therese. it is well known that the countess therese exercised a powerful fascination over him, but so did many another of the gifted vienna ladies in the course of his life. so vast a quantity of work was accomplished by the master during this summer, that it is likely the proximity of these friends only served to stimulate his genius. the appassionata sonata was worked over, the rasoumowsky quartets were finished, as well as the fourth symphony, besides lesser works, so that he could not have spent much time in social intercourse. he was in the period of his greatest productivity; the creative instinct was strong in him and impelled him onward in his work to the exclusion of other desires. even friendship had to give way in great measure to the passion for creating which had become a necessity of his existence. that the life was a tranquil and contented one may be inferred by the character of the fourth symphony. beethoven loved country life, and surrounded as he was by his friends, whose first thought was for him, he had everything to make him satisfied. the serenity which speaks to us through the fourth symphony is something for which the world should ever be grateful. our highest happiness often comes to us through the frame of mind superinduced by external influences. this symphony is a song of joy, ecstatic in its pure exuberance of spirits; again, it is a benediction that breathes into our minds somewhat of its own spirit of calm and content. the storm and stress of life is forgotten; all is holiday humor. we are in the midst of a shakespearian comedy, with its alternations of humor and sentiment, its joyous atmosphere, its idyllic simplicity; the forest of arden has come to us. it was written to celebrate his engagement to the countess therese. in it he is inspired by the very genius of happiness. it is as if, having obtained his heart's desire, he invites us to partake with him the joy that the gods have provided. but it is only for once, as if to emphasize the fact that happiness is not the object of existence and is not even our right primarily. he gives few instances in which the element of pain or sadness does not enter to some extent. his works abound in psychological suggestion; they illustrate every phase of life. the philosophic import of the fourth symphony is plain. he demonstrates the rarity of pure unalloyed happiness in actual life by the few examples in his compositions in which it reigns supreme. joy enters incidentally into most of his works. often it dominates them. he recognized it as part of the scheme of life, but it is usually qualified by other conditions and is only attained through persistent effort; it is never our portion until earned. it does not come unsought like pain and suffering. the fourth symphony is lighter than the "eroica" which preceded it, or the c minor which comes next. the language of joy is always more or less superficial. the tragedies of life have to be told in stronger language, since they go deeper. happiness is negative, pain positive. the comedies of shakespeare, in which the note is usually buoyant and felicitous, do not stir us as do the tragedies. beethoven's visit at count brunswick's continued throughout the summer of . he left the brunswicks in october, but instead of returning to vienna as was his wont in the autumn, he turned his face toward silesia, on a visit to prince lichnowsky who had an estate there. but the idyllic life left behind at count brunswick's was not to be repeated here. his stay was destined to be short owing to a violent quarrel between the prince and him, which caused an estrangement lasting some years. the circumstances leading up to it can be briefly narrated. when beethoven arrived at the castle of prince lichnowsky, he found other guests there, uninvited but not unexpected, consisting of french officers who had been quartered on the prince. napoleon had overrun germany, and was master wherever he went. beethoven's rage against him for making himself emperor had not abated; his dislike extended to the officers as well, and he was not there long before hostilities began in good earnest. it all came about from a desire on the part of the officers that beethoven play for them. he had the penetration to know that he was regarded simply as a curiosity, that he was called on because no better entertainment was available. had there been a juggler or a ballet-dancer on hand, these latter might have been preferred. at dinner, a staff-officer had asked him quite innocently if he could play the cello, to which no answer was given; the frown on beethoven's face, however, boded ill for the evening's festivities. it had been announced that he would play for them, and they expected it as a matter of course. in the nature of things it could not be expected that these men would be able to appreciate beethoven, or understand much of his art. his reverence for it was great; he felt that it would be a degradation, in a sense, to play for them under the circumstances, and refused. the prince, with the amiable desire of pleasing his guests, urged the matter, but beethoven continued obdurate; upon which he told him, probably by way of a joke, that he must either comply or that he would be confined in the castle as a prisoner of war for disobeying orders. this persistence so enraged him that, although it was night, he left the castle without the prince's knowledge, and walked three miles to trappau, the nearest post-town. he remained here overnight, and, while waiting for the post-chaise, wrote the following letter to prince lichnowsky: "prince! what you are you owe to chance and birth. what i am, i am through myself. there has been, and will yet be thousands of princes, but there is only one beethoven."[a] [a] frimmel's beethoven. it was raining when he left the castle, and the manuscript of the appassionata sonata, hastily packed, became water-soaked and blurred; it bears the marks of that night's journey to the present day. some difficulty was experienced in procuring his passport for vienna. it could readily have been obtained by having recourse to prince lichnowsky, but beethoven would not permit this. the matter was finally arranged, and he proceeded on his journey. he nursed his wrath all the way, and on reaching his quarters in vienna, his first act was to smash a bust of the prince which stood on a bookcase. although a reconciliation was effected later, the old cordial relations were never restored. there were times when the prince called on beethoven and was not received, when the latter was not in the mood for seeing him. through his wilfulness, beethoven lost the annuity which the prince had settled on him on his coming to vienna. the initiative in this matter was probably taken by beethoven himself, as may be inferred from a letter he writes to a friend two years later: "my circumstances are improving without having recourse to people who treat their friends insultingly." the winter of - was a period of great activity for beethoven, although a felon on his finger must have stopped all work for a while. some important works were published, notably the eroica symphony and the appassionata sonata. along with acceptances came commissions, so that his finances appear to have been in a flourishing condition for the time. beethoven's engagement to the countess brunswick was entered into with the consent of her brother. count brunswick, who was the only one permitted to share the secret. every precaution was taken to prevent a knowledge of it coming to the ears of therese's mother, who would not for a moment have listened to an argument leading to a possible union of her daughter with the poor musician. that beethoven had marriage in mind is evident from the fact that he once got so far as to write to bonn for a copy of his baptismal certificate as a necessary preliminary. he wrote in his note-book on the subject as follows: "oh god! let me attain her who is destined to be mine and who shall strengthen me in virtue." but it never got any further. the secrecy so strictly enjoined, must have been specially unpleasant to a man of beethoven's temperament. the opposition that was sure to be developed on the part of the countess's family may have reverted on his sense of pride to such an extent as to lead him to sacrifice his love to it. he always had his work to fall back on. in the end, his art took precedence of all other considerations; while it permitted friendship, the serenity of which might aid him in his life-work, it excluded love, which might become a rival. his concept of life was to live simply, to entertain no project which would in any way divert his mind from his work. no mere desires of self were to be considered. the countess therese never married, but occupied herself with philanthropic work on reaching middle-age. she founded a home for little children in vienna, the first of its kind in austria; her own means not being sufficient to maintain it, she enlisted the support of powerful friends from the empress down, in its behalf. she died in , aged . chapter vii victory from defeat to those whom heaven favors, the greatest evils turn to greatest good. --giordano bruno. of the summer of , the most notable achievement is the mass in c. it was written at heiligenstadt, where he wrote the heroic symphony some years before. he remained until autumn hard at work on this, his first mass, as well as on some orchestral works, including, probably the symphony in c minor, as well as the pastoral symphony. it is rather singular that beethoven, whose nature was on the whole essentially religious, although he affiliated with no church, did not take earlier to mass composition. some of the best work of mozart and haydn is in this form; as organist he must have been familiar with their masses. one can readily believe that the emotional quality of certain portions of mozart's mass in b flat, such as the et incarnatus and the agnus dei, must have strongly appealed to him. his thoughts often went toward religious music, and it was easy for him to compose in this style. he recognized the mass as one of the great art-forms, equal to the oratorio or the opera. from bach's time on, it may indeed be said to have been regarded in this light. it is quite evident that bach so considered it when composing his grand mass in b minor, which in difficulty of execution, as well as in its extraordinary length, is no longer practicable as a church service, its range in all directions going beyond the requirements of a congregation, or the capacity of the choir. it is evident that beethoven enjoyed working on the mass, and was quite at home in this form of composition. here was plain sailing; he knew what he wanted to do, and went at it without hesitation. there is none of that doubt and groping which is the case with fidelio, which was continually being worked over, and in reality, never was finished. that religious works had a great hold on his mind, appears from a letter to his publisher in after years in which he states that if he had an independent income he would write nothing but grand symphonies, church music and perhaps quartets. in another letter dated march , , toward the close of his life, he stated his intention of writing three more masses. in the mass in c a new theory is developed in mass composition. it differs radically from the style of church composition made popular by haydn and mozart, beautiful as some of that is. their music is a concord of sweet melodies, illustrating the peace and happiness which a contemplation of the religious life affords. acting on the principle that beauty is its own excuse for being, they give many examples where the music does not even attempt to fit the sentiment of the words. the kyrie of haydn's imperial mass would do for a te deum, or a song of triumph rather than a cry for help. the kyrie of mozart's mass in b flat is an italian street song which he heard on one of his tours in italy and worked over for this mass, and is not at all adapted to the words. there are ideas in the mass in c which neither mozart nor haydn would have tried to attain. beethoven's aim here is not to please the ear by beautiful melodies, although he does that often enough, but to stir the soul. he bears a message to the listener, which it is greatly to his interest to get at. the mass in c depicts our innermost experiences. it has a mission and is not simply an end in itself. the symphonist here shows his individuality as may be expected, since it was composed after coriolanus, the first four symphonies, fidelio. in many places the orchestra becomes an independent entity, abandons the choral part, and, rising into majestic strains unattainable in choral composition, tells the story of christianity in its own powerful way. in beethoven this ascendency of the orchestra is first apparent; he has demonstrated for all time its greater importance as a means of musical expression than the voice. [musical notation.] the work throughout is cast on a higher plane than any mass which had appeared since bach's mass in b minor. it was written for prince nicholas esterhazy, whose grandfather was haydn's patron, and was first sung in the chapel of the prince at eisenstadt, on the name-day of his wife, the princess marie. hümmel was kapellmeister there, but beethoven conducted the performance on this occasion. the prince evidently was of the opinion that having ordered the work, the master would consider his preferences and prejudices in the composition of it, as haydn would have done, but as beethoven could not have done, had he wished. the result was that prince esterhazy failed to see its purport or significance and was unable to comprehend it. beethoven should not have been surprised at this, since he knew himself to be in advance of his time. at the conclusion of the service the prince made the rather inane remark, "but my dear beethoven, what have you been doing now?" in allusion to the mass. beethoven, deeply offended, left abruptly, and returned to vienna. it may be said in passing that beethoven frequently managed to disappoint the persons for whom he wrote. this did not lead him to doubt or distrust his powers, knowing intuitively that posterity would justify him. the mass in c is to-day one of the best known of all masses, and is frequently performed at high festivals in churches having a good equipment of chorus and orchestra. another great work which was completed about this time was the symphony in c minor (the fifth). here we have a work wholly subjective. it reflects his soul experiences. his approaching deafness brought him face to face with the greatest trouble of his life. the malady progressed slowly but steadily, and rendered him at times hopeless. his suffering, his despair, his resignation and final triumph are embodied in it. it is a subtle analysis of some of the deep problems of life. the history of his own mental state is depicted here. if we consider his malady in its bearing on his life, we have the story of tantalus told again. here was a man whose thoughts translated themselves into splendid tone-pictures which the orchestra was to portray. with the mental equipment to create a new era in his art, the medium by which he could apprehend his works was being closed to him. "is a blind painter to be imagined?" asks wagner in this connection. if we can imagine a great painter painting his masterpieces, but never being permitted to see any, an analogy may be found in the exclusion of beethoven from all participation in the rendering of his works, which was the case in his later years, being unable even to conduct them. he wanted to test his work, to ascertain how it would sound in the concert hall, and even at this time the high tones of the violins, which he put to such exquisite uses in later years, and which were such an inspiration to wagner, were lost to him. by the aid of his philosophy, however, he accepted the situation, resolving to make the best of it; to keep on achieving, to turn his defeats into victories. beethoven's symphonies mean much in their application to the common life of humanity. knowing them even approximately, we often find texts which illumine them in the writings of men who went below the surface of things, emerson, or carlyle, or schopenhauer. thus carlyle, writing on dante says: "he has opened the deep unfathomable oasis of woe that lay in the soul of man; he has opened the living fountains of hope, also of penitence." does not the mind instantly revert to the c minor symphony? next in the order of beethoven's great works comes the pastoral symphony, named at first "recollections of country life." easily comprehended, as any picture of country life should be, he yet deemed it necessary to give a short explanation at each movement, illustrating the meaning which he wished to convey, although he qualifies this with the words, "mehr ausdruck der empfindung als malerei." [an expression of sensibility rather than painting.] in everything relating to his art beethoven was tentative. in the sketch-book of this symphony there is an inscription in his handwriting, "man überlässt den zuhörer sich selbst die situationen auszufinden." [the hearer should be left to find out the situations for himself,] showing that, on considering the matter carefully he changed his mind, and concluded after all, that the explanations were permissible. in but few instances has beethoven vouchsafed any explanation of his musical intent, and then it seems to have been done reluctantly. it was hardly necessary in the case of the pastoral symphony as it is comparatively easy of comprehension. the title gives the clew; the occasional bird notes of quail, cuckoo and lark, the scene at the brook, could hardly be mistaken; while the dance-music in part iii, as well as the storm with its forebodings of terror, convey their meaning plainly to the average intelligence. this poem of nature is always enjoyable, refreshing the mind, and resting the jaded faculties, much as a trip to the country helps us physically. the explanations as beethoven appended them are as follows: no. i. allegro: the awakening of cheerful feelings on arriving in the country. no. ii. andante: scene at the brook. no. iii. allegro: merry meeting of country folk. no. iv. allegro: thunder-storm. no. v. allegretto: song of the shepherds, and glad and thankful feelings after the storm. many great composers before and after beethoven have essayed this portrayal of a storm, händel, haydn (seasons), glück, mozart, rossini (william tell overture), chopin, wagner (flying dutchman), are a few instances. the pastoral symphony has been dramatized so to speak, that is, it has been put on the stage, the different situations of this nature-poem having been portrayed by living and moving tableaux, pantomimic action and ballet; there was scenery, and the dance of the peasants and the thunder-storm were, no doubt, realistic enough. this representation took place at a festival of the _künstler liedertafel_ of düsseldorf in , also in london. chapter viii meeting with goethe eine schöne menschenseele finden ist gewinn. --herder. beethoven did not have the faculty of teaching except in rare instances. it is not in the nature of things that such a man would consider teaching in any other light than drudgery, and would feel that time so spent could have been much better employed in composition. this was the case already in bonn, when he had no income and before his creative talent had shown itself. he was only too glad to abandon it as soon as proper encouragement for composition came to him from his publishers. here and there an attractive lady would be able to cajole him into giving a few lessons on the pianoforte--the brunswick sisters and madame ertmann are instances, but they were intermittent in character, and did not continue long. two prominent exceptions, however, were the archduke rudolph and ferdinand ries. true, czerny was a pupil also, but the lessons did not continue long, as was the case with the archduke and ries. beethoven's acquaintance with the archduke began in the winter of . rudolph, then sixteen years of age, seems to have attached himself to beethoven, then thirty-four, more as a friend than as a pupil. other masters could have been found under whom he would have advanced more rapidly, and it is quite likely that the imperial family would have preferred some other than beethoven, whose republican principles must have made him disliked by them. the archduke was passionately devoted to music and the friendly relations between master and pupil were maintained almost to the end of the master's life. rudolph had to put up with beethoven's outbreaks of temper much the same as if he had been a civilian. he treated this young prince, brother of the reigning emperor, much the same as his other friends, and rudolph had to adapt himself to his master's wishes. he ordered his chamberlain to set aside the observance of the rigid etiquette of the court, established by his mother, maria louisa of spain, when he learned that it was one of the things which made beethoven lose his temper. some of the master's best work was written specially for rudolph and when the latter left vienna in , beethoven wrote the sonata, les adieux l'absence, et le retour, to commemorate the occasion. he inscribed it as follows: "der abschied am vierten mai gewidmet und aus dem herzen geschrieben." rudolph had an intuitive perception of beethoven's greatness and was glad to be near him, not only to learn from him, but to enjoy his friendship. he carefully preserved beethoven's letters and in every way showed his regard for him. on the high level which music made for these men, artificial distinctions were forgotten; the prince became the disciple. he was a fine performer, with, as may be supposed, special reference to beethoven's works. beethoven was, no doubt, impressed by rudolph's rank, although there is very little evidence of it in the anecdotes which we have relating to them. he met his friends on the common ground of his art, where he found no superior. as before stated beethoven did not take to teaching. it was _dientschaft_ to him in the full sense of the word. he does not seem to have interested himself as much in rudolph as in ferdinand ries. in the case of the latter an artist was being prepared for a career; some of beethoven's own skill as performer was being perpetuated in ries, while with rudolph no amount of technical knowledge would have advanced the art much. he not only accepted no payment from ries for the lessons given him, but frequently sent him money unsolicited when he had reason to suppose he needed it. in the old bonn days, after the death of beethoven's mother, when the young man was in sore straits, ferdinand's father, who was a member of the elector's orchestra with beethoven, had helped the latter in word and deed. ferdinand then was but four years of age. beethoven was famous by the time ferdinand had reached manhood; when he presented himself to the master with a letter from his father, he was cordially received, and was soon on the footing of an intimate friend. beethoven when giving him lessons was patient to a degree that was not natural to him. "i attribute this," he states, "as well as the long continued friendship he maintained toward me, largely on account of the esteem and regard he felt for my father. he often made me repeat an exercise ten times. the lessons frequently lasted two hours. he was not generally so particular about lapses in execution, but if i was lacking in expression, in crescendo and diminuendo, he would make me repeat the passage until he was satisfied." ries made good use of his opportunities, and became a distinguished performer on the piano, ranking in this respect as high as any man of his time. an offer to beethoven of the post of kapellmeister by the king of westphalia, napoleon's brother, in brought about one of the inevitable quarrels that marked beethoven's association with his intimates. ries was the victim this time. beethoven's dislike of napoleon, and the french in general, should have been sufficient to deter him even from considering the matter. the post carried with it a good salary however, ducats (about $ , ), and the duties were light. it meant a comfortable maintenance with plenty of time for composing, and from this point of view, the offer had its attractions. a certain fixed income, through which he could be independent of his publishers, was what he chiefly desired. from every other point of view, however, the project must have been distasteful to him. at middle-age, the mind of such a man, occupied almost wholly with an ideal world, shrinks from encountering new and untried scenes. had he accepted it, he probably never would have remained, as his love for vienna and the old and tried friends left behind would have acted as a magnet irresistibly drawing him back. he seems not to have considered it seriously. as soon as the matter became known, however, the archduke and two other of beethoven's friends, the dashing young prince kinsky (who for bravery at the battle of aspern was decorated on the field with the maria theresa cross by the archduke charles), and beethoven's old friend prince lobkowitz--got together and made up an annuity of , florins, paper money. of this sum the archduke contributed , florins, prince lobkowitz and prince kinsky , . owing to the depreciation in paper money the amount was considerably reduced shortly after, but he continued to draw from this source about $ per year to his death according to sir george grove. beethoven delayed giving a decided answer while the negotiations for the annuity were dragging along. when it became evident that he would not accept the position, the offer was made to ries. some officious person informed beethoven that ries was trying to get the post away from him in a questionable manner. this was not true, but beethoven broke off all relations with him and would not see him for three weeks. the anecdote as related by ries is as follows: "after beethoven had declined the position, i at once sought him to ascertain if he really did not intend taking the post, and to get his counsel in the matter. but whenever i called, beethoven was not in, and my letters to him met with no response. three weeks elapsed when i met him accidentally on the redoubte; i went up to him and told him the object of my visits. beethoven looked me over and said cuttingly, 'so! and do you think you could fill a post that has been offered to me?' and left me. determined on having an understanding with him i again sought him the following morning. his servant in an impudent manner told me that beethoven was not in, although i heard him singing and humming in an inner room, as was his habit when composing. i attempted to enter forcibly, upon which the servant took hold of me, with the intention of putting me out. i grappled with him and threw him to the floor. beethoven hearing the noise came out in a rage. i was equally angry and heaped reproaches on his head. the master was too astonished to answer, but stood looking at me. finally, explanations were offered and then i first learned of beethoven's grievance against me. i had no difficulty in proving my innocence in the matter, and beethoven, to make amends, at once left his work and went out with me to see about the position, but it had already been given out." ries finally went to england where he acquired fame and fortune. he kept up a correspondence with beethoven to the end; some of the master's most interesting letters are those written in his later years to his former pupil. ries became a very prolific composer, whose works embrace almost every class of music, among which is to be mentioned several operas, oratorios, symphonies, much chamber-music, and many pianoforte sonatas, none of which, however have survived to the present day. the settlement of the question about his remaining in vienna, and the security of the future brought about by the annuity, had the effect of increasing the productivity of the master. the sketch-books of this period abound in studies for orchestral, chamber and vocal studies. it was characteristic of beethoven to show in this manner his appreciation of the compliment tendered him. the year was not propitious to creative work. war raged in vienna and vicinity. the city was bombarded by the french in may, and was occupied by them much of the summer. several important battles were fought nearby. contrary to his usual custom, beethoven remained in the city throughout the summer. his residence was in an exposed position on the bastion, where he remained the larger part of the time, occasionally visiting his brother karl, who also remained. he was at karl's home while the bombardment was going on, and, during the worst of it, sought refuge in the cellar, where he even padded his ears to escape the noise. the terrific reports on the inflamed tissues of his ears distressed him greatly, and must have added permanent injury to the organs already in a bad condition. that the achievement of the solitary worker during the summer was more important and far-reaching in its effects than that of the belligerents, will hardly be gainsaid. the latter wasted a lot of ammunition, destroyed human beings and property, and made a good deal of noise for the time being, after which things settled down to about the same condition as before; while beethoven added solid wealth to the world in its most lasting form. there is a falling off in his compositions the following year, which is generally attributed to the breaking of his engagement with the countess therese. that he should have suffered to such an extent on this account, is at least open to question. his art was of more importance to him than any other fact in life. it was only by a complete surrender of everything else that he achieved what he did in it. he had many bitter disappointments at different periods of his life, which, however, did not take him away from his work. at all events, he gave no sign, contrary to his usual habit. he was reticent on the subject of his compositions, but was not averse to talking of his troubles. a man so entirely given over to one idea, as was beethoven, could hardly take such a step as marriage at the age of forty, thereby changing his whole course of life. the passion for creating had grown to such an extent, that he became impatient of everything which interfered with it. it is possible that the countess therese, noting this, felt that there would be little chance for happiness in such a union, and wisely broke it off. he could not have been considered eligible in any event by a family like the brunswicks, noted for extravagant living and a desire to occupy a prominent place in society. beethoven's income was never large. it was at times insufficient for his simple wants, owing to his ignorance of the value of money. that he managed to fall in love with a frequency only equalled by his impetuosity, must be admitted. but when the question came fairly before him, marriage or music, he had but one course. his art was a jealous mistress which would brook no rival. if he took the breaking of his engagement so much to heart that it interfered with his work, how was it possible, we may ask, for him to have made violent love to bettina brentano during this summer of ? within two years afterward he was as badly smitten with amalie seebald the singer. we can only reiterate the former statement, music was his one passion, in this he was supreme. his art had so strong a hold on him that nothing else could come between. these love affairs were episodes in his social life. they were as episodical with the ladies concerned, who later, generally married in their own station, and, let us hope were happy ever afterward. the artistic temperament will account for these rhapsodies. ill health in this period probably had as much to do with his lessened productivity as anything else. schindler states that he had been on bad terms with his stomach for many years of his vienna life. confirmation of this is to be found in beethoven's letters in which complaints about stomach and intestinal troubles are frequently met with in these years. these gastro-intestinal disturbances which so afflicted him had their origin in the chronic liver trouble to which he finally succumbed. in the spring of he resolved by the advice of his physician to try the baths of bohemia, and we find him at töplitz, one of many notabilities, who were spending the summer at this place. here he made the acquaintance of goethe whom he held in great esteem. it was here also that he met amalie seebald of whom mention has already been made. she was a fine singer, and a beautiful, amiable woman of considerable talent. beethoven wrote the following in her album: ludwig van beethoven den sie wenn sie wollten doch nicht vergessen sollten. ludwig van beethoven whom if you would forget, you never should. it may be said in passing, that she was not the last to whom beethoven yielded his susceptible heart. it would make a long list were it arranged chronologically, from the early bonn days to his forty-fifth year. [illustration: fac-simile of a letter from beethoven to amalie seebald, written by töplitz; during the summer of . the autograph, from which the fac-simile is obtained, is in the lenox library, new york, and was photographed for this work by permission of the librarian.] [transcriber's note: the letter reads thus (words that i'm not sure of are marked with asterisks) "es geht schon liebe a. besser wenn sie es anständig heißen, allein zu mir zu kommen, so können sie mir eine große freude machen, ist [a]ber daß sie dieses unanständig finden, so wißen sie, wie ich die frejheit aber menschen ehre, und *wie sie dies *heuer hierin und in andren fällen handeln mögen nach ihren grund für zueinander wie mühe, mich finden sie *nur gut und als "ihren freund beethoven"] an incident of his visit at töplitz, showing beethoven's humility and kindliness will bear narrating, as it was characteristic of the man. it relates to a stern parent, a lovely daughter, an ardent wooer. the first two characters of the _dramatis personæ_, were the innkeeper, at whose house beethoven dined, and his daughter. the part of lover was taken by ludwig löwe, an actor, while beethoven's part in the little drama is not much more important than that of scene-shifter. löwe was a man in good standing, and came from a family of some prominence, but the father objected to him and forbade the daughter speaking to him. it appears that beethoven was in the habit of coming late for dinner, so the plan was hit upon that löwe was to take dinner late also, at which hour, the other guests having eaten and gone, and business being over for the time, the father was not apt to be around to interfere. "all the world loves a lover." beethoven was an interested spectator of the little comedy, no doubt casting occasional friendly glances in the direction of the young couple. the father finally appeared on the scene, ordered the actor to leave the house, and forbade him coming there any more. at this crisis the lovers were in despair, that is for a while. love laughs at locksmiths, as we know, and it had not got so far as that yet. löwe, with the resources of a true lover, managed to meet beethoven accidentally away from the inn, and looked at him so intently that he was rewarded by an answering nod of recognition from the master. the ice being broken, the actor disclosed his troubles. meeting with sympathy, he was emboldened to ask him to deliver a letter to fräulein therese. to this beethoven agreed, and, taking the letter, started to go, thus closing the interview. but löwe was not so easily gotten rid of. with an embarrassed manner, he managed to convey to beethoven the fact that there would be an answer. "so! and you wish me to deliver it? well, meet me here to-morrow;" and so beethoven became the go-between for the lovers during the remainder of his stay in töplitz. allusion has already been made to the acquaintance which he formed with goethe this summer. that beethoven had the highest esteem for the poet, there is no doubt. in speaking of him in after years, he said, "who can thank sufficiently a great poet? he is the most precious jewel of the nation" (kostbarste kleinod einer nation), which is much like carlyle's remark on the great poet. "the appearance of such a man (goethe) at any given era, is in my opinion the greatest thing that can happen in it. a man who has the soul to think and be the moral guide of his own nation and of the whole world." goethe and beethoven were on friendly terms and saw a good deal of one another during this summer. the acquaintance must have made a powerful impression on beethoven. goethe, the senior by many years, whose transcendent intellect had won him a world-wide reputation, was no doubt the cynosure of all eyes. töplitz was full of notabilities. thayer gives a long list of prominent persons, from royalty down, who sojourned there this summer. it must have been a very agreeable experience to the younger genius, whose fame had not yet penetrated much beyond germany, this friendship. had he possessed a tithe of the worldly wisdom of the elder man, and had regulated his conduct in accordance with the prejudices of the other, the friendship might have continued. much as he desired this, it does not seem to have occurred to him to even try to make a good impression. utterly lacking in self-control, he remained the same headstrong impulsive creature, while in goethe's company, that he had always been. whether or not the story is true of his meeting the imperial family while with goethe and disdaining even to answer their salutations, walking on and compelling the party to divide so as to give him the middle of the walk, while goethe stood aside bowing low with uncovered head,--it is nevertheless more than probable that beethoven showed his scorn for conventionality in numerous ways, thereby calling down on himself goethe's disapproval. born courtier that he was, it must have been mortifying in the extreme to him to be with beethoven and witness his rudeness and contempt for appearances. so far as known, goethe never had anything more to do with him after this summer. on leaving töplitz he writes to zelter, director of the berlin singakademie, mentioning beethoven casually or as an afterthought, and alludes to him as an "entirely untamed (_ungebändigt_) person." from this time on, he seems to have excluded him from his thoughts. beethoven's music was frequently performed at goethe's house at weimar. we read in "eckermann's conversations" that on such occasions the company would relate incidents from beethoven's life, but goethe never mentioned him. poet and musician were utterly dissimilar; it is not likely that either influenced the other to any appreciable degree. "it is a great folly," said goethe in (conversations with eckermann) "to hope that other men will harmonize with us. i have never hoped this. i have always regarded each man as an independent individual, whom i endeavored to study, and to understand with all his peculiarities, but from whom i desired no further sympathy. in this way have i been enabled to converse with every man, and thus alone is produced the knowledge of various characters, and the dexterity necessary for the conduct of life." it was probably in this coldly analytical frame of mind, that the great councillor viewed the composer. but it was a momentous event to the latter to know goethe. he had before this set to music a number of his ballads and had only recently composed the music to his egmont. many years afterward, in , in an interview with rochlitz who made a pilgrimage from leipzig to make his acquaintance, he reverts to this time. "since the carlsbad summer when i met goethe, i read him every day, that is when i do read. he has killed klopstock for me, but goethe he lives and he wants us all to live. this is why it is so easy to make music to his words." chapter ix optimistic trend thus, with what has hitherto been effected, the clue to the labyrinth of what is yet to be done is given us. --herder: _apotheosis of humanity_. beethoven visited quite a number of places during the summer of in quest of health. while at carlsbad he gave a concert in aid of the people of baden, who had lost heavily through a disastrous fire there, on which occasion he extemporized. it seems to have been a success financially, but not artistically. in a letter to the archduke he cites it as being "a poor concert for the poor." "es war eigentlich ein armes koncert für die armen." this was owing to lack of time for rehearsals, and to the fact that only one other person, herr polledro, a violinist of turin, took part in it. the concert was given within twelve hours from its inception, because many noteworthy guests were on the point of leaving town, and their presence was desired to insure a good attendance. the necessity must have been great to induce him to undertake it at all. his dislike for improvising for others was deep-seated, and was increased by his deafness. in the fall we find him visiting his brother johann at linz, where he made quite a long stay. it was not alone johann whom he was visiting; he had good friends there, among them kapellmeister glöggl, whom he saw nearly every day. at the latter's request the master composed three equali for trombones for all souls' day, then near at hand. these equali, as it turned out, were eventually used for beethoven's funeral. the kapellmeister's son, then a lad of fourteen, relates an incident of this time with beethoven as the central figure. a resident of linz, a certain herr graf von dönhoff, who was a great admirer of beethoven, gave an entertainment in his honor. after some of his music had been rendered by others, beethoven was asked to extemporize, which he declined absolutely to do. shortly after he disappeared. supper being ready a search for him was instituted, but he was not to be found, so the company, after some delay, repaired to the adjoining room. they had hardly seated themselves at the table, when they heard some one at the piano. gradually, one by one, they found themselves in the other room, where beethoven was extemporizing. this he kept up for nearly an hour, when, suddenly coming to a realization of the circumstances, and looking around, he saw the entire company listening in rapt attention. he at once got up from the instrument and hastily left the room, either through anger or embarrassment. such was his haste that he ran against a table containing fine porcelain bric-a-brac, which, of course, was shattered. the count, with easy good nature, made some reassuring remark, upon which they all made another essay at the supper. his object in going to linz was not altogether for the purpose of making visits. a disagreeable duty had to be performed; johann's relations with a young woman, whom he had taken as housekeeper, had become a scandal; the good repute of the family was at stake, and beethoven went there with the express design of putting an end to the matter. johann was not at all amenable to argument, and contested the elder brother's right to interfere. the dispute became so bitter that a personal combat between the brothers occurred. it finally required the combined ecclesiastical and secular authority of linz (bishop, magistrate and police), to effect the expulsion of the lady from town. at this turn of affairs, johann, bound to have his own way, married her. this year saw the completion of the seventh and eighth symphonies besides other important compositions; not so bad an achievement for a sick man, this record of two years' work. sick or well, at home or abroad, his work went on; it was a part of his life, as necessary, apparently, as eating or sleeping. in size the seventh symphony exceeds any of the preceding ones. "eine meiner vorzüglichsten" (one of my best), is beethoven's statement in regard to it. here the composer's meaning is not so readily elucidated as in the pastoral, for instance. it means all things to all people. he usually had a clearly defined purpose or idea before him when composing, particularly in the case of his large orchestral works. of the creations of such a man, it was to be expected that they would increase in grandeur with each succeeding one. every great thing achieved is only an earnest of still greater in reserve. the fertility of his mind was exhaustless. as he penetrated deeper into this new world of the imagination, wider vistas were constantly being opened before his mental vision. "what i have in my heart must come out when i write," he stated to czerny. "i never thought of writing for fame and honor." grandeur and simplicity are prominent traits in beethoven's character and these are exemplified in the seventh symphony. wagner calls it the apotheosis of the dance. "der in tönen idealisch verkörperten leibesbewegung," [an ideal embodiment in tones of the movements of the human form]. this dance element is the characteristic trait of the symphony; the dance element on a colossal scale. listen to wagner's summary: "but one hungarian peasant dance in the final movement of his symphony in a (the seventh) he played for the whole of nature; so played that who could see her dancing to it in orbital gyrations must deem he saw a planet brought to birth before his very eyes." in these later symphonies we see the beginnings of the mysticism which so profoundly influenced beethoven in his last years, reaching its consummation in the mass in d, the last quartets, and the ninth symphony. from this period on, the picture to be drawn of him is of a man retiring more and more into himself as his growing experience with the world shows him his unfitness for it. only in his work did he have any real reason for living. his every-day life became, for the most part, a phantasmagoria, wherein persons and events continually changed from grotesque to sublime, where nothing was stable or to be depended upon. the only reality was in his art. the consciousness that he was composing works that would go down the ages and delight many generations to come, was probably satisfaction enough to him to compensate him for anything he was called on to endure. with the progress of his deafness his inability to cope with even the ordinary affairs of life increased, and this also had the effect of withdrawing him from the world. the spiritual insight gained by years of introspection, of communion with the higher part of his nature enabled him to discover truths hidden to the consciousness of the ordinary man. "that power of shaping the incomprehensible now grows with him; the joy in exercising this power becomes humor. all the pain of existence is wrecked upon the immense pleasure derived from the play with it; the creator of worlds, brahma, laughs to himself as he perceives the illusion with reference to himself; regained innocence plays jestingly with the thorns of expiated guilt; the emancipated conscience banters itself with the torments it has undergone. and all his seeing and his fashioning is steeped in that marvellous gayety (_heiterkeit_) which music first acquired through him." (wagner.) a peculiarity of beethoven's work often commented on, is the extreme simplicity of his themes as they first appear in his sketch-books. these are usually elaborated, thus changing their character, taking on new meaning with the growth and development of the idea in the composer's mind; when through with it, however, the thought appears fresh and spontaneous, such was his consummate art, as if it had never undergone any elaboration. but sometimes the theme maintains its original simplicity, and the masterwork appears in the orchestration which surrounds it; at times even this maintains an archaic simplicity. thus in the coda of the vivace of the seventh symphony, a simple melody is reiterated eleven times in succession, with no other orchestration than the pedal-point on e by the rest of the instruments. the symphonies in general are the language of a buoyant, gay, blithesome mood, as befits their design for concert use. in them, for the most part, he addresses people in their holiday humor. his experience with fidelio may have impressed the fact upon his mind that sorrow and pain should be sparingly portrayed on festive occasions. not so with the piano sonatas, which can be heard and studied in the privacy of one's home. even the quartets may be placed in the category since they do not require an elaborate equipment and preparation for their production. take him all in all optimism prevails with him, or rather, in true philosophic spirit, he demonstrates that the sorrow, the inevitable trouble and misery of life, is more than offset by the good things the gods have provided. life, after all, is a precious gift, which should be duly appreciated. a period of enjoyment, gayety, strengthens and fortifies the mind, and enables it better to bear the burdens when they come. the great creative genius, must perforce, in the very nature of things, be optimistic in his chosen work. he is more alive, more possessed with the belief that life with its opportunities is worth while, than is the case with the ordinary man going about his petty concerns. in common life, the busiest man is the happiest man, that is the most satisfied; and this contentment springs from the consciousness of doing something worth doing, the advantage of which will remain. with the man of genius, the feeling rises to elation, to rapture, when he considers the transcendent, imperishable nature of his work. "dass hervorbringen selbst ein vergnügen und sein eigner lohn ist." the eighth symphony which was brought out at the same time as the seventh is the shortest by a few bars, of the nine. it was completed in about four months from the date of its inception. here as in the seventh, the dance element is in the ascendant, commanding, swaying everything, thus coming back to first principles, almost to the origin of the art, as an art. the dance is the primordial, autochthonic form of music; its foundation so to speak. the song had its origin in the dance as indicated by its name "ballad." it is a comparatively simple matter to trace its upward course in instrumental music, as such. it is conceivable that people from remote times on, had the faculty of originating tunes, and of humming and singing them, and dancing to them long before such things as scales and notation were conceived of. song and dance must have come into being at the same time, and the earliest dancing was done with a singing accompaniment. as people advanced in the art and became able to manufacture instruments with which to produce music to dance by, it is readily apparent that those persons who did not dance, derived pleasure from listening to it. the next step was to play these dance tunes without dancing. this naturally led to a collection of dance tunes. by playing three or four in succession it was soon found that a more agreeable effect was produced by selecting those differing in rhythm. here we have the suite, the earliest orchestral form. after a while it was found that a change of key heightened the effect, and, when composing purely orchestral music not intended for actual use in dancing, the more original of the composers at times allowed the strict dance form to fall into abeyance in one or two movements to enable them to try their hand in another style, and also for contrast. a broadening and augmenting of the different forms and we have the sonata. the symphony is an enlargement of the sonata. all our intellectual progress is an unfolding, like a flower from the bud. we have first an impression, then an opinion, then demonstration. many years were to elapse before the next and last symphony was to appear; years in which the ripening process was to go on, and which were to culminate in the mass in d, the choral symphony and the last quartets,--works that are in a class by themselves in the same sense that the works from the third symphony on, up to, and including the eighth, are in a class apart from the others. his compositions prior to the third symphony are in the style of mozart and haydn. they are the naïve utterances of the young musician who does not yet realize that he has a mission to perform; whose ambition was to be ranked with his great predecessors. of the works of the second period, it can be said that their most prominent characteristic is gayety (_heiterkeit_). they are not all in this mood, and but rarely is the mood maintained throughout a single work, but it exists to the extent that it dominates it, just as the key-note to his later works is to be found in his mysticism. the works of the second period are coincident with his best years physically and when his mental powers had reached their highest maturity. when he found out what manner of man he was and realized the place he was destined to occupy among the great ones of earth; when he had accepted his destiny and had made his peace with himself it is easy to understand how a certain gayety and serenity should have spread itself over his life and have communicated itself to his works; and though this serenity was alternated by periods of despair, he allowed no more of this to appear in his work than his esthetic sense approved of. like all highly organized people he sounded the gamut of joy and sorrow. his journal entries tell the story. one day, exulting in life and its possibilities he writes, "oh, it would be glorious to live life over a thousand times." at another time he calls upon his god in abject despair to help him through the passing hour. at one time life is so difficult a problem that he sees not how it can be continued at all. then he loses himself in his creations and soars into regions where his troubles cannot follow. this joyousness is the portion of many extraordinary people. haydn and mozart had it. "he has among other qualities that of great joyousness," says carlyle, in speaking of richter. "goethe has it to some extent and schiller too. it is a deep laughter, a wild laughter, and connected with it, there is the deepest seriousness." chapter x at the zenith of his fame fate bestoweth no gift which it taketh not back. ask not aught of sordid humanity; the trifle it bestoweth is a nothing. --hafiz. napoleon's star, hitherto so uniformly in the ascendant, was now on the wane. his victories at the battles of lützen and bautzen in may of , could not atone for the disaster of moscow in the previous year. the crushing defeat encountered by the french at the battle of vittoria by the english under wellington, and the battle of leipzig in october of the same year showed the world that here was only a man after all; a man subject to the usual limitations and mutations of mankind. the demigod was dethroned, the pedestal knocked from under, and all europe rejoiced. the nightmare of fear which had so long pervaded all classes, was after all only a bad dream; the incubus could be shaken off, and mankind again resume its normal mode of living. waterloo was already foreshadowed in the events of this year, and the people were wild with joy. the alliance which followed napoleon's marriage to the austrian archduchess did not have the good political results which metternich expected from it. the war indemnity of fifteen millions of dollars, the cession of provinces whereby three and one half millions of people were lost to austria, the reduction of the army to , men, exactions made by napoleon at the time of the marriage, did not tend to make him popular. the alliance existed in name, not in sentiment. he was still regarded as the conqueror, not the ally. austria had been lukewarm all along, and when she changed front in , and joined the coalition against him, acting in concert with england, russia and prussia, the measure had the moral support of the nation. this was three years after his marriage to the archduchess. the news of the battle of vittoria reached vienna on july . beethoven was importuned by a clever friend, m. maelzel, a musician, to write a symphony in commemoration of it, and to call it "wellington's victory." maelzel was a man of remarkable mechanical ingenuity. he had before this won his way into beethoven's good graces by making him an ear-trumpet, which he used for several years. he was the inventor of the metronome and a man of considerable intelligence. he had invented a panharmonicon, an automaton instrument containing most of the instruments found in full orchestra, on the principle of the modern orchestrion. allied to his talents as musician and inventor were those of good business ability and a knowledge of human nature. the battle symphony appears to have been written originally for the panharmonicon. "i witnessed," says moscheles, "the origin and progress of this work, and remember that not only did maelzel induce beethoven to write it, but even laid before him the whole design of it; writing the drum marches and trumpet flourishes of the french and english armies himself, giving beethoven hints how he should herald the english army by the tune of 'rule brittania;' how he should introduce 'malbrook' in a dismal strain; depict the horrors of the battle, and arrange 'god save the king,' with effects representing the huzzas of the multitude. even the idea of converting the melody of 'god save the king' into a subject of a fugue in quick movement emanates from maelzel." it is hardly conceivable that beethoven, if left to himself, would have produced anything of this sort. but it exactly suited the popular feeling, and was such a success that beethoven was induced to arrange it for full orchestra. this work is never classed among his symphonies, although it served to make him very popular with the vienna public. the presence in their midst of the composer of the eroica symphony in these stirring times, was a significant fact, which was bound to be duly exploited by the viennese. the battle symphony confirmed and emphasized beethoven's stand as a patriot. he was consequently greatly looked up to by the young men of the time, in particular by the student element, already of considerable importance in vienna, who made an idol of him. he was now everywhere in demand, his music of necessity being a part of the programme of every concert or important event in the city. it is a national characteristic with the germans to celebrate every issue with music. a great occasion called for a great demonstration. when therefore, it was proposed to give a concert in aid of the austrian and bavarian soldiers disabled at the battle of hanau, where the french were intercepted after their retreat from leipzig on october , the matter was intrusted to beethoven as being the man best fitted for the work. it was stipulated that beethoven's music was to occupy the programme exclusively, which gave him a good opportunity to produce the seventh symphony, still in manuscript. an aggregation of eminent musicians volunteered their services for the occasion, sinking their differences in patriotic elation. moscheles, already then a great pianist, played the cymbals. meyerbeer presided at the big drum. spohr took a prominent part, together with salieri, romberg and hümmel. the fact that beethoven conducted it indicates that his deafness could not have been so bad at this time. the concert took place on december , and, as may be supposed, was a brilliant success. it was repeated four days later. at each performance, the principal event, was, not the seventh symphony, but rather the battle-piece, which, performed by full orchestra for the first time, won loud and frequent applause. after the second performance beethoven gave a letter to the public in which he says, "the concert was a rare assemblage of eminent performers, each glad to contribute by his presence and talents something towards the benefit of the country, even to the extent of taking subordinate places in the orchestra where required. on me devolved the conduct of the whole, because the music was composed by me. had it been written by any one else, i would as cheerfully have taken my place at the big drum, for we were all actuated by the feeling of patriotism and the desire to benefit those who had sacrificed so much for us." the concert had to be repeated in january and in february following, as patriotism was still the ruling idea with the populace. at the february concert the eighth symphony was on the programme, but in each case the _pièce de résistance_ was the battle symphony. it was produced again in march, when beethoven conducted it, together with the egmont overture, at the annual concert for the theatre-armenfonds. the symphony soon found its way to england and enjoyed great popularity there from its connection with wellington. it frequently appeared on the programmes under the name of wellington's victory. the general esteem in which beethoven was held by the viennese led to a demand for another hearing of fidelio, which had been out of sight and mind for eight years. the libretto was again worked over (this time by treitschke), and submitted to beethoven. the revised form seems to have pleased him at once, although very important changes were made which imposed on him a herculean task. new music had to be written for certain portions, and the whole rearranged and adapted to the new conditions. everything was going beethoven's way in these years, which may explain his good-natured acquiescence in these demands. "your revision suits me so well," he wrote treitschke, "that i have decided once more to rebuild the desolate ruins of an ancient fortress." this time the opera was a pronounced success, although alterations and emendations were in order more or less during the entire season. on july , it was performed for beethoven's benefit. moscheles made a piano arrangement of the score, and must have considered it a great task, as he wrote at the end. finis. with god's help. when beethoven saw this he wrote underneath, "oh man, help thyself!" the piano arrangement was dedicated to the archduke and published in august. the year was a memorable one for beethoven. important events crowded fast on his horizon, chief of which were those proceeding from the meeting of the congress of sovereigns in vienna in the autumn of this year. napoleon was in the toils; he had been forced to abdicate and was now a prisoner on the island of elba. when the treaty of peace was signed at paris on may , , between france and the allies, it was agreed that all the powers which had been engaged in the war on either side, should send plenipotentiaries to vienna in general congress to arrange for the conclusion of the provisions of the treaty of peace. the congress met in november of the same year, and was characterized by a degree of magnificence which renders it unique of its kind. the emperor and empress of russia, the kings of prussia, bavaria, denmark and würtemburg were present in person. england and france were represented by their highest nobles. spain, sweden and portugal sent representatives. the advent of a hundred great personages in vienna naturally brought other distinguished visitors there and the gayeties that supervened, now that the wars were a thing of the past, occupied the time and attention of the visitors to such an extent that for three months nothing of a business nature was attempted by the congress. these were halcyon days for vienna. peace was restored after twenty years of such warfare as only a napoleon could inflict, the nervous tension became a thing of the past, and sovereign and noble could again take up the chief occupation of life, enjoyment. the city fathers, on learning that the congress was to be convened in vienna, commissioned beethoven to write a cantata of welcome to honor the visitors. the poem "der glorreiche augenblick" (the glorious moment), was chosen, which beethoven set to music. as may be supposed the new cantata served to increase his fame, although as a work of art it is about on a par with the battle symphony. beethoven occupied a prominent part in the many notable gatherings which were a feature of this winter. associated in people's minds as a harbinger of the new era, his popularity increased in line with the ever brightening political horizon. the archduke enjoyed having him at his receptions, introducing him to the sovereigns, and made much of him generally. it was at the archduke's apartments that beethoven was introduced to the empress of russia, who showed him much attention, both here and when meeting him elsewhere. he met her frequently at count rasoumowsky's, who as russian ambassador entertained lavishly in honor of his distinguished guests. he afterward related humorously how the crowned heads paid court to him, referring to the urbanity and courtesy which the empress in particular, used toward him. beethoven is on record as saying that he liked being with the aristocracy. he seems to have had no difficulty in impressing on the empress the right concept of his importance as man and artist. in acknowledgment of the courtesies which he received from her, the master composed for her a grand polonaise (in c, opus ) which, in company with the pianoforte arrangement of the seventh symphony he dedicated to her. shortly after the assembling of the congress beethoven gave a concert for his own benefit, at which the new cantata as well as the battle symphony and the seventh symphony were performed. the riding hall, an immense structure, capable of seating six thousand persons was placed at his disposal, for which, however, a large price, one-half the receipts, was exacted, so frimmel states. with sublime confidence beethoven sent out invitations in his own name to the visiting sovereigns and other notabilities, all of whom responded, with the result that the hall was crowded and the concert proved to be a great success. as a result of the winter's activities, beethoven's finances were greatly improved. he displayed a degree of business ability during this year, which was not to have been expected from a man of his temperament. his profits from one source or another were such that he invested money to the extent of ten thousand florins, in shares of the bank of austria. it was his first and only investment, undertaken as a provision for the future. that beethoven kept his head in the face of all this adulation is evident from a letter written at this time to a friend at prague in which he says, "i write nothing about our monarchs and monarchies. the intellectual realm is the most precious in my eyes, and far above all temporal and spiritual kingdoms." it was indeed a brilliant winter, but all this joy was suddenly changed to something akin to terror by the news of napoleon's escape from elba in march of , and that he was assembling his forces for another campaign. the gayeties had to be discontinued, the members of the congress confined themselves to the work for which it was convened, the result being that the treaties were signed by the eight powers on june , upon which the congress disbanded. this was just eleven days before the battle of waterloo. in november of this year beethoven's brother karl died, leaving the composer as an heritage his son karl, then nine years of age. with the clairvoyance which approaching dissolution often brings, the father saw that the uncle would be a much better guardian for the boy, than the mother, and consigned him to beethoven's care almost with his last breath. it was characteristic of such a man as was beethoven, to accept the charge without hesitation, from an exaggerated sense of duty; to fight for its possession even, although it revolutionized his life and brought him face to face with all sorts of difficult and untried conditions. as might have been expected, karl's widow, who was the daughter of a rich citizen, contested his right to the control of the boy, and began legal proceedings to obtain possession of him. this was the advance-guard of a series of troubles that began to close in on him at this period, ending only with his life. years of litigation followed, the issue being at times in favor of one side, then of the other, the boy meanwhile being in charge of the successful party. the new responsibility, assumed with scarcely a thought as to consequences, not only interfered with the bachelor habits of a lifetime, but the mental disturbance occasioned by the lawsuits which ensued, seriously interrupted his work, so that for some years very little was accomplished in the way of new compositions. "the higher a man is," said goethe (conversations with eckermann), "the more he is under the influence of dæmons, and he must take heed lest his guiding will counsel him to a wrong path." could he have foreseen how this adoption of the child would interfere with his cherished work, he might have paused to consider the matter, before binding himself irrevocably by his promise to his brother. with never a fixed habitation, no sense of the value of money, giving it away to those in need as readily as if it had no value, often enduring privation himself in consequence; with a mode of life so simple that the entire ménage was frequently transported elsewhere on slight provocation, this ascetic was now to encounter housekeeping problems, make money, save it (most difficult of all), employ servants, in short undertake in middle-age and in impaired health, duties the nature of which he could not even form an estimate. the plan of adopting the boy might not have been such a visionary one, could beethoven have been in entire control from the start. while the litigation went on, discipline was out of the question. there were occasional victories for the mother, who then had the boy under her absolute control until such time as beethoven was able to get the decision of the court reversed. even when the boy was under the uncle's charge, the mother managed at times to gain access to him in order to poison his mind against the uncle. her influence whenever she was able to exert it was naturally adverse. that there should be a stronger affinity between mother and son, than between uncle and nephew is not surprising. she had had entire control of him up to his tenth year. she was lax in discipline and saw to it that the boy had a better time while with her than he was likely to have when under his uncle's care. that the boy began to show a preference for being with the mother can be easily understood, and it was a bitter trial to the master. it was not alone mother-love which actuated madame beethoven in her extraordinary efforts to gain possession of the boy; money considerations entered into the question to some extent, as some money had been set aside for his support by the father, which she wanted to get hold of. the simple straightforward beethoven was no match for the wiles of this woman of the world, who generally managed in one way or another to circumvent him, even to the detriment of the child. the boy was sharp enough to take advantage of the situation, and was spoiled long before the uncle was privileged legally to adopt him. during the proceedings the case was at one time in a high court on the assumption that the "van" in beethoven's name indicated nobility. the widow contested this, and brought action requesting that the case be tried in a lower court. when beethoven was examined on this issue, he pointed to his head and heart, saying, "my nobility is here and here." "van" is not a sign of nobility like the german "von," and the case was sent to the lower court. beethoven formed high hopes on the lad's account, thinking that he would become a great musician or scholar. he had no prevision that here he was to meet with the greatest disappointment of his life. the boy was handsome and intelligent and soon won the affection of the master, who became much occupied with the interesting task of guiding his mental and spiritual development. "the heart is only for rare occasions," said thoreau, "the intellect affords us the most unfailing satisfaction." this rather cynical observation was abundantly confirmed in beethoven's case by subsequent developments. he wasted precious years on account of his nephew, and the anxiety occasioned by his waywardness, was no doubt one of the factors which shortened his life. with the advent of the nephew into his life he finally abandoned all idea of marriage. in conversation with giannatasio del rio, who kept the school at which the nephew was placed, he stated, "i will never be able to form a closer tie than the one which now binds me to my nephew." he took lodgings near the school and visited giannatasio's family frequently. the daughter, in her journal, published after her death, makes frequent mention of beethoven, giving interesting glimpses into his character. she tells of his bringing violets to her on march , which he found in his walks in the fields, also of his carrying with him on his walks a pocket edition of shakespeare. the sarcastic, satirical mood, which frequently took possession of beethoven is touched on in the journal, and is illustrated in the following incident. the father on one occasion had remarked as if in compliment to the master, "my daughter plays your music," upon which beethoven laughed outright. it is hardly necessary to say that the young lady played no more of beethoven's music, while he was about. on one occasion, however, she was playing his _kennst du das land?_ when he came in unexpectedly. he recognized it, and at once went to her and stood at the piano, marking time and making suggestions in regard to the rendering of it, thus making amends for his former rudeness. his interest in his nephew led him to make friendly advances to the father as well as to the daughters, and he spent many pleasant hours with them. on rare occasions he assumed his old air of happy boisterous humor, when young people were about. he greatly enjoyed singing goethe's "song of the flea," calling out as the flea is killed: "now he'll be smashed! now he'll be smashed!" (_jetzt wird er gegnaxt!_) making a crash on the instrument at the word "smashed." he came to them once after karl had been placed in another school and wept as he told them that his nephew had left him and gone to his mother. the lad was recovered by the assistance of the police, and was then placed with this family again. he once wrote a sharp letter to the father criticising his methods in the teaching of karl, but, on reconsidering the matter sent word to the daughter asking her not to show it to her father, as it was written in a blind rage, which he now regretted. all this shows how carefully he looked after the young man's welfare. it was the same with his music, which was intrusted to czerny. the youth inherited some musical talent and under favoring conditions might have achieved something as a musician. when the instruction began, beethoven was in the habit of calling at czerny's house nearly every day with his nephew. on these occasions the master would frequently improvise on the piano, to czerny's great enjoyment. czerny, through his devotion to beethoven, paid particular attention to karl, and the boy made rapid progress. he accompanied his uncle on visits to other houses, by the latter's desire, with the object of forming his taste and stimulating his ambition for the art. from the start beethoven planned a fine career for his nephew. "the boy must be an artist or a savant that he may lead a noble life," he said once. on another occasion, when the youth was about eighteen years of age, he said, on introducing him to a visitor, "you can ask him a riddle in greek if you like." "my wishes and efforts have no other aim than that the boy may receive the best possible education," he wrote when contending in the court of appeals for possession of the boy, "as his capacity warrants the indulgence of the best hopes for his future, and that the expectation, which his father built upon my fraternal love may be fulfilled. the shoot is still flexible; but if more time be wasted it will grow crooked for want of the training hand of the gardener, and good conduct, intellect, and character, may be lost forever. i know no more sacred duty than the superintendence of the education of a child. the duty of guardianship can only consist in this--to appreciate what is good, and to take such measures as are conformable with the object in view." the young man cared but little for this solicitude. in his uncle's home he had to study, listen to many a lecture perhaps, and do many a thing that he did not like to do. when with his mother it was different; spending-money was to be had while there and in general an easy time. no wonder that he preferred being with her. later, when he entered the university he absented himself as much as possible from his uncle's house. beethoven had centred his affections on the young man, and, when he remained indifferent, irresponsive, it caused him the keenest anguish. the master's letters to him from baden are pathetic. "in what part of me am i not injured and torn?" "my continued solitude only still further enfeebles me, and really my weakness often amounts to a swoon. oh! do not further grieve me, for the man with the scythe (_sensenman_) will grant me no long delay." his journal entries on this account, are the utterances of a creature at bay; of a being in the last extremity. "o! höre stets unaussprechlicher, höre mich deinen unglücklichen unglücklichsten aller sterblichen." it was not alone the necessity for study and other restraints, which led the young man to absent himself as much as possible from his uncle's house when he grew older and had more liberty of action. comfortable living was not one of the factors in the beethoven ménage. beethoven's requirements, so far as he himself was concerned, were simple almost to asceticism. he believed in discipline in the rearing of youth, but his belief in it did not extend to the point of inducing him to attempt it with his servants. the explanation of this is not far to seek. he would have had to conform to any rules made in the interest of discipline and system in the household, which would have been out of the question for him. he was wedded to an irregular mode of living and for the most part desired nothing but to be left alone. it is not surprising that the young man preferred his own quarters, to the haphazard mode of life, which characterized the master's household. character is never a finished product. always it is in process of formation, of development, advancing or retrograding according to environment. beethoven's influence, powerless during his lifetime on the mind of karl may have been potent after death in the upbuilding of the young man's character. on arriving at years of discretion he changed his course entirely and became an exemplary citizen. as the last survivor of the beethoven family he inherited the means of his two uncles, and settled down in vienna living the life of a gentleman of leisure. he gave his attention to music to which he was passionately devoted, as well as to the rearing of his family, and was by all accounts a model family man. like his illustrious uncle, he was in the habit of improvising at the piano for hours at a time. to follow the fortunes of the posterity of great men is an interesting subject. from the researches of dr. vansca of vienna, published in _die musik_ (berlin, march, ), it transpires that karl married on july , , a miss karoline naska. five children were born to them, as follows: karoline, ; marie, ; ludwig, (named after his famous grand-uncle); gabrielle, , and hermine, . ludwig, the only son, his military service over, married in marie nitche. to them a son was born on may , , at munich, and baptized karl. father and son, that is ludwig and karl d, were last heard from in in london, when the father applied for a passport to travel in various european countries. ludwig's mother died in vienna in , at which time it was announced that the whereabouts of ludwig and the son karl were unknown. efforts were then made to get news of the young karl, who, if living, would have been a youth of twenty, but without avail, and the family are of the opinion that he died during his childhood. as far as can be ascertained at this writing the family of beethoven on the male side is extinct. of the daughters of the master's nephew, karoline and marie married brothers, namely: franz and paul weidinger. gabrielle married a bank cashier named robert heimler. the youngest, hermine, remained single. she graduated in from the conservatory at vienna in piano and harmonium. of the married daughters, only one, marie, had children; a son and daughter. the only descendants of the beethovens known to be living in , are karoline weidinger, a widow, gabrielle heimler, and the son and daughter of marie weidinger. all these persons were at last accounts living in vienna. chapter xi methods of composition a good painter should paint two things; man, and the thoughts of man's soul. --leonardo da vinci. beethoven usually had a definite idea before him when composing. the work progressed rapidly under such conditions. often, however, on further consideration, a better idea would present itself in certain places on reading the work over, and these portions would have to be rewritten. he stated in this connection that he always had a picture in his mind when composing, which he aimed to reproduce in his work. "ich habe immer ein gemälde in meinen gedanken wenn ich am componiren bin, und arbeite nach demselben" (thayer). sometimes this picture was shadowy and elusive, as his gropings in the sketch-books show. he would then apply himself to the task of fixing the idea, writing and rewriting, until it stood out clearly in accordance with the concept already formed in his mind. this picture, or idea, or representation, which exists in the brain of the artist, and to which he seeks to give expression in a tangible form so as to communicate it to others, is a miracle which is constantly going on in his inner consciousness. he can at will call up impressions, which immediately become objectified on the canvas of his mind, in the form of pictures. this mental process is the same in every form of creative work whether it be painting, sculpture, or any of the arts. the architect, before putting pencil to paper, will have the splendid cathedral before him as in a vision; the sculptor, the ideal form and facial expression. the mind of the artist is a vast canvas on which pictures appear, remaining a longer or shorter period at his will, and, when no longer required, giving place to others. the idea once recorded seems never to appear again. nature is never so prodigal as with the man of genius. of all her children he is the favorite; these pictures are given him in superfluity, out of all proportion to his ability to use them. the harder he works in the effort to catch up with his material, the more plentiful it becomes. mr. chamberlain, in his life of wagner, calls attention to the curious fact that wagner produced his operas in pairs for the most part, up to his fortieth year. this was true of beethoven with his symphonies, to a great extent. he became so fired with enthusiasm while on a great work, his thoughts became so prolific, that another work must, perforce, come into being to utilize the surplus material. this prodigality with which the artist is supplied, explains his absorption in his work. once fairly started on a great work, this type of man carries it through with the force of a torrent. nothing but physical exhaustion can stop him. wagner, after completing a great work, usually had to drop all composing or writing for some months in order to recuperate. no slave-driver with a lash ever drove his victim so mercilessly as wagner did himself when in the stress of composition. being married he had some one to look after him, and this had an important bearing on the preservation of his health. beethoven, with the strenuousness that came from his rhenish ancestry, was more intractable, impatient of interference. his domestics were often afraid to go near him when engaged in composition. usually when in deep thought he was oblivious of the outer world. he once agreed to sit for an artist, and maintained his pose for five minutes; then he forgot all about it and went to the piano, where he began improvising. this just suited the artist, who got a good position and worked along until he was tired, finally leaving the room without the master's knowledge. the swedish poet, atterbohm, and dr. jeitteles, distinguished literary men of the period, called at beethoven's house one hot afternoon. their knocking met with no response, although they knew the master was in, as they heard him singing and occasionally striking a chord on the piano. finding the door unlocked, they entered and went in search of him, finally discovering him in an inner room. he was in extreme dishabille, busily noting down his thoughts on the plastered wall. he had probably intended changing his clothes, and, while disrobing, these thoughts came crowding in on him to the exclusion of everything else. beethoven, facing the wall with his back to the visitors, was unaware of their proximity, and they left without being discovered by him, as they did not wish to interfere with his work. this was probably in the year , as beethoven remained in vienna all that summer, actively engaged on the great c sharp minor quartet. it may have been a part of this work which was thus produced. friederich stark relates an incident that illustrates his abstraction. he called on beethoven early one morning, and, being a friend, was given the privilege of looking him up. he went from room to room, and finally found him in his bedroom. he was just beginning to dress, his face thickly lathered with soap that had been put on the previous evening and had dried there; he had prepared to shave, but in the process had forgotten to go on with it. his sketch-books are interesting as showing his frame of mind and temperament, while at work. in his abstraction he occasionally scribbled beautiful thoughts on the margin of his manuscripts. thus, in the sketch-books of the pastoral symphony, we find this record of his joy in nature, showing how thoroughly his mind was imbued with his subject. "almächtiger, im walde ich bin selig, glücklig im wald. jeder baum spricht durch dich!" "o gott! welche herrlichkeit in einer solchen waldgegend." in summer he usually resorted to one of the beautiful villages in the environs of vienna, since absorbed by the city. thus he repaired to heiligenstadt to write his first mass. "oh, the charm of the woods, who can express it!" he writes, and in many of his letters from the country, he expresses his joy at being there. "no man on earth can love the country as i do. thickets, trees and rocks supply the echo man longs for." his best ideas came to him while walking through the fields and woods. at such times his mind became serene and he would attain that degree of abstraction from the world which enabled him to develop his musical ideas. he always carried note-books and would jot down a thought as it came to him. when he got home he would elaborate it and work it into shape. he would walk for hours in all sorts of weather. like thoreau, he generally preferred to be alone in his walks, the presence of a companion preventing him from working out his thoughts. very properly, he occupied himself but little with the music of other composers. to a man of his individuality, inspiration from the outer world was not to be had or desired. his own inner wealth was sufficient. curiously, he set a high value on cherubini during the period of writing fidelio and the third symphony. his own creations however, were of paramount interest to him. he was a slow worker, continually polishing and improving his work up to the moment that it reached the engraver's hands. "the andante" said wagner "is the typical german style." it was not beethoven's best style. essentially a man of extremes, he delighted in swinging the pendulum to its furthest limit either way. he early in life acquired the irrepressible joyousness in his compositions, which was haydn's distinguishing trait. it is the key-note to much of beethoven's work up to the time of composing the grand mass. it figures to some extent in his subsequent work. it is a feature which wagner never tires of exploiting in beethoven's work. whenever he mentions beethoven's name the word _heiterkeit_ (joyousness) is sure to follow. the two are almost synonymous with him. where beethoven is unapproachable, however, is in his slow movements, the adagios, solemn and portentous, in which all of world-sorrow finds expression. it is in these scenes of terror that his powers stand out with supernatural clearness. his infinitude impresses one. it is as if he had penetrated other spheres and could speak in new tongues. he delighted in startling contrasts. the kyrie of the mass in d has always presented itself to my consciousness as a series of gigantic tone-pictures, in which the omnipotence of god, and the impotence of humanity is brought into juxtaposition. the coriolanus overture is another instance among the many at hand illustrating this point. here we see how the forceful, aggressive, bold, masterful genius, is subdued by the power of conjugal and filial love, a power in this case as irresistible as that of a glacier, which will make its way against any odds. each side in striving for the mastery, displays its own peculiar characteristics and mode. it is the everlasting struggle between the evil principle and that which is good. he ranges titanic forces in opposition and lets us see the battle. by the magic of his art we are enabled to see these pictures as on a canvas. it is frequently stated that beethoven's music shows a deficiency in counterpoint. his originality, the wealth of his ideas, his versatility, will explain this. the fugue, while it is ingenious and interesting, is artificial and, indeed often arbitrary in musical composition, sometimes introduced merely to stop gaps or for brilliancy of effect. it is not surprising that beethoven should have neglected it to some extent, although he has used it with excellent effect in some of the sonatas and in his two masses. his fertility of imagination was great and it was hard for him to tie himself down to the formal style in composition, after his powers had reached maturity. the fugue, in one form or another, seems to be almost indispensable in musical composition, but it is always characterized by learning instead of inspiration. it is something which has to be worked out like a problem in mathematics. beethoven's thought in music is marked by something higher than the disposition to divert one's attention to his talent or skill. a definite meaning is there; he has something to reveal. at the beginning of his career as composer, beethoven was not above taking advice on the subject of his compositions. he frequently discussed them with prince lichnowsky, and adopted his suggestions when it came to alterations. as he advanced in knowledge of his art, however, he became reticent on the subject and would discuss them with no one. he acted on goethe's idea that "the greatest art after all is to limit and isolate oneself." he did not like praise or applause. knowing intuitively that the character is endangered thereby, he sought by every means to ward it off. his improvising was such that often on leaving the instrument he would find his hearers in tears. this would embarrass him, and he would affect anger, or would laugh at them. this does not imply that he did not care for appreciation, which is quite a different matter. he was perfectly willing to listen to censure or adverse criticism. trifles might anger him, but this never did, and, be it said, it never influenced him either. true artist that he was, he seldom wrote down to his public. like wagner, he knew what was best in art, and if the public did not, he gave the matter small concern. not for one generation are great masterpieces born. the artist lives in the future; he is always in advance of his time. beethoven's character was a prism of many facets. wagner views him always as the mystic, the seer, at odds with the world. side by side with this characterization he constantly dwells, as just noted, on beethoven's uncontrollable tendency to humor, gayety (_heiterkeit_) which shows itself not only in his life, but still more in his works. this may have been a device deliberately assumed to enable him to escape mental suffering. at all events it was a prominent trait of his character, but does not seem to have added to his enjoyment of life. no circumstance, however painful, but that he is able to extract some jest or pleasantry from it. the paradox is before us of a man world-weary at the core, outwardly serene, gay. in the same ratio in which those things which serve to make life enjoyable to the average man were diminished or withdrawn, does his tendency to incessant humor increase. the consciousness of being able to achieve great things, and the joy in accomplishing them, is what gives the artist the exultant mood, the feeling of gayety. to be sensible of such an heritage, to participate in this god-given wealth, to run riot in it, to know that the more of it that is used the more will be given, to be favored of the gods in a way that the possessor of untold wealth cannot aspire to--this is what gives the serene and joyous mood, which characterizes the man of genius for the most part. when he comes out of this ideal world into the commonplace every-day life, and realizes his unfitness for it, the other side of the picture is presented to his consciousness, and then is exhibited that strange melancholy, _weltschmerz_, which constantly comes to the fore in the journals and letters of men like wagner, or beethoven, or liszt. the sunday morning concerts, instituted by czerny in the winter of , call for more than passing notice. a select company of professional musicians and amateurs had banded themselves into an organization for the purpose of performing and studying the best class of chamber-music with special reference to beethoven's compositions. czerny was the originator and moving spirit, as stated, and the performances were held at his house. beethoven attended them frequently. czerny, whose admiration for the master was unbounded, was brought into more intimate relations with him through these concerts, as beethoven was consulted in regard to the programmes and occasionally rehearsed some of his new compositions with him. though a brilliant performer, czerny did not like public life or society, and retired from the concert stage at a time when his powers were at their best, in order to give all his time to composition. his ability in improvising was a marvel even for those times. he was beethoven's successor in prince lichnowsky's circle, frequently playing at concerts at his house. he is credited with being able to play from memory all of beethoven's works. like schubert, his one pleasure was to be with a few chosen spirits, and talk on the subject of his art. in these assemblages rank was ignored. art was a leveller, or, rather, the devotees of the art were raised to a common plane, where social distinctions were for the time being obliterated. no special invitations were required. any one interested in the art was made welcome, and found there a congenial atmosphere. czerny, modest and retiring, had no thought of making social capital out of these concerts. no one not wholly devoted to the art was wanted, no matter what his social position was, and want of social position was no bar when the artistic qualifications were present. it was a band of chosen spirits, and the attrition engendered by these meetings must have been advantageous to each. they were true concerts spirituels, an audience of artists from which the performers were drawn. second only to czerny as a pianist among this company was beethoven's friend and pupil, the baroness ertmann, who frequently took part in these concerts. madame ertmann's virtuosity has already been commented on in these pages. she won new laurels at the czerny concerts through her admirable interpretation of beethoven's music. during this winter of the master composed the fine sonata in a, opus , for her. it commemorates the spiritual kinship existing between these two gifted persons. "my dear, valued dorothea cäcilia," he writes in his letter of dedication, "receive now what has long been intended for you, and may it serve as a proof of my appreciation of your artistic talents and of yourself; i regret not having heard you recently at cz--(czerny's). my absence was owing to illness, which at last appears to be giving way to returning health." some years previously, when the baroness had lost a son by death during her husband's absence on his military duties, beethoven asked the stricken woman to call, and comforted her, not with words, but in the language which both best understood. "'we will talk in music,' said beethoven, who remained at the piano over an hour in which he said everything and even gave me consolation." the incident is obtained from one of mendelssohn's letters. among the important works produced in this period may be mentioned the sonata, opus , "a struggle between the head and the heart." it is dedicated to count m. lichnowsky on the occasion of his marriage to a singer. there was also the chorus set to goethe's words, "a calm sea and prosperous voyage." this was written in and seven years later dedicated to goethe. the two sonatas, opus , for piano and cello, one of which is called the free sonata, are interesting, as in them is foreshadowed the trend of beethoven's mind toward religious music, which controlled him almost entirely from this time on. the idea of writing another oratorio seems now to have taken possession of his mind. a preference for this mode appears in his journals and letters and was probably the subject of conversation on his part. at all events, the newly established society of friends of music of vienna (which beethoven, with his usual aptitude for punning, used to refer to as the society of _musikfeinde_, enemies of music) made him a proposition to write an oratorio for them, which he accepted. no stipulations were made as to subject or treatment, and the society agreed to pay the handsome sum of three hundred gold ducats, merely for the use of the work for one year. so far as known, this work was never begun. the archduke soon after obtained his appointment as cardinal-archbishop, and the work on the mass for the installation occupied beethoven to the exclusion of other works. the loss by death of three of beethoven's old friends must have been greatly felt by him in these years. prince lichnowsky, who died in , was the first, and was followed two years later by prince lobkowitz. hardest of all, however, for the master was the loss of his friend, wenzel krumpholz, who died in . his relations with the latter were more intimate than with the noblemen, and had continued without a break almost from the time of his advent in vienna. czerny, in his autobiography, gives an interesting picture of the devotion of krumpholz, who attached himself to beethoven much the same as did boswell to dr. johnson. he was somewhat older than beethoven, and his position as first violinist at the court theatre enabled him to be of much practical service to beethoven, as he was widely known among the professional musicians, as well as the rich amateurs. he sounded beethoven's praises far and wide: he encouraged him to begin composition, making propaganda for him among the wealthy dilettante, and spent a good portion of each day in his company. beethoven, who at a later period said of himself that he was too strong for friendship, did not take kindly to this intimacy at first, but krumpholz's persistency was not to be gainsaid. he gave him lessons on the violin, and identified himself in many ways with beethoven's advancement. beethoven finally became so accustomed to him, that the presence of the other did not disturb him, and he would improvise before him as if he were alone. krumpholz though devoid of genius himself, intuitively recognized its presence in beethoven, and led the younger man to discuss his musical plans and ideas with him. the compositions as they took form in the young man's mind, were played to krumpholz, who advised and encouraged him. the extravagant admiration of the latter sometimes acted on beethoven's sense of humor to such an extent that he would make fun of him, and call him his fool, but this did not deter krumpholz, who seemed to think he had a divinely appointed task set him, in aiding the development of this young genius, and was willing to put up with some vagaries from him. in truth, beethoven needed a champion, for, from the first, a certain originality, a strenuousness, showed itself in his work, which put the art on a new and different footing. that the young man was reaching out for higher things his public may have been aware of, but only a few, here and there, kindred spirits, cared for this. the average person was unable to recognize any higher function in music than that of simple enjoyment; anything aside from this was irrelevant, and could but lead to deterioration. although at the beginning of his career as composer, he made mozart and haydn his models, this originality showed itself, and when it was continued in subsequent works, it awoke the strongest opposition in certain quarters. the strong partisanship which krumpholz brought to bear on the situation, was invaluable to the young man, whose views needed confirmation and indorsement. krumpholz seems to have had an affinity for discovering talent in others. he brought czerny, at the age of ten years, to beethoven, who immediately recognized his genius, and offered to give him lessons. that beethoven deeply felt the loss of his old friend and teacher is evidenced by his writing music to the song of the monks, rasch tritt der tod den menschen an, from schiller's wilhelm tell, in commemoration of him. chapter xii sense of humor in tristitia hilaris, in hilaritate tristis. --motto of giordano bruno. beethoven did not have much in the way of enjoyment, as the word is generally understood, to compensate him for the pain of existence. the resources vouchsafed others in this respect, family affection, love, friendship, generally failed him when put to the test. out of harmony with the general order of things in the material world, the point in which he could best come to an understanding with his fellow-creatures was by the exercise of his sense of humor. the circumstances of his life tended to make a pessimist of him. he did not understand the world and was misunderstood in return. to counteract the tendency toward pessimism, his resource was to develop his sense of humor, to create an atmosphere of gayety, by which he was enabled to meet people on a common plane. but not only in the ordinary affairs of life does it stand him in good stead, this sense of humor. it comes out finely in his creative work in the sonatas and the scherzo movements of his symphonies. he originated, invented the scherzo, developing it from the simple minuet of the earlier composers. the primary object of the scherzo was recreation pure and simple. it was introduced with the object of resting the mind. the evolution of humor in music is an interesting subject of study. it is something foreign to it, an exotic, of slow growth, gaining but little in the hands of the earlier composers from bach on. even with haydn it never advanced much beyond geniality. they had essayed it chiefly in the minuet, but succeeded only in producing something stately, in which the element of fun or humor, to modern ways of thinking is hardly appreciable. it found a sudden and wonderful expansion, an efflorescence in beethoven, with whom every phase of the art was developed to colossal proportions. he has made of the scherzo a movement of such importance that it lends a distinctive character to his symphonies. in this form he is unapproachable. in the whole range of music there is nothing like it elsewhere. it is peculiar to beethoven, and is another example of the many-sidedness of the great composer. "happiness is a new idea in europe," said st. just, speaking of the period immediately following the french revolution. whether or not beethoven ever met with this remark, its significance at least was taken to heart. the word scherz--joke, sport, is sufficiently obvious. he goes much farther at times than simply to play pranks, however. a wide range of expression is possible in the scherzo when manipulated by a master-mind like that of beethoven. the satirical, sarcastic humor which escaped him in social intercourse at times, is vented on a colossal scale in the scherzo, in which he often makes sport of humanity itself, making it the subject of his jest, his ridicule--its foibles being shown up, its follies exposed. when projected in this mood, the movement calls for intellectual co-operation, and is of equal importance with the others. humor has been defined as the outcome of simplicity and philosophy in the character. it can exist independently of genius we know, but genius is never without humor. in other words, wherever there is a work of genius, it transpires that the author has a fund of humor with which he occasionally enriches his work. the profoundest philosophical treatises have it. it is a part of the stock in trade of every great novelist; fielding, thackeray, george eliot, walter scott. it frequently comes to the surface in schopenhauer pessimist though he be; it pervades shakespeare. few men regarded life with greater seriousness than thoreau, but humor sparkles all over his works. it is only where this is in excess that it detracts from the value of the work. not important in itself when separated from the deeper work which it accompanies, it is yet, all in all, one of the infallible tests, though a minor one, of the work of any man of genius. a sense of humor exists in the man even though he keep it out of his work, if he is good for anything. beethoven's humor was titanic, heroic, on a grand scale, always with what might be called a certain seriousness about it like that of a lion at play. mozart gives many instances of humor in his compositions, but with a great difference in the character. his disposition was all gentleness and sweetness, and his humor is characterized by these attributes. it is on a small scale, and though enjoyable, has nothing commanding about it. the musician, more than any artist, reflects his character and trend of life in his work. this sense of humor, inherent in the mental equipment of beethoven, enabled him to enjoy a joke as well as give it, to perceive a ridiculous situation and extract due amusement from it, to appropriate it wherever he found it. but singularly enough, when the point of a joke was turned against himself, his sense of humor failed him utterly. he would often become angry in such cases and the perpetrator would come in for a round of abuse which made him chary of attempting it again. very bad music of which there was a sufficiency already in those times, gave him great amusement, which he manifested by roars of laughter, we are informed by seyfried, who saw more or less of him during a period covering a quarter of a century. "all his friends," says seyfried, "recognized that in the art of laughter, beethoven was a virtuoso of the first rank." he often laughed aloud when nothing had occurred to excite laughter, and would in such case ascribe his own thoughts and fancies as the cause. naïve and simple as a child himself, he could only see the naïveté in the worthless compositions above referred to, and could not understand the small ambition back of the pitiful effort. he often unintentionally afforded equally great amusement to others by his own naïveté. thus he once told stein, of the noted family of pianoforte makers that some of the strings in his broadwood were out of order or lacking, and to illustrate it, caught up a bootjack and struck the keys with it. ries states that beethoven several times in his awkwardness emptied the contents of the ink-stand into the piano. on this same piano the master was often begged to improvise. the instrument was a present from the manufacturers, and when made, was probably the best example of its kind extant. it later came into the possession of liszt. beethoven's love of a joke was such that it appears in the title to one of his works, the opus . it is a rondo a capriccio for piano, with the title, die wuth über den verlorenen groschen (fury over a lost penny), of which schumann says "it would be difficult to find anything merrier than this whim. it is the most harmless amiable anger." beethoven was ready in repartee, and full of resources, with a wit that was spontaneous and equal to any emergency. one new-year's day, as he and schindler were sitting down to dinner, a card was brought in johann van beethoven _gutsbesitzer_ (landed proprietor). beethoven took the card and wrote on the back of it-- l. van beethoven _hirnbesitzer_ (brain proprietor). and sent it back to johann. cold-blooded, selfish, always ready to profit by his talented brother, and never caring how he compromised him, it was not to be expected that johann would have the master's approval, or that there could be any accord between them. in any encounter, the composer generally managed to be master of the situation, through the exercise of his wit, something which the duller johann could neither appreciate nor imitate. it may be said in passing, that the master supplied the funds which enabled johann to start in business. this was in . he made money rapidly in army contracts, a business for which he was well qualified, and finally bought an estate and set up for a landed proprietor. beethoven's waggishness was frequently vented on a young friend, zmeskall, who was court secretary. zmeskall undertook the task of keeping the master supplied with pens, which he cut from goose-quills. beethoven used up large quantities of them and was incessant in his demands on him. a certain drollery characterizes all his letters to him. he knew how to hit the vulnerable points in the other, and they were often made the subject of attack. zmeskall being a member of the nobility, is often addressed by him, "most high-born of men." he was useful to beethoven not alone on the subject of pens, but was appealed to by him for advice and assistance on all sorts of matters. zmeskall, though a bachelor, lived in fine state, and maintained several servants. he was thus in a position to procure the right sort of one for beethoven. many of the letters are either on this theme or in regard to securing him another lodging. zmeskall is his resource in many of the small matters of every-day life, perplexing to him, but simple enough to the practical man. the master's helplessness is shown with pathos and unconscious humor in the following note: lieber zmeskall,-- schicken sie mir doch ihrem spiegel, der nächts ihrem fenster hängt auf ein paar stunden der meinige ist gebrochen, haben sie zugleich die güte haben wolten mir noch heute einen solchen zu kaufen so erzeigten sie mir einen grossen gefallen. ihre auslage sollen sie sogleich zurük erhalten. verzeien sie lieber z meiner zudringlichkeit. ich hoffe sie bald zu sehen. ihr, bthvn. dear zmeskall,-- won't you kindly send me the mirror that hangs next to your window for a few hours. mine is broken. if you will at the same time have the goodness to buy me such another you will do me a great favor. your outlay will be immediately returned to you. pardon dear z my importunity. i hope soon to see you. your, bthvn. beethoven's lapses from grammar (untranslatable into english), indicate his impatience at the trivial wants and necessities which interrupt his creative work and take his thoughts from his compositions. instances of bad grammar in his letters are frequent, when dealing with ordinary topics. in no sense a polished man, he could, however, when the occasion required it, assume in his grammar and diction the grace and elegance of the scholar, but it does not often come to the front. he was too rugged, too headstrong, to pay much attention to the little niceties of life. in common with his contemporaries, zmeskall found his principal enjoyment in music. he gave musical parties at his quarters, playing the cello himself, and gathered about him many of the most distinguished artists and amateurs of the day. beethoven was always interested in feats of virtuosity, but he cared little for the compositions of others. he occupied himself with his own work to the exclusion of that of his contemporaries. his musical library was scant, consisting of a small collection of the works of the early italian masters, bound in one volume, some of mozart's sonatas--which must have seemed to him curiously stunted and commonplace in comparison with his own--and a portion of don giovanni. in addition, he possessed all of clementi's sonatas, which he greatly admired and which formed the basis of the musical studies of his nephew for several years. lastly there were a few works of bach, consisting of the well-tempered clavichord, some motets, three volumes of exercises, some inventions, symphonies and a toccato. in speaking of weber he said that he began to learn too late, and makes the curious criticism that weber's only apparent effort was to attain the reputation of geniality. in reading freischutz, he said he could hardly help smiling at certain parts, but afterward qualified this by saying that he could judge it better if he could hear it. schindler says, that when rossini came to vienna in , and endeavored to call on beethoven, the master succeeded in escaping his visits. his opinion of händel is high. he once remarked to a friend who called on him, "händel is the greatest composer that ever lived." continuing the narrative this friend, j.a. stumpf of london, says, "i cannot describe the pathos and sublimity with which he spoke of the messiah of that immortal genius. we all felt moved when he said, 'ich würde mein haupt entblössen und auf seinem grabe niederknieen.' (i would kneel at his grave with uncovered head.)" of mozart, he said, near the end of his life, in a letter to the abbe stadler, "all my life i have been esteemed one of the greatest admirers of mozart's genius and will remain so until my latest breath." czerny said that he was at times inexhaustible in praise of mozart, although he cared nothing for his piano works and he makes a severe criticism on don giovanni. "in this opera mozart still retained the complete italian cut and style. moreover, the sacred art should never be degraded to the foolery of so scandalous a subject. the zauberflöte will ever remain his greatest work, for in this he showed himself the true german composer." of cherubini's requiem he said, "as regards his conception of it, my ideas are in perfect accord with his and sometime i mean to compose a requiem in that style." (later in life his opinion of cherubini was greatly modified). he seldom spoke of haydn, and had nothing of that master's compositions in his library. beethoven's collections in literature were far more extensive and interesting than in music. he was essentially a student. his predilections and thoughts all tended toward the acquisition of knowledge. this was a veritable passion with him. his mind ranged through almost every department of literature. in the intervals of his work, worn by fatigue, he was in the habit of resting his mind by reading the classics, or persian literature. schindler, who was near him for the last ten years of his life says in relation to beethoven's love of the greek classics. "he could recite long passages from them. if any one asked him where this or that quotation was to be found he could find it as readily as a motive from his own works." elsewhere he says, "plato's republic was transfused into his very flesh and blood." he was an insatiable reader of history. as may be supposed shakespeare was an especial favorite with him. there is a curious little work published called beethoven's brevier, made up of those portions of shakespeare and the classics for which he had a particular regard. here, shakespeare is first on the list. there are also many selections from the greek, and from schiller, goethe, herder and others. although a man of considerable culture, he was not an educated man, all his available time and strength having been required for his musical training. he was, however, the equal or superior in mental attainments of any of the great musicians, with the exception of wagner. he had the strongest faith in his own powers. it was his belief that almost anything could be accomplished by trying. side by side with this belief was the ineradicable conviction that intellectual culture was of more importance than anything else in the universe. he stated his views finely on this subject in a letter to a young girl, unknown to him, who had sent him a present with a letter expressing her appreciation of his music. "do more than simply practice the art (of music), penetrate rather, into the heart and soul of it. it will be found well worth while, for art and knowledge alone have the power to elevate mankind up to deity itself. should you want anything of me at any time, write me with entire confidence. the true artist is never arrogant; rather he sees with regret how illimitable all art is, and how far from the goal he remains. while he may be admired, he only grieves that he cannot reach the point toward which his better genius beckons him." we read of his ordering complete sets of schiller and goethe in the summer of . the study of these authors carried on under most unfavorable conditions, bore good fruit subsequently, as some good work was inspired by them. the egmont music, which appeared the following year, the calm sea and prosperous voyage, bundeslied, the different settings of erlkönig, the four settings of sehnsucht are instances, although this does not by any means complete the list of his settings from the works of the authors just named. chapter xiii missa solemnis christianity is the doctrine of the deep guilt of the human race through its existence alone, and the longing of the heart for deliverance from it. --schopenhauer. to christianity and the spirit of religion in man we are indebted for some of the finest arts which adorn our civilization. it was the religious principle which brought into being the temples and statuary of ancient greece, as well as the splendid examples of gothic architecture, which have come down to us from the middle ages. it is this which has given us those masterpieces in painting and sculpture, which have so enriched the world; but above all it has given us music, highest of all the arts. here its influence has been most potent. originating outside the church, it found its best development within it. religious fervor had inspired some imperishable works of genius at a period when nothing much had yet been done in secular music. the masses of palestrina, the entire life-work of sebastian bach, the oratorios of händel, are cases in point. the old masters with hardly an exception gave their best thought to sacred music. bach has been mentioned. haydn's important work comes under this classification. of the works of händel, only those of a religious nature have survived to the present day, although he composed many operas. the masses and passion-music of the old composers were often written without hope of reward, entirely from love of the subject; they were impelled to it, either through religious ardor, or from the force of their artistic perceptions. the stateliness and solemnity of the mass, the tragic possibilities of the passion, appealed to them, and satisfied the tendency toward mysticism, which is so often a part of the artistic nature. as an art, music finds its best development when of a religious character. while operatic and even orchestral music in general, is written more for the sake of giving pleasure than with any clearly defined ethical purpose, the music of the mass and passion, religious ceremonies, entering into man's profoundest experiences, is given for spiritual enlightenment, and, being a part of the soul's needs, demands and receives higher treatment and more serious consideration than secular music. the very frame of mind which takes possession of a person while listening to music of a religious character, is favorable to a true appreciation of it. the listener is more in earnest, and the emotions called up by the subject impress him more strongly than when listening to secular music. these considerations have their influence on the composer also. we usually find in religious music of the best class, depth and earnestness of purpose commensurate with the expectation of the listener. these few words are preliminary to a consideration of the mass in d, the work in which beethoven reached his culmination as an artist. he himself so regarded it, declaring it to be his greatest and best work. it is certain that he spent more time on it, and gave it a larger share of his attention than was devoted to any other of his works. for several years prior to this, beethoven's muse had been silent for the most part. no important work since the completion of the eighth symphony had been achieved, with the exception of the sonatas mentioned in a previous chapter. this was owing to the various lawsuits in which he found himself involved. his troubles had now been adjusted, however, to such an extent as to enable him to again turn his attention to large works. the pension which had been settled on him in had been imperilled by the death of prince kinsky and the bankruptcy of prince lobkowitz. the portion of it which had been pledged to him by these gentlemen had been discontinued or greatly reduced, and beethoven had to have recourse to the law to protect his rights. a compromise was finally effected, which resulted in the pension being paid in part. although the litigation, in regard to his nephew was still on, it was becoming more and more apparent that the outcome of it would be in his favor. his mind at rest on these points, we find him once more in good health and spirits, with creative energy not only unimpaired but greater than ever. "in general, every evil to which we do not succumb is a benefactor," said emerson. the announcement of the archduke's appointment as archbishop of olmütz, had been definitely made during the summer of . it was well known for years previously that he would receive this appointment, and it is quite likely that beethoven had always intended writing a mass to commemorate it. considering the close relations existing between master and pupil for so many years, and beethoven's obligations to rudolph in money matters, he could hardly have let so momentous an event go by, without writing a mass for it. a mass was probably always intended, but not such a one as eventually grew out of his original idea, which, expanding, augmenting in force and grandeur as the significance of the work took possession of his mind, finally became an apotheosis of friendship, a message to the world. that the archduke appreciated beethoven and valued his friendship is plain. he carefully preserved the letters written him by the master and dedicated to him some of his own compositions. he had as complete a library of beethoven's works as was attainable, and was thoroughly familiar with the master's music. that beethoven responded to this to an equal degree is not likely. he lived too abstracted a life for that. he valued this friendship as much as such a man could, considering the disparity in rank and the difference in mode of thought of the two men. in dedicating so many of his compositions to him, and in consenting to teach him for so long a period, he showed the esteem in which he held him. probably no other person, man or woman received the deference and consideration from beethoven, which he accorded the archduke. the republican, socialistic beethoven was not specially influenced by his rank; rather, it was his personality and devotion to music, which won the regard of the master and formed the bond between them. in the composition of the mass, beethoven was on familiar ground; the work was congenial to him. the emotions called up by the subject swayed him to such an extent that he had difficulty in keeping it within bounds. the mass was a form of music with which he had been associated from childhood. it will be remembered that he played the organ at the age of twelve years at church services, a practice which was kept up for some years. his earliest impressions on the subject of music were in this style. he was, in addition, inclined to it by temperament. the beautiful text appealed to him strongly. it is related that when the german version of his first mass (in c) was brought him, he quickly opened the manuscript and ran over a few pages. when he came to the qui tollis, the tears trickled from his eyes and he was obliged to desist, saying with the deepest emotion, "yes, that was precisely my feeling when i composed it." his journal entries at the time of beginning work on the mass in d show how completely the subject had taken possession of him. "to compose true religious music, consult the old chorals in use in monasteries," he wrote, which gives the clew to his frequent lapses into the ancient ecclesiastical modes, the lydian and dorian, in this mass, a practice for which bach furnished a precedent. "drop operas and everything else, write only in your own style," is another entry of this time, showing his predilection for church music. the summer of was spent at mödling. he was in the best of health and spirits as stated, and began the work with great energy and enthusiasm. his whole nature seemed to change, schindler states, when he began the great work. his interest and absorption in it was extraordinary, as is shown by the sketch-books from the beginning. enthusiasm carried him on to the consummation of a greater work than any he had yet accomplished. hitherto, every achievement was merely a resting-place up the mountainside, the prospect acting as a spur to him to go yet higher, well knowing what emerson finely stated, and was putting into practice at this very time, that new gifts will be supplied in proportion as we make use of those we have. _dem muthigen hilft gott!_ said schiller. beethoven seemed to have some prevision that only a few more years would be allotted him for work; when he began on the mass his inspiration was like a river that had broken its bounds. every nerve and fibre of his being called him to his work. he was like a war-horse that scents the battle. he now abandoned himself more than ever to the impulse for creating. for the next few years he lived the abstracted life of the enthusiast to whom every-day concerns are but incidental and unimportant things, and his art the one great matter. the gigantic tone-pictures which were constantly forming themselves in his inner consciousness were of so much greater importance than the events of his external life, that the latter were dwarfed by comparison and lost their significance. he now made a greater surrender of the ties connecting him with every-day life than ever before. his industry was phenomenal, but it soon became apparent that the work would not be ready for the installation, the date of which was set for march , . it was in reality not completed until nearly two years after this event. we have a good description of the master at this time by the artist klober, who had been commissioned by a wealthy relative who was forming a gallery of famous vienna artists, to paint a portrait of beethoven. "beethoven had a very earnest look; his vivacious eyes were for the most part turned upwards, with a thoughtful and rather a gloomy expression, which i have tried to represent. his lips were closed, but the mouth was not an unkindly one. he was ready enough to expatiate on the arrogant vanity and depraved taste of the viennese aristocracy, by whom he feels himself neglected, or at least underrated." * * * * * "beethoven sat to me for nearly an hour every morning. when he saw my picture, he observed that the style of hair pleased him very much; other painters had always dressed it up as if he were going to court, not at all as he generally wore it." * * * * * "his house at mödling was extremely simple; so, indeed, was his whole manner of life. his dress consisted of a light-blue coat with yellow buttons, white waistcoat and neckcloth, such as were then worn, but everything about him was very negligee. his complexion was florid, the skin rather pock-marked, his hair the color of blue steel, for the black was already changing to grey. his eyes were a bluish-grey and exceedingly vivacious. when his hair streamed in the breeze there was a sort of ossian-like dæmonism about him. but, when talking in a friendly way, he would assume a good-natured, gentle expression, particularly if the conversation was agreeable to him." as we have seen, it had been a favorite project of beethoven for years to write a mass. when he started to carry out his ideas, one course only seems to have been possible to him. this was, to project it on the principle of his symphonies, in which the orchestra should take the commanding part in interpreting the emotional and dramatic possibilities of the text. his experience with his first mass had confirmed him in the belief that he could give the best expression to his ideas by the use of the orchestra, on account of its greater range, its mobility, the variety of its tones. the idea of making it of more importance than the voice, upset all preconceived theories on the subject. the orchestra was emphatically the tool best adapted to beethoven's powers; he developed it into something wholly different from what it was when he found it. he put it to exquisite uses. his effects are the happiest imaginable and they are introduced with a prodigality and lavishness suggesting a reserve as of oceans from which to draw. much of his vocal music is dominated by the orchestra. it took a long while to make people understand that music instead of being the handmaid of poetry, whose function is merely to reflect the ideas of our spoken language, has a language of its own, which can convey ideas in itself, and that there are subtilties that can be expressed in this manner, which evade one when we come to use our coarser mode of expression. this is specially in evidence in beethoven's later work, particularly in the mass we are now considering. wagner frequently compares it to a symphony. in _zukunftsmusik_, he says: "in his great mass beethoven has employed the choir and orchestra almost exactly as in the symphony;" and elsewhere he cites it as being a "strictly symphonic work of the truest beethovenian spirit." in this work, however, he reaches out toward the infinite to a degree not attempted in the symphonies; his spirit takes a bolder flight; more of the inner nature of the artist is revealed; for the limits which bound him in the symphony were not operative in the mass. the very mode of projecting the first movement, the kyrie, shows the splendor of the conception as it took form in his consciousness. the scheme of the movement can be summed up by the antithesis being presented of humanity, weak and sinful on the one side, and the overwhelming majesty of a just god on the other. it is a prayer for mercy, the cry of the soul in its extremity; the underlying thought being repentance. here we have the embodiment of prayer, of supplication. a devotional feeling of the most exalted kind pervades it. the first of the three parts comprising the movement is storm and stress, a knocking on the gates, a de profundus, an accusing conscience arraigning humanity. he works out of this vein to some extent in the second part, the christe eleison, in which the appeal is made directly to the human element of the godhead. in the third part, the themes of the first are again taken up, but by modulation they are made to take on a new significance, and bring peace in the end. although the movement is cast for double chorus as regards the vocal part, the voices are given a subordinate place, the portrayal being carried on by the orchestra in true symphonic style. notable in this movement is the rhythm. in all the storm and stress, a rhythmic motion, a systole and diastole, a surging to and fro, as of vast masses of beings in the last extremity of peril, is apparent. to read meanings and design into the work of such a composer as beethoven is the inevitable result of the transcendent nature of it. it was seldom that he vouchsafed any explanation of his musical intent in his compositions. schindler, who thoroughly appreciated his genius, and who was eager for enlightenment on this phase of his art, was in the habit of drawing beethoven out, as occasion offered, but it was always a difficult process. simple and childlike in most matters, the master was wary and suspicious to an incredible degree when the conversation touched on the subject of his compositions. at times, however, this reserve gave way to schindler's persistency. when he asked him about the opening bars of the c minor symphony (the fifth) it brought out the well-known remark, "thus fate knocks at the door." at another time, he asked him for an elucidation of the sonatas in f minor (opus ) and d minor (opus ), and received the answer "read shakespeare's tempest," which was only half an answer. more definite is his meaning in the two sonatas (opus ), which represents the entreating and resisting principle in the conversation of a pair of lovers. [musical notation.] men of genius seldom care to explain their utterances. "the spirit gives it to me and i write it down" is a remark attributed to beethoven, and this stated the case sufficiently from his point of view. zelter, director of the singakademie of berlin wrote beethoven on completion of the mass, asking him to arrange it for voices only, as nothing but _a capella_ music was permitted by the institution. to this beethoven gave a favorable reply, saying that with some modifications the project was feasible. it, however, was not carried out. it is significant that beethoven gives the german direction throughout in this mass. at the kyrie the direction is mit andacht. at the soli of the agnus dei he writes aengstlich, denoting great agitation or anxiety. it may have been done as a kind of protest to the italian cult in music, which had at this period taken complete possession of the vienna public. the more solid german music was neglected in favor of rossini, and beethoven felt this change of front keenly, making it the subject of remark to rochlitz and to others. it can readily be supposed that works like the mass in d are not easily produced. to get his materials for it beethoven penetrated deeply the mystery surrounding life. the ideas which he voices seem always to have existed, like other great forces in the universe; he impresses one as being the discoverer, rather than the creator of them. schindler, who saw much of him during these years, says of his absorption in this work: "he actually seemed possessed, especially during the composition of the credo." it was while he was at work on this portion of the mass, notably the great fugue, et vitam venturi (the life everlasting), that schindler called on him one afternoon, but could not gain admission. he knew the master was at home as he could hear him stamping and shouting, singing the different parts as if mad. finally the door was opened and beethoven appeared. he was faint from hunger and overwork, having eaten nothing since the previous noon. his servants had, indeed, prepared some food for him the previous day, but he was too much interested in his work to think of it, and they were afraid to urge it on him, or indeed, go near him, while in the stress of composition. he had worked the previous night until overtaken by exhaustion and on awaking in the morning had at once resumed his work, continuing it until interrupted by schindler's arrival. a work so transcendental in character as is this, calls for close and sympathetic study even to get an approximate understanding of its marvels. it is a characteristic of works of this nature, that although not easily comprehended, they are likewise not readily exhausted. much study, many renderings only serve to bring out new values. only by bringing to them of our best will they be revealed. it must have been with a feeling of relief that he finally delivered a copy of the mass complete into the archduke's hands in march of , just two years after the installation. beethoven wrote the sovereigns of russia, france, prussia and saxony, proposing a subscription of fifty ducats, about $ each, for the mass. the first acceptance came from prussia. one of the minor officials in vienna was commissioned by prince von hatzfeld, the prussian ambassador, to ask beethoven if he would not prefer a royal order instead of the fifty ducats. beethoven's reply was characteristic. without a moment's hesitation he said with emphasis, "fifty ducats!" showing the slight value he placed on distinctions of this kind. a reply that must have gratified him very much was that received from the king of france. in his letter to him, beethoven refers to the mass as "_l'oeuvre le plus accompli_." louis xviii, not only forwarded his acceptance (and the fifty ducats), but had also a gold medal struck off, containing his portrait on one side, and on the other, the following inscription: "_donné par le roi à monsieur beethoven_." the king of saxony delayed his remittance for a long while, and beethoven was greatly irritated thereby. but little other work was undertaken during the four years he was occupied on the mass unless we except the three grand piano sonatas, opus , and , which were composed during the intervals. a mere by-product so to speak, undertaken with the object of resting his faculties jaded by the strain of the greater work, his mind notwithstanding was keyed up to a high pitch, while engaged on them. the lofty imaginings which occupied his thoughts while on the mass are reflected in them, rendering them unapproachable as piano sonatas. the master himself, set a great value on them. now that the mass was completed he began to give his attention to other works. to celebrate the opening of the rehabilitated josephstadt theatre which occurred in the autumn of , beethoven wrote a new overture, weihe des hauses. he also worked over for this occasion his ruins of athens, written in , for which the text was altered to suit the new conditions and several new numbers added. another representation of the almost forgotten fidelio, which was selected by fräulein schroeder-devrient for her benefit, and which was a pronounced success through the genius of this remarkable woman, led to a commission for a new opera from a vienna manager. this was followed shortly after by a similar order from berlin on his own terms. there had also been some talk before this about an opera on an american subject, the founding of pennsylvania. it was suggested by a minor poet and government official, johann ruprecht, whose poem, merkenstein, beethoven had set to music previous to . in beethoven had planned an italian tour and had intended taking ruprecht with him. they must have quarrelled later, as in a letter to schindler in beethoven refers to ruprecht in the most abusive terms. a commission that must have gratified beethoven exceedingly, but which, however, was not acted upon, was that which emanated from breitkopf and härtel, who sent the famous critic friederich rochlitz to vienna in july, , with a proposition that he write some faust music in the style of the egmont music. it is narrated that beethoven received the proposition with joy, but gave only a qualified assent. there is no doubt that he would have found inspiration in the text, and that a noble work would have resulted, but he feared the nervous strain of such an undertaking. "i should enjoy it," he said to rochlitz, "but i shudder at the thought of beginning works of such magnitude. once engaged on them, however, i have no difficulty." his labors on the mass aged him. in his prime on its inception, he emerged from his seclusion on completing it, infirm and broken in health. the idea of the faust music attracted him, as it would have been strictly symphonic in character. he occasionally refers to it subsequently, but never got so far as to enter themes for it in his note-books. wagner essayed it, but went no further than to write the overture. the subject of faust still awaits a capable interpreter. his next commission was a simple one, consisting of an order early in the spring of from diabelli, composer and head of a large publishing house in vienna, for six variations on a waltz by him (diabelli). the dance was always a favorite musical form with beethoven in his lighter moments, and the variation form,--capable of a degree of sprightliness, vivacity and originality in the right hands which give it an entrancing effect, to which we come again and again with pleasure, was something peculiarly his own at every stage of his artistic career. his earliest essays in composition are in this form. variations occupy a prominent part in all his works, whether chamber-music, sonatas or symphonies. they are introduced perhaps with best effect in the works of his last years, in the ninth symphony, and in the last quartets. he accepted the order with pleasure and began work on it at once on reaching his summer quarters. this was congenial work, affording him relief from the mental strain imposed on him by his labors on the ninth symphony, which was then under way. a price of eighty ducats ($ ) was fixed by the publisher at the outset for the set, but the master enjoyed his work so much, that the six, when completed, were increased to ten, then to twenty, and twenty-five, and so on until the number grew to thirty-three. these variations are extremely elaborate and difficult, a characteristic of most of his work in these years. wagner never tired of exploiting the variation form in his operas, particularly in the tetralogy. he frequently refers to beethoven's masterly use of it. "haydn first, beethoven last, have conferred artistic value on this form," he says in the article on conducting; later on in the same work, he says, "the wondrous second movement of beethoven's great c minor sonata" (opus ), "and the last movement of the eroica symphony should be grasped as an infinitely magnified variation section." bach also excelled in it, the variation form being constantly met with throughout his works. the summer of was spent at hetzendorf, a village of which beethoven was always fond. he had secured large and comfortable quarters in the house of a baron pronay, which, from schindler's account was a fine old mansion in the centre of a large park. it suited beethoven admirably. there was a fine view of the surrounding country from his windows, the situation was healthful, and he delighted in walking about when not at work. but he gave up this comfortable home before the summer was ended, simply on account of the extravagant politeness of his landlord, who, conscious of the value of so distinguished a tenant, always greeted him with "profound obeisances" when they met. this opera bouffe deportment though undertaken with the best of motives on the baron's part, became so embarrassing that beethoven finally fled to baden with all his belongings, including the grand piano, although his rent had been paid in advance for the entire summer. schindler assisted in this migration, joining him at five o'clock one morning. the year in which beethoven practically completed his life-work (with the exception of the last quartets) is the dawn of a new musical genius, versatile, accomplished, many-sided, who as performer was qualified to rank with the older master. on new-year's day of this year, franz liszt, who had been studying under czerny for two years past, made his first appearance in vienna in concert, in which he took the public by storm. beethoven seems not to have been present, and strangely, when we reflect on his intimacy with czerny, seems to have been unaware of the existence of this talented youth. during the autumn of this year, the elder liszt called on beethoven, bringing with him the young franz. beethoven held himself aloof at first, receiving his visitors coldly. he unbent however, on hearing the youth perform, and stooped and kissed him. during this autumn he also received a visit from weber and young julius benedict, his pupil. weber was preparing his recently completed opera euryanthe, for a first production in vienna. he had produced fidelio in the foregoing spring season at dresden, where he was officially stationed, and had made a success of it with frau schroeder-devrient. considerable correspondence must have passed between the two composers on this matter, and weber could hardly have omitted calling when coming to vienna, although the memory of his former strictures on beethoven's music must have embarrassed him. weber had stated on hearing the seventh symphony for the first time that beethoven was now fit for the madhouse, and his criticisms in general had been adverse. this, however, was something which beethoven had never objected to; moreover, time had amply vindicated him as to the symphonies, so he could afford to be generous to his youthful critic. beethoven was genial and kindly, and the younger man was deeply impressed by the master's reception of him. euryanthe proved a failure and weber called again to ask beethoven's advice as to remodelling the work. the libretto melusina, which was submitted to him by grillparzer found such favor in his eyes as to lead to its acceptance, but when he came face to face with the project, his former experience with opera was sufficient to deter him, and he abandoned the idea, giving as an excuse the inferiority of the german singers. that this was only an excuse, is plain, since only a short time afterward mlle. sontag was intrusted with the exceedingly difficult soprano parts of the mass in d and the ninth symphony. he was hard at work on this symphony at the time, which will serve to explain and accentuate his reluctance to again attempt operatic composition, a style of work diametrically opposed to that which had engaged his attention for many years previously. it would too, have necessitated shelving the symphony indefinitely, and, although he needed the money which the opera would have yielded, his interest in the symphony was paramount; he could not bring himself to abandon it. with failing powers superinduced by his excessive labors on the mass, it was being borne in on him that he was nearing the end of his life-work. under such circumstances the symphony was sure to have the preference. the long cherished plans for another oratorio, and for a requiem mass also insistently came up for consideration, crowding out all serious intention of an opera. the project of a requiem mass was of particular interest to him; it comes to the fore frequently. he mentioned it shortly after the completion of the mass in c. then, when his brother karl died it is again considered. it is also mentioned on the occasion of the tragic death of prince kinsky, who had acted so liberally by him in the matter of the pension. it is probable that the work of writing a requiem mass would have proved congenial to him. he was in the right mood for it on completion of the mass in d, and it is rather singular that he did not undertake it instead of the symphony. religious questions were occupying his mind more and more in these years. it must be admitted that his religion was as peculiar to himself as was his music. he affiliated with no church, although baptized as a catholic, and brought up in that church; but the frequent appeals to the divinity in his journals, show his belief in, and reliance on, a higher power. he formulated his own religion as did thoreau. the man who could write, "socrates and jesus were patterns to me" lived a correct life in its essentials. his asceticism, his unselfishness, the sympathy which he continually showed for others, his unworldliness,--what else is this but the gist of new testament teaching? like a tree nourished on alien soil, which yet produces fairer and better fruit than the native ones, and becomes the parent of a new variety, this man achieved his high development of character by being a law unto himself like the anchorites of old. chapter xiv ninth symphony we stand to-day before the beethovenian symphony as before the landmark of an entirely new period in the history of universal art, for through it there came into the world a phenomenon not even remotely approached by anything the art of any age or any people has to show us. --wagner. during the period of his work on the mass, and for some time before, beethoven's thoughts were occupied more or less with that stupendous work, the ninth symphony, sketches for which began to appear already in , shortly after his meeting with goethe. that beethoven looked up to goethe ever after as to a spiritual mentor, studying his works, absorbing his thought, is plain. in projecting this symphony he may very well have designed it as a counterpart to faust, as has been suggested. actually begun in , it had to be laid aside before much had been accomplished on it, in favor of the mass in d. this gave him plenty of time to mature his conception of the work; and this ripening process, covering a period of ten years from its first inception, was one of the factors which helped him achieve his wondrous result. his work on the mass was a good preparation for the psychological problems expounded in the symphony. here is a work so interwoven into beethoven's very life and spirit, that the mention of his name at once calls to mind the ninth symphony. it is the work of the seer approaching the end of his life-drama, giving with photographic clearness a résumé of it. here are revelations of the inner nature of a man who had delved deeply into the mysteries surrounding life, learning this lesson in its fullest significance, that no great spiritual height is ever attained without renunciation. the world must be left behind. asking and getting but little from it, giving it of his best, counting as nothing its material advantages, realizing always that contact with it had for him but little joy, the separation from it was nevertheless a hard task. this mystery constantly confronted beethoven, that, even when obeying the finer behests of his nature, peace was not readily attained thereby; often there was instead, an accession of unhappiness for the time being. paradoxically peace was made the occasion for a struggle; it had to be wrested from life. no victory is such unless well fought for and dearly bought. this eternal struggle with fate, this conflict forever raging in the heart, runs through all the symphonies, but nowhere is it so strongly depicted as in this, his last. we have here in new picturing, humanity at bay, as in the recently completed kyrie of the grand mass. the apparently uneven battle of the individual with fate,--the plight of the human being who finds himself a denizen of a world with which he is entirely out of harmony, who, wrought up to despair, finds life impossible yet fears to die,--is here portrayed in dramatic language. to wagner the first movement pictured to him "the idea of the world in its most terrible of lights," something to recoil from. "beethoven in the ninth symphony," he says, "leads us through the torment of the world relentlessly until the ode to joy is reached." great souls have always taught that the only relief for this _weltschmerz_ is through the power of love; that universal love alone can transform and redeem the world. this is the central teaching of jesus, of buddha, of all who have the welfare of humanity at heart. it was beethoven's solution of the problem of existence. through this magic power, sorrows are transmuted into gifts of peace and happiness. beethoven loved his kind. love for humanity, pity for its misfortunes, hope for its final deliverance, largely occupied his mind. with scarcely an exception beethoven's works end happily. among the sketches of the last movement of the mass in d, he makes the memorandum, "stärke der gesinnungen des innern friedens. Über alles ... sieg." (strengthen the conviction of inward peace. above all--victory). the effect of the choral finale is that of an outburst of joy at deliverance, a celebration of victory. it is as if beethoven, with prophetic eye, had been able to pierce the future and foresee a golden age for humanity, an age where altruism was to bring about cessation from strife, and where happiness was to be general. such happiness as is here celebrated in the ode to joy, can indeed, only exist in the world through altruism. pity,[b] that sentiment which allies man to the divine, comes first. from this proceeds love, and through these and by these only is happiness possible. this was the gist of beethoven's thought. he had occupied himself much with sociological questions all his life, always taking the part of the oppressed. [b] the german rendering _mitleid_ has a higher significance than its english equivalent. literally it means sharing the sorrow of the afflicted one. it may be said in passing that this sentiment is the central idea in parsifal. schindler, who was almost constantly with beethoven at this time, tells of the difficulty the master experienced in finding a suitable way of introducing the choral part. he finally hit upon the naïve device of adding words of his own in the form of a recitative, which first appears in the sketch-book as, "let us sing the immortal schiller's song, 'freude schöner götterfunken.'" this was afterward changed to the much better form as now appears, "o freunde, nicht diese töne! sondern lasst uns angenehmere anstimmen, und freudenvollere." (o friends, not these tones. let us sing a strain more cheerful, more joyous.) the whole character and design of the ode to joy will be better apprehended when it is stated that it is in reality an ode to freedom. with its revolutionary spirit beethoven was entirely in accord. already in his twenty-third year he contemplated setting it to music. later, in the note-book of , the first line of the poem appears, in connection with a scheme for an overture. it is worthy of remark that the symphony was well under way before he decided on incorporating the ode in it. the ninth symphony was first performed in this country in in castle garden, by the new york philharmonic society, which had been organized four years previously. george loder conducted it. when we consider the herculean efforts wagner was obliged to make to get permission to perform it in dresden in this selfsame year, it speaks well for "north america." subsequent performances of it in new york by this society are as follows: performance conductor second april , theo. eisfeld. third april , " " fourth february , c. bergmann. fifth april , dr. l. damrosch. sixth february , theo. thomas. seventh april , " " eighth april , " " ninth april , anton seidl. tenth april , " " eleventh april , vander stucken. twelfth april , e. paur. thirteenth april , " " it was not performed in new york during the years and . beethoven's correspondence with count brühl of the berlin theatre in the matter of an opera for that city, led him, owing to the apathy of the vienna public at this time toward his works, to offer the new symphony and the mass for a first hearing in berlin. at this time, and for some years previously, rossini's music had captured the vienna public so completely that no other was desired. that this light evanescent work should be preferred to his own, was resented by the master. he decided to offer the new works to count brühl, the italian craze not having yet penetrated berlin. as soon as this became known however, a reaction followed, and a memorial was addressed to beethoven by his friends, begging him to reconsider the matter, and produce the new works in vienna, as well as write a new opera for them. the appeal was signed by thirty of the most prominent men of affairs in the city. the list of names is a noble one, each being prominently connected in some way with music. among composers and performers may be mentioned czerny and the abbe stadler. artario & co., diabelli and leidersdorf, were music publishers. count palfy and sonnleithner were operatic managers, while counselor kiesewetter and j.f. costelli were authors of libretti and songs. the others were prominent in court circles, and their devotion to music was such as to give weight to the communication. the memorial itself is discursive to a point which taxes one's patience, but the expressions of appreciation and friendship are genuine, and must have gratified beethoven extremely. naturally but one outcome was probable as a result of this memorial. shortly after receiving it, he announced to his friends that the initial performance of these works would be held in vienna. strangely, a difficulty at once arose, in the matter of selecting a suitable place for the performance. had beethoven left the management of the affair in the hands of his friends, and given his attention to securing sufficient rehearsals for the new symphony, which finally had to be produced after being rehearsed twice only, it would have been better all around. with the vacillating disposition which characterized him in all business matters, he was not only of no aid, but so complicated matters by his indecision on every point, that the arrangements finally came to a standstill, his friends who were assisting him being at their wits' end. these were schindler, count lichnowsky, and the violinist schuppanzich. at this juncture, these old and tried friends, thinking that strategy might succeed where diplomacy had failed, hit upon the following plan to bring matters to a focus. schindler was at this time living at beethoven's house, and the plan decided on was to have count lichnowsky and schuppanzich call there as if by accident. the conversation would naturally turn to the approaching concert and leading questions were to be asked beethoven. his answers in these years were usually in writing. the gist of these was to be written out by one of the party, who would then carelessly, or as if in jest, ask beethoven to sign the paper, thus committing him to a definite course. these praise-worthy intentions were carried out with so much tact and skill that beethoven not only saw through their innocent ruse, but discovered in the whole proceeding a deep-laid plot on the part of these arch-conspirators, whereof he was to be the victim of villainy and treachery. this dawned on him shortly after the friends had taken their departure, upon which he wrote the following notes, leaving them on the piano as was his custom, for schindler to deliver. to the count moritz von lichnowsky,-- i despise these artifices, visit me no more. academy (the concert) will not take place. beethoven. to m. schindler,-- do not come near me again until i send for you. no academy. beethoven. to m. schuppanzich,-- do not visit me again. no concert. beethoven. from the above it will readily be seen, as schindler plaintively asserts, that the office of friend to beethoven was no sinecure. but he appreciated the advantage of living in the reflected glory of the great master, and such tact as he possessed was brought to bear, to continue the relations of friend, counsellor and general factotum, which were maintained to the end. beethoven at times spoke slightingly in his letters of his humble follower, but there is no doubt that schindler was of great service to him, and that this was appreciated by the master is equally true. schindler did not deliver the letters just quoted, and the affair did not sever the relations of the parties concerned. beethoven's contention all along was for an advance in price of admission to the concert, owing to the heavy expense for theatre hire, copying, etc. as the works to be performed had not yet been published, it was necessary to copy out the separate parts for the members of the orchestra and chorus,--an immense task. the manager objected to any advance in prices, and insisted also that the concert be held on a subscription night--a good arrangement for the patrons of the theatre who would thus have free admission, but a bad one for the master. he finally had to submit, however. "after these six weeks' squabbling," he writes to schindler toward the end of april, "i feel absolutely boiled, stewed and roasted," a state of mind brought about by his conflict with copyists, managers and performers. the concert which took place on may , , was the occasion for great enthusiasm. the programme consisted of the overture weihe des hauses, as well as the kyrie, credo and agnus dei of the mass in d, and the ninth symphony. the solo parts were taken by madame sontag and fräulein unger, who protested more than once at the unsingable nature of some of the parts in the choral finale when practising them at beethoven's house. the applause from the very beginning was phenomenal. the people became vociferous on seeing him, and this enthusiasm was continued throughout the evening. at the close of the performance the demonstrations became, if possible, more forcible than before, owing, perhaps, to the fact that beethoven maintained his former position, facing the orchestra and with his back to the audience, as if unaware of the applause. at last fräulein unger turned him about so that he could see the demonstrations of the audience. the picture is presented of excited masses of people carried away by the emotions of the moment, rending the air with boisterous applause, and in the midst this great one, unresponsive to the homage showered on him, unconscious, seeing visions, perhaps planning a tenth symphony. beethoven's deafness was not total. he was no doubt able to hear some of this extraordinary applause, and, in any event, must have known that it would be forthcoming. he had probably become wearied with it all, and let his thoughts go far afield. the utter vanity of this kind of thing must often occur to great minds at such a time. these frenzied people by their very actions showed their inability to comprehend his work, and could not confer honor in this manner. but the enthusiasm of the audience had the practical effect of leading the manager to make an offer to beethoven for another concert, guaranteeing him five hundred florins ($ ). it was held on may , at noon. on this occasion all of the mass but the kyrie was omitted, some italian music being substituted. the house was only half filled at the second concert and the management lost money. beethoven's apprehensions as to the profits from the first concert were well founded. he made less than two hundred dollars from the undertaking, and was so disappointed with this pitiful result after all the work of preparation, that he refused to eat any supper, and would not go to bed, but remained on a couch with his clothes on for the night. when he learned that the management lost eight hundred florins on the occasion of the second concert, it was with difficulty that he could be prevailed on to accept the amount guaranteed him. it is not likely that this reluctance was owing to any consideration for the manager, but rather to umbrage at the course of things in general. his temper was not improved by these disappointments, and he even charged schindler with having conspired with the manager to cheat him. this led to a rupture between the two of several months' duration. beethoven at length called on schindler and apologized for the offence, begging him to forget it, upon which the old relations were restored. notwithstanding that beethoven had personally solicited the attendance of the members of the imperial family, and had promises from some of them, not one came, the emperor's box being the only empty space in the theatre. the slight was no doubt intentional, and affords the last instance of which there is record, of the lifelong contest waged between beethoven and the court. he was usually the aggressor, making it impossible for the imperial family to favor him, or even to show him much attention. they could not have been insensible to the historical importance of having in their midst such a man; they must have had the prescience to know that beethoven's achievements, if furthered by them, would place them in the lime-light for the admiration of future ages; but they were thwarted by the man himself, who went out of his way more than once, most unjustifiably, to offend them. there is a letter from count dietrichstein, court chamberlain, on the subject of a mass which beethoven was invited to write for the emperor, which is unintentionally humorous. in it, all sorts of suggestions are made as to the style of the music, the length of the mass (it being enjoined on him that the emperor did not like long church services) and other like stipulations. beethoven's remarks in answer to this letter are not recorded, but the mass was not written. here was a case where kingly prerogative did not avail. simultaneously with the appearance in the sketch-books of motives for the ninth symphony, another is projected, as was the case when composing his previous ones, which generally appeared in pairs, as already noted. a wealth of ideas flowed in on him while engaged on any great work, much of which, when not available for the one, could be utilized on the other. while working on the mass in d, he had in mind composing another mass, as is evidenced by the following memorandum in the sketches of the agnus dei: "das kyrie in der neuen messe bloss mit blasenden instrumenten und orgel." (the kyrie in the new mass only with wind instruments and organ.) the new symphony was to be religious in character, and was projected on a broader scale even than the ninth. a memorandum on the subject of the tenth symphony appears in the sketch-books of the latter part of the year . it is as follows: "the orchestra (violins, etc.) to be increased tenfold, for the last movements, the voices to enter one by one. or the adagio to be in some manner repeated in the last movements. in the allegro, a bacchic festival."[c] his labors, however, on the mass and ninth symphony had so exhausted him that no strength was left for this great work, and no part of it was even drafted. later he thought to substitute a shorter work, something which would not have taxed him so much physically. he then makes the memorandum, "also instead of a new symphony, an overture on bach." sehr fugirt (greatly fugued.) [c] nottebohm's _zweite beethoveniana_. now that the concerts were over and summer approaching, beethoven's thoughts turned to the country. a comfortable house was secured for him at schoenbrun on the bank of the river, but his stay here was short. a bridge near the house made it possible to obtain a good view of the master, and it soon got to be the custom for people to station themselves on it and watch for his appearance. he stood the ordeal for three weeks, and then fled to his beloved baden, where he appears to have been safe from such annoyances. chapter xv capacity for friendship genius lives essentially alone. it is too rare to find its like with ease, and too different from the rest of men to be their companion. --schopenhauer. for many years beethoven had not been on speaking terms with the friend of his youth, stephen von breuning. the year , which had cost him his brother karl, also deprived him of stephen's friendship. two versions are given as to the cause of the quarrel which estranged them. one is that stephen had warned him not to trust his brother karl in money matters. another, and probably the correct one, is that stephen endeavored to dissuade the master from adopting the young karl in event of his brother's death. in either case von breuning acted entirely in beethoven's interest without considering the possible consequences to himself; his disinterestedness was poorly rewarded however. beethoven was bound by every obligation of friendship to him, but, with his usual want of tact, told his brother just what stephen had said. naturally karl resented this interference in their family affairs, and succeeded in inflaming his brother's mind against von breuning. the estrangement resulted. karl died shortly after, and a mistaken sense of loyalty toward his dead brother helped to keep alive beethoven's anger against his former friend. there is no record of his having so much as mentioned the latter's name in the following ten years, although he and von breuning lived in the same city and had many friends in common. as time passed, and one after another of beethoven's friends were lost to him--through death or otherwise--his thoughts no doubt often reverted to this old friend. it must often have occurred to him that breuning's companionship would be more enjoyable than that of some of the friends of these years. an accidental meeting with him on the bastion one evening in august of , happily led to a reconciliation. beethoven's eyes were at last opened to the injustice done von breuning, upon which he wrote him a letter, so imbued with penitence, so fraught with the desire of obliterating his past unkindness, so filled with yearning and tenderness, that it must have compensated stephen for all the pain of the past years. accompanying the letter was his portrait painted many years before. the letter has been frequently published. it is so characteristic of the man that it can hardly be omitted: "behind this portrait, dear, good stephen, may all be forever buried which has for so long kept us apart. i have torn your heart i know. the agitation that you must constantly have noticed in me has punished me enough. it was not malice that prompted my behavior toward you. no! i should then be no longer worthy of your friendship. i was led to doubt you by people who were unworthy of you and of me. my portrait has long ago been intended for you. you know that i had always intended it for some one. to whom could i give it so with warmest love as to you, true, faithful, noble stephen. forgive me for causing you suffering. my own sufferings have equaled yours. it was not until after our separation that i realized how dear you are and always will be to my heart." all this in english sounds cold and stunted when compared with the fire of the original. beethoven never spared himself when making amends for past misconduct. from this time on the name of von breuning appears again in his letters and he found much comfort in intercourse with his family. he was always a welcome guest at breuning's house. a friendship was soon inaugurated between the master and stephen's son, a bright lad of twelve years. he nicknamed him ariel, when sending him on errands, probably with reference to his agility. such incidents as the quarrels with breuning, his dismissal of schindler, schuppanzich, and count lichnowsky during the preliminary work of the testimonial concert, his suspicions of his friends at the second concert when he invited them to a dinner, and then charged them with an attempt to defraud him,--these at first glance, especially if considered apart, lead to the conclusion that beethoven was not intended for friendship. this was not the case however. his deafness and preoccupation with his work, led him to keep aloof to some extent from others, but it is undeniable that he greatly valued this sentiment and actively fostered it. perhaps, like thoreau, he expected too much from it, and could find no one to respond to the measure of his anticipations. he was probably disappointed one way or another, with every friend that came to him, but to the end kept alive his faith in humankind, and managed always to maintain intimate and friendly relations with one or more persons. there is no interval from his twentieth year up to his death, of which this cannot be said. he was essentially gregarious and recognized the need of friendship. that he was unlike his fellow human beings--essentially different--he knew. he often sought to bridge these differences, in order to make friendly intercourse with others possible. among the friends of this period may be mentioned hüttenbrenner, schubert's friend. schubert himself would have prized beethoven's friendship in the highest degree, but he was too modest to bring it about. the junior by twenty years, and in beethoven's lifetime unknown to fame, it devolved on him to take the initiative in this matter. a meeting could easily have been arranged as both dined at the same restaurant, and hüttenbrenner could have managed to bring them together. beethoven was generally approachable when not at work, and was always well disposed toward young musicians of talent, but the habitually modest estimate which schubert placed on himself, coupled with the regard amounting to reverence which he entertained for beethoven, was sufficient to deter the younger man. he indeed attempted a meeting in , but the result was a fiasco owing to his extreme diffidence. having composed some variations on a french air (opus ) he desired to dedicate them to beethoven and prevailed on diabelli to arrange a meeting, as well as call with him on the master, since he feared to go alone. beethoven's demeanor toward him was genial and friendly. when schubert attempted conversation the master handed him a pencil and paper. he was too nervous to write in reply, but managed to produce his composition, which beethoven examined with some appearance of interest. the master finally came upon some incorrect harmonization (schubert had never received a proper technical training) and in mild terms called the young composer's attention to it. this so disconcerted him that he fled to the street, regardless of consequences. the incident is related by schindler, but is called into question by kreissle, who wrote an exhaustive biography of schubert. kreissle says that beethoven was not at home when schubert called. excessive diffidence was not the distinguishing trait of another young man, karl holz, who had ingratiated himself into the master's favor in these years. holz had a post under government, was of good social position, possessed fine conversational powers, and was an all-round entertaining and agreeable person. he was a musician of first-rate attainments, a member of the schuppanzich quartet, and occasionally acted as director of the concert spirituel of vienna. holz's gayety and light-heartedness helped to dispel the melancholy which had become habitual with beethoven at this time. he had the discernment to see that such an atmosphere was unsuited to a young man of karl's temperament, and may very well have encouraged holz's visits on his nephew's account. the situation had its defects however, as holz's convivial habits were communicated to beethoven, who was led at times to drink more wine than was good for him. beethoven, in one of his letters to his nephew, reproached him with being a thorough viennese, to which the young man retorted in kind, alluding to the master's friendship with holz. this was before the reconciliation with von breuning had been effected. after that event he saw him less frequently. the young man however, retained his hold on the master's regard and maintained the footing of an intimate friend for the remainder of his life. flashes of the old humor constantly appear in his letters to holz, which, though tinctured somewhat with coarseness, make pleasanter reading than his remark to fanny del rio--"my life is of no worth to myself. i only wish to live for the boy's sake." holz took him out of this mood. in the last year of his life beethoven, at holz's request appointed him his biographer as follows: vienna, _aug. , _. i am happy to give my friend, karl holz, the testimonial he desires, namely,--that i consider him well qualified to write my biography if indeed, i may presume to think this will be desired. i place the utmost confidence in his faithfully transmitting to posterity what i have imparted to him for this purpose. ludwig van beethoven. holz, however, was not equal to the requirements, and this duty was relegated to schindler. a curious change affected beethoven in his later years on the subject of money. it was not avarice, that "good old-gentlemanly vice" of byron's which influenced him, but it resembled it at times. with his nephew as the inciting cause, money, to which he had hitherto been indifferent, now assumed a new value to him. this is evidenced by absurd economies (alternated it is true by occasional extravagances), which are a feature of this time. the diminution of his pension, the nature of the compositions of these years from which for the most part no money was available, the cessation of his teaching (von frimmel mentions a pupil, hirsch, who had a few lessons from him in , which was probably the last of beethoven's sporadic attempts in this direction, as his deafness must have made teaching extremely difficult), were all factors which rendered money a scarce article with him. in the same ratio in which his income had been diminished, his expenses were increased by the maintenance and education of his nephew, which in large part was borne by beethoven. this new estimate of the value of money was strengthened by the conviction that karl would never do anything for himself, and that provision must be made for his future. to this must be attributed his solicitude for money which is constantly in evidence in his letters to his friends, as well as to his publishers, in which latter the disposition to drive a good bargain comes to the fore now for the first time. his letters to ries are full of the subject of making money. "wäre ich nicht noch immer der arme beethoven," he says with unconscious humor, in one of the letters. "if i could but get to london, what would i not write for the philharmonic society. if it please god to restore my health, which is already improved, i may yet avail myself of the several propositions made me, not only from europe, but even north america, and thus my finances might again prosper." his naïve reference to this country[d] refers to the offer made him by the händel and haydn society of boston for an oratorio, the text of which was to be furnished by them. his work on the ninth symphony prevented him from accepting it, but it is something that will always redound to the credit of the society. that the critical faculty should, already at that time, have been sufficiently well developed in this country as to lead to such a commission, augurs well for its future art-history. while one portion were engaged in subduing the wilderness, fighting indians, extending the frontier, others were already reaching out for the highest and best in art and literature.[e] it is a pleasant reflection that this country is no longer the terra incognita in musical matters that it was in beethoven's time. the ready recognition extended wagner from the first here, has, no doubt, helped to bring this about. [d] when writing this letter beethoven could have had no prevision that in this aboriginal north america, in a little village called natick, there was then living a five-year-old boy, answering to the name of alexander w. thayer, who was eventually to furnish a biography of the master, so painstaking, exact and voluminous, that it is unique in its class. the beethoven biography was thayer's life-work, to which he gladly sacrificed his means as well, and was then only brought down to the year . thayer's name will always be associated with that of beethoven, it is such a record-making work. it is published only in german at this writing ( ), but an english translation is promised on completion of the second edition, one volume of which has appeared in . mr. thayer died in . [e] that beethoven's genius had at an early date impressed itself on the minds of americans, was commented on by margaret fuller in . she says: "it is observable as an earnest of the great future which opens for this country, that such a genius (beethoven) is so easily and so much appreciated here, by those who have not gone through the steps that prepared the way for him in europe. he is felt because he expressed in full tones the thoughts that lie at the heart of our own existence, though we have not found means to stammer them as yet." meanwhile ries, in london, was making active propaganda for him, with the result that an offer had come to him from charles neate asking him to come to london with a symphony and a concerto for the philharmonic society. neate was a great admirer of beethoven. he had spent eight months in vienna some years previously, and the two became good friends during this sojourn. three hundred guineas, and a benefit concert in which five hundred pounds more was to be guaranteed him, was the inducement held out for coming. this large sum tempted him strongly, placing him, so to speak, between two fires. the character of his nephew was such that he could not be left behind, while his education would be interrupted if he took him along. his entries in his journal show with what dread and apprehension he faced the ordeal of going among strangers. the project never would have been considered but for his desire to provide for karl's future. the journey was never undertaken, but the project was never abandoned. it occupied his thoughts even in his last illness. the scores of the mass and symphony were sold to messrs. schott of mayence, one thousand florins having been obtained for the mass, and six hundred for the symphony. this put him in easy circumstances for a while, although the money question was a source of anxiety to him, more or less, for the remainder of his life. the ten thousand florins invested in bank of austria shares in was almost intact. he had drawn on it once or twice when matters had come to an extremity with him, but to touch it in any other case seemed to him like betraying a trust, since it had been set aside as a provision for his nephew. just before the testimonial concert, he was at times absolutely without funds, his housekeeper being occasionally required to advance money from her savings to tide him over until a windfall should happen. the proceeds from the seven subscriptions to the mass in d, amounting to three hundred and fifty ducats (about eight hundred dollars) helped him out to some extent, and something must have been coming in all the while from his previous publications. with good management there would have been sufficient for a man of his simple requirements, but in nothing was he so deficient as in business ability, or the faculty of looking after his worldly concerns. he was probably cheated right and left in his household matters. chapter xvi the day's trials those who are furthest removed from us really believe that we are constituted just like themselves, for they understand exactly so much of us as we have in common with them, but they do not know how little, how infinitesimally little this is. --wagner: _letter to liszt_. beethoven was in no sense a hero to his servants. in their eyes he was not the great artist, whose achievement was to go ringing down the ages; he was simply a crank or madman, who did not know his own mind half the time, from whom abuse was as likely to be predicated as gratuities, who could be ridiculed, neglected, circumvented with impunity. when the dereliction became glaring enough to arrest his attention, he would deliver himself of a volley of abuse which sometimes had to be made good by presents of money. at other times, he desired nothing so much as to be left alone. that he found the world a more difficult problem than ever in these later years, goes without saying. "have you been patient with every one to-day?" he asks himself in one of the note-books of this period, indicating the dawn of a perception that fate is too much for him, that it can be defied no longer, but rather must be propitiated. had he answered his question, it would no doubt have been in the negative; but this attitude, so new to him, is significant. it comes up also in his letters to zmeskall, in which he speaks of his patience in enduring the insolence of a butler, who had been sent him by zmeskall. complaints about servants appear frequently in his correspondence. peppe, the "elephant-footed," and nanny, who seems to have had a particular faculty for making trouble, are specially in evidence. "i have endured much from n. (nanny) to-day," he writes in a letter to his good friend madame streicher, who was very helpful to him in his domestic matters. on one occasion, when her conduct became unbearable, he threw books at her head. strangely, this method of disciplining the refractory nanny produced better results than could have been expected. he reports soon after to madame streicher, "miss nanny is a changed creature since i threw the half dozen books at her head. possibly, by chance some of their contents may have entered her brain, or her bad heart. at all events we now have a repentant deceiver." in another letter of this time he writes to the same lady, "yesterday morning the devilry began again, but i made short work of it, and threw the heavy settle at b (another servant), after which we had peace for the remainder of the day." "come friday or sunday," he writes holz. "better come on friday, as satanas in the kitchen is more endurable on that day." this advice to come on friday when purposing to dine with him, is repeated in a subsequent letter to holz. "if i could but rid myself of these _canaille_," he writes to another person, when complaining of the hostility and insolence of his servants. that his own mode of life helped largely to bring about this state of things, did not make it any easier to bear. as stated, system was out of the question in this household. there was no regular time for meals, often no meals were thought of by the master while occupied with his work. when hungry, if nothing were forthcoming at home, he sought a restaurant. careless in general as regards his food, abstemious to a degree in this respect, he was particular only on one matter, his coffee. he delighted in making it himself, often counting the beans that were required for each cup. "my house resembles very much a shipwreck" is a remark attributed to him by nohl. even under favoring conditions, discipline was not to be expected, but matters were further complicated by karl's mother, who made a practice of bribing the servants to get information about the young man. there is no doubt her influence tended to increase the discomfort and disorder that would have existed in any event. "some devils of people have again played me such a trick that it is almost impossible for me to mix with human beings any more," he said in a letter to madame streicher, which remark mr. kalischer (_neue beethovenbriefe_, berlin, ), attributes to intrigues against him by his sister-in-law. to illustrate the slight regard his servants had for beethoven and their absolute ignorance of the value of his work, an incident related by schindler about the loss of the manuscript of the kyrie of the mass in d is in point. on reaching döbling in on his annual summer migration, he missed this work and the most diligent search failed to bring it to light. finally the cook produced it; she had used the separate sheets for wrapping kitchen utensils. some of them were torn, but no part was lost. no copy had yet been made, and its loss would have been irreparable. the difficulties which he experienced with the world in general existed with his copyists and engravers to an exaggerated degree as may be supposed, since proofreading was a matter on which he was extremely particular. he was apt to make unreasonable demands on them, not understanding human nature. he wanted them to work quickly and accurately and they were very often slow and careless; they tried his patience more than his servants did. a little deftness on his part when in contact with them, would have made things easier all around. as it was, they received little consideration from him, and gave but little in return. he was so deeply interested in his compositions that he frequently recalled them after they were in the engraver's hands, in order to make alterations and additions. the sonata, opus was withdrawn twice, after the engraver had actually begun work on it. it had been sold to diabelli, who finally refused to return it again, as the engraver's work in each case was thrown away. this called out a sarcastic letter from beethoven to schindler, in which he refers to diabelli as an arch-churl (_erzflegel_), and threatens him (diabelli), if he is not more amenable. "i have passed the forenoon to-day, and all yesterday afternoon in correcting these two pieces and am actually hoarse with stamping and swearing," he wrote the copyist in reference to the a minor quartet. elsewhere he complains about the carelessness of the publishers of his earlier quartets, which are "full of mistakes and errata great and small. they swarm like fish in the sea, innumerable." when referring to the testimonial concert, allusion was made to the enormous labor involved in copying out all the parts required for the occasion, in which over one hundred persons participated. to examine and correct each copy before placing it in the hands of the performers was in itself no slight task. the labor of making the seven subscription copies of the mass, was probably a still greater one. in these days of cheap publications, one can hardly form an estimate of what it really meant. many months elapsed after the mass was completed, before a clean copy could be gotten for the archduke even. no doubt the copyists often misunderstood the master's instructions, always given in writing in his later years. he was so careless with his handwriting that some of his letters are undecipherable in part, to this day. schindler, with good common-sense made a practice of transcribing beethoven's words on the back of any letter received from him before filing it away. the master's extraordinary carefulness in proof-reading has already been mentioned. this was to him a matter of the utmost importance, second to none. press of work, illness even, was not allowed to interfere with the careful revision of his work. he might write about patience in his note book, but it was exercised very little when dealing with his copyists. there were times in this connection in which the situation became so strained that they refused to work for him. in one such instance a man, wolanck by name, returned the manuscript which the master had sent him, writing him at the same time an impertinent letter. this copyist was evidently of a literary turn, with a talent for satire. he begins by begging to be permitted to express his gratitude for the honor which beethoven has done him in being allowed to drudge for him, but states that he wants no more of it. he then proceeds to philosophize on the situation, saying that the dissonances which have marked their intercourse in the past have been regarded by him with amused toleration. "are there not" asks this junius, "in the ideal world of tones many dissonances? why should these not also exist in the actual world?" in conclusion he ventures the opinion that if mozart or haydn had served as copyist for beethoven, a fate similar to his own would have befallen them. a wild berserker rage took possession of beethoven on receipt of this letter which he appeased characteristically by writing all sorts of sarcastic comments over the sheet, and by inventing compound invectives to suit the case. he heavily criss-crossed the whole letter, and across it in heavy lines wrote, "dummer kerl" (foolish fellow), "eselhafter kerl" (asinine fellow), "schreibsudler" (slovenly writer). on the edges at the right: "mozart and haydn you will do the honor not to mention"; at the left: "it was decided yesterday, and even before, that you were not to write for me any more." on another spot he writes: "correct your blunders that occur through your fatuity, presumption, ignorance and foolishness." (unwissenheit, Übermuth, eigendünkel, und dummheit). "that will become you better than to try to teach me." in better vein is a letter from beethoven to the copyist rampel, who had worked for him during a period of many years. he had beethoven's favor more than any other copyist, on account of a peculiar faculty he possessed for deciphering the master's handwriting. _bestes ramperl,-- komme um morgen früh. gehe aber zum teufel mit deinem gnädiger herr. gott allein kann nur gnädig geheissen werden._ best rampel,-- you can come to-morrow morning, but go to the devil with your "gracious sir," (gnädiger herr). god alone should be addressed as "gracious lord." this letter was published in the beethoven number of _die musik_, february, . chapter xvii last quartets every extraordinary man has a certain mission, which he is called upon to accomplish. if he has fulfilled it he is no longer needed on earth, in the same form, and providence uses him for something else. but as everything here below happens in a natural way, the dæmons keep tripping him up until he falls at last. thus it was with napoleon, and many others. mozart died in his thirty-sixth year. raphael at the same age. byron a little older. but all these had perfectly fulfilled their missions, and it was time for them to depart that others might still have something to do in a world made to last a long while. --goethe, _conversations with eckermann_. in the midst of these ironies of fate, this satyr-play of the nether forces with the master, in which he occupies at times so undignified a position, it is gratifying to note that the artist-life goes on apace. in the last quartets which now come up for consideration, the labors of the tone-poet are brought to a close. the quartet was a favorite musical form with the master. here the more intimate side of his nature is revealed. a more personal relation is established between composer and audience than is the case in the other forms in which he worked. as we have seen, the quartet, in the time of which we write, was universally in use at informal gatherings for the delectation of friends in the privacy of the home, and was not intended for concert use. the stateliness which characterizes the large symphonic forms is absent in chamber-music, but it has qualities of its own which we value as much. the last quartets owe their existence to prince galitzin, a russian nobleman, who had spent some time in vienna in , and became acquainted with beethoven at the house of the russian ambassador, count rasoumowsky, for whom it will be remembered beethoven composed three quartets, opus . in november of the prince wrote beethoven in the most flattering terms, asking him to compose three quartets at his own price, which were to be dedicated to him. the master accepted the commission gladly, fixing the modest sum of one hundred and fifty ducats (about $ ) for the three, reserving, however, the right to sell the quartets to a publisher. prince galitzin was then living in state in st. petersburg. his wife was a fine pianist, he himself a first-rate performer on the cello. they occupied a prominent position in the musical life of the city. the prince was one of the original subscribers to the mass in d, and has the credit of having brought about the first complete performance of this colossal work ever given. when we consider the enormous expense of this undertaking, the copying of the many parts, as well as the sums paid for soloists, chorus and orchestra, most of which was probably borne by the prince, and reflect that this is only an instance among many of his extravagant mode of living, it is not surprising to find that he became financially embarrassed, and was unable to carry out in full his obligation to beethoven as regards paying for these works. the oratorio, "the victory of the cross," which had already been begun, was laid aside in favor of the quartets; it was never resumed. notwithstanding his enthusiasm, work on the new commission made but slow progress. ill health and preoccupation in his nephew's concerns took up much of his attention. occasional sketches were made, but it was more than a year and a half before the first one was actually begun. it was outlined at baden in the autumn of , and finished on his return to vienna. mention is made of this quartet by the master in an interesting letter to messrs. schott of mayence, who had bought the mass and symphony, and had also purchased the quartet, paying fifty ducats for it. cordial relations had been established with these gentlemen, dating from the time of selling them the two great works just mentioned. some of beethoven's best letters are those written to his publishers. an extract from the letter above referred to follows: "the quartet you shall also receive by the middle of october. overburdened by work, and suffering from bad health, i really have some claim on the indulgence of others. i am here on account of my health, or rather to the want of it, although i already feel better. "apollo and the muses do not yet intend me to become the prey of the bony scytheman, as i have yet much to do for you, and much to bequeath, which my spirit dictates and calls on me to complete before i depart hence for the elysian fields; i feel as if i had written scarcely more than a few notes." the initial performance of the first of the galitzin quartets took place in the spring of . beethoven regarded the event as a momentous occurrence and required the four performers, schuppanzich, weiss, linke and holz, to sign a compact, each to "pledge his honor to do his best to distinguish himself and vie with the other in zeal." the quartets once begun were carried on with ardor in the midst of most distressing occurrences, chief of which were ill health and its twin demon, poverty, as well as the waywardness of his nephew, all of which tended to draw him to the spiritual life. the character of beethoven's work changed from the period of the mass in d. an altered condition, an altogether new, different strain is apparent thenceforth. the deeply religious, mystical character of the first movement of the ninth symphony can be attributed to his previous absorption on the mass. he worked out of this vein somewhat in the other movements as not being adapted to the uses for which the symphony is designed, but it reappears again in the quartets to the extent of dominating them. the one in b flat, opus , completes the three for prince galitzin. of the cavatina of this quartet, holz is authority for saying that beethoven composed it with tears, and confessed that never before had his own music made such an impression on him; that even the repetition of it always cost him tears. in this movement beethoven used the word _beklemmt_ (_beklommen_) (oppressed, anxious) at a point where it modulates into another key. his loneliness, superinduced by his life of celibacy, by his deafness, his disappointment in his nephew, all had the effect of separating him from the world. the spiritual side of his nature, always active, had been brought into new life during his work on the mass, as we have seen. it was never thenceforth allowed to fall into abeyance, but was developed in direct ratio with his withdrawal from the world. an atavism from some remote aryan ancestry inclined him, as in the case of so many germans, to mysticism and the occult. it was a condition which had its compensations. that there were periods when he saw visions may be conjectured by the character of the last quartets. when they were written, beethoven was in the shadow of death, on the border-land of the other world, and from that proximity he relates his experience. these works receive the reverence of all musicians for their spirituality, their mysticism, their psychological qualities. they are the revelations of the seer, awe-inspiring mementos of states and conditions of mind which transcend the experiences of ordinary life. in these last impassioned utterances of the master, we find a strain holier, more profound, different from anything which the art of music has yet produced. the cavatina on its first performance, on march , , was received with indifference, and the finale, which was an exceedingly long and difficult fugue, fared even worse. self-sufficient as beethoven was on all matters connected with the working out of his musical thoughts, he coincided for once with his friends and the publisher on the matter of the fugue. he wrote a new finale for the quartet, and published the fugue separately as opus . joseph boehm, the noted violinist, then in his twenty-eighth year, rehearsed this fugue under beethoven's direction, and often played the violin part subsequently. the great c sharp minor quartet opus , is the next one to claim our attention. beethoven characterized it as a piece of work worthy of him. this colossal work was one which wagner continually held up for the commendation of mankind. it occupies among quartets a position analogous to that of the ninth symphony in its own class. the summer of in which it was composed, was a period fraught with momentous occurrences to the master, chief of which was the attempted suicide of his nephew. the circumstances which led up to this catastrophe can be briefly narrated. beethoven had been disappointed in any and every plan formed for the future of the young man. he at first looked for great things from him; by gradual stages his expectations were so modified that at last he began to fear that he would never be able to provide for his own maintenance. the musical education of the young man had first engaged the master's attention, in the hope that some of the family talent might have been transmitted to him. when it became plain that nothing could be achieved by him in a musical career, he was entered at the university of vienna with a view of making a scholar of him. here he was unable to keep up with his studies, owing to inattention. he failed to pass his examination and left the school in consequence. literature being closed to him, he entered the polytechnic school, intending to fit himself for business life, but failed here also. that karl's conduct caused the master much anxiety appears in his letters to him. in some of them he entreats him to do better, in others he upbraids him. both lines of reasoning seem to have been equally obnoxious to this careless, indifferent young man, who objected to being taken to task for his misdeeds, and hated "rows" and "scenes" with his uncle. when he failed the second time he was at his wits' end in dread of his uncle's reproaches. many a stormy scene had occurred between them during the two preceding years. so violent had these become, that the master was on one occasion requested to find another apartment on account of the complaints that came from other occupants of the house. it may very well be that beethoven expected too much from this carelessly reared youth, whose mother lost no opportunity of embittering him against the master. the young man probably never seriously contemplated suicide, but wanted to give his uncle a scare. by working on his fears he reasoned that he would be able to have his own way for a long while to come. he threatened suicide, and the day following this threat actually went so far as to shoot himself. he was not severely injured, but the attempt on his life rendered him amenable to the laws of his country, and a short confinement in the government hospital followed. beethoven was greatly agitated on learning of the rash act. he had some difficulty in finding him, as the young man had left his quarters and went to another part of the city before carrying out his threat. with the aid of friends he was finally located and an affecting scene followed in which the master loaded him with kindness, treating him very much as that other prodigal son was treated by his father. beethoven's personal intervention with the magistrate eased the situation for the nephew. two very interesting letters from the master in this connection were published some years ago in the neuen freien presse of vienna, and are included in herr kalischer's beethovenbriefe published in berlin in . the following one shows beethoven's ethical character in strong light: to the magistrate czapka: dear sir: hofrath von breuning and i have carefully considered what is best to be done. we think for the time being no other course is practicable than that karl should remain with me a few days (during the interval until he can enter the military service). his language is still excitable under the impression that i would reprimand him since he was capable of making an attempt on his life. he has, however, shown himself quite affectionate toward me. be assured that to me fallen humanity is still holy. a warning from you would probably have good results. it would do no harm to let him know that unobserved he will be watched while with me. accept my highest esteem for yourself, and consider me as one who loves his kind, who desires only good wherever possible. yours respectfully, beethoven. in accordance with the english custom of putting the fool of the family into the army, stephen von breuning had hit upon the plan of a military career for karl since all others seemed closed to him. von breuning, who always had a faculty of being of service to beethoven, was a counsellor in the war-office. he urged on beethoven the feasibility of procuring an appointment for karl in the army, and interested his superior, field-marshal lieutenant von stutterheim, in the matter. beethoven was not greatly in favor of a military career for the young man. "Übrigens bin ich gar nicht für den militärstandt," he says in a letter to holz of september , when the subject was first broached. he opposed it for a while, but finally bowed to the inevitable. toward the end of october, and before the negotiations in regard to the army appointment were concluded, the young man was released from the hospital, and placed under the control of the master, with the injunction that he be removed from vienna at once. at this juncture brother johann placed his country house at gneixendorf at the disposal of the master and nephew, and thither the two repaired, the elder, stricken, bowed with grief; the youth, sullen and indifferent. the master had never entered johann's house since the summer of , when he had tried so ineffectually, as noted in a previous chapter, to break up the relations existing between the pair while the lady was as yet only the housekeeper. it must have been with great reluctance that he considered visiting him at all. the sacrifice, if such there was, was made in the interest of karl; where this young scapegrace was concerned, the master was generally willing to sink his own preferences. the situation must have been embarrassing for all concerned, less so in reality for the master than for the others. absorbed in the composition of the new finale, and also in the finishing up of the great c sharp minor quartet, he was for the most part oblivious to anything unusual in his surroundings. johann's wife, with the policy of her class, bore no resentment, or at least showed none outwardly. a pleasant room on the ground floor was fitted up for him, but the welcome must have been a cold one at best. no doubt the gutsbesitzer took much pleasure in showing off his possessions to the brother whom he knew had little esteem for him at heart. he paraded his own importance in the neighborhood, taking the composer on business visits to prominent people. on these occasions he would not usually introduce his brother, treating him as a kind of appendage. the master, deep in the thought of creative work, was, no doubt, to a great extent unconscious of this sordidness. at all events he gave no sign. but he contributed very little to the social well-being of the family. two aims only seem to have occupied his mind at this time: the welfare of his nephew, and the carrying to completion of a few great works already sketched or begun. these included a tenth symphony, (for the philharmonic society of london), the oratorio, the victory of the cross, for the vienna gesellschaft der musikfreunde, music to goethe's faust, which latter he must have been in good mood for,--as well as an overture on bach. "i hope yet," he writes from johann's home, "to bring some great works into the world, and then like an old child, to close my earthly career somewhere among good people." he worked with feverish haste in the latter years of his life, whenever his health permitted, even abandoning his books in favor of his work. failing health prevented him from forcing it ahead as in former years, but he worked up to the limit of his powers. his habits while composing have been referred to in a previous chapter, namely, that he was in the habit of singing, stamping, gesticulating, while under the spell of his inspiration. this kind of thing was new to the maid who looked after his room, and she managed to extract amusement from it. beethoven finally discovered her laughing at him, and forthwith bundled her out of the room, giving orders that no female would be admitted again. one of the men about the place, michael kren, was then engaged, who performed his duties faithfully, and helped materially to establish a more comfortable existence for the sick, helpless man. he has narrated circumstantially the master's mode of life while at gneixendorf. he was up and at work at half-past five, beating time with hands and feet, singing, humming. this went on until breakfast time, half-past seven. this meal over he would hurry out of doors, (the weather was fine that particular autumn) spending the morning going about the fields, note-book in hand, his mind intent on his musical thoughts, occasionally singing or calling out, going now slowly, then very fast, at times stopping still to write out his ideas. this would go on until noon, when he would return to the house for dinner. this was served at half-past twelve, after which he would go to his room for about two hours, then again to the fields until sunset. he was never out in the evening as night air was considered bad for him. supper was served at half-past seven. his evenings were spent in his room, and at ten o'clock he went to bed. this simple, regular life, with the healthful country air, should have restored beethoven's health in some measure could it have been continued longer. his letters from here indicate that he expected some improvement in this respect. had not some untoward circumstances intervened, the master's life might have been spared long enough to enable him to carry to completion the list of works outlined above. that johann had an ulterior object in asking his brother to visit him is quite probable. the growing fame of the composer and the ever-increasing value of his copyrights was well known to him. he had made money in his dealings between composer and publisher in the past, and could have made still more had he possessed his brother's confidence in a greater degree. his cupidity however, prevented him from keeping up for long even the semblance of kindness or hospitality. fuel was so scantily provided the sick guest that he suffered from cold, and he was told that a charge would be made for the room. other circumstances may have contributed to bring about a climax. at all events the situation became so unpleasant that he suddenly decided to return to vienna. chapter xviii in the shadows as a day well spent gives joyful sleep, so does a life well spent give joyful death. --leonardo da vinci. the c sharp minor quartet and the one in f, opus , which rounds out this wonderful series, were all but completed before leaving vienna on the visit to johann. that there was some polishing still to be done on the latter is apparent from the fact that it has the superscription in the master's handwriting, "gneixendorf am oktober ." the finale has these curious sentences: "der schwergefasste entschluss. muss es sein? es muss sein." question and answer turn on the subject of paying his room rent according to schindler, the dialogue being a reminiscence of previous times. beethoven often made some discussion when his rent was demanded, either from the desire to extract some sport from the situation, or from fear of being cheated. it often had to be demonstrated to him by the aid of an almanac that the time was up and the money really due. the only work begun and completed by the master while at gneixendorf was the new finale, which replaced the long fugue of the b flat quartet. it proved to be his last work. the series of unpleasant events referred to in the last chapter ensued, and, without considering consequences, he returned to vienna. it is not likely that johann or his wife exerted themselves much to keep him longer. they intended spending the winter in vienna themselves, and were probably relieved to have the visit ended so that they could make their preparations for the journey. with his usual impatience, he must needs take the first conveyance which was to be had. johann had a closed carriage, but would not let him have it, and the journey was made in a light open wagon. december had arrived and the weather, which had been fine all the fall, was now bad. he was insufficiently clothed for the two days' drive in such weather. he contracted inflammation of the lungs on the way, and reached his quarters in the house of the black spaniards, a very sick man. this house, his last earthly abiding-place, had been his home for the past year. it was a disused monastery, which had been established in by the daughter of philip iii of spain on taking up her residence in vienna after her marriage. the original building was destroyed in one of the wars of that turbulent time, but was rebuilt at the end of the seventeenth century. the building was demolished in . it was situated on the glacis, in a part of the city where beethoven had lived much of the time since coming to vienna. the fates seem to have been against him from the beginning of his journey. his sleeping-room was an enormous one on the second floor, which, with two small anterooms, composed the apartment. the facilities for heating a room of that size, in those times must have been wholly inadequate. several days elapsed before a physician could be found to attend him. he had quarrelled with two of his former physicians and each refused his aid. finally, a professor from the medical college, a dr. wawruch, was summoned, who took the case in hand. schindler states that it was several days before he or any of the master's friends knew of his arrival in vienna, and leaves the inference that he was unattended during this interval except by his nephew. when they learned of his return, schindler and stephen von breuning were unremitting in their attentions. as beethoven had taken a violent prejudice against dr. wawruch, another physician, dr. malfatti, was engaged, who acted in conjunction with the former. the treatment was now changed, large quantities of iced punch being administered, probably with the view of relieving the congestion of the stomach. this mode of treatment exactly suited the sick man, a result which was probably foreseen by the astute dr. malfatti, who had prescribed for beethoven during previous illnesses and knew his patient's idiosyncrasies. beethoven's childlike simplicity is illustrated in the difference of his demeanor toward his two physicians. he always had a warm welcome for the one who had administered the iced punch, remembering no doubt its immediately alleviating and beneficial results, but dr. wawruch fared poorly at his hands, especially when he was in a bad humor. on more than one occasion when the latter appeared the patient turned his face to the wall with the remark, "ach der esel." everything possible was now done to add to his comfort. two servants were engaged to attend him. his friends cheered him by their visits. hümmel called, bringing his young pupil ferdinand hiller. some of schubert's songs were brought him, probably by hüttenbrenner. they consisted of die junge nonne, der taucher, the ossian songs, die bürgschaft. schindler states they awakened the master's surprise and delight, eliciting from him the remark, "truly, schubert has the divine fire." beethoven was so eager for work that he attempted composition again in the intervals of his illness, but his strength was not sufficient to enable him to go on with it. hitherto his one resource in every difficulty had been his work. the injunction of saint-simon, to lead during the whole of the vigorous portion of manhood the most original and active life possible, had been perforce carried out by him. now that his one resource, work, failed him, he was bereft. he sought to pass the time by reading, and began with kenilworth in a german translation, but soon threw it down saying: "the man writes only for money." the volatile holz did not fail him in his need, but manifested his friendship by many kind acts. his former publishers the haslingers, tobias and karl, as well as diabelli, called occasionally. the archduke at olmütz could hardly have been expected to come, especially as a fatal termination was not for some time considered probable. we hear nothing of czerny, of schuppanzich, of linke, or of zmeskall, which to say the least, is singular. schindler's omission of these names, however, has no particular significance; he wrote many years after the event, and forgot or omitted the mention of circumstances of greater importance than this. it is not like what we know of the character of czerny, or zmeskall, to neglect beethoven in his extremity. the master's old friend, stumpf, of london, sent him a splendid edition of händel's works in forty volumes, with which he occupied himself a good deal. they afforded him much enjoyment. anxiety on account of money, so prevalent all through these latter years, was increased by his enforced abstinence from work. what he chiefly desired now was sufficient ready money to carry him through, so that he would not have to break into the little hoard put by for karl many years before. at this juncture the philharmonic society of london sent him one hundred pounds, being an advance payment on account of a concert they intended giving for his benefit. the initiative in this matter was taken by beethoven himself, and it is safe to say that nothing that was done for him during this period was so appreciated, or gave him so much pleasure, as this act of kindness from the society. the money reached him about ten days after an operation had been performed on him for the relief of the dropsical accumulations incidental to his liver trouble. four such operations had been found necessary during this illness. they were at best only palliative. his joy on receiving the letter and money from london was such that the wound, not yet healed, opened, and a great discharge followed. a letter of thanks was sent to the society, dictated by the master, but he was too weak even to sign it. schindler relates that beethoven on nearing middle-age, was wont to indulge himself in day-dreams of a prosperous future, in which he could have sufficient means to enable him to live in comfort, keep his carriage like brother johann, and have leisure for the refinements of life. this illusion, maintained by most workers, no doubt brightened his prosaic, solitary life. pity that he could not have realized it in some measure: after the heat and burden of the day, in which he had so well acquitted himself, it would seem fitting, had he had an evening of life such as was vouchsafed wagner, with opportunity for completing his life-work in peace and contentment. one result achieved by the master as a consequence of his visit to gneixendorf would have afforded him great satisfaction could he have known it. the matter of making suitable provision for karl in event of his own death had lain on his conscience for some time before this visit, as already stated. while there, he begged his brother johann to make a will in karl's favor, which eventually came to pass. the army appointment, of which mention has been made, became an established fact early in december, and the young man soon after left vienna to join his regiment. beethoven never saw him again. he by this time concurred with his friends in the opinion that the discipline of military life might be beneficial to him, and was resigned to the separation. the great c sharp minor quartet is indelibly associated with karl, through its dedication to baron von stutterheim, through whom the appointment came. the decision to dedicate this work to the baron, was arrived at only two weeks before the master's death. the work had been for some time in the hands of the publishers, messrs. schott of mayence. beethoven, finally becoming aware that no more works could be produced by him, and wishing to reward the baron in the only way possible, dictated an urgent letter to messrs. schott on the subject. "the quartet," he said, "must be dedicated to field-marshal von stutterheim, to whom i am under great obligations. should the first dedication by any possibility be already engraved, i beg of you, on every account, to make this alteration. i will gladly pay any extra expense connected with it." the last quartet, opus , is dedicated to johann wolfmayer, a merchant of vienna with whom he had much friendly intercourse. wolfmayer showed his interest in the master's work in many ways. it may be mentioned that he offered him a sum equal to several hundreds of dollars to carry out his project of writing a requiem mass. "write to stumpf and smart," he said to schindler a few days before his death, when already too weak to speak above a whisper. his consideration for others was paramount even in the face of approaching death. notwithstanding the hopeful tone which characterized the letters written during his last illness, there were times when he knew that he was making a losing fight. already on january , a month after his return from gneixendorf, he wrote a letter to his attorney, dr. bach, in the form of a will, in which as may be supposed, his nephew is his sole heir. no conditions were imposed on the young man, who, had the will remained in this form, might have squandered the entire amount. (the estate netted $ ). this was pointed out to beethoven by his counsellor, dr. bach, and also von breuning, who urged on him the necessity of adding a codicil to the will, in which the principal would be tied up for life, leaving only the income available. this he resisted to within a few days before the end, but finally gave in, and, not without great difficulty, wrote with his own hand a codicil, consisting of but three lines, in which the income only was to be enjoyed by the nephew, the principal to revert to his natural or testamentary heirs, after karl's death. breuning, true to his sense of duty, not satisfied with having gained his point, endeavored, at the risk of antagonizing the master, to change the words "natural or testamentary heirs," to "legitimate heirs." beethoven was obdurate on the point, however, saying, "the one term is as good as the other." von breuning, good faithful friend that he was, survived beethoven but one year. schindler dwells on the perfect tranquillity of beethoven in the face of approaching death. "plaudite amici, comoedia finita est," he said on the day when the codicil was written. on the following day at noon, he received the last rites of the church. the event was no doubt a solemn one. soon after, the death-struggle began, and continued without interruption for two days. hüttenbrenner was a faithful attendant during these last days. his friend schubert also called, at least once, and, it is said, was recognized by beethoven, although he was unable to speak to him. the nervous strain on his friends in witnessing this struggle between life and death, in which but the one issue was possible, must have been great. it was, no doubt, a relief to schindler and von breuning to leave the master in hüttenbrenner's charge on the afternoon of the th of march, and go to wahring in order to secure a burial-place. while on this necessary errand, a terrific storm arose, which prevented their return until night. meanwhile, hüttenbrenner, left alone with the master, endeavored to ease his position by sustaining his head, holding it up with his right arm. his breathing had been growing perceptibly weaker, carrying the conviction that the end was near. the storm was of unusual severity, covering the glacis with snow and sleet. the situation of the building was such that it was exposed to the full fury of the tempest. no sign was given by the master that he was conscious of this commotion of the elements. with the subsidence of the storm at dusk, the watcher was startled by a flash of lightning, which illumined everything. this was succeeded by a terrific peal of thunder which penetrated even beethoven's ears. startled into consciousness by the unusual event, the dying man suddenly raised his head from hüttenbrenner's embrace, threw out his right arm with the fist doubled, remained in this position a moment as if in defiance, and fell back dead. the two friends returned some hours after all was over. the master died at a quarter before six o'clock on the evening of march , . he was in his fifty-seventh year. the funeral took place on march at p.m. from the church of the minorites and was attended by many of the most prominent people of the city. eight musicians bore the coffin from the house to the church, while thirty-two torch-bearers followed it, among the number being czerny and schubert. this was followed by a choir of sixteen male singers, and four trombones, which alternated in singing and playing. the music consisted of two equali composed by beethoven many years before, arranged for this occasion by seyfried, to the words of the _miserere_ and _amplius_. notwithstanding the immense concourse of people assembled at the obsequies, estimated at twenty thousand, there was but one relative to occupy the position of mourner, and that was johann. on april , mozart's requiem was sung at the church of the augustines, and shortly thereafter, cherubini's requiem was sung for him at the karlskirche. the magnificence of his funeral, when compared with his simple mode of life, calls to mind the great contrasts which he was always producing in his music. equally great contrasts had always come up in his life. living in the proudest most exclusive and bigoted monarchy in europe, at a time when feudal authority had not yet been entirely abolished, he held himself to be as good or better than emperor or cardinal. on receiving a request one morning from the empress of austria to call on her, he sent back word that he would be busy all that day, but would endeavor to call on the following day. there is no record of his having gone at all. his unjustifiable conduct toward the imperial family, while at töplitz with goethe, has been touched on in a previous chapter. frimmel states that something similar occurred at baden, but does not give his authority. beethoven arraigned the judiciary, even when writing conciliatory letters to the judges. in his letters to the different magistrates during the litigation over his nephew, he is often satirical and sarcastic in spite of himself. his criticisms of other judges, his references to the manner in which justice is administered in austria, illustrate his temerity and independence. his scorn of the king of saxony, on account of being dilatory in paying the subscription for the grand mass, was pronounced. he alludes to him as "the poor dresdener" in his letters, and he even went so far as to talk about suing him when the payment was still longer withheld.[f] all this from a man who at times did not have a decent coat to wear, or a second pair of shoes; who sometimes accepted advances from his housekeeper for the necessaries of life. his life was so simple and circumscribed that he never saw the ocean, or a snow-covered mountain, although living within sight of the foothills of the alps. he never returned to his native city though living not a great distance from it. [f] kalischer. _neue beethovenbriefe_. berlin, . the immediate cause of death, as demonstrated by the post-mortem held the day after his decease, was cirrhosis of the liver, the dropsy, of which schindler makes such frequent mention, being an outcome of, and connected with, the liver trouble. the organ showed every indication of chronic disease. it was greatly shrunken, its very texture being changed into a hard substance. that alcoholism is the commonest cause of cirrhosis is well known, but in beethoven's case some other cause for the disease must be found. he was in the habit of taking wine with his meals, a practice so common in vienna at that time that not to have done so would have been regarded as an eccentricity, but he never indulged in it to excess, except possibly on a few occasions when in the company of holz. it can hardly be brought about by the use of wines, but is produced by the inordinate use of spirituous liquors, something for which beethoven did not care. cirrhosis was probably the cause of his father's death, as he was a confirmed inebriate; but this cannot be connected with the cirrhosis of the son; the disease is not transmissible. beethoven's deafness probably began with a "cold in the head" which was neglected. the inflammatory process then extended to the eustachian tubes. when it reached this point it was considered out of the reach of treatment in his time, and for long after. even in our own time, in the light of advanced medical science, such a condition is serious and is not always amenable to treatment, some impairment of the hearing frequently occurring even with the best of care and under conditions precluding the thought of a congenital tendency. the difficulty as revealed by the post-mortem, lay in a thickening of the membrane of the eustachian tubes. the office of these tubes is to supply air to the cavity on the inner side of the drum-membrane, known as the middle ear. as is well known, a passage exists from the outer ear to the drum. the eustachian tubes connect the middle ear with the upper portion of the throat from whence the air supply to the middle ear is obtained. we cannot imagine a drum to be such unless there is air on both sides of the membrane. exhaust the air of an ordinary drum, and its resonance would be gone. a similar condition obtained with beethoven. with the closure of the eustachian tubes the air supply to the middle ear was cut off; the air in the cavity finally became absorbed, and a retraction and thickening of the drum-membrane with consequent inability to transmit sound vibrations followed. the hypothesis of heredity, sometimes brought forward to account for his deafness, would have more weight had the lesion shown itself in the case of either of his other brothers. as it is, there is no hint to be found of even a tendency to deafness in any other of the beethovens, whether johann, karl, or the nephew. in any event a congenital tendency of this kind would have been more likely to develop itself in karl, the weakling, than in the sturdy ludwig. the master's known impulsiveness and carelessness in matters connected with the preservation of his health, lead to the conclusion that he himself contributed much to his deafness. he was fond of pure air outside, but sometimes had for a sleeping room an alcove wholly without ventilation, so dark that he had to dress in another room. we hear much of his practice of taking brisk walks on the ramparts or in the suburbs, in the intervals of his work. there is at least one instance on record,--there were probably many such cases,--of his coming in after a walk, overheated, perspiring, and seating himself before an open window in a draught. another hygienic measure which he abused was his custom of frequently bathing his head in cold water while at work, probably to counteract the excessive circulation of the blood in the head brought about by his brain-work. a chilling of the body, particularly in the neck and the back of the head when overheated is a frequent cause of inflammation of the middle ear. von frimmel calls attention to the dust-storms which are a feature of vienna. they were probably worse in beethoven's time than now, as but little attention was paid to hygienic measures in those days. this no doubt aggravated the trouble. chapter xix life's purport das grenzenlose braust um mich. weit hinaus glänzt mir raum und zeit. wohlan! wohlauf! altes herz. --friederich nietzsche. beethoven's life in its devotion to the attainment of a single end, the perfection of his art, affords an object lesson, which cannot fail to encourage and stimulate every one engaged in creative work of any kind. his earnestness and industry is the key-note to his achievement. he worked harder than any composer we have any record of, with the possible exception of wagner. if we consider how the compositions improved in his hands, while being worked over, as is shown by the sketch-books, a simple process of reasoning will convince the reader that any man's work, in any line, can be improved by adopting the same methods. beethoven's own words in this connection are, "the boundary does not yet exist, of which it can be said to talent cooperating with industry, 'thus far shalt thou go and no farther.'" the more he worked over his compositions the better they became. when he required a theme for a particular purpose, if the right thought did not at once come to mind, his practice was to write as near it as possible. by the time this was done an improvement would suggest itself. he would then write it again, and before the ink was dry, would start at it yet again, each effort bringing him nearer the goal, and this progress was the incentive that led him to continue until the idea he was reaching for became a reality. his intuitive faculties were highly developed, and he had goethe's "heavenly gift" of imagination, but this would have been as nothing without his power of concentration. all his abilities were focused on his art. he made everything else subservient to the one idea of attaining perfection in it. he succeeded too, by giving his genius free play, by allowing his individuality to shape itself in accordance with its own laws. the circumstances of his life favored this action. responsible to no one for years before reaching maturity, he was nowhere hampered or repressed as might have been the case had he had a home life. strong characters are best left alone to work out their own development. it is only the weak ones that have to be supported. he met every demand that his art made on him. it was only by a complete surrender, by a concentration of all his forces into one channel, that he attained his results. by losing the world, he gained it. the great ones in every age, in every art or calling,--those who attained to saintship,--seers,--prophets,--all went this road. he had absolute confidence in his judgment. he seldom considered what his audience would like. the best that was in him was what he gave to the world. he knew its value, and if others could not understand it, he knew the time would come when it would be appreciated. in art as in religion, faith is a necessary preliminary to all great achievements. in going so far beyond us, in pushing the art to the limit of its possibilities, beethoven has made portions of his work inaccessible to the large body of people who look upon music as an art for enjoyment only. the same kind of problem that is presented to this generation in the works of his last years, confronted his contemporaries in those of his middle life, which were as far beyond the comprehension of his own generation as the more abstruse works of his last years are beyond the ability of the present. to a future age, seemingly, has been relegated, as an heritage of the past, the best fruit of beethoven's genius. when the mass in d and the last quartets can be heard frequently, a new era in the art will have been inaugurated. it would be a mistake to suppose that beethoven was a pessimist, or a misanthrope. placed here to live and suffer, not knowing why it should be so, he yet teaches that relentless fate cannot prevail against those who make a good fight. "i did not wish to find when i came to die that i had not lived," said thoreau, paraphrasing from voltaire, (most men die without having lived). "i did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear." beethoven's idea of the purport of life was similar. he believed, and put his theory into practice, that each man has within himself the potentialities with which he shapes his own destiny. fate and destiny are verities that have to be faced, but they do not have all their own way with us. each of us has the power to control his destiny to some extent. by willing it so the tendency is toward betterment. always the highest powers are on our side. life, after all, is worth while. this was the gist of his philosophy. he sought to establish an optimistic view of life, with the object of making the problem easier to solve. fichte, in his work "Über das wesen des gelehrten", gives the literary man the place of priest in the world, continually unfolding the godlike to man. this was also beethoven's aim. haydn charged him with being an atheist, but his works as well as his life refute this charge. the kyrie and the agnus dei of the mass in d, could never have been produced had he been other than a devout, religious man. in his journals he continually addresses the godhead. outwardly, however, he gave no sign. "religion and general-bass," he said once, with a touch of humor, "are in themselves two inscrutable things (_abgeschlossene dinge_) about which one should not argue." he was solicitous that his nephew should receive proper religious instruction, and made this a point in his letters to the magistrates while the lawsuit over him was in progress. after giving his ideas as to the proper education of the young man, in which french, greek, music and drawing take a prominent place, he adds, "i have found a holy father who has undertaken to instruct him in his duties as a christian, as well as a man, for only on this foundation can we bring up genuine people." again, "it is for his soul's welfare that i am concerned. wealth can be achieved, but morality must early in life be inoculated" (_eingeimpft_). he saw the necessity of religion; that it has been called forth through the consciousness of utter helplessness in the individual. man is encompassed on all sides by inexorable laws, produced and perpetuated by a power beyond and outside the comprehension. the expression of the religious sentiment is his effort at propitiation, and is his one resource. this is the point of view on which beethoven projected the grand mass. it is what governed his life. an inner pressure led him to choose a life of self-abnegation and rectitude. he saw through and over and beyond the illusions and allurements of the senses, and so was enabled to live entirely in harmony with the moral order of the world, in an age, and among a people, largely given over to the pursuit of pleasure. a long life is generally considered the best gift which the fates have to bestow. in the summary of a man's life it is usually treated of as implying special virtues in the subject. but a long life in itself is as nothing in comparison to the quality of the life that is lived. it is by achievement only that its value can be determined. wagner's indebtedness to beethoven foreword beethoven, in wagner's estimation, is a landmark in music, just as shakespeare is in literature, as jesus or buddha in religion. he is the central figure; all others are but radii emanating from him. to beethoven was it given to express clearly what the others could but dimly perceive. the relation of men like bach or händel toward beethoven, wagner held to be analogous to that of the prophets toward jesus, namely, one of expectancy. the art reached its culmination in beethoven. this is wagner's summary of the significance of beethoven's work, and he proclaimed it continually, from the housetops. it was in some sort a religious exercise to him to make propaganda for the master to whom he felt himself so deeply indebted. the burden of his utterances on the subject of the musician's art is, "a greater than i exists. it is beethoven." chiefly, perhaps, of the philosopher and the poet must we needs feel that if any genius reaches out into an interpenetrating spiritual world, _theirs_ must do so.--f.w.h. myers, human personality, chapter on genius. in art the best of all is too spiritual to be given directly to the senses; it must be born in the imagination of the beholder, although begotten by the work of art.--schopenhauer. wagner's achievement can be attributed, in part, to a certain quality of intellectual receptivity, by virtue of which he was enabled to appropriate to himself the genius of two of his predecessors for whom he had a special affinity. his epoch-making work was rendered possible through shakespeare and beethoven, who served him as models all his life. every great achievement is referable to some preceding one often quite as great but more obscure. no man stands alone in his deed. the doer of every great work has been helped thereto by his predecessors working the same soil. the greater the performance, the more prominently this comes out sometimes, as in the case of shakespeare whose indebtedness to christopher marlowe and others will at once come to mind. to beethoven and to shakespeare, wagner paid tribute on all occasions. especially is this true in his relation to beethoven, to whom he readily yields the palm in the realm of music. in the eight volumes of his _gesammelte schriften_, no single fact stands out more clearly than his recognition of beethoven as his chief, his master, from whom proceeds all wisdom and knowledge and truth. one can hardly read any of wagner's prose writings without seeing how readily he falls into the place of disciple of beethoven. "i knew no other pleasure," he says in a pilgrimage to beethoven, "than to plunge so deeply into his genius that at last i fancied myself become a portion thereof." the pilgrimage, though an imaginative work, is the medium he employed to give utterance to his regard for beethoven. his letters to musical friends, to liszt, to fischer, especially those to ulig, are filled with praise of the older master. in a letter to meyerbeer, in , he states how he came to be a musician. "a passionate admiration of beethoven impelled me to this step." the only one who was good enough in wagner's eyes to be compared with beethoven, was shakespeare. these two names are frequently brought into juxtaposition in his works. no musician is worthy of comparison with his demigod. "mozart died when he was just piercing into the mystery. beethoven was the first to enter in," he says in his sketches. as if even this praise were too great, he severely criticises mozart's operas and symphonies elsewhere. the deferential attitude which wagner assumes toward beethoven is not accorded any other musician. consciously or not, when he talks about other musicians (except bach) he, for the most part, assumes the rôle of censor. but beethoven comes in for unstinted praise. "it is impossible," he says, "to discuss the essential nature of beethoven's music without at once falling into the tone of rhapsody." wagner seems hardly to have been able, when writing about music, to refrain from mention of beethoven, he is so full of the subject. it has a bearing on every important event in his life. at the ceremonies attending the laying of the foundation-stone of the festival play house at bayreuth, the ninth symphony was performed, and in a little speech he says: "i wish to see the ninth symphony regarded as the foundation-stone of my own artistic structure." in "religion and art" we find these words: "to whom the unspeakable bliss has been vouchsafed of taking one of the last four symphonies of beethoven into his heart and soul." many enthusiasts have worked in wagner's cause from liszt down, but none have equalled wagner in this respect--in enthusiasm for _his_ master. he pays tribute to beethoven in all conceivable places. he first heard of him when told of his death. his first acquaintance with beethoven's music was a year after the master's death, on his arrival at leipzig at the gewandhaus concerts. wagner was then in his sixteenth year. "its impression on me was overpowering," he says. "the music to his egmont so inspired me that i determined not to allow my own completed tragedy to be launched until provided with such like music. without the slightest diffidence i believed that i could write this needful music." he had up to this time no special leaning toward music. he had not previously entertained a thought of it as a career, but his first hearing of beethoven's music decided him to adopt it, such was the kinship between these two minds. through beethoven he discovered that "music," to use his own words, "is a new language in which that which is boundless can express itself with a certainty impossible to be misunderstood."[g] [g] thoreau, in , expressed himself similarly. we quote from the recently published service. "music is a language, a mother tongue, a more mellifluous and articulate language than words, in comparison with which speech is recent and temporary. there is as much music in the world as virtue. in a world of peace and love music would be the universal language and men greet each other in the fields in such accents as a beethoven now utters at rare intervals at a distance." the episode made a turning-point in his life. hitherto his whole mind and thought had been placed on literature, the drama in particular, as a career. through beethoven he first learned what a power music possesses in the portrayal of the emotions and passions. he had, as he says, an intimate love and knowledge of mozart without apparently being much influenced thereby. up to this time shakespeare had been his archetype. now, with a fine discriminating intelligence, marvellous in a youth of sixteen, beethoven is to be included in this hero-worship, and is eventually to supplant his former ideal. "it was beethoven who opened up the boundless faculty of instrumental music for expressing elemental storm and stress," he says in the "art-work of the future," and elsewhere in the same article, "the deed of the one and only shakespeare, which made of him a universal man, a very god, is yet but the kindred deed of the solitary beethoven, who found the language of the artist-manhood of the future." wagner's criticisms on music are admirable. here he expresses his thoughts as plainly as in his compositions. his disquisitions on music as an art and on beethoven in particular, are always lucid and forcible. he may be misty in his philosophical speculations, but when he speaks on music it is in the authoritative tone of the master, familiar with every phase of his subject. he always contributes something of value, and his thoughts are an illumination. had wagner never written a line of music, had he elected to be a literary man, a poet, a dramatist, philosopher, his fame to-day would still be world-wide. had he confined his genius into this one channel of literary expression, as was his original intention, with his mental equipment, and a napoleonic ambition that balked at nothing, the product would have been as original and extraordinary, we may be sure, as is his art-product in music. wagner, the musician, is so commanding a figure that the literary man is obscured; but when we consider the magnitude of his literary achievement, the dramas tannhäuser, lohengrin, flying dutchman, tristan, parsifal, the stupendous ring of the nibelung, the essays on music, philosophy, criticism and sociology, and reflect that it is, so to speak, a by-product, it becomes apparent that, had he made literature his chief aim in life, the result would have been notable in the annals of the century. wagner seriously contemplated writing a biography of beethoven at one time, and devoted several months to collecting materials for it. but his finances were still in bad shape, and he was unable to undertake it without an order from some publisher, who would have been required to advance money. he was unable to find such a party, and the project was abandoned, most unfortunately, as he would have made a valuable contribution to the subject. the short biographical sketch he wrote on beethoven on the centenary anniversary of the master's birth, shows marvellous insight, especially in relation to the critical and analytical parts of it. this work, instinct with worship of the master, is a product of wagner's mature years. here, as in his earliest utterances on beethoven, he is the disciple glad to do homage to his master. "a century may pass," said schopenhauer in a letter to the publishers of the (english) foreign review and continental miscellany, offering to translate kant for them, in response to a wish he had seen expressed in their journal that england might ere long have a translation of kant, "a century may pass ere there shall again meet in the same head so much kantian philosophy, with so much english, as happen to dwell together in mine." likewise centuries may elapse before another such musician will appear possessing the literary ability, critical faculty, ardor and enthusiasm that wagner had for this work. there is an affinity between them in which mind speaks to mind. when writing on bach's influence on beethoven, he says:[h] "if haydn passed as teacher of the youth, for the mightily unfolding art-life of the man, our great sebastian bach became his leader. bach's wonder-work became his bible; in it he read, and clean forgot that world of clangor heard no longer." this describes wagner's own spiritual relationship to beethoven, and the exaltation that must have been his on reading the symphonies, the mass in d, the overtures. he exhausts himself in praise of each. he makes the third leonore overture of as much account as the entire opera; he continually refers to the egmont and the coriolanus overtures, and says that in the latter and in the third leonore, beethoven stands alone and beyond all imitation. [h] mr. ellis's translation. an evidence of wagner's overpowering genius exists in the originality and unique character of his work, while giving himself up so unreservedly to this spiritual guidance. the two, however, were quite unlike in many respects. neither could have done the work of the other. beethoven, almost a failure in operatic composition, undertook it no more after one trial, while wagner was irresistibly drawn to this style from the beginning. he felt that with beethoven the last word had been said in pure instrumental music, while his literary talents also served to draw him into this field of operatic composition where they could find their proper outlet. with that unerring poetic sense which guided him in the selection of his subjects, he always has the romantic element to the fore. the atmosphere of romanticism which invests all his works, is what gives them much of their value. through the force and purity of his literary instinct, he was enabled to select topics of supreme interest, so that his imagination was kept at white heat while composing. his originality and absolute confidence in himself prevented him from following beethoven to any marked extent. he was forced to hew out a new path for himself. he was, however, not averse to occasionally taking a hint from him when it would serve his purpose. it is the prerogative of genius to take its material wherever it can be found. "plato," said emerson, "plays sad havoc with our originalities." beethoven's influence is plainly discernible in the preludes and overtures of the wagner dramas, which are symphonic throughout. the frequent use wagner makes of the trombones, when he wishes to be particularly impressive, recalls beethoven. each had a high opinion of the trombone where solemnity was required, and made constant use of it. beethoven applied it with peculiar effect in the benedictus of the mass in d, and in the ninth symphony, which is paralleled by wagner's use of it in parsifal, and in the funeral march in siegfried. the extraordinary uses to which he puts the pedal-point, as well as the variation form, are instances which show the influence of the older master. when, however, he takes an idea from beethoven, he improves on it, broadening and amplifying it, in general putting it to a better use than it was where he found it. a great dramatic work admits of fuller and longer treatment of an idea than is possible in the other forms in which music can be embodied. the instances just quoted are minor ones of general application. of the conceptions in which he is specially indebted to beethoven, the most important come from the mass in d. here the older master, by the very form in which the ideas are cast, had to hold himself in. he was not able to give them the significance in the mass, which is perfectly proper in great music dramas; and this enlarging and widening of the poetic conception,--this splendor in which it is portrayed,--not only justifies the course of his follower in adopting it, but also calls attention anew to the commanding genius to whom such things are possible. some of wagner's most entrancing effects have their origin in beethoven. his method of using the violins and flutes in the highest register in prolonged notes, as in the lohengrin prelude, and in general when portraying celestial music, are obtained from this source. the mass in d gives several instances where this idea is presented, not by harp (the customary way), but as wagner has done in lohengrin, by the violins and wood-winds in the highest register, beginning pianissimo, gradually descending and augmenting in volume and sonority as the picturing merges from spiritual to worldly concerns. beethoven's work abounds in intellectual subtleties of this kind. wagner is sometimes credited with having originated this method for the portrayal of celestial music. mr. louis c. elson says: "wagner, alone, of all the great masters, does not use the harp for celestial tone coloring, but violins and wood-winds, in prolonged notes in the highest positions. schumann, berlioz, saint-saens, in fact all the modern tone colorists who have given celestial pictures, use the harp in them, purely because of the association of ideas which come to us from the scriptures, and this association of the harp with heaven and the angels, only came about because the instrument was the most developed possessed by man at the time the sacred book was written. wagner's tone coloring is intrinsically the more ecstatic.... wagner is the first who has broken through this harp conventionality." in the wagner-liszt correspondence, wagner states that the lohengrin prelude typifies choirs of angels bearing the holy grail to earth. this idea and the method of its development can be found in the symphonic thought which follows the preludium to the benedictus of the beethoven mass. it will be necessary to make a short digression and explain a portion of the canon of the mass to enable the reader to understand what follows. during the office of the eucharist the celebrant repeats certain prayers inaudible to the congregation. these begin during the latter part of the sanctus, which immediately precedes the benedictus, and are connected with the ceremony of the consecration of the host. a part of them are conducted in absolute silence. the choir is not required to be silent during all the prayers said by the celebrant, and the occasion is frequently utilized, particularly at high festivals, by the introduction of orchestral music or a brilliant chorus. the choir is silent during the elevation of the host and chalice, which takes place immediately after the consecration. it is a period of peculiar solemnity, the congregation kneeling in silent prayer at the signal of a gong. after the consecration the priest elevates the host and chalice, and with the people still kneeling, offers up a prayer silently, the conclusion of which is as follows: "we most humbly beseech thee, almighty god, command these things to be carried by the hands of thy holy angels to thy altar on high, in the sight of thy divine majesty, that as many as shall partake of the most sacred body and blood of thy son at this altar may be filled with every heavenly grace and blessing." the central thought of this prayer is that the sacred elements are borne to heaven by invisible hands. in the beethoven mass a preludium for orchestra is introduced, to fill in the interval while the celebrant is occupied with these silent prayers. it is an innovation, showing how thoroughly alive beethoven was to the development of every phase of his subject. ordinarily, no provision is made for this by the composer, the organist being permitted the privilege of interpolating hymns like the o salutaris or the tantum ergo. the preludium is so timed that it ends at the conclusion of the prayer we have quoted, when the sacred elements are in heaven and are about being returned to earth. it is at this point that the symphonic thought begins, which at the first bar calls to mind celestial harmonies. here we have the tone-figure, as in the lohengrin prelude, given by the violins and flutes in the highest register, beginning in faintest pianissimo. at the second bar the melody begins to descend, being augmented in force by the gradual addition of the more powerful instruments as well as voices when the elements are again on earth. the lohengrin prelude has the same idea, but it is developed to a greater extent, with a richer orchestration, the idea being carried to greater length, and rendered more significant in every way, as befits its dramatic character. in both cases, however, the orchestral figure is introduced by the same instruments, and in much the same manner. the mass in d furnishes another instance where the celestial harmonies are introduced to still better purpose than in the benedictus. it is in that portion of the credo, beginning with the et incarnatus. the delicate ethereal nature of this music, as indicated by the violins and flutes in the highest positions, is so transcendental, so imbued with spirituality, as almost to evade analysis. by the magic of beethoven's art the impression is conveyed that the listener overhears far-off angel voices from other spheres, when the heavens were opened for the descent of the son of god to earth. the instruments give out the merest intimations of sound, scintillations that suggest it rather. in the opening bars of the movement, just before the introduction of this tone-figure, he uses an ancient ecclesiastical style, the plagal, a mode that obtained centuries before palestrina. harsh and strident, inharmonious, are the tones, which in the opening adagio typify the dread, the foreboding and dismay, that can be supposed to have been felt by the son of god when the time came to give up a beatific state and enter on the actualities of earthly existence. the sin of the world is already being borne in anticipation. suddenly we are in the midst of celestial harmonies, delicate gradations and mergings of tones, subtleties of expression, ethereal, evanescent, that come faintly at first on the senses, giving us revelations of spiritual heights, of transcendent states and conditions of the soul. mankind is here afforded a glimpse beyond the veil. these strains continue until the words _et homo factus est_ (and was made man) are reached. at this point the melodies are suddenly cut off, the doors are closed, and we are excluded from further participation in things not meant for mortal ears. a change of tonality and time further accentuates the changed conditions that prevail as the story goes through the events of the crucifixion, death and burial of christ.[i] [i] beethoven's love of strongly defined contrasts is nowhere better illustrated than here. the sharp discordant tones, which characterize the opening bars of the movement, are simply pushed aside by the new. it is the subjugation of the worldly by the spiritual, of suffering by happiness. the mass in d can be said to be the parent of some of the parsifal music. wagner had the discernment to seize on the intellectual subtleties he found there, and to put them to happiest uses. if we compare the instrumental effects just noted with the exquisitely delicate music that opens the parsifal prelude after the introductory _leit motif_, we find a solution to each, as well as an affinity, in the religious mysticism in which each is enveloped. there is a central theme, but so shadowy and unreal as to be hardly apparent. like a nimbus these shimmerings of sound from the violins surround and permeate it, so that one is not aware of any particular melody, but rather it is perceived that the atmosphere is full of a divine melody, as if by spiritual insight the listener had attained to a state of mind akin to that of the seer, and had, for the time being, become one with the composer. the effect is produced of being in the presence of something holy. the _naturlangsamkeit_ necessary to the birth of any great art-work sometimes extends to its recognition and appreciation by the public. beethoven considered the mass in d his greatest achievement, but it gains ground very slowly. it is rarely mentioned, and seldom performed. similarly bach's greatest works slumbered nearly a century until brought to light by mendelssohn. it is significant that wagner was as world-weary from middle-age on as was beethoven. like him he took refuge in creative work. both were pioneers, always in advance of their time, cheerfully making the sacrifices which this position entails, diverging ever more and more with advancing years from beaten paths and the ideas of others on the subject of their art. resignation and asceticism, the goal of mankind, was wagner's solution of the problem of existence, a conclusion arrived at after reading schopenhauer. beethoven had also come to it long before reaching middle-age. wagner was, in his later years, a mystic, as was beethoven; and like beethoven his most congenial work in those years was of a religious character. index adagio, the, . adversity, school of, . altruism, , . american revolution, , . andante, the, . antwerp, . appassionata sonata, , , , , , . archduke rudolph, et seq., , , , , , , , appointed archbishop, - , disciple of beethoven, , installation of, , , as performer, , regard for beethoven, . aristocracy, of vienna, . art, office of, . art-history (this country), . artist-manhood, of beethoven, . artistic temperament, . art-work, . art-workers, . aryan ancestry, . aspern, battle of, . atterbohm, . attrition, of mind on mind, . augustines, church of, . austria, emperor of, , , . austria, empress of, . austrians in italy, . bach, dr., beethoven's attorney, . bach, j.s., , , , , , , , , , , , beethoven's regard for, , and humor, , leader of beethoven, , life-work of, , mathematician of music, , mass in b minor, , , overture on name of, , protestant, , and old ecclesiastical modes, , and variation form, , well-tempered clavichord, , "wonder-work," . baden, , , , . battle symphony, et seq. bautzen, battle of, . bavarian soldiers, . bayreuth, . beautiful in music, . beethoven: altruism of, , , adagios, , aim, , age of, , absorption in his work, , , art-life of, , artist-life, , artistic instinct, , approachable, , asceticism, , , , adopts nephew, , awkwardness, , bach's influence on, , brevier, , catholic, in religion, , creative talent, , conduct of life, , court suit, buys a, , concert for philharmonic society of london, , copyrights, , consideration for others, , copyists, his, , , church music, predilection for, , concept of life, , drama, and the, , dancing, and, , destiny, accepts his, , deafness, progress of, , ethical character of, , , every-day life, , father, his, , favorite authors, , failing health, , forecasts his future, , friendship, need of, , and goethe, - , gastro-intestinal disturbances, , grandfather, , , grammar, lapses from in letters, , habits, at johann's, , and happiness, , helplessness, his, , humor, , , , history, insatiable reader of, , intellectual bias, , , , infinitude, , introspection, , , illnesses of, , , , individuality, , intuitive faculties, , , improvising: in allegro movements, . improvising: in variations, , improvising at a charity concert, , journal, his, , , , , , , (note-book), , , , kindliness and humility, , lawsuits, , line extinct on male side, , laughter, virtuoso in, , last words of, , library, , life-work of, , , life-drama, , letters to publishers, , litigation over nephew, , life, a difficult problem, , love affairs of, , - , "last five symphonies," , landmark in music, , ménage, the, , , mother, his, ; death of, , muse, his, , musical library, , mental processes of, , mysticism, his, , , nature, love of, , naïveté of, , optimism, his, , opera, early familiarity with, , orchestra, and the, , , , organist, as, , the philosopher, , as patriot, - , philosophy, gist of, , and persian literature, , quartets, his, , republicanism, his, , , , repartee, ready in, , religion, his, , rhenish ancestry, , servants, difficulties with, , , , seer, the, , , , , scherzo, and the, , , sarcastic moods, his, , spiritual insight, , , strenuousness, his, , sonatas, , , social successes, , symphonies of, language of buoyant mood, , sociological questions, , solitary life, , , subtleties, in works of, , sketch-books, , , , , , , , , , the symphonist, , , two masses, , teaching, dislike of, , tone-poet, , unique work of, , virtuosity of, - , works, happy ending to, , work, his one resource, , work, significance of his, , will, codicil added, , world, a difficult problem to, , world-weary, , world, at odds with the, , world, withdrawing from, , world, "the play with it," . beethoven, johann van, , , , , , , marries his housekeeper, , as landed proprietor, , sordidness of, , his cupidity, , his wife, , . beethoven, karl van, brother of composer, , marriage of, , dies, , his widow, , . beethoven, karl van, nephew of composer, , et seq., , , , , , - , , , , after career of, , posterity of, , waywardness of, - . beklemmt, cavatina b quartet, . bergman, c., . berlioz, . bernadotte, gen., , ; king of sweden, . bigot, marie, virtuosity of, . black spaniards, house of, . boehm, j., violinist, . boehme, madame, . bohemia, baths of, . bonn, , , , , , , , , , , university, , old roman city, . boswell, . bouilly, . brahma, . brentano, bettina, . breuning, stephen von, , , , et seq., , , , , madame von, - , family, . british museum, . broadwood piano, beethoven's, - . brotherhood of man, . browne, count, , . bruno, giordano, , . brunswick, count, , , , , therese, , , , - , engaged to beethoven, - , founds home for children, . buddha, , . bundeslied, . c minor symphony (see fifth symphony). calm sea and prosperous voyage, . carlsbad, , . carlyle on goethe, , on jean paul, . castle garden, . celestial music, , . chamberlain, h.s., . chamber-music, , , , , , variations in, . character, and environment, . cherubini, , , ; requiem, , . chopin, improvising, . choral fantasia, . christianity, , . cirrhosis, , dropsical accumulations in, , cause of, , not transmissible, . clementi, sonatas, . cologne, . concert, spirituel, of vienna, , , of paris, . congress of vienna, et seq. coriolanus overture, , , , . corsican, the young, . critics on second symphony, , seventh symphony, . czerny, , , , , , , , , , , , , , teacher of young karl, . dance, the, , the, favorite musical form, . dante, . damrosch, dr. leopold, . de profundus, . diabelli, , , . dietrichstein, count, . dignity, of the artist, . don giovanni, , , , . dönhoff, graf von, . egmont music, , , , , , . eighth symphony, , , , , , dance element in, . eisfeld, theo, . elector of cologne, , , , , his orchestra, , , , . eliot, george, . elysian fields, . emerson, , , , , . england, , , . erdödy, countess, , . erlkönig, beethoven's setting of, . eroica symphony (see third symphony). ertmann, baroness, , , , . esterhazy, prince, - , princess marie, , the princes, . eucharist, . euryanthe, , . eustachian tubes, office of, . fate, struggle with, , relentless, , propitiated, , and destiny, . fates, the, , . fatherland, poets of, . faust, , , , , . fichte (quoted), . fidelio, , , , , libretto of, - , first production of, , , revision of, , , , , , , , , dedication of piano score, , its spanish background, . fielding and humor, . fifth symphony (c minor), , , , , , . first symphony, , , . fischer, . förster, teacher of beethoven, . fourth symphony, - , serenity of, , philosophic import of, . france, , , . france, king of (louis xviii), , , . freemasonry, among musicians, . freischütz, . french revolution, , , , . friends of music, society of, . friendship, . frimmel von, , . fugue, the, , , , of the c# minor quartet, , credo of mass in d, . fuller, margaret (footnote), . gayety, . galaxy of virtuosi, . galitzin, prince, and last quartets, - , and mass in d, . genius, prerogative of, . germanic order, . germans, the, . gewandhaus concerts, . glacis, the, , . glück, . goethe, , , , , , , , , , , , , , worldly wisdom of, , as courtier, , councillor, , spiritual mentor, . gothic architecture, . greece, . greek classics, - . grillparzer, . hafiz (quoted), . hanau, battle of, . händel, , , , , , beethoven's opinion of, , oratorios of, , , works of, . händel and haydn society of boston, . happiness, and beethoven, . hatzfeld, prince von, . hawthorne, nathaniel, . haydn, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , important work of, , distinguishing trait, , kyrie of imperial mass, , and the minuet, , humor in music, , , sonatas, , teacher of beethoven, - , visits bonn, . haydn and mozart, , . haydn and beethoven, life-work of, . heiligenstadt, . herder, , quoted, , . higher law, the, . hiller, ferdinand, . hirsch, beethoven's last pupil, . holy grail, . holz, , , , , , . homer, . host, the, elevation of, , consecration of, . humanity, , at bay, , golden age for, . humor, in music, evolution of, , a test of genius, . hümmel, , , , , , , . hüttenbrenner, , , , . imperial family (of austria), , , , , , , . impedimenta, . improvising, , , bach, excelled in it, , chopin, last to exercise it in public, , beethoven, genius in, - , by karl, . instrumental music, , . intellect of mankind, . intuition, . italian vocalism, . jeitteles, . jesus, teaching of, . johnson, dr., . joy, language of, . joyousness (quoted), . judiciary, the, of austria, . kalischer, , . kantian philosophy, . karlskirche, . kenilworth, . keyboard, of piano, . kiel university, . kinsky, prince, , , , death of, , . klober, . klopstock, . kren, michael, . kreutzer, r., , sonata, , . krumpholz, , death of, - . leipzig, , battle of, , . leonore overtures, , , the third, , , . lessing, . letter to a young girl, , holz, appointing him his biographer, , breuning, stephen von, , czapka, a magistrate, , rampel, his copyist, , lichnowsky, prince, , messrs. schott, , zmeskall, - . lichnowsky, prince von, , , , , , , , , settles annuity on beethoven, , beethoven visits him, in silesia, , quarrels with him, , death of, . lichnowsky, princess von, , , as peacemaker, , . lichnowsky, count moritz von, , , , , . life, a precious gift, . life's problem, , . life's tragedy, . liszt, , , , , , , , advent of, in concert, , pupil of czerny, . liszt's father, . lobkowitz, prince von, , , , , , bankruptcy of, , death of, . loder, george, . lohengrin, prelude, , , . london, . louis, ferdinand of prussia, . love, , magic power of, . lützen, battle of, . man of genius, elation of, . mantua, mozart at, . maria louisa, of spain, . marie antoinette, . marengo, battle of, . marlowe, christopher, . mass, the, a great art-form, , stateliness of, , canon of, , sanctus of, , benedictus of, . mass in c, beethoven's, et seq., , german version of, . mass in d, beethoven's (or grand mass), , , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , agnus dei, , , apotheosis of friendship, , benedictus, trombones in, , credo, , , , soli of, , celestial harmonies in, , congenial work to beethoven, , and the copyist, , beethoven's absorption in, , , christe eleison, , et incarnatus of, , interpretation by the orchestra, , lydian and dorian modes in, , marvels of, , mysticism of, , a symphony to wagner's view, , subscription price of, , sale of score, , proceeds from, , first production by prince galitzin, , preludium in, , , kyrie of, , , , , , , , , , splendor of conception of, , its symphonic style, , german direction in, , loss of manuscript of, , its rhythm, . melusina, . mendelssohn, , . messiah, the, . metaphysical, . metronome, inventor of, . metternich, prince, . meyerbeer, , . minorites, church of, , . minuet, the, . mödling, . monasteries, old chorales of, . "moonlight" sonata, - . moscheles, , , and piano arrangement of fidelio, . mount of olives, . mozart, , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , early death of, , genius of, , his precocity, , praised by beethoven, , requiem, , , sonatas, , , his widow, , his operas at bonn, . mozart's mass in bb, , , agnus dei of, , et incarnatus of, , kyrie of, . mozart and haydn, , , , , , , . music, its function, , outward expression of, , dramas, great, , a language, , , religious, , origin in the dance, . musician, the, social obligations of, . mystery in life, , . mysticism, and the artistic nature, . napoleon, , , , , , , arch-enemy of austria, , campaign against austria, , , escapes from elba, , declared emperor, , greatest military achievement, , in the toils, , marriage to archduchess maria louisa, , marriage to josephine, , overruns germany, , takes vienna, . national opera at bonn, . neate, charles, . neefe, beethoven's teacher, , , . new testament, . nietzsche, friederich, , . ninth symphony (choral), , , , , , , , , , choral finale, , an outburst of joy at deliverance, , first movement of, , first performance in this country, , psychological problems in, , sontag, and soprano part of, , trombones in, , variations in, . nohl, . north america, , . ode to joy, revolutionary spirit of, . odeschalchi, princess, . opera, the, an alien soil to beethoven, , as a work of art, , a combination of arts, . operatic composition, . orchestra, range and mobility of, , more important than voices, , its resources increased through beethoven, . orchestral forms, development of, . ossian-like dæmonism, . ossian songs (schubert), . pain of existence, . palestrina, , masses of, . paris conservatoire, . parsifal, (footnote), , , mysticism of, prelude to, . passion music, , . pastoral sonata, . pastoral symphony (see sixth symphony). patriotism and altruism, . paur, emil, . pedal-point, . pennsylvania, founding of, libretto, . persian literature, . pessimism, . pinnacle of greatness, . pity, and the divine in man, . plagal mode, . plato, , republic, . playing from manuscript, . philharmonic society of new york, . philharmonic society of london , . philip iii, of spain, daughter of, . prague, , . problem of life, , . prometheus, ballet, , , . prussia, king of, . psychological element, the, . quartet, the, , , , last quartets, , , , - , , , mysticism of, , , psychological qualities of, , , spirituality of, , variations in, , written in great mental trouble, . quartet, in a minor, , in c# minor, , , , its dedication, , in bb, cavatina of, , new finale of, , see chamber-music, also rasoumowsky quartets. rasoumowsky, count, , , , , , entertains empress of russia, . rasoumowsky quartets, - , , adagio of the second, . religion and general-bass, . religious sentiment, the, . renunciation, . requiem mass, , , , . ries, ferdinand, , , , , , , , pupil of beethoven, , prolific composer, , efforts for beethoven while in london, - . ries, franz, , , . rochlitz, , , . romberg, , . rossini, , , , calls on beethoven, . ruins of athens, . russia, emperor of, , , , , empress of, , . saint-saens, . saint-simon, and the strenuous life, . salieri, . satanas in the kitchen, . saxony, king of, , . second period, works of, , characterized by gayety, . second symphony, , , , larghetto of, . seebald, amalie, , , facsimile of letter to her, opp. page . sehnsucht (goethe's), . seidl, anton, . sensenman, the, . seventh symphony, , , , dance element in, , first performance of, , coda of vivace of, , hungarian peasant dance in, , weber's strictures on, . scherzo, , , , , peculiar to beethoven, , developed by beethoven, , makes sport of humanity in, - . schiller, , , , , . schindler, , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , , , , beethoven's biographer, . schroeder-devrient, , . schopenhauer, , , , , , , and humor, . schubert, , , , , , , reverence of, for beethoven, , calls on beethoven, , songs of, . schuman, , . schuppanzich, , , . schott, music publishers, , . scott, walter, , kenilworth, . seyfried, , , , . shakespeare, , , , , , , , comedies of, , the tempest, , a universal man, , wagner's archetype in youth, . siegfried, . sight playing, from ms., , . sixth symphony (pastoral), , , - , , , dance tunes in, , dramatization of, , nature-poem, a, , , storm in, , . socrates, . solitary, beethoven, the (quoted), . sonata in ab, , fantasia, language of resignation, , kreutzer, , "moonlight," , opus , , pathetique, , pastorale, , waldstein, , , , opus, , . sonata, the (form), . sonatas, , , , last (opus , , ), , lofty imaginings of, , wondrous second movement of op. , , f minor and d minor, . sonnleithner, , . sontag, , . spohr, . stadler, abbe, , . st. just, . st. stephen's, vienna, . streicher, madame, , . stumpf, , , . stutterheim, field-marshal von, , , . suite, the, earliest orchestral form, . süsmayer, . swieten, baron von, , . tacitus, , . tact, woman's, . tenth symphony (proposed), , , adagio of, , allegro of, a bacchic festival, , religious in character, . tetralogy, variations in, . thackeray, . thayer, a.w., , . third leonore overture, , . third mass (proposed), kyrie of, third period, mysticism of, . third symphony (eroica), , et seq., , , , , , , composed in spirit of altruism, , first dedicated to napoleon, - , last movement of, , unique as a symphony, . thomas, theodore, . thoreau, , , , , , , . thun, countess, . tolstoy, . tone-figure, . tone-pictures, . transposing, . treitschke, . trombones, , for solemnity, . turin, . unger, fräulein, . unrest, . vander stucken, . variation form, , in the diabelli waltzes, , in beethoven's symphonies, , in beethoven's sonatas, . vienna, bombarded by french, , conservatory of, , italian element in, , population in beethoven's time, , musical atmosphere of, , , , society, attitude toward beethoven, , its student element, . viennese, virtuosity of, - , aristocracy, . vittoria, battle of, , . voltaire, . wagner, , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , art-product of, , biographical sketch of beethoven, his, , c# minor quartet, , criticisms on music, his, , disciple of beethoven, , , early recognition of, in this country, , evening of life, , flying dutchman, , industry of, , is influenced by beethoven, , , literary achievement, his, , life's problem, solution of, , life-work of, , mystic, a, , napoleonic ambition, , ninth symphony, , , originality of, , poetic temperament, , , romanticism, his, , , seventh symphony, and the, , tribute to beethoven, , tribute to shakespeare, , unerring poetic sense, , variation form, and the, , . wagner and beethoven, affinity between, , pioneers, , their spiritual relationship, , world-weary, . wagner-liszt correspondence, . waldstein, count, , , , , . waterloo, battle of, , . weber, , , . wegeler, dr., , . weihe des hauses, , . weimar, . wellington, duke of, , . weltschmertz, , . westphalia, king of, . wolfmayer, . world's stage, . world, torment of, , and beethoven's influence on it, , ideal of, , in transition, . zauberflöte, , , . zehrgarten, at bonn, . zeitgeist, the, . zelter, , . zmeskall, , , . zukunftsmusik, . [illustration: cover art] -------------------------------------------------------------------- [frontispiece: _painting by n. m. price_.] "joy, thou heavenly spark of godhead!" -------------------------------------------------------------------- a day with ludwig von beethoven by may byron hodder & stoughton _in the same series. schubert. mendelssohn._ a day with beethoven at daybreak, on a summer morning, in the year , a short, thick-set, sturdily-built man entered his sitting-room, and at once set to work to compose music. not that he disturbed the slumbers of the other inhabitants by untimely noises upon the pianoforte: a course which, at three in the morning, might be resented by even the most enthusiastic admirer of his genius. no: he sat down at his table, with plenty of music paper, and addressed himself to his usual avocation of writing assiduously till noon or thereabouts. the untidy, uncomfortable condition of his room did not distress ludwig van beethoven in the least. true, it was scattered all over with books and music; here the remains of last night's food, there an empty wine bottle; on the piano, the hasty sketch of some immortal work; on the floor, uncorrected proofs, business letters, orchestral scores, and mss. in a chaotic pile. but he thoroughly enjoyed casting a glance, from time to time, at the sunny scene without; at the vista towards the belvedere garden, the danube, and the distant carpathians,--the view for the sake of which he had taken up his lodgings at this house in the sailer-stätte, vienna. for if there was one thing which still could afford a unique and cloudless pleasure to this sensitive, unhappy man, it was nature in all her varied forms of light and loveliness. nature, that "never did betray the heart that loved her," still held out open arms of help and solace for the healing of his afflicted soul. beethoven, in his various migrations from lodging to lodging--and they were very numerous, and inspired by the most trivial causes--always endeavoured to select an airy, sunshiny spot, where he could at least feel the country air blowing to him, and so keep in touch with his beloved green fields. if the supply of sunshine proved insufficient, that was quite a valid reason for another removal. but his restless, sensitive mind was apt to magnify molehills into mountains, and the most trifling inconvenience into a serious obstacle to work. work was his starting point, his course, his goal; work was his whole _raison-d'-être_, the very meaning and object of his existence. it has been observed that if we would represent to ourselves a day in the life of beethoven, one of the master's own wonderful compositions would serve as the best counterpart. wagner instances the great quartet in c sharp minor as a notable instance of this allegoric music,--designating the rather long introductory _adagio_, "than which, probably, nothing more melancholy has ever been expressed in tones, as the awaking of a day 'which through its tardy course no single longing shall fulfil--not one!' and yet the _adagio_ is in itself a prayer, a period of conference with god, in faith, in eternal goodness." and it was in a state of mind which one may term unconsciously devotional, that the great composer now ascended into regions where few could follow him,--where, his senses deaf and blind to earthly sights and sounds, he could hold intercourse with a pure and celestial art. for music contains, within its inexhaustible treasuries, not only all that we conceive of best, all those highest and most ennobling emotions which thrill us as at a touch of the divine finger, but it also possesses all the characteristic beauties of other arts. the composer shares form and colour with the painter--a much more elastic variety of form--and an incomparably wider use of colour, in the magnificent paintbox of the orchestra. the composer's art, moreover, is not stationary at one fixed point--one moment, so to speak, seized and immortalised upon canvas: but has the fluidity and onward movement of actual life, passing with bewildering rapidity of transition from one phase of thought to another, even as life does. and the composer, while he shares with the great prose writer and the poet the power of expressing things marvellously well,--of uttering in beautifully poised and balanced rhythm the whole gamut of human emotion,--yet has a greater power than theirs. for he can put into a single phrase, with an exquisite intimacy of intuition, a meaning which could hardly be denoted in a hundred words: he can condense into a couple of bars the essence of a whole chapter. the outward appearance was far from beautiful, which belied the really lofty heart of the great composer as he sat indefatigably at work. his thick, dark, upstanding hair, already turning grey, crowned a pitted, swarthy face; his looks were rugged, gloomy, forbidding; his chin bore evidence of the most superficial shaving; his hands were covered with thick black hair; his small, deeply set, fiery eyes alone redeemed him from ugliness. for the rest, he had cotton wool in his ears, and his rough, shabby, hairy clothes gave him a crusoesque look, almost comic in its incongruity with his occupation. the housekeeper brought in his breakfast: he paid no attention to her. he had punctiliously counted out sixty coffee-beans overnight, and handed them to her in readiness for the morning; but now, after he had dipped his pen in the coffee-cup instead of the ink some three or four times, he pushed away the discoloured mixture, and absently nibbled his crusty roll. he was composing a _polonaise_, to be dedicated to the empress of russia, for which he was to receive fifty ducats. this seemed an absurdly small remuneration, but although beethoven was "really forced" (to quote richard wagner) "to support himself from the proceeds of his musical labours," yet, as life had no allurements for him in the ordinary sense, he had less necessity laid on him to make much money; and "the more confident he became in the employment of his inner wealth, so much the more confidently did he make his demands outward; and he actually required from his benefactors, that they should no longer pay him for his compositions, but so provide for him that he might work altogether for himself, unconcerned as to the rest of the world. and it really happened--a thing unprecedented in the lives of musicians--that a few benevolent men of rank pledged themselves to keep beethoven independent in the sense demanded." so it was not with any misgivings that he set aside the score of the _polonaise_, still unfinished, and turned to something which he justly regarded as holding promise of his best vocal work; that which is still, perhaps, the greatest love-song in the world--the unequalled _adélaide_. its words, though above the average of the german lyrist of that period, served merely as a peg upon which to hang the music. "lonely strays thy friend in april's garden, lovely fairy lights around are gleaming through the tremulous boughs of rosy blossom, adélaide! in the stream, and on the snowy mountain, in the dying day all gold-beclouded, in the starry fields, thy likeness lingers, adélaide! evening breezes through the leaves are lisping, silver may-bells in the grasses chiming, waves are rustling, nightingales are fluting-- adélaide! soon, o wonder! on my grave a floweret, from the ashes of my heart upspringing, shall reveal, on every purple petal-- adélaide!" (_matthisson_.) beethoven had qualified himself for vocal writing to a degree which is rarely attempted by the instrumental composer. although his father and grandfather had been vocalists, his own early studies had been in other branches of music; he knew little of the capabilities of the voice. so he took singing lessons from the italian composer salieri; and notwithstanding that his own voice was shrill and harsh, increasingly so as his deafness grew upon him, he was thus enabled to pour forth liquid and melodious phrases, such as those of _adélaide_, which seem so absolutely adapted to the requirements of a singer that they could, so to speak, sing themselves. "_adélaide_," he said, "came entirely from my heart;" and therefore its pure ardour goes straight to the heart of the hearer. but he was not contented with his work, upon which he had already spent much time and thought. a frown gathered heavily upon his overhanging brows, as, humming the air and playing an imaginary accompaniment on the desk, he went over it again and again in the endeavour to "gild refined gold." "the more one achieves in art," he grumbled, "the less contented is one with former works." and this, indeed, was characteristic of ludwig van beethoven: never to be satisfied with what he had accomplished, but to go on continually, as it were, from strength to strength. that "divine discontent which is at the root of all improvement," perpetually impelled him towards higher things, and made him at once haughtily conscious of his own powers, and yet the most modest and laborious of men. in _adélaide_, however, lay hidden more than the fluent outcome of his creative instinct. it remains the lovesong for all time--the last word of a noble and ennobling passion. here--to pursue the simile of the c sharp minor quartet--a dream-image of the _allegro_ awakened in charming reminiscence and played sweetly and sorrowfully with itself. for this rough, rugged, eccentric, bad-tempered musician was capable of reaching the austerest heights of love--those heights where renunciation sits eternally enthroned. love and beethoven seem a singularly anomalous pair: yet from his youth onward love was the very mainspring of his unsullied life. it began, rooted in filial affection for his mother, of whom he wrote those touching words, "she was such a good, loving mother to me, and my best friend. oh, no one could be more fortunate than i, when i was able to speak that sweet name 'mother', and it was heard--and to whom shall i ever say it now?"--and it continued as a vague but fervent longing for some sweet unknown--some "not impossible she." "love, and love alone, is capable of bringing lasting happiness .... o god, let me find her--_her_--who will strengthen me in virtue and lawfully be mine." so he sighed: but his hopes remained unfulfilled. "his intense longing for a home and for female companionship was never satisfied," and the extraordinary number of attachments by which his career was punctuated, and which were generally for women of superior rank to his own, were every one of them destined to be transitory and destitute of result. magdalena willmann, giulietta guicciardi, bettine brentano, thérèse von brunswick, amalie sebald, and many another charming phantom, passed, fugitively brilliant, across his horizon: and the domestic happiness for which beethoven never ceased to crave, was never within measurable distance of his grasp. but now he resolutely put away _adélaide_ and its attendant wistful thoughts, and addressed himself to more severely intellectual work: the great b flat sonata (op. ) which, like all his latter work, is orchestral in feeling and treatment. -------------------------------------------------------------------- [illustration: _painting by a. c. michael_.] "the scherzo of the 'moonlight' sonata, wherein a troop of glimmering fairy forms come dancing through the midnight forest." -------------------------------------------------------------------- beethoven was primarily and permanently a composer of sonatas; for "the great majority and most excellent of his instrumental compositions, the fundamental form of the sonata was the veil-like tissue through which he gazed into the realm of tones, or, also, through which, emerging from that realm, he made himself intelligible to us--while other forms, the mixed ones of vocal music especially, were, after all, only transitorily touched upon by him, as if by way of experiment." (wagner.) and one has only to reflect upon the magical and matchless beauty of his best-known work in sonata form, to be surrounded at once by a multitude of gorgeous memories. the opening movement of the "pathétique," transfused with gloomy majesty; the _scherzo_ of the "moonlight" sonata, wherein a troop of glimmering fairy forms come dancing through the midnight forest: the magnificent verve and vigour of the "waldstein:" and that unapproachable _andante_ of the "appassionata," which some have declared they would wish to hear in dying, that the solemn glory of its pensive chords might companion them into the rest of god .... these, and innumerable other instances, each dear to the individual heart, identify beethoven as the true lord of the sonata. the reader will doubtless feel some wonder that all this while the master was composing so rigorously at his desk, leaving the pianoforte untouched. but there were three very adequate reasons for this mode of action. first--that he was in the habit of writing everything, as he composed it, in notebooks; mostly out of doors in solitary rambles away from any instrument, where he would "hum to himself, and beat the air with an accompaniment of extraordinary vocal sounds." secondly--that, being a consummate master of the science of music, and the best pianist, perhaps, of his day, he had no occasion to put to proof in actual performance, as the amateur does, the constructions of his fertile brain. thirdly--and chiefly, and sorrowful to relate--when he had just been composing, his deafness for a while would deepen into stone-deafness: and "because of the inner world of harmony at work within his brain," said bettine brentano, "the external world seemed all confusion to him." beethoven's greatest works, as years went on, were "conceived, produced and given complete to the world ... when not one of those wondrous succession of of phrases could by any possibility reach his ears:" when, in a "splendid isolation" beyond the average power to understand, he and music dwelt alone in an inner shrine together. "never has an earthly art created anything so serene as the symphonies in a, and f major, and all those works of the master which date from the period of his complete deafness." it is therefore open to doubt whether an affliction, which in an ordinary man would command our pity, was so much to be deprecated in the case of ludwig van beethoven as at first thoughts one might imagine. he was full of self-commiseration on its account: yet assuredly the compensations which were awarded him were such as never before fell to mortal man. by the entire exclusion of external sounds, and the entire concentration of his mind upon his work, which resulted, he was enabled to enter those unexplored altitudes whither none has followed, as none had preceded him. "he elevated music (which had been degraded, as regards its proper nature, to the rank of a merely diverting art), to the height of its sublime calling." and it must be remembered that his works were very much more remarkable, as offsprings of the early nineteenth century; than they now appear to us who are familiar with them,--to us, who are heirs of the progress of composition. for music is the youngest of all the arts,--as compared to all others, a mere babe in arms, whose potentialities and possibilities are still but in the bud. and that beethoven should stand where he does, on a pinnacle that none may deny, is one more proof of that isolation of genius which makes him twin with shakespeare. these columnar intellects rise like obelisks in the midst of the ages: not to be accounted for by any rule of circumstance, or education, or heredity: and "what beethoven's melodies produce, shakespeare's spirit-shapes also project." so absorbed was the master in the elaboration and evolution of his "tone-poem," that he did not see, much less hear, the timid entrance of a very shy young man. it was one charles neate, an english pianist, who had come, armed with a letter of introduction, to beseech the great beethoven to receive him as a pupil for the piano. the great beethoven was for a moment inclined to be exceedingly bearish and inhospitable. to come on a morning when he was busy--to interrupt a man in the full flow of composition--these were unpardonable crimes! but soon his native kindliness prevailed--above all, when he discovered that his visitor was of "the noble english nation." for he held england and the english to be of an incomparable excellence: and his darling wish was to visit that favoured land, and to win a hearing there, and if possible secure an offer from some london publishing firm. he, therefore, accepted the young man with unwonted graciousness and alacrity: looked through his compositions and gave him sound advice: and finally, thrusting away his own mss., proposed that they two should take a little walk, to get a breath of fresh air before further operations. they passed out into the sunlit fields. never in all his life had neate met a man so wholly taken up with nature, so enwrapt with the contemplation of trees, flowers, cloud, and sward. "nature seemed his nourishment," neate said afterwards. "he seemed to live upon and by her." the parable of the _presto_ of the c sharp minor quartet, here was openly fulfilled,--the master, rendered, from within, completely happy, cast a glance of indescribable serenity upon the outer world. there it once more stands before him as in the pastoral symphony: everything is rendered luminous to him by his inner happiness. they seated themselves upon a grassy bank, and beethoven discoursed freely of the things dearest to his heart: his keen desire to visit england, and his fear lest his deafness might prove a hopeless obstacle to this. neate, speaking to him in slow german, close to his left ear, managed to make himself intelligible; while the master expressed his unbounded admiration for everything english, especially shakespeare, who was his favourite poet. -------------------------------------------------------------------- [illustration: _painting by a. c. michael_.] "the outer world ... once more stands before him as in the pastoral symphony: everything is rendered luminous to him by his inner happiness." -------------------------------------------------------------------- beethoven was, indeed, as has been observed, "precisely like shakespeare in his bearing towards the formal laws of his art, and in his emancipation from and penetration of them." he stood, as has previously been shown, nearer in point of genius to shakespeare than to any other man: and verified the truth of schumann's dictum that "all arts are reducible to one," and are guided by the same fundamental rules. after a brief but exhilarating ramble in the open air, beethoven proposed that neate should return to dinner with him, and after that should--perhaps--receive his first lesson. the young man was overwhelmed at such unexpected kindness and _camaraderie_ as he was receiving from the master, and gratefully accompanied him back to the city. before going to the sailer-stätte, however, beethoven turned into steiner's, the music publisher's, which he was in the habit of frequenting about noon-day; where there was "nearly always a little crowd of composers, and a brisk interchange of musical opinion." (hättenbrenner). beethoven was to-day in a genial and expansive frame of mind. possibly the advent of a young englishman had struck him as a good omen for the fulfilment of his cherished hopes towards english fame. he held forth at considerable length, upon all manner of subjects, from music to philosophy. "his criticisms were ingenuous, original, full of curious ideas" and boundless imagination. finally, at the reiterated request of those he most favoured among the younger men, he reluctantly consented to play--to exemplify, as they cunningly put it, the opinions which he had been urging, and the laws he had been laying down. now, listeners on either side of a door--in or out--were, as it has been said, beethoven's chief aversion. pianoforte virtuoso as he was, fine performer on the organ, violin, and viola--anything that savoured of professional display was nauseous to him. "music the art was for him the breath of life: music the profession, as generally understood," he relegated to the depths of distaste. he sat down with a shrug of his square shoulders, and, crooking his fingers to such a degree that his hands almost hid them, continued for a moment his tirade against the prevalent methods of playing. "how did the old composers who were pianists, play?" he asked of his audience. "they did not run up and down the keyboard with their carefully-practised passages--_putsch, putsch, putsch_!"--and he worked the runs in a caricatured passage on the pianoforte. "when true virtuosi played, it was comprehensive, complete.... good, thorough work one could look into and examine.... but i pronounce judgment on no one," he added hastily, and forthwith burst into the full splendour of the _waldstein_ sonata. his passion, his prodigious strength, amazed the viennese, accustomed as they were to hear him, no less than the young englishman, to whom he appeared a very prodigy of execution, as his broad, hairy, spatulate fingers, so unlike those of the typical pianist, flung themselves hither and thither upon the keys. he produced tones and effects which were hitherto undreamed of in the philosophy of the pianists of that period; and it was evident that this was no mere display of virtuosity, but that beethoven had lost consciousness of all around him, and was simply giving vent to his own inspiration, as one possessed might do. and among the impressionable hearers, moved beyond self-control, soon not a dry eye was to be seen. many broke into sobs; but when they would have crowded round the master, with the ultimate chord, to express in vehement gestures their boundless admiration, he rose with an almost shamefaced air, as though he had debased himself by this semi-poetic performance, and shuffled away, beckoning neate to follow him. the two dined alone in beethoven's apartment in the sailer-stätte, at his wonted time of two o'clock. the composer was not superior to creature comforts, and was very particular to have certain dishes on certain days. on thursdays he invariably indulged in his favourite bread-soup, made with ten eggs. on fridays he had a large haddock, with potatoes. a little hungarian wine, or a glass of beer, sufficed him; but his favourite beverage was plenty of cold water. water, in fact, was a necessity to him, and he rejoiced ecstatically in bathing, washing, splashing about in water; in pouring it recklessly over his hands and arms; water, internally or externally, may be said to have been his chief necessity of life. upon this especial occasion, the table--still littered with mss.--was graced by beethoven's favourite dish of macaroni and cheese, and a small dish of fish. somewhat spartan fare this for an englishman; but charles neate was much too excited to care what he was eating. beethoven never composed in the afternoon, and very seldom in the evening. he had hardly sat still after dinner, smoking his long clay pipe, when--"let us go out into the country," said he, suddenly springing up. neate's possible piano lesson had vanished from his mind. he stuffed one or two extra note-books into his capacious pockets, and they started off--this time in a different direction. this habit of suddenly rushing out into the open air he practised at all seasons, as the fancy took him: cold or heat, rain or sunshine, made no difference to him whatever. he had found that only among the silent solitudes of the hills and valleys could he fully release that throng of insurgent ideas which for ever clamoured in his brain for an outlet. melodies, subjects, suggestions for their development and execution, flocked continuously through his mind; and to set them down in feverish haste--to imprison their "first fine careless rapture" in his note-book, for subsequent improvement and enlargement, was the occupation of all these country walks. but, consciously or unconsciously, his restless mind was soothed, and his sensitive nerves strengthened by the tranquil influences of the winds and skies. beethoven pursued his usual course on the present occasion, pulling out his note-book every few minutes, his lips moving rapidly, his eyes riveted on some mysterious distance. but he made an obvious effort at entertaining his young companion; and presently, neate, encouraged by an unwonted stretch of conversation, or rather monologue, ventured to remark upon the master's great power in creating tone-pictures, and of the landscape-drawing, so to speak, of the pastoral symphony, wherein the green fields of paradise seem to expand before earth's weary eyes, and there is "shed on spirits that had long been dead, spirits dried up and closely furled, the freshness of the early world." -------------------------------------------------------------------- [illustration: _painting by a. c. michael_.] "know'st thou the house, its roof on columns white? .... o there, o there, might i with thee, beloved, go!" -------------------------------------------------------------------- beethoven testified that, when composing, he always had a vision of natural beauty before his eyes, and that it enabled him to work. he had never been out of his native land: the lovely austrian villages which he frequented, hetzendorf, dobling, or heiligenstadt, sufficed him for beauty and for healthiness. but now and then, he allowed, he had a momentary longing for other scenes: the ice-blue mysteries of the alps, or the warm and fragrant air of italy. and he quoted--singing in a harsh, crude voice--those words of goethe's which he had linked with such enchanting music,--the words of mignon, yearning towards the homeland of her heart. "know'st thou the land, where sweet the citron blows, where deep in shade the golden orange glows? a tender breeze from bluest heav'n doth stray o'er myrtle bough and lofty laurel spray. know'st thou it well? that land dost know? o there, o there, might i with thee, beloved, go! know'st thou the house, its roof on columns white? fair gleams the hall, the hearth is glimmering bright; and marble statues ask, with glances mild, 'what have they done to thee? o say, poor child!' know'st thou it well? that house dost know? o there, o there, might i with thee, beloved, go! know'st thou the crag, and all its cloudy grey, where scarce the muleteer may grope the way? in caverns lurk the dragon's ancient brood, sheer falls the rock, and over it the flood. know'st thou it well? the way we know-- o there, o there, my father, let us go!" göethe--_wilhelm meister_. the composer at last turned homeward once more, and on arrival at his rooms, without a word of preparation, took young neate by the shoulders and placed him upon the three-legged chair before the pianoforte. the chair promptly broke; but, nothing disconcerted, the master replaced it with another almost equally crippled, and bade the young man play. it may be imagined with what diffidence, what nervousness, and what sinking of heart, the englishman essayed the _sonata pathétique_. he paused, breathless, at the conclusion, and awaited the verdict with anxiety. "my son," said beethoven, clapping him on the shoulder, "you will have to play a very long time before you discover that you know nothing. but cheer up! for the young there are infinities of hope." and he proceeded, with inconceivably kind care and patience, to give the youth such teaching as he had never imagined possible. that 'bitter, sarcastic' tongue of which folk complained, that irritable temper which often alarmed the master's young lady pupils--were now conspicuously absent. for he had a peculiar sympathy with young people at the outset of their career; and no trouble was too great for him to take on their behalf. when at length, with cordial words of encouragement, he dismissed the englishman, beethoven for a moment was tempted to look back upon his own early days; when, always working very hard, either as a performer or a teacher, surrounded by unloving relations and uncongenial circumstances, he struggled upward, ever upward, impelled by some irresistible wind of destiny. then he dwelt, involuntarily, upon the gathering clouds of his manhood--the secret dread of his encroaching deafness--the hidden sorrows of unrequited love. "such things," he thought, "have often brought me to the border of despair, and i have come very near to putting an end to my own life.... yet it seemed impossible to quit this world for ever before i had done all that i felt i was destined to accomplish ... and how much of that is still before me! ah! hard struggle to accomplish all which remains to be done, from the daily drudgery of necessity-work to the farthest journey, the highest flight! ... all this must be hewn out of thyself ... for thyself there is no further happiness than that which thou findest in thyself--thy art!" (_beethoven's diary_). but now, with the coming of the evening hours, the composer might relax the tension of his thoughts, and find pleasure, so far as his infirmity allowed, in the society of his friends, and in talking over the newspapers. he was a well-read man, and took an eager interest in all the passing events of the day; moreover, when not in his 'serious working humour', he was a humorous, cheerful companion, full of fun and not averse from practical joking; a very different man from that 'savage personality, at loggerheads with mankind,' which he had appeared to the unsympathetic goethe. for 'friends,' however, we had better substitute 'acquaintances'; because beethoven declared: "i have only found two friends in the world with whom i have never had a misunderstanding. one is dead; the other still lives. although we have heard nothing of each other for six years, i know that i still hold the place in his affections that he holds in mine." a decided irascibility and uncertainty of temper, common to all deaf people, was apt to create rifts and coolnesses between beethoven and those with whom he might be closely intimate. his whole warmth and abundance of affection was squandered upon his nephew carl, the worthless son of a worthless father; an affection by no means reciprocated, which was fated only to cause fresh pangs to his much-enduring heart. but, be that as it may, the viennese were proud of their beethoven--proud to be numbered among his associates. they bore him a species of personal attachment. he was part and parcel of themselves; though he moved in their midst, doubly remote from them, alike by his affliction and by his open distaste for 'the dissipations of a great and voluptuous city.' he would sit apart at a table, brooding over a long pipe and a glass of lager, his eyes half-closed; but if anyone spoke to him, or rather attempted to do so, he would always reply with ready courtesy and kindness. for, as he had written from the very depths of his heart:-- "o ye who think or say that i am rancorous, obstinate or misanthropical, what an injustice you do me! you little know the hidden cause of my appearing so. from childhood my heart and mind have been devoted to benevolent feelings, and to the thoughts of great deeds to be achieved in the future.... born with an ardent, lively temperament, fond of social pleasures, i was early compelled to withdraw myself, and live a life of isolation from all men. at times, when i made an effort to overcome the difficulty, oh, how cruelly was i frustrated by the doubly painful experience of my defective hearing! ... forgive me, then, if you see me turn away when i would gladly mix with you. doubly painful is my misfortune, seeing that it is the cause of my being misunderstood. for me there can be no recreation in human intercourse, no conversation, no exchange of thoughts with my fellow-men. in solitary exile i am compelled to live." sometimes, however, his naturally vivacious spirits prevailed, and he became witty, satirical, 'a fellow of infinite jest.' anything in the way of bad music was apt to send him into shouts of laughter; but "of handel, bach and mozart he always spoke with the greatest reverence, and, although he would not allow his own great works to be depreciated, he himself made fun of his lesser productions. if greatly roused, he would let loose a perfect flood of hard-hitting witticisms, droll paradoxes and ideas." (_rochlitz._) still, albeit generous to a fault, and ready to give away his last thaler even to an enemy, his dislikes were so violent that he would actually take to his heels at the sight of some special object of aversion. with particularly favoured friends, in the privacy of their own homes, beethoven was less reticent than usual. he would discuss with them his two great regrets--that he had never visited england and had never married; which were his favourite topics of conversation. it is true that at forty-five--his present age--these regrets might still have time to be obliterated. but he felt himself the very simeon stylites of music, set apart to suffer in ascetic endurance upon a pillar of aloofness and despair. and it was in this melancholy frame of mind--a reaction from the transient mirth of the evening--that the master buttoned his old grey coat about him and trudged gloomily homeward as the evening star first lighted itself. "o god, thou lookest downward on my inward soul!" he murmured, "thou knowest, thou seest that love for my fellow-men, and all kindly feelings have their abode there! ... but i have no real friends; i must live alone. but i know that god is nearer to me than to many others in my art, and i commune with him fearlessly." drawing a scrap of paper towards him, he scrawled a few heartfelt words upon it by the last rays of twilight:-- "i must praise thy goodness that thou hast left nothing undone to draw me to thyself. it pleased thee, early, to make me feel the heavy hand of thy wrath, and by many chastisements to bring my proud heart low. sickness and other misfortunes hast thou caused to hang over me, to bring my straying from thee to my remembrance.... but one thing i ask of thee, my god--not to cease thy work in my improvement ... let me tend towards thee, no matter by what means--and be fruitful in good works...." and ludwig van beethoven had a means of "communing fearlessly" with his creator, which, for him, was perhaps, as direct a road as prayer, if _laborare est orare_. for music, "although in its glorious fulness and power at that time unknown, was associated intimately by the early christian writers with christianity--with immortality." as wagner has declared, music is of the "essential nature of things, and its kingdom is not of this world... its spirit, like that of christianity, is love." and by this medium, and in this divine language, the man whose outward senses were being darkened, now held, in the rapture of the "inward light," his intercourse with celestial things. baulked and baffled by circumstances--dragged at the chariot-wheels of relentless fate--shut up and shut off from all sweet human amenities, the tone-artist sat down at his piano, and "after preluding softly with one hand ... poured out his soul in a very flood of harmony." at first the strains were mournful, sombre, disconnected, his own sad thoughts bearing a perpetual burden to him. "o providence," so he prayed, "let one more day of pure joy be vouchsafed to me! the echo of true happiness has so long been a stranger to my heart! when, when, o god! shall i again be able to feel it in the temple of nature and of man? never? no! o, that were too hard!" but presently he became buried in a deeper abstraction; a sphinx-like calm settled on, and smoothed out, his harsh, rough features. with the ease and firmness of a brilliant executant--with the intense feeling of an inspired artist, he continued to improvise the most glorious music which had issued that day from either his brain or his fingers. it was, like the _allegro finale_ of the c sharp minor quartet, "the dance of the world itself: wild delight, the lamentation of anguish, ecstasy of love, highest rapture, misery, rage, voluptuousness and sorrow." this great gift of extemporising, (which was only paralleled by his equal skill in sight-reading) was at once the solace and the snare of beethoven. hours upon hours could thus be dreamed away; yet who shall say that they were wasted? for gradually, out of the shifting panorama of rhythm and sound, a supreme and marvellous melody evolved itself. -------------------------------------------------------------------- [illustration: _painting by e. b. lintott_.] "the _allegro finale_ of the c-sharp-minor quartet ... wild delight, the lamentation of anguish, ecstasy of love, highest rapture, misery, rage, voluptuousness and sorrow." -------------------------------------------------------------------- for a long time--months, if not years--he had been pursuing, as it were, some beautiful, elusive phantom--the idea contained in schiller's stirring lines commencing:--"_freude, schöner götterfunken_," ("_joy, thou heavenly spark of godhead_"). he was consumed with the desire to give these lines a worthy setting; he had filled a multitude of note-books with rough sketches; but the authentic, the indubitable melody which should be recognised at first hearing as the only one, had still evaded him until now--now, when he filled the twilight with a cry of success. "i have it! i have it!" he exclaimed, as those magnificent phrases which were to be the crown and consummation of the great ninth symphony, at last were crystallised into shape upon his brain. and at that moment he entered, as it were, upon a new world of light, "in the soil of which bloomed before his sight the long-sought, divinely-sweet, innocently pure melody of humanity." "_joy, thou heavenly spark of godhead!_" was it the irony of fate that made this thought the highest pinnacle of beethoven's marvellous achievements? was it not rather one of those divine compensations by which heaven bestows, with both hands lavishly, "above all that we can desire or deserve?" scintillations of that "heavenly spark," multiplied a million-fold, flashed across the mental vision of the inspired composer; incessant majesties of sound piled themselves in splendid strata upon his intellectual ear; until, "blinded with excess of light," and outwearied with the exuberance of a joy beyond all that earth could yield, ludwig van beethoven sought his meagre straw mattress and thin quilt, and--while the clocks struck ten in the city--fell asleep as softly as a child. printed by the bushey colour press (andré & sleigh, ltd.), bushey, herts. note: project gutenberg also has an html version of this file which includes the original illustrations. see -h.htm or -h.zip: (http://www.gutenberg.net/dirs/ / / / / / -h/ -h.htm) or (http://www.gutenberg.net/dirs/ / / / / / -h.zip) the loves of great composers by gustav kobbÉ [frontispiece: wolfgang amadeus mozart (photogravure)] thomas y. crowell & co. new york copyright, and by the butterick publishing co. (limited) copyright, , by thomas y. crowell & co. published september, composition and electrotype plates by d. b. updike, the merrymount press, boston to charles dwyer table of contents mozart and his constance beethoven and his "immortal beloved" mendelssohn and his cécile chopin and the countess delphine potocka the schumanns: robert and clara franz liszt and his carolyne wagner and cosima list of illustrations wolfgang amadeus mozart (photogravure) . . . . frontispiece mozart at the age of eleven constance, wife of mozart ludwig van beethoven countess therese von brunswick "beethoven at heiligenstadt" félix mendelssohn-bartholdy fanny hensel, sister of mendelssohn cécile, wife of mendelssohn the mendelssohn monument in leipsic frédéric chopin [missing from book] countess potocka the death of chopin robert schumann robert and clara schumann, in clara schumann at the piano the schumann monument in the bonn cemetery franz liszt liszt at the piano the princess carolyne, in her latter years at rome the altenburg, weimar, where liszt and carolyne lived richard wagner cosima, wife of wagner richard and cosima wagner richard and cosima wagner entertaining in their home wahnfried, liszt and hans von wolzogen mozart and his constance nearly eight years after mozart's death his widow, in response to a request from a famous publishing house for relics of the composer, sent, among other mozartiana, a packet of letters written to her by her husband. in transmitting these she wrote: "especially characteristic is his great love for me, which breathes through all the letters. is it not true--those from the last year of his life are just as tender as those written during the first year of our marriage?" she added that she would like to have this fact especially mentioned "to his honor" in any biography in which the data she sent were to be used. this request was not prompted by vanity, but by a just pride in the love her husband had borne her and which she still cherished. the love of his constance was the solace of mozart's life. the wonder-child, born in salzburg in , and taken by his father from court to court, where he and his sister played to admiring audiences, did not, like so many wonder-children, fade from public view, but with manhood fulfilled the promise of his early years and became one of the world's great masters of music. but his genius was not appreciated until too late. the world of to-day sees in mozart the type of the brilliant, careless bohemian, whom it loves to associate with art, and long since has taken him to its heart. but the world of his own day, when he asked for bread, offered him a stone. mozart died young; he was only thirty-five. his sufferings were crowded into a few years, but throughout these years there stood by his side one whose love soothed his trials and brightened his life,--the constance whom he adored. what she wrote to the publishers was strictly true. his last letters to her breathed a love as fervent as the first. some six months before he died, she was obliged to go to baden for her health. "you hardly will believe," he writes to her, "how heavily time hangs on my hands without you. i cannot exactly explain my feelings. there is a void that pains me; a certain longing that cannot be satisfied, hence never ceases, continues ever, aye, grows from day to day. when i think how happy and childlike we would be together in baden and what sad, tedious hours i pass here! i take no pleasure in my work, because i cannot break it off now and then for a few words with you, as i am accustomed to. when i go to the piano and sing something from the opera ["the magic flute"], i have to stop right away, it affects me so. _basta_!--if this very hour i could see my way clear to you, the next hour wouldn't find me here." in another letter written at this time he kisses her "in thought two thousand times." when mozart first met constance, she was too young to attract his notice. he had stopped at mannheim on his way to paris, whither he was going with his mother on a concert tour. requiring the services of a music copyist, he was recommended to fridolin weber, who eked out a livelihood by copying music and by acting as prompter at the theatre. his brother was the father of weber, the famous composer, and his own family, which consisted of four daughters, was musical. mozart's visit to mannheim occurred in , when constance weber was only fourteen. [illustration: mozart at the age of eleven. from a painting by van der smissen in the mozarteum, salzburg.] of her two older sisters the second, aloysia, had a beautiful voice and no mean looks, and the young genius was greatly taken with her from the first. he induced his mother to linger in mannheim much longer than was necessary. aloysia became his pupil; and under his tuition her voice improved wonderfully. she achieved brilliant success in public, and her father, delighted, watched with pleasure the sentimental attachment that was springing up between her and mozart. meanwhile leopold mozart was in salzburg wondering why his wife and son were so long delaying their further journey to paris. when he received from wolfgang letters full of enthusiasm over his pupil, coupled with a proposal that instead of going to paris, he and his mother should change their destination to italy and take the weber family along, in order that aloysia might further develop her talents there, he got an inkling of the true state of affairs and was furious. he had large plans for his son, knew weber to be shiftless and the family poor, and concluded that, for their own advantage, they were endeavoring to trap wolfgang into a matrimonial alliance. peremptory letters sent wife and son on their way to paris, and the elder mozart was greatly relieved when he knew them safely beyond the confines of mannheim. mozart's stay in paris was tragically brought to an end by his mother's death. he set out for his return to salzburg, intending, however, to stop at mannheim, for he still remembered aloysia affectionately. finding that the weber family had moved to munich, he went there. but as soon as he came into the presence of the beautiful young singer her manner showed that her feelings toward him had cooled. thereupon, his ardor was likewise chilled, and he continued on his way to salzburg, where he arrived, much to his father's relief, still "unattached." when mozart departed from munich, he probably thought that he was leaving behind him forever, not only the fickle aloysia, but the rest of the weber family as well. how slight our premonition of fate! for, if ever the inscrutable ways of providence brought two people together, those two were mozart and constance weber. nor was aloysia without further influence on his career. she married an actor named lange, with whom she went to vienna, where she became a singer at the opera. there mozart composed for her the rôle of constance in his opera, "the elopement from the seraglio." for the eldest weber girl, josepha, who had a high, flexible soprano, he wrote one of his most brilliant rôles, that of the queen of the night in "the magic flute." i am anticipating somewhat in the order of events that i may correct an erroneous impression regarding mozart's marriage, which i find frequently obtains. he composed the rôle of constance for aloysia shortly before he married the real constance; and this has led many people to believe that he took the younger sister out of pique, because he had been rejected by aloysia. whoever believes this has a very superficial acquaintance with mozart's biography. five years had passed since he had parted from aloysia at munich. the youthful affair had blown over; and when they met again in vienna she was frau lange. mozart's marriage with constance was a genuine love-match. it was bitterly opposed by his father, who never became wholly reconciled to the woman of his son's choice, and met with no favor from her mother. fridolin weber had died. altogether the omens were unfavorable, and there were obstacles enough to have discouraged any but the most ardent couple. so much for the pique story. mozart went to vienna in with the archbishop of salzburg, by whom, however, he was treated with such indignity that he left his service. whom should he find in vienna but his old friends the webers! frau weber was glad enough of the opportunity to let lodgings to mozart, for, as in mannheim and munich, the family was in straitened circumstances. as soon as the composer's father heard of this arrangement, he began to expostulate. finally mozart changed his lodgings; but this step had the very opposite effect hoped for by leopold mozart, for separation only increased the love that had sprung up between the young people since they had met again in vienna, and mozart had found the little fourteen-year-old girl of his mannheim visit grown to young womanhood. there seems little doubt that the webers, with the exception of constance, were a shiftless lot. they had drifted from place to place and had finally come to vienna, because aloysia had moved there with her husband. when mozart finally decided to marry constance, come what might, he wrote his father a letter which shows that his eyes were wide open to the faults of the family, and by the calm, almost judicial, manner in which he refers to the virtues of his future wife, that his was no hastily formed attachment, based merely on superficial attractions. he does not spare the family in his analysis of their traits. if he seems ungallant in his references to his future queen of the night and to the prima donna of his "elopement from the seraglio," to say nothing of his former attachment for her, one must remember that this is a letter from a son to a father, in which frankness is permissible. he admits the intemperance and shrewishness of the mother; characterizes josepha as lazy and vulgar; calls aloysia a malicious person and coquette; dismisses the youngest, sophie, as too young to be anything but simply a good though thoughtless creature. surely not an attractive picture and not a family one would enter lightly. what drew him to constance? let him answer that question himself. "but the middle one, my good, dear constance," he writes to his father, "is a martyr among them, and for that reason, perhaps, the best hearted, cleverest, and, in a word, the best among them. . . . she is neither homely nor beautiful. her whole beauty lies in two small, dark eyes and in a fine figure. she is not brilliant, but has common sense enough to perform her duties as wife and mother. she is not extravagant; on the contrary, she is accustomed to go poorly dressed, because what little her mother can do for her children she does for the others, but never for her. it is true that she would like to be tastefully and becomingly dressed, but never expensively; and most of the things a woman needs she can make for herself. she does her own coiffure every day [head-dress must have been something appalling in those days]; understands housekeeping; has the best disposition in the world. we love each other with all our hearts. tell me if i could ask a better wife for myself?" the letter is so touchingly frank and simple that whoever reads it must feel that the portrait mozart draws of his constance is absolutely true to life. he makes no attempt to paint her as a paragon of beauty and intellect. it is a picture of the neglected member of a household--neglected because of her homely virtues, the one fair flower blooming in the dark crevice of this shiftless menage. and at the end of the letter is the one cry which, since the world was young, has defied and brought to naught the doubting counsels of wiser heads: "we love each other with all our hearts." the elder mozart, fearful for his son's future, had kept himself informed of what was going on in vienna. he knew that when his son's attentions to constance became marked, her guardian had compelled him to sign a promise of marriage. in this the father again saw a trap laid for his son, who in worldly matters was as unversed as a child. but leopold mozart did not know how the episode ended, and little suspected that future generations would see in it one of the most charming incidents in the love affairs of great men. for, when her guardian had left the house, constance asked her mother for the paper, and as soon as she had it in her hands, tore it up, exclaiming: "dear mozart, i do not need a written promise from you. i trust your words." frau weber saw in mozart, the suitor, a possible contributor to the household expenses, and as soon as she learned that he and constance intended to set up for themselves, she became bitterly opposed to the match. finally a titled lady, baroness von waldstadter, took the young people under her protection, and constance went to live with her to escape her mother's nagging. frau weber then planned to force her daughter to return to her by legal process. immediate marriage was the only method of escape from the scandal this would entail; and so, august , , mozart and his constance were married in the church of st. stephen, vienna. when at last they had all obstacles behind them and stood at the altar as one, they were so overcome by their feelings that they began to cry; and the few bystanders, including the priest, were so deeply affected by their happiness that they too were moved to tears. [illustration: constance, wife of mozart. from an engraving by nissen.] although poor, mozart, through his music, had become acquainted with titled personages and was known at court. he and constance, shortly after their wedding, were walking in the prater with their pet dog. to make the dog bark, mozart playfully pretended to strike constance with his cane. at that moment the emperor, chancing to come out of a summer house and seeing mozart's action, which he misinterpreted, began chiding him for abusing his wife so shortly after they had been married. when his mistake was explained to him, he was highly amused. later he could not fail to hear of the couple's devotion. "vienna was witness to these relations," wrote a contemporary of mozart's and constance's love for each other; and when aloysia and her husband quarrelled and separated, the emperor, meeting constance and referring to her sister's troubles, said, "what a difference it makes to have a good husband." in spite of poverty and its attendant struggles, mozart's marriage was a happy one, because it was a marriage of love. like every child of genius, he had his moods, but constance adapted herself to them and thereby won his confidence and gained an influence over him which, however, she brought into play only when the occasion demanded. when he was thinking out a work, he was absent-minded, and at such times she always was ready to humor him, and even cut his meat for him at table, as he was apt during such periods of abstraction to injure himself. but when he had a composition well in mind, to put it on paper seemed little more to him than copying; and then he loved to have her sit by him and tell him stories--yes, regular fairy tales and children's stories, as if he himself still were a child. he would write and listen, drop his pen and laugh, and then go on with work again. the day before the first performance of "don giovanni," when the final rehearsal already had been held, the overture still remained unwritten. it had to be written overnight, and it was she who sat by him and relieved the rush and strain of work with her cheerful prattle. it is said that, among other things, she read to him the story of "aladdin and the wonderful lamp." be that as it may;--she rubbed the lamp, and the overture to "don giovanni" appeared. would that their life could be portrayed in a series of such charming pictures! but grinding poverty was there also, and the bitterness of disappointed hopes. his sensitive nature could not withstand the repeated material shocks to which it was subjected. and the pity is, that it gave way just when there seemed a prospect of a change. "the magic flute" had been produced with great success, and that in the face of relentless opposition from envious rivals; and orders from new sources and on better terms were coming to him. but the turn of the tide was too late. when he received an order for a requiem from a person who wished his identity to remain unknown--he was subsequently discovered to be a nobleman, who wanted to produce the work as his own--mozart already felt the hand of death upon him and declared that he was composing the requiem for his own obsequies. even after he was obliged to take to his bed, he worked at it, saying it was to be _his_ requiem and must be ready in time. the afternoon before he died, he went over the completed portions with three friends, and at the lachrymosa burst into tears. in the evening he lost consciousness, and early the following morning, december , , he passed away. the immediate cause of death was rheumatic fever with typhoid complications, and his distracted widow, hoping to catch the same disease and be carried away by it, threw herself upon his bed. she was too prostrated to attend his funeral, which, be it said to the shame of his friends, was a shabby affair. the day was stormy, and after the service indoors they left before the actual burial, which was in one of the "common graves," holding ten or twelve bodies and intended to be worked over every few years for new interments. when, as soon as constance was strong enough, she visited the cemetery there was a new grave-digger, who upon being questioned could not locate her husband's grave, and to this day mozart's last resting-place is unknown. it must not be reckoned against constance that, eighteen years after mozart's death, she married again. for she did not forget the man on whom her heart first was set. her second husband, nissen, formerly danish chargé d'affaires in vienna, is best known by the biography of mozart which he wrote under her guidance. they removed to mozart's birthplace, salzburg, where nissen died in . constance's death was strangely associated with mozart's memory. it was as if in her last moments she must go back to him who was her first love. for she died in salzburg, on march , , a few hours after the model for the mozart monument, which adorns one of the spacious squares of the city where the composer was born, was received there. she had been the life-love of a child of genius and, without being singularly gifted herself, had understood how to humor his whims and adapt herself to his moods in which sunshine often was succeeded by shadow. it was singularly appropriate that, surviving him many years, she yet died under circumstances which formed a new link between her and his memory. beethoven and his "immortal beloved" one day when baron spaun, an old viennese character and a friend of beethoven's, entered the composer's lodgings, he found the man, every line of whose face denoted, above all else, strength of character, bending over a portrait of a woman and weeping, as he muttered, "you were too good, too angelic!" a moment later, he had thrust the portrait into an old chest and, with a toss of his well-set head, was his usual self again. as spaun was leaving, he said to the composer, "there is nothing evil in your face to-day, old fellow." "my good angel appeared to me this morning," was beethoven's reply. [illustration: ludwig van beethoven] after the composer's death, in , the portrait was found in the old chest, and also a letter, in his handwriting and evidently written to a woman, whose name, however, was not given, but who was addressed by beethoven as his "immortal beloved." the letter was regarded as a great find, and biographer after biographer has stated that it must have been written to the countess giulietta guicciardi, to whom he dedicated the famous "moonlight sonata." there was, however, one woman, who survived beethoven more than thirty years, and who, during that weary stretch of time, knew whose was the portrait that had been found in the old chest and the identity of the woman who had returned to him the letter addressed to his "immortal beloved," after the strange severance of relations which both had continued to hold sacred. but she suffered in silence, and never even knew what had become of the picture. this precious picture, which beethoven had held in his hands and wetted with his tears, passed, with his death, into the possession of his brother carl's widow. no one knew who it was, or took any interest in it. in a viennese musician, joseph hellmesberger, succeeded in having beethoven's remains transferred to a metallic casket, and the beethoven family, in recognition of his efforts, made him a present of the portrait. later it was acquired by the beethoven museum, in bonn, where the master was born in . there it hangs beside his own portrait, and on the back still can be read the inscription, in a feminine hand: "_to the rare genius, the great artist, and the good man, from t. b._" who was "t. b."? if some one who had recently seen the bonn portrait should chance to visit the national museum in budapest, he would come upon the bust of a woman whose features seemed familiar to him. they would grow upon him as those of the woman with the yellow shawl over her light-brown hair, a drapery of red on her shoulders and fastened at her throat, who had looked out at him from the bonn portrait. the bust, made at a more advanced age, he would find had been placed in the museum in honor of the woman who founded the first home for friendless children in the austrian empire; and her name? countess therese brunswick. she was beethoven's "immortal beloved." "t. b."--therese brunswick. she was the woman who knew that the portrait found in the old chest was hers; and that the letter had been received by her shortly after her secret betrothal to beethoven, and returned by her to him when he broke the engagement because he loved her too deeply to link her life to his. [illustration: countess therese von brunswick. from the portrait by ritter von lampir in the beethoven-haus at bonn. redrawn by reich.] the tragedy of their romance lay in its non-fulfilment. beethoven was a man of noble nature, yet what had he to offer her in return for her love? his own love, it is true. but he was uncouth, stricken with deafness, and had many of the "bad moments" of genius. he foresaw unhappiness for both, and, to spare her, took upon himself the great act of renunciation. we need only recall him weeping over the picture of his therese. and therese? to her dying day she treasured his memory. very few shared her secret. her brother franz, beethoven's intimate friend, knew it. baron spaun also divined the cause of his melancholy. some years after the composer's death, countess therese brunswick conceived a great liking for a young girl, miriam tenger, whom she had taken under her care for a short period, until a suitable school was selected for her in vienna. when the time for parting came, miriam burst into tears and clung to the countess's hand. "child! child!" exclaimed the lady, "do you really love me so deeply?" "i love you, i love you so," sobbed the child, "that i could die for you." the countess placed her hand on the girl's head. "my child," she said, "when you have grown older and wiser, you will understand what i mean when i say that to _live_ for those we love shows a far greater love, because it requires so much more courage. but while you are in vienna, there is one favor you can do me, which my heart will consider a great one. on the twenty-seventh of every march go to the wahringer cemetery and lay a wreath of immortelles on beethoven's grave." when, true to her promise, the girl went with her school principal to the cemetery, they found a man bending over the grave and placing flowers upon it. he looked up as they approached. "the child comes at the request of the countess therese brunswick," explained the principal. "the countess therese brunswick! immortelles upon this grave are fit from her alone." the speaker was beethoven's faithful friend, baron spaun. in , when the leaves of thirty-three autumns had fallen upon the composer's grave and the countess had gone to her last resting-place, a voice, like an echo from a dead past, linked the names of beethoven and the woman he had loved. there was at that time in germany a virtuosa, frau hebenstreit, who when a young girl had been a pupil of beethoven's friend, the violinist schuppanzigh. at a musical, in the year mentioned, she had just taken part in a performance of the third "leonore" overture, when, as if moved to speak by the beauty of the music, she suddenly said: "only think of it! just as a person sits to a painter for a portrait, countess therese brunswick was the model for beethoven's leonore. what a debt the world owes her for it!" after a pause she went on: "beethoven never would have dared marry without money, and a countess, too--and so refined, and delicate enough to blow away. and he--an angel and a demon in one! what would have become of them both, and of his genius with him?" so far as i have been able to discover, this was the first even semi-public linking of the two names. yet all these years there was one person who knew the secret--the woman who as a school-girl had placed the wreath of immortelles on beethoven's grave for her much-loved countess therese brunswick. through this act of devotion miriam tenger seemed to become to the countess a tie that stretched back to her past, and though they saw each other only at long intervals, miriam's presence awakened anew the old memories in the countess's heart, and from her she heard piecemeal, and with pauses of years between, the story of hers and beethoven's romance. therese was the daughter of a noble house. beethoven was welcome both as teacher and guest in the most aristocratic circles of vienna. the noble men and women who figure in the dedications of his works were friends, not merely patrons. despite his uncouth manners and appearance, his genius, up to the point at least when it took its highest flights in the "ninth symphony" and the last quartets, was appreciated; and he was a figure in viennese society. the brunswick house was one of many that were open to him. the brunswicks were art lovers. franz, the son of the house, was the composer's intimate friend. the mother had all possible graciousness and charm, but with it also a passionate pride in her family and her rank, a hauteur that would have caused her to regard an alliance between therese and beethoven as monstrous. therese was an exceptional woman. she had an oval, classic face, a lovely disposition, a pure heart and a finely cultivated mind. the german painter, peter cornelius, said of her that any one who spoke with her felt elevated and ennobled. the family was of the right mettle. the countess blanka teleki, who was condemned to death for complicity in the hungarian uprising of , but whose sentence was commuted to life imprisonment--she finally was released in ,--was therese's niece, and is said to have borne a striking likeness to her. it may be mentioned that giulietta guicciardi, of the "moonlight sonata," was therese's cousin. there seems no doubt that the composer was attracted to giulietta before he fell in love with his "immortal beloved." that is why his biographers were so ready to believe that the letter was addressed to the lady with the romantic name and identified with one of his most romantic works. therese herself told miriam that one day giulietta, who had become the affianced of count gallenberg, rushed into her room, threw herself at her feet like a "stage princess," and cried out: "counsel me, cold, wise one! i long to give gallenberg his congé and marry the wonderfully ugly, beautiful beethoven, if--if only it did not involve lowering myself socially." therese, who worshipped the composer's genius and already loved him secretly, turned the subject off, fearful lest she should say, in her indignation at the young woman who thought she would be lowering herself by marrying beethoven, something that might lead to an irreparable breach. "moonlight sonata," or no "moonlight sonata," there are two greater works by the same genius that bear the brunswick name,--the "appassionata," dedicated to count franz brunswick, and the sonata in f-sharp major, opus , dedicated to therese, and far worthier of her chaste beauty and intellect than the "moonlight." it will be noticed that giulietta called therese the "cold, wise one." her purity led her own mother to speak other as an "anchoress." yet it was she who from the time she was fifteen years old to the day of her death cherished the great composer in her heart; and of her love for him were the mementos that he sacredly guarded. when therese was fifteen years old she became beethoven's pupil. the lessons were severe. yet beneath the rough exterior she recognized the heart of a nobleman. the "cold, wise one," the "anchoress," fell in love with him soon after the lessons began, but carefully hid her feelings from every one. there is a charming anecdote of the early acquaintance of the composer and therese. the children of the house of brunswick were carefully brought up. during the music lessons the mother was accustomed to sit in an adjoining room with the door between open. one bitterly cold winter day beethoven arrived at the appointed hour. therese had practised diligently, but the work was difficult and, in addition, she was nervous. as a result she began too fast, became disconcerted when beethoven gruffly called out "_tempo!_" and made mistake after mistake, until the master, irritated beyond endurance, rushed from the room and the house in such a hurry that he forgot his overcoat and muffler. in a moment therese had picked up these, reached the door and was out in the street with them, when the butler overtook her, relieved her of them and hurried after the composer's retreating figure. when the girl entered the doorway again, she came face to face with her mother, who, fortunately, had not seen her in the street, but who was scandalized that a daughter of the house of brunswick should so far have forgotten herself and her dignity as to have run after a man even if only to the front door, and with his overcoat and muffler. "he might have caught cold and died," gasped therese, in answer to her mother's remonstrance. what would the mother have said had she known that her daughter actually had run out into the street, and had been prevented from following beethoven until she overtook him only by the butler's timely action! therese's brother franz was devoted to her. as a boy he had taken his other sister (afterward blanka teleki's mother) out in a boat on the "mediterranean," one of the ponds at montonvasar, the brunswick country estate. the boat upset. therese, who was watching them from the bank, rushed in and hauled them out. franz was asked if he had been frightened. "no," he answered, "i saw my good angel coming." when he became intimate with beethoven, he told the composer about this incident, and also how, after that stormy music lesson, therese had started to overtake him with his coat and muffler. knowing what a lonely, unhappy existence the composer led, he could not help adding that life would be very different if he had a good angel to watch over him, such as he had in his sister. franz little knew that his words fell upon beethoven like seed on eager soil. from that time on he looked at therese with different eyes. his own love soon taught him to know that he was loved in return. no pledge had yet passed between them when, in may, , he went to montonvasar on a visit; but one evening there, when therese was standing at the piano listening to him play, he softly intoned bach's-- "would you your true heart show me, begin it secretly, for all the love you trow me, let none the wiser be. our love, great beyond measure, to none must we impart; so, lock our rarest treasure securely in your heart." next morning they met in the park. he told her that at last he had discovered in her the model for his leonore, the heroine of his opera "fidelio." "and so we found each other"--these were the simple words with which, many years later, therese concluded the narrative of her betrothal with beethoven to miriam tenger. the engagement had to be kept a secret. had it become known, it would have ended in his immediate dismissal by the countess' mother. in only one person was confidence reposed, franz, the devoted brother and treasured friend. therese's income was small, and franz, knowing the opposition with which the proposed match would meet, pointed out to beethoven that it would be necessary for him to secure a settled position and income before the engagement could be published and the marriage take place. the composer himself saw the justice of this, and assented. [illustration: "beethoven at heiligenstadt." from the painting by carl schmidt.] early in july beethoven left montonvasar for furen, a health resort on the plattensee, which he reached after a hard trip. fatigued, grieving over the first parting from therese, and downcast over his uncertain future, he there wrote the letter to his "immortal beloved," which is now one of the treasures of the berlin library. it is a long letter, much too long to be given here in full, written for the most part in ejaculatory phrases, and curiously alternating between love, despair, courage and hopefulness and commonplace, everyday affairs. nor will space permit me to tell how alexander w. thayer, an american, who spent a great part of his life and means in gathering detailed and authentic data for a beethoven biography,--which, however, he did not live to finish,--worked out the year in which this letter was written (beethoven gave only the day of the month); showed that it must be ; proved further that it could not have been intended for giulietta guicciardi, yet did not venture to state that countess therese brunswick was the undoubted recipient. afterward, i believe, he heard of miriam tenger, entered into correspondence with her, and the letters doubtless will be found among his papers; but he did not live to make use of the information. one of the reasons why the identity of the recipient of beethoven's letter remained so long unknown was that he did not address her by name. the letter begins: "my angel, my all, myself!" in order to secure a fixed position, beethoven had decided to try prussia and even england, and this intention he refers to when, after apostrophizing therese as his "immortal beloved," he writes these burning words: "yes, i have decided to toss abroad so long, until i can fly to your arms and call myself at home with you, and let my soul, enveloped in your love, wander through the kingdom of spirits." the letter has this exclamatory postscript: "eternally yours! eternally mine! eternally one another's!" the engagement lasted until , four years, when the letters, which through franz's aid had passed between beethoven and therese, were returned. therese, however, always treasured as one of her "jewels" a sprig of immortelle fastened with a ribbon to a bit of paper, the ribbon fading with passing years, the paper growing yellow, but still showing the words: "_l'immortelle à son immortelle--luigi_." it had been beethoven's custom to enclose a sprig of immortelle in nearly every letter he sent her, and all these sprigs she kept in her desk many, many years. she made a white silken pillow of the flowers; and, when death came at last, she was laid at rest, her head cushioned on the mementos of the man she had loved. mendelssohn and his cécile mendelssohn was a popular idol. on his death the mournful news was placarded all over leipsic, where he had made his home, and there was an immense funeral procession. when the church service was over, a woman in deep mourning was led to the bier, and sinking down beside it, remained long in prayer. it was cécile taking her last farewell of felix. mendelssohn was born under a lucky star. the pathways of most musical geniuses are covered with thorns; his was strewn with roses. the mendelssohn family, originally jewish, was well-to-do and highly refined, and felix's grandfather was a philosophical writer of some note. this inspired the oft-quoted _mot_ of the musician's father: "once i was known as the son of the famous mendelssohn; now i am known as the father of the famous mendelssohn." felix was an amazingly clever, fascinating boy. coincident with his musical gifts he had a talent for art. goethe was captivated by him, and the many distinguished friends of the mendelssohn house in berlin adored him. this house was a gathering place of artists, musicians, literary men and scientists; his genius had the stimulus found in the "atmosphere" of such a household. there was one member of that household between whom and himself the most tender relations existed,--his sister fanny, who became the wife of hensel, the artist. the musical tastes of felix and fanny were alike: she was the confidante of his ambitions, and thus was created between them an artistic sympathy, which from childhood greatly strengthened the family bond. growing up amid love and devotion, to say nothing of the admiration accorded his genius in the home circle, with tastes, naturally refined, cultivated to the utmost both by education and absorption, he was apt to be most fastidious in the choice of a wife. fastidiousness in everything was, in fact, one of his traits. one has but to recall how, one after another, he rejected the subjects that were offered him for operatic composition. "i am afraid," said his father, who was quite anxious to see his famous son properly settled in life, "that felix's censoriousness will prevent his getting a wife as well as a libretto." [illustration: felix mendelssohn-bartholdy.] it may have been a regretful feeling that he had disappointed his father by not marrying which led him, after the latter's sudden death in november, , to consider the matter more seriously. he hastened to berlin to his mother, and then returned to leipsic, where he had charge of the famous gewandhaus concerts. he settled down to work again, and especially to finish his oratorio of "st. paul." in march, , the university of leipsic made him a ph.d. in may or june of this year a friend and colleague named schelble, who conducted the caecilia singing society at frankfort-on-the-main, was taken ill, and, desiring to rest and recuperate, asked mendelssohn to officiate in his place. the request came at an inconvenient time, for he had planned to take some recreation himself, and had mapped out a tour to switzerland and genoa. but felix was an obliging fellow, and promptly responded with an affirmative when his colleague called upon him for aid. the unselfish relinquishment of his intended tour was to meet with a further reward than that which comes from the satisfaction of a good deed done at some self-sacrifice, and this reward was the more grateful because unexpected by his friends, his family, or even himself. yet it was destined to delight them all. felix was in frankfort six weeks. so short a period rarely leads to a decisive event in a man's life, but did so in mendelssohn's case. he occupied lodgings in a house on the schöne aussicht (beautiful view), with an outlook upon the river. but there was another beautiful view in frankfort which occupied his attention far more, for among those he met during his sojourn in the city on the main was cécile,--cécile charlotte sophie jeanrenaud. her father, long dead, had been the pastor of the french walloon reformed church in frankfort, where his widow and children moved in the best social circles of the city. cécile, then seventeen (ten years younger than felix), was a "beauty" of a most delicate type. mme. jeanrenaud still was a fine-looking woman, and possibly because of this fact, coupled with felix's shy manner in the presence of cécile, now that for the first time his heart was deeply touched, it was at first supposed that he was courting the mother; and her children, cécile included, twitted her on it. now felix acted in a manner characteristic of his bringing up and of the bent of his genius. mozart, beethoven, chopin, schumann, liszt, wagner--not one of these hesitated a moment where his heart was concerned. if anything, they were too impetuous. they are the masters of the passionate expression in music; mendelssohn's music is of the refined, delicate type--like his own bringing up. the perfectly polished "songs without words," the smoothly flowing symphonies, the lyric violin concerto--these are most typical of his genius. only here and there in his works are there fitful flashes of deeper significance, as in certain dramatic passages of the "elijah" oratorio. and so, when felix found himself possessed of a passion for cécile jeanrenaud, the beautiful, he did not throw himself at her feet and pour out a confession of love to her. far from it. with a calmness that would make one feel like pinching him, were it not that after all the story has a "happy ending," he left frankfort at the end of six weeks, when his feelings were at their height, and in order to submit the state of his affections to a cool and unprejudiced scrutiny, he went to scheveningen, holland, where he spent a month. anything more characteristically mendelssohnian can scarcely be imagined than this leisurely passing of judgment on his own heart. just what cécile thought of his sudden departure we do not know. no doubt by that time she had ceased twitting her mother on felix's supposed intentions to make frau mendelssohn of mme. jeanrenaud, for it must have become apparent that the attentions of the famous composer were not directed toward the beautiful mother, but toward the more beautiful daughter. if, however, she felt at all uneasy at his going away at the time when he should have been preparing to declare himself, her doubts would have been dispelled could she have read some of the letters which he dispatched from scheveningen. that she herself was captivated by him there seems no doubt. it was an amusing change from her preconceived notion of him. she had imagined him a stiff, disagreeable, jealous old man, who wore a green velvet skull-cap and played tedious fugues. this prejudice, needless to say, was dispelled at their first meeting, when she found the crabbed creation of her fancy a man of the world, with gracious, winning manners, and a brilliant conversationalist not only on music, but also on other topics. [illustration: fanny hensel, sister of mendelssohn.] it is a curious coincidence that when felix left frankfort for scheveningen, with the image of this fair being in his heart, the caecilia society should have presented him with a handsome dressing-case marked "f. m.-b. and caecilia.'" [ ] he had come to frankfort to conduct the caecilia; he had met caecilia; and now he was at the last moment reminded that he was leaving caecilia behind; yet he was carrying caecilia with him. if there is anything prophetic in coincidences, everything pointed to the fact that caecilia was to play a more prominent part in his life than that of a mere name. even before felix left frankfort there were some who were in his secret. evidently the mendelssohn family had received reports of his attentions to the fair cécile jeanrenaud and were all a-flutter with happy anticipation. for there is a letter from felix to his sister rebecca which must have been written in answer to one from her containing something in the nature of an inquiry regarding the state of his feelings. "the present period in my life," he writes to her, "is a very strange one, for i am more desperately in love than i ever was before, and i do not know what to do. i leave frankfort the day after to-morrow, but i feel as if it would cost me my life. at all events i intend to return here and see this charming girl once more before i go back to leipsic. but i have not an idea whether she likes me or not, and i do not know what to do to make her like me, as i already have said. but one thing is certain--that to her i owe the first real happiness i have had this year, and now i feel fresh and hopeful again for the first time. when away from her, though, i always am sad--now, you see, i have let you into a secret which nobody else knows anything about; but in order that you may set the whole world an example in discretion, i will tell you nothing more about it." he adds that he is going to detest the seashore, and ends with the exclamation, "o rebecca! what shall i do?" rebecca might have answered, "tell cécile, instead of me;" and, indeed, i wonder if she did not take occasion to drop a few hints to cécile during her brother's absence in holland. there was another who might have told cécile how felix felt toward her,--his mother. for to her he wrote from scheveningen that he gladly would send holland, its dykes, sea baths, bathing-machines, kursaals and visitors to the end of the world to be back in frankfort. "when i have seen this charming girl again, i hope the suspense soon will be over and i shall know whether we are to be anything--or rather everything--to each other, or not." evidently his scrutiny of his own feelings was leading him to a very definite conclusion. he was in scheveningen, but his heart was in the city on the main, and he was wishing himself back in the schöne aussicht--longing for that "beautiful view" once more. back to frankfort he hied himself as soon as the month in holland was happily over. it was not only back to frankfort, it was back to cécile, in every sense of the words; for if rebecca and his mother had not conveyed to the delicate beauty some suggestion of the feelings she had inspired in felix's heart, she herself must have become aware of them, and of something very much like in her own, since matters were not long in coming to a point after his return. he spent august at scheveningen; in september his suspense was over, for his engagement to cécile formally took place at kronberg, near frankfort. three weeks later he was obliged to go back to his duties at leipsic. how much he was beloved by the public appears from the fact that at the next gewandhaus concert the directors placed on the programme, "wer ein holdes weib errungen" (he who a lovely wife has won) from "fidelio," and that when the number was reached, and felix raised his bâton, the audience burst into applause which continued a long time. it was their congratulations to their idol on his betrothal. [illustration: cécile, wife of mendelssohn.] "les feliciens" was the title given to felix and cécile by his sister fanny later in life. at this time mendelssohn himself was indescribably happy. at least, he could not himself find words in which to express all he felt. it is pleasant to find that a great composer is no exception to the rule which makes lovers "too happy for words." "but what words am i to use in describing my happiness?" he writes to his sister. "i do not know and am dumb, but not for the same reason as the monkeys on the orinoco--far from it." we gain an idea of cécile's social position from felix's statement, contained in this same letter, that he and his fiancée are obliged to make one hundred and sixty-three calls in frankfort. this was written before he had returned to his duties in leipsic. christmas again found him with his betrothed and again writing to fanny--this time about a portrait of cécile, which her family had given him. "they gave me a portrait of her on christmas, but it only stirred up afresh my wrath against all bad artists. she looks like an ordinary young woman flattered." (rather a good bit of criticism.) "it really is too bad that with such a sitter the fellow could not have shown a spark of poetry." it is quite evident that felix was much in love with his fair fiancée. he and cécile were married in her father's former church in march, . during their honeymoon felix wrote to his friend, eduard devrient, the famous actor, from the bavarian highlands. a rare spirit of peace and contentment breathes through the letter. "you know that i am here with my wife, my dear cécile, and that it is our wedding tour; that we already are an old married couple of six weeks' standing. there is so much to tell you that i know not how to make a beginning. picture it to yourself. i can only say that i am too happy, too glad; and yet not at all beside myself, as i should have expected to be, but calm and accustomed, as though it could not be otherwise. but you should know my cécile!" evidently such a love as was here described was not a mere sentimental flash in the pan. it was an affection founded on reciprocal tastes and sympathies, the kind that usually lasts. cécile was refined and delicate, and beautiful. she was just the woman to grace the home that a fastidious man like mendelssohn would want to establish. the most insistent note to be observed in his correspondence from this time on is that of a desire to remain within his own four walls. fanny had been advised to go to the seashore for her health, but had delayed doing so because loath to leave her husband. "think of me," writes felix, urging her to go, "who must in a few weeks, though we have not been married four months yet, leave cécile here and go to england by myself--all, too, for the sake of a music festival. gracious me! all this is no joke. but possibly the death of the king of england will intervene and put a stop to the whole project." the life of a king meant little to felix in the distressing prospect of being obliged to leave his cécile. felix, the husband, was not as eager to travel as felix, the bachelor, had been. there are various "appreciations" of cécile. the least enthusiastic, perhaps, is that of hensel, felix's brother-in-law. he says that she was not a striking person in anyway, neither extraordinarily clever, brilliantly witty, nor exceptionally accomplished. but to this somewhat indefinite observation he adds that she exerted an influence as soothing as that of the open sky, or running water. indeed, hensel's first frigid reserve yielded to the opinion that cécile's gentleness and brightness made felix's life one continued course of happiness to the end. it was some time after the marriage before mendelssohn's sisters saw cécile for the first time. the good they heard of her made them the more impatient to meet her. "i tell you candidly," the clever fanny writes to her, "that by this time, when anybody comes to talk to me about your beauty and your eyes, it makes me quite cross. i have had enough of hearsay, and beautiful eyes were not made to be heard." when at last fanny did see cécile, this fond sister of felix's, who naturally would be most critical, was enthusiastic over her. "she is amiable, simple, fresh, happy and even-tempered, and i consider felix most fortunate. for though loving him inexpressibly, she does not spoil him, but when he is moody, meets him with a self-restraint which in due course of time will cure him of his moodiness altogether. the effect of her presence is like that of a fresh breeze, she is so light and bright and natural." to my mind, however, devrient has drawn the best word portrait of her. after their first meeting he wrote: "how often we had pictured the kind of woman that would be a true second half to felix; and now the lovely, gentle being was before us, whose glance and smile alone promised all that we could desire for the happiness of our spoilt favorite." later, devrient finished the picture: "cécile was one of those sweet, womanly natures whose gentle simplicity, whose mere presence, soothed and pleased. she was slender, with strikingly beautiful and delicate features; her hair was between brown and gold; but the transcendent lustre of her great blue eyes, and the brilliant roses on her cheeks, were sad harbingers of early death. she spoke little and never with animation, and in a low, soft voice. shakespeare's words, 'my gracious silence,' applied to her, no less than to cordelia." [illustration: the mendelssohn monument in leipsig.] thus, while cécile does not seem to have been an extraordinarily gifted woman from an artistic or intellectual point of view, it is quite evident that she possessed a refinement that must have appealed forcibly to a man brought up in such genteel surroundings and as sensitive as mendelssohn. such a woman must have been, after all, better suited to his delicate genius than a wife of unusual gifts would have been. for it is a helpmeet, not another genius, that a man of genius really needs most. the woman who, without being prosy or commonplace and without allowing herself to retrograde in looks or in personal care, can run a household in a systematic, orderly fashion is the greatest blessing that providence can bestow upon genius. evidently cécile was just such a woman. her tact seems to have been as delicate as her beauty. without, perhaps, having directly inspired any composition of her husband's, her gentleness, her simple grace, doubtless left their mark on many bars of his music. it seems doubly cruel that death should have cut felix down when he had enjoyed but ten happy years with his cécile. yet had his life been long, the pang of separation would soon have come to him. devrient had not been mistaken when he spoke of "those sad harbingers of early death;" and cécile survived felix scarcely five years. felix's death occurred at leipsic in . in september, while listening to his own recently composed "nacht lied" he swooned away. his system, weakened by overwork, succumbed, nervous prostration followed, and on november he died. sudden death had carried off his grandfather, father, mother and favorite sister; and he had a presentiment that his end would come about in the same way. during the dull half-sleep preceding death he spoke but once, and then to cécile in answer to her inquiry how he felt--"tired, very tired." devrient tells how he went to the house of mutual friends in dresden for news of mendelssohn's condition, when clara schumann came in, a letter in her hand and weeping, and told them that felix had died the previous evening. devrient hastened to leipsic, and cécile sent for him. i cannot close this article more fittingly than with his description of their meeting in the presence of the illustrious dead--the cherished friend of one, the husband of the other. "she received me with the tenderness of a sister, wept in silence, and was calm and composed as ever. she thanked me for all the love and devotion i had shown to her felix, grieved for me that i should have to mourn so faithful a friend, and spoke of the love with which felix always had regarded me. long we spoke of him; it comforted her, and she was loath for me to depart. she was most unpretentious in her sorrow, gentle, and resigned to live for the care and education of her children. she said god would help her, and surely her boys would have the inheritance of some of their father's genius. there could not be a more worthy memory of him than the well-balanced, strong and tender heart of this mourning widow." [ ] the "-b" on the dressing-case stands for "-bartholdy." when the mendelssohn family changed from judaism to protestantism, it added the mother's family name. chopin and the countess delphine potocka "her voice was destined to be the last which should vibrate upon the musician's heart. perhaps the sweetest sounds of earth accompanied the parting soul until they blended in his ear with the first chords of the angels' lyres." it is thus liszt describes the voice of countess delphine potocka as it vibrated through the room in which chopin lay dying. witnesses disagree regarding details. one of the small company that gathered about his bed says she sang but once, others that she sang twice; and even these vary when they name the compositions. yet however they may differ on these minor points, they agree as to the main incident. that the beautiful delphine sang for the dying chopin is not a mere pleasing tradition; it is a fact. her voice ravished the ear of the great composer, whose life was ebbing away, and soothed his last hours. "therefore, then, has god so long delayed to call me to him. he wanted to vouchsafe me the joy of seeing you." these were the words chopin whispered when he opened his eyes and saw, beside his sister louise, the countess delphine potocka, who had hurried from a distance as soon as she was notified that his end was drawing near. she was one of those rare and radiant souls who could bestow upon this delicate child of genius her tenderest friendship, perhaps even her love, yet keep herself unsullied and an object of adoration as much for her purity as for her beauty. because she was chopin's friend, because she came to him in his dying hours, because along paths unseen by those about them her voice threaded its way to his very soul, no life of him is complete without mention of her, and in the mind of the musical public her name is irrevocably associated with his. each succeeding biographer of the great composer has sought to tell us a little more about her--yet little is known of her even now beyond the fact that she was very beautiful--and so eager have we been for a glimpse of her face that we have accepted without reserve as an authentic presentment of her features the famous portrait of a countess potocka who, i find, died some seven or eight years before delphine and chopin met. [illustration: frédéric chopin (missing from book)] but we have portraits of delphine by chopin himself, not drawn with pencil or crayon, or painted with brush, but her face as his soul saw it and transformed it into music. listen to a great virtuoso play his two concertos. ask yourself which of the six movements is the most beautiful. surely your choice will fall on the slow movement of the second--dedicated to the countess delphine potocka, and one of the composer's most tender and exquisite productions; or play over the waltzes--the one over which for grace and poetic sentiment you will linger longest will be the sixth, dedicated to the countess delphine potocka. liszt, who knew chopin, tells us that the composer evinced a decided preference for the _adagio_ of the second concerto and liked to repeat it frequently. he speaks of the _adagio_, this musical portrait of delphine, as almost ideally perfect; now radiant with light, now full of tender pathos; a happy vale of _tempe_, a magnificent landscape flooded with summer glow and lustre, yet forming a background for the rehearsal of some dire scene of mortal anguish, a contrast sustained by a fusion of tones, a softening of gloomy hues, which, while saddening joy, soothes the bitterness of sorrow. what a lifelike portrait chopin drew in this "beautiful, deep-toned, love-laden cantilena"! for was it not the incomparable delphine who was destined to "soothe the bitterness of sorrow" during his final hours on earth? but while hers was a soul strung with chords that vibrated to the slightest breath of sorrow, she could be vivacious as well. she was a child of poland, that land of sorrow, but where sorrow, for very excess of itself, sometimes reverts to joy. and so she had her brilliant joyous moments. chopin saw her in such moments, too, and, that the recollection might not pass away, for all time fixed her picture in her vivacious moods in the last movement, the _allegro vivace_ of the concerto, with what niecks, one of the leading modern biographers of the composer, calls its feminine softness and rounded contours, its graceful, gyrating, dance-like motions, its sprightliness and frolicsomeness. in the same way in the waltz, there is an obvious mingling of the gay and the sad, the tender and the debonair. chopin thought he was writing a waltz. he really was writing "delphine potocka." he, too, was from poland, and that circumstance of itself drew them to each other from the time when they first met in france. one of chopin's favorite musical amusements, when he was a guest at the houses of his favorite friends, was to play on the piano musical portraits of the company. at the salon of the countess komar, delphine's mother, he played one evening the portraits of the two daughters of the house. when it came to delphine's he gently drew her light shawl from her shoulders, spread it over the keyboard, and then played through it, his fingers, with every tone they produced, coming in touch with the gossamer-like fabric, still warm and hallowed for him from its contact with her. it seems to have been about that delphine first came into the composer's life. in that year the count and countess komar and their three beautiful daughters arrived in nice. count komar was business manager for one of the potockas. the girls made brilliant matches. marie became the princess de beauvau-craon; delphine became the countess potocka, and nathalie, the marchioness medici spada. the last named died a victim to her zeal as nurse during a cholera plague in rome. chopin was a man who attracted women. his delicate physique,--he died of consumption,--his refined, poetic temperament, and his exquisite art as a composer combined with his beautiful piano playing, so well suited to the intimate circle of the drawing-room, to make his personality a thoroughly fascinating one. moreover, he was, besides an artist, a gentleman, with the reserve yet charm of manner that characterizes the man of breeding. in men women admire two extremes,--splendid physical strength, or the delicacy that suggests a poetic soul. chopin was a creator of poetic music and a gentle virtuoso. his appearance harmonized with his genius. he was one of his own nocturnes in which you can feel a vague presentiment of untimely death. he is described as a model son, an affectionate brother and a faithful friend. his eyes were brown; his hair was chestnut, luxuriant and as soft as silk. his complexion was of transparent delicacy; his voice subdued and musical. he moved with grace. born near warsaw, in , he was brought up in his father's school with the sons of aristocrats. he had the manners of an aristocrat, and was careful in his dress. but despite his sensitive nature, he could resent undue familiarity or rudeness, yet in a refined way all his own. once when he was a guest at dinner at a rich man's house in paris, he was asked by the host to play--a patent violation of etiquette toward a distinguished artist. chopin demurred. the host continued to press him, urging that liszt and thalberg had played in his house after dinner. "but," protested chopin, "i have eaten so little!" and thus put an end to the matter. some twenty or thirty of the best salons in paris were open to him. among them were those of the polish exiles, some of whom he had known since their school-days at his father's. he was in the truest sense of the word a friend of those who entertained him--in fact, one of them. for a list of those among whom he moved socially read the dedications on his music. they include wealthy women, like mme. nathaniel de rothschild, but also a long line of princesses and countesses. in the salon of the potocka he was intimately at home, and it was especially there he drew his musical portraits at the piano. delphine, his brilliant countrywoman, vibrated with music herself. she possessed "_une belle voix de soprano_," and sang "_d'après la méthode des maîtres d'italie_." [illustration: countess potocka. from the famous pastel in the royal berlin gallery. artist unknown.] in her salon were heard such singers as rubini, lablache, tamburini, malibran, grisi and persiani. yet it was her voice chopin wished to hear when he lay dying! truly hers must have been a marvellous gift of song! at her salon it was his delight to accompany her with his highly poetical playing. from what is known of his delicate art as a pianist it is possible to imagine how exquisitely his accompaniments must have both sustained and mingled with that "_belle voix de soprano_." he had a knack of improvising a melody to any poem that happened to take his fancy, and thus he and delphine would treat to an improvised song the elite of the musical, artistic, literary and social world that gathered in her salon. it is unfortunate that these improvisations were lightly forgotten by the composer, for he has left us few songs. delphine "took as much trouble in giving choice musical entertainments as other people did in giving choice dinners." her salon must have been a resort after the composer's own heart. liszt, who knew delphine well during chopin's lifetime, and from whose letters, as yet untranslated into english, i have been able to unearth a few references to her (the last in may, , nearly twelve years after chopin died, and the last definite reference to her which i have been able to discover), says that her indescribable and spirited grace made her one of the most admired sovereigns of the society of paris. he speaks of her "ethereal beauty" and her "enchanting voice" which enchained chopin. delphine was, in fact, "famous for her rare beauty and fascinating singing." no biography of chopin contains so much as the scrap of a letter either from him to her, or from her to him. that he should not have written is hardly to be wondered at, considering that letter writing was most repugnant to him. he would take a long walk in order to accept or decline an invitation in person, rather than indite a brief note. moreover, in addition to this trait, he was so often in the salon of the countess potocka that much correspondence with her was unnecessary. i have, however, discovered two letters from her to the composer. one, written in french, asks him to occupy a seat in her box at a berlioz concert. the other is in polish and is quite long. it is undated, and there is nothing to show from where it was written. evidently, however, she had heard that he was ailing, for she begs him to send her a few words, _poste restante_, to aix-la-chapelle, letting her know how he is. from this request it seems that she was away from paris (possibly in or near poland), but expected to start for the french capital soon and wished to be apprised of his condition at the earliest moment. the anxious tone of the letter leads me to believe that it was written during the last year of the composer's life, when the insidious nature of the disease of which he was a victim had become apparent to himself and his friends. . . . "i cannot," she writes, "wait so long without news of your health and your plans for the future. do not attempt to write to me yourself, but ask mme. etienne, or that excellent grandma, who dreams of chops, to let me know about your strength, your chest, your breathing." delphine also was well aware of the unsatisfactory state of his finances, for she writes that she would like to know something about "that jew; if he called and was able to be of service to you." what follows is in a vein of sadness, showing that her own life was not without its sorrows. "here everything is sad and lonely, but my life goes on in much the usual way; if only it will continue without further bitter sorrows and trials, i shall be able to support it. for me the world has no more happiness, no more joy. all those to whom i have wished well ever have rewarded me with ingratitude or caused me other _tribulations_." (the _italics_ are hers.) "after all, this existence is nothing but a great discord." then, with a "_que dieu vous garde_," she bids him _au revoir_ till the beginning of october at the latest. note that it was in october, , that chopin took to his deathbed; that in another passage of the letter she advised him to think of nice for the winter; and that it was from nice she was summoned to his bedside. it would seem as if she had received alarming advices regarding his health; had hastened to paris and then to the riviera to make arrangements for him to pass the winter there; and then, learning that the worst was feared, had hurried back to solace his last hours. then came what is perhaps the most touching scene that has been handed down to us from the lives of the great composers. when delphine entered what was soon to be the death chamber, chopin's sister louise and a few of his most intimate friends were gathered there. she took her place by louise. when the dying man opened his eyes and saw her standing at the foot of his bed, tall, slight, draped in white, resembling a beautiful angel, and mingling her tears with those of his sister, his lips moved, and those nearest him, bending over to catch his words, heard him ask that she would sing. mastering her emotion by a strong effort of the will, she sang in a voice of bell-like purity the canticle to the virgin attributed to stradella,--sang it so devoutly, so ethereally, that the dying man, "artist and lover of the beautiful to the very last," whispered in ecstasy, "how exquisite! again, again!" once more she sang--this time a psalm by marcello. it was the haunted hour of twilight. the dying day draped the scene in its mysterious shadows. those at the bedside had sunk noiselessly on their knees. over the mournful accompaniment of sobs floated the voice of delphine like a melody from heaven. chopin died on october , , just as the bells of paris were tolling the hour of three in the morning. he was known to love flowers, and in death he literally was covered with them. the funeral was held from the madeleine, where mozart's "requiem" was sung, the solos being taken by pauline viardot-garcia, castellan and lablache. meyerbeer is said to have conducted, but this has been contradicted. he was, however, one of the pallbearers on the long way from the church to père la chaise. when the remains were lowered into the grave, some polish earth, which chopin had brought with him from wola nineteen years before and piously guarded, was scattered over the coffin. there is nothing to show what part, save that of a mourner, delphine potocka took in his funeral. but though it was the famous viardot-garcia whose voice rang out in the madeleine, it was hers that had sung him to his eternal rest. [illustration: the death of chopin. from the painting by barrias.] how long did delphine survive chopin? in liszt met her at baden, postponing his intended departure for carlsruhe a day in order to dine with her. in may, , he met her at dinner at the rothschilds'. when chopin's pupil, mikuli, was preparing his edition of the composer's works, delphine furnished him copies of several compositions bearing expression marks and other directions in the hand of chopin himself. mikuli dated his edition . it would seem as if the countess still were living at or about that time. besides the aid she thus gave in the preparation of the mikuli edition of chopin's works, there is other evidence that she treasured the composer's memory. in , when he had been dead eight years, there was published a biographical dictionary of polish and slavonic musicians, a book now very rare. although the potocka was only an amateur, her name was included in the publication. evidently the biographies of living people were furnished by themselves. chopin's fame at that time did not approximate what it is now. yet in the second sentence of her biography delphine records that she was "the intimate friend of the illustrious chopin." forgetting that the line of the potockis is a long one, the public for years has associated with chopin the famous pastel portrait of countess potocka in the royal berlin gallery. the countess potocka of that portrait had a career that reads like a romance, but she was sophie, not delphine potocka. my discovery of a miniature of countess sophie potocka in philadelphia, painted some fifteen or twenty years later than the berlin pastel, and of numerous references to her in the diary of an american traveller who was entertained by her in poland early in the last century, were among the interesting results of my search for information regarding delphine, but they have no place here. probably the public, which clings to romance, still will cling to the pastel portrait of countess potocka as that of the woman who sang to the dying chopin--and so the portrait is reproduced here. barrias, the french historical painter, who was in paris when chopin lived there, painted "the death of chopin." it shows delphine singing to the dying man. as barrias had his reputation as a historical painter to sustain and as the likenesses of others on the canvas are correct, it is not improbable that he painted delphine as he saw or remembered her. if so, this is the only known portrait of chopin's faithful friend, the countess delphine potocka. of course no one who undertakes to write about chopin (or only to read about him for that matter) can escape the episode with mme. dudevant,--george sand,--who used man after man as living "copy," and when she had finished with him cast him aside for some new experience. but the story has been admirably told by huneker and others and its disagreeable details need not be repeated here. it may have been love, even passion, while it lasted, but it ended in harsh discord; whereas delphine, sweet and pure and tender, ever was like a strain of chopin's own exquisite music vibrating in a sympathetic heart. the schumanns: robert and clara robert and clara schumann are names as closely linked in music as those of robert and elizabeth barrett browning in literature. robert schumann was a great composer, clara schumann a great pianist. in her dual rôle of wife and virtuosa she was the first to secure proper recognition for her husband's genius. surviving him many years, she continued the foremost interpreter of his works, winning new laurels not only for herself but also for him. he was in his grave--yet she had but to press the keyboard and he lived in her. despite the fact that tastes underwent a change and wagner became the musical giant of the nineteenth century, clara, faithful to the ideal of her youth and her young womanhood, saw to it that the fame of him whose name she bore remained undimmed. hers was, indeed, a consecrated widowhood. robert was eighteen years old, clara only nine, when they first met; but while he had not yet definitely decided on a profession, she, in the very year of their meeting, made her début as a pianist, and thus began a career which lasted until , a period of nearly seventy years! when they first met, schumann was studying law at the leipsic university. born in zwickau, saxony, in , he showed both as a boy and as a youth not only strong musical proclivities, but also decided literary predilections. in the latter his father, a bookseller and publisher, who loved his trade, saw a reflection of his own tastes, and they were encouraged rather more sedulously than the boy's musical bent. it was in obedience to his father's wishes that he matriculated at leipsic, although he composed and played the piano, and his desire to make music his profession was beginning to get the upper hand. his meeting with the nine-year-old girl decided him--so early in her life did she begin to influence his career! [illustration: robert schumann.] schumann had been invited by his friends, dr. and mrs. carus, to an evening of music, and especially to hear the piano playing of a wonder-child--a "musical fairy," his hostess called her. in the course of the evening he accompanied frau carus in some schubert songs, when, chancing to look up, he saw a child dressed in white, her pretty face framed in dark hair, her expressive eyes raised toward the singer in rapt admiration. the song over, and the applause having died away, he stepped up to the child, laid his hand kindly on her head, and asked, "are you musical, too, little one?" a curious smile played around her lips. she was about to answer, when a man came to her and led her to the piano, and the first thing schumann knew the shapely little hands struck into beethoven's f-minor sonata and played it through with a firm, sure touch and fine musical feeling. no wonder she had smiled at his question. "was i right in calling her a musical fairy'?" asked frau carus of schumann. "her face is like that of a guardian angel in a picture that hangs in my mother's room at home," was his reply. little he knew then that this child was destined to become his own good fairy and "guardian angel." had he foreseen what she was to be to him, he could not more aptly have described her. the most important immediate result of the meeting was that he became a pupil of her father, friedrich wieck, whose remarkable skill as a teacher had carried his daughter so far at such an early age. the lessons stopped when schumann went to heidelberg to continue his studies, but he and wieck, who was convinced of the young man's musical genius, corresponded in a most friendly manner. clara, who was born in leipsic in , became her father's pupil in her fifth year. it is she who chiefly reflected glory upon him as a master, but, among his other pupils, hans von bülow became famous, and clara's half-sister marie also was a noted pianist. wieck's system was not a hard-and-fast one, but varied according to the individuality of each pupil. he was to his day what leschetizky, the teacher of paderewski, is now. very soon after her meeting with schumann, clara made her public début, and with great success. among those who heard and praised her highly during this first year of her public career was paganini. in , two years after the first meeting of robert and clara, schumann, his father having died, wrote to his mother and his guardian and begged them to allow him to choose a musical career, referring them to wieck for an opinion as to his musical abilities. the mother wrote to wieck a letter which is highly creditable to her heart and judgment, and wieck's reply is equally creditable to him as a friend and teacher. evidently his powers of penetration led him to entertain the highest hopes for schumann. among other things he writes that, with due diligence, robert should in a few years become one of the greatest pianists of the day. why wieck's hopes in this particular were not fulfilled, and why, for this reason, clara's gifts as a pianist were doubly useful to schumann, we shall see shortly. [illustration: robert and clara schumann in . from a lithograph in possession of the society of friends of music, vienna.] schumann entered with enthusiasm upon the career of his choice. he left heidelberg and took lodgings with the wiecks in leipsic. clara, then a mere girl, though already winning fame as a concert pianist, certainly was too young for him to have fallen seriously in love with, or for her to have responded to any such feeling. even at that early age, however, she exercised a strange power of attraction over him. his former literary tastes had given him a great fund of stories and anecdotes, and he delighted in the evenings to gather about him the children of the family, clara among them, and entertain them with tales from the arabian nights and ghost and fairy stories. among his compositions at this time are a set of impromptus on a theme by clara, and it is significant of his regard for her that later he worked them over, as if he did not consider them in their original shape good enough for her. then we have from this period a letter which he wrote to the twelve-year-old girl while she was concertizing in frankfort, and in which the expressions certainly transcend those of a youth for a child, or of an elder brother for a sister, if one cared to picture their relations as such. indeed, he writes to her that he often thinks other "not as a brother does of a sister, nor as one friend of another, but as a pilgrim of a distant altar-picture." he asks her if she has composed much, adding, "in my dreams i sometimes hear music--so you must be composing." he confides in her about his own work, tells her that his theoretical studies (with heinrich dorn) have progressed as far as the three-part fugue; and that he has a sonata in b minor and a set of "papillons" ready; then jokingly asks her how the frankfort apples taste and inquires after the health of the f above the staff in the "jumpy chopin variation," and informs her that his paper is giving out. "everything gives out, save the friendship in which i am fraulein c. w.'s warmest admirer." for a letter from a man of twenty-one to a girl of twelve, the above is remarkable. if clara had not afterward become robert's wife, it would have interest merely as a curiosity. as matters eventuated, it is a charming prelude to the love-symphony of two lives. moreover, there seems to have been ample ground for schumann's admiration. dorn has left a description of clara as she was at this time, which shows her to have been unusually attractive. he speaks of her as a fascinating girl of thirteen, "graceful in figure, of blooming complexion, with delicate white hands, a profusion of black hair, and wise, glowing eyes. everything about her was appetizing, and i never have blamed my pupil, young robert schumann, that only three years later he should have been completely carried away by this lovely creature, his former fellow-pupil and future wife." her purity and her genius, added to her beauty, may well have combined to make robert, musical dreamer and enthusiast on the threshold of his career, think of her, when absent, "as a pilgrim of a distant altar-picture." she was clever, too, and through her concert tours was seeing much of the world for those days. in weimar she played for goethe, the great poet himself getting a cushion for her and placing it on the piano stool in order that she might sit high enough; and not only praising her playing, but also presenting her with his likeness in a medallion. the poet grillparzer, after hearing her play in vienna beethoven's f-minor sonata, wrote a delightful poem. "clara wieck and beethoven's f-minor sonata." it tells how a magician, weary of life, locked all his charms in a shrine, threw the key into the sea, and died. in vain men tried to force open the shrine. at last a girl, wandering by the strand and watching their vain efforts, simply dipped her white fingers into the sea and drew forth the key, with which she opened the shrine and released the charms. and now the freed spirits rise and fall at the bidding of their lovely, innocent mistress, who guides them with her white fingers as she plays. the imagery of this tribute to clara's playing is readily understood. in paris she heard chopin and mendelssohn. all these experiences tended to her early development, and there is little wonder if schumann saw her older than she really was. in schumann's early literary tastes asserted themselves, but now in connection with music. he founded the "neue zeitschrift für musik," which under his editorship soon became one of the foremost musical periodicals of the day. among his own writings for it is the enthusiastic essay on one of chopin's early works, in which schumann, as he did later in the case of brahms, discovered the unmistakable marks of genius. the name of chopin brings me back to wieck's prophecy regarding schumann as a pianist. the latter in his enthusiasm devised an apparatus for finger gymnastics which he practised so assiduously that he strained one of his fingers and permanently impaired his technique, making a pianistic career an impossibility. through this accident he was unable to introduce his own piano works to the public, so that the importance of the service rendered him by clara, in taking his compositions into her repertoire, both before and after their marriage, was doubled. one evening at wieck's, schumann was anxious to hear some new chopin works which he had just received. realizing that his lame finger rendered him incapable of playing, he called out despairingly: "who will lend me fingers?" "i will," said clara, and sat down and played the pieces for him. she "lent him her fingers;" and that is precisely what she did for him through life in making his piano and chamber music compositions known. familiarity with schumann's music enables us of to-day to appreciate its beauty. but for its day it was, like brahms' music later, of a kind that makes its way slowly. left to the general musical public, it probably would have been years in sinking into their hearts. such music requires to be publicly performed by a sympathetic interpreter before receiving its meed of merit. schumann had hoped to be his own interpreter. he saw that hope vanish, but a lovely being came to his aid. she saw his works come into life; their creation was part of her own existence; she fathomed his genius to its utmost depths; her whole being vibrated in sympathy with his, and when she sat down at the piano and pressed the keys, it was as though he himself were the performer. she was his fingers--fingers at once deft and delicate. she played with a double love--love for him and love for his music. and why should she not love it? she was as much the mother of his music as of his children. i have already indicated that clara probably developed early. at all events, there are letters from schumann to her, at fourteen, which leave no doubt that he was in love with her then, or that she could have failed to perceive this. in one of these letters he proposes this highly poetic, not to say psychological, method of communicating with her. "promptly at eleven o'clock to-morrow morning," he writes, "i will play the _adagio_ from the chopin variations and will think strongly--in fact only--of you. now i beg of you that you will do the same, so that we may meet and see each other in spirit. . . . should you not do this, and there break to-morrow at that hour a chord, you will know that it is i." [illustration: clara schumann at the piano.] however far the affair may or may not have progressed at this time, there was a curious interruption during the following year. robert appears to have temporarily lost his heart to a certain ernestine von fricken, a young lady of sixteen, who was one of wieck's pupils. clara consoled herself by permitting a musician named banck to pay her attention. for reasons which never have been clearly explained, schumann suddenly broke with ernestine and turned with renewed ardor to clara, while clara at once withdrew her affections from banck and retransferred them to schumann. we find him writing to her again in : "through all the autumn festivals there looks out an angel's head that closely resembles a certain clara who is very well known to me." by the following year, clara then being seventeen, things evidently had gone so far that, between themselves, they were engaged. "fate has destined us for each other," he writes to her. "i myself knew that long ago, but i had not the courage to tell you sooner, nor the hope to be understood by you." wieck evidently had remained in ignorance of the young people's attachment, for, when on clara's birthday the following year ( ) schumann made formal application in writing for her hand, her father gave an evasive answer, and on the suit being pressed, he, who had been almost like a second father to robert, became his bitter enemy. clara, however, remained faithful to her lover through the three years of unhappiness which her father's sudden hatred of robert caused them. in she was in paris, and from there she wrote to her father: "my love for schumann is, it is true, a passionate love; i do not, however, love him solely out of passion and sentimental enthusiasm, but, furthermore, because i think him one of the best of men, because i believe no other man could love me as purely and nobly as he or so understandingly; and i believe, also, on my part that i can make him wholly happy through allowing him to possess me, and that i understand him as no other woman could." this love obviously was one not lightly bestowed, but wieck remained obdurate and refused his consent. then schumann took the only step that under the circumstances was possible. wieck's refusal of his consent being a legal bar to the marriage, robert invoked the law to set his future father-in-law's objections aside. the case was tried, decided in schumann's favor, and on september , , robert schumann and clara wieck were married in the village of schönefeld, near leipsic. that year schumann composed no less than one hundred and thirty-eight songs, among them some of his most beautiful. they were his wedding gift to clara. after their marriage his inspiration blossomed under her very eyes. she was the companion of his innermost thoughts and purposes. meanwhile his musical genius and critical acumen ever were at her command in her work as a pianist. happily, too, a reconciliation was effected with wieck, and we find clara writing to him about the first performance of schumann's piano quintet (now ranked as one of the finest compositions of its class), on which occasion she, of course, played the piano part. four years after their marriage the schumanns removed to dresden, remaining there until , when they settled in düsseldorf, where robert had been appointed musical director. there was but one shadow over their lives. at times a deep melancholy came over him, and in this clara discerned with dread possible symptoms of coming mental disorder. her fears were only too well founded. early in february, , he arose during the night and demanded light, saying that schubert had appeared to him and given him a melody which he must write out forthwith. on the th of the same month, he quietly left his house, went to the bridge across the rhine and threw himself into the river. boatmen prevented his intended suicide. when he was brought home and had changed his wet clothes for dry ones, he sat down to work on a variation as if nothing had happened. within less than a week he was removed at his own request to a sanatorium at endenich, where he died july , . [illustration: the schumann monument in the bonn cemetery.] clara survived him forty years, wearing a crown of laurels and thorns--the laurels of a famous pianist, the thorns of her widowhood. it was a widowhood consecrated, as much as her wifehood had been, to her husband's genius. she died at frankfort, may , , and is buried beside her husband in bonn. franz liszt and his carolyne in the famous wagner-liszt correspondence, liszt writes from weimar, under date of april , , "daily the princess greets me with the lines 'nicht gut, noch geld, noch göttliche pracht.'" the lines are from "götterdämmerung," the whole passage being-- "nor goods, nor gold, nor godlike splendor; nor house, nor home, nor lordly state; nor hollow contracts of a treach'rous race, its cruel cant, its custom and decree. blessed, in joy and sorrow, let love alone be." the lady who according to liszt daily greeted him with these significant lines was the princess carolyne sayn-wittgenstein. since she and her young daughter marie had been living with liszt at the altenburg in weimar. she remained there until , twelve years, when she went to rome, whither, in due time, liszt followed her, to make the eternal city one of his homes for the rest of his life. his last letter to her is dated july , , the year and month of his death, so that for a period of nearly forty years he enjoyed the personal and intellectual companionship of this remarkable woman. their relations form one of the great love romances of the last century. [illustration: franz liszt. painting by ary scheffer.] liszt's letters to the princess, written in french and still untranslated, are in four volumes. they were published by the princess's daughter, princess marie hohenlohe, as a tribute to liszt the musician and the man. they teem with his musical activities--information regarding the numerous celebrities with whom he was intimate, the musicians he aided, his own great works. but their rarest charm to me lies in the fact that from them the careful reader can glean the whole story of the romance of liszt and carolyne, from its very beginnings to his death. we know the fascinating male figure in this romance--the extraordinary combination of unapproached virtuoso, great composer, and man of the world; but who was the equally fascinating woman? carolyne von iwanowska was born near kiew, russian poland, in february, . when she still was young her parents separated, and she divided her time between them. her mother possessed marked social graces, travelled much, was a favorite at many courts, and, as a pupil of rossini's in singing, was admired by spontini and meyerbeer, and was sought after in the most select salons, including that of metternich, the austrian chancellor. from her carolyne inherited her charm of manner. intellectually, however, she was wholly her father's child; and he was her favorite parent. he was a wealthy landed proprietor, and in the administration of his estates, he frequently consulted her. moreover he had an active, studious mind, and he found in her an interested companion in his pursuits. often they sat up until late into the night discussing various questions, and both of them--smoking strong cigars! in her hand was asked in marriage by prince nicolaus von sayn-wittgenstein. she thrice refused, but finally accepted him at her father's instigation. the prince was a handsome but otherwise commonplace man, and not at all the husband for this charming, mentally alert and finely strung woman. the one happiness that came to her through this marriage was her daughter marie. liszt came to kiew on a concert tour in february, . he announced a charity concert, for which he received a contribution of one hundred rubles from princess carolyne. he already had heard other, but she had been described to him as a miserly and peculiar person. the gift surprised him the more for this. he called on her to thank her, found her a brilliant conversationalist, was charmed with her in every way, and concluded that what the gossips considered peculiarities were merely the evidences of an original and positive mentality. upon the woman, who was in revolt against the restraints of an unhappy married life, liszt, from whose eyes shone the divine spark, who was as much _au fait_ in the salon as at the piano, and who already had been worshipped by a long succession of women, made a deep impression. thus they were drawn to each other at this very first meeting. when, a little later, liszt took her into his confidence regarding his ambition to devote more time to composition, and communicated to her his idea of composing a symphony on dante's "divine comedy" with scenic illustrations, she offered to pay the twenty thousand thalers which these would cost. liszt subsequently changed his mind regarding the need of scenery to his "dante," but the princess's generous offer increased his admiration for her. it was a tribute to himself as well as to his art, and an expression of her confidence in his genius as a composer (shared at that time by but few) which could not fail to touch him deeply. it at once created a bond of artistic and personal sympathy between them. she was carried away by his playing, and the programme of his first concert which she attended was treasured by her, and after her death, forty years later, was found among her possessions by her daughter. [illustration: liszt at the piano.] if it was not love at first sight between these two, it must have been nearly that. liszt came to kiew in february, . the same month carolyne invited him to visit her at one of her country seats, woronince. brief correspondence already had passed between them. to his fifth note he adds, as a postscript, "i am in the best of humor . . . and find, now that the world contains woronince, that the world is good, very good!" the great pianist continued his tour to constantinople. when he writes to the princess from there, he already "is at her feet." later in the same year he is hers "heart and soul." early the following year he quotes for her these lines from "paradise lost:" "for contemplation he, and valour formed, for softness she, and sweet attractive grace; he for god only, she for god in him!" she presents him with a baton set with jewels; he writes to her about the first concert at which he will use it. he transcribes schubert's lovely song, "my sweet repose, my peace art thou," and tells her that he can play it only for her. at the same time their letters to each other are filled with references to public affairs and literary, artistic and musical matters. they are the letters of two people of broad and cultivated taste, who are drawn to each other by every bond of intellect and sentiment. is it a wonder that but little more than a year after they met, the princess decided to burn her bridges behind her and leave her husband? through his friend, prince felix lichnowsky, liszt arranged that they should meet at krzyzanowitz, one of the lichnowsky country seats in austrian silesia. "may the angel of the lord lead you, my radiant morning star!" he exclaims. at the same time he has an eye to the practical side of the affair, and describes the place as just the one for their meeting point, because lichnowsky will be too busy to remain there, and there will not be a soul about, save the servants. it was shortly before the revolution of . to gain permission to cross the border, the princess pretended to be bound for carlsbad, for the waters. liszt's valet met her and her daughter as soon as they were out of russia, took them to ratibor, where they were received by lichnowsky, who conducted them to liszt. after a few days at this place of meeting, they went to graz, where they spent a fortnight in another of the lichnowsky villas. among the miscellaneous correspondence of liszt is a letter from graz to his friend franz von schober, councillor of legation at weimar, where liszt was settled as court conductor. in it he describes the princess as "without doubt an uncommonly and thoroughly brilliant example of soul and mind and intelligence (with a prodigious amount of _esprit_ as well). you readily will understand," he adds, "that henceforth i can dream very little of personal ambition and of a future wrapped up in myself. in political relations serfdom may have an end; but the dominion of one soul over another in the spirit region--should that not remain indestructible?"--oh, liszt's prophetic soul! thereafter his life was shaped by this extraordinary woman, for weal and, it must be confessed, for reasons which will appear later, partly for woe. the grandduchess of weimar took the princess under her protection, and she settled at weimar in the altenburg, while liszt lived in the hotel zum erbprinzen. many tender missives passed between them. "bonjour, mon bon ange!" writes liszt. "on vous aime et vous adore du matin au soir et du soir au matin."--"on vous attend et vous bénit, chère douce lumière de mon âme!"--"je suis triste comme toujours et toutes les fois que je n'entends pas votre voix--que je ne regarde pas vos yeux." [illustration: the princess carolyne in her later years at rome.] one of the billets relates to an incident that has become historic. wagner had been obliged, because of his participation in the revolution, to flee from dresden. he sought refuge with liszt in weimar, but, learning that the saxon authorities were seeking to apprehend him, decided to continue his flight to switzerland. he was without means and, at the moment, liszt, too, was out of funds. in this extremity, liszt despatched a few lines to the princess. "can you send me by bearer sixty thalers? wagner is obliged to flee, and i am unable at present to come to his aid. _bonne et heureuse nuit_." the money was forthcoming, and wagner owed his safety to the princess. this is but one instance in which, at liszt's instigation, she was the good fairy of poor musicians. about a year after the princess settled in the altenburg, liszt, too, took up his residence there. from that time until they left it, it was the mecca of musical europe. thither came von bülow and rubinstein, then young men; joachim and wieniawski; brahms, on his way to schumann, who, as the result of this visit from brahms, wrote the famous article hailing him as the coming messiah of music; berlioz, and many, many others. the altenburg was the headquarters of the wagner propaganda. from there came material and artistic comfort to wagner during the darkest hours of his exile and poverty. wendelin weissheimer, a german orchestral leader, a friend of liszt and wagner, and of many other notable musicians of his day, has given in his reminiscences (which should have been translated long ago) a delightful glimpse of life at the altenburg. he describes a dinner at which von bronsart, the composer, and count laurencin, the musical writer, were the other guests. at table the princess did the honors "most graciously," and her "divinity," franz liszt, was in "buoyant spirits." after the champagne, the company rose and went upstairs to the smoking-room and music salon, which formed one apartment, "for with liszt, smoking and music-making were, on such occasions, inseparable." one touch in weissheimer's description recalls the princess's early acquired habit of smoking. "he [liszt] always had excellent havanas, of unusual length, ready, and they were passed around with the coffee. the princess also had come upstairs. when liszt sat down at one of the two pianos, she drew an armchair close up to it and seated herself expectantly, also with one of the long havanas in her mouth and pulling delectably at it. we others, too, drew up near liszt, who had the manuscript of his 'faust' symphony open before him. of course he played the whole orchestra; of course the way in which he did it was indescribable; and--of course we all were in the highest state of exaltation. after the glorious 'gretchen' division of the symphony, the princess sprang up from the armchair, caught hold of liszt and kissed him so fervently that we all were deeply moved. [in the interim her long havana had gone out.]" the years which liszt passed with the princess at the altenburg, and when he was most directly under her influence, were the most glorious in his career. besides the "faust" symphony, he composed during this period the twelve symphonic poems, thus originating a new and highly important musical form, which may be said to bear, in their liberation from pedantry, the same relation to the set symphony that the music drama does to opera; the "rhapsodies hongroises;" his piano sonata and concertos; the "graner messe;" and the beginnings of his "christus" and "legend of the holy elizabeth." the princess ordered the household arrangements in such a way that the composer should not be disturbed in his work. no one was admitted to him without her _visé_; she attended to the voluminous correspondence which, with a man of so much natural courtesy as liszt, would have occupied an enormous amount of his time. he was the acknowledged head of the wagner movement, at that time regarded as nothing short of revolutionary; he was looked upon as the friend of all progressive propaganda in his art; to play for liszt, to have his opinion on performance or composition, was the ambition of every musical celebrity, or would-be one; his cooperation in innumerable concerts and music festivals was sought for. his was a name to conjure with. between him and these assaults on his almost proverbial kindness stood the princess, and the list of his great musical productions during this period, to say nothing of his literary work, like the rhapsody on chopin, is the tale of what the world owes her for her devotion. the relations between liszt and the princess were frankly acknowledged, and by the world as frankly accepted, as if they were two exceptional beings in whom one could pardon things which in the case of ordinary mortals would mean social ostracism. the nearest approach to this situation was that of george eliot and lewes. but with liszt and his princess the world, possibly after the fashion of the continent, was far more lenient, and their lives in their outward aspects were far more brilliant. no exalted mind in literature, music, art or science passed through weimar, or came near it, without being drawn to the altenburg as by a magnet. there seems to have been within its walls an almost uninterrupted intellectual revel, or, to use a trite expression, which here is most apt, a steady feast of reason and flow of soul. the sojourn of liszt and the princess in the altenburg was a "golden period" for weimar, a revival of the time when goethe lived there and reflected his glory upon it. [illustration: the altenburg, weimar, where liszt and carolyne lived.] and yet--convention is the result of the concentrated essence of the experience of ages; and no one seems able to break through it without the effort leaving a scar. it cast its shadow even over the life at the altenburg. there remained one great longing to the princess, the nonfulfilment of which was as a void in her soul. she yearned to bear the name of the man she adored. during the twelve years of their weimar sojourn she battled for it, but in vain. then she transferred the battlefield to rome. her husband, a protestant, had found no difficulty in securing a divorce from her. she was an ardent roman catholic, and the church stood in her way, her own relatives, who had been scandalized at her flight, being active in invoking its opposition. she went to rome in the spring of , to press her suit at the very centre of churchly authority. liszt remained in weimar awaiting word from her. it took her more than a year to secure the papal sanction. then, when everything seemed auspiciously settled and her marriage with liszt a certainty, her enthusiasm led her to take a step which, at the very last moment, proved fatal to her long-cherished hope. had she returned at once to weimar, her union with liszt undoubtedly would have taken place. but no. in her joy she must go too far. in rome, there where the marriage had been interdicted, there where she had successfully overcome opposition to it, there it should take place. her triumph should be complete. liszt was sent for. his last two letters to her before their meeting in rome are dated from marseilles in october, . the marriage was to take place october , his fiftieth birthday. he writes her from the hotel des empereurs, himself "_plus heureux que tous les empereurs du monde_!" and again, "_mon long exil va finir_." yet it was only just beginning! he arrived in rome on october . all arrangements for the ceremony in the san carlo al corso had been made. then, by a strange fatality, it chanced that several of the princess's relations, who were most bitter against her, entered upon the scene. of all times, they happened to be in rome at this critical moment, and, getting wind of the impending marriage, they entered a violent protest. when, on the evening of the st, liszt was visiting the princess, a papal messenger called and announced that his holiness had decided to forbid the ceremony until he could look into the matter more fully, and requested from her a resubmission of the documents bearing on the case. to the princess, then on the threshold of realizing her most cherished hopes, this was the last stroke. her over-wrought nature saw in it a judgment of heaven. she refused to resubmit the papers; and even, when a few years later, prince wittgenstein died and she was free, she regarded marriage with liszt as opposed by the divine will. a strain of mysticism, nurtured by busy ecclesiastics, developed itself in her; she became possessed of the idea that she was a chosen instrument in the church's hands to further its interests; and with feverish, desperate energy she devoted herself to literary work as its champion. she had her own press, which set up each day's work and showed it to her in proof the next. she did not leave rome except on one occasion, and then for less than a day, during the remaining twenty-six years of her life. it has been hinted more than once that the princess's course was not as completely governed by religious mysticism as might be supposed--that her sensitive nature had divined in liszt an unexpressed opposition to the marriage, as if, possibly, he did not wish to be tied down to her, yet felt bound in honor, because of the sacrifices she had made for him, to appear to share her hope. la mara (marie lipsius), the editor of the liszt letters and whose interesting notes form the connecting links in the correspondence, does not take this view. it is noticeable, however, although liszt and the princess saw each other frequently whenever he was in rome, and he became an abbé probably through her influence, that while in some of his letters to her in later years there are notes of regret, those written after the crisis in rome breathe an intellectual rather than a personal affinity. be this as it may, it was a tragedy in his life as well as in her own. practically the rest of his life was divided, each year, between budapest, at the conservatory there; weimar, but no longer at the altenburg; and rome, but not at the princess's residence, piazza di spagna. thus he had three homes--none of which was home. the "golden period" of his life, as well as the altenburg itself, where others now were installed, were dim shadows of the past. liszt was the "grand old man" of the piano, and is a great figure among composers; but whoever knows the story of the last years of his life, sees him a wandering and pathetic figure. he died at bayreuth in july, ; carolyne survived him less than a year. the literary work of her twenty-six years in rome probably will be forgotten; it will be the linking of her name with liszt, and its association with the "golden period" of weimar, that will cause her to be remembered. wagner and cosima no woman not a professional musician has ever played so important a part in musical history as "frau cosima," the widow of richard wagner. in fact, has any woman, professional musician or not? bear in mind who "frau cosima" is. she is the daughter of franz liszt, the greatest pianist and one of the great composers of the last century, and was the wife and, in the most exalted meaning of the term, the helpmeet of the greatest of all composers! the two men with whom cosima has thus stood in such intimate relation are exceptional even among great musicians. composers are usually strongly emotional, inspired in all that pertains to their art, but with a specialist's lack of interest in everything else. not so, however, liszt or wagner, for not since the time of beethoven had there been two musicians who, in the exercise of their art, approached it from so clear an intellectual standpoint. beethoven through the greatness of his mind was able to enlarge the symphonic form, which had been left by haydn and mozart. it became more responsive, more plastic, in his hands. form in art is the creation of the intellect; what goes into it is the outflow of the heart. thus liszt created the symphonic poem, and wagner completely revolutionized the musical stage by creating the music-drama. into the symphonic poem, into the music-drama, they put their hearts; but the creation of these forms was in each an intellectual _tour de force_. the musician who thinks as well as feels is the one who advances his art. in the historic struggle between wagner and the classicists liszt played a large part. he was the first to produce "lohengrin"--was, as orchestral conductor, its subtle interpreter, and, thus, a pioneer of the new school; he was wagner's steadfast champion through life, and a beautiful friendship existed between "richard" and "franz." [illustration: richard wagner. from the original lithograph of the egusquiza portrait.] even now the reader can begin to realize the rôle cosima has played in music. that she is the daughter of liszt is not in itself wonderful, but that she should have fulfilled the mission to which she was born is one of the most exquisite touches of fate. liszt was one of wagner's first champions and friends. he came to the composer's aid in the darkest years of his career--during that long exile after wagner had been obliged to flee from germany because of his participation in the revolution of . it was, in fact, through liszt that wagner received the means to continue his flight from the saxon authorities and cross the border to safety in switzerland. nor did liszt's beneficence stop there. from afar he continued to be wagner's good fairy. to fully appreciate liszt's action at this time, one must keep in mind the position of the saxon composer. to-day his fame is world-wide; we can scarcely realize that there was a time when his genius was not recognized, but at that time he was not famous at all. those who had the slightest premonition of what the future would accord him were a mere handful of enthusiasts. such a thing as a wagner cult was undreamed of. he had produced three works for the stage. "rienzi" had been a brilliant success, "the flying dutchman" a mere _succès d'estime_, "tannhäuser" a comparative failure. from a popular point of view he had not sustained the promise of his first work. we know now that compared with his second and third works "rienzi" is trash, and that rarely has a composer made such wonderful forward strides in his art as did wagner with "the flying dutchman" and "tannhäuser." but that was not the opinion when they were produced. the former, although it is now acknowledged to be an exquisitely poetic treatment of the weird legend, was voted sombre and dull, and "tannhäuser" was simply a puzzle. after listening to "tannhäuser," schumann declared that wagner was unmusical! unless a person is familiar with wagner's life, it is impossible to believe how bitter was the opposition to his theories and to his music. does it seem possible now that he had to struggle for twenty-five years before he could secure the production of his "ring of the nibelung"? yet such was the case. then, too, he was poor, and sometimes driven to such straits that he contemplated suicide. when the public remained indifferent to one of his works and critics reviled it, wagner's usual method of reply was to produce something still more advanced. thus, when "tannhäuser" proved caviar to the public, and seemed to affect the critics like a red rag waved before a bull, he promptly sat down and wrote and composed "lohengrin." but how should he, an exile, secure its production? there it lay a mute score. as he turned its pages, the notes looked out at him appealingly for a hearing. it was like a homesick child asking for its own. what did wagner do? he wrote a few lines to liszt. the answer was not long in coming. liszt was already making the necessary arrangements to accede to wagner's request and produce "lohengrin" in weimar, where he was musical director. liszt's name gave great _éclat_ to the undertaking; and through the acclaim which, with the aid of his pupils and admirers, he understood so well how to create, it attracted widespread attention, musicians from far and near in germany coming to hear it. of course, opinions on the work were divided, but the band of wagner enthusiasts received accessions, and the interest in the production had been too intense not to leave an impression. the performance was, in fact, epoch-making. it raised a "wagner question" which would not down; which kept at least his earlier works before the public; and which made him, even while still a fugitive from germany, and an exile, a prominent figure in the musical circles of the country that refused him the right to cross its borders. all this was done by liszt. next to wagner's own genius, which would eventually have fought its way into the open, the influence that first brought wagner some degree of recognition was franz liszt. his assistance to wagner at this stage in that composer's career cannot be overestimated. he was his tonic in despair, his solace in his darkest hours. few men appear in a nobler rôle than liszt in his correspondence with wagner during this period. is it not marvellous that some twenty years later, at another crisis in wagner's life, another being came to his aid and became to him as a haven of rest; and that that being should have been none other than the daughter of his earlier benefactor, franz liszt? fate often is cruel and often unaccountable, but in this instance it seems to have acted the rôle of cupid with an exquisite sense of what was appropriate, and to have set the crowning glory of a great woman's love upon wagner's career. when liszt was producing "lohengrin," aiding wagner pecuniarily, and cheering him in his exile, cosima liszt was a young girl in paris, where she, her elder sister blandine (afterward the wife of emile ollivier, who became the war minister of napoleon the third) and her brother daniel lived with liszt's mother. it was in mme. liszt's house that wagner first met her. he had gone to paris in hopes of furthering his cause there. during his sojourn he held a reading of his libretto to "the ring of the nibelung" at mme. liszt's before a choice audience, which included liszt, berlioz and von bülow. this occurred in the early fifties. cosima, who was among the listeners, was at the time fifteen or sixteen years old. the mere fact of her presence at the reading is recorded. whether she was impressed with the libretto or its author we do not know. it is probable that their meeting consisted of nothing more than the mere formal introduction of the composer to the girl who was the daughter of his friend liszt, and who was to be one of the small and privileged gathering at the reading. wagner soon left paris, and if she made any impression on him at that time, he does not mention the fact in his letters. [illustration: cosima, wife of wagner. from a portrait bust made before her marriage.] whoever takes the trouble to read liszt's correspondence, which is in seven volumes and nearly all in french, will have little difficulty in discerning that cosima was his favorite child. he speaks of her affectionately as "cosette" and "cosimette." like his own, her temperament was artistic and responsive, and she also inherited his charm of manner and his exquisite tact, which, if anything, her early bringing up in paris enhanced. in , when she was twenty, wagner saw her again and describes her as "liszt's wonderful image, but of superior intellect." well might wagner speak of her resemblance to her father as wonderful. i have seen liszt and cosima together, on an occasion to be referred to later, and was struck with the remarkable likeness between father and daughter. both were idealists; if he had his eyes upon the stars, so had she. here is a passage from one of liszt's letters: "_une pensée favorite de cosima:' de quelque coté qu'un tourne la torche, la flamme se redresse et monte vers le ciel._'" ("a favorite thought of cosima's: whichever way you may turn the torch, the flame turns on itself and still points toward the heavens.'") a woman whose life holds that motto is in herself an inspiration. whatever turn fortune takes, her aspirations still blaze the way. she herself is the torch of her motto. although not a musician, although keeping herself consistently in the background during wagner's life (much as a mere private secretary would), her influence at bayreuth was continually felt; and since his death she has been the head and front of the wagner movement, and yet without seeking publicity. her intellectual force quietly assured her the succession. there have been protests against her absolute rule, but she has serenely ignored them. she still moulds to her will all the forces concerned in the bayreuth productions. when mme. nordica was preparing to sing "elsa" at bayreuth, it was frau cosima who went over the rôle with her, sometimes repeating a single phrase a hundred times in order to assure the correct pronunciation of one word. it taxed the singer to the utmost; but she found wagner's widow willing to work as long and as hard as she herself would. the performance established mme. nordica as a wagner singer. despite the criticisms that have been heaped upon frau wagner for assuming to set herself up as the great conservator of wagnerian traditions, it is significant that when, some years later, mme. nordica decided to add "sieglinde" to her repertoire, but with no special purpose of singing it at bayreuth, she arranged with frau cosima to go over the rôle with her, and in order to do so made a trip to switzerland, where the former was staying. so far as adding to her reputation was concerned, there was not the slightest reason for mme. nordica to do this. that the american prima donna elected to study with frau cosima shows that she must have found wagner's widow a woman of rare temperament. cosima was not wagner's first love, nor even his first wife. for in november, , he had married wilhelmina planer, the leading actress of the theatre in magdeburg where he was musical director of opera. her father was a spindle-maker. it is said that her desire to earn money for the household, rather than the impetus of a well-defined histrionic gift, led her to go on the stage; but, once on the stage, she discovered that she had unquestionable talent, and played leading characters in tragedy and comedy with success. minna is described as handsome, but not strikingly so; of medium height and slim figure, with "soft, gazelle-like eyes which were a faithful index of a tender heart." later, however, the princess sayn-wittgenstein wrote to liszt that she was too stout, but praised her management of the household and her excellent cuisine. her nature was the very opposite of wagner's. where he was passionate, strong-willed and ambitious, she was gentle, affectionate and retiring. where he yearned for conquest, she wanted only a well-regulated home. but she could not follow him in his art theories, and as they assumed more definite shape she became less and less able to comprehend them and, finally, they became almost a sealed book to her. [illustration: richard and cosima wagner.] doubtless, the ill success of "the flying dutchman" and "tannhäuser," works which, after "rienzi," puzzled people, engendered her first misunderstanding of wagner's genius. some may be surprised that this lack of appreciation did not bring about a separation sooner, instead of after nearly a quarter of a century of married life. but when a man is struggling with poverty, the woman who unobtrusively aids him in bearing it is regarded by him as an angel of light, and the question as to whether she appreciates his genius or not becomes a secondary one in the struggle for existence. but when at last there is some promise of success, some relief from drudgery, and with it a little leisure for companionship--then, too, there is opportunity for an estimate of intellectual quality. then it is that the man of genius discovers that the woman who has stood by him through his poverty lacks the graces of mind necessary to his complete happiness, and the self-sacrificing wife who has been his drudge, in order that he might the better meet want, and who has perhaps lost her youth and her looks in his service, is forgotten for some one else. the worst of it is that the world forgets her and all she has done for the great man in her quiet, uncomplaining way. the drudge never finds a page in the "loves of the poets." the woman who comes in and reaps where the other has sown, does. wagner's friend, ferdinand praeger, has much to say of minna's fine qualities. but he also tells several anecdotes which completely illustrate how absolutely she failed to comprehend wagner's genius and ambition. praeger visited them in their "trimly kept swiss chalet" in zurich in the summer of . one day when praeger and minna were seated at the luncheon table waiting for wagner, who was scoring the "nibelung," to come down from his study, she asked: "now, honestly, is richard really such a great genius?" remember that this question was asked about the composer of "the flying dutchman," "tannhäuser" and "lohengrin." if she was unable to discover his genius in these, how could she be expected to follow its loftier flights in his later works? on another occasion when wagner was complaining that the public did not understand him, she said: "well, richard, why don't you write something for the gallery?" so little did she understand the man whose genius was founded upon unswerving devotion to artistic truth. during praeger's visit, a former singer at the magdeburg opera and her two daughters called on wagner. they sang the music of the rhine-daughters from "rheingold." when they finished singing, minna asked praeger: "is it really as beautiful as you say? it does not seem so to me, and i'm afraid it would not sound so to others." while, as can be shown from passages in his correspondence, wagner appreciated the homely virtues of his first wife, and never, even after they had separated, allowed a word to be spoken against her, the last years of their married life were stormy. she had been tried beyond her strength, and, not sharing her husband's enormous confidence in his artistic powers, she had not the stimulus of his faith in his ultimate success to sustain her. moreover a heart trouble with which she was afflicted resulted, through the strain to which their uncertain material condition subjected her, in a growing irritability which was accentuated by jealousy of women who entered the growing circle of wagner's admirers as his genius began to be appreciated. the crisis came in , when they separated, minna retiring to dresden. two years later, when wagner was ill in paris, she went there and nursed him, but they separated again. an interesting fact, not generally known, is that, in , when wagner was in biebrich on the rhine composing his "meistersinger," minna came from dresden as a surprise to pay him a visit--evidently an effort to effect a reconciliation. wendelin weissheimer, a conductor at the opera in mayeuse on the opposite bank of the river and a close friend of wagner's at that time, has left an enlightening record of the episode. wagner, he says, "the heaven-storming genius, who knew no bounds, tried to play the rôle of hausvater--of loving husband and comforter. he had some cold edibles brought in from the hotel, made tea, and himself boiled half a dozen eggs. [what a picture! the composer of 'tristan' boiling eggs!] afterwards he put on one of his familiar velvet dressing-gowns and a fitting barretta, and proceeded to read aloud the book of 'die meistersinger.' "the first act passed off without mishap save for some unnecessary questions from minna. but at the beginning of the second act, when he had described the stage-setting--'to the right the cobbler shop of hans sachs; to the left,' etc.,--minna exclaimed: "'and here sits the audience!' at the same time letting a bread-ball roll over wagner's manuscript. that ended the reading." the visit of course was futile. minna returned to dresden, where she died in . poor minna! a good cook, but she did not appreciate his genius, would seem to sum up her story. yet it is but just that we should pay at least a passing salute to this woman who was the love of wagner's youth and the drudge of his middle life, and who, from the distance of her lonely separation, saw him basking in the favor of the king, who, too late for her, had become his munificent patron.--what a contrast between her fate and cosima's! [illustration: richard and cosima wagner entertaining in their home wahnfried, liszt, and hans von wolzogen. painting by w. beckmann.] were it not for liszt's letters, meagre would be the information regarding cosima before her marriage to wagner. but by going over his voluminous correspondence and picking out references to her here and there, i am able to give at least some idea of her earlier life. this extraordinary woman, who brought wagner so much happiness and of whom it may be said that no other woman ever played so important a part in the history of music, came to her many graces and accomplishments by right of birth. she was the daughter of liszt and the countess d'agoult, a french author, better known under her pen name of "daniel stern." thus she had genius on one side of her parentage and distinguished talent on the other; and, on both sides, rare personal charm and tact. the countess d'agoult's father, viscount flavigny, was an old royalist nobleman. while an émigré during the revolution, he had married the beautiful daughter of the frankfort banker, bethman. after the flavignys returned to france, their daughter, an extremely beautiful blonde, was brought up, partly at the flavigny château, partly at the sacré coeur de marie, in paris. talented beyond her years, her wit and beauty won her much admiration. at an early age she married count charles d'agoult, a french officer, a member of the old aristocracy and twenty years her senior. when she first met liszt she was twenty-nine years old, had been married six years and was the mother of three children. she still was beautiful, and in her salon she gathered around her men and women of rank, _esprit_ and fame. in liszt left paris after the concert season there. the countess followed him, and the next heard of them they were in switzerland. they remained together six years, cosima, born in , being one of the three children resulting from the union. in the countess's relations with liszt there appears to have been a curious mingling of _la grande passion_ and hauteur. for when, soon after she had joined him in switzerland, he urged her to secure a divorce in order that they might marry, she drew herself up and replied: "_madame la comtesse d'agoult ne sera jamais madame liszt_!" certainly none but a frenchwoman would have been capable of such a reply under the same circumstances. equally french was her husband's remark when, the countess's support having been assumed by liszt, he expressed the opinion that throughout the whole affair the pianist had behaved like a man of honor. after the separation of liszt and countess d'agoult, he entrusted the care of the three children to his mother. during a brief sojourn in paris, wagner met cosima, then a girl of sixteen, for the first time. she formed with liszt, von bülow, berlioz and a few others the very small, but extremely select, audience which, at the house of liszt's mother, heard wagner read selections from his "nibelung" dramas. in , the burden of the care of the children falling too heavily upon liszt's mother, the duty of looking after the daughters was cheerfully undertaken by the mother of hans von bülow, who resided in berlin. in a letter written by von bülow in june, , he speaks of them in these interesting terms: "these wonderful girls bear their name with right--full of talent, cleverness and life, they are interesting personalities, such as i have rarely met. another than i would be happy in their companionship. but their evident superiority annoys me, and the impossibility to appear sufficiently interesting to them prevents my appreciating the pleasure of their society as much as i would like to--there you have a confession, the candor of which you will not deny. it is not very flattering for a young man, but it is absolutely true." yet, a year later, he married cosima, one of the girls whose "superiority" so annoyed him. how strange, in view of what happened later, that von bülow so planned his wedding trip that its main objective was a visit to zurich in order that he might present cosima to wagner, who had not seen her since she had formed one of his audience at the "rheingold" reading in paris. it is in a letter to his friend, richard pohl, written the day before his wedding, that von bülow mentions the "wagnerstadt," zurich, as the aim of his wedding journey. was it fate--or fatality--that led him thither with cosima? the daughter of liszt, the bride of von bülow, being conducted on her honeymoon to the very lair of the great composer for whom she was, within a few years, to leave her husband! what wonderful musical links destiny wove in the life of this woman who herself was not a musician! hans and cosima arrived at zurich early in september. "for the last fortnight," writes von bülow, under date of september , , "i and my wife have been living in wagner's house, and i do not know anything else that could have afforded me such benefit, such refreshment as being together with this wonderful, unique man, whom one should worship as a god." on his side wagner was charmed with the von bülows. in one of his letters he speaks of their visit as his most delightful experience of the summer. "they spent three weeks in our little house; i have rarely been so pleasantly and delightfully affected as by their informal visit. in the mornings they had to keep quiet, for i was writing my 'tristan,' of which i read them an act aloud every week. if you knew cosima, you would agree with me when i conclude that this young pair is wonderfully well mated. with all their great intelligence and real artistic sympathy, there is something so light and buoyant in the two young people that one was obliged to feel perfectly at home with them." wagner allowed them to depart only under promise that they would return next year, which they did, to find a household on the verge of disruption and to be unwilling witnesses to some of the closing scenes of wagner's first marriage. during her childhood in paris cosima was frail and delicate. liszt, in one of his letters, confesses that this caused him to regard her with a deeper affection than he bestowed on her elder sister. later he speaks of her as a rare and beautiful nature of great and spontaneous charm. a friend of liszt's who saw her at the altenburg in writes that she was pale, slender, wan and thin to a degree, and that she crept through the room like a shadow. liszt was greatly concerned about her, for the year previous her brother daniel had died of consumption, and he feared she might be stricken with the same malady. daniel's death was a sad experience through which they passed together, and which strengthened the ties of tenderness that drew liszt to his younger daughter. the son died in his father's arms and in her presence. she had nursed him devotedly in his last illness. "cosima tells me," liszt wrote, before he had seen daniel on his sick-bed, "that the color of his beard and of his hair has taken on a touch of brownish red, and that he looks like a christ by correggio." together, after daniel's death, they knelt beside his bed "praying to god that his will be done--and that he reconcile us to that divine will, in according us the grace on our part to accept it without a murmur." such a scene was a memory for a lifetime. cosima herself, in one of her letters, gives a beautiful description of her brother's passage from life. "he fell back into the arms of death as into those of a guardian angel, for whom he had been waiting a long time. there was no struggle; without a distaste for life, he seemed, nevertheless, to have aspired ardently toward eternity." with a pretty touch liszt gives an idea of cosima's interest in others. it seems that a certain frau stilke was anxious to possess a gray dress of moiré antique, and liszt had persuaded the princess sayn-wittgenstein to place the necessary sum for buying it at his daughter's disposal. "in order to estimate the cost," he writes, "cosette has devised this excellent formula: it should be a dress such as one would give to persons who want a dress--only it is necessary that it should be gray and of moiré antique to satisfy the ideal of taste of the person in question." wagner does not seem to have seen cosima after the von bülows' second visit to him at zurich until they came to him for a visit at biebrich during the summer of . what a contrast cosima must have seemed to poor minna who, in the same house and but a short time before, had desecrated the manuscript of "die meistersinger" by allowing a bread-ball to roll over it! wagner's favorable opinion of hans and cosima underwent a great change during their sojourn with him. in a letter, after speaking of von bülow's depression owing to poor health, he writes: "add to this a tragic marriage; a young woman of extraordinary, quite unprecedented, endowment, liszt's wonderful image, but of superior intellect." that this woman who so impressed wagner was in her turn filled with admiration for his gifts appears from two letters which, during the summer of , she wrote from biebrich to her father. in one of these she speaks enthusiastically of some of the "tristan" music. the other letter concerns "die meistersinger:" "the 'meistersinger' is to wagner's other conceptions what the 'winter's tale' is to shakespeare's other works. its fantasy is founded on gayety and drollery, and it has called up the nuremberg of the middle ages, with its guilds, its poet-artisans, its pedants, its cavaliers, to draw forth the freshest laughter in the midst of the highest, the most ideal poetry." it is evident that two souls so sympathetic could not long remain in proximity without craving a closer union. "coming events cast their shadows before," remarks one who often was present during the biebrich visit of the von bülows to wagner. how deeply cosima sympathized with wagner's aims even then is shown by another episode of this visit. one evening the composer outlined to his friends his plans for "parsifal," adding that it probably would be his last work. the little circle was deeply affected, and cosima wept. strange prescience! "parsifal" was not produced until twenty years later, yet it proved to be the finale of wagner's life's labors. the incident has interest from another point of view. it shows that wagner had his plans for "parsifal" fairly matured in , and that it was not, as some critics, who see in it a decadence of his powers, claim, a late afterthought, designed to give to bayreuth a curiosity somewhat after the _façon_ of the oberammergau "passion play." decadence? henry t. finck, the most consistent and eloquent champion wagner has had in america, sees in it no falling off in the composer's genius; nor do i. wagner's scores always fully voice his dramas,--"parsifal" as completely as any. the subject simply required different musical treatment from the heroic "ring of the nibelung" and the impassioned "tristan." in a letter written by wagner in june, , occurs this significant sentence: "there is one good being who brightens my household." the "good being" was cosima, who from now on was destined to fill his life with the sunshine of love and of devotion to his art. "since i last saw you in munich," wagner writes to a friend, "i have not again left my asylum, which in the meanwhile also has become the refuge of her who was destined to prove that i could well be helped, and that the axiom of my many friends, that 'i could not be helped,' was false! she knew that i could be helped, and has helped me: she has defied every disapprobation and taken upon herself every condemnation." this was written in june, , a year after cosima had borne him siegfried, and two months before their marriage. for in august, , the following announcement was sent out: "we have the honor to announce our marriage, which took place on the th of august of this year in the protestant church in lucerne. richard wagner. cosima wagner, née liszt. "august , ." when, in , i attended the first performance of "parsifal" in bayreuth, i had frequent opportunity of seeing wagner and frau cosima. probably the best view i had of them together, and of franz liszt at the same time, was at a dinner given by wagner to the artists who took part in the performances. it was in one of the restaurants near the theatre on the hill overlooking bayreuth. wagner's entrance upon the scene was highly theatrical. all the singers and a few other guests had been seated, and liszt, frau cosima and siegfried wagner were in their places when the door opened and in shot wagner. it was as well calculated as the entrance of the star in a play. on his way to his seat he stopped and chatted a few moments with this one and that one. instead of wagner sitting at the head of the table and his wife at the foot, they sat together in the middle. it seemed impossible for him, though, to remain seated more than a few minutes at a time, and he was jumping up and down and running about the table all through the banquet. on the other side of wagner sat liszt; on the other side of frau cosima, siegfried wagner, then still a boy. among the four there were two pairs of likenesses. liszt was gray; but, although frau cosima's hair was blonde, and her face smooth and fair as compared with her father's, which was furrowed with age and boldly aquiline, she was his child in every lineament. moreover, the quick, responsive lighting up of the features, her graceful bearing, her tact--that these were inherited from him a brief surveillance of the two sufficed to disclose. combined with these fascinating, but after all more or less superficial characteristics was the stamp of a rare intellectual force on both faces. no one seeing them together needed to be told that cosima was a liszt. nor did any one need to be told that siegfried was a wagner. the boy was as much like his father as his mother was like hers. feature for feature, wagner was reproduced in his son. that there should be no trace of the mother, and such a mother, in the boy's face struck me as remarkable; but there was none. siegfried wagner was a veritable pocket edition of his famous father. his later photographs as a young man show that much of this likeness has disappeared. after dinner, there were speeches. wagner, his hand resting affectionately on liszt's shoulder, paid a feeling tribute to the man who had befriended him early in his career and who had given him the precious wife at his side. i remember as if it had been but last night the tenderness with which he spoke the words _die theure gattin_. it was a wonderful two or three hours, that banquet, with the numerous notabilities present, and at least two great men, liszt and wagner, and one great woman, the daughter of liszt and the wife of wagner; and the experience is to be treasured all the more, because few of those present saw wagner again. early in the following year he died at venice. he is buried in the garden back of wahnfried, his bayreuth villa. he was a great lover of animals, and at his burial his two favorite dogs, wotan and mark, burst through the bushes that surround the grave and joined the mourners. one of these pets is buried near him, and on the slab is the inscription: "here lies in peace wahnfried's faithful watcher and friend--the good and handsome mark." what cosima was to wagner is best told in liszt's words, written to a friend after a visit to bayreuth, in , when his favorite child had been married to wagner two years. "cosima still is my terrible daughter, as i used to call her,--an extraordinary woman and of the highest merit, far above vulgar judgment, and worthy of the admiring sentiments which she has inspired in all who have known her. she is devoted to wagner with an all-absorbing enthusiasm, like senta to the flying dutchman--and she will prove his salvation, because he listens to her and follows her with keen perception." that bayreuth with wagner's death did not become a mere tradition, that the wagner performances still continue there, is due to frau cosima. she is bayreuth. no woman has made such an impression on the music of her time as she. yet she is not a musician! child's own book of great musicians beethoven [illustration] by thomas tapper theodore presser co. chestnut street philadelphia [illustration] directions for binding enclosed in this envelope is the cord and the needle with which to bind this book. start in from the outside as shown on the diagram here. pass the needle and thread through the center of the book, leaving an end extend outside, then through to the outside, about inches from the center; then from the outside to inside inches from the center at the other end of the book, bringing the thread finally again through the center, and tie the two ends in a knot, one each side of the cord on the outside. theo. presser co., pub's., phila., pa. how to use this book this book is one of a series known as the child's own book of great musicians, written by thomas tapper, author of "pictures from the lives of the great composers for children," "music talks with children," "first studies in music biography," and others. the sheet of illustrations included herewith is to be cut apart by the child, and each illustration is to be inserted in its proper place throughout the book, pasted in the space containing the same number as will be found under each picture on the sheet. it is not necessary to cover the entire back of a picture with paste. put it only on the corners and place neatly within the lines you will find printed around each space. use photographic paste, if possible. after this play-work is completed there will be found at the back of the book blank pages upon which the child is to write his own story of the great musician, based upon the facts and questions found on the previous pages. the book is then to be sewed by the child through the center with the cord found in the enclosed envelope. the book thus becomes the child's own book. this series will be found not only to furnish a pleasing and interesting task for the children, but will teach them the main facts with regard to the life of each of the great musicians--an educational feature worth while. * * * * * this series of the child's own book of great musicians includes at present a book on each of the following: bach grieg mozart beethoven handel nevin brahms haydn schubert chopin liszt schumann dvorák macdowell tschaikowsky foster mendelssohn verdi wagner [illustration: no. ] [illustration: no. ] [illustration: no. ] [illustration: no. ] [illustration: no. ] [illustration: no. ] [illustration: no. ] [illustration: no. ] [illustration: no. ] [illustration: no. ] [illustration: no. ] [illustration: no. ] [illustration: no. ] [illustration: no. ] [illustration: no. ] beethoven the story of a little boy who was forced to practice this book was made by .......................... philadelphia theodore presser co. chestnut str. copyright, , by theodore presser co. british copyright secured printed in u. s. a. [illustration] born .................................. died .................................. the story of a little boy who was forced to practice ludwig van beethoven was born in the lovely town of bonn, on the river rhine, december , . the house in which he spent his boyhood is still standing. we see in the picture what a pretty, homelike place the house and the yard must have been. it is now the beethoven house, or museum, filled with mementos of the great composer. there you may see music pages written by him, letters, medals, instruments; even his ear trumpet is there. [illustration: the beethoven house] beethoven's father was a singer at the chapel of the elector. he was not a good father, for he did not care to work even enough to make his family comfortable. but the mother loved her boy with all her heart, as we shall see. [illustration: no. beethoven's father] ludwig was only four years old when he began to study music. like children of to-day he shed many a tear over the first lessons. in the beginning his father taught him piano and violin, and forced him to practice. at school he learned, just as we do to-day, reading, writing, arithmetic, and later on, latin. [illustration: no. the first lesson] never again after thirteen, did ludwig go to school for he had to work and earn his living. do you wonder what kind of a boy he was? we are told that he was shy and quiet. he talked little and took no interest in the games that his boy and girl companions played. while ludwig was in school he played at a concert for the first time. he was then eight years old. two years later he had composed quite a number of pieces. one of these was printed. it was called _variations on dressler's march_. on the title page of this piece it said:-- ********************************** * variations on dressler's march * * composed by a young amateur * * louis van beethoven * * aged ten years. * ********************************** then the little boy studied with a teacher named christian gottlob neefe, who took real interest in him. neefe did not, as was said of beethoven's father, punish the little boy severely to keep him at his practice, hour after hour. often when neefe had to travel ludwig took his teacher's place as organist at the court. then with the organ lessons there were other lessons in harmony. so rapidly did the boy improve that his teacher said one day: "if he goes on as he has begun, he will some day be a second mozart." our young hero of thirteen was surely busy every hour of the day. he played in an orchestra, as accompanist. he gave lessons, played the organ in church, studied the violin, and kept up his work in composition. he always kept a note-book for musical ideas. most every child in these days has more and better opportunities than had the great beethoven when he was a child. here is a picture of the funny old organ in the minorite church of bonn upon which beethoven played when he was a little boy. [illustration: no. beethoven's organ] look at the funny stops at the top and compare it with the best organ in your own town. this is little better than a toy beside our fine organs of to-day,--yet it was the best that beethoven had to practice upon. when neefe said that he would probably be a second mozart the words filled ludwig with a great desire. on his sixteenth birthday what do you think happened? why, he set out from bonn to vienna, where mozart lived. but scarcely had he begun to feel at home in vienna when news came to him that his mother was ill. she had always been a good mother, kind of heart, great of hope for her little boy, and probably she sympathized with the hard lot that made him have to work so early in life. when he learned of her sickness he hastened to bonn. who was happier, he said to one of his friends, than i, so long as i was able to speak the sweet name of mother and know that she heard me? [illustration: no. beethoven's mother] vienna had given him a wonderful happiness. he met mozart and had some lessons from him in composition. when he played for the great master, mozart tip-toed from the room and said softly to those present: "pay heed to this boy. he will surely make a noise in the world some day." [illustration: no. beethoven and mozart] after his mother's death he determined that he would remain there. and it was not until he talked with joseph haydn, who stopped at bonn on his way to london, that he decided once more to journey to vienna. beethoven was twenty-two years old at the time he met papa haydn. beethoven showed the master some of his compositions. haydn urged him to go at once to vienna, promising to give him lessons in composition on his return from london. [illustration: no. joseph haydn] everywhere in vienna beethoven was a welcome guest. he was proud (but in the right way), very honest, always straightforward and independent. but, like his mother, he was warm-hearted and as true as could be. there was nothing in his nature that was mean, or cruel, or wrong in any way. he took pride in his talent and worked hard to perfect himself in it. here is what beethoven's handwriting looked like. [illustration: no. beethoven's handwriting] bit by bit, the great power of beethoven as a pianist became known. he played much among his friends, but he did not like to perform in public. a story is told that once he was to play his c major concerto at a concert. when he arrived at the hall he found the piano was tuned so low that he had to play the concerto in c# major. you know how hard it is to transpose a simple piece, but think of transposing a concerto and playing it with orchestra without time for practice! do you sometimes wonder what the great composer looked like? beethoven lived outside of vienna and often took long walks in the country. once a little boy ten years of age was taken by his father to visit beethoven. the boy must have been a very observant boy for he wrote out a description of how beethoven looked. this is the little boy's picture as a man: [illustration: no. carl czerny] and this is the description he gave of beethoven. "beethoven was dressed in a dark gray jacket and trousers of some long-haired material, which reminded me of the description of robinson crusoe i had just been reading. the jet-black hair stood upright on his head. a beard, unshaven for several days, made still darker his naturally swarthy face. i noticed also, with a child's quick perception, that he had cotton wool which seemed to have been dipped in some yellow fluid in both ears. his hands were covered with hair, and the fingers were very broad, especially at the tips." you know, of course, that when we think of music we think of _hearing_ it. we think how it _sounds_ to us. a lover of music loves to hear its _tones_ and to feel its _rhythm_. like every other human being, beethoven loved music in just this way. he loved its sounds as they fell on the ear. as colors delight our eyes, so tones fell with delight upon the ears of this man. beethoven was once invited to play at the home of a nobleman, but upon being informed that he would be expected to go as a menial, he indignantly rejected the proposal. [illustration: no. the angry beethoven] beethoven had many friends and was fond of them. they knew that he was a genius and were glad to forget some of the very strange things that he did when he got angry. here is a picture of the great master seated among a group of his friends. although beethoven was odd, his friends loved him. [illustration: no. beethoven playing for his friends] but a strange fate touched him and took away his sense of hearing. from the time he was about thirty years old his hearing grew gradually worse. indeed it was necessary for him to have a piano especially constructed with additional wires so that he could hear. [illustration: no. beethoven's piano] can you think of anything more cruel, more terrible, more depressing, more awful? [illustration: no. beethoven in the country] and yet he went on day, after day, composing beautiful music as he walked the fields, or as he sat at his table. for we must remember that he could hear his own music in his thoughts. that is, the mind that made the music could hear it, though the ear itself was forever closed to the sound of it. year after year he continued to write symphonies and concertos, sonatas, songs, choral and chamber music. and year after year the poor ears closed a little more and still a little more, until finally not even the loudest noises could penetrate them. and yet he worked bravely; writing every beautiful music thought that came to him, so that the world, and that means you and all of us, might have them. when beethoven was dying in , schubert called upon him and remained with him for some time. [illustration: no. beethoven and schubert] some facts about beethoven read these facts about ludwig van beethoven and try to write his story out of them, using your own words. when your story is finished ask your mother or your teacher to read it. when you have made it as perfect as you can, copy it on pages and . . the composer's full name was ludwig van beethoven. . he was born at bonn on the river rhine. (look for bonn on the map.) . his birthday is december , and his birth year was . . the beethoven house is now a museum. . beethoven's father was a singer. . ludwig began to study music at the age of four. . he was shy and quiet in school, always thinking even then of music. . even as a little boy he composed music. . when he was ten years old his first published composition appeared. . a teacher who helped him very much was christian gottlob neefe. . beethoven learned to play several instruments. . he went to vienna when he was sixteen, met mozart and had lessons from him. . later, beethoven met haydn at bonn. . on haydn's advice he returned to vienna, making it his home for the rest of his life. . carl czerny once called on beethoven and wrote a fine description of him. . at about thirty beethoven became deaf. . most of the great symphonies were composed after he lost his hearing. . beethoven died march , , at the age of . some questions . when and where was beethoven born? . who was his first teacher? . what did his father do? . how long did little ludwig go to school? . what description of him as a boy in school has been given? . how old was he when he first played in public? . what composition of his was first to be published? . which of his teachers took great interest in him? . what did he say about the little boy's future? . where did beethoven go when he was sixteen years old? . with what two great masters did he study? . what composer, as a little boy, went to see beethoven? . how did he describe him? . name some of the forms of music which beethoven composed. . write a list of music by beethoven that you have heard. . what is a concerto? a sonata? . how old was beethoven when he died? the story of ludwig van beethoven written by....................................... on date.......................................... [illustration: no. ] transcriber notes: passages in italics are indicated by _underscores_. passages in small caps were replaced with all caps. in the list of composers in the instructions on how to use the book, the "r with a caron" in the name dvorák was replaced with a regular "r". on page , "ten year old" was replaced with "ten years old". [the original punctuation and spelling of the original have been retained in this etext. variations in spellings of place-names, personal names and hyphenization have not been normalized. (note of etext transcriber)] [illustration: image of the book's cover] [illustration: ludwig van beethoven] the life of beethoven, including his correspondence with his friends, numerous characteristic traits, and remarks on his musical works. edited by ignace moscheles, esq., pianist to his royal highness prince albert. in two volumes. volume i. london: henry colburn, publisher, , great marlborough street. . london: printed by william clowes and sons, stamford street. the editor's preface. although on appearing for the first time as the editor of a literary publication, my feelings may be somewhat like those of a child putting on a new dress, yet i feel the responsibility of my position far more than its novelty; for the subject of my first essay is one not to be approached by me, at least, without seriousness and reverence. that the amount, however, of this editorial responsibility may be thought neither greater nor less than it really is, i must beg leave to state my precise share in this publication, and to advert to the qualifications with which i have entered on my task. in acceding to mr. colburn's request that i would add to the english translation of schindler's biography of beethoven which he was about to publish, such explanatory notes, characteristics, and letters as might tend more fully to illustrate and complete the whole, i had to subscribe to one clause in the agreement between mr. schindler and the publisher, namely, that the work should be given as he wrote it, without omission or alteration. the notes bearing my signature, then, are all that belong to me in these volumes. the appendix is, however, of my collection, and will be found to consist of the following documents:-- volume i. letters from beethoven to kapellmeister hoffmeister and c. f. peters, music-publishers, relative to the sale of some of his compositions. letter on the first appearance of beethoven's "fidelio." beethoven's letters to madame bettine von arnim. letter of madame bettine von arnim to göthe. a day with beethoven. volume ii. beethoven's letters to mademoiselle von breuning, wegeler, and ries. beethoven's correspondence with messrs. neate and ries. account of a concert given by beethoven at the kaernthnerthor theatre, vienna. characteristics of beethoven from wegeler and ries's "notizen." additional characteristics, traits, and anecdotes of beethoven. beethoven's last moments. funeral honours to beethoven, and miserere. amplius. libera, for four voices, with an organ accompaniment, performed at the funeral. concert in aid of beethoven's monument, at drury lane theatre, july th, . sale of beethoven's mss. and musical library. systematic catalogue of all the original works of beethoven, published by t. haslinger, from vienna. moscheles' complete edition of beethoven's works, published by messrs. cramer and co. so far the task of explanation is easy; but i am now entering upon more delicate ground--my own qualifications for the editorship. if in stating these i appear to be somewhat prolix, i hope that a little indulgence may be conceded to me from my desire to show that my impressions of reverence for beethoven's genius are not things of yesterday; but that i began early to follow him in his glorious creations, and to study his personal, as well as his artistical character, with an enthusiasm which years and experience have done nothing to diminish. to satisfy the craving which i felt, when a boy nine or ten years old, at prague, for the best musical productions of the time, i subscribed to a library which afforded me the compositions of dussek, steibelt, woelffl, kozeluch, and eberl--works of no insurmountable difficulty to me; though, indeed, so far from mastering them, i only ran through them, without particular attention to finish, enjoying in each its peculiar style. i had been placed under the guidance and tuition of dionysius weber, the founder and present director of the prague musical conservatory; and he, fearing that, in my eagerness to read new music, i might injure the systematic development of my piano-forte playing, prohibited the library; and, in a plan for my musical education which he laid before my parents, made it an express condition, that for three years i should study no other authors but mozart, clementi, and s. bach. i must confess, however, that, in spite of such prohibitions, i visited the library, gaining access to it through my pocket-money. it was about this time that i learnt from some school-fellows that a young composer had appeared at vienna, who wrote the oddest stuff possible--such as no one could either play or understand; crazy music, in opposition to all rule; and that this composer's name was _beethoven_. on repairing to the library to satisfy my curiosity as to this so-called eccentric genius, i found there beethoven's _sonate pathétique_. this was in the year . my pocket-money would not suffice for the purchase of it, so i secretly copied it. the novelty of its style was so attractive to me, and i became so enthusiastic in my admiration of it, that i forgot myself so far as to mention my new acquisition to my master, who reminded me of his injunction, and warned me not to play or study any eccentric productions until i had based my style upon more solid models. without, however, minding his injunctions, i seized upon the piano-forte works of beethoven as they successively appeared, and in them found a solace and a delight such as no other composer afforded me. in the year , my studies with my master, weber, closed; and, being then also fatherless, i chose vienna for my residence to work out my future musical career. above all, i longed to see and become acquainted with _that man_ who had exercised so powerful an influence over my whole being; whom, though i scarcely understood, i blindly worshipped. i learnt that beethoven was most difficult of access, and would admit no pupil but ries; and, for a long time, my anxiety to see him remained ungratified. in the year , however, the longed-for opportunity presented itself. i happened to be one morning in the music-shop of domenico artaria, who had just been publishing some of my early attempts at composition, when a man entered with short and hasty steps, and, gliding through the circle of ladies and professors assembled on business or talking over musical matters, without looking up, as though he wished to pass unnoticed, made his way direct for artaria's private office at the bottom of the shop. presently artaria called me in, and said, "_this is beethoven!_" and, to the composer, "this is the youth of whom i have just been speaking to you." beethoven gave me a friendly nod, and said he had just heard a favourable account of me. to some modest and humble expressions which i stammered forth he made no reply, and seemed to wish to break off the conversation. i stole away with a greater longing for that which i had sought than i had felt before this meeting, thinking to myself--"am i then indeed such a nobody that he could not put one musical question to me?--nor express one wish to know who had been my master, or whether i had any acquaintance with his works?" my only satisfactory mode of explaining the matter and comforting myself for this omission was in beethoven's tendency to deafness, for i had seen artaria speaking close to his ear. but i made up my mind that the more i was excluded from the private intercourse which i so earnestly coveted, the closer i would follow beethoven in all the productions of his mind. i never missed the schuppanzigh quartetts, at which he was often present, or the delightful concerts at the augarten, where he conducted his own symphonies. i also heard him play several times, which however he did but rarely, either in public or private. the productions which made the most lasting impression upon me, were his fantasia with orchestral accompaniments and chorus, and his concerto in c minor. i also used to meet him at the houses of mm. zmeskall and zizius, two of his friends, through whose musical meetings beethoven's works first made their way to public attention: but, in place of better acquaintance with the great man, i had mostly to content myself on his part with a distant salute. it was in the year , when artaria undertook to publish a piano-forte arrangement of beethoven's "fidelio," that he asked the composer whether i might be permitted to make it: beethoven assented, upon condition that he should see my arrangement of each of the pieces, before it was given into the engraver's hands. nothing could be more welcome to me, since i looked upon this as the long wished-for opportunity to approach nearer to the great man, and to profit by his remarks and corrections. during my frequent visits, the number of which i tried to multiply by all possible excuses, he treated me with the kindest indulgence. although his increasing deafness was a considerable hindrance to our conversation, yet he gave me many instructive hints, and even played to me such parts as he wished to have arranged in a particular manner for the piano-forte. i thought it, however, my duty not to put his kindness to the test by robbing him of his valuable time by any subsequent visits; but i often saw him at maelzel's, where he used to discuss the different plans and models of a metronome which the latter was going to manufacture, and to talk over the "battle of vittoria," which he wrote at maelzel's suggestion. although i knew mr. schindler, and was aware that he was much with beethoven at that time, i did not avail myself of my acquaintance with him for the purpose of intruding myself upon the composer. i mention these circumstances to show how very difficult of access this extraordinary man was, and how he avoided all musical discussion; for even with his only pupil, ries, it was very seldom that he would enter into any explanations. in my later intercourse with him, he gave me but laconic answers on questions of art; and on the character of his own works, made only such condensed remarks as required all my imagination and fancy to develop what he meant to convey. the impatience naturally accompanying his infirmity of deafness, no doubt greatly increased his constitutional reserve in the latter part of life. on subsequent visits to vienna, after i had established myself in london, in the year , beethoven received me with increased cordiality; and that he counted on me as a friend i think is proved, by his intrusting me, during his last illness, with an important mission to the philharmonic society of london, of which mention is made in the following pages. my feelings with respect to beethoven's music have undergone no variation, save to become warmer. in the first half-score of years of my acquaintance with his works, he was repulsive to me as well as attractive. in each of them, while i felt my mind fascinated by the prominent idea, and my enthusiasm kindled by the flashes of his genius, his unlooked-for episodes, shrill dissonances, and bold modulations, gave me an unpleasant sensation. but how soon did i become reconciled to them! all that had appeared hard, i soon found indispensable. the gnome-like pleasantries, which at first appeared too distorted--the stormy masses of sound, which i found too chaotic--i have, in after-times, learned to love. but, while retracting my early critical exceptions, i must still maintain as my creed, that eccentricities like those of beethoven are reconcileable with _his_ works alone, and are dangerous models to other composers, many of whom have been wrecked in their attempts at imitation. whether the musical world can ever recognise the most modern examples of effort to outdo beethoven in boldness and originality of conception, i leave to future generations to decide. but all that i have ever felt or thought of beethoven, his elevation above all his contemporaries, and his importance to art, are so beautifully expressed by the celebrated critic, h. g. nägeli, that i shall not forbear to avail myself of a passage in one of his lectures,[ ] although the fear of being charged with vanity, from its containing a compliment to myself, might have deterred me from so doing. it may be necessary to premise that the critic considers j. s. bach as the fountain-head of instrumental music, and ascribes its further and gradual development to c. p. e. bach, j. haydn, mozart, clementi, cramer, pleyel, until the art attained its climax under beethoven at the beginning of the present century.--"beethoven (says nägeli) appeared a hero in the art; and where shall the historian find words to depict the regeneration he produced, when the poet himself must here feel at a loss? music had received two-fold injury in its purity of style--i mean instrumental music, unaided by the charms of vocalisation, as it had existed at the point to which it had been elevated by the bachs. mozart's cantabile, as contrasted with the strict school, and pleyel's divertimento style, had diluted and debased it; and to beethoven, the hero, do we owe its regeneration now and for ever. instinctively original, keenly searching for novelty, resolutely opposing antiquated forms, and freely exploring the new world which he had created not only for himself but for all his brethren in the art, he may be said to have set to all a task, the solution of which is a constant regeneration of design and idea; thus giving full scope to the emanations of the mind. beethoven's music wears an ever-varying aspect, bright in all its changes, yet could its language not at once become familiar to those, who had lulled their higher powers to rest with the hum of divertimento's and fantasias, whilst on all sides the worshippers of the _cantilena_ were heard to exclaim, 'and is such originality beautiful? and should there not be beauty to render originality palatable?'--little thinking that beethoven's weapons were of a higher order, and that he conquered, not by winning over his hearers to the soft cantilena alone, but by speaking in sounds unearthly, thrilling, penetrating, filling the soul, and carrying along--not individuals, but cities--even the whole of europe. as to the art of piano-forte playing, that too gained a new aspect under him; running passages were set aside; the toccata style took unexpected forms in his hands. he introduced combinations of distant intervals, original in their very aspect, and heightened by peculiarities of rhythm and staccato's, absorbing in their sparkling brilliancy the cantabile, to which they formed a glaring contrast. unlike steibelt, dussek, and some of their cotemporaries, in their endeavours to _draw_ out the tone (_filez le son_), beethoven would _throw_ it out in detached notes, thus producing the effect of a fountain gushing forth and darting its spray on all sides, well contrasting with the melodious episodes which he still preserved. but a genius like his soon found the limits of piano-forte music too narrow a sphere to move in, and he produced, in turn, works for stringed instruments, and for a whole band. nevertheless, he never _would_ dive into the mysteries of the science of counterpoint; had he done so, he would have trodden the path of a j. s. bach, and his imaginative vein, as well as his creative genius, might have been checked. let us then bow to him, as the inventor, _par excellence_, of our era. the cotemporaries who vied with him at the beginning of the new century were--eberl, haak, hummel, liste, stadler, tomaschek, weyse, and wölffl; but he towered above them all, and did not cease to pour out endless stores of invention and originality, exciting in later years anew body of aspirants to enter the lists of inventive composition,--and with success. we name feska, hummel, onslow, reicha, ries, the two rombergs, spohr, c. m. v. weber; and of a yet later date, kuhlau, tomaschek, and worzischek: these have been joined in the last few years by carl czerny and moscheles. thus do we live in an era fertile in genius, fertile in productions--an era, regenerated by the master spirit--beethoven!" but i will detain the reader no longer. if, in my preface, i have appeared to him tedious, i would beg him to remember the words of pliny the younger--"i have not time to write a short letter, therefore i send you a long one." i. moscheles. _ , chester place, regent's park, january, ._ contents of the first volume. page introduction by schindler life of beethoven. first period. [from his birth to the year .] beethoven's parentage--contradiction of a report on that subject--his musical education--tale of a spider--appointed organist to the chapel of the elector of cologne--patronised by count von waldstein--clever trick played by him--his first musical productions--haydn--sterkel--beethoven's aversion to give lessons--youthful friendships--he is sent to vienna to improve himself under haydn--acquaintances made by him there--dr. van swieten--prince and princess lichnowsky--envy excited by his success--his indifference to calumny, and to the accidents of birth or wealth--m. schenk, the corrector of his compositions--his early attachments--his compositions during this period--prices paid for them--the rasumowsky quartett--professional tour--state of musical science at vienna. second period. [from to october, .] general view of the second period of beethoven's life--composition of his "christ on the mount of olives" and "fidelio"--his brothers, carl and johann; their mischievous influence--his severe illness--remarkable will addressed to them--his "sinfonia eroica," in honour of napoleon--count moritz von lichnowsky--opera of "fidelio"--beethoven's neglect of vocal performers--their intrigues and cabals--his passion for julia--letters to her--disappointed love--countess marie erdödy--beethoven as director of the orchestra--animadversions on statements of ferdinand ries--beethoven forms a friendship with count franz von brunswick and baron gleichenstein--prices paid for his compositions during the second period--misconduct of his brothers--defence of his character against the charge of cowardice--annuity settled upon him, to keep him in austria--his dislike of, and reconciliation with, hummel--foreign visitors--bettina brentano--göthe--beethoven's frequent change of residence--his domestic circumstances. third period. [from november, , till his death, in .] part i. causes of beethoven's preceding troubles--performance of his "battle of vittoria," for the benefit of disabled soldiers--dishonest conduct of m. mälzel; its effect on beethoven--commencement of the author's acquaintance with him--attention paid to beethoven by the allied sovereigns at vienna--pitiful conduct of carl m. von weber--scotch songs set to music by beethoven--death of his elder brother--he undertakes the guardianship of his son, whom he adopts--diminution of his annuity by the failure of prince lobkowitz--he commences house-keeping--law-suit with his brother's widow--society for the performance of beethoven's chamber music, directed by carl czerny--further diminution of his pension--his pupil, the archduke rudolph, nominated archbishop of olmütz--beethoven commences a grand mass for his installation--household troubles--waltzes and bagatelles--straitened finances--ignoble application of musical ms.--performance of "the ruins of athens"--the "land-owner" and the "brain-owner"--subscription of sovereigns to beethoven's new mass--his letter to cherubini. third period. part ii. vindication of the court of austria from the charge of neglecting beethoven--his quarrel with a publisher at vienna--mortification arising from his deafness--wretched lodging--beethoven undertakes to write a new opera, but is deterred by the prospect of coming in contact with german singers--his ninth symphony--letter from the archduke rudolph--italian opera at vienna--flattering memorial addressed to beethoven--concerts--his discourtesy to vocal performers--his credulity and hasty condemnation of his friends--is invited to visit england by the philharmonic society--disgraceful conduct of prince nicholas von galitzin--severe illness--he sets aside a fund as a provision for his nephew--ingratitude and misbehaviour of that youth--distressing circumstances in which he was involved by him--beethoven's forlorn situation--his last illness--his letters to moscheles--he is assisted by the philharmonic society--total value of his property--his death--post-mortem examination. supplement. letters from beethoven to kapellmeister hofmeister and c. f. peters, music publishers, relative to the sale of some of his compositions. letter on the first appearance of beethoven's "fidelio" beethoven's letters to madame bettine von arnim letter of madame bettine von arnim to göthe a day with beethoven illustrations. volume i. portrait of beethoven _frontispiece_ volume ii. fac-simile of beethoven's hand-writing first sketches of the vocal subjects of beethoven's th symphony _end of appendix._ life of beethoven. introduction. during the painful illness of full four months which terminated in the death of ludwig van beethoven, he was one day conversing with hofrath von breuning and myself on the subject of plutarch's lives. breuning took advantage of the long-wished-for opportunity to ask beethoven, apparently without any particular object, which of his contemporaries he should prefer for his biographer. without the least hesitation, he replied, "rochlitz, if he should survive me." he went on to say that it might be anticipated with certainty, that after his decease many officious pens would hasten to amuse the world with stories and anecdotes concerning him, utterly destitute of truth--for such is the usual lot of those who have had any influence upon their times. it was, therefore, his sincere wish that whatever might hereafter be said concerning him "should be in every respect strictly consonant with truth, no matter how hard it might bear upon this or the other person, or even upon himself." this sentiment of beethoven's, uttered at a moment when his dissolution appeared to us to be near at hand--though his physicians still held out to him some hopes of recovery, while at the same time they felt thoroughly convinced of its impossibility--this sentiment was too important for us to neglect following it up. in so doing, however, we were obliged to proceed with the utmost caution; as indeed we were in everything which, in his state of severe suffering, had any reference, however remote, to death: for his imagination, more excited than when in health, ranged through the universe, formed projects of tours, of prodigious compositions, and other enterprises. in short, he had no idea that death was so near, neither would he take any warning of its approach. in fact, all his desire was to live; for he still intended to do much, that none but himself, perhaps, was capable of accomplishing. prudence, therefore, enjoined us to refrain from touching upon that point, which he himself avoided, and to watch for a suitable opportunity when we should find him again disposed to speak further upon it. this opportunity occurred but too soon, as his end was evidently approaching. sensible of the rapid decline of his physical powers, he now himself declared that all hope of his recovery was vain, and began to look death in the face with stoic fortitude. plutarch and other favourite greek authors lay around him, and thus one day--it might be the seventh or eighth before his decease--he made some observations on lucius brutus, whose character he highly admired. this was a signal to breuning and myself to resume the conversation, which we had dropped, with respect to his biographer, and to direct it according to our wishes. resigned already to his fate, beethoven read with great attention a paper on this subject, drawn up by his older friend breuning, and then very calmly said, "there lies such a paper, there such another--take them, and make the best use you can of them; but let the truth be strictly adhered to in every point. for this i hold both of you responsible, and write on the subject to rochlitz." our object was now accomplished, for he gave us himself the necessary explanations respecting the papers. this memorable scene by the sick-bed of our beloved friend terminated in his desiring me to take charge of all the letters that were there, and breuning of all his other papers, among which was the first version of the opera of "fidelio," in score--an injunction with which we punctually complied. after beethoven's death, we resolved jointly to communicate to m. rochlitz the wish of our deceased friend, when m. von breuning was taken ill, and in two months followed him to the grave. this totally unexpected event placed me in a particularly unpleasant situation with regard to the joint duty undertaken for beethoven. m. von breuning's widow soon afterwards gave up to me the papers committed to the care of her deceased husband; and i was now obliged to apply singly on the subject to m. rochlitz. this i did by a letter, dated the th of september, . on the th of the same month i received the following answer:-- "i have long been aware how much there was great and noble in the character of our respected beethoven, notwithstanding the eccentricity and roughness of his manner; and though, during my visit to vienna in , i conversed with him only a few times with frankness and confidence, this was owing solely to the complaint with which he was afflicted, and which was so great an obstacle to any intercourse with him. this, together with the cheerful acknowledgment of his extraordinary genius and professional merit, caused me to follow, to the best of my ability, the course of his mind and of his whole inward life, in so far as it is exhibited in his works, from his youth to his death. and as i availed myself also of every opportunity to gain, from time to time, authentic particulars concerning his outward life, i deemed myself, at his death, not wholly incompetent to be his biographer. i resolved, therefore, to undertake the office for beethoven in the same manner that i had done for karl maria von weber, by making their lives principal articles in the third volume of my work, _für freunde der tonkunst_ (for friends of music). to this is now added a further inducement in your proposal to supply me with materials, and the wish of beethoven himself, conveyed to me through you. from all this put together, you may judge whether i feel disposed to comply with the wish expressed by you, as well as by several other friends of beethoven's. so much the more mortifying is it, then, to me, that it is not in my power to do so. a life devoted in early years to close and almost unremitting application has, of late, been severely revenging itself upon me.... hence i am at length compelled to submit to an almost total change of my former pursuits; and the most important part of this change is, that i sit and write much less than formerly; and, that i may not be again forced or enticed to break this rule, i decline undertaking any work of consequence. and thus i am obliged to renounce the fulfilment of your wish as well as my own.... i cannot tell you how it grieves me to give this answer; but we must all bow to necessity. accept my thanks for your confidence." notwithstanding this positive refusal, i ventured to repeat my request to m. rochlitz, at the same time offering to assist him in the task; as, in addition to the materials destined for his use, i was in possession of many important facts collected during an intercourse of many years with beethoven, with which no other person was or could be acquainted, because they had arisen from my own connexion with the great man. i was favoured as early as the rd of october with the answer of m. rochlitz, from which i shall only make the following extract:-- "i thank you, in the first place, for the copy you have sent me of beethoven's will.[ ] i cannot tell you how much i was delighted with the cordial child-like goodness of heart which it so unequivocally displays, or how deeply i have been affected by the painful sufferings of his excellent soul. most assuredly this document will produce the same effect on all who shall peruse it, the absolutely bad alone excepted. indeed, i know not anything more favourable or more convincing that could be said of the deceased, in speaking of him, not as an artist, but as a man. i cannot undertake to comply with your wish as expressed in a new form; and it is of no use to either of us if i add i am sorry for it." upon these refusals of m. rochlitz, adhering to the resolution that i had previously formed, in case that writer should decline the commission, not to resign the papers in my hands to any other person,--i took no further steps, and made up my mind to wait for suitable time and circumstances. if we are to have a complete biography of beethoven,--of the man who must be classed among the greatest that ages have produced,--we want no flights of poetry and imagination on the subject of his works, or the analysis of them, such as have already appeared by thousands, and will continue to appear, some good, some bad, according to the respective qualifications and powers of the authors, each of whom considered the genius of the great composer as his own rainbow, and consequently each in a different manner; but the main point is to show under what circumstances, and in what position, beethoven produced his splendid and imperishable creations; consequently, to furnish facts, the greatest part of which one must have collected on the spot, and moreover have witnessed by the side of this extraordinary man, in order to be able to form a just estimate of their greater or less influence on his whole existence. in this position, affording a guarantee for truth and authenticity, there stands, as regards beethoven, not one of his surviving friends excepting myself; neither is there any besides myself, who, at the time of the most important occurrences of his life, was constantly about his person, and assisting him in his occupations. this being the case, the most important part of the biography must necessarily have been furnished by me, whoever might ultimately have been its author. i had a particular motive for not hurrying the publication of this work, namely, by withholding my friend's papers for a longer period, to soften the severe but just censure passed on many living persons who had previously sinned against the great master, and to spare them as much as possible, in order in some degree to mitigate beethoven's express injunction, "to tell the rigid truth about everything." i say, _to spare as much as possible_; for the twelve years that have flown over beethoven's grave have not undone the manifold wrongs, the bitter sorrows, and the deep injuries which he had to endure when living, and which brought his life and labours to a premature termination. the notion which i had conceived twelve years ago, of the requisites necessary for a biography of beethoven, at length became a settled conviction of my mind, amidst the various opinions concerning him, confusedly flung together by his numberless admirers. i was satisfied that it was the only correct view. on the other hand, in the possession of such copious materials (of only a small portion of which, however, i have availed myself)--urged, moreover, by his admirers, in nearly every country in europe, not any longer to postpone the publication of this biography--i was induced to venture, with my own humble, unaided abilities, on the important enterprise. without, therefore, stopping to examine all that has been said concerning beethoven, and to correct inaccuracies, which would in the end have proved to be labour in vain, i adhere, on this point, to my preconceived notions, and shall endeavour to lay before the public in this work a series of unembellished facts, as the case requires, which shall enable the admirers of the illustrious deceased to comprehend and appreciate this lofty model of greatness of soul and of creative genius, in all its truth and reality. in the execution of this design, i follow a division not arising out of the history of the development of his genius, but purely from the various phases of his life, such as beethoven himself would have adopted--that is to say, i divide his life and works into three periods; the first extending from his birth to the year , the second from to october , and the third from the last-mentioned date to his death in .[ ] it shall accordingly be facts that i shall chiefly endeavour to record, as nearly as possible, in chronological order, and with the closest adherence to truth; and among the statements advanced by others, it is only such as bear materially upon his character, or his way of thinking and acting, that i shall either rectify, or, if need be, contradict. as the third period will claim the largest portion of this work, it obliges me, in order not be too voluminous, to treat more briefly of the first two periods, and this i can do without detriment to the important subject, since dr. wegeler and m. ferdinand ries, in their biographical sketches of beethoven, published two years ago, have given so many characteristic traits of him. wegeler, the respected friend of beethoven from his youthful days, there records all that is requisite to be told concerning his birth and abode in bonn; so that i think it quite sufficient to confine myself in places to communications made by him to me so far back as , with reference to that period, because the thread of the narrative requires it; and that gentleman may infer from the reasons already assigned why i could not earlier comply with his repeated solicitations to accelerate the publication of this work. unpleasant as was the notice, dated the th of october, , which he gave me, that, on account of my long-protracted delay, he was determined to put his sketches to press, still i was obliged to let him act as he pleased. his sketches of the first years of beethoven's life may be referred to as an authentic source; for the greater part of the particulars which they contain i have heard from the lips of the master himself. as to the publication of ferdinand ries, i am sorry to be obliged to declare that ries has in this performance said too much. less would have been much more to the purpose. he seems almost to justify the remark of a friend and admirer of beethoven's, who, soon after the appearance of that pamphlet, wrote to me as follows:--"from the tone assumed by ries, one would imagine that beethoven had lived exclusively for him; and, in writing those sketches and anecdotes, he seems to have kept his eye much more upon his own dear self than upon his friend and master." had ries not recommended his performance in an unqualified manner, as an authentic source for a complete biography of beethoven (which he does in his preface), and thus set himself up for an authority to be relied on by the future biographer of beethoven, as well as by the public in general (though he had had no personal intercourse with him for full thirty-two years), i should not have made a single remark on him or his work, attaching no more importance to the latter than belongs to anecdotes in general: for aphorisms, notices, and anecdotes, constitute no logical connected whole, consequently they establish no opinion, though they assist to form one. the remarks, then, which, in my position, i think it my duty to make on the publication of ries, in so far as it pretends to delineate the character of beethoven, i submit on my part with all respect for the deceased, who was too early taken from us, for i too regarded him as my valued friend. he meant not designedly to tarnish the memory of one of the noblest characters, but yet he has done so. the motive of this _mal-à-propos_ may possibly have originated as follows:-- at the time when ries was a pupil of beethoven's, he was quite as young as his judgment: he was, therefore, incapable of grasping, of comprehending, consequently also of judging, the immense sphere which even at that time was beginning to open upon the genius and upon the whole existence of his instructor. hence it was only superficial matters, words dropped in vexation or in playfulness--in short, anecdotes, sometimes of greater, sometimes of less consequence--which struck him and impressed themselves on his memory; but which could by no means justify him in representing beethoven's character as being so rude as he does in pages ,[ ] , , and , of his sketches--to say nothing of other passages. if the statements made there only by ries are absolutely true, what a rude character was beethoven!--how repulsive and inaccessible to juvenile talent! in my conversations with ries concerning beethoven, at frankfort, in the year , i perceived all this but too plainly, and took the opportunity to set him right on many points. his memory had only retained a correct impression of the boisterous, heaven-assaulting giant, the recesses of whose mind the scholar, who had scarcely arrived at adolescence, was as yet incapable of exploring. he saw only the shell before him, but he had not discovered the right way to get at the inestimable kernel. ten years later, and the man would probably have found it out. his short stay at vienna in , during the french occupation, was anything but calculated to furnish a better and more suitable basis for his opinions concerning beethoven, or even to erase from his mind many an erroneous impression which it had received. with such indistinct notions ries parted from his preceptor, at a time when, a mere student of the art, he could scarcely go alone, as indeed it was but natural to expect at the age of scarcely twenty years. certain it is, that the beethoven of , when ries left vienna, was totally different from him of ; and i could sincerely wish that ries, whose abilities i respect, had once more seen beethoven, deeply bowed down by the severe vicissitudes which he had undergone, like a burnt-out volcano, which is only at times in commotion;--that he could have heard him, and learned from his own lips what was the most particular desire of our mutual friend. to conclude, i entreat all the friends and admirers of beethoven to accept the assurance that, in my account of my instructor and friend, my pen shall be guided by nothing but pure love for him, and pure and unfeigned love for truth. too deeply penetrated with the high importance of the subject to be treated of, i shall adhere steadfastly to the determination to exert my best ability, and to keep aloof from prejudice of every kind. thus, then, i submit this work to the public, hoping that it may not merely furnish a biography of the great composer, but also a contribution to the history of his art. conscious that i have spared no pains to fulfil this two-fold object, i trust that it will be acknowledged that i have written in the feeling of justice and of truth, notwithstanding the many rugged and dangerous rocks which i have had to encounter in the undertaking. a. schindler. life of beethoven. first period. from his birth to the year . beethoven's parentage--contradiction of a report on that subject--his musical education--tale of a spider--appointed organist to the chapel of the elector of cologne--patronised by count von waldstein--clever trick played by him--his first musical productions--haydn--sterkel--beethoven's aversion to give lessons--youthful friendships--he is sent to vienna to improve himself under haydn--acquaintances made by him there--dr. van swieten--prince and princess lichnowsky--envy excited by his success--his indifference to calumny, and to the accidents of birth or wealth--m. schenk, the corrector of his compositions--his early attachments--his compositions during this period--prices paid for them--the rasumowsky quartett--professional tour--state of musical science at vienna. ludwig van beethoven was born on the th of december, , at bonn. his father, johann van beethoven, was tenor singer in the electoral chapel, and died in . his mother, maria magdalena, whose maiden name was keverich, was a native of coblentz; she died in . his grandfather, ludwig van beethoven, who is conjectured on very good grounds to have been a native of maestricht, was music-director and bass singer, and performed operas of his own composition, at bonn, in the time of the elector clemens august, whose fondness for magnificence is well known. of this grandfather, who died in , beethoven retained a lively recollection even in his later years; and he frequently spoke with filial affection and fervent gratitude of his mother, "who had so much patience with his obstinacy." the report that beethoven was a natural son of frederick william ii., king of prussia, first broached by fayolle and choron, which was reported in seven editions of the "conversations-lexicon," published by brockhaus, and caused great vexation to beethoven, was conclusively confuted by dr. wegeler, after beethoven had requested him, in a letter written by me from his dictation, and dated the th of october, ,[ ] "to make known to the world the unblemished character of his parents, and especially of his mother."[ ] beethoven's education was neither particularly neglected nor particularly good. he received elementary instruction and learned something of latin at a public school--music he learnt at home, and was closely kept to it by his father, whose way of life, however, was not the most regular. the lively and often stubborn boy had a great dislike to sitting still, so that it was continually necessary to drive him in good earnest to the piano-forte. he had still less inclination for learning the violin, and on this point i cannot help adverting to a tale, so ingeniously invented and so frequently repeated, relative to a spider, which, "whenever little ludwig was playing in his closet on the violin, would let itself down from the ceiling and alight upon the instrument, and which his mother, on discovering her son's companion, one day destroyed, whereupon little ludwig dashed his violin to shatters." this is nothing more than a tale. _great_ ludwig, highly as this fiction amused him, never would admit that he had the least recollection of such a circumstance. on the contrary, he declared that it was much more likely that everything, even to the very flies and spiders, should have fled out of the hearing of his horrid scraping. he made his first acquaintance with german literature, and especially the poets, in the house of m. von breuning, in bonn, whose family contributed greatly in every respect to the cultivation of his mind, and to whom beethoven, till the last moment of his life, acknowledged his obligations with the warmest gratitude. beethoven received his first lessons from his father, but he had afterwards a far better instructor in a m. pfeiffer, a man of talent, well known as music-director and oboist. beethoven owed more to this composer than to any other, and he was grateful for his services, for he remitted money from vienna to him, when in need of assistance, through m. simrock, of bonn. that van der eder, organist to the court, really taught our beethoven the management of the organ, as dr. wegeler merely conjectured, is a fact, as beethoven himself related with many concomitant anecdotes. by the instructions of neefe, the court-organist, beethoven declared that he had profited little or nothing. in the year , beethoven was appointed, by the elector max franz, brother of the emperor joseph ii., organist to the electoral chapel, a post obtained for him by count von waldstein, a patron of the arts, not only a connoisseur in music, but himself a practical musician, a knight of the teutonic order, and favourite of the elector.[ ] to this nobleman beethoven was indebted for the first appreciation of his talents, and his subsequent mission to vienna. a circumstance which affords evidence of his extraordinary talent may be introduced here, since at a later period it appeared to beethoven himself to be worth recording, and he often mentioned it with pleasure as a clever juvenile trick. on the last three days of the passion week, the lamentations of the prophet jeremiah were always chanted: these consisted of passages of from four to six lines, and they were sung in no particular time. in the middle of each sentence, agreeably to the choral style peculiar to the old church-music in general, a rest was made upon one note, which rest the player on the piano--for the organ was not used on those three days--had to fill up with a voluntary flourish, as is likewise usual in the accompaniment of other choral performances. beethoven told heller, a singer at the chapel, who was boasting of his professional cleverness, that he would engage that very day to put him out at such a place, without his being aware of it, yet so effectually that he should not be able to proceed. heller, who considered this as an absolute impossibility, laid a wager accordingly with beethoven. the latter, when he came to a passage that suited his purpose, led the singer, by an adroit modulation, out of the prevailing mode into one having no affinity to it, still, however, adhering to the tonic of the former key; so that the singer, unable to find his way in this strange region, was brought to a dead stand. exasperated by the laughter of those around him, heller complained of beethoven to the elector, who, to use beethoven's expression, "gave him a most gracious reprimand, and bade him not play any more such clever tricks." when haydn first returned from england, the electoral band gave him a breakfast at godesberg, near bonn. on this occasion beethoven laid before him a cantata, which gained him the commendation of the celebrated master, who exhorted the youthful composer to persevere in his professional studies. on account of several difficult passages for the wind instruments, which the performers declared themselves unable to play, this cantata was laid aside and not published. such is the statement of dr. wegeler. though i have not the least doubt of dr. wegeler's accuracy, i never heard beethoven himself say a word concerning any such first production; but well i recollect having been told by him that his best essay at composition at that period was a trio for piano-forte, violin, and violoncello. this trio was not published till after his death, about ten or eleven years ago, by dunst, of frankfort: its second movement, the scherzo, may be regarded as the embryo of all beethoven's scherzos. the third movement of that trio belongs in idea and form to mozart--a proof how early beethoven began to make him his idol. he seemed in fact to have totally forgotten the cantata in question. beethoven's first compositions were the sonatas copied into the _blumenlese_ of speyer; in the next place the song, "_wenn jemand eine reise thut_" (when a man on travel goes), and further, the music to a ballet performed during the carnival by the high nobility, the piano-forte part of which is said to be in the possession of m. dunst, of frankfort. this music, which was reputed to be the work of count von waldstein, was not at first published. then came the variations on _vieni amore_, theme by righini, which afforded the youthful author occasion to display his extraordinary talent. this was at his interview at aschaffenburg with sterkel, a celebrated performer of that day, and indeed the most accomplished piano-forte player whom beethoven had ever yet heard. the doubt expressed by this highly-finished and elegant performer, whether the composer of these variations could play them fluently himself, spurred on beethoven not only to play by heart such as were printed, but to follow them up with a number of others extemporised on the spot; and at the same time he imitated the light and pleasing touch of sterkel, whom he had never heard till then, whereas his own usual way of playing the piano was hard and heavy, owing, as beethoven declared, not to his want of feeling, but to his practising a great deal upon the organ, of which instrument he was very fond. beethoven had, from his youth, as dr. wegeler relates--and as he himself often showed by the fact--a decided aversion to give lessons; and, in his later years, as well as formerly at bonn, he always went to this occupation "like an ill-tempered donkey."[ ] we shall see in the third period of his biography how he conducted himself when giving instruction to his most illustrious pupil, the archduke rudolph,[ ] who entertained the deepest respect for his master, and with whom beethoven had no need to lay himself under more restraint than if he had been in the house of a friend.[ ] with this brief account, the period which beethoven passed in his birthplace, bonn, might aptly close. he himself considered that time as the happiest portion of his life, though it was frequently embittered by disagreeable circumstances, originating chiefly in his father's irregular course of life. the members of the breuning family were his guardian angels; for the numerous friendships which his superior talents gained him began already to be detrimental to his higher cultivation. this is too often the case with youthful genius, which disdains moderate praise and accepts flattery as a tribute justly due to it; and of course such a person seeks in preference the society of those from whom he hopes to obtain that gratification. under such circumstances, most fortunate was it for beethoven that he received permission from the elector, max franz, to reside for a few years at vienna, for the purpose of improving himself under the tuition of haydn. in the year , beethoven went to vienna, the central point of everything great and sublime that music had till then achieved on the soil of germany. mozart, the source of all light in the region of harmony, whose personal acquaintance beethoven had made on his first visit to vienna in the winter of - , who, when he heard beethoven extemporise upon a theme that was given him, exclaimed to those present, "this youth will some day make a noise in the world"--mozart, though he had been a year in his grave, yet lived freshly in the memory of all who had a heart susceptible of his divine revelations, as well as in beethoven's--gluck's spirit still hovered around the inhabitants of old vindobona--father haydn, and many other distinguished men in every art, and in every branch of human knowledge, yet lived and worked together harmoniously--in short, no sooner had beethoven, then but twenty-two, looked around him in this favoured abode of the muses, and made a few acquaintances, than he said to himself--"here will i stay, and not return to bonn, even though the elector should cut off my pension." one of his first, and for a long time most influential acquaintances, was the celebrated van swieten, formerly physician in ordinary to the empress maria theresa, a man who could appreciate art and artists according to their real worth. van swieten was, as it were, the cicerone of the new comer, and attached young beethoven to his person and to his house, where indeed the latter soon found himself at home. the musical treats in van swieten's house consisted chiefly of compositions by handel, sebastian bach, and the greatest masters of italy, up to palestrina, performed with a full band; and they were so truly exquisite as to be long remembered by all who had been so fortunate as to partake of them. for beethoven those meetings had this peculiar interest, that he not only gained an intimate acquaintance with those classics, but also that he was obliged to stay longest, because the old gentleman had an insatiable appetite for music, so that the night was often pretty far advanced before he would suffer him to depart; nay, frequently he would not suffer him to go at all; for, to all that he had heard before, beethoven was obliged to add half a dozen fugues by bach, "by way of a blessing." among the notes addressed by that eminent physician to beethoven, and carefully preserved by the latter, one runs thus:--"if you are not prevented next wednesday, i should be glad to see you here at half-past eight in the evening, with your night-cap in your pocket." nearly at the same time with van swieten, our beethoven made the acquaintance of the princely family of lichnowsky, and this point in his life is of such importance, and led to such manifold consequences, that it behoves me to dwell upon it at some length. the members of this remarkable family belonged altogether to those rarer natures which are susceptible to everything that is great and sublime, and therefore patronised and honoured art and science, as well as all that is chivalrous, to which the greater part of the nobility devote their exclusive attention. prince karl von lichnowsky, mozart's pupil, was a genuine nobleman, and, what is still more, a mecænas in the strictest sense of the term; and at that time, when the austrian nobility were universally noble-minded, there could have been found few to match him in that extensive empire. of like disposition was his consort, the princess christiane, by birth countess of thun. in this resort of accomplished minds and polished manners, beethoven found an asylum in which he continued for several years. prince lichnowsky became a paternal friend, the princess, a second mother, to the young musician. the prince assigned to him a yearly allowance of six hundred florins, which he was to receive till he should obtain some permanent appointment; and at that time this was no insignificant sum. the kindness of both these princely personages pursued him, as it were, and did not abate even when the adopted son, who was frequently obstinate, would have certainly lost that of any other patrons, and when he had deserved the severest reprehension. it was the princess in particular who found all that the often ill-tempered and sullen young man chose to do or to let alone, right, clever, original, amiable--and who, accordingly, contrived to make excuses for all his peccadilloes to the more rigid prince. at a later period beethoven, in describing this mode of treatment, employed the following characteristic expression:--"they would have brought me up there," said he, "with grandmotherly fondness, which was carried to such a length that very often the princess was on the point of having a glass shade made to put over me, so that no unworthy person might touch or breathe upon me."[ ] such extreme indulgence could not fail to produce its effects upon a temperament like beethoven's, and it could not but operate detrimentally to the steady and undisturbed cultivation of his talent, which excited the attention and admiration of thousands. whence was the necessary firmness to come in the conflicts with external life? of course, then, the impetuous son of the muse was every moment running his head against the wall, and was doomed to feel, as he would not hear. van swieten's counsels and admonitions, too, were frequently disregarded; and old "papa" was content if the intractable beethoven would but come to his evening parties. if we find, in consequence, that beethoven's manners were sometimes deficient in polish, the reason lies--in the first place, in his energetic nature, which broke through all barriers, and, spurning the etiquette of high life, would not submit to any shackles. another not less powerful cause is to be sought in the indulgence and even in the admiration which his eccentricities met with from high and low; for there was a time when the name "beethoven" had become a general password to which everything gave way. that, in opposition to his admirers, there should be some who, eclipsed by the extraordinary success of the youthful master, felt themselves thrust into the background and mortified, was no more than might have been expected. envy and jealousy brandished their weapons against the unaffected young artist pushing on in his career, whose internal as well as external originality afforded more than one assailable point. it was more especially the external, of such a nature as had never been observed in any artist, that envy and jealousy would not by any means acknowledge to be the natural consequence of his internal organization. in direct opposition to every exaggerated formality, and avoiding the broad, beaten track of mediocrity and every-day talent, while pursuing his own course, beethoven could not but be misconceived by many whose view was not capable of embracing his horizon. he was also misjudged, as so many a true master-mind has been, in its intercourse with the various classes, because its peculiar notions of things, originating in the nature of art, never tally with those of the multitude, which cannot assimilate with those of the artist. this peculiar mode of viewing things shows itself, sometimes more, at other times less, in every one of his works. at this early period, a trait of character, that distinguished him throughout his whole life, manifested itself in young beethoven. it was this--that he never defended himself against criticisms or attacks so long as they were not directed against his honour, but against his professional abilities, and never suffered them to have more than a superficial effect upon him. not indifferent to the opinions of the good, he took no notice of the attacks of the malicious, and allowed them to go on unchecked even when they proceeded so far as to assign him a place, sometimes in one mad-house, sometimes in another. "if it amuses people to say or to write such stuff concerning me, let them continue so to do as long as they please:" this was his maxim, to which he adhered through all the vicissitudes of his professional life. with this trait of character was associated already in early youth another, not less important for his professional career than the former, namely, that rank and wealth were to him matters of absolute indifference--accidents for which he had no particular respect; hence, in a man he would recognise and honour nothing but the man. to bow to mammon and its possessors was nothing less, in his opinion, than downright blasphemy--the deepest degradation of the man endowed with genius; and, before he could pay the wealthy the ordinary respect, it was requisite that they should at least be known to him as humane and benevolent. on this point more particularly beethoven was orthodox, and no temptation whatever could have produced a change of sentiment on that head any more than in his political creed. it was, therefore, perfectly natural that the prince should occupy no higher place in his estimation than the private citizen; and he held that mind alone, that divine emanation in man, rises, according to its powers, above all that is material and accidental; that it is an immediate gift of the creator, destined to serve as a light to others. hence it follows that beethoven recognised the position allotted to him from above, and its importance in the universe, and that too in all humility, as may be clearly seen in the letters addressed to a lady of whom he was passionately enamoured, which will be given hereafter. in the first number of the leipzig _musikalische zeitung_ of , i took occasion, from an expression attributed to beethoven in a vienna journal[ ] respecting the age at which a person ought to learn the theory of harmony and counterpoint, to say, that beethoven, on his arrival at vienna, knew nothing of counterpoint and very little of the theory of harmony. his imagination warm and active, his ear sensitive, and pegasus ever ready, he composed away, without concerning himself about the indispensable scholastic rules. such was the state of things, when he began to receive instructions from haydn, and haydn is said to have been always satisfied with his new scholar, because he permitted him to do as he liked; till the tables were turned, and the scholar became dissatisfied with the master, owing to the following circumstance:-- among the professional men whom beethoven knew and respected, was m. schenk, composer of the music to the _dorfbarbier_, a man of mild, amiable disposition, and profoundly versed in musical science. m. schenk one day met beethoven, when he was coming with his roll of music under his arm from haydn. schenk threw his eye over it, and perceived here and there various inaccuracies. he pointed them out to beethoven, who assured him that haydn had just corrected that piece. schenk turned over the leaves, and found the grossest blunders left untouched in the preceding pieces. beethoven now conceived a suspicion of haydn, and would have given up taking instructions from him, but was dissuaded from that resolution, till haydn's second visit to england afforded a fitting occasion for carrying it into effect. from this moment a coolness took place between haydn and beethoven. ries heard beethoven say that he had indeed taken lessons of haydn, but never learned anything of him. (see his _notizen_, p. .)[ ] the conduct of haydn in this case was variously construed, as he was known to be in other respects a conscientious man: but no certain motive can be alleged for it. m. schenk continued to be from that time the confidential corrector of beethoven's compositions, even after albrechtsberger had undertaken to give him instructions in counterpoint. here i must record a remarkable fact which serves to characterise both these old friends. owing to beethoven's unsettled life, it was too frequently the case that for years he knew nothing about intimate friends and acquaintance, though they, like himself, resided within the walls of the great capital; and if they did not occasionally give him a call, to him they were as good as dead. thus it happened, that one day--it was in the beginning of the spring of --i was walking with him over the graben, when we met m. schenk, then far advanced between sixty and seventy. beethoven, transported with joy to see his old friend still among the living, seized his hand, hastened with him into a neighbouring tavern called the bugle horn, and conducted us into a back room, where, as in a catacomb, it was necessary to burn a light even at noon-day. there we shut ourselves in, and beethoven began to open all the recesses of his heart to his respected corrector. more talkative than he often was, a multitude of stories and anecdotes of long by-gone times presented themselves to his recollection, and among the rest the affair with haydn; and beethoven, who had now raised himself to the sovereignty in the realm of music, loaded the modest composer of the _dorfbarbier_, who was living in narrow circumstances, with professions of his warmest thanks for the kindness which he had formerly shown him. their parting, after that memorable hour, as if for life, was deeply affecting; and, in fact, from that day, they never beheld one another again. as, in that classic period of musical activity, beethoven was the sun which all strove to approach, and rejoiced if they could but catch a glance of his brilliant eye; it was natural that he should converse much with ladies, several of whom were always contending for his affections at once, as it is well known, and he more than once found himself, like hercules, in a dilemma. dr. wegeler says in his publication (page ) that "beethoven was never without an attachment, and that mostly he was very deeply smitten." this is quite true. how could any rational person who is acquainted with beethoven solely from his works, maintain the contrary?[ ] whoever is capable of feeling how powerfully the pure flame of love operates upon the imagination, more especially of the sensitive and highly-endowed artist, and how in all his productions it goes before him like a light sent down from heaven to guide him, will take it for granted, without any evidence, that beethoven was susceptible of the purest love, and that he was conducted by it. what genius could have composed the fantasia in c without such a passion![ ] and here be it observed, merely by the way, it was love for the giulietta to whom that imaginative composition is dedicated, which inspired him while engaged upon it. beethoven seems to have retained his affection for that lady as long as he lived. of this i think i can produce striking evidence, but it belongs to the second period. wegeler's remark (p. ) is perfectly true, that the objects of beethoven's attachment were always of the higher rank. no prejudice on the part of beethoven had anything to do with this, which arose solely from the circumstance of his having at that time most intercourse with persons in high life,--an intercourse promoted moreover by his connexion with the princely house of lichnowsky. beethoven frequently declared that at this time he was best appreciated and best comprehended as an artist by noble and other high personages. high, however, as the converse with such personages was calculated to raise him intellectually, still, in regard to love, and a permanent happiness arising out of it, that circumstance was not advantageous to him. i shall take occasion to treat by and by more explicitly of this interesting topic, and shall merely observe here that, though exposed to such manifold seductions, beethoven had, like the demi-god of old, the firmness to preserve his virtue unscathed; that his refined sense of right and wrong could not endure anything impure, and in a moral respect equivocal, about it; and that, considered on this score, he passed through life, conscious of no fault, with truly virgin modesty and unblemished character. the higher muse, who had selected him for such important service, gave his views an upward direction, and preserved him, even in professional matters, from the slightest collision with the vulgar, which, in life as in art, was his abomination. would that she had done as much for him in regard to the civil relations of life, as they are called, to which every inhabitant of earth is subject! how infinitely higher would beethoven's genius have soared, if, in the ordinary intercourse of life, he had not been brought into conflict with so many base and contemptible minds! among the compositions of such various kinds that belong to this period were, besides the three sonatas dedicated to haydn, the first three trios, several quartetts for stringed instruments, two concertos for the piano-forte, the septett, the first and second symphony, more than twenty sonatas, and the music to vigano's ballet "die geschöpfe des prometheus" (the creations of prometheus), which was performed in , at the imperial operahouse; but the most important of these were not printed till a later period. it may not be amiss here to remark that the numbers affixed to beethoven's works do not indicate the order in which they were composed by the master, but that in which they were published. many works he kept back, frequently for several years, for the purpose of severe correction, while later compositions were sent into the world without delay.[ ] this mode of proceeding, it is true, produced a confusion in the continuous numbering of his works, which he himself knew not how to remedy. at first, he purposed to number the works in the order in which they were composed, though some that were earlier written might not be published till after later ones were already printed. from the chasms which it was on this account found necessary to leave open, arose disorder; and hence we meet with many a number twice and even thrice over in the catalogues, and others not at all. thus, for example, in the catalogue annexed to the "_beethoven studien_," op. is prefixed first to three sonatas, then to the preludes, and once more to the quintett in c. in m. artaria's catalogue, no. is even attached to four, no. to six, and no. to three works. the latter catalogue specifies in the whole one hundred and fifty-two different works of beethoven's, with numbers and opus-figures, while catalogues containing merely opus-numbers exhibit only one hundred and thirty-eight. that beethoven had already at this time many more commissions for works than he could execute, we learn from his letter of the th of june, , to dr. wegeler,[ ] where he likewise mentions that he is paid what he charges for them; and it is interesting to remark how small are the sums then paid for the copyright of his works by publishers in comparison with those which he received twenty years later, as we shall see in the third period. in his letter of the th of january, , to the music publisher, hofmeister, in leipzig,[ ] there is a statement of the prices charged for some works, which may serve as a kind of standard for others. he asks, for instance, for the septett twenty ducats (ten louis-d'ors), for the first symphony twenty ducats, for the first concerto ten ducats, and for the grand b major sonata (op. ) twenty ducats. during a period of at least ten or twelve years it was at prince lichnowsky's musical parties that almost all beethoven's works were first tried, and the refined taste of the prince, as well as his solid musical acquirements, commanded such respect from beethoven, that he readily followed his advice in regard to the alteration or improvement of this or that in his compositions--a point on which he was extremely self-willed. thus, too, at a later period, he would rather hear censures than praise from those to whom he gave credit for comprehending him; and but very few performers could boast of being so fortunate as to be allowed to teach him the peculiarities and the treatment of their respective instruments. m. kraft, the elder, and subsequently m. linke, taught him the mechanism of the violoncello, m. punto that of the horn, and m. friedlowsky the elder that of the clarinet: and it was these artists whom beethoven chiefly consulted respecting his compositions, and to whose arguments he listened, even when it went ever so much against the grain to alter this or that passage.[ ] the quartett which so early as that time had attained high distinction, consisting of schuppanzigh, first violin, sina second violin, weiss, bratsche (viola) kraft, the elder, alternating with linke, violoncello; which at a later period acquired universal and well-deserved celebrity by the appellation of "the rasumowsky quartett"--this quartett enraptured the musical circle of prince lichnowsky, and into the souls of these four superior artists did beethoven in time breathe his own sublime spirit. him only who can boast of such good fortune i call the scholar, the disciple, of a great master, who can and must further diffuse his precepts in all their purity. how to place the fingers on the instrument, how to perform difficult passages upon it, can be taught by thousands without possessing a single spark of genius. not the skilful management of technicalities, the spirit alone is the truth of every art. and this spirit, which in beethoven himself attained its full vigour only with the lapse of time, gradually grew up in this association composing that quartett till it arrived at its full development, and thus it continued till beethoven's death, though messrs. sina and weiss had left vienna, and their places had been supplied by two worthy successors, messrs. holz and kaufmann.[ ] the reunion of these four artists, over the musical purity of whose manners beethoven never ceased to watch with anxiety, was justly regarded as the only genuine school for acquiring a knowledge of beethoven's quartett-music, that new world full of sublime conceptions and revelations. a letter addressed by the great master to this quartett--when, in , one of his last difficult quartetts was to be performed for the first time before a select audience, i must not here omit, on account of its humorous tenor, particularly as it proves at the same time beethoven's anxiety in their behalf which has been alluded to above. it is verbatim as follows:-- "my dear friends, "herewith each of you will receive what belongs to him, and is hereby engaged, upon condition that each binds himself upon his honour to do his best to distinguish himself and to surpass the rest. "this paper must be signed by each of those who have to co-operate in the affair in question. "beethoven." (here follow the four signatures.) if i further mention that, towards the end of this first period of his life, beethoven made a professional tour, of but short duration, it is true, to leipzig and berlin; that he excited a great sensation in both these cities; and that his merits were duly appreciated, i think i may fairly conclude the first part of the life of that gigantic genius, who had thus far already marked out for himself the course which he meant to pursue, and from which he was not to be diverted, even by the storms that soon afterwards burst over the musical world. i shall therefore pause only to cast a rapid glance at the state of the art, and at the prevailing taste of that period. in all germany, and particularly in vienna, music was much cultivated, and that chiefly good music (because then there was not so much bad produced as succeeding years have brought forth); for the lower classes, among whom there had previously been many attentive auditors, began to pay more and more attention to the divine art, but at the same time rarely possessed high mental cultivation, or had a just conception of the nature of music and its sublimest object, and upon the whole was still full of prejudices against every art;--when the number of composers was not yet swollen to legion, and was confined to those who were really qualified by nature, though not always endowed with the lofty powers of genius. but all these persons meant honestly by art, which, now-a-days, is too rarely the case; and, to mean honestly by a matter to which one dedicates one's abilities, tends greatly to promote its success. the magicians of those days, herder, wieland, lessing, göthe, and many more; together with gluck, sebastian bach and his sons, mozart, haydn, salieri, and the aspiring beethoven, had exercised such a beneficial influence on the nobler, the intellectual cultivation, especially of the superior classes, that art and science were reckoned by very many among the highest, the chief requisites of intellectual existence. in the german opera, which, through gluck and mozart, had attained its acme, and arrived at the same degree of perfection and estimation as the italian, truth of expression, dignity, and sublimity in every point, were far more highly prized than the mere fluency of throat, hollow pathos, and excitements of sense, studied in that of the present day. these two institutions operated powerfully on all who were susceptible of what is truly beautiful and noble. haydn's "creation," and handel's oratorios, attracted unprecedented auditories, and afforded the highest gratification, with bands of one hundred and fifty, or at most two hundred performers; whereas, in our over-refined times, from six to eight hundred, nay, even upwards of a thousand, are required by people in order to enjoy the din which this legion produces, while little or no attention is paid to the main point.[ ] in short, at that time people thankfully accepted great things offered with small means, sought mind and soul in music as the highest gratification, and had no conception of that materialism which now-a-days presides over musical matters, any more than they had of the tendency of the gradual improvements in the mechanism of musical instruments and their abuse to lower taste. the dillettantism of that period remained modestly in its place, and did not offer itself for hire, as at the present day, in every province and in every country, paid sincere respect to art and artists, and arrogated to itself no position which the accomplished professional man alone should have occupied--a mal-practice now so common in many places. in a word, people really loved music without ostentation; they allowed it to operate upon them with its magic charms, no matter whether it was executed by four performers or by four hundred, and employed it in general as the surest medium for improving heart and mind, and thus giving a noble direction to the feelings. the german nation could still derive the inspiration of simple greatness, genuine sensibility, and humane feelings from its music; it still thoroughly understood the art of drawing down from the magic sphere of harmony the inexpressible and the spiritually sublime, and securing them for itself. in and with those times, and among their noblest and best, lived beethoven, in cheerful vienna, where his genius found thousand-fold encouragement to exert its power, free and unfettered, and exposed to no other misrepresentations and enmity than those of envy alone. this was a splendid era of art, such an era as may perhaps never recur; and, with special reference to beethoven, the golden age. under such circumstances, surrounded and beloved by persons of such delicate sentiments, he ought to have been completely happy; and he certainly would have been so but for a hardness of hearing, which, even then,--that is to say, in the latter years of this first period of his life,--began to afflict him, and was sometimes of long continuance. this complaint, which affected his temper, was subsequently aggravated into a dreadful disease, which rendered him inexpressibly miserable. second period. from to october, . general view of the second period of beethoven's life--composition of his "christ on the mount of olives" and "fidelio"--his brothers, carl and johann; their mischievous influence--his severe illness--remarkable will addressed to them--his "sinfonia eroica," in honour of napoleon--count moritz von lichnowsky--opera of "fidelio"--beethoven's neglect of vocal performers--their intrigues and cabals--his passion for julia--letters to her--disappointed love--countess marie erdödy--beethoven as director of the orchestra--animadversions on statements of ferdinand ries--beethoven forms a friendship with count franz von brunswick and baron gleichenstein--prices paid for his compositions during the second period--misconduct of his brothers--defence of his character against the charge of cowardice--annuity settled upon him, to keep him in austria--his dislike of, and reconciliation with, hummel--foreign visitors--bettina brentano--göthe--beethoven's frequent change of residence--his domestic circumstances. this second period is, from beginning to end, a complete labyrinth, in which the great composer was lost, and where the biographer, too, might lose his way along with him, if he were not to hold all the threads of this drama firmly and tightly in his hands, and if he were not intimately acquainted with the characters of all the actors in it. the "evil principle," in the shape of his two brothers, carl and johann, incessantly besets him, and pursues him wherever he goes. fate deprives him of hearing, and thus bars the access to word or tone. a host of friends and admirers of all classes throng around him for the purpose of delivering him from both these evils; they pour their counsels into the ear of poor beethoven, who listens only to those of the last friend, which, however, the "evil principle" is always at hand to counteract. the entanglements multiply: envy, intrigue, and all sorts of passions, strive to perform their parts to the best of their power, and close every avenue and outlet. with regret, the biographer is obliged here to inform the reader beforehand, that this drama unfortunately is not concluded in this second period: at the same time he admits with pleasure that, in the thousand conflicts and collisions, the sacred muse conducted her high-priest with protecting hand, since she caused him to meet with several excellent friends, who found means to secure his confidence for a length of time, and assisted to bring him as unharmed as could be expected out of this labyrinth of human frailties and passions to the third period of his life.[ ] the scene before us shows but too plainly how difficult a task is here imposed upon the biographer, to unravel this tangled web, and, with its threads, to continue to weave the history with a due regard to truth and justice. he shall therefore be obliged to treat very summarily of the greater part of those unhappy circumstances, together with their causes; and to throw them overboard, wherever it can be done, as superfluous ballast, entreating the reader to have recourse to his own imagination for filling up the details of many a scene. in the year we find beethoven engaged in the composition of his "christ on the mount of olives," the first performance of which took place on the th of april, . he wrote this work during his summer-residence at hetzendorf, a pleasant village, closely contiguous to the gardens of the imperial palace of schönbrunn, where he passed several summers of his life in profound seclusion. there he again resided in , and wrote his "fidelio." a circumstance connected with both these great works, and of which beethoven many years afterwards still retained a lively recollection, was, that he composed them in the thickest part of the wood in the park of schönbrunn, seated between the two stems of an oak, which shot out from the main trunk at the height of about two feet from the ground. this remarkable tree, in that part of the park to the left of the gloriett, i found with beethoven in , and the sight of it called forth interesting reminiscences of the former period. with respect to the above-mentioned oratorio, i ought not to omit mentioning the circumstance, that beethoven, in the last year of his life, found fault with himself for having treated the part of christ too dramatically, and would have given a great deal to be able to correct that "fault." towards the end of the autumn of his second symphony, and the concerto in c minor, were performed for the first time. it was during this period that his brother carl (his real name was caspar), who had some years previously followed him to vienna, began to govern him, and to make beethoven suspicious of his sincerest friends and adherents, from wrong notions, or, perhaps, even from jealousy. it was only the still undiminished authority of prince lichnowsky over beethoven and his true interests, that intimidated the latter, and somewhat checked the perversity of his brother carl, and thereby peace was still for a short time ensured to our beethoven and those around him. at any rate, here already commences the history of beethoven's sufferings, which terminated only with his death, and which originated not only in the conduct of his brother, but also in his own gradually increasing deafness, and the distrust which it engendered. this first brother was joined in time by a second, johann, whose sentiments soon became identified with those of carl; so that the mass of the counterpoise to the scale containing what was truly necessary and salutary for beethoven became too compact, and defied all who were acquainted with his noble disposition and his aspiring genius, and who had striven to elevate the latter by means of the former. and how did beethoven behave amidst the innumerable contradictions and contrasts that already everywhere pursued him? like a boy, who, having dropped from an ideal world upon the earth, utterly destitute of experience, is tossed like a ball from hand to hand, consequently is entirely under the influence of others; and such was beethoven's case throughout his whole life. let this serve the reader for a key to many an enigma that will hereafter present itself to him in regard to beethoven's conduct. we perceive from this explanation how complicated those circumstances are already becoming, which must necessarily operate upon his mental and intellectual exertions, and ultimately on his whole physical existence. but, at the same time, we see how much depends on those about such a man, who continues in a sort of childhood, but whose mind attains a greatness that cannot harmonise with anything about him; whose will in everything becomes absolute law, even for the purpose of trying and condemning himself. such was beethoven throughout his whole life. hence his never-ceasing opposition to every existing political institution; for, in his ideal world, everything was different--everything better; and whoever coincided in these notions, to him he attached himself, and frequently with the warmest affection. such impressions, however, were but transient, owing, in many cases, to a too ready accordance with his notions, when this appeared to be the result not of conviction, but of personal respect for himself. this he termed _flattery_, and to him it was at all times particularly offensive. in the first months of , beethoven was attacked by a severe illness, in which he was attended by dr. schmidt, the celebrated physician, whom he numbered among his esteemed friends, and to whom, in token of gratitude, he dedicated the septett arranged by himself as a trio. on his recovery he removed to heiligenstadt, a village about seven miles distant from vienna, where he passed the whole of the summer. there he wrote that remarkable will, which i sent after his death to the editor of the _wiener theater zeitung_, and to m. rochlitz, at leipzig, for the _musikalische zeitung_, of that city. that document, which must not be omitted here, is to this effect:[ ]-- "_for my brothers, carl and ... beethoven._ "o ye, who consider or declare me to be hostile, obstinate, or misanthropic, what injustice ye do me!--ye know not the secret causes of that which to you wears such an appearance. my heart and my mind were from childhood prone to the tender feelings of affection. nay, i was always disposed even to perform great actions. but only consider that, for the last six years, i have been attacked by an incurable complaint, aggravated by the unskilful treatment of medical men, disappointed from year to year in the hope of relief, and at last obliged to submit to the endurance of an evil, the cure of which may last perhaps for years, if it is practicable at all. born with a lively, ardent disposition, susceptible to the diversions of society, i was forced at an early age to renounce them, and to pass my life in seclusion. if i strove at any time to set myself above all this, o how cruelly was i driven back by the doubly painful experience of my defective hearing! and yet it was not possible for me to say to people--'speak louder--bawl--for i am deaf!' ah! how could i proclaim the defect of a sense, that i once possessed in the highest perfection, in a perfection in which few of my colleagues possess or ever did possess it! indeed, i cannot! forgive me, then, if ye see me draw back when i would gladly mingle among you. doubly mortifying is my misfortune to me, as it must tend to cause me to be misconceived. from recreation in the society of my fellow-creatures, from the pleasures of conversation, from the effusions of friendship, i am cut off. almost alone in the world, i dare not venture into society more than absolute necessity requires. i am obliged to live as in exile. if i go into company, a painful anxiety comes over me, since i am apprehensive of being exposed to the danger of betraying my situation. such has been my state, too, during this half year that i have spent in the country. enjoined by my intelligent physician to spare my hearing as much as possible, i have been almost encouraged by him in my present natural disposition; though, hurried away by my fondness for society, i sometimes suffered myself to be enticed into it. but what a humiliation, when any one standing beside me could hear at a distance a flute that i could not hear, or any one heard the shepherd singing and i could not distinguish a sound! such circumstances brought me to the brink of despair, and had well nigh made me put an end to my life: nothing but my art held my hand. ah! it seemed to me impossible to quit the world before i had produced all that i felt myself called to accomplish. and so i endured this wretched life--so truly wretched, that a somewhat speedy change is capable of transporting me from the best into the worst condition. patience--so i am told--i must choose for my guide. i have done so. stedfast, i hope, will be my resolution to persevere, till it shall please the inexorable fates to cut the thread. perhaps there may be amendment--perhaps not; i am prepared for the worst--i, who so early as my twenty-eighth year, was forced to become a philosopher--it is not easy--for the artist, more difficult than for any other. o! god, thou lookest down upon my misery; thou knowest that it is accompanied with love of my fellow-creatures and a disposition to do good! o, men! when ye shall read this, think that ye have wronged me: and let the child of affliction take comfort on finding one like himself, who, in spite of all the impediments of nature, yet did all that lay in his power to obtain admittance into the rank of worthy artists and men. you, my brothers, carl and ..., as soon as i am dead, if professor schmidt be yet living, request him, in my name, to write a description of my disease, and to that description annex this paper, that after my death the world may, at least, be as much as possible reconciled with me. at the same time, i declare both of you the heirs of the little property (if it can be so called) belonging to me. divide it fairly; agree together, and help one another. what you have done to grieve me, that, you know, has long been forgiven. thee, brother carl, i thank in particular, for the affection thou hast shown me of late. my wish is that you may live more happily, more exempt from care, than i have done. recommend virtue to your children; that alone--not wealth--can give happiness; i speak from experience. it was this that upheld me even in affliction; it is owing to this and to my art that i did not terminate my life by suicide. farewell, and love one another. i thank all friends, especially prince lichnowsky and professor schmidt. i wish that prince l.'s instruments may remain in the possession of one of you; but let no quarrel arise between you on account of them. in case, however, they can be more serviceable to you in another way, dispose of them. how glad i am to think that i may be of use to you even in my grave! so let it be done! i go to meet death with joy. if he comes before i have had occasion to develop all my professional abilities, he will come too soon for me, in spite of my hard fate, and i should wish that he had delayed his arrival. but even then i am content, for he will release me from a state of endless suffering. come when thou wilt, i shall meet thee with firmness. farewell, and do not quite forget me after i am dead; i have deserved that you should think of me, for in my lifetime i have often thought of you to make you happy. may you ever be so! "ludwig van beethoven, m. p. (l.s.) "_heiligenstadt, october th, ._" on the outside was the following:-- "for my brothers, carl and ..., to read and to execute after my demise. "_heiligenstadt, october th, ._ "thus, then, i take my leave of thee, and that with sorrow. yes, the fond hope that i brought hither with me of cure, at least to a certain point, will now entirely forsake me. as the leaves of autumn fall withered to the ground, so is that hope become withered for me. nearly as i came hither do i go away; even that lofty courage, which frequently animated me in the fine days of summer, has abandoned me. o, providence! grant that a day of pure joy may once break for me! how long have i been a stranger to the delightful sound of real joy! when, o, god! when can i again feel it in the temple of nature and of men?--never? nay that would be too hard!"[ ] it was not till the autumn of that his state of mind had so far improved as to permit him to resume a plan which he had formed of doing homage to napoleon, the hero of the day, in a grand instrumental work, and to set about its execution. but it was not till the following year that he applied himself in good earnest to that gigantic composition, known by the title of "_sinfonia eroica_," which, however, in consequence of various interruptions, was not finished till . in the mean time beethoven wrote several sonatas and quartetts, which were bespoken by various noble personages and publishers. the original idea of that symphony is said to have been suggested by general bernadotte, who was then french ambassador at vienna, and had a high esteem for our beethoven. so i was informed by several of his friends. count moritz lichnowsky, (brother of prince lichnowsky), who was frequently with beethoven in bernadotte's company, and who is my authority for many circumstances belonging to this second period, gave me the same account. he was always about beethoven, and was not less attached to him than his brother.[ ] the particulars relative to this subject, communicated to me by beethoven himself, i shall reserve for the third period, where i shall have occasion to make mention of a letter addressed, in , to the king of sweden, formerly general bernadotte. in his political sentiments beethoven was a republican; the spirit of independence natural to a genuine artist gave him a decided bias that way. plato's "republic" was transfused into his flesh and blood, and upon the principles of that philosopher he reviewed all the constitutions in the world. he wished all institutions to be modelled upon the plan prescribed by plato. he lived in the firm belief that napoleon entertained no other design than to republicanise france upon similar principles, and thus, as he conceived, a beginning would be made for the general happiness of the world. hence his respect and enthusiasm for napoleon. a fair copy of the musical work for the first consul of the french republic, the conqueror of marengo, with the dedication to him, was on the point of being despatched through the french embassy to paris, when news arrived in vienna that napoleon bonaparte had caused himself to be proclaimed emperor of the french. the first thing beethoven did on receiving this intelligence was to tear off the title-leaf of this symphony, and to fling the work itself, with a torrent of execrations against the new french emperor, against the "new tyrant," upon the floor, from which he would not allow it to be lifted.[ ] it was a long time before beethoven recovered from the shock, and permitted this work to be given to the world with the title of "sinfonia eroica," and underneath it this motto: "per festegiare il sovvenire d'un gran uomo."[ ] i shall only add that it was not till the tragic end of the great emperor at st. helena, that beethoven was reconciled with him, and sarcastically remarked, that, seventeen years before, he had composed appropriate music to this catastrophe, in which it was exactly predicted, musically, but unwittingly--alluding to the dead march in that symphony. in the years and , beethoven was almost exclusively engaged in the composition of his opera "fidelio," in three acts, which was performed, for the first time, by the title of "leonore," at the theater an der wien, in the autumn of .[ ] the fortunes which befel this extraordinary work and its author, till it was rounded into the form in which we now enjoy it, were more singular than perhaps any production of this kind before or since ever experienced; and i fear that i shall be too prolix, even if i relate only the more important circumstances and their consequences to the author. it was the overture in the first place that put our master in a painful situation. it was finished, but the composer himself was not thoroughly satisfied with it, and therefore agreed that it should be first tried by a small orchestra, at prince lichnowsky's. there it was unanimously pronounced by a knot of connoisseurs to be too light, and not sufficiently expressive of the nature of the work; consequently it was laid aside and never made its appearance again in beethoven's lifetime.[ ] m. tob. haslinger, of vienna, to whom this overture was transferred, among other things, by his predecessor, published it a few years since, numbered, op. . the second overture (in c major, like the first) with which the opera was first performed upon the stage, is indisputably the cleverest of the four overtures that beethoven wrote to fidelio, and the one which best characterises the subject. but it was too difficult in the part of the wind-instruments, which always executed their task to the great vexation of the composer; it was therefore obliged to give way to a third (that published by breitkopf and härtel), which has the same motivo in the introduction as also in the allegro-movement, with small variations; but upon the whole is totally different from the second, which has not yet been published. in the third overture, which was substituted for the two former, too hard a task was imposed upon the stringed instruments, so that these also were found deficient in the requisite precision. the fourth and last overture (in e major) beethoven wrote because the third was moreover deemed too long, and he would not agree to curtail it. it was not published till , with the opera, after the latter had been for many years replaced on the list of acting pieces; and this time, with partial alterations of the libretto, by friedrich treitschke.[ ] in my account of the first period, where i had occasion to mention beethoven's anxiety for the improvement of the schuppanzigh quartett, i remarked that he never asked the singers if they could sing what he wrote, or if it would be necessary for him to make alterations here and there, to render their parts easier of execution. thus, too, in composing he gave full scope to his genius, and paid too little attention to the precepts given him many years before by salieri relative to the treatment of the vocal parts. hence, at rehearsals, he came into unpleasant collisions with the singers; and it is well known that the kapell-meister ignatz von seyfried, who then had an engagement at the theater an der wien, was frequently obliged to act the part of mediator between beethoven and the vocal performers, and that he gave him on this subject many a useful piece of advice, founded upon long experience.[ ] if beethoven had thus far encountered abundance of vexations, the measure of them was filled by the coldness with which the opera was received at its first representation. the cause of this indifference was not the immoderate length and breadth of the whole upon so slender a pedestal as the meagre libretto was, but it was as much owing to the unlucky circumstance that the audience consisted chiefly of french military, who had entered vienna a few days before, and were more familiar with the thunder of cannon than with sublime musical conceptions, especially when they could not understand anything of their nature and subject. this may serve in part to account for its slender success. but is not some blame to be attributed to beethoven himself? he would not listen to advice from any quarter, and he had therefore to take a lesson from experience. but was all the experience in the world of any benefit to him? alas, no!--as we shall see on a decisive occasion, which occurred in , at the rehearsals of his second mass, and the ninth symphony. at that time the friend of his juvenile years, stephen von breuning, was particularly serviceable to him. he spared neither advice nor active exertions in his behalf, and helped the inexperienced beethoven through all the "intrigues and cabals" which he had to encounter on the part of the managers of the theatre and the vocal performers.[ ] but, still too young, and of a disposition as inflammable as beethoven himself, he was unable to avert any mortifications from the head of his friend, and only drew them down upon his own in an equal degree, and thus doubled his burden, which the interference of the "evil principle" rendered still more oppressive. others, who wished as well to beethoven in this affair as breuning, were not sparing of their advice, and thus the unfortunate composer was involved in a maze of counsels and opinions, as he frequently was in the course of his life, from which nothing but his good genius and love ultimately extricated him. at that time he should have had at his elbow a friend like wegeler, who, according to beethoven's account, possessed the talent of giving a comic turn to everything that was likely to produce discord and strife between friends, thus putting them all in good humour with one another again. all the intrigues and cabals to which beethoven was exposed on occasion of his first opera, might perhaps not have left behind that disagreeable impression which made him shrink from the mere idea of writing a second. it may be asked, where was then his powerful patron and friend, prince lichnowsky, who would probably have cut the knot? shortly before the entrance of the french troops he quitted vienna, with many thousand others, and did not return till the autumn of the following year. after these fatal storms were over, and beethoven's mind had somewhat recovered its composure, he wrote the fourth symphony in b major, in point of form, indisputably the most finished of all; and thus storm and tempest were suddenly succeeded by the brightest sunshine. rapid as such transitions are in nature, so rapid was the change in his tone of mind, and hence ensued not a few contrasts. a musical idea, for instance, which engrossed his imagination, could suddenly chase all clouds from his brow, and make him forget everything around him, excepting that central point in which all his feelings converged. this was the passion for his julia, which had then attained its greatest intensity, and seemed to occupy all his thoughts. in the summer of he took a journey to an hungarian bathing-place, on account of his gradually increasing deafness. there he addressed to the object of his affection the following three interesting letters, which i possess in his own hand-writing:-- i. "_july th, , morning._ "my angel, my all, my other self!--only a few words to-day, and in pencil (written with yours). my future abode will certainly not be fixed till to-morrow. what a frivolous waste of time, &c.!--why this profound sorrow, when necessity commands? can our love subsist otherwise than by sacrifices, by not wishing for everything? canst thou help it that thou art not wholly mine, that i am not wholly thine? cast thine eyes on beautiful nature, and let not thy mind be ruffled by that which must be. love requires everything, and very justly: so it is i with thee, thou with me; only thou forgettest so easily that i must live for myself and for thee. if we were completely united, thou wouldst not feel this sorrow any more than i. my journey was terrible. i did not arrive here till four o'clock yesterday morning, for want of horses. at the last stage, i was warned not to travel at night, and told to beware of a certain wood; but this only spurred me on, and i was wrong: owing to the execrable roads--a bottomless by-road--the carriage broke down. prince esterhazy, who travelled hither by the other road, had the same accident with eight horses that i had with four. nevertheless, i feel some pleasure again, as i always do when i have conquered some difficulty. but now let us pass rapidly from externals to internals. we shall soon meet again. i cannot communicate to thee to-day the observations which i have been making for some days past on my life. if our hearts were close to one another, i should certainly not make any such. i have much to say to thee. ah! there are moments when i find that language is nothing! cheer up!--continue to be my true, my only love, my all, as i to thee: as for the rest--we must leave it to the gods to dispose for us as they please. "thy faithful "ludwig." ii. "_monday evening, july th, ._ "thou grievest, my dearest!--i have just learned that letters must be put into the post very early. thou grievest! ah! where i am, there art thou with me; with me and thee, i will find means to live with thee. what a life!!!! so!!!--without thee, persecuted by the kindness of people here and yonder, which, methinks, i no more wish to deserve than i really do deserve it--humility of man towards men--it pains me--and when i consider myself in connexion with the universe, what am i, and what is he who is called the greatest? and yet again herein lies the divine in man!... love me as thou wilt, my love for thee is more ardent--but never disguise thyself from me. good night!--as an invalid who has come for the benefit of the baths, i must go to rest. ah god! so near! so distant! is not our love a truly heavenly structure, but firm as the vault of heaven!" iii. "_good morning, on the th of july, ._ "before i was up, my thoughts rushed to thee, my immortal beloved; at times cheerful, then again sorrowful, waiting to see if fate will listen to us. i cannot live unless entirely with thee, or not at all; nay, i have resolved to wander about at a distance, till i can fly into thine arms, call myself quite at home with thee, and send my soul wrapped up in thee into the realm of spirits. yes, alas! it must be so! thou must cheer up, more especially as thou knowest my love to thee. never can another possess my heart--never!--never!--o god! why must one flee from what one so fondly loves! and the life that i am leading at present is a miserable life. thy love makes me the happiest, and at the same time the unhappiest, of men. at my years, i need some uniformity, some equality, in my way of life; can this be in our mutual situation? be easy; it is only by tranquil contemplation of our existence that we can accomplish our object of living together. what longing with tears after thee, my life, my all! farewell. o continue to love me, and never misdoubt the most faithful heart of thy "beloved ludwig." with such a heart as beethoven's, is that to be believed which m. ries says of him in his '_notizen_,' p. ,--"he" (namely beethoven) "was very often in love, but these attachments were mostly of very brief duration. one day when i was rallying him on the conquest of a fair lady, he confessed to me that this one had enthralled him longer and more powerfully than any--that is to say, full seven months." but, with beethoven's extraordinary susceptibility on the point of love, may he not actually have fared the same as others? how many phenomena pass before the eyes of a man, and leave behind an impression upon him only for moments or for days; till at length there comes one which instantly strikes deep into his heart, and incessantly goes before him, as his pole-star in all he does! this seemed indeed to be really the case with beethoven. that he never forgot the lady in question is evident from his having frequently caused inquiries concerning her to be made by myself and others, and from the lively interest that he always took in everything relating to her. circumstances forbid me to say more on this subject at present. another paper, likewise in his own hand-writing, of a rather later period, attesting his ardent longing for domestic happiness, runs literally thus:--"love, and love alone, is capable of giving thee a happier life. o god, let me at length find her--her, who may strengthen me in virtue--who may _lawfully_ be mine!" it cannot admit of a doubt that, if beethoven had had the good fortune to meet with a female of like condition with himself, whom he could have called his own, who had thoroughly known and loved him--this, with his eminent qualities for domestic life, would have proved the foundation of his happiness; and that, under these circumstances, the world would have many more productions of his genius to boast of than it now possesses. beethoven needed such a constanze as mozart once called his (as artists and literary men in particular ought to have), who could, in like manner, have ventured to say to him, in a tone of kindness, "stay at home, ludwig, and work: such and such a one is waiting for what you promised," as wolfgang's wife is reported to have frequently said to him. such a woman would have deserved a monument, which he himself had no need of. to say that his deafness caused things to turn out otherwise, and that it was almost the only reason that beethoven never enjoyed true happiness, is lamentable, but, alas! too true. it is remarkable that, notwithstanding the great confidence which he placed in me, on the subject of his attachments, i never heard anything drop from him but names which seemed to point that way; and it would not have become my youth to have questioned him concerning them. thus even of the giulietta, to whom i have adverted above, i have heard only casual mention by himself, and to this tender topic he would not suffer even his oldest friends to make allusion. what i have stated respecting her is nevertheless derived from the most authentic sources. the letters which i have inserted offer moreover incontestable evidence of the truth of what i have mentioned. it is further said that beethoven cherished a tender attachment to a countess marie erdödy, to whom he dedicated the two splendid trios, op. . but to me it appears to have been no more than a friendly intimacy between the two.[ ] on this subject i know nothing particular, excepting that this lady, who was fond of the arts, erected in honour of her instructor and friend, in the park of one of her seats in hungary, a handsome temple, the entrance to which is decorated with a characteristic inscription, pertinently expressing her homage to the great composer. as beethoven once observed of himself that he was composing several things at the same time, so this continued to be his practice. thus, in the years , , and , in which the fourth, fifth, and sixth symphonies--those giants of musical poesy--sprang from his brain, he wrote many other works, as the catalogue attests. his c minor _symphony_, and the _pastorale_, were not brought out at the same time, as m. ries states (p. ), but at different, distant, intervals, as they were composed. it may be rationally assumed, _à priori_, that, to bring out for the first time, and close on the heels of each other, three works of such extent--m. ries even adds to them the _fantasia for the piano-forte_, with orchestra and vocal music--at a period when the orchestra had not attained that degree of perfection which it has in our days, borders on the impossible. in this, as in the former period, beethoven conducted almost all his greater works himself on their first performance. as director of the orchestra, he was neither good nor bad. his impetuosity did not permit him to arrive at the tranquillity and self-command requisite. feeling himself what each individual instrument had to do, he strove to make each of the performers equally sensible of it, and lost himself in gesticulations, which caused a wavering in the orchestra. his hardness of hearing, whence his listening for the prescribed falling-in of particular instruments, moreover occasioned frequent delays in passages where the director ought to have urged the whole onward. at the time when his hearing was yet perfect, he had not often occasion to come in contact with the orchestra, and especially to acquire practice in the conducting department at the theatre, which is the best school for that purpose. in the concert-room the talent most fitted for this difficult function is never fully developed, and remains one-sided and awkward. thus we see composers of eminence incapable of conducting the orchestra in the performance of their own works, if they have not previously acquired the necessary routine, in listening to, and in superintending, numerous bands. if, therefore, beethoven was frequently involved in unpleasant altercations with his orchestra, this was no more than might have been expected, but never did he descend to coarseness and abuse; still less does a creature in vienna know anything about such occurrences with the orchestra as are related by his friend and pupil, m. ries (pp. and ), occurrences which "are said" to have happened in vienna long after m. ries had gone to petersburg. and what conductor is there but sometimes gets into unpleasant squabbles with his orchestra, without any one ever attaching importance to them, or employing them as sources for a characteristic account of the man?[ ] [illustration: musical notation; _rhythm of bars._] this seems to be the proper place for mentioning that it was in this period that the friendships formed by beethoven were increased by two, which had in general great influence over him, in the persons of count franz von brunswick and baron j. von gleichenstein. though not constantly resident in vienna, they were frequently there, and beethoven had opportunities of consulting them on matters of importance. both possessing superior abilities and rare equanimity, and having penetrated deeply into his whole nature and his works, acquired such a control over beethoven, without any assumption on their part, as enabled them to accomplish much that the officiousness of other friends could never have brought about. the former in particular possessed a profound comprehension of beethoven's genius which i have never met with in so high a degree in any other of his admirers. beethoven seems to have even then perceived this mental preponderance of that friend over others, when he dedicated to him the gigantic _sonata_, op. , and the _fantasia_, op. . "it must be of no ordinary quality," he probably thought, "if i am to honour a worthy friend according to his deserts."[ ] to his friend, baron von gleichenstein, beethoven dedicated the grand _sonata with violoncello_, op. . here i must further mention the imperial secretary m. von zmeskall, who was one of beethoven's warmest friends at that time, and who, like the two just mentioned, exercised considerable influence over him. to all these three excellent men the great master continued to be attached and grateful as long as he lived. it was not the admiration of his genius, but a decided comprehension and appreciation of it, that attached beethoven to a friend. for idolatrous admirers his heart was but a broad thoroughfare, along which thousands could go in and out without jostling against one another. and this is a sure sign of the truly superior genius, whose chief desire it is to be understood, and completely understood. astonishment and admiration will then follow in due time and measure. it will now be interesting to observe how much beethoven's works had risen in value since the conclusion of the first and the beginning of the second period. among his papers there is an agreement between him and muzio clementi, dated vienna, the th of april, , signed by both, and witnessed by baron gleichenstein. according to this agreement, beethoven received from m. clementi for duplicates of the following works:-- st. three quartetts; nd. the fourth symphony; rd. the overture to coriolanus; th. the fourth concerto for the piano-forte; th. the violin concerto--for sale in england, the sum of two hundred pounds sterling. (all these works had already been disposed of to german publishers.) clementi further engaged by this agreement to pay beethoven the sum of sixty pounds sterling for three sonatas that were not yet composed. the valuable presents that beethoven received about this time were numerous, but all of them vanished without leaving any traces behind; and i have heard friends of his assert that the "evil principle" strove to keep not only kindly disposed persons but valuables of every sort away from him. it is said that, when he was asked,--"what is become of such a ring, or such a watch?" he would always reply, after some consideration, "i do not know." at the same time he well knew how it had been purloined from him, but he never would accuse his brothers of such dishonesty; on the contrary, he defended them in all their proceedings, and, in their bickerings with others, even with his most tried friends, he generally admitted, if not loudly, yet tacitly, that his brothers were in the right, and thus confirmed them in their practices against his personal interests. in particular, all that his elder brother carl did he most obstinately defended, as he was extremely fond of him, and placed great reliance on his abilities.[ ] at the time of the second french invasion, in , beethoven did not quit vienna any more than he had done during the first. had he on this occasion been concerned for his personal safety, and capable of such cowardice as m. ries leaves the reader to suppose that he betrayed,[ ] he could have taken a thousand opportunities to quit the capital before its occupation; and if, during its bombardment, he retreated to the cellar, he did no more than was done, at that critical moment, by the whole population; and dr. wegeler conjectures that he may have been moreover induced to take this precaution by the painful effect of the thunder of the cannon upon his ailing ear. no person that had any opportunity to observe beethoven closely ever saw him timorous or cowardly; he was precisely the reverse, and knew neither fear nor apprehension: and this was quite in accordance with his natural character. or is it to be presumed that he was timid and alarmed in the year alone? did he not stay in vienna and bring out his fidelio during the first occupation of the french in , though it was just as likely to have been preceded by a bombardment of the city? in the year beethoven was offered the appointment of kapell-meister to the king of westphalia, with a salary of ducats. this offer of a secure provision was the first and the last he ever received in his life--the last, because his defective hearing incapacitated him for the functions of a director of music. but as it was considered discreditable for austria to suffer the great composer, whom with pride she called her own, to be transferred to another country, an offer was made to him on the part of the archduke rudolph, prince kinsky, and prince lobkowitz, to settle upon him an annuity of florins in paper-money so long as he should not have any permanent appointment in the country, on this single condition, that he was not to leave austria.[ ] to this condition beethoven acceded, and remained. but, so soon as the year , the austrian finance-patent reduced these florins to one-fifth; nevertheless beethoven could not prevail upon his illustrious patrons to make any modification in the stipulations of . how he fared in the sequel in regard to this fifth of his pension, how materially it was further diminished, we shall see at the proper place in the third period. in the year beethoven brought out his first mass (op. ) at eisenstadt, the summer residence of prince esterhazy. m. hummel was then kapell-meister to the prince. after the service, prince paul esterhazy, who, it is well known, had a particular predilection for haydn's church music, received our beethoven and other eminent persons in his mansion. when the composer entered, the prince said to him in an indifferent tone--"but, my dear beethoven, what have you been about here again?" in allusion to the work which had just been performed. disconcerted by this expression of the prince's, beethoven was still more so, when he saw hummel stand laughing by the side of the prince. fancying that he was laughing at him, and moreover that he could perceive a malicious sneer in his professional colleague, he could stay no longer in a place where his production was so ill appreciated. he left the prince's residence the same day, without ascertaining whether that obnoxious laugh had applied to him, or whether it might not more probably have been occasioned by the way and manner in which the prince expressed himself. his hatred to hummel on this account struck such deep root, that i am not acquainted with any second instance of the kind in the course of his life. fourteen years afterwards, he related this circumstance to me with as much asperity as though it had happened only the preceding day. but this dark cloud was dispelled by the energy of his mind, and this would have been the case much sooner had hummel made friendly advances, and not kept continually aloof, which he did, owing to the fact that both had once been in love with the same lady; but hummel was, and continued to be, the favoured suitor, because he had an appointment, and had not the misfortune to be hard of hearing. when beethoven heard, in the last days of his life, that hummel was expected at vienna, he was overjoyed, and said--"oh! if he would but call to see me!" hummel did call, the very day after his arrival, in company with m. and. streicher; and the meeting of the old friends, after they had not seen each other for so many years, was extremely affecting. hummel, struck by beethoven's suffering looks, wept bitterly. beethoven strove to appease him, by holding out to him a drawing of the house at rohrau in which haydn was born, sent to him that morning by diabelli, with the words--"look, my dear hummel, here is haydn's birth-place; it is a present that i received this morning, and it gives me very great pleasure. so great a man born in so mean a cottage!" hummel afterwards paid him several visits, and every unpleasant circumstance that had occurred between them was totally forgotten at the first interview. they agreed to meet again the following summer at carlsbad, but ten or twelve days afterwards beethoven expired, and hummel attended him to the grave. as it is my intention, as well as my principle, to follow merely the more important incidents in beethoven's life that stand in direct relation to his individuality, i shall record but one more fact which occurred in the year , and which in its results was important to beethoven. that beethoven was beset by visitors from the most distant countries, and but too often annoyed by them, must appear extremely natural, considering his position with regard to his contemporaries. if space permitted, i could relate interesting particulars of germans, russians, swedes, poles, danes, french, and especially of english, who approached beethoven with all the deference they would pay to a sovereign, and who, when they were in his presence and saw his unhappy situation, of which they could not before form any conception, were most of them overwhelmed with melancholy. with tears did many a lady of rank inscribe the assurance of her profound respect in his conversation-book, since he could no longer hear her voice; and with tears in their eyes, too, did most of them take leave of him.[ ] many such scenes did i witness while i was about him. is the reader curious to learn how beethoven behaved towards such visitors? always with more than usual kindliness--talkative, cordial, witty--never as a prince in his realm, and never did he allow his visitors to perceive how deeply galling was his misfortune. among his female visitors, in , was bettina brentano (von arnim), of frankfurt on the mayne, who, in her letters to göthe, has described what passed, and whose reports of her interviews with beethoven in _göthe's briefwechsel mit einem kinde_ (göthe's correspondence with a child), must be well known to many of the admirers of the great master. it is the latter circumstance that, for the reason assigned in the introduction, induces me to make a brief remark on bettina's statements. whoever reads, in the work just mentioned, (_göthe's briefwechsel_, band ii. ) what the evidently somewhat over-strained bettina, in her letter of the th of may, , puts into the mouth of beethoven, cannot fail to set him down for a _bel esprit_ and a most verbose talker, but very erroneously. beethoven's mode of expressing and explaining himself, on all and every occasion, was throughout his whole life the simplest, shortest, and most concise, both in speaking and writing, as is everywhere proved by the latter. to listen to highly-polished and flowery phrases, or to read anything written in that style, was disagreeable to him, being contrary to his nature; still less was he himself an adept in it: in all respects simple, plain, without a trace of pompousness--such was beethoven likewise in conversation. that he thought of his art in the way that bettina describes, that he recognised in it a higher revelation, and placed it above all wisdom and all philosophy; this was a theme on which he did, indeed, often speak, but always very briefly. with what respect he regarded at the same time other arts and sciences, all of which he held to be closely connected with his own art, is peculiarly worthy of remark. how would beethoven have been astonished at all the fine speeches which the sprightly bettina puts into his mouth--which would be well enough in a poetical work on the master--but, given as matter of fact, are indeed contrary to his whole nature! he would undoubtedly say,--"my dear bettina, you, who have such a flow of words and ideas, must certainly have had a _raptus_ when you wrote in that manner to göthe."[ ] beethoven's letters to bettina also attest the simplicity and unaffectedness of his way of expressing himself.[ ] a single example will suffice to show this: beethoven writes in from töplitz, in bohemia, to her among others--"kings and princes can, to be sure, make professors, privy councillors, &c., and confer titles and orders, but they cannot make great men--minds which rise above the common herd[ ]--these they must not pretend to make, and therefore must these be held in honour. when two men such as göthe and i come together, even the high and mighty perceive what is to be considered as great in men like us. yesterday, on our way home, we met the whole imperial family. we saw them coming from a distance, and göthe separated from me to stand aside: say what i would, i could not make him advance another step. i pressed my hat down upon my head, buttoned up my great-coat, and walked with folded arms through the thickest of the throng. princes and pages formed a line, the archduke rudolph took off his hat, and the empress made the first salutation. those gentry know me. i saw to my real amusement the procession file past göthe. he stood aside, with his hat off, and bending lowly. i rallied him smartly for it; i gave him no quarter; flung in his face all his sins, and most of all, that against you, dearest bettina: we had been just talking about you. good god! if it had been my lot to pass such a time with you as he did, depend upon it, i should have produced many, many more great works. a composer is a poet too; he too can feel himself suddenly transported by a couple of eyes into a fairer world, where greater geniuses make game of him, and set him excessively hard tasks." the results of the acquaintance with that interesting woman were, however, so important for beethoven, that they might well excuse a whole volume of such inspired effusions of his and concerning him. through her beethoven became acquainted with the house of brentano in frankfort, in which he found a friend indeed. the following lines, addressed by beethoven to me, in february , show in the clearest manner what the brentano family was to him:--"try to find out some humane creature, who will lend me money upon a bank share, that, in the first place, i may not encroach too much on the liberality of my friend brentano, and that by the delay of this money,[ ] i may not get myself into distress, thanks to the notable measures and arrangements of my dearly beloved brother." it was bettina who, in like manner, paved the way to the personal acquaintance with göthe, which actually took place in the summer of , at töplitz, as we have seen from beethoven's letter quoted above: but, though beethoven has praised göthe's patience with him, (on account of his deafness) still it is a fact, that the great poet and minister too soon forgot the great composer: and when, in , he had it in his power to render him an essential service, with little trouble to himself, he did not even deign to reply to a very humble epistle from our master. that letter was forwarded to him at weimar, through the grand-ducal chargé d'affaires, and must, of course, have reached his hands. in the years and , nothing occurred of particular moment for the biographer of beethoven. he lived in his usual way, in winter in the city, and in summer in the country, and adhered to his old custom of changing his place of abode as often in the twelvemonth as others do inns and places of diversion. hence it was no uncommon thing for him to have three or four lodgings to pay for at once. the motives for these frequent changes were in general trivial. in one lodging, for instance, he had less sun than he wished, and, if his landlord could not make that luminary shine longer into his apartment, beethoven removed from it. in another, he disliked the water, which was a prime necessary for him, and, if nothing could be done to please him on this point, beethoven was off again; to say nothing of other insignificant causes, such as i shall have to illustrate by two comic anecdotes when i come to the years and . in regard to his summer abodes, he was particularly whimsical. it was a usual thing with him to remove in may to some place or other on the north side of the city; in july or august to pack up all of a sudden and go to the south side. it is easy to conceive how much unnecessary expense this mode of proceeding must have entailed. in his last years, beethoven was so well known throughout the whole great city as a restless lodger, that it was difficult to find a suitable place of abode for him. at an earlier period, it was his friend baron pasqualati who kept apartments in constant readiness for the fickle beethoven; if he could not find any that he liked better, he returned, with bag and baggage, to the third or fourth floor at pasqualati's, where, however, not a ray of sunshine was ever to be seen, because the house has a northern aspect. beethoven, nevertheless, frequently resided there for a considerable time. in these three years of the second period he laboured assiduously, and we see already nearly one hundred of his works in the catalogue. the price of them increased from year to year, and in the like proportion increased beethoven's necessities, whims, and eccentricities, or whatever you choose to call them. large as were the sums that he earned, he had not laid by anything; nor did his brother carl, who at that time had the entire management of all his affairs, strive to prevail upon him to do so. the first impulse to secure by economy a competence for the future, was given by an excellent woman, whose name must not be omitted here: it was madame nanette streicher (her maiden name was stein), whose persuasions were beneficial to beethoven in another point besides that just mentioned, inasmuch as they induced him again to mingle in society, though indeed but for a short time, after he had almost entirely withdrawn himself from it. madame streicher found beethoven in the summer of in the most deplorable condition with reference to his personal and domestic comforts. he had neither a decent coat nor a whole shirt, and i must forbear to describe his condition such as it really was. madame streicher put his wardrobe and his domestic matters to rights, assisted by m. andreas streicher (a friend of schiller's from his youth), and beethoven complied with all her suggestions. he again took lodgings for the ensuing winter at pasqualati's; hired a man-servant, who was a tailor and had a wife, but she did not live in the house with him. this couple paid the greatest attention to beethoven, who now found himself quite comfortable, and for the first time began to accustom himself to a regular way of life, that is to say, in so far as it was possible for him. while his attendant followed his business undisturbed in the ante-room, beethoven produced in the adjoining apartment many of his immortal works; for instance, the symphony in a major, the battle symphony, the cantata "_der glorreiche augenblick_" (the glorious moment), and several others. in this situation i will now leave him, and close the second period of his life, from the motley events of which the reader may, of himself, draw this conclusion:--that, if the first period of beethoven's life may be justly called his golden age, that which immediately followed it was not a silver age, but an age of brass. third period. from november, , till his death, in . part i. causes of beethoven's preceding troubles--performance of his 'battle of vittoria,' for the benefit of disabled soldiers--dishonest conduct of m. mälzel; its effect on beethoven--commencement of the author's acquaintance with him--attention paid to beethoven by the allied sovereigns at vienna--pitiful conduct of carl m. von weber--scotch songs set to music by beethoven--death of his elder brother--he undertakes the guardianship of his son, whom he adopts--diminution of his annuity by the failure of prince lobkowitz--he commences house-keeping--law-suit with his brother's widow--society for the performance of beethoven's chamber music, directed by carl czerny--further diminution of his pension--his pupil, the archduke rudolph, nominated archbishop of ollmütz--beethoven commences a grand mass for his installation--household troubles--walzes and bagatelles--straitened finances--ignoble application of musical ms.--performance of 'the ruins of athens'--the 'land-owner' and the 'brain-owner'--subscription of sovereigns to beethoven's new mass--his letter to cherubini. the various troubles which beethoven had to encounter in the second period of his life, of which we have just been treating, originated, firstly, in disappointed love; secondly, in his increasing deafness, for his right ear totally refused to perform its functions; and, thirdly, in his inexperience in matters of business, for the just comprehension of which nature had not endowed him with the requisite faculties. all the unpleasant things which had hitherto befallen him, to which belong the various collisions with his friends, were mere private matters, capable, indeed, of deeply affecting such a mind, but not of checking creative genius in its flights. thus far he was a stranger to suits and courts of law, attempts upon the productions of his mind, and public quarrels with utterly unprincipled men. all these, and many other trials, awaited him in the period at which we have now arrived. they were not all of them provoked by him, but partly brought upon him by the pressure of circumstances, partly by intriguing persons, who strove on every occasion to turn his inexperience to their own private advantage. from these contests sprang circumstances deplorable for beethoven, which had a most pernicious influence on his creative genius, as well as upon his temper, as we shall have occasion to observe in the course of this third period of his life. the moment at which i have to resume the thread of his history, and to connect it with the preceding period, is that when beethoven, in the autumn of , was preparing for the performance of his battle of vittoria, and his a major symphony, both which works he had just completed. the performance of these, with some other pieces of his composition, took place on the th and again on the th of december in the same year, in the hall of the university, for the benefit of the austrian and bavarian soldiers disabled in the battle of hanau. a letter of thanks to all the co-operators in those two concerts, written by beethoven's own hand, and destined for insertion in the _wiener zeitung_, lies before me, and possesses historical interest. owing to the length of this document i can only venture here to introduce a few extracts from it. after beethoven has, at the opening of this address, expressed his thanks for the assistance he has received, he proceeds thus:--"it was a rare assemblage of eminent performers, each of whom was inspired solely by the idea of being able to contribute by his talents something towards the benefit of the country; and who, without any order of precedence, co-operated, even in subordinate places, in the execution of the whole.... on me devolved the conduct of the whole, because the music was of my composition; had it been by any one else, i should have taken my place at the great drum, just as cheerfully as m. hummel did[ ], for we were all actuated solely by the pure feeling of patriotism and willingness to exert our abilities for those who had sacrificed so much for us." respecting the composition of the orchestra, beethoven expressly says--"m. schuppanzigh was at the head of the first violins, m. spohr and m. mayseder co-operated in the second and third places; m. salieri, the chief kapell-meister, beat time to the drums and the cannonades; and messrs. siboni and giuliani were likewise stationed in subordinate places." no sooner was this patriotic act accomplished than beethoven returned to his accustomed occupation, not dreaming to what unheard-of results (results specially injurious to him) his latest work, the battle of vittoria, would give occasion, and what treachery, on the part of a man whom he had always considered as his friend, would follow, nay, in a manner, spring out of, that solemn act. m. maelzel, the mechanist, inventor of the musical metronome, was one of beethoven's warmest friends and adherents. in the year , m. maelzel promised the great composer to make him an apparatus for assisting his hearing. to spur him on to the fulfilment of this promise, beethoven composed a piece--"battle symphony" (so he calls it himself)--for the panharmonicon, recently invented by m. maelzel. the effect of this piece was so unexpected that maelzel requested its author to arrange it for the orchestra. beethoven, who had long entertained the plan of writing a grand battle symphony, acceded to maelzel's proposal, and immediately set about completing the work. by degrees four acoustic machines were produced, but only one of which beethoven found serviceable, and used for a considerable time, especially in his interviews with the archduke rudolph and others, when it would have been too tedious to keep up a conversation in writing. it was m. maelzel who undertook the arrangement of the two concerts above-mentioned, and as this was no trifling job, beethoven relinquished it to him without suspicion, occupied at home meanwhile with his composition. hence it was that, in the first public announcement, maelzel presumed to proclaim this work of beethoven's his own property, as having been presented to him by the author. this assertion was flatly contradicted by beethoven, upon which maelzel declared that he claimed this work in payment for the machines which he had furnished, and for a considerable sum of money lent. as, however, he adduced no evidence to this point, beethoven regarded what had taken place as an unbecoming joke of his friend's, and suspected nothing worse, though from that time the behaviour of this friend to beethoven was beneath the dignity of an educated man. immediately after the first of those concerts, beethoven received intimation from several quarters that maelzel was seeking ways and means to appropriate that new work to himself in an illicit manner--a thing which the master, however, held to be impossible, for he had never suffered the scores to go out of his possession, and began to keep a watchful eye on the individual parts for the orchestra. but this caution came rather too late; for maelzel had already found means to come at several of those parts, and to get them arranged in score. it may be asked what object maelzel could have to carry his dishonesty to such a length? he had projected a journey to england, and meant to make money there, and likewise on the road thither, with beethoven's battle-symphony. by way of excusing his conduct in vienna, he scrupled not to declare loudly that beethoven owed him four hundred ducats, and that he had been obliged to take that work in payment. these scandalous proceedings were for a considerable time a subject of general reprobation, and afterwards forgotten. in a few months, however, maelzel set out for england, and beethoven presently received intelligence from munich that he had had the battle-symphony performed in that city, but in a mutilated shape, and that he had given out that the work was his property. it was now high time for beethoven to take legal steps against maelzel. from the deposition relative to that fact, which he delivered to his advocate, and which i possess in his own handwriting, i shall merely quote the following passage:--"we agreed to give this work (the battle-symphony), and several others of mine, in a concert for the benefit of the soldiers. while this matter was in progress i was involved in the greatest embarrassment for want of money. abandoned by everybody here in vienna, in expectation of a bill, &c., maelzel offered to lend me fifty ducats in gold. i took them, and told him that i would return them to him here, or that he should have the work to take with him to london, if i should not accompany him; and that, in this latter case, i would give him an order upon it to an english publisher, who should pay him those fifty ducats." i must further mention a declaration made in this matter by baron pasqualati, and dr. von adlersburg, advocate to the court, and an address of beethoven's to the performers of london. from that declaration, dated october th, , it appears that beethoven had in no wise relinquished to maelzel the copyright of that work; and in the address to the performers of london, of the th of july, , beethoven adverts to the circumstance at munich, and expressly says--"the performance of these works (the battle-symphony, and wellington's battle of vittoria) by m. maelzel is an imposition upon the public, and a wrong done to me, inasmuch as he has obtained possession of them in a surreptitious manner." he further warns them against that "mutilated" work; for it was ascertained that maelzel had not been able to get at all the orchestral parts, and had therefore employed some one to compose what was deficient.[ ] this disgraceful proceeding i have deemed it my duty to state here without reserve, as its effect, both on beethoven's temper, and on his professional activity, was extremely injurious. it served also to increase his mistrust of those about him to such a degree that for a considerable time it was impossible to hold intercourse with him. it was, moreover, owing to this cause that from this time forward beethoven had most of his compositions copied at home, or, as this was not always practicable, that he was incessantly overlooking his copyists, or setting others to overlook them, for he considered them all as dishonest and open to bribery, of which indeed he had sufficient proofs. by that circumstance, of course, his suspicion on this point was kept continually awake; and, after such an encroachment upon his property, who would imagine that beethoven could ever allow this pseudo-friend to hold intercourse with him, though indeed only by letter? this, nevertheless, was the case. when m. maelzel was striving to bring his metronome into vogue, he applied, in preference, to beethoven, at the same time intimating that he had then in hand an acoustic machine, by means of which the composer would be enabled to conduct his orchestra. maelzel's letter on this subject, dated paris, april th, , lies before me, and communicates this intelligence. nay, he even proposes in it that beethoven should accompany him in a journey to england. beethoven expressed his approbation of the metronome in a letter to maelzel, but of the promised machine he never heard another syllable. i shall here take leave to state that it was in the year that i first made beethoven's personal acquaintance, which i had long been particularly desirous to do.[ ] he was the man whom i worshipped like an idol, the composer all of whose works i heard and even practised during my studies at the gymnasium of olmütz, and all the public performances of which i now, as a member of the university of vienna, made a point of attending. it was in the first months of that i found an opportunity to deliver, instead of another person, to beethoven, who was then lodging in the house of baron von pasqualati, a note to which an immediate answer was required. he wrote an answer, asking meanwhile several questions, and, short as was this conversation, and though beethoven took no farther notice of the bearer of the note, who had scarcely arrived at manhood, my longing merely to hear the voice of the man for whom i felt infinitely more esteem than for kant and the whole _corpus juris_ put together, was gratified, and the acquaintance, subsequently so important and eventful to me, was made. it was, however, not till the beginning of the year that i met him almost daily at a particular hour at the flowerpot tavern, and thus came into closer contact with him. but if i followed him with my veneration before my personal acquaintance with him, after that i was bound to him as though by a spell. nothing that concerned him now escaped me, and, wherever i merely conjectured him to be, there i insinuated myself, and always accosted him frankly: a hearty shake of the hand invariably told me that i was not troublesome to him. the principal object for meeting at the above-mentioned place, where m. pinterics, a friend of beethoven's, a man universally respected, and a captain in the emperor's german guard, were our never-failing companions, was the reading of the newspapers, a daily necessity to beethoven. from that place he frequently permitted me to attend him in his walks, a privilege which i accounted one of the greatest felicities of my life, and for which, though overloaded with studies, i always contrived to find plenty of time. to render him service, whenever and wherever he needed it, became from that moment, till his decease, my bounden duty; and any commission that _he_ gave me took precedence of every other engagement. in the year , beethoven lost his old patron, prince carl von lichnowsky, who died on the th of april. the remarkable political epoch, when, in the autumn of , the allied sovereigns and many other distinguished personages from the confederated states of europe met in congress at vienna, was likewise of importance and of pecuniary benefit to beethoven. he was requested by the magistracy of the city of vienna to set to music, as a cantata, a poem by dr. weissenbach, of salzburg, the purport of which was to welcome the illustrious visitors on their arrival within the walls of ancient vindobona. it is the cantata _der glorreiche augenblick_ (the glorious moment), which has but very recently been published, with a different text, by the title of "_preis der tonkunst_" (praise of music). that this is one of the least meritorious of beethoven's works every one must admit: he himself attached no value to it, though it procured him the diploma of citizenship of vienna. as reasons for the inferiority of this composition may be assigned the very short time allowed him for the work, and the "barbarous text," from which his imagination could not derive a single spark of inspiration.[ ] with respect to the latter, several curious scenes took place with the author, who was so hampered by the composer, that at last he was glad to relinquish the task of polishing to another. this cantata was performed, together with the battle of vittoria and the a major symphony, on the th of november, in the presence of the foreign sovereigns, some of whom made handsome presents to the composer. those memorable winter months at the end of , and the commencement of , were important to beethoven in another respect. numbers of the distinguished foreign visitors thronged to him to pay him their homage, and it was more especially at the parties of the russian ambassador, prince rasumowsky, that the sovereign of the realm of harmony was accustomed to receive this. it is well known that the testimonies of warm esteem paid to beethoven in the apartments of the archduke rudolph, by the highest personages who sought him there, were equally cordial and affecting. an interview of this kind with the empress of russia was particularly interesting, and beethoven could not call it to mind without emotion. he used afterwards to relate, jocosely, how he had suffered the crowned heads to pay court to him, and what an air of importance he had at such times assumed. how differently, alas! did he fare ten years later! it was a new world, as it were, in which we all lived ten years afterwards in vienna, where but one name--the name of rossini--was destined to be thought of any value. these extraordinary tokens of favour, conferred about that time on our beethoven, made no change whatever in him: he continued to be just what he was before--beethoven. in the spring of he gave several public performances of his a major symphony, which had puzzled certain reviewers abroad as well as at home, to such a degree, that some of them went so far as to declare that "the extravagances of his genius had reached the _ne plus ultra_, and that beethoven was now quite ripe for the mad-house." oh! the pitiful creatures! it is much to be regretted that there should have been among them professional men, who sought in every possible way to mortify beethoven, who themselves would fain have scaled parnassus by force, and had scarcely ascended a few steps before they were seized with dizziness and tumbled backward to the bottom. one of these egotists, after a fall of this kind, cringed and bowed down to the very dust before beethoven, beseeching that he would assist him to rise again, but it was too late.[ ] from this brief intimation, the reader may infer that, notwithstanding the gigantic greatness to which beethoven had then attained, he was pursued by envy and hatred, though he turned out of every one's way, and ceased to hold intercourse with any of his professional brethren. he perceived but too clearly that all these gentry felt humbled and uncomfortable in his presence. even m. kanne, with whom he had most associated in early years, and to whose eminent talents he always paid the highest respect, was not oftener than twice or three times a-year in his company. in the summer of , beethoven occupied himself exclusively with the composition, or instrumentation, of the "scotch songs," for mr. george thompson, of edinburgh, the collector of national songs, who paid him a considerable sum for the work, as is evident from the correspondence. how many of these scotch songs beethoven set to music it was not possible for me to ascertain; but i believe that not near all of them have been published. in the autumn of , died his elder brother carl, who held the office of cashier in the national bank of austria. with the death of this brother commenced a new epoch for our beethoven, an epoch of incidents and facts difficult to relate; and, could i here lay down my pen and leave the continuation of my work to another, i should feel myself truly happy. here begins a most painful situation for the biographer who adopts this motto: "do justice to the dead, and spare the living: with the former fulfil the desire of the deceased; with the latter, do the duty of the christian, and leave him who is above to judge." to evade this dilemma is utterly impossible: it would be the same thing as to close here at once the biography of beethoven, which the whole musical world desires to have as complete as possible, and which from this time acquires a higher interest; for not only is beethoven brought, for the first time, by a conflict of circumstances, into closer contact with civil life, and binds up the rod for scourging his own back, but, through these new conflicts, the moral man beethoven first gains occasion to show himself in all his energy, and even momentarily to outweigh the creative genius. the value of that brother carl, while living, to beethoven we have several times had occasion to show. whether it might not have been desirable for his creative genius, as well as for his peace with the world, that this brother had died many years earlier, i will not pretend to decide, but shall merely assert, that he ought not, on many accounts, to have died before beethoven, as he left him burdens that could not fail to crush him but too speedily. in his will, dated november , , carl van beethoven begged his brother ludwig to take upon himself the guardianship of the son whom he left behind. how our beethoven fulfilled this request will be shown in the sequel. in a letter of the nd of november, ,[ ] to m. ries, beethoven himself mentions the death of this brother, adding, "and i cannot estimate what i have given him to render his life more comfortable at less than , florins" ( , francs)--by which beethoven cannot possibly mean all that he had given to his brother during his whole life, for that he was himself least capable of calculating. in the same letter he says, "he"--namely, his deceased brother,--"had a bad wife;" and if he had added, "both had a son who is now to be my son," he would have comprehended in one sentence the sources of the severest affliction of his future life. at the death of his father, beethoven's nephew was about eight years old, a handsome boy, the quality of whose mind also authorised great hopes. perceiving this, and considering, on the other hand, what would become of him if he continued with his mother, he resolved to adopt him as his son.[ ] but, as the boy's mother protested against this, while beethoven persevered in his resolution, supporting himself upon the last will of his brother, the matter led to a lawsuit, the proceedings in which were commenced by the widow. before i continue the narrative of this unhappy transaction, it is necessary to mention another unpleasant circumstance relating to our master. precisely at the time when beethoven's young nephew became the bone of contention between his mother and his uncle, the interests of music in vienna suffered severely through the failure of prince lobkowitz. this nobleman, who had become lessee of the imperial court theatre--not for the sake of lucre, but out of genuine love to the arts--carried his zeal for all that is sublime and beautiful too far, and was obliged suddenly to stop. owing to this circumstance, beethoven lost the portion contributed by the prince to the pension settled upon him in ; and, as for any restitution, that was wholly out the question. thus we see that the amount of that pension, reduced to one-fifth by the finance-patent in , was now still further diminished. at the time when the suit in question commenced ( ) beethoven was engaged in setting up a household establishment of his own, which appeared to him to be indispensably necessary if he meant to keep his nephew, unassailed by the world, under his own care. upon this prosaic business, so incongruous with all his habits, he fell to work, as he did upon everything else, earnestly and zealously. by way of intermezzo, i shall just introduce a little specimen of the manner in which he set about it. he seems to have made his first inquiries of a person conversant with housekeeping: a paper, containing on the left beethoven's questions, and on the right the answers to them, written in masculine hand, is an interesting document of his spirit of enterprise. he asks, for instance:-- " . what is a proper allowance for two servants for dinner and supper, both as to quality and quantity?" on the right-hand side is given the answer, in most minute detail. " . how often should one give them meat?--ought they to have it both at dinner and supper? " . do the servants take their meals off the victuals cooked for the master, or have they their own separately: that is, have they different victuals from what the master has? " . how many pounds of butchers' meat are allowed for three persons?" in this way the new housekeeper proceeds, and we discover in it a pleasing proof of his humanity. the suit between beethoven and his sister-in-law was carried before the court of nobles, the _landrecht_ of lower austria; the complaint was heard, and the proceedings were continued for a considerable time. the notion that the _van_ prefixed to beethoven's name was, like the german _von_, an indication of noble birth, seems to have been current in austria from ancient times; the court, therefore, required no further evidence on that point. this suit did not hinge upon a point of law, a matter of _meum_ and _tuum_, but beethoven had to prove that his sister-in-law was an immoral woman, and consequently unfit to bring up her son. from the preceding part of this biography we have learned sufficient of his moral character, and likewise of his temper, to conceive how painful was the task which the necessity of furnishing evidence to this effect imposed upon our beethoven--upon him to whom anything doubtful and equivocal in morals and character was so disgusting in any person that he could not bear to hear that person mentioned, and still less suffer him to come near him; and now, in order to rescue a child from certain perdition, to be compelled to expose in a court of justice the life led by one so nearly related to himself! the agitation in which he was kept for a long time by this circumstance deprived him of all equanimity; and had he not been absolutely forced to work, in order to support himself and his nephew, who had been provisionally given up to him on the part of the court, we should not have seen one great work produced by him during that inauspicious period; for even the th symphony, which was performed for the first time in , was fortunately conceived and partly composed before the commencement of that lawsuit. in the course of the legal proceedings, which had already lasted a considerable time, it was intimated to the court that the word _van_, of dutch origin, does not ennoble the family to whose name it is prefixed, according to the laws of holland; that, in the province of the rhine, in which beethoven was born, it was held to be of no higher value; that, consequently, the halo of nobility ought to be stripped from this _van_ in austria also. beethoven was accordingly required to produce proofs of his nobility. "my nobility," he exclaimed, with emphasis, "is here and here!" pointing to his breast and his head: but the court refused to allow the validity of the claim, and transferred the acts to the city magistracy of vienna, as the proper court for commoners--after it had, however, by decision in the first instance, already acknowledged beethoven's guardianship over his nephew. this procedure, the transfer of the acts to the civil tribunal, though perfectly according to law, drove beethoven beside himself; for he considered it as the grossest insult that he had ever received, and as an unjustifiable depreciation and humiliation of the artist--an impression too deep to be ever erased from his mind. but for his advocate,[ ] who strove, with the affection of a friend, to allay his resentment on account of a resolution in exact accordance with the law, beethoven would have quitted the country. just at the moment when the deeply-mortified master was indulging the hope that this suit, which had already lasted for some years, and occasioned him so much vexation and loss of time (during which time his nephew had been passed from hand to hand, and the system of instruction and education been changed as often as his coat), would soon be definitively terminated, the magistracy of vienna reversed the decision of the tribunal of the nobles, and appointed beethoven's sister-in-law guardian of her son. the consequence was that the suit was commenced afresh, and it was only after repeated unpleasant discussions, and through the indefatigable exertions of his advocate, that it was brought to a close in the year ; the court of appeal having confirmed the first decision of the _landrecht_ of lower austria. from beethoven's memorial to the court of appeal, dated january th, , which was written by himself, and the original of which lies before me,[ ] i extract the following characteristic passage:-- "my wishes and my efforts have no other aim than that the boy may receive the best possible education, as his capacity authorises the indulgence of the fairest hopes, and that the expectation which his father built upon my fraternal love may be fulfilled. the shoot is still flexible, but, if more time be wasted, it will grow crooked for want of the training hand of the gardener; and upright bearing, intellect, and character will be lost for ever. i know not a more sacred duty than the superintendence of the education and formation of a child. the duty of guardianship can only consist in this--to appreciate what is good and to take such measures as are conformable with the object in view; then only has it devoted its zealous attention to the welfare of its ward: but in obstructing what is good it has ever neglected its duty." amidst these troubles, beethoven needed other supporters besides his friend and legal adviser, dr. bach, to cheer him up and to keep him from sinking under them. these tried friends were too much concerned with his professional pursuits, as well as with the transactions of his life, not to be named here. they are m. c. bernard, the esteemed poet and editor of the "_wiener zeitung_;" m. peters, counsel to prince lobkowitz; and m. oliva, at present professor of german literature in st. petersburg. it was the second whom the court of appeal appointed co-guardian with beethoven, at the special desire of the latter, on the ground of his deafness. as it has been already observed, the boy, the object of this long dispute, had, during the course of it frequently to change his home, studies, and whole plan of education. sometimes he was with his uncle, sometimes with his mother, and at others again at some school. but, notwithstanding this incessant change, his progress in music and in the sciences, especially in philology, was fully adequate to his capacity; and thus it seemed as though beethoven would one day receive well-merited thanks, and that he would have joy, nothing but joy, over his nephew, in return for the inexpressible afflictions and mortifications which he had undergone during this suit of four years' continuance, and for the unexampled affection, care, nay even sacrifices, with which he prosecuted his education. whether this prospect was realised, whether his hopes were accomplished, we shall see hereafter. before i again take up the thread of events in beethoven's life, i think this may not be an unfit place for a cursory notice of the proceedings of a small association, composed of professional men and accomplished amateurs, which, though it was not intimately connected with the events of beethoven's life, and neither had, nor could have, any influence upon them, yet furnishes occasion for showing in what favour and honour beethoven's compositions, especially the chamber music, that really inexhaustible mine of the profoundest and most expressive musical poetry, was held by the better portion of the vienna dilettanti and performers. the task undertaken by this modest society was to execute classic music in the chamber style, and beethoven's in preference, before a small circle of auditors, capable of relishing its beauties. m. carl czerny gave the impulse to this society, so worthy of record in the history of the art, and was upon the whole its guiding principle. the meetings were held at his residence in the forenoon of every sunday, and were continued with gradually increasing interest for three successive winters. it was another sort of divine worship, to which every one without exception and without announcement had free access. to the peculiar gratification of m. czerny, beethoven previously went through several of his greatest works with him, and frequently attended the performance at his side, and his presence had the effect of heightening the interest felt by all the members of the society to the warmest enthusiasm. at the pianoforte m. czerny had worthy assistants in the accomplished baroness dorothea von ertmann (to whom beethoven dedicated his sonata, op. ), and in messrs. steiner, von felsburg, and pfaller, in the civil service of the imperial government. the concourse to this musical stoa, where every one might make himself acquainted with all that was most sublime, or at least acquire clearer conceptions of it, was always extraordinary; and kindred spirits there found opportunity for learning to know and to esteem each other. all foreign professional men and connoisseurs, who in their own countries could gain but obscure notions of the spirit of beethoven's music, here found themselves at the fountain-head of the purest poesy, which never flowed so clear and so brilliant since those memorable parties at prince lichnowsky's (of which mention has been made in the first period), and perhaps never may again in that place where this gigantic genius, so far in advance of his age, lived and wrought. for, indeed, so totally is everything, both in prose and poetry, changed there since his time, that this master-mind is become almost a stranger in his earthly home. the doors of that memorable school, which powerfully elevated the mind and heart of all who frequented it, closed at the end of the third winter course for ever, because m. czerny began thenceforward to devote himself to composition; and, with the opening of the italian opera, which speedily followed, all incitement to the cultivation of beethoven's pianoforte music ceased. thus it would be very likely that foreigners might now in vain seek an opportunity to hear a sonata of beethoven's in vienna; for the banners of the present day are no longer inscribed with his immortal name. the next event, directly affecting beethoven, before the suit with his sister-in-law was quite over, and requiring to be recorded here, is the death of prince kinsky, whose heirs refused to pay the stipulated portion of the pension granted in . the matter was accordingly brought into court, and beethoven was more fortunate in this instance than he had been with regard to the share of prince lobkowitz. he recovered rather more than florins, so that, with the contributed by the archduke rudolph, he received thenceforward a yearly pension of florins (about rix-dollars), which he enjoyed without further diminution as long as he lived.[ ] the nomination of his most illustrious pupil, the archduke just mentioned, whom he had raised to a high degree of proficiency, and who was the only one of his scholars that beethoven had at the same time instructed in the theory of harmony--the nomination of this accomplished prince to be archbishop of olmütz, brought back our master to that branch of music which is the most sublime and likewise the most difficult, and for which, together with the symphony, he had the greatest predilection, as he frequently declared. he resolved, namely, to write a grand mass for the installation of the archduke in his archiepiscopal see, which was fixed for the th of march, . it was in the winter of - , that he set about this new work; the first movement of which, however, was of such vast dimensions, that it was impossible to calculate what time it would take to complete the work upon the same scale. it is necessary here to observe that, in those years, beethoven, in spite of the troubles which he had undergone, enjoyed excellent health. at the very commencement of this new labour, he seemed to be quite a different man. the change was more particularly noticed by his earlier friends; and i must confess that, never, before or since that time, have i seen beethoven in such a state of absolute abstraction from the world as was the case, more especially in the year . nay, were i not already past the age of forty, and had to judge of that state of mind and soul of my noble friend with the understanding of a youth of twenty, i should have many anecdotes of that remarkable period to relate, as another has done of earlier years, but which, after all, are but anecdotes, and ought no more to have been brought before a public forum than the table-talk of martin luther should have been.[ ] in the year , while engaged in the composition of his second mass, beethoven was truly the boisterous, heaven-storming giant, and more particularly in the autumn, when he wrote the _credo_, with the exceedingly difficult fugue. he lived at that time at mödling, in the hafner house, as it is called, where i paid him frequent visits, and witnessed most extraordinary incidents, many of them arising from the mismanagement of his domestic affairs: for he had continued to keep house ever since , though his nephew was at an academy, and he, of course, quite alone. to enable the reader to form a clear conception of his domestic life at that period, and thence to draw the conclusion under what a yoke, imposed in a great measure by himself, this man sighed and suffered, and in what a state of constant irritation his temper was kept by it, i need but lay before him a short extract from his journal, which, for a period of several years, i possess in his own hand-writing. " . " st january. given warning to the housekeeper. th february. the kitchen-maid came. th march. the kitchen-maid gave a fortnight's warning. nd of this month, the new housekeeper came. th may. arrived at mödling. miser et pauper sum. th may. the housemaid came; to have six florins per month. th july. given warning to the housekeeper. . th april. the kitchen-maid came. a bad day. (this means that he had nothing to eat, because all the victuals were spoiled through long waiting.) th may. given warning to the kitchen-maid. th. the kitchen-maid left. th. the woman came. st july. the kitchen-maid arrived. th. at night, the kitchen-maid ran away. th. the woman from unter-döbling came. the four bad days, th, th, th, and th august. dined at lerchenfeld. th. the woman's month expires. th september. the girl came. nd october. the girl left. th december. the kitchen-maid came. th. given warning to the kitchen-maid. th. the new housemaid came." but enough of this lamentable spectacle of domestic confusion!--and enough too of matter for incessant vexation for the master of a house, who concerns or is obliged to concern himself about such details. but such was beethoven's domestic state, with very little alteration, till his death. the impossibility of making himself understood by his servants was the principal cause of the incessant changes, by which, it is true, nothing whatever was gained. let us now turn from the prosaic to the poetical side of his life. at the time when the archduke rudolph was preparing for his journey to olmütz, the mass destined for the ceremony of his installation was scarcely one third finished; which, taking into account the time usually occupied by him in correcting each of his great works, was as much as to say that the first movement was not yet completed. and to state here at once when beethoven gave the last finish to this his greatest work, i may add that it was not till the summer of at baden (near vienna), after he had been labouring more than three years at this gigantic performance. thus the mass was finished only two years too late for its original destination. in the winter months of - , beethoven wrote the three piano-forte sonatas, op. , , and . the grand sonata in b major, op. , he wrote during the suit with his sister-in-law. in the summer of , just at the time when he was engaged in the composition of the _credo_, he complied also with the urgent solicitations of a musical society consisting of seven members, who were then accustomed to play at the tavern balls, in the briel, near mödling, and composed some waltzes for them, and even wrote out the parts. on account of the striking contrast displayed by that genius, which could move at one and the same time in the highest regions of musical poetry and in the ball-room, i made inquiry some years afterwards, when the master had once mentioned the circumstance, after this light-winged progeny; but the society in question was then broken up, and thus my search proved fruitless. beethoven, too, had lost the score of these waltzes. while he was engaged in the composition of the grand mass, i do not recollect his having written anything further than a few numbers of bagatelles. mr. p., the publisher of leipzig, for whom they were destined, wrote to him after he had received them, intimating that he did not consider them worth the price agreed upon (ten ducats, i believe), and added the remark, that beethoven ought to deem it beneath him to waste his time on trifles such as anybody might produce. would that mr. p. could have witnessed the effect of this well-meant lecture on the outrageous composer! it was, nevertheless, a salutary lecture, and came just at the right time, for the great master took pleasure in such relaxations of his powers (which at that time, it is true, he needed), and had written many more bagatelles of the same kind. _dormitat aliquando homerus._ from the foregoing particulars the reader may infer that the price of the four last-mentioned sonatas and his pension constituted the whole of beethoven's income from the year to , just at a time when he had a considerable annual sum to pay for the education of his nephew, and when the preceding years of dearth had an injurious influence upon him. the state of his finances may be more clearly seen from the letters addressed to m. ries, which, however (especially those written in and ), ought not to have been exposed to the public eye, but should have been suppressed by his friends wegeler and ries;[ ] for the tenor of those letters would lead one to suppose either that beethoven was almost starving, or that, like the modern composers, he had written notes solely for money.[ ] this, however, was not the case, though it is a fact that his income during that period was far from covering his expenses. it was not until that the mass was sold to a publisher. it was consequently in the years and that beethoven suffered real want, as he was determined not to add any new debts to those which he had previously incurred. and yet, if the truth must be told, the privations which he suffered were voluntary; for he was in possession of some bank shares, which might have placed him above any want, if he had chosen to dispose of them. when, therefore, we hear that those four days marked in his journal for as "bad days" were such, when, quite destitute of money, he was obliged to make his dinner of a few biscuits and a glass of beer, as i have heard from his own lips, i, for my part, am disposed to seek in that fact the origin of his subsequent parsimony, which served only to enrich an unworthy laughing heir; but more upon this subject in the proper place. of the year there is nothing particular to relate excepting an anecdote characteristic of his household system: it went on in its usual way. in the spring of that year, he again removed with bag and baggage to döbling. on arranging his musical matters there, he missed the score of the first movement (_kyrie_) of his grand mass. all search for it proved vain, and beethoven was irritated to the highest degree at the loss, which was irreparable; when lo! several days afterwards the whole kyrie was found, but in what condition! the large sheets, which looked just like waste paper, seemed to the old housekeeper the very thing for wrapping up boots, shoes, and kitchen utensils, for which purpose she had torn most of them in half. when beethoven saw the treatment to which this production of his genius had been subjected, he could not refrain from laughing at this droll scene, after a short gust of passion, and after the sheets had been cleaned from all the soils contracted in such unseemly company. the rd of october, --the name-day[ ] of the emperor francis--was fixed for the opening of the new theatre in the josephstadt, on which occasion the music to _die ruinen von athen_, (the ruins of athens)[ ] which beethoven wrote in , for the opening of the new theatre in pesth, with a new text adapted to time and place, by carl meisel, several new pieces, and a new overture, was to be performed. in the month of july, beethoven set about this new work; but that summer, which he passed in baden, was remarkably hot, and therefore, he liked to seek the shade of the neighbouring woods, rather than to swelter in the house. it was not till the hottest part of the season was over, and then the day fixed for the opening was not far distant, that he fell to work in good earnest; and i recollect well, that the ballet-master was put to a pinch about a new composed chorus with a dance. he was in urgent want of the music for rehearsal, but beethoven would not part with it, because he had not done filing and polishing. thus it was not till the afternoon of the day when the first performance was to take place, that the orchestra, collected at random from all quarters, received the extremely difficult overture in c major, with the double fugue, and that, moreover, with a thousand metrical errors. on the evening of the solemn opening, when, for want of the necessary rehearsals, not a single member of the orchestra was acquainted with his part, beethoven was seated at the piano, having at his side the music-director franz gläser, as assistant-conductor, and i, escaping from my office, led the orchestra. this, as it were, ex-tempore solemnization, might justly be pronounced a total failure, as far as the music was concerned; and it was not till the next day that all the orchestral parts were corrected and studied. beethoven, indeed, perceived the vacillation on the stage and in the orchestra, but was not sensible that he was the principal cause of it, through his intent listening and retarding the time. on new-year's day, , beethoven, his nephew, and myself were seated at dinner, when a new-year's card was brought from his brother, who lived in the next house, signed "johann van beethoven, landowner" (_gutsbesitzer_); beethoven immediately wrote on the back of it, "ludwig van beethoven, brainowner" (_hirnbesitzer_), and sent it back forthwith to the landowner. it was only a few days before this whimsical circumstance, that this brother braggingly told our master, that he would never be worth so much as he (johann van beethoven) was.[ ] it may easily be conceived that our beethoven was mightily amused by this boast. during this winter ( ), beethoven carried into effect the resolution which he had long before formed, of offering the new mass, in manuscript, to the european courts, great and small, for the sum of fifty ducats--a business which he left entirely to my management, which was attended with innumerable formalities and difficulties, and required great patience. in his invitation to the subscription, beethoven declared this work to be his "greatest" and his "best." and, in that addressed to the king of france, he called it "oeuvre le plus accompli." only four sovereigns, namely, the emperor of russia, and the kings of prussia, saxony, and france, accepted the offer.[ ] prince anton von radziwill, governor of posen, subscribed for the fifth copy, and m. schelble, on behalf of his cecilia club, at frankfort on the mayn, for the sixth and last.[ ] the first of the sovereigns who subscribed was his majesty the king of prussia. a characteristic anecdote is connected with the notification made on this subject, through his majesty's ambassador. whether the prussian ambassador, the prince von hatzfeld, had instructions from berlin, or whether he wished, from his own impulse, to see beethoven decorated with a prussian order, i never knew; but it is a fact, that the prince commissioned the director of chancery, hofrath w., to ask beethoven whether he might not be disposed to prefer a royal order to the fifty ducats; in which case he would transmit his wish to berlin. beethoven, without a moment's consideration, replied with great emphasis--"fifty ducats!" a striking proof how lightly he prized insignia of honour or distinctions in general. offers of this sort he would have invariably declined, proceed from what quarter soever they might. without despising the well-merited decoration of an order on the breast of this or that artist of his time, he never envied any man that distinction, but frequently lashed unmercifully one or the other of his contemporaries for their "longing and snapping after ribands," which, according to his notions, were gained only at the expense of the truth and the sacredness of art. this is the proper place to state that beethoven applied among others to göthe, relative to the affair of the subscription to the mass, soliciting his recommendation of it to the grand-duke of weimar; but göthe had already forgotten our beethoven, for he did not even deign to answer him, and beethoven felt extremely mortified. this was the first and the last time that beethoven ever asked a favour of göthe. in like manner, his letter on the same subject, in his own hand-writing, to the king of sweden, remained unanswered. this correspondence, however, carried back beethoven's remembrance to the time when the king of sweden, as general bernadotte, was ambassador of the french republic at vienna; and he distinctly recollected that it was really bernadotte who awakened in him the first idea of the _sinfonia eroica_. the king of france, louis xviii., acknowledged the transmission of this mass from beethoven by sending him a heavy gold medal, with his portrait, and on the reverse the inscription, "donné par le roi à monsieur beethoven," which royal present was the more gratifying to him because he conceived that he was indebted for it to the influence of cherubini with his majesty, which he had previously solicited. i subjoin this certainly not uninteresting letter, copied from beethoven's draft of it, which he sent from the country to me in the city, with instructions what to do with it. "most respected sir, "with great pleasure i seize the opportunity of approaching you in writing. in spirit i do so very often, as i prize your works above all others of the theatrical class. the professional world, however, has to lament that, for a long time past, in our germany at least, no new theatrical work of yours has made its appearance. highly as your other works are estimated by competent judges, still it is a real loss to the art not to possess any new production of your genius for the stage. genuine art is imperishable, and the genuine artist takes heartfelt delight in high productions of mind. just so am i too transported whenever i hear a new work of yours, and take a greater interest in it than if it were my own; in short, i honour and love you. did not my continual ill health prevent me from seeing you in paris, with what extraordinary pleasure should i converse with you on musical subjects! imagine not that, because i am going to ask a favour of you, this is merely the introduction to my request. i hope and am convinced that you do not impute to me so mean a way of thinking. "i have just completed a grand solemn mass, and purpose sending it to the european courts, because i do not intend to publish it for the present. i have, therefore, despatched, through the french embassy here, an invitation to his majesty the king of france to subscribe to this work, and am persuaded that the king will be sure to take it upon your recommendation. ma situation critique demande que je ne fixe pas seulement comme ordinaire mes voeux au ciel; au contraire, il faut les fixer aussi en bas pour les nécessités de la vie. "be the fate of my request to you what it will, i shall never cease to love and to respect you, et vous resterez toujours celui de mes contemporains que je l'estime le plus. si vous me voulez faire un estrême plaisir, c'était, si vous m'écrivez quelques lignes, ce que me soulagera bien. l'art unit tout le monde,--how much more genuine artists! et peut-être vous me dignez aussi, de me mettre--to reckon me also among the number. avec le plus haut estime, votre ami et serviteur, "beethoven." a french translation of this letter was sent to cherubini, but he returned no answer. third period. till his death in . part ii. vindication of the court of austria from the charge of neglecting beethoven--his quarrel with a publisher at vienna--mortification arising from his deafness--wretched lodging--beethoven undertakes to write a new opera, but is deterred by the prospect of coming in contact with german singers--his ninth symphony--letter from the archduke rudolph--italian opera at vienna--flattering memorial addressed to beethoven--concerts--his discourtesy to vocal performers--his credulity and hasty condemnation of his friends--is invited to visit england by the philharmonic society--disgraceful conduct of prince nicholas von galitzin--severe illness--he sets aside a fund as a provision for his nephew--ingratitude and misbehaviour of that youth--distressing circumstances in which he was involved by him--beethoven's forlorn situation--his last illness--his letters to moscheles--he is assisted by the philharmonic society--total value of his property--his death--post-mortem examination. the court of austria has very frequently been reproached by admirers of beethoven's with having never done anything for him. the charge is true: but, if we examine this point more closely, and search for the motives, we shall perhaps find some that may excuse the imperial court for this backwardness. we have already shown in the second period, when treating of the _sinfonia eroica_, what were beethoven's political sentiments. there needs, then, no further explanation to enable the reader to draw the certain conclusion, that a man, in whose head so thoroughly republican a spirit had established itself, could not feel comfortable in the vicinity of a court, and that this would not do anything to serve him. this is quite enough to elucidate in the clearest manner beethoven's position in regard to the imperial court. had not the archduke rudolph cherished such an enthusiastic fondness for music, and had not his spirit harmonized so entirely with beethoven's and with his whole nature, he would have fled from him as he did from the whole court. the only exception was the archduke charles, the victor of aspern, whom beethoven always mentioned with veneration, as he knew to a certainty how well the illustrious hero could appreciate him; and this prince alone had admittance to his brother the archduke rudolph, when beethoven was with him. this liberal patron of arts and artists, who united the purest humanity with the warmest attachment to his great instructor, probably adopted this precaution for the purpose of avoiding any collision with other members of the imperial family,[ ] the excellent count moritz von lichnowsky tried for a long time in vain to produce a change in beethoven's sentiments on this point, till, in , his efforts were, in some degree, successful. in the february of that year, this noble and indefatigable friend proposed to count moritz von dietrichstein, at that time director of music to the court, that beethoven should be commissioned to compose a mass for his majesty the emperor, hoping by this expedient to bring the master nearer to the court, and, as it were, to reconcile it with him. count von dietrichstein, a profound connoisseur, immediately acceded to the suggestion, and i am enabled to communicate the results from the correspondence which took place between the two counts and beethoven on the subject. in a letter, dated the rd of february, from count dietrichstein to count lichnowsky, he writes, among other things, as follows:-- "dear friend, " ...i here send you also the score of a mass, by reutter, which beethoven wished to see. it is true that his majesty the emperor is fond of this style; but beethoven, if he writes a mass, need not stick to that. let him follow the impulse of his great genius, and merely attend to the following points:--not to make the mass too long or too difficult in the execution;--to let it be a tutti-mass, and in the vocal parts to introduce only short soprano and alto solos (for which i have two capital singing boys)--but neither tenor, nor bass, nor organ solos. as to the instruments, he may introduce a violin, or oboe, or clarinet solo, if he likes. "his majesty is very fond of fugues, when well executed, but not too long;--the sanctus, with the hosanna, as short as possible, in order not to delay the transubstantiation; and, if i may venture to add, on my own account, the dona nobis pacem, connected with the agnus dei, without any particular break, and kept _soft_; which, in two masses by handel, (compiled from his anthems)--in two masses of naumann's and the abbé stadler's--produces a particularly fine effect. "such are, briefly, according to my experience, the points to be observed; and i should congratulate myself, the court, and the art, if our great beethoven would speedily set about the work." beethoven accepted this commission with pleasure. accompanied by count lichnowsky, he called forthwith upon count dietrichstein, to confer more at large on the subject, and resolved to fall to work immediately; but this was all he did--not a step further could he be induced to stir. it was not any political crotchet that occasioned this stoppage. frequent indisposition, a complaint of the eyes, and an untoward circumstance of an unexpected nature, were the causes of his deferring this undertaking. it was, moreover, just in the next autumn that the ideas of the th symphony began to haunt his brain; and thus it happened that he thought no more of the mass for the emperor. the unpleasant circumstance just alluded to arose out of a dispute with a publishing-house at vienna (not now in existence), which was attended with consequences disagreeable to beethoven. this house had long entertained the plan of drawing our master so entirely into its interest, that he should bind himself by contract to make over to it exclusively all that he should in future write. at the same time, this firm proposed to enter jointly with him into the publication of his complete works; a proposal which, in my opinion, was most favourable for beethoven, and would very probably have been accepted, had it not been made dependent on the former plan. a formal scale (the original of which, with marginal remarks in beethoven's own hand, is in my possession) was, in consequence, laid before him by the firm in question, in which every species of composition, from the symphony and the oratorio, down to the song, was specified, together with the sum which it offered to pay for each. this tarif beethoven was to sign. he consulted several persons on the subject, and, most of them having dissuaded him from entering into the engagement, he refused to place himself in a dependence so revolting to his whole nature. why should no other publisher be allowed to adorn his shop with a work of beethoven's, when the house in question already had so many of them? and why should the great master suffer his hands to be so tied as not to have the chance of getting a larger sum for this or that work from some other quarter? and why, besides, desire to secure a monopoly of the productions of mind? as then the above plan failed to lead to the wished-for result, the other connected with it, relative to the publication of the collected works, likewise fell to the ground. the firm, in consequence, demanded of beethoven the speedy repayment of the sum of eight hundred florins, advanced to him just at a time when he was in a very necessitous state, as not a single copy of the new mass had yet found a subscriber. highly indignant at the unfeeling conduct of a man who called himself his friend, and whose business had been for a long period so much indebted to beethoven, our master directed his friend dr. bach to serve that house with a counter-requisition, insisting on its publishing immediately the manuscripts which had been for many years in its possession; namely--the first overture to fidelio--the cantata _der glorreiche augenblick_ (the glorious moment)--and several more; alleging, as a legal ground, that it was important to the mental as well as to the material interest of the author, that the productions of his mind should not be shut up for a series of years under lock and key. the other party replied--"we have bought and paid for those manuscripts, consequently they are our property, and we have a right to do what we please with them." dr. bach dissuaded beethoven from carrying the affair into court, for he knew, from the suit with his sister-in-law, what a mischievous effect such judicial proceedings had upon his temper and his professional activity, both of which had already suffered in a high degree. he advised him to dispose of a bank share, in order to discharge the debt due to the publisher; but it was not till after long resistance that beethoven could be prevailed upon to comply. i mention this circumstance, which was one of the most galling occurrences in the life of the great master, for the purpose of showing, at the same time, how highly he prized his artistical freedom and independence. on the other hand, we see his small savings again diminished in consequence of this incident. shortly before, one share parted with to pay a debt due to a true friend; and now, another to satisfy the house in question--what trials for the temper of one struggling with continual indisposition and annoyance! in the spring of , beethoven again took up his quarters in the pleasant village of hetzendorf, where the baron von pronay assigned to him a suite of apartments in his beautiful villa. supremely happy as he felt, when, in the first days of his residence there, he explored the noble park, or overlooked the charming landscape from his windows; yet he soon took a dislike to the place, and for no other reason than because "the baron, whenever he met him, was continually making too profound obeisances to him." on the th of august, he wrote to me that he could not stay there any longer, and requested me to be with him by five o'clock the following morning, to accompany him to baden, and assist him to seek lodgings there. i did as he desired; and off he started, with bag and baggage, for baden, though he had already paid for his lodgings at hetzendorf for the whole of the summer. his english piano-forte, made by broadwood, presented to him several years before by ferdinand ries, john cramer, and sir george smart, accompanied him in all these peregrinations. at the sale of beethoven's effects, this instrument was purchased by the court-agent, von spina, of vienna, in whose possession it still remains.[ ] at that villa, in hetzendorf, beethoven wrote the _thirty-three variations on a waltz by diabelli_, op. ,--a work which amused him exceedingly. at first there were to be but six or seven variations, for which moderate number diabelli offered him eighty ducats: but when he fell to work they soon increased to ten; presently to twenty; then to twenty-five; and still he could not stop. diabelli, who was apprehensive of having too large a volume, when he heard of twenty-five variations, was at last obliged to accept thirty-three variations instead of seven, for his eighty ducats. it was about the same sum, that is to say eighty ducats, that beethoven received for nearly every one of his last sonatas. on his return to vienna, in the autumn of the same year, beethoven received an invitation from the manager of the court opera-house to conduct his _fidelio_, which, after a long interval, was again to be represented. the proofs of his unfitness for such a duty, on account of his almost total deafness, furnished by the opening of the josephstadt theatre in the preceding year, were still before his eyes. nevertheless, nothing on earth could dissuade him from accepting this invitation: at his desire i accompanied him to the rehearsal. at the very first movement, the absolute impossibility of proceeding was apparent, for not only did he take the time, either much quicker or much slower than the singers and the orchestra had been accustomed to, but retarded them incessantly. kapell-meister umlauf set things to rights as long as it was practicable; but it was high time to tell poor beethoven plainly--this will not do. but neither m. duport, the manager, nor m. umlauf, had the courage to say so; and when beethoven perceived a certain embarrassment in every countenance, he motioned me to write down for him what it meant. in a few words i stated the cause, at the same time entreating him to desist, on which he immediately left the orchestra. the melancholy which seized him after this painful incident was not dispelled the whole day, and even at table he uttered not a single word. beethoven, after this event, applied repeatedly to the army-surgeon, smetana, to relieve his complaint, and he actually put him for some time on a course of medicine; but the most impatient patient served the physic as he had always done before. he not unfrequently took in two doses the medicines destined for the whole day; or, he forgot them entirely, when his ideas lifted him above the material world and carried him into loftier regions. how difficult he was to manage in this particular was well known to every medical man who had attended him, and in former years even to von vehring, physician to the staff, though he durst venture to assume a certain authority over him. it was in this year that the society of the friends of music of the austrian empire in vienna sent to our beethoven the diploma of an honorary member of that society. it is right to observe that this society had already existed ten years, and during that time nominated many native and foreign professional men honorary members, for which reason beethoven felt hurt that he had not been thought of before. he would, therefore, have sent back the diploma immediately, but suffered himself to be persuaded not to do so, and rather to take it in silence, without returning any answer to the society. the diploma of honorary member of the academy of arts and sciences of stockholm had been previously transmitted to him in the autumn of . upon the whole, the year was thronged with incidents in beethoven's life, the number of which was increased by the following circumstance:--beethoven was quartered, by means of his brother johann, in a dark lodging, fit at best for a shoemaker, and which, because it was cheap, was considered suitable for the "brainowner." but it was not this circumstance alone that made our master's life uncomfortable: in this lodging he had for his landlord a low-bred man, coarse in manners and disposition, who treated him with no more respect than if he had been a day-labourer. this was a miserable abode for beethoven, who had been accustomed to something so very different; and the winter of - might, owing to this fatal situation of the great composer, furnish plenty of matter for tales and humorous pieces. i know of but one cheering event which occurred while he was in that horrid den. in april, , the countess schafgotsch, of warmbrunn in silesia, brought him his first mass, with a new german text, written by m. scholz, music-director at that place. we were just at dinner. beethoven quickly opened the manuscript and ran over a few pages. when he came to _qui tollis_, the tears trickled from his eyes, and he was obliged to desist, saying with the deepest emotion, in reference to the inexpressibly beautiful text:--"yes, that was precisely my feeling when i wrote this." this was the first and the last time that i saw him in tears. he was just about to send his second mass to the same admirable writer, that he might adapt a german text to that also, when he received intelligence of his death; and i rejoiced exceedingly that i had been in time to inform that excellent man what an effect his work, which i still possess, had produced upon beethoven. in the first months of beethoven was urged from various quarters to write an opera, and the manager of the court opera-house was particularly desirous to have one of his composition. from count brühl, intendant of the court theatre at berlin also, beethoven received a commission to write an opera for that house _à tout prix_. dozens of opera texts were now collected, but he disliked them all; for he proposed to take a subject from the greek or roman history, to which objections were made on the absurd ground that those subjects had been already exhausted, and were no longer modern. at last came m. franz grillparzer with his melusina. the subject pleased beethoven, only he wished to have certain passages altered, which grillparzer readily consented to do.[ ] the poet and the composer were agreed upon the principal points of the alterations, and we were rejoicing in the prospect of seeing upon our boards mademoiselle henriette sontag, whom beethoven proposed to keep particularly in his eye, in the character of melusina. but how did beethoven disappoint us all! annoyed by the recollection of what had happened with his _fidelio_, he told no one that he had sent grillparzer's manuscript to count brühl for his inspection. of course we knew nothing about it till the count's answer lay before us. the count expressed himself much pleased with the poem, and merely remarked that there was a ballet performing at the court theatre of berlin "which had a distant resemblance to melusina." this observation, and the prospect of again coming into contact with german opera-singers, discouraged beethoven to such a degree that he relinquished the idea of writing an opera, and would not thenceforward listen to anything that might be said on the subject. i must, however, remark here that he was extremely delighted with the performances of the company then at the italian opera in vienna,[ ] to which belonged lablache, donzelli, rubini, paccini, ambrogi, ciccimarra; and among the ladies, fodor-mainville, dardanelli, ekerlin, sontag, and ungher; and was so particularly struck with the inspired caroline ungher, that he determined to write an italian opera for that select band of priests and priestesses of thalia. this design would certainly have been carried into execution in the following year (to which this new work was deferred on account of the already projected ninth symphony), had not a fatal north wind blown away this and many other fine schemes, which we shall have occasion to notice hereafter. in november, , beethoven began to compose the ninth symphony, for which he brought many sketches from the country to town with him; and in february, , this colossus was completed. it may not be uninteresting here to notice the way in which beethoven contrived cleverly to introduce schiller's song, "freude, schöner götterfunken," into the fourth movement of the symphony. at that time i was seldom from his side, and could therefore closely observe his struggles with this difficulty. the highly interesting sketches and materials for it, all of which i possess, likewise bear witness to them. one day, when i entered his room, he called out to me,--"i have it! i have it!" holding out to me his sketch-book, where i read these words, "let us sing the immortal schiller's song, 'freude,'" &c., which introduction he afterwards altered to "friends, not these tones!" this first idea will be found in the engraved fac-simile at the end of the second volume. the recitative of the double-bass also was not comprehended in his original plan, and was added when he changed the above-mentioned introductory movement; in consequence of which it was necessary to give a different form to almost all that preceded, as the fundamental sentiment of that device required. he had nearly the same process to go through with the melody in the first verse which the bass-solo has to sing. the sketch-book shows a fourfold alteration, and above each he wrote, according to his practice, "meilleur," as may be seen in the engraved fac-simile, no. ii.[ ] in this, as the proper place for it, i shall introduce a correct copy of an autograph letter from the archduke rudolph to beethoven, which serves to show the friendly relations subsisting between master and scholar. "_vienna, july st, ._" "dear beethoven,--i shall be back again in vienna on the th of august, and shall stay there for some days. i hope that your health will then permit you to come to town. in the afternoon from four till seven i am generally at home. "my brother-in-law, prince anton,[ ] has already written to me that the king of saxony is expecting your beautiful mass. "as for d****r, i have spoken about him to our most gracious sovereign, as well as to count dietrichstein. whether this recommendation may prove serviceable i cannot tell, as there will be a competition for that appointment, at which each of the candidates must furnish proofs of his abilities. i should be very glad if i could render a service to this clever man, whom i heard with pleasure playing the organ last monday at baden, and the more so, inasmuch as i am convinced that you would not recommend an unworthy person. "i hope that you have written your canon; and beg you, if your health would suffer by coming to town, not to exert yourself too early, out of attachment to me.[ ] "your sincere friend and scholar, "rudolph." supplement to volume i. no. i. _letters from beethoven to kappellmeister hofmeister and c. f. peters, music publishers, relative to the sale of some of his compositions._[ ] the many attacks which have recently been made on the copyright of works by l. van beethoven, which are my property, induce me to give a list of the compositions purchased from that author, which are the legitimate property of my house; namely:-- concerto pour le piano-forte avec orch. op. septuor pour violon., alto, clar., cor., basson, violoncelle, et contrebasse " première gr. sinfonie pour orchestre " gr. sonate pour le piano-forte " deux préludes dans tous les tons majeurs pour le piano-forte ou l'orgue op. romance pour violon avec orchestre " sérénade pour le pfte. et flûte (ou violon) " notturno pour pianof. et alto " ouverture de prometheus, pour orchestre " quatorze variations pour le piano, vln., et violoncelle " respecting the works op. and , which have lately been invaded without my consent, by arrangements by other hands, i find myself obliged to communicate the letters written on the subject by beethoven in the years and , which incontestably prove on the one hand my exclusive property in these compositions, (as also in op. and ,) and furnish, on the other, a highly interesting illustration of the individuality of the great composer, then in the flower of his age. i keep back the evidence in regard to the other six works, op. - , till a similar attack, which i hope will not occur, shall be made upon them. c. g. s. bÖhme, of the firm of c. f. peters, bureau de musique. neue zeitschrift fÜr musik, leipsic, march , . letters from beethoven. . vienna, december , . my dearest brother in the art, i have many times thought of answering your inquiries, but am a dreadfully lazy correspondent; and thus i am an age making up my mind to form the dead letter instead of the musical note; but at length i have done violence to myself in order to comply with your request. pro primo, you are to hear of my regret, dearest brother in the art, at your not having applied to me sooner, so that you might have purchased my quartetts, as well as many other things which i have now disposed of; but if you, my good brother, are as conscientious as many other honest engravers, who sting[ ] us poor composers to death, you will know how to make a profit by them when they come out. i will therefore briefly state what my good brother may have of me. stly. a septett per il violino, viola, violoncello, contrabasso, clarinetto, corno, fagotto--tutti obligati (i cannot write anything inobligato, because i came into the world with an obligato accompaniment). this septett has been highly approved. ndly. a grand symphony for the orchestra. rdly. a concerto for the piano-forte, which, it is true, i do not assert to be one of my best, any more than another, which will be published here by mollo (a hint for the leipzig reviewers), since i reserve the better ones for my own use, in case i should make a musical tour; yet it would not disgrace you to publish it. thly. a grand solo sonata. this is all that i have to part with at this moment. by and by you may have a quintett for stringed instruments, perhaps quartetts too, and other things which i have not by me just now. in your answer you may fix your own prices; and as you are neither a jew nor an italian, and as i do not belong to either nation, we shall not disagree. fare you well, my dearest brother, and be assured of the esteem of your brother, l. v. beethoven. . vienna, the th (or some such day) of january, . i have read your letter, my dearest brother and friend, with great pleasure. i thank you heartily for the good opinion which you have formed of me and of my works, and sincerely wish that i may deserve it; and to m. k. (kühnel) also i am in duty bound to express my thanks for the civility and friendship which he has shown me. your doings give me much satisfaction, and i hope that, if there be any good to be gained for the art by my works, it may fall to the share of a genuine artist like you, and not to that of common traders. your intention to publish the works of sebastian bach is particularly gratifying to me, since i am all alive to the merits of those sublime productions: truly, bach was the patriarch of harmony. may the sale of his works flourish! as soon as golden peace is proclaimed and you receive the names of subscribers, i hope to be able to do much to forward it myself. as to our own affairs, since you will have it so, i offer you the following things:--septett (about which i have already written to you), duc.;[ ] symphony, duc.; concerto, duc.; grand solo--sonata, allegro, adagio, minuetto, rondo, duc. this sonata (in b flat) is of the true mettle, most beloved brother. now let me explain. you will perhaps be surprised that i make no difference between the sonata, the septett, and the symphony, because i find that a septett or a symphony has not so large a sale as a sonata; that is the reason why i do so, though a symphony is incontestably of greater value. (n. b. the septett consists of a short introductory adagio, an allegro, adagio, minuetto, andante with variations, minuetto, another short adagio leading to a presto.) the concerto i set down at duc., because, though well written, i do not consider it one of my best. altogether, i cannot think that this will appear exorbitant to you; at any rate, i have endeavoured to make the charges as moderate as possible. as for the bill, since you leave it to my option, let it be drawn on geimüller or schüller. the whole sum, then, for all four works would be ducats. i understand no other coin than vienna ducats; how many dollars in gold that makes with you i know nothing about, because i am really no man of business or accountant. and thus the tiresome business is settled: i call it so, because i heartily wish one could do without it in this world. there ought to be but one magazine of art, where the artist should have but to deliver his productions and to receive what he wants; but, as it is, one ought to be half a tradesman, and how is that to be borne?--gracious god!--that is what i call tiresome. as for the l---- o----, let her talk; they will certainly not make anybody immortal by their tattle, nor will they rob _him_ of immortality to whom apollo has assigned it. now may heaven preserve you and your colleague! i have been unwell for some time, so that i find it rather difficult to write even notes, much more letters. i hope we shall often have occasion to assure one another how much you are my friends, and how much i am your brother and friend, l. van beethoven. a speedy answer. adieu. . vienna, april , . you have reason to complain of me, and not a little. my excuse is this: i have been ill, and had besides a great deal to do, so that it was scarcely possible for me to think of what i had to send you: then again perhaps the only thing like genius about me is, that my things are not always in the best order, and yet nobody is capable of putting them to rights but myself. thus, for instance, i had, according to my practice, omitted writing the pianoforte part in the score of my concerto, and i have but just written it, and therefore, for the sake of dispatch, i send it in my own not over-and-above legible manuscript. in order to let the works follow as nearly as possible in their proper order, i remark to you that you may put to the solo sonata op. " symphony " " septett " " concerto " the titles i will send you very soon. set me down as a subscriber to johann sebastian bach's works, and also prince lichnowsky. the arrangement of mozart's sonatas as quartetts will do you credit, and assuredly be profitable. i wish i could be of more service in such matters, but i am an irregular man, and, with the best will, forget everything; but i have here and there mentioned the subject, and find that the plan is everywhere approved. it would be a capital thing if my good brother, besides publishing the septett as it is, would arrange it for the flute also as a quintett. this would be a treat for the lovers of the flute, who have already applied to me for this, and who would then swarm about it like insects, and feast upon it. as for myself, i have composed a ballet, but the ballet-master did not manage the business well. prince l---- has given us a new production, which does not come up to the ideas which the papers gave us of his genius--a fresh proof of their judgment. the prince seems to have taken mr. m---- [ ] of the kasperle theatre for his model, but without equalling even him. such are the pretty prospects with which we poor fellows here have to fight our way in the world. my dear brother, now make haste to lay the works before the eyes of the world, and write to me soon, that i may know whether i have lost your confidence by my neglect. to your partner kühnel everything civil and kind. in future, you shall have everything without delay; and herewith fare you well, and continue to regard your friend and brother, beethoven. . vienna, june, , i am really somewhat surprised at the communication made to me by your agent in this place; nay, i am almost angry that you should think me capable of such a scurvy trick. it would be a different thing if i had bargained for my things with shopkeepers intent only on gain, and had then clandestinely made another good speculation; but between artist and artist, it is rather too bad to impute such conduct to me. the whole appears to me to be either an invention to try me, or mere conjecture: at any rate, i confess, that before you received the septett from me, i had sent it to london to m. salomon (merely out of friendship, to be performed at his concert), expressly desiring him to take care not to let it get into other hands, as i meant to have it engraved in germany; and you can make inquiry of him concerning this matter, if you think fit. but, to give you a further proof of my honesty, i hereby assure you that i have not sold the septett, the concerto, the symphony, and the sonata, to any other person in the world but to you, messrs. hofmeister and kühnel, and that you may formally consider them as your exclusive property, for which i pledge my honour. at any rate, you may make what use you please of this assurance. for the rest, i can no more believe that salomon is capable of so base a trick as to publish the septett than i am to have sold it to him. i am so conscientious that i have refused several publishers the piano-forte arrangement of the septett, for which they have applied to me,[ ] and yet i do not even know whether you intend to make use of it in this manner. here follow the long-promised titles of my works. in the titles there will be much to alter and improve: that i leave to you. i expect a letter from you immediately, and very soon the works, which i wish to see engraved, since others are already published and coming out with numbers relating to these. i have written to salomon; but considering your statement as a mere rumour which you have taken up rather too credulously, or as a conjecture which may have forced itself upon you, because you may accidentally have heard that i had sent it to salomon, it only remains for me to add that i feel somewhat chilled towards friends so easy of belief, and as such sign myself, your friend, l. v. beethoven. . vienna, april , . does the devil then ride you all together, gentlemen, to propose to me to make such a sonata? during the revolutionary fever, well and good, such a thing might have been done; but now, when everything is getting into the old track, when buonaparte has concluded a concordat with the pope--such a sonata! were it a missa pro sancta maria, a tre voci, or a vesper, why then i would immediately take up the pencil, and write in huge semi-breves a credo in unum; but, gracious god! such a sonata in these new-fangled christian times! ho ho! leave me alone--that won't do. now my answer in the quickest _tempo_, the lady can have a sonata by me, and i will follow her general design as far as æsthetic goes, but without following the prescribed keys, price five ducats, for which she shall have the use of it a year, and in that time neither she nor i shall have the right to publish it. after the expiration of this year, the sonata is again mine--that is, i can and will publish it; and she can certainly, if she thinks that it will be any honour, request me to dedicate it to her. now god preserve you, gentlemen. my sonata is beautifully engraved, but it has been a confounded long while a-doing. do send my septett a little quicker into the world, because the p---- is waiting for it, and you know the empress has it; and--so that i cannot answer for what may happen, therefore look sharp. mr.---- has lately republished my quartetts, in large and small size, full of blunders and errata. they swarm in them like fish in water, that is, to infinity--questo è un piacere per un autore--that i call stinging[ ] to some purpose. my skin is covered with stings and scratches with these charming editions of my quartetts. now farewell, and think of me as i do of you. till death your faithful l. van beethoven. . vienna, september , . hereby then i declare all the works about which you have written, as your property. another copy shall be made of the list of them, and sent to you with my signature as your acknowledged property; and the offer of fifty ducats i accept. are you satisfied now? perhaps, instead of the variations with violoncello and violin, i can give you variations on the piano-forte, for two performers, on a song by me, the poetry of which, by göthe, must likewise be engraved, as i have written these variations as a souvenir in an album, and consider them better than the others. are you satisfied? the arrangements[ ] are not by me, but i have revised and improved them in part, so don't pretend to say that i have arranged, as that would be a lie, and i could not find either time or patience for such things. are you satisfied? now farewell. i can but wish you to thrive in every way. gladly would i make you a present of the whole, if i could get through the world in that way; but only consider; all about me get appointments, and have something certain to live upon; but, gracious god! how can a parvum talentum com ego look for an appointment at the imperial court? your friend, l. v. beethoven. * * * * * the following are extracts from letters written at a later and less cheerful period of life, and addressed to m. c. f. peters of leipsic:-- . vienna, july , . i write to you merely to say that you shall have the mass,[ ] together with a piano-forte arrangement, for the sum of florins, vienna currency. by the end of july you shall receive it fairly copied in score, perhaps a few days later, as i am exceedingly busy, and have been, for five months, ailing: as one must go through works very carefully, if they are to go abroad, this is a matter that proceeds rather more slowly with me. ---- shall in no case have anything more from me, as he has played me a jewish trick; besides, he is not one of those to whom i would have sold the mass. the competition for my works is at present very strong, for which i thank the almighty, for i have lost a great deal. i am moreover the foster-father of my brother's child, who is left wholly unprovided for. as this boy, now fifteen years old, shows a great capacity for the sciences, not only do his education and maintenance cost me a great deal of money at present, but i am obliged to think about the future, as we are neither indians nor cherokees, who, as you know, leave everything to god almighty, and a pauper has but a melancholy existence of it. i assure you, upon my honour, which, next to god, is the most sacred thing with me, that i have never asked any one to take commissions for me; i have always made it a particular point not to offer myself to any publisher, not out of pride, but because i wished to know how far the territory of my humble talent extends.... i conclude for to-day, wishing you all prosperity, and am, with esteem, your most obedient, l. v. beethoven. . vienna, august , . i wrote to you lately about my health, which is not yet quite restored: i am obliged to take baths, mineral waters, and at times, medicine. i am therefore rather at sixes and sevens, especially as i am obliged at the same time to write, and then corrections run away with time. in respect to the songs, and the other marches and trifles, i have not yet made up my mind as to the choice, but i shall be able to furnish everything by the th of this month. i wait your determination about it, and shall make no use of your bill. as soon as i know that the money for the mass and for the other works is here, all can be supplied by the th instant; but after the th i must go to a neighbouring bathing-place; i am therefore desirous to have no engagements on my hands for a while. about all other matters, some day when i am not so pressed. only do not take an unhandsome advantage of me: it pains me when i am obliged to bargain. in haste, with respect, your most obedient, beethoven. . vienna, november , . in reply to your letter of the th of november, in which i fancied you meant to reproach me for my apparent neglect--and the money paid too, and yet nothing sent to you--unhandsome as this seems, i am sure you would be reconciled with me in a few minutes if we were together. your things are all done, except the selection of the songs: they contain one more than was agreed upon. of bagatelles i can send you more than the four determined upon; there are nine or ten others, and, if you write immediately, i could send them, or as many as you wish to have, along with the other things. my health is not indeed completely restored by my baths, but i am better upon the whole; but another evil has now come upon me, since a person has taken me a lodging that does not suit me, and this is difficult to conquer, and has hindered me not a little, as i cannot yet get myself to rights here. in regard to the mass, the matter stands thus: i have one that has long been completely finished, but another that is not; tattle is what such as we are always liable to, and so you have been led into a mistake by it. which of the two you should have, i know not yet; harassed on all sides, i should be forced almost to attest the contrary of the axiom--"the mind weighs nothing." i salute you cordially, and hope that the future will suffer an advantageous, and for me not dishonourable, connexion to subsist between us. beethoven. . vienna, december , . having a leisure moment, i answer your letter to-day. out of all that belongs to you, there is nothing that is not ready; but precious time is wanting to explain all the details that have prevented the copying and sending. i recollect to have offered you in my last letter some more bagatelles, but do not insist on your taking them; if you will not have more than the four, so be it--only in that case i must make a different choice. mr. ---- has not yet got anything from me. mr.---- merely begged me to make him a present of the songs in the _modezeitung_ (journal of fashion), which i never composed exactly for pay, but it is impossible for me to deal in all cases by per cents.; it is difficult for me to reckon by them oftener than i am forced to do; besides, my situation is not so brilliant as you imagine. it is impossible to give ear at once to all these solicitations; they are too numerous; but many things are not to be refused. not always is that which people ask for suitable to the wish of the author. had i anything in the shape of a salary, i would write nothing but grand symphonies, church music, and besides, perhaps, quartetts. of smaller works you might have--variations for two oboes and one english horn on the theme in don giovanni, "la ci darem la mano;" a minuet of congratulation for a whole orchestra.[ ] i should like to have your opinion too respecting the publication of the collected works. in the greatest haste, your most obedient, beethoven. . vienna, march , . it is only to-day that the other three marches can be sent off; we missed the post this day week. irregular as i have been with you on this occasion, it would not appear unnatural if you were here, and acquainted with my situation, a description of which would be too tedious for you as well as myself. respecting what has been sent off i have this remark yet to make: in the grand march, which requires so many performers, several regimental bands may unite; where this is not the case, and one regimental band is not strong enough, the kapell-meister of such a band may easily help himself by the omission of some of the parts. you will meet with some one in leipzig who can show you how this can be managed with fewer performers, though i should be sorry if it were not to be published exactly as it stands. i must beg you to forgive the many corrections in what you have received; my old copyist cannot see, and the younger must first be trained; but at least the whole is free from errors. with a violin and a piano-forte quartett it is impossible to supply you immediately; but if you write to me betimes, in case you wish for both works, i will do all that lies in my power. only i must add, that for a violin quartett i cannot take less than fifty ducats; for a piano-forte quartett seventy ducats, or i should be a loser; nay, i have been offered more than fifty ducats a-piece for violin quartetts, but i never like to charge too high, and shall therefore expect no more than fifty ducats from you, which, in fact, is now the usual price. the other commission is really an extraordinary one, and i naturally accept that too, only i must beg you to let me know soon, if you wish to have it, otherwise, willingly as i give you the preference, it might become almost impossible. you know i have already written to you that precisely quartetts have risen more in price than anything else; so that in the case of a great work this makes one quite ashamed of one's self. my circumstances, however, require that i should be more or less guided by profit. it is another affair with the work itself; there, thank god, i never think of profit, but only _how i write_. there are two persons besides yourself who have each wished to have a mass, since i intend to write at least three--the first has long been completed, the second is not, and the third is not yet begun. but in regard to you, i must have a certainty, that i may be insured against all events. more another day; do not remit the money for the whole together till you receive advice from me that the work is ready to be sent off. i must conclude. i hope that your vexation is now at least somewhat abated. your friend, beethoven. no. ii. letter on the first appearance of beethoven's fidelio. _hofrath breuning to dr. and madame wegeler._ vienna, june , . dear sister and dear wegeler, * * * * * as far as i remember, i promised in my last letter to write to you about beethoven's opera fidelio. i know how interested you are about it, and i will fulfil my promise. the music is among the finest and most perfect that can be heard; the subject interesting--for it represents the liberation of a captive through his faithful and intrepid wife; but, in spite of all this, no work has occasioned beethoven more trouble than this, and posterity alone will know how to value it. in the first place, it was given at a most unfavourable period--seven days after the entry of the french troops. the theatres were necessarily empty; and beethoven, who at the same time found fault with some arrangement in the libretto, withdrew it after the third representation. peace having been restored, he and i took it up again. i altered the whole of the libretto for him, which made it act better, less tiresomely, and quicker; and it was then given three times, with the greatest applause. then his enemies about the theatre rose, and he, having given offence to many, particularly at the second representation, they have succeeded in preventing the further appearance of the work on the stage. many difficulties had ere this been put in his way--one instance will suffice. he could not, at the second representation, obtain the reprinting of the bills with the altered title of fidelio, so named in the french original, and published thus after the above-mentioned alterations. contrary to promise and expectation, the first title of "leonora" was retained in the bills. beethoven is the more hurt by this intrigue, as the non-performance of the opera, for which he is to be paid by a per centage at its production, throws him back considerably in his pecuniary arrangements, whilst the unworthy treatment has robbed him of so great a share of his zeal and love for the work that he will recover himself but slowly. i think i have on this occasion given him the most pleasure by writing and distributing in the theatre some lines on the opera, both in november, and at the production about the end of march. i will copy them here for wegeler, knowing of old that he sets much value upon these things; and, having once made verses to celebrate his becoming rector magnificus celeberrimæ universitatis bonnensis, he may now see by comparison whether i am improved as a poet. (here follow two german poems.) this copy has tired me out so completely, that i may fairly close this long epistle. i must only tell you that lichnowsky has just sent the opera to the queen of prussia, and that i hope the viennese will learn the value of what they possess, from its production at berlin. breuning. no. iii. beethoven's letters to madame bettine von arnim. [as i knew that my friend, mr. h. f. chorley, was in possession of copies of letters written by beethoven to madame bettine von arnim, i requested her permission to publish these highly-interesting documents, and received the following answer.--ed.] berlin, july , . dear mr. moscheles, you delight me beyond measure by asking me to consent to that, which of all earthly things i like best--namely, to be brought in contact with such of my cotemporaries as have become celebrated in literature and the fine arts. how happy, then, must i feel at becoming instrumental in the fulfilment of any wish of yours! truly, there was no need of asking; i could not but feel honoured to be included in this memorial of beethoven, and by a brother-spirit in the art too! i feel truly grateful that, while you are tracing the noblest features of beethoven's glorious career, you will commemorate the happiness bestowed upon me by the greatest genius of his time. misplaced, indeed, were that modesty, which could forbid my appearing in such a noble place, and under such distinguished auspices, and i confess that you are doing me a kindness in publishing the letters in question. could i but render you some service in return! and pray let mr. chorley have his share of my gratitude for having made such a happy use of my communication. yours, &c. bettine arnim. . beethoven to madame von arnim. vienna, august , . dearest bettine, never was a fairer spring than this year's; this i say, and feel too, as in it i made your acquaintance. you must indeed have yourself seen, that in society i was like a fish cast on the sand, that writhes and struggles and cannot escape, until some benevolent galatea helps it back again into the mighty sea; in very truth i was fairly aground. dearest bettine, unexpectedly i met you, and at a moment when chagrin had completely overcome me; but truly your aspect put it to flight; i was aware in an instant that you belong to a totally different world from this absurd one, to which, even with the best wish to be tolerant, it is impossible to open one's ears. i am myself a poor creature, and yet complain of others! this you will however forgive, with the kindly heart that looks out from your eyes, and with the intelligence that dwells in your ears;--at least your ears know how to flatter when they listen. mine, alas! are a barrier through which i can have hardly any friendly intercourse with mankind, else, perhaps, i might have acquired a still more entire confidence in you. as it was, i could only comprehend the full expressive glance of your eyes, and this has so moved me that i shall never forget it. divine bettine, dearest girl!--art! who comprehends the meaning of this word? with whom may i speak of this great divinity? how i love the recollections of the few days when we used to chat with each other, or rather correspond. i have preserved every one of the little scraps of paper on which your intelligent, precious, most precious, replies were given--thus, at least, may i thank my worthless ears that the best portion of our fugitive discourse is retained in writing. since you went i have had many uncomfortable hours, in which the power to do anything is lost. after you had gone away, i rambled about for some three hours in the museum at schönbrunn; but no good angel met me there, to chide me into good humour, as an angel like you might have done. forgive, sweetest bettine, this transition from the fundamental key;--but i must have such intervals, to vent my feelings. and you have written of me to göthe, have you not? saying that i would fain pack up my head in a cask, where i should see nothing, and hear nothing, of what passes in the world; since you, dearest angel, meet me here no longer. but surely i shall at least have a letter from you. hope supports me; she is indeed the nursing mother of half the world, and she has been my close friend all my life long;--what would have become of me else? i send, with this, written in my own hand, "_kennst du das land?_" as a memorial of the time when i first became acquainted with you; also i send another, which i have composed since i took leave of you, dear, dearest heart! "heart, my heart, what change comes o'er thee? what wrings thee thus with pain? what a strange sour world's before thee! i know thee scarce again!" yes, dearest bettine, answer me this question; write, and tell me what shall become of me since my heart has become such a rebel. write to your truest friend, beethoven. . vienna, feb. , . my dear beloved bettine! i have now had two letters from you, and learn from your letter to antonia that you continue to think, and indeed far too favourably, of me. your first letter i carried about with me all the summer through, and it has often made me happy. although i do not often write to you, and you may hear nothing from me, yet, in thought, i write to you a thousand thousands of letters. how you feel yourself in the presence of all this world's rubbish i could have fancied, even had i not read it in your letters--this haranguing and gossiping about art, without anything done! the best delineation of this that i know, is found in schiller's poem "_die flüsse_," where the spree[ ] is made to speak. you are going to be married, dear bettine, or are married already, and i have not been able to see you once more before this. may every blessing which marriage can bestow flow upon you and your husband! what can i say to you of myself? "pity my fate!" i exclaim with poor johanna[ ]--if i can but obtain a few more years of life, i will still thank for this, as for all other weal and woe, the most high, the all-embracing power. whenever you write of me to göthe, select any expression that you can use, so as to convey to him the most fully my profound respect and admiration. i am, however, purposing to write to him myself, concerning _egmont_, which i have set to music; and this solely from love for his poetry, which makes me happy; but, indeed, who can be sufficiently grateful to a great poet, the most precious jewel that a nation can possess? and now i must end, dear, good bettine. i returned this morning as late as four o'clock from a bacchanalian revel, at which i was even made to laugh heartily, and for which i am now tempted to weep nearly as much. uproarious mirth often has the effect of casting me violently back upon myself. i owe clemens[ ] many thanks for his attention; as respects the cantata, the subject is not of sufficient importance for us here; in berlin it is a different matter: as regards our affection, his sister has so much of mine, that not much will remain for the brother's portion; will he be contented with this? and now farewell, my dear bettine; i kiss you on the forehead, and therewith impress on it as with a seal all my thoughts for you! write soon, write often, to your friend, beethoven. . töplitz,-- . dearest, good bettine, kings and princes can indeed create professors and privy councillors, and bedeck them with titles and orders; but they cannot make great men--spirits that rise above the world's rubbish--these they must not attempt to create; and therefore must these be held in honour. when two such come together as i and göthe, these great lords must note what it is that passes for greatness with such as we. yesterday, as we were returning homewards, we met the whole imperial family; we saw them coming at some distance, whereupon göthe disengaged himself from my arm, in order that he might stand aside; in spite of all i could say, i could not bring him a step forwards. i crushed my hat more furiously on my head, buttoned up my top coat, and walked with my arms folded behind me, right through the thickest of the crowd. princes and officials made a lane for me: archduke rudolph took off his hat, the empress saluted me the first:--_these great people know me!_ it was the greatest fun in the world to me, to see the procession file past göthe. he stood aside, with his hat off, bending his head down as low as possible. for this i afterwards called him over the coals properly and without mercy, and brought up against him all his sins, especially those against you, dearest bettine! we had just been speaking of you. good god! could i have lived with you for so long a time as _he_ did, believe me i should have produced far, far more great works than i have! a musician is also a poet; a pair of eyes more suddenly transport him too into a fairer world, where mighty spirits meet and play with him, and give him weighty tasks to fulfil. what a variety of things came into my imagination when i first became acquainted with you, during that delicious may-shower in the usser observatory, and which to me also was a fertilising one! the most delightful themes stole from your image into my heart, and they shall survive and still delight the world long after beethoven has ceased to _direct_. if god bestows on me a year or two more of life. i must again see you, dearest, dear bettine, for the voice within me, which always will be obeyed, says that i must. love can exist between mind and mind, and i shall now be a wooer of yours. your praise is dearer to me than all other in this world. i expressed to göthe my opinion as to the manner in which praise affects those like us; and that by those that resemble us we desire to be heard with _understanding_; emotion belongs to women only (pardon me for saying it!): the effect of music on a man should be to strike fire from his soul. oh, my dearest girl, how long have i known that we are of one mind in all things! the only good is to have near us some fair, pure spirit, which we can at all times rely upon, and before which no concealment is needed. _he who will_ seem _to be somewhat must really be what he would seem._ the world must acknowledge him--it is not for ever unjust; although this concerns me in nowise, for i have a higher aim than this. i hope to find at vienna a letter from you; write to me soon, very soon, and very fully. i shall be there in a week from hence. the court departs to-morrow; there is another performance to-day. the empress has thoroughly learned her part; the archduke and the emperor wished me to perform again some of my own music. i refused them both; they have both fallen in love with _chinese porcelain_. this is a case for compassion only, as reason has lost its control; but i will not be piper to such absurd dancing--i will not be comrade in such absurd performances with the fine folks, who are ever sinning in that fashion. adieu! adieu! dearest; your last letter lay all night on my heart and refreshed me. musicians take all sorts of liberties! _good heaven! how i love you!_ your truest friend, and deaf brother, beethoven. no. iv. letter of madame bettine von arnim to gÖthe.[ ] vienna, may , . * * * * and now i am going to speak to you of one who made me forget all the world besides. the world vanishes when recollections spring up--indeed it vanishes. it is beethoven who made it vanish before me, and of whom i would fain speak to you. it is true i am not of age, yet i would boldly assert that he has far outstepped our generation--too far perhaps to be come up with: (shall i be understood or believed in this assertion?) no matter. may he but live until the great and mighty problem of his mind has ripened into maturity; may he but attain his own noble aim, and he will carry us on to loftier regions, to bliss more perfect than is yet known to us. let me own it to you, dear göthe, i do believe in a spell--not of this world, the element of our spiritual nature; and it is this that beethoven calls around us by his art. if you would understand him, you must enter into his own magic circle; you must follow him to his exalted position, and occupy with him that high station which he alone can claim for a basis in this sublunary world. you will, i know, guess at my meaning, and extract truth from it. when could such a mind be reproduced?--when equalled? as to other men, their doings are but mechanical clock-work compared to his: he alone freely creates, and his creations are unthought of! what indeed could the intercourse with this world be to him, who before sunrise is at his holy work, who after sunset scarcely looks up from it, who forgets his bodily food, and, carried past the shallow banks of every-day life, is borne along the current of enthusiasm? he said himself, "when i lift up mine eyes i must sigh, for that which i behold is against my creed; and i must despise the world, because it knows not that music is a higher revelation than science or philosophy. music is like wine, inflaming men's minds to new achievements, and i am the bacchus serving it out to them, even unto intoxication. when they are sobered down again, they shall find themselves possessed of a spiritual draught such as shall remain with them even on dry land. i have no friend--i must live all to myself; yet i know that god is nearer to me than to my brothers in the art. i hold converse with him, and fear not, for i have always known and understood him. nor do i fear for my works: no evil can befal them; and whosoever shall understand them, he shall be freed from all such misery as burthens mankind." all this did beethoven say to me the first time i saw him. a feeling of reverence came over me as i heard him speak his mind with such unbounded frankness, and that to me, who must have been wholly insignificant to him; and i was perhaps the more struck with his openness, having often heard of his extreme reserve, and of his utter dislike to converse with any one. thus it was that i could not get any one to introduce me to him, but i found him out alone. he has three sets of apartments in which he alternately secretes himself: one in the country, one in town, and a third on the ramparts (bastei). it was there i found him in the third floor. i entered unannounced; he was seated at the piano; i gave my name; he was most friendly, and asked me if i would hear a song which he had just been composing; and sang, with a shrill and piercing voice that made the hearer thrill with woefulness, "know'st thou the land?" "is it not beautiful?" said he, enthusiastically; "exquisitely beautiful! i will sing it again." he was pleased with my cheerful praise. "most people are _moved_ on hearing music, but these have not musicians' souls: true musicians are too _fiery_ to weep." he then sang another song of yours, which he had lately been composing: "dry not, ye tears of eternal love." he accompanied me home, and it was during our walk that he said all these fine things on the art--talking so loud all the while, and standing still so often, that it required some courage to listen to him in the street. he however spoke so passionately, and all that he uttered startled me to such a degree, as made me forget even the street. they were all not a little surprised at home on seeing me enter the room with him, in the midst of a large dinner-party. after dinner he sat down to the instrument and played, unasked, wonderfully, and at great length. his pride and his genius were working _that_ out together which to any mind but his would have been inconceivable--to any fingers but his, impossible of execution. he comes daily ever since--if not, i go to him; and thus i miss all sorts of gaieties, theatres, picture-galleries, and even the mounting of st. stephen's church-steeple. beethoven says, "never mind seeing these things: i shall call for you, and towards evening we shall walk together in the _schönbrunn_ avenues." yesterday, as we were walking in a lovely garden, everything in full bloom, and the open hot-houses almost intoxicating one's senses with their perfumes, he suddenly stopped in the oppressive heat of the sun, saying, "göthe's poems exercise a great sway over me, not only by their meaning, but by their rhythm also. it is a language that urges me on to composition, that builds up its own lofty standard, containing in itself all the mysteries of harmony, so that i have but to follow up the radiations of that centre from which melodies evolve spontaneously. i pursue them eagerly, overtake them, then again see them flying before me, vanish in the multitude of my impressions, until i seize them anew with increased vigour, no more to be parted from them. it is then that my transports give them every diversity of modulation; it is i who triumph over the first of these musical thoughts, and the shape i give it, i call symphony. yes, bettina, music is the link between intellectual and sensual life. would i could speak to göthe on this subject, to see whether he could understand me! melody gives a sensible existence to poetry; for does not the meaning of a poem become embodied in melody? does not mignon's song breathe all her feelings through its melody, and must not these very feelings be reproductive in their turn? the mind would embrace all thoughts, both high and low, and embody them into one stream of sensations, all sprung from simple melody, and without the aid of its charms doomed to die in oblivion. this is the unity which lives in my symphonies--numberless streamlets meandering on, in endless variety of shape, but all diverging into one common bed. thus it is i feel that there is an indefinite something, an eternal, an infinite, to be attained; and although i look upon my works with a foretaste of success, yet i cannot help wishing, like a child, to begin my task anew, at the very moment that my thundering appeal to my hearers seems to have forced my musical creed upon them, and thus to have exhausted the insatiable cravings of my soul after my 'beau ideal!' "speak of me to göthe: tell him to hear my symphonies, and he will agree with me that music alone ushers man into the portal of an intellectual world, ready to encompass _him_, but which _he_ may never encompass. _that_ mind alone whose every thought is rhythm can embody music, can comprehend its mysteries, its divine inspirations, and can alone speak to the senses of its intellectual revelations. although spirits may feed upon it as we do upon air, yet it may not nourish all mortal men; and those privileged few alone, who have drawn from its heavenly source, may aspire to hold spiritual converse with it. how few are these! for, like the thousands who marry for love, and who profess love, whilst love will single out but one amongst them, so also will thousands court music, whilst she turns a deaf ear to all, but the chosen few. she too, like her sister-arts, is based upon morality--that fountain-head of genuine invention! and would you know the true principle on which the arts _may_ be won?--it is to bow to their immutable terms, to lay all passion and vexation of spirit prostrate at their feet, and to approach their divine presence with a mind so calm and so void of littleness as to be ready to receive the dictates of fantasy and the revelations of truth. thus the art becomes a divinity, man approaches her with religious feelings, his inspirations are god's divine gifts, and his aim fixed by the same hand from above, which helps him to attain it. "we know not whence our knowledge is derived. the seeds which lie dormant in us require the dew, the warmth, and the electricity of the soil, to spring up, to ripen into thought, and to break forth. music is the electrical soil in which the mind thrives, thinks, and invents, whilst philosophy damps its ardour in an attempt to reduce it to a fixed principle. "although the mind can scarcely call its own that, which it produces through inspiration, yet it feasts upon these productions, and feels that in them alone lies its independence, its power, its approximation to the deity, its intercourse with man, and that these, more than all, bear witness of a beneficent providence. "music herself teaches us harmony; for _one_ musical thought bears upon the whole kindred of ideas, and each is linked to the other, closely and indissolubly, by the ties of harmony. "the mind creates more readily when touched by the electrical spark: my whole nature is electric. but let me cease with my unfathomable wisdom, or i might miss the rehearsal. write of me to göthe--that is, if you have understood me; but mark me, i am not answerable for anything, although ready to be taught by him." i promised to write to you as best i could. he took me to a grand rehearsal with full orchestra. there i sat quite alone in a box, in the vast unlit space: single gleams of light stole through crevices and knot-holes in the walls, dancing like a stream of glittering sparks. there i saw this great genius exercise his sovereignty. oh! göthe, no emperor or king feels so entirely his power, and that all might proceeds from himself, as this beethoven, who but just now in the garden was at a loss to find from whom it _did_ come. he stood there with such firm decision; his gestures, his countenance, expressed the completion of his creation; he prevented every error, every misconception--not a breath but was under command--all were set in the most sedulous activity by the majestic presence of his mind. one might prophesy that a spirit like this might, in a future state of perfection, reappear as the ruler of a world. i put all this down last night, and this morning read it to him. he said, "did i say this?--well then i have had my _raptus_." he read it again most attentively, erased the above, and wrote between the lines; for he wishes above all that you should understand him. * * * * * bettine. gÖthe to bettine. * * * * * * * * * * say everything that is kind for me to beethoven, and that i would willingly bring a sacrifice to make his acquaintance, when a mutual interchange of ideas would certainly lead to the most beneficial results. may be, you could persuade him to visit karlsbad and meet me there on my annual tour, for then i should have leisure to hear and be tutored by him. as to his being taught by me, that would be a sacrilege indeed, even in those more competent than i am; for surely his genius enlightens him, and will often dart flashes of brightness around him, whilst we are groping in the dark, scarcely sensible of the approaching dawn. i should be delighted if beethoven would send me my two songs which he has composed, but clearly written. i am most anxious to hear them, since nothing gives me greater pleasure and lays a firmer hold on my gratitude than the finding such poems of a former period embodied and sensualised anew by music, as beethoven justly calls it. * * * * * gÖthe. bettine to gÖthe. dearest friend, i have shown beethoven your beautiful letter, as far as it concerned him: he was overjoyed, and cried, "if any one can brighten him up about music, it is i." he was most enthusiastic about your proposal of meeting him at karlsbad, struck his forehead, and said, "might i not have done this before? but i' faith i did think of it, and was restrained by timidity; that _will_ sometimes worry me as though i were not a man of the right mettle; but i am no more afraid of göthe now. make sure therefore of my seeing him next year." no. v. a day with beethoven.[ ] [extract of a letter from vienna to a friend in london.] i now fulfil the promise i made on my departure for germany last summer, of giving you, from time to time, an account of whatever might appear interesting in the fine arts, particularly in music; and as i then told you that i should not confine myself to any order of time and place, i commence at once with vienna. this is the city which, speaking of music, must be called, by way of eminence, the capital of germany. as to the sciences, it is quite otherwise, it being generally considered as one of the most inferior of the german universities. the north of germany has at all times possessed the best theorists--the bachs, marpurg, kirnberger, schwenke, türk; but the men most celebrated for composition were always more numerous in the south, above all in vienna. here mozart, haydn, beethoven, hummel, m. v. weber, spohr, &c., not only received their musical education, but most of them produced the works which have acquired them the greatest celebrity; and, even at the present period, vienna abounds with eminent musicians--c. kreutzer, stadler, mayseder, c. czerny, pixis, and that young prodigy on the piano-forte, liszt. to give you a succinct account only of the present state of music in vienna would exceed the limits of a letter; i will therefore rather devote the remainder of this to one who is still the brightest ornament of that imperial city--to beethoven. you must not, however, expect from me now anything like a biography--that i shall reserve for a future communication. i wish now to give you only a short account of a single day's visit to the great man, and if, in my narration, i should appear to dwell on trifling points, you will be good enough to attribute it to my veneration for beethoven, which leads me to consider everything highly interesting that is in the slightest degree connected with so distinguished a character. the th of september, , will be ever recollected by me as a _dies faustus_; in truth, i do not know that i ever spent a happier day. early in the morning i went, in company with two vienna gentlemen, one of whom, mr. h., is known as the very intimate friend of beethoven, to the beautifully situated village of baden,[ ] about twelve miles from vienna, where the latter usually resides during the summer months. being with mr. h., i had not to encounter any difficulty in being admitted into his presence. he looked very sternly at me at first, but he immediately after shook me heartily by the hand, as if an old acquaintance, for he then clearly recollected my first visit to him in , though it had been but of a very short duration,--a proof of his excellent memory. i found, to my sincere regret, a considerable alteration in his appearance, and it immediately struck me that he looked very unhappy. the complaints he afterwards made to mr. h. confirmed my apprehensions. i feared that he would not be able to understand one word of what i said; in this, however, i rejoice to say i was much deceived, for he made out very well all that i addressed to him slowly and in a loud tone. from his answers it was clear that not a particle of what mr. h. uttered had been lost, though neither the latter nor myself used a machine. from this you will justly conclude that the accounts respecting his deafness lately spread in london are much exaggerated. i should mention, though, that when he plays on the piano-forte, it is generally at the expense of some twenty or thirty strings, he strikes the keys with so much force. nothing can possibly be more lively, more animated, and, to use an epithet that so well characterises his own symphonies, more energetic, than his conversation when you have once succeeded in getting him into good humour; but one unlucky question, one ill-judged piece of advice--for instance, concerning the cure of his deafness--is quite sufficient to estrange him from you for ever. he was desirous of ascertaining, for a particular composition he was then about, the highest possible note of the trombone, and questioned mr. h. accordingly, but did not seem satisfied with his answers. he then told me that he had in general taken care to inform himself, through the different artists themselves, concerning the construction, character, and compass of all the principal instruments. he introduced his nephew to me, a fine young man of about eighteen, who is the only relation with whom he lives on terms of friendship, saying, "you may propose to him an enigma in greek, if you like;" meaning, i was informed, to acquaint me with the young man's knowledge of that language. the history of this relative reflects the highest credit on beethoven's goodness of heart; the most affectionate father could not have made greater sacrifices on his behalf than he has made. after we had been more than an hour with him, we agreed to meet at dinner, at one o'clock, in that most romantic and beautiful valley called _das helenenthal_, about two miles from baden. after having seen the baths and other curiosities of the town, we called again at his house about twelve o'clock, and, as we found him already waiting for us, we immediately set out on our walk for the valley. beethoven is a famous pedestrian, and delights in walks of many hours, particularly through wild and romantic scenery: nay, i was told that he sometimes passes whole nights on such excursions, and is frequently missed at home for several days. on our way to the valley, he often stopped short and pointed out to me its most beautiful spots, or noticed the defects of the new buildings. at other times he seemed quite lost in himself, and only hummed in an unintelligible manner; i understood, however, that this was the way he composed, and i also learnt that he never writes one note down till he has formed a clear design for the whole piece. the day being remarkably fine, we dined in the open air, and what seemed to please beethoven extremely was, that we were the only visitors in the hotel, and quite by ourselves during the whole day. the viennese repasts are famous all over europe, and that ordered for us was so luxurious, that beethoven could not help making remarks on the profusion which it displayed. "why such a variety of dishes?" he exclaimed; "man is but little above other animals, if his chief pleasure is confined to a dinner-table." this and similar reflections he made during our meal. the only thing he likes in the way of food is fish, of which trout is his favourite. he is a great enemy to all _gêne_, and i believe that there is not another individual in vienna who speaks with so little restraint on all kinds of subjects, even political ones, as beethoven. he hears badly, but he speaks remarkably well, and his observations are as characteristic and as original as his compositions. in the whole course of our table-talk there was nothing so interesting as what he said about handel. i sat close by him and heard him assert very distinctly in german, "handel is the greatest composer that ever lived."[ ] i cannot describe to you with what pathos, and, i am inclined to say, with what sublimity of language, he spoke of the messiah of this immortal genius. every one of us was moved when he said, "i would uncover my head and kneel down on his tomb!" h. and i tried repeatedly to turn the conversation to mozart, but without effect; i only heard him say, "in a monarchy we know who is the first;" which might or might not apply to the subject. mr. c. czerny, who, by the by, knows every note of beethoven's by heart, though he does not play one single composition of his own without the music before him, told me, however, that beethoven was sometimes inexhaustible in his praise of mozart. it is worthy of remark that this great musician cannot bear to hear his own earlier works praised; and i was apprised that a sure way to make him angry is to say something complimentary of his septetts, trios, &c. his latest productions, which are, so little relished in london, but much admired by the young artists of vienna, are his favourites: his second mass he looks upon as his best work, i understood. he is at present engaged in writing a new opera called _melusine_, the words by the famous but unfortunate poet grillparzer. he concerns himself very little about the newest productions of living composers, insomuch that, when asked about the _freischütz_, he replied, "i believe _one_ weber has written it." you will be pleased to hear that he is a great admirer of the ancients; homer, particularly his odyssey, and plutarch, he prefers to all the rest; and of the native poets, he studies schiller and göthe in preference to any other; this latter is his personal friend. he appears uniformly to entertain the most favourable opinion of the british nation. "i like," said he, "the noble simplicity of the english manners," and added other praises. it seemed to me as if he had yet some hopes of visiting this country together with his nephew. i should not forget to mention that i heard a ms. trio of his, for the piano-forte, violin, and violoncello, which i thought very beautiful, and is, i understood, to appear shortly in london. the portrait you see of him in the music-shops is not now like him, but may have been so eight or ten years back. i could tell you many things more of this extraordinary man, who, from what i have seen and learnt of him, has inspired me with the deepest veneration; but i fear i have taken up your time already too much. the friendly and hearty manner in which he treated me, and bade me farewell, has left an impression on my mind, which will remain for life. adieu. [greek: e.] no. vi. a visit to beethoven.[ ] [extract from a letter written by an english lady, dated vienna, october, .] the imperial library is the finest room i ever saw, and the librarian very agreeable and obliging. what will you say when i tell you, that after taking an infinity of trouble, he succeeded in obtaining for me an introduction to beethoven, who is exceedingly difficult of access; but, in answer to the note requesting that i might be allowed to visit him, wrote-- "avec le plus grand plaisir je recevrai une fille de * * * * *.--beethoven." we went to _baden_, a pretty little town in the archduchy of austria, about fifteen miles south-west of vienna, much frequented for its hot baths, (whence it derives its name, similarly to our bath,) where _the giant of living composers_, as mr. ---- always pleases me by calling him, retires during the summer months. the people seemed surprised at our taking so much trouble; for, unaccountable as it may seem to those who have any knowledge of or taste for music, his reign in vienna is over, except in the hearts of a chosen few, with whom, by the bye, i have not yet met * * * * *, and i was even taught to expect a rough, unceremonious reception. when we arrived, he had just returned home, through a shower of rain, and was changing his coat. i almost began to be alarmed, after all that i had heard of his _brusquerie_, lest he should not receive us very cordially, when he came forth from his sanctum with a hurried step and apparently very nervous; but he addressed us in so gentle, so courteous, so sweet a manner, and with such a truth in his sweetness, that i only know mr. ---- with whom he can be compared, whom he much resembles in features, person, address, and also in opinions. he is very short, extremely thin, and sufficiently attentive to personal appearance. he observed that * * * was very fond of handel, that he himself also _loved_ him, and proceeded for some time eulogising that great composer. i conversed with him in writing, for i found it impossible to render myself audible; and, though this was a very clumsy mode of communicating, it did not much signify, as he talked on, freely and willingly, and did not wait for questions, or seem to expect long replies. i ventured to express my admiration of his compositions, and, among others, praised his _adelaide_ in terms by no means too strong for my sense of its beauties. he very modestly remarked that the poetry was beautiful. beethoven speaks good french, at least by comparison with most other germans, and conversed a little with * * * in latin. he told us that he should have _spoken_ english, but that his deafness had prevented his acquiring more of our language than the power of reading it. he said that he preferred english to french writers, because "_ils sont plus vrais_." thomson is his favourite author, but his admiration for shakspeare is very great indeed. when we were about to retire, he desired us to stop--"_je veux vous donner un souvenir de moi._" he then went to a table in an adjoining room and wrote two lines of music--a little fugue for the pianoforte--and presented it to me in a most amiable manner. he afterwards desired that i would spell my name to him, that he might inscribe his impromptu to me correctly. he now took my arm and led me into the room where he had written, that i might see the whole of his apartment, which was quite that of an author, but perfectly clean; and, though indicating nothing like superfluity of wealth, did not show any want of either useful furniture, or neatness in arrangement. it must he recollected, however, that this is his country residence, and that the viennese are not so costly or particular in their domestic details as we english. i led him back very gently to a room on the other side, in which was placed his grand pianoforte, by broadwood, but he looked, i thought, melancholy at the sight of it, and said that it was very much out of order, for the country tuner was exceedingly bad. he struck some notes to convince me; nevertheless, i placed on the desk the page of ms. music which he had just given me, and he played it through quite simply, but prefaced it by three or four chords--such handfuls of notes--that would have gone to mr. ----'s heart. he then stopped, and i would not on any account ask for more, as i found that he played without any satisfaction to himself. we took leave of each other in a tone, of what in france would be called confirmed friendship; and he said, quite voluntarily, that if he came to england, he would certainly pay us a visit. * * * * * london: printed by william clowes and sons, stamford street. the life of beethoven, including his correspondence with his friends, numerous characteristic traits, and remarks on his musical works. edited by ignace moscheles, esq., pianist to his royal highness prince albert. in two volumes. volume ii. london: henry colburn, publisher, , great marlborough street. . london. printed by william clowes and sons, stamford street. contents of the second volume. third period. part iii. [from till beethoven's death in .] page oratorio contemplated by beethoven--the german and italian opera at vienna--memorial addressed to beethoven--results of his concert at the hof-theater--mademoiselles sontag and ungher--beethoven's distrustful disposition--invited to visit england--proposition from the philharmonic society--his arrangements with a russian prince--his residence near schönbrunn--his illness--he disposes of some of his works--his adopted nephew--extracts from beethoven's letters to him--beethoven's physicians--his sufferings--he writes to mr. moscheles--generosity of the philharmonic society--beethoven's property--his death--preparations for the funeral--conformation of his skull musical observations. intended edition of beethoven's piano-forte sonatas--causes for his relinquishing the design--project of an edition of his complete works--visionary hopes excited by it--metamorphosis of beethoven's instrumental music--importance of a right conception of the _tempo_--metronomic signs--injury done to beethoven's music by metronomising--exemplified in the moonlight sonata--metronomic directions condemned--performance of beethoven's works in paris--hints furnished by beethoven relative to the composition of his sonatas, and the proper style of their performance--his own style of playing--effects intended to be given by him to his symphonies--neglect of his works characteristic traits and peculiarities of beethoven. beethoven's religious principles--his dislike of giving lessons--his frankness, and, at the same time, dexterity in evading questions--vindication of him from the charge of discourtesy to brother artists--proofs that, though a rigid, he was a just critic--kind encouragement afforded by him to professional merit--his modest appreciation of himself--his extempore playing--his every-day occupations--propensity for dabbling in water--pensions--certificates--beethoven erroneously compared with jean paul richter--mortifying trick played by him at the instigation of a friend--motivo of a movement in one of his quartetts--his peculiar habits in eating and drinking--extent of his knowledge of languages--comments on statements of m. von seyfried relative to beethoven's domestic habits--spurious mss. attributed to him--his person--portraits of him supplement. beethoven's letters to madlle. von breuning, wegeler, and ries beethoven's correspondence with messrs. neate and ries account of a concert given by beethoven at the kaernthnerthor theatre, vienna characteristics of beethoven from wegeler and ries's "notizen" additional characteristics, traits, and anecdotes of beethoven beethoven's last moments funeral honours to beethoven miserere, amplius, libera, for four voices, with an organ accompaniment concert in aid of beethoven's monument at drury lane theatre, july , sale of beethoven's mss. and musical library systematic catalogue of all the original works of beethoven, published by t. haslinger, from vienna moscheles' complete edition of beethoven's works, published by messrs. cramer and co. life of beethoven. third period. part iii. [from till beethoven's death in .] oratorio contemplated by beethoven--the german and italian opera at vienna--memorial addressed to beethoven--results of his concert at the hof-theater--mademoiselles sontag and ungher--beethoven's distrustful disposition--invited to visit england--proposition from the philharmonic society--his arrangements with a russian prince--his residence near schönbrunn--his illness--he disposes of some of his works--his adopted nephew--extracts from beethoven's letters to him--beethoven's physicians--his sufferings--he writes to mr. moscheles--generosity of the philharmonic society--beethoven's property--his death--preparations for the funeral--conformation of his skull. the ninth symphony was finished, and beethoven now proposed to devote his attention, without delay, to a work worthy of his powers--the composition of an oratorio, written by his friend c. bernard, and entitled "_the victory of the cross_." from this work he anticipated much pleasure, as he was satisfied with the poetry--a point in his estimation of no little moment--when an occurrence took place that deserves to be circumstantially related, as well on account of its importance to the history of art, as because, in relation to beethoven, its consequences were interesting. the italian opera in vienna had now for some years possessed itself of those halls devoted to the melodious art, which in the time of gluck had been exclusively occupied by german music; and although, for the last ten years, the tendencies exhibited by the musical world had been rather towards the sensual and the material, yet, in the main body of the vienna public, a noble spirit was stirring, which it would never have been possible to exclude, or rather to expel, from its native soil, had there only existed a determination firmly to uphold what was of native growth. the german opera had still among her votaries devoted adherents, who, by holding manfully together, might long have resisted the force of prevalent error, and saved the edifice from destruction. a former administration does not seem to have duly understood the demands of the time, so as, while cautiously yielding to them to a certain extent, to have, nevertheless, retained all that was essential. the public, therefore, became impatient, and the first italian solfeggio that was heard within those walls sounded like the signal of banishment to the german opera. the violence of the current carried every one along with it. no one asked in what direction he was borne, for all were enchanted, intoxicated, with the _roulades_ of the rossini school. few, indeed, were they, who could resist the force of such a stream, and preserve in all its purity their taste for the truly beautiful and ideal in art; but to this little band german music is deeply indebted; for its warning voice by degrees brought back many a wanderer to the right path. how, then, did all this affect beethoven? as monarch in his own domain, he was almost as much forgotten by the crowd as if he had never existed; and no other mark of distinction was conferred upon him than the manifestation of outward respect, even by persons of the highest rank, whenever he made his appearance. how deeply he felt this ominous state of things, and how much it weighed upon his mind, was proved by his more than ordinary seclusion, as well as his determination to bring out the two new works, the mass, and the ninth symphony, in berlin. the report of this intention induced a small number of artists and friends of art to make an effort to avert from the imperial city the threatened disgrace; and they, in consequence, addressed to beethoven a memorial, of which, on account of the interest of its contents, i will here give a faithful transcript:-- "to m. ludwig van beethoven. "a small number of the disciples and lovers of art, from the wide circle of admirers of your genius, in your adopted city, present themselves before you to-day, in order to give utterance to wishes long felt, and to prefer a request which they have long hesitated to make. "although the number of speakers bears but a small proportion to that crowd, who are sensible of your worth, and joyfully acknowledge what you have done for the present and future time, yet their wishes and requests are by no means confined to the speakers, but shared by all to whom art and the realization of the ideal are more than a means of passing away an idle hour. their wish is the wish also of a countless number, and their requests are repeated, aloud or in silence, by all whose bosoms are animated by a sense of whatever is divine in music. "the wishes of those who venerate art in our native country are those which we would more especially express to you at present; for, although the name and the creations of beethoven belong to every country where a susceptibility to the beauties of art exists, austria may yet boast of the nearest claim to them. among her people a due sense of the value of the great and immortal works of mozart and haydn, produced within her bosom, is not yet dead; and with joyful pride do they remember that the sacred triad, in which your name and theirs appear as the symbol of whatever is highest in the spiritual realms of music, sprung from the soil of their father-land. "so much the more painful, however, must it be to you to see that a foreign power has invaded this royal citadel--that above the graves of the departed, and within the dwelling-place of the only one of this band that is still left us, productions are taking the lead, which can boast of no relationship with the princely spirits of the house; shallowness usurping the name and symbol of art, and an unworthy sporting with what is holy darkening and effacing the sense of truth and everlasting beauty. "more than at any former time, therefore, do those who now address you feel a lively conviction, that the one thing needful at the present moment is a new impulse from a powerful hand--a new appearance of the sovereign within his own domain. this necessity it is which brings them to you to-day, and the following are the requests which they now prefer to you in the name of native art and of all to whom it is dear. "withdraw no longer from the public enjoyment,--deny no longer to our sense of what is great and perfect the performance of the latest masterpiece of your hand. we know that a valuable composition in church-music has been produced, to succeed that in which you have immortalised the sensations of a soul, penetrated by the power of faith and illumined by the divine rays of genius. we know that a new flower blooms in the garland of your magnificent and unequalled symphonies. for years, since the thunders of the victory of vittoria ceased to sound, have we anxiously hoped to see you pour out again, in a circle of kindred spirits, fresh gifts from the abundance of your wealth. disappoint no longer the expectations of your friends; heighten the impression of your newest creations by introducing us yourself to the knowledge of them. permit not these, the youngest offspring of your genius, to appear one day as strangers in the place of their birth--to fall, perhaps, into the hands of those whose minds are foreign to yours. "appear, then, once more in the circle of your friends, your admirers, your venerators; this is our first and most urgent request. "other claims on your talents, however, have been openly put forward. the wishes expressed and the offers made to you a year ago by the directors of our court opera, and afterwards by the society of austrian lovers of music, were shared and approved by too many who respected your name, and were concerned for the interests of art, not to have quickly become public, and to have excited universal interest. poetry has done her part to support these pleasing hopes and expectations, and worthy materials from a much-esteemed poetical mind await only your magic touch to charm them into life. "let this summons to so noble a work not be heard in vain. delay no further to transport us back to those long-departed days when the power of polyhymnia moved with mighty spells alike the hearts of the multitude and of the consecrated priests of art. need we say with what deep regret your late retired mode of life has filled us? is any assurance required that all eyes have been turned towards you, and that all have seen with sorrow that he, whom they acknowledged as the highest of living men in his own domain, should have looked on in silence while our german soil has been invaded by the footsteps of foreign art--the seat of the german muse usurped--and german works have become but the echo of those of strangers; threatening a second childhood of taste to succeed its golden age? you alone are able to secure activity to the efforts of the best among us. you alone can bestow new life on national art and on the german opera; bid them bloom once more, and save the true and the beautiful from the violence by which the fashion of the day seeks to subject to itself their everlasting laws. "suffer us, then, to hope for the speedy fulfilment of the wishes of all to whom your harmonies have penetrated. this is our second and most urgent request. may this year not pass without our being rejoiced by witnessing the fruits of our entreaties, and may the unfolding of one of those long-wished-for gifts render the coming spring to us, and to the whole world of art, a twofold time of promise. "vienna, february, . (signed) "prince c. lichnowsky. artaria & co. v. hauschka. m. z. leidesdorf. j. e. von wayna. andreas streicher. anton halm. abbÉ stadler. ferd. count von palfy. edward baron von schweiger. count czernin, chamberlain. moritz count v. fries. j. f. castelli. prof. deinhardstein. ch. kuffner. f. r. nehammer. steiner von felsburg. moritz count v. dietrichstein. ig. edler von mosel. karl czerny. moritz count von lichnowsky. von zmeskall. hofrath kiesewetter. dr. n. sonnleithner. von felsburg. ferd. count von stockhammer. anton diabelli. steiner & co. lederer. j. n. bihler." the bearers of this memorial indulged the expectation of receiving immediately from beethoven an assurance of his compliance with the requests contained in it; but in this they were egregiously mistaken, for he declined reading it till he should be alone. i had been prevented from being present when it was delivered to him, and arrived only just as he had finished its perusal. he communicated to me the contents, and, after running them over once more, handed the paper quietly to me; then turning towards the window, he remained some time looking up at the sky. i could not help observing that he was much affected, and, after i had read it, i laid it down without speaking, in the hope that he would first begin the conversation. after a long pause, whilst his eyes never ceased following the clouds, he turned round, and said, in a solemn tone which betrayed his internal emotion--"it is really gratifying!--i am much pleased." i nodded assent, and wrote in the conversation-book that he must now be convinced that he would meet with sufficient support, if he would resolve to have the two new pieces brought out soon at a concert. to this course he had always declared himself decidedly adverse, professing his conviction that, from the alteration which had taken place in musical taste, and in the intoxicated state of the public mind, no sensibility remained for what was truly great.[ ] beethoven read what i had just written, and then said, "let us get into the open air." when we were out, he appeared, contrary to his custom, rather disposed to taciturnity, but i remarked the glimmering of a latent wish to comply with the well-meant requests of his admirers. after a good deal of discussion with one and another, it was at last decided that the works should be brought before the public--but where? this was a question hard to answer, so that several weeks elapsed before it could be settled, and i will venture to say that the good people of bonn were not so much perplexed to decide on the place best adapted for beethoven's monument, and that many an entangled political problem was solved in less time at the congress of vienna. since beethoven had intrusted to me alone the arrangement of the concert to be given, i might, in speaking of the difficulties i had to overcome, take occasion to mention at length the numerous obstacles and intrigues, the many basely avaricious demands, and the innumerable tricks and machinations, of which i became aware, but that it would lead me too far from my subject. i will therefore only observe, that, after a long debate, the place chosen was the hof-theater at the kärnthner thor, but this did not advance the matter much. a new struggle was now to be commenced with the manager, m. duport, who was no less zealous than the rest for the interests of his theatre, and wished to make a profit of beethoven's undertaking. when two flints had come into collision, what results could be expected?--especially as neither one nor the other remained steady to his first terms, but changed every day like a weathercock. at length, in order to be at least certain of what were the wishes of one of the contracting parties, we were obliged to have recourse to the following stratagem: i begged count lichnowsky and m. schuppanzigh to call on beethoven at the same hour, as if by accident, and to sound him with regard to his intentions. on this occasion we were to endeavour to lead him to speak categorically on the several points in discussion, and one of us was immediately to write down whatever he should say, and then, half in jest, half in earnest, call on him to sign it. the plan succeeded to admiration, but what was the consequence? from the whole procedure, beethoven at length became aware of our design, and, suspecting as usual falsehood and treachery at the bottom, despatched to us the following sultan-like _hatti-sherif_:-- "_to the count moritz von lichnowsky._ "i despise artifices. let me have no more of your visits. the _academy_ (the concert) will not take place. "beethoven." "_to m. schuppanzigh._ "let me see you no more. i shall give no academy. "beethoven." "_to m. schindler._ "do not come near me again till i send for you. no academy. "beethoven." fortunately beethoven did not send us the silken cord along with these missives, so we all three remained in the land of the living. we suffered his anger to evaporate, and in the mean time assisted each other to do the best that we could for him. towards the end of april, beethoven one day wrote to me in an angry mood:--"after these six weeks' squabbling about this and that, i feel absolutely boiled, stewed, and roasted. what is to be done at last about this much-talked-of concert? unless the prices are raised, what will remain for me after so many expenses, since the copying alone has cost so much?" it will appear from this, that the principal point in discussion was concerning the raising the prices of admission. if beethoven wished to get back the money that he had already expended, he must after all, nolens volens, submit to the demand of the manager, which was, that the concert should take place in the theatre, on a subscription-night, at the ordinary prices; and that, for the use of it, as well as of the chorus and orchestra, the administration should receive the sum of one thousand florins, vienna currency. there was no help for it. it was now--"beethoven, submit to your fate." the concert took place on the th of may, . the house was filled to overflowing. the gross receipts were florins; of which, subtracting for the theatre and for the copying, there remained for beethoven florins. every box was crammed, with the single exception of the emperor's, which remained empty, although beethoven had gone in person, in my company, to make the invitations to all the members of the imperial family then in vienna, and some of the illustrious personages had promised to attend. when the time came, however, the emperor and empress were on a journey, and the archduke rudolph was in olmütz; so that our great master was obliged to shift without the countenance of the imperial court. these were the immediate results of the concert. the details of the further consequences to beethoven i may be permitted to pass over for the present, as i shall have much worse to notice in the sequel; but i cannot forbear mentioning some facts connected with the rehearsal of the vocal parts of the two works above alluded to. it will perhaps be remembered that, in speaking of the performance of _fidelio_, in the second period, i observed that beethoven was in the habit of paying little attention to the possibility of the execution of what he wrote for the vocal parts. innumerable proofs of this assertion may be found again in the second mass and in the ninth symphony, which, during the rehearsals of the chorus and solo parts, led to many unpleasant discussions. with due deference for the master, it was not possible to avoid telling him that this and that passage could not be sung. the two ladies, mademoiselle sontag and mademoiselle ungher, who undertook the soprano and alto solos, came several times to practise them at beethoven's house, and made the remark to him beforehand.[ ] [illustration: musical notation] [illustration: *** the passages marked with a *, and inserted in small notes, indicate the high notes alluded to.--ed.] [illustration: musical notation] [illustration: musical notation] [illustration: musical notation] *** this is the very part i did alter, as shown in the above illustration; for if, as the sequel shows, a sontag had perseverance and means sufficient to work it out, the same could not be expected from every singer, and least of all from the chorus, which repeats the same passage after the solo performers.--ed.] mlle. ungher did not hesitate to call him the tyrant of singers, but he only answered, smiling, that it was because they were both so spoiled by the modern italian style of singing that they found the two new works difficult.[ ] "but this high passage here," said sontag, pointing to the vocal quartett in the symphony, küsse gab sie uns und reben-- "would it not be possible to alter that?"--"and this passage, m. van beethoven," continued mademoiselle ungher, "is also too high for most voices. could we not alter that?"--"no! no! no!" was the answer,[ ]--"well then, for heaven's sake (_in gottes namen_), let us work away at it again," said the patient sontag. as for the poor soprani, in the chorus parts of the mass, every day did they complain to beethoven that it was out of their power to reach and sustain the high notes so long as he prescribed. in some places the tyrant remained inexorable, though it would have been easy for him, by a transposition of some of the intervals, to render those passages easier for the voices, without altering anything essential. umlauf, the most strictly classical conductor i have ever known, to whom beethoven had committed the management of the whole, also made some modest remarks on this difficulty, but equally in vain. the consequence of this obstinacy was, that every chorus-singer, male and female, got over the stumbling-block as well as he or she could, and, when the notes were too high, left them out altogether.[ ] the master, however, standing in the midst of this confluence of music, heard nothing of all this, was not even sensible of the tumultuous applause of the auditory at the close of the symphony, but was standing with his back to the proscenium, until mademoiselle ungher, by turning round and making signs, roused his attention, that he might at least _see_ what was going on in the front of the house. this acted, however, like an electric shock on the thousands present, who were struck with a sudden consciousness of his misfortune; and, as the flood-gates of pleasure, compassion, and sympathy were opened, there followed a volcanic explosion of applause, which seemed as if it would never end.[ ] this success, such as had never been witnessed in those venerable halls of art, induced the speculative manager of the theatre to propose a repetition of the new works, (with the exception of four numbers of the mass,) securing, before-hand, to beethoven florins vienna currency ( francs). the manager offered to take on himself all expenses, but claimed all the surplus receipts. discouraged by the small profit of the first concert, ( florins, paper currency,) beethoven, for a long time, would not agree to this, but was at length necessitated to comply. in the latter part of the month of may, accordingly, the repetition took place in the imperial assembly-rooms (_redouten-saal_); the four movements of the mass, however, _kyrie_, _credo_, _agnus dei_, and _dona nobis pacem_, which were the only parts of the mass performed at the first concert, were destined to be omitted, though beethoven protested strongly against it. in place of them the italian roulade-monger, signor david, sung the favourite cavatina "_di tanti palpiti_," in spite of the outcry of all the purists; and sontag gave innumerable fioriture of mercadante's. of beethoven's music, besides the ninth symphony, the terzetto _tremate, empi tremate_, by italian singers, and the grand overture in c major, with the double fugue, were also performed. the pecuniary result of these manifold exertions was, that the manager had the pleasure of paying florins towards the expenses, as _the house was not half full_, and that beethoven, deeply vexed at this unexpected result, declined at first to accept the florins guaranteed to him, and was with much difficulty at last prevailed upon to take the money. the most complete ill humour took possession of him, so that he was no longer accessible to any one, and it was increased by the gossiping tittle-tattle of certain persons, who put it into his head that he had been cheated at the first concert, and thus excited his suspicions, especially against me. at a dinner, which he gave a few days afterwards to the two directors of his concert, messrs. umlauf and schuppanzigh, and to me, in the prater, he could no longer restrain his anger, but declared that he had been informed that i, in conjunction with the manager, m. duport, had defrauded him. it was in vain that our two companions endeavoured to convince him that, as every piece of money had passed through the hands of the two cashiers of the theatre, and their accounts of the receipts exactly corresponded, a fraud on either side was out of the question: he refused to retract his charge, and i consequently withdrew immediately, in company with m. umlauf, and did not see beethoven again till the month of november, when he called upon me at the theatre in the josephstadt, where i was acting as music-director, and begged that what had passed might be forgotten. this occurrence may serve to show what it was to be beethoven's _friend_, and to keep on good terms with him only a single year. how much friendship, how many sacrifices, what an entire self-denial, did it not require to submit to be daily exposed to the most malicious calumnies, and even to the most dishonourable accusations! the friend of his youth, hofrath von breuning, was alienated from him by a similar reflection on his honour, and beethoven was only brought back to him by certain melancholy events of the year , when he stood in need of his assistance. an accusation of this kind occasioned a coolness of twelve years' standing between him and his old friend dr. malfatti; and it was not till beethoven was on his deathbed that i brought about a reconciliation. credulous, inexperienced, and distrustful as he was, it was easy for any worthless person to slander and set him against his most tried friend. it was not always that these calumnies originated with his brothers, but other odious creatures were continually poisoning his mind, as there are examples enough to prove in his conversation-books. in his last illness he circumstantially related to me and m. von breuning many of the intrigues and machinations of some of those persons, whose motives were always envy and covetousness. he also confessed that he had several times been induced to write letters, declaring his conviction of the deceit and treachery of this or that friend, without any better ground than those false accusations. the manner in which he made his peace, however, was so frank and open-hearted, that one could not help passing over every vexation and insult that might have been received from him. with his servants he was accustomed to make up these affronts by presents of money, and it was said that his faithful old housekeeper, who bore his humours for many years, was able to help him in time of need with what she had saved out of these presents, or rather fines, which beethoven imposed on himself. that there really were such moments i can myself bear witness, and a note which i received from him in the spring of the year attests the same thing:--"frau schnapps (a nickname he had given to his housekeeper) will advance what is wanted for housekeeping; so come and dine with me at two o'clock. i have some good news to tell, but let this be between ourselves, that the _brain-eater_[ ] may know nothing about it.--beethoven." in the spring of the year , beethoven was again invited to visit england, and he appeared more than usually resolved on undertaking this journey in the following autumn. i was to accompany him, and we were to travel through the rhenish provinces, that he might see his native country once more, where, alas! not a creature, with the exception of dr. wegeler in coblentz, ries's father, and the music-publisher simrock in bonn, ever bestowed a thought upon him. how rare was his correspondence, even with these old friends, appears from the notices of beethoven, published by the first-mentioned of them. autumn approached, but beethoven made no preparations for the journey. in a letter dated the th of december of the same year, the invitation was most pressingly repeated on the part of the philharmonic society by mr. neate,[ ] music professor of london, who had formerly passed some time in vienna. the terms offered were as follow:-- "the philharmonic society proposes to pay you guineas for your visit, and expects, on your part, that you will superintend the performance of your own works, of which at least one will be given at every concert. it also expects that you will, in the course of your stay in england, write a new symphony and a concerto, to be performed here, but to remain your own property." for a concert, which it was further proposed that he should himself give in london, the sum of _l._ sterling was to be guaranteed to him; so that nothing could be handsomer than these offers, as beethoven himself acknowledged. but his nephew!... certain rumours with respect to this young man had now become generally current, and the consequence was, that the journey was given up, and the hopes of the londoners, to see among them their long-established favourite, beethoven, were all frustrated. and now for the following fact, which i hope may be considered in all its bearings, and duly estimated by all admirers of the great deceased, since it deserves, far more than any of those already related, the attention of the whole musical world. in the beginning of the year , beethoven received from a russian prince his first extremely flattering letter, with a request that he would write one or two instrumental quartetts, and dedicate them to the writer. the terms proposed were highly agreeable, the condition being added, that the prince should possess both of the works to be composed for a full year as his sole property, and that, after the lapse of that time only, the master should have a right to publish them. (this condition, which served to increase the loss that he eventually sustained, was not at first agreed to by beethoven, but afterwards punctually fulfilled.) this was soon followed by a second letter to the same purport, and just as some serpents are said by their glance to fascinate their destined prey, did beethoven, by whom adulation was in general totally disregarded, appear intoxicated by the flatteries of the russian prince. he abandoned the composition of the oratorio by c. bernard, which was already begun, and set about a quartett for prince nicholas von galitzin, but before it was ready the prince applied for a second, and soon after for a third, and found means to gain over beethoven so entirely, that he seemed to think no more of the oratorio, of the tenth symphony, or even of a work which he had already planned, and which was to be the grand effort of his life, the conclusion of his artistical exertions--namely--the setting göthe's faust to music.[ ] the musical world has to thank this man only that all these works, as well as a grand requiem, which the composer had also projected, remained unwritten, and for this he can never make amends. but let us proceed. the sum agreed on for the quartetts, to be written for this princely mæcenas, was ducats. beethoven, however, received from st. petersburg nothing but letters filled with questions concerning doubtful or difficult passages in these quartetts, to which the fullest and most circumstantial replies were immediately dispatched, and it would be highly desirable, for the intelligibility of the pieces in question, that these answers should be published;[ ] but never did he receive a single ruble. it was not till the month of december, in the year , when a long illness had occasioned him considerable pecuniary embarrassment, that he applied to the prince for the stipulated sum, representing his distressed situation; but received no answer. beethoven wrote again, and at the same time begged the austrian ambassador and the banking-house of stieglitz at st. petersburg, in private letters, to make application to the prince. at length an answer arrived from the latter, that prince nicholas von galitzin had gone to persia to join the army, without leaving them any instructions to remit money to beethoven. in this painful situation beethoven recollected the offer made to him by the london philharmonic society, and wrote on the subject to moscheles and sir george smart. i shall return again to this matter, and in the mean time i must be allowed to close this extraordinary case by observing, that if prince nicholas von galitzin is still living, he can only hope to appease the manes of beethoven by paying over this just debt of ducats, either to some charitable institution, or to the bonn committee for the erection of a monument to his memory. immediately after the above-mentioned two memorable concerts, beethoven moved into a pleasant house at penzing, near schönbrunn, to which he had taken a fancy, connected with which is a characteristic anecdote. the house is situated near the river wien, over which there is a bridge for foot passengers, and, as the master had become an object of great public curiosity, it was not uncommon for this bridge to be occupied by a crowd of persons, who had posted themselves there, to wait for an opportunity of seeing him. this annoyed him so much that he left the house in three weeks and went to baden. a similar case had occurred a year before at hetzendorf, where he left a lodging which he had taken for the summer, and for which he had paid in advance florins, because he took offence at the excessive politeness of his landlord. in the autumn of the year beethoven returned from baden, and for the first time for many years took a house in town, that his nephew, who had now left school, might be near the university. during this winter ( - ) the master had a severe fit of illness, originating in an intestinal disorder: indeed, he had been on bad terms with his stomach during his whole life. the eminent physician, dr. staudenheim, had hitherto been his medical attendant, and often had to remonstrate seriously with his patient, though it must be confessed without much effect. now, however, he chose to appoint dr. braunhofer, professor at the university, to attend him. the winter was passed in a state of constant suffering, and it was not till the spring that he began to recover a little, and moved again to baden, his favourite summer residence. his mental activity during this whole year extended no further than to the composition of the last quartett; for the russian mæcenas was continually writing flattering letters to urge him to its completion. the first work undertaken after the illness of the year was the quartett, no. , with the remarkable adagio--"_canzone di ringraziamento in modo lidico, offerta alla divinità da un guarito_." in the year beethoven closed with an offer made to him by the brothers schott, in mainz, for the purchase of his second mass and of the ninth symphony, after proposals had been made to him by houses in berlin, vienna, and leipzig, which, however, did not suit him. pursuant to this agreement, beethoven received florins. for the mass in d major, op. for the ninth symphony, op. at the same time the house at mainz agreed for the following works of beethoven's:-- quatuor, op. , for ducats. quatuor, op. , for " overture in c major, op. } _opferlied_, op. } _bundeslied_, op. } ariette to chloe, op. } bagatelles for the } pianoforte op. } for these five works beethoven received the sum of ducats. this not inconsiderable sum might have enabled him to replace the amount abstracted from his little fund, and to avert many future difficulties, had he not determined to consider it as a capital, to be laid out in the purchase of public securities, as a provision for his nephew, and not as his own property. how far he was in the right we shall see in the sequel. in the autumn of beethoven moved to his last lodging, in what is called the schwarzpanier house, situated on the glacis of the suburb of währing. it suited him well, had plenty of sunshine, and commanded an extensive and, at the same time, agreeable prospect over the city and several suburbs. in this abode he passed the eventful year , in which his harassed mind was destined to the hardest and bitterest trial which could be imposed upon a man, to whom virtue and honour were the dearest of all things. his adopted nephew, endowed, as i have already remarked, with uncommon mental abilities, had, to the great joy of his uncle, who brought him up like the child of a nobleman, already made considerable progress in his education, and beethoven took no little pride in his success. at the age of seventeen, the youth returned to the house of this his second father, and, attending only the course of philosophy at the university, was released from all the restraints to which he was necessarily subject while at school; for his uncle, trusting entirely to his understanding and steadiness, granted his nephew all the freedom he desired, which, indeed, under the circumstances, he could hardly avoid. it would lead us too far to enter into any detail of the observations made by his first teachers on a certain turn of mind in the boy, which might probably lead him away from the right path; it was hoped that this had been corrected in his subsequent education. this youth, possessing talents worthy of his renowned name, was no sooner in the full enjoyment of his liberty, than he fell into an evil course of life--neglected his studies--abused the affection and indulgence of his uncle--and was, at last, expelled from the university, where even the respect universally felt for the name he bore could no longer screen him. it would be needless to dwell on the sufferings of the great master, before and during this event, which was not unexpected. whoever saw him in this time of trouble could not fail to perceive plainly on his features the traces of the mortification caused by this dishonour to his name. the measure of his sufferings was, however, far from full; and they were increased by the circumstance that there were people found who threw the blame of all that had happened on the uncle; and we will not therefore shrink from inquiring, in the course of this narrative, whether some part of the fault may not indeed be attributable to beethoven. in accordance with the wish of this young man, he was now allowed to continue his studies at the polytechnic institution, and to devote himself to mercantile pursuits--a permission which beethoven was the more willing to grant, since he knew his nephew would, in that institution, be under the superintendence of the vice-director, m. reisser, who was his joint-guardian with himself. all attempts to bring him again into an honourable course were vain; on the contrary, beethoven received innumerable proofs that he had not only lost all affection, but even all respect for him, and rejected with equal obstinacy advice and entreaty. it may now be time to inquire how far the master may be considered blameable for the conduct of this youth, and by what means the latter forfeited his affection and his respect. when a man undertakes the education of a gifted child, possessed by such an excess of love as beethoven bore to his nephew, this alone may prove the source of innumerable evils, and become a kind of pandora's box. beethoven, in the first instance, committed the mistake of granting unbounded confidence to his nephew when a boy ten or twelve years of age, though he had often been convicted of falsehood and other serious juvenile faults; and afterwards expecting from a lad of sixteen the steadiness of a man, and emancipating him in the fullest sense of the term. of these mistakes he now became conscious--but alas! too late! beethoven was still more to blame because he could not, even in the presence of his nephew, refrain from expressing his detestation of the boy's mother, to which he gave utterance sometimes in the most violent manner; forbidding him all intercourse with her, utterly regardless of the voice of nature, which, sooner or later, may awaken and become its own avenger. no sooner was the young man released from the restraints of his childhood than he sought out this in every sense unfortunate mother; and continued to visit her, although he knew that this had been most strictly forbidden by beethoven: and hence arose many painful contests between uncle and nephew. in these proceedings, though beethoven may have been over-severe towards the mother, he was led to adopt this course by the most cogent reasons founded on antecedent events. there are now lying before me twenty-nine letters, addressed by beethoven to his nephew in the summer of the year , dated baden, and which, with other papers, came again into his possession after his nephew's catastrophe in august, . they were confided to me and hofrath von breuning, at that moment, towards the end of his earthly career, to which i have adverted in the introduction to this work, in order that from their contents a judgment might be formed of the line of conduct pursued by the uncle towards his nephew, and that he might stand before the world acquitted of charges brought against him. i now proceed to fulfil the melancholy duty of making some faithful extracts from them. i. "i rejoice, my dear son, that you are pleased with your adopted sphere of life, and diligent in acquiring what is necessary for it. your handwriting i should not have known again. i myself indeed care only about the sense and signification, but you must now endeavour to attain also external elegance. "if it is too hard a task for you to come hither, never mind. should it, however, be any way possible, i shall be glad to have in my exile some feeling heart about me. i embrace you most cordially. "your affectionate father, "beethoven." ii. "_may , ._ "it cannot but be becoming in a youth, now nearly nineteen, to unite with his cares for his education and future prosperity the duty which he owes to his benefactor, to whom he is indebted for his maintenance. have i not fulfilled mine towards my poor parents, and rejoiced when i was able to assist them? how different has been your conduct towards me! thoughtless boy, farewell. "beethoven." iii. "_may , ._ "i have been assured, although hitherto it has been only matter of conjecture, that you have again been carrying on a clandestine intercourse with your mother. am i again to experience this hateful ingratitude? shall the tie between us be severed?--so be it then. you will be detested by every impartial person who shall hear of your ingratitude. the expressions used by my brother, and your own of yesterday, with respect to dr. s----r, must of course be painful to me, since the very reverse of what he requires has been decided by the tribunal.[ ] am i continually to be forced to entangle myself in these abominations? never again! is the agreement become burdensome to you? be it so, in god's name! i have done my part, and leave you to providence. i do not fear to answer for my conduct before the judgment-seat of the almighty. "beethoven." iv. "_baden, may , ._ "enough of this! spoiled as you have been, it would do you no injury to pay some attention at last to simplicity and truth. i have suffered too much from your artifices, and it will be a hard matter for me to forget them. even if i would always submit, without murmuring, like an ox to the yoke, if you should behave thus towards others, you will never gain the good-will of any human creature. god knows all i wish is to be freed from you, from this base brother, and from these my worthless relations. may god hear my prayer! for i can never trust you more. "your father--alas! "yet, fortunately not your father." v. (in answer to an account of money received.) "_june , ._ " ... let us not look further back. it would be easy to do so, but it would only be painful for me; at last it would only be--'you are a very good guardian, &c.... were you but a little steadier, you would have always acted differently.' "beethoven." vi. "_july , ._ "dear son, "only be moderate. fortune has crowned my endeavours, but let no mistaken views lead you into embarrassment. be candid and exact in the account of your expenses. let the theatre rest for the present. be ruled by your father, and guided by him whose every wish has been invariably directed towards your moral welfare as well as your worldly prosperity! be indeed my son. what an unheard-of discord would it be, if you were indeed false to me, as some people still maintain! "beethoven." vii. "i am growing thinner and thinner, and am indeed very poorly, without having any doctor, or any one to feel for me. if it be possible, come to me. but i do not wish to be any hindrance to you. i wish i were only sure that the sunday would be properly spent without me. i must learn to give up all. would that these great sacrifices might only bring forth good fruits! "where am i not injured and wounded? have no secret dealings with my brother. once for all, have no secrets from me--from your affectionate father. if i am angry, ascribe it to my anxiety on your account, for you are exposed to much peril. think of my sufferings and give me no uneasiness. i ought by rights to have no fears of this kind,----but what have i not experienced! "beethoven." viii. "'come soon, come soon, come soon.' be it so. the day before yesterday came my signor fratello[ ] and his brother-in-law. what a wretched creature! if cato, speaking of cæsar, exclaimed 'this man and we'--what shall we say of such a one as this? "now, as ever, thine anxious and "affectionate father, "beethoven." ix. _september, ._ "i do not wish that you should come to me on the th inst. it is better that you should finish your studies. god has never yet forsaken me, and some one will be found to close my eyes. there seems to me indeed to be something pre-ordained in all that has taken place, in which my brother (pseudo) plays a part. i know that you have no wish to come to me even afterwards, and it is natural that it should be so. such a sphere as mine is too pure for you.... you need not come on sundays, either, for, after such behaviour, true harmony and concord can never subsist; and what is the use of hypocrisy? be, in reality, a better man; but use no deceit, no lies; it will be all the better for your moral character in the end. you see your conduct is reflected in the mirror of my mind. the kindest remonstrances would be of no avail. you will, in either case, be incensed. for the rest, be under no apprehension. i will continue my cares for you as usual. what troubles do you not occasion me! farewell. he who has not indeed bestowed on you your life, but the support of that life, and what is more than all else, the cultivation of your mind, as a father--nay more than that--most fervently implores you to keep in the only true path to all that is right and good. "your faithful affectionate father, "beethoven." x. "my dear son,--no more of this--come to my arms, you shall not hear one harsh word. for god's sake, do not ruin yourself: you shall be received as kindly as ever. as to what is to be thought of, and done for the future, we will talk it over in a friendly manner together. upon my word of honour, you shall hear no reproaches, which, indeed can now do no good. you have nothing to expect from me but the most anxious and affectionate care for your welfare. only come, come to the heart of your father, "beethoven." xi. _october , ._ "i have just received your letter. i was excessively anxious, and had made up my mind to go to-day to vienna. thank god, it is not necessary. only be obedient to me, and affection, peace of mind, and worldly prosperity, will be our united lot. you will enjoy an inward and spiritual, as well as a material, existence. but let the former be preferred to the latter. "a thousand times i embrace and kiss you, not my lost, but my new-born son. for you, my restored child, will your affectionate father ever care. "beethoven." xii. "_october , ._ "i inform you in haste, that i will certainly come to-morrow morning, even if it should rain, therefore let me be sure of finding you. i shall rejoice to see you once more, and should some dark clouds appear, do not ascribe them to intentional resentment. they will be entirely dispersed by the improved behaviour you have promised, by happiness, based upon sincerity and active industry. who would not rejoice to see the wanderer return again to the right path? this happiness i hope to experience. "beethoven." * * * * * these fragments will be sufficient to exhibit beethoven's situation, his state of mind, and his sufferings, as described by himself; not less plainly do they serve to show his relation to various members of his family. above all, however, we perceive in these letters the noble high-minded man; and such was beethoven, not only in moments of excitement, but throughout his whole life. could i add, in reference to the last extract, that beethoven long enjoyed the felicity of seeing his ill-advised nephew, then nineteen years old, walking in the paths of virtue and honour, i should breathe more freely after the painful emotions excited by thus recalling the past, and awakening the remembrance of what i have gone through in witnessing the patience, with which, for years, the great artist bore his cross, the weight of which sometimes bowed him to the ground. alas! all this was only the prelude to that catastrophe which was destined to give the death-blow to our illustrious master! notwithstanding all care, attention, and kindness on the part of beethoven[ ] and the joint guardian of this unhappy young man, the vice-director of the polytechnic institution, he again entered the slippery path which he had been prevailed on to quit, and when, in august , he was urged to work up many examinations at the institution, which were in arrear, he made an attempt on his life. this attempt failed, but it placed him as a suicide, according to the laws of his country, in the hands of justice, for it is presumed that nothing but a want of religion can possibly lead to so violent a step; malefactors of this kind are consequently placed under the care of the civil authorities, with a view of promoting the amendment of their religious principles. thus it was with the nephew of beethoven, and when the time came, when he was to be again given over to the care of his guardian, it was done with a positive injunction on the part of the authorities, to keep him only one day in his house, since he was not permitted to remain longer in vienna. this took place towards the end of the month of october, and now it was hard to know what was to be done. johann van beethoven offered his brother his country-house as a temporary residence for his nephew, until hofrath von breuning should succeed in procuring for the young man a commission as cadet in some regiment, since he had now an inclination to a military life. after a great deal of trouble, m. von breuning succeeded in interesting lieutenant field-marshal stutterheim for the deeply afflicted beethoven, and he consented to take the nephew into his regiment. out of gratitude, beethoven dedicated to this officer his grand quartett in c sharp minor. the severity of the season, and the incredibly thoughtless conduct of which the nephew and the other relations of beethoven were guilty towards him obliged him to return to vienna. this journey, which, in so advanced a period of the year, could not be performed in one day, was made in an open carriage, because, as beethoven himself assured me, his brother had refused to trust him with his close one. it was necessary to give a brief relation of these occurrences, for only thus could beethoven find the defence and the justification which he thought necessary, and which he will meet with from every sympathetic mind. in fact, in the many discussions concerning him, mention was often made of this circumstance, without any knowledge of the real state of the case, and often with conjectures which, by degrees, might at length assume the shape of a regular accusation against him. on the nd of december, , beethoven, with his nephew, returned sick to vienna; but it was not till several days afterwards that i heard of his situation, or even of his arrival. i hastened to him, and, among other details, which shocked me much, learned that he had often in vain entreated his two former physicians, drs. braunhofer and staudenheim, to undertake his case; the first declining to do so, because the distance was too great for him to come; and the second, indeed, promising to come, but not keeping his word. a physician was sent to his house, he did not know how, or by whom, and who, consequently, knew nothing of him or his constitution. when, however, this physician (the excellent dr. wawruch, clinical professor) visited beethoven's sick-bed, i heard from his own mouth how it happened, and it affords an additional proof that this man, belonging to the world and to posterity, was abandoned by his nearest relations, who had so much cause to be grateful to him: not merely abandoned, indeed, but betrayed and sold. professor wawruch related to me that he had been sent to beethoven by the marker at a billiard-table at a coffee-house, who being, on account of illness, brought to the hospital, had mentioned that some days before the nephew of beethoven had come to the coffee-house, where he played at billiards, and commissioned him, the marker, to find a physician for his sick uncle; but, being extremely unwell at the time, he had not been able to do so, and therefore begged the professor to visit beethoven, which, entertaining the highest respect for the artist, he had immediately done, and had on his arrival still found him without medical attendance. it was necessary then for the marker at a billiard-table to fall sick and be taken to the hospital, before the great beethoven could obtain help in time of need!! who would not find his feelings revolted by this disgraceful fact? after this no farther explanation can be necessary to show what were beethoven's sufferings in his deplorable condition, or what was the ultimate cause of his early death. before the end of december, the nephew set off to join his regiment, and from that moment it seemed as if the uncle had been delivered from his evil genius. he became more cheerful and resigned to his fate, hoping and expecting a speedy recovery from his illness to result from the care of his physician. his former love for his nephew seemed now transformed into bitter hatred; but before the hour arrived which was to sunder every earthly tie, his first feelings returned, and he appointed this nephew his sole heir.[ ] the malady which brought him back to vienna, on the occasion just mentioned, was an inflammation of the lungs, soon followed by symptoms of dropsy. these at first professor wawruch refused to recognise, but they increased so rapidly that it was no longer possible to doubt the nature of the disease. on the th of december an operation was found to be necessary; another followed on the th of january; a third on the th of the same month; and the fourth on the th of february.[ ] towards the end of january beethoven's former friend, the celebrated dr. malfatti, was induced, after much supplication and entreaty, to prescribe for him; and, from this time, by the advice of both his medical attendants, he took daily, as the only specific, considerable quantities of iced punch, by which the vital powers, prostrated by the frequent operations, were restored to such a degree, that he considered himself as perfectly convalescent, threw away angrily the volume of walter scott, with which he had been trying to pass away the time, and exclaiming,--"the man writes only for money!" set to work again at a sonata for two performers, which he had been writing for diabelli, although the physicians had positively prohibited every mental exertion. after the fourth operation, however, even iced punch could no longer act as a restorative, although no limits were prescribed to its use. from this time he declined rapidly. during this period of suffering, beethoven would have no one about him but von breuning and myself; and when we were both unavoidably kept from him by our avocations, as indeed generally happened for several hours every day, the favourite companion and best nurse of the sick artist was von breuning's son, a lively and clever boy, eleven years old, who, by his freedom from care, and ignorance of the danger in which we knew our friend to be, was frequently better able to raise his spirits than we were. little gerhard was often warmly thanked by beethoven for his assistance in this way. it is now time to give a detailed account of beethoven's letters to london, in which he made an application to the philharmonic society, as these letters have been much talked of, and often taken amiss. it may, perhaps, be recollected under what circumstances beethoven was compelled, in the year , to encroach on his little savings, as well as that the extremely slender profit accruing from the two concerts in had disappointed his hopes of being able to make up the deficiency thus occasioned. how and why the projected journey to london in the same year, which afforded such cheering pecuniary prospects, was given up, and how he had foolishly appropriated to his unworthy heir the sum received for his last works, without thinking of himself, i have also related. to these causes of embarrassment we may add the base conduct of the russian prince nicholas von galitzin, at the time when beethoven was scarcely able to rise from his bed, and had to contend with heavy expenses, while he was assured by his physicians that his illness was likely to be of long duration, and that he must not think of working for a long time to come. in addition to all this came the increased expenditure for his nephew, for whose maintenance, as his adopted father, he was, even by the laws of his country, compelled to provide. thus, sick and harassed, beethoven found himself obliged either to make use of the only property he possessed, consisting of a few bank shares, or to apply to his brother for assistance. this brother one day, in the presence of m. von breuning and myself, declined letting beethoven have any of his hay, when two physicians had prescribed for him a hay vapour-bath; alleging as an excuse that _his_ hay was not good enough. yet this "unbrotherly brother," as beethoven called him, rich as he was, wished to share in the little that the composer possessed.[ ] to be obliged to ask assistance from him was of itself like a death-blow to beethoven. forgotten by the viennese, whom his decease first aroused from the delirium of the rossini-fever, and pressed by these difficulties, the master remembered an offer made to him some years before by the philharmonic society, and after much hesitation determined to apply, as a first step, by letter to moscheles, although quite against my advice and that of m. von breuning, as we foresaw the wrong construction that would be put on this letter. on the nd of february, , beethoven wrote on this subject, at the same time to moscheles and to sir george smart. "my dear moscheles,--i am sure you will not take it amiss, if i trouble you, as well as sir g. smart, to whom i enclose a letter, with a request. the affair is briefly as follows:--some years ago the philharmonic society in london made a handsome offer to give me a benefit concert. at that time i was not, thank god, in a situation to make it necessary to avail myself of this generous proposal. but affairs are much altered with me at present, when i have been confined three months by a tedious illness--the dropsy. schindler will tell you more about it in a letter accompanying this. you have long known my way of life--you know how and by what i live. writing is at present out of the question, and i might unfortunately become so situated as to be reduced to want. you have not only extensive connexions in london, but also considerable influence with the philharmonic society. i beg that you will do what you can to induce them again to consider their intention, and put it soon into execution. my enclosed letter to sir george smart is to the same purport, as well as one to mr. stumpff,[ ] which is already despatched. i entreat you to forward this to sir george, and to unite with him and my other friends in london to effect this object. even dictating becomes painful to me, so much exhausted do i feel. make my compliments to your amiable wife, and be assured i shall always remain "your friend, "beethoven." "pray answer me soon, in order that i may know if i have anything to hope." on the th of march, beethoven again wrote on this subject to moscheles, earnestly begging his attention to it. from this second letter i make only the following extract:-- "on the th of february the operation was performed for the fourth time, and there are evident signs that i must soon submit to it again. what is to be the end of it, and what will become of me if it lasts much longer? mine is indeed a hard fate, but i resign myself to it, only praying that god in his providence may so ordain that, whilst i endure this death in life, i may be protected from want. i should then have strength enough, let my lot be ever so severe, to submit with resignation to the will of the most high. hummel is here, and has called several times upon me." as early as the st of march, moscheles and mr. stumpff had written to inform him of the sensation excited among his numerous admirers in london by his first letter; and the former afterwards wrote to the following effect:-- "the society resolved to express their good-will and lively sympathy by requesting your acceptance of £ sterling ( florins) to provide the necessary comforts and conveniences during your illness. this money will be paid to your order by mr. rau, of the house of eskeles, either in separate sums, or all at once, as you may desire." moscheles added that the philharmonic society was willing to extend their good offices still further, and that beethoven had only to write, if he needed their assistance. in reply, beethoven dictated to me, on the th of march, the following, since he was himself too weak to write:-- "i know not how in words to describe the feelings with which i have read yours of the st. i am deeply sensible of the generosity with which the philharmonic society has almost anticipated my request, and i beg you, dear moscheles, to become the organ through which i may convey my heart-felt thanks for their kind sympathy and distinguished liberality. i have found myself compelled to apply for the whole sum of florins, as i was just under the unpleasant necessity of raising money, which would have occasioned me fresh embarrassment. with regard to the concert which the society intend to arrange for my benefit, i trust they will not relinquish that noble design, and beg that they will deduct the £ which they already have sent me from the profits. should after that any surplus be left, and the society be kindly willing to bestow it upon me, i hope to have it in my power to evince my gratitude by composing for them either a new symphony, which already lies sketched on my desk, or a new overture, or anything else the society may prefer. may heaven grant me my health soon again, that i may be able to prove to the generous english how well i can appreciate their sympathy with my melancholy situation! your noble conduct can never be forgotten by me, and i beg you to return my thanks in particular to sir george smart and mr. stumpff. "with the highest esteem, yours, (signed) "beethoven." "p. s. kindest regards to your wife. i have to thank the philharmonic society and you for a new and most amiable friend in m. rau.[ ] "i beg you to transmit the subjoined metronomic list of my ninth symphony to the philharmonic society:" allegro ma non troppo = [illustration: quarter note] molto vivace = [illustration: half note] presto = [illustration: half note] adagio primo = [illustration: quarter note] andante moderato = [illustration: quarter note] finale presto = [illustration: half note] allegro ma non troppo = [illustration: quarter note] allegro assai = [illustration: half note] alla marcia = [illustration: quarter note] andante maestoso = [illustration: half note] adagio divoto = [illustration: half note] allegro energico = [illustration: half note] allegro ma non tanto = [illustration: half note] prestissimo = [illustration: half note] maestoso = [illustration: sixteenth note]" from my own letter to moscheles, dated the th of march, accompanying the above from beethoven, written with a view to prepare his friends in london for the approaching death of this great man, i shall make the following extract, since it belongs, no less than the former, to the history of his life. * * * * * "the letter addressed to you, and dated the th, was dictated word for word by himself, and is probably his last. to-day he whispered to me--'write to smart and stumpff.' should it be possible for him to sign these letters, it shall be done to-morrow.[ ] "he is conscious of his approaching end, for yesterday he said to me and breuning, '_plaudite amici, comoedia finita est._'[ ] "the last few days have been memorable ones. he sees the approach of death with the most perfect tranquillity of soul and real socratic wisdom.[ ] yesterday we were so fortunate as to finish the business of the will. three days after the receipt of your last, he was much excited, and would have his sketch of the tenth symphony brought to him, concerning the plan of which he talked to me a great deal. it was destined for the philharmonic society, and, according to the form which it assumed in his morbid imagination, it was to be a musical leviathan, compared with which his other grand symphonies would be merely trifling performances." on the th of march, beethoven begged me to attend to the dedication of his last quartett, and to choose for this mark of respect one of his worthiest friends. as i knew this compliment to be well deserved by m. johann wolfmayer, a merchant of vienna, most highly esteemed by beethoven in the latter days of his life, and that he was frequently occupied by considering in what way he could manifest his gratitude to him, i sent the name of this gentleman, after the decease of beethoven, to messrs. schott, in mainz, the publishers of the above-mentioned work, with a request that it might be dedicated to him. this fact is sufficient to prove how anxious beethoven was, even to his latest breath, to show himself grateful to his friends and benefactors; and had he been able, he would, in his last moments, have expressed himself more decidedly with respect to this dedication. on the payment of the thousand florins by m. rau, beethoven had still florins in ready money, which was sufficient for the expenses of the latter days of his life, and from the above sum, therefore, only a small part was deducted for the expenses of the funeral. the remainder of this sum should have been, according to the letter of mr. moscheles of the st of march, returned to the philharmonic society, since it was specially destined to provide for the comfort of beethoven; but they did not wish it to fall into the hands of his unworthy relatives. at the legal inventory taken after beethoven's death, however, this money fell into the hands of the authorities; but dr. bach, whom he had while living appointed his executor, assigned reasons for opposing its delivery, which, in consequence, was not insisted upon. according to the account rendered by dr. bach, the entire amount of property, including the produce of the sale of furniture, music, and seven bank shares, florins. amounted to , from this were to be deducted for the illness, funeral, and legal expenses, , so that there was a net remainder of , [ ] dr. bach accompanied this account with a remark, in which i fully concur, that the amount of the property was out of all proportion to the deserts of the great man by whom it was left, and might throw an unfavourable light upon his contemporaries, were it not susceptible of explanation from the character and opinions of the master, who thought only of his art, and left to others the consideration of the profit to be derived from it. symptoms of a speedy termination to beethoven's sufferings appeared early on the th of march, after the holy sacrament for the dying had been administered at his own desire, and received by him with true devotion. the first symptoms of approaching dissolution manifested themselves about one o'clock on the same day. a most terrible struggle between life and death now began, and continued, without intermission, till the th, when, a quarter before six in the evening, the great composer breathed his last, during a tremendous hail-storm, aged years, months, and days. i am not so fortunate as to be able to say that it was i who closed the eyes of the artist who belongs to the latest posterity; neither was it m. von breuning; for we had gone on the afternoon in question to the burial-ground belonging to the village of währing, to provide a suitable place of interment, and were prevented from returning by the violence of the storm. the person who had to render him this last service was m. anselm hüttenbrenner, from grätz, in styria, favourably known as a composer, who had hastened to vienna, that he might see beethoven once more. he fulfilled, therefore, this sacred duty in our stead, and when we entered the chamber we were told, "it is all over!" and we returned thanks to god that his sufferings were at an end. the arrangements for the funeral were made by m. von breuning and myself, in conjunction with m. tobias haslinger, who was so obliging as to superintend the music to be performed at the ceremony, which took place on the afternoon of the th. the procession was followed, from the abode of the great deceased to the parish church of the alster-suburb, where the service was performed, by at least , persons.[ ] * * * * * since it would not be uninteresting to many admirers of beethoven to learn the conformation of his skull, and the state in which the organs of hearing were found, i insert the following particulars from the report made after the dissection of the body by dr. johann wagner. "the auditory nerves were shrivelled and marrowless, the arteries running along them stretched, as if over a crow-quill, and knotty. the left auditory nerve, which was much thinner than the other, ran with three very narrow greyish streaks; the right, with a thicker white one, out of the fourth cavity of the brain, which was in this part of a much firmer consistence and more filled with blood than in the rest. the circumvolutions of the brain, which was soft and watery, appeared twice as deep as usual, and much more numerous. the skull was throughout very compact, and about half an inch thick." a few days after the funeral, m. von breuning received notice from the wife of the sexton of währing, that a considerable sum had been offered to her husband if he would bring the head of beethoven to a place specified in vienna. m. von breuning, thinking that this information might originate in a mercenary motive of the sexton's, offered him money, which he however refused, assuring m. von breuning that the intimation which he had sent was nothing but the truth. on this account, m. von breuning had the grave watched every night for some time. musical observations.[ ] intended edition of beethoven's piano-forte sonatas--causes for his relinquishing the design--project of an edition of his complete works--visionary hopes excited by it--metamorphosis of beethoven's instrumental music--importance of a right conception of the _tempo_--metronomic signs--injury done to beethoven's music by metronomising--exemplified in the moonlight sonata--metronomic directions condemned--performance of beethoven's works in paris--hints furnished by beethoven relative to the composition of his sonatas, and the proper style of their performance--his own style of playing--effects intended to be given by him to his symphonies--neglect of his works. in the year beethoven was prevailed upon, after repeated entreaties, to make arrangements for the publication of a complete edition of all his pianoforte sonatas. his determination to undertake this task was influenced by the consideration of three important and indeed necessary objects; viz. st, to indicate the poetic ideas, which form the groundwork of many of those sonatas; thereby facilitating the comprehension of the music, and determining the style of its performance; ndly, to adapt all his previously published pianoforte compositions to the extended scale of the pianoforte of six and a half octaves; and, dly, to define the nature of musical declamation. on this last topic, beethoven went beyond the generally received idea. he maintained that poetical and musical declamation were subject to the same rules. "though the poet," he used to say, "carries on his monologue, or dialogue, in a progressively marked rhythm, yet the declaimer, for the more accurate elucidation of the sense, must make cæsuras and pauses in places where the poet could not venture on any interpunctuation. to this extent, then, is this style of declaiming applicable to music, and it is only to be modified according to the number of persons co-operating in the performance of a musical composition. of this principle beethoven intended to make a practical application in the new edition of his works, according as the subjects might require, and space permit, such illustration; and it may be confidently assumed that beethoven's musical compositions would thereby have formed a new era. touching the poetic idea, it is well known that beethoven did not, in his musical writings, confine himself to the rules established by preceding composers, and that he, indeed, frequently disregarded those rules when the existing idea on which he worked demanded another sort of treatment, or rather an entirely new mode of development. this style of composition adopted by beethoven has frequently called forth the remark, that his sonatas are mere operas in disguise. ries, in his "notices," p. , observes that "beethoven, in composing, frequently imagined for himself a definite subject," which is merely saying, that beethoven imbued his mind with poetic ideas, and under the influence of their inspiration his musical compositions were created. that the great master did not execute the important task he undertook in was, it must be acknowledged, an irreparable loss to the musical art, and in particular to his own music. how much would the pastoral symphony suffer, or even the eroica, if heard without any comprehension of the ideas which the composer adopted as his themes! how gratifying both to performer and hearer is the light cast on the design of the composition, by the mere hint of the sentiments beethoven has, in his sonata op. , thus expressed:--"_les adieux_," "_l'absence_," and "_le retour_."[ ] the circumstances which caused beethoven to relinquish his design of publishing the new edition of his sonatas were-- st, the uneasy state of mind into which he was thrown by the lawsuit commenced between him and his sister-in-law; and, ndly, the impossibility of coming to a satisfactory arrangement with hofmeister, the music-dealer in leipzig, who was to publish the work. from beethoven's correspondence with a. diabelli, who was his confidential adviser on this subject, i perceive that the composer wished the publication to be brought out in parts, each part to contain two of the old sonatas, and one recently composed. for each of these new productions, taken one with another, beethoven required the remuneration of forty ducats. hofmeister, on the other hand, proposed to pay the composer at the rate of one ducat per sheet. i once asked beethoven why he had not affixed to the different movements of his sonatas an explanation of the poetic ideas they expressed, so that these ideas might at once present themselves to the mind of the intelligent hearer? his answer was, that the age in which he composed his sonatas was more poetic than the present[ ] ( ), and that at the former period such explanations would have been superfluous. "at that time" (continued he) "every one perceived that the _largo_, in the third sonata in d, op. , [illustration: musical notation] painted the feelings of a grief-stricken mind, with the varying tints in the light and shade, in the picture of melancholy in all its phases; there was then no need of a key to explain the meaning of the music. so in the two sonatas, op. , every one, at the time when they were composed, immediately recognised the conflict of two principles, or a dialogue between two persons, exactly as is intended in the treatment of the subject, &c." on another occasion, i requested him to furnish me with the keys to two sonatas, that in f minor, op. , and that in d minor, op. . his answer was, "read shakspeare's tempest." in , beethoven was more earnestly disposed than he had previously been to superintend an edition of his entire works, including the symphonies. he received proposals from publishers in all parts of the continent, accompanied by advantageous conditions. that he did not then come to an arrangement, which would have enabled him to enter upon this undertaking, was the fault of his brother johann, to whom none of the proposed terms appeared sufficiently liberal. he suggested to beethoven the idea of bringing out the publication on his own account, showing, by calculations on paper, the vast profits which would accrue from the speculation. m. andreas streicher cordially seconded the recommendation of this mode of publishing; but he differed somewhat from beethoven's brother in his estimate of the profits. the documents of a lawsuit some centuries ago would not have composed a more bulky volume than did the manuscripts, occupied with the calculations made, the consultations held, and the determinations formed, during the agitation of this publishing scheme. but the parties engaged in these discussions and decisions forgot that they had to deal with the irresolute beethoven--who, whenever business was the question, would be for one thing to-day and another to-morrow; and against whose expressed wish it was often necessary to do many things for his advantage. the mere prospect of great sums of money (though seen only on paper) captivated beethoven, and he began to indulge in dreams of bettered circumstances, of living in elegant style, and keeping his carriage and horses. he was so elated by these pleasing illusions that he began to fancy himself already rich; an idea not calculated to dispose his mind to the gigantic labour then in contemplation.[ ] never were the visits of him whom he called his "pseudo-brother" so welcome as at this time. beethoven often accompanied his brother in a carriage airing; and, on one occasion, an effort of patience enabled him to go with his brother's family on a drive to the prater. assuredly no event could seem too improbable for belief, after two such heterogeneous elements as the "gutsbesitzer" (landowner) and the "hirnbesitzer" (brainowner) had been seen riding together in the same carriage.[ ] in these visionary hopes of fortune so readily indulged by the great beethoven, it is easy to recognise the youth whose character is summarily sketched in the second period. to be rich, or at least in easy circumstances--to ride in his carriage--to be no longer obliged to stroll through fields and meadows to collect ideas and compose for the sake of earning a livelihood,--such was the flattering picture he loved to draw, and the contemplation of which often made him descend from his lofty heaven of art to cling eagerly to more earthly objects; and then sublime poetry was suddenly metamorphosed into common prose. but, thanks to the blundering management of his advisers, beethoven remained poor! made rich, by any means whatsoever, he would probably have been little disposed to make great sacrifices for art in the vigour of life; at all events, he would not have applied himself very laboriously to study, had he been in the enjoyment of any considerable share of the good things of this world. as, however, it is not always our own wisdom that prompts to great objects, and brings, as it were, light out of darkness, so the stupid perversity which dictated the arrangements for the projected new edition of beethoven's works probably conferred a benefit on musical art. to speak more plainly, in the discussions on this publishing plan, the great master did not limit his attention to the mere business part of the question, the details of which, though on every occasion fresh painted in glowing colours, often disgusted him. then would he look upon the getting-up of the work--the dull material--as mere dust in the balance; whilst to exercise his musical art--to him the spiritual part of the enterprise--wholly occupied his imagination. when this feeling happened to prevail, he would describe to all who chanced to be near him the improvements he proposed to make in reference to the subject, conception, and execution in many of his early works. some of these improvements owe their birth to a jocose observation made by dr. bach at one of the conferences held on the subject of the publication. beethoven declared that many of his works did not admit of the slightest alteration, and that, consequently, in reference to them he could not establish any right of property in a second edition. dr. bach replied, "that the right would be sufficiently established by making the composition commence with the accented instead of the unaccented part of a bar, and _vice versâ_; and further, by changing white notes into black and black into white." this remark, intended purely in jest, inspired beethoven with a thousand new ideas, and gave an impulse to his fancy, the results of which soon after supplied the master-keys of many of his greatest works.[ ] beethoven, who knew my antipathy to accounts, did not trouble me with any of those pecuniary calculations, which indeed were to himself not much more intelligible than hieroglyphics. he consulted me only on the artistical part of the all-important question--was he to grow rich, or remain poor? i often thought that he might have read in my soul the answer which told him what was best for his own interest, and that of the world of art. for my part, i never had a doubt as to the course which was most advisable for him to adopt; but i did not wish to awaken him too early from a dream which i well knew would speedily be succeeded by others. i however turned to useful account the conversations i had with beethoven on this topic, for i carefully noted down all the remarks he made on his works, in reference to subject, conception, and performance. these remarks came to me the more opportunely as i was then employed in the orchestra of the josephstadt theatre to lead several of his symphonies, each of which he previously went over with me at home, strongly impressing on my attention whatever had reference to those three essential points; thus initiating me into the soul and spirit of his orchestral compositions, as he had already introduced me to a just comprehension of nearly the whole of his pianoforte sonatas. these are instances of good fortune which few have had the happiness to enjoy. the new perceptions thus acquired were to me an intellectual property, which i have ever since regarded as the dearest and most inestimable legacy of my immortal friend and instructor. they have imparted, not only to myself, but to others, whom, for their kindred feeling for beethoven's music, i thought worthy of a participation in my good fortune--a thousand pleasurable sensations and exalted enjoyments which nothing else in the whole domain of music could have power to create; for it has already been remarked that beethoven's collected chamber-music, and especially the greater part of his pianoforte sonatas, comprise a fund of musical poetry more deep and inexhaustible than can be found even in his other works. that nature is chary in her gifts of that organization which possesses the susceptibility necessary for appreciating such elevated compositions, is not the fault of beethoven. that fact serves only to confirm the truth of the maxim, that in art the great is not for all, and all are not for the great.[ ] in the year , when i wrote the musical notices then inserted in the supplement to the _wiener theater zeitung_, i alluded in no. of those notices to beethoven's symphony in a major. in that article i casually mentioned that beethoven intended to give the keys to many of his instrumental compositions, in the manner of the pastoral symphony. the impression produced by this article was precisely such as was to be expected: it excited a mere transitory sensation, and was soon forgotten, like everything which departs from the boundaries of common routine, and approaches the region of ideality. several years have elapsed since that time: i am so much the older, and so much the less vain, and i am now the better enabled to see how frequently well-meant observations, nay positive truths, are disregarded, even when they come from high authority. of course the actual authority in this instance was beethoven alone. it has already been shown in the narrative of his life, how he was prevented from executing this as well as many other important undertakings which he had planned. if i now venture to publish some of the remarks which i noted down from his own mouth, in reference to the subject, conception, and performance of his works; or try to describe some of the vivid impressions which his instructions have left on my mind; i do so in the just expectation that the value of these communications will be first tried and afterwards judged. i do not apprehend that i can in any degree be accused of arrogant pretension in taking upon myself the performance of this task, because it is known to many persons, that, in my intimate relations with beethoven, during the most important interval of his life, i must necessarily have become possessed of many important facts: it will also be recollected that, though thirteen years have elapsed since his death, i have not been prompted by any feeling of ostentation to communicate those facts to the public. to speak candidly, i should not even now think of parting with any portion of my friend's intellectual legacy, were it not from the firm conviction that the present is the right moment for so doing; for the sensual music of the day, and the overstretched mechanical dexterity of modern pianoforte playing, bid fair to thrust the intellectual compositions of beethoven into the shade, if not to consign them entirely to oblivion.[ ] moreover, it must be borne in mind that beethoven's instrumental music has undergone a metamorphosis, occasioned in some measure by the composer himself; but chiefly by the spirit of the age, which is daringly opposed to every thing great and elevated, and even hesitates not to profane that which is most sacred. with respect to beethoven's share in the metamorphosis of his instrumental music, and particularly of his symphonies, it is necessary first to acquaint the reader that this metamorphosis relates wholly and solely to _metronomising_, or the regulation of time by means of the metronome. those who have read matheson's "vollkommener kapell-meister" are aware that that great writer on music laid down, a century ago, the following principle[ ]--"that the _tempo_ of a great musical composition depends on the manner in which it is set for orchestra and chorus; for the greater the number of singers and players, the slower should be the _tempo_, on the simple principle that masses always move slowly." if intelligibility be the most essential condition in the performance of a musical composition, it is self-evident that the direction for the _tempo_ can only be conditional; and that, consequently, an _allegro vivace_, with an orchestra of one hundred and twenty performers, must become very considerably modified from the same _allegro vivace_ originally metronomised by the composer for an orchestra of sixty. that which, in the latter case, is, as it were, a condition of the intended effect, ceases to be such in the former case, because the object may already be obtained, _à priori_, through the two-fold power being communicated. the fuller orchestra should therefore take a less rapid time than that specified for the more limited number of performers. unluckily this important principle in the conducting of an orchestra is but too seldom recognised, even by those who are regarded as authorities in orchestral direction. i have had frequent occasion to remark this neglect, occasioned by ignorance in the performance of beethoven's works; and in those cases the effect was, of course, a true offspring of the cause, and exhibited a total misconception of the real spirit of the compositions. to perform beethoven's music, without regard to meaning and clearness, is hunting to death the ideas of the immortal composer. this mode of performance naturally arises out of the manifest ignorance of the sublime spirit of those works. it is at the same time the cause of their profanation, and consequently of their having too soon fallen into disuse; for the dignity and deep expression of many of the movements are sacrificed when a moderate rhythm is converted into the rhythm of dancing-time, especially if to this accelerated time be added the clang of a superabundant number of instruments. hence may be traced the principal cause of that metamorphosis which suffices to convert a composition of lofty poetic feeling into a common prosaic piece[ ]--a transformation which the performers may literally be said to work out by the sweat of the brow. such a perverted mode of execution must render it impossible for the most attentive listener to feel the sublimity of the composer's idea.[ ] beethoven lived to see this transformation of his works. on one occasion, when he was present at a performance of his symphony in a major, by the orchestra of the great music meeting in vienna, he was very much displeased at the too rapid time taken in the second movement, the _allegretto_. however, upon reflection, he acknowledged that the conductor had duly observed the metronomic sign affixed to the movement, but that he had not attended to matheson's doctrine. in one of the musical articles which i wrote for the wiener theater zeitung, in alluding to the symphony in a major, i related the above fact in the following words:--"at a performance of this symphony, in the latter years of beethoven, the composer remarked, with displeasure, that the allegretto movement was given much too fast, by which its character was entirely destroyed. he thought to obviate for the future all misconception of the _tempo_, by marking the movement by the words _andante, quasi allegretto_, with the metronomic sign [illustration: crotchet note] = .; and i find a memorandum to this effect in his note-book, which is in my possession. beethoven complained generally of the misunderstanding of the _tempi_ at the concerts of the great vienna musical society, and especially that the task of principal conductorship on those occasions was always consigned to the hands of dilettanti, who were unused to direct and govern large masses of performers. these causes of dissatisfaction led beethoven one day to make the important declaration, that he had not composed his symphonies for such vast orchestras as that usually assembled for the vienna musical society;[ ] and that it never was his intention to write noisy music. he added, that his instrumental works required an orchestra of about sixty performers only; for he was convinced that it was by such an orchestra alone that the rapidly-changing shades of expression could be adequately given, and the character and poetic subject of each movement duly preserved.[ ] that this declaration was dictated by sincere conviction will be readily admitted when i acquaint the reader that beethoven was anxious to have his works performed in their true spirit, at the concerts spirituels, the orchestra of which contained something like the number of performers he had specified; and that he did not interest himself about their performance at the great music meeting. if double the amount of sixty performers displeased beethoven, what would he have said of three or four times that number, no unusual orchestral occurrence at our music-festivals? what would he have said had he heard his symphonies and overtures performed by an orchestra increased by _repieni_, the only one admissible at oratorios, and in which, noise is paramount? even m. ries has had the symphonies performed by such an orchestra, at the lower rhine music-festival; to this i was myself on one occasion a witness. had beethoven been present, he would doubtless have exclaimed, "my dear pupil, how little do you understand me!" a few movements only of beethoven's symphonies (for example, the last of that in a major, and the last of the ninth symphony) are suited to an orchestra in which the number of performers amounts to three or four times sixty. his own observations, coupled with accounts received from various places, describing the ineffective performance of the symphonies in consequence of mistaken ideas of their _tempi_, induced beethoven, in the winter of - , to investigate the cause of the errors. this he did in my presence, and he ascertained that the metronomic signs in the printed scores were faulty, in fixing the _tempi_ too quick; and, indeed, he declared that many of those metronomic signs were not authorised by him. i may here mention that the symphonies, from no. to no. inclusive, were published before the invention of maelzel's metronome; and it is only to the th and th symphonies that the metronomic signs can, with positive certainty, be said to have been given by beethoven. whether or not he metronomed the th symphony (the score of which was only lately published) i cannot positively determine. i do not recollect having heard him speak of metronoming that symphony, though a great deal of conversation passed between us on the subject of the composition itself. the same may be said in reference to his sonatas. only to those published since maelzel's invention have the metronomic signs been affixed by beethoven's own hand. these do not exceed four in number; viz., op. , , , and . those who have added metronomic indices to the other sonatas, in the various editions that have been published, prove, by the result of their labour, that they were as little acquainted with the spirit of beethoven's music as are the inhabitants of this world with the transactions going on in the moon or in saturn. that piano-forte virtuosi, even of the highest rank, should have presumed to act the part of interpreters and law-givers in beethoven's music[ ] is a matter of regret:[ ] and all true admirers of the great master, who may wish to form a just notion of his sonatas, either as to conception or execution, should be earnestly warned not to listen to their performance by any virtuoso who has laboured all his life on difficult passages, having only in view to improve the mechanical power of the fingers; unless, indeed, it be merely bravura movements; of which, thank heaven, there are but few among these compositions. beethoven truly remarked, "that a certain class of piano-forte performers seemed to lose intelligence and feeling in proportion as they gained dexterity of fingering." what can such bravura players make of the melodies of beethoven, so simple yet so profoundly imbued with sentiment? precisely what liszt[ ] makes of schubert's songs--what paganini made of the cantilena in rode's concerto--and what rubini makes of beethoven's "adelaide." all these, it must be acknowledged, are tasteless perversions of beautiful originals--violations of truth and right feeling in all those points in which such offences can be most sensibly felt. to point out only one example of the injury inflicted on beethoven's music by professional metronoming, i may mention the metronomic signs of the two sonatas (op. ) in the recently published vienna and london editions; the very sight of them occasions surprise: but to hear these sonatas played according to the metronomic signs affixed to them, leads one to wish that all piano-forte metronomers were put under the ban.[ ] but even this is not the only cause of complaint against these perverters of all truth in expression. are they not the very men who by their frivolities, romantic and unromantic, have latterly given to the taste for truly good and classic composition that unhealthful direction which threatens soon to bring all genuine music under the dominion of the superficial--if, indeed, it has not already submitted to that authority? is not their handiwork (art, it cannot be called) directed solely to the object of pleasing the multitude, and on that account must they not descend to the level of vulgar taste? since hummel's death there perhaps exists not, in germany especially, any professor of the piano-forte, f. mendelssohn bartholdy excepted, who, fired by enthusiasm, keeps in view the honourable object of elevating his hearers to the standard of his own high feeling--a duty which art demands from all her devotees, whether professors or dilettanti. the sonata in c sharp minor, op. , (called the moonlight sonata), is metronomed as follows in the edition lately published by t. haslinger, of vienna:-- i. adagio, [illustration: minim note symbol] = . ii. allegretto, [illustration: minim note symbol] = . iii. presto agitato, [illustration: minim note symbol] = . in the london edition of beethoven's piano-forte works, edited by j. moscheles, the same sonata has affixed to it the following metronomic directions:-- i. adagio, [illustration: crotchet note symbol] = . ii. allegretto, [illustration: minim note symbol] = . iii. presto agitato, [illustration: minim note symbol] = . in the vienna edition of the sonata in e flat major, the metronomic directions are as follow:-- i. andante, [illustration: crotchet note symbol] = . ii. allegro, / [illustration: dotted crotchet symbol] = . iii. allegro molto vivace, / [illustration: dotted minim symbol] = . iv. adagio, [illustration: quaver symbol] = . v. finale, allegro vivace, [illustration: crotchet symbol] = . in the london edition the different movements of the same sonata are thus marked:-- i. andante, [illustration: crotchet symbol] = . ii. allegro, / [illustration: dotted crotchet symbol] = . iii. allegro molto vivace, / [illustration: dotted minim symbol] = . iv. adagio, [illustration: quaver symbol] = . v. finale, allegro vivace, [illustration: crotchet symbol] = . what a babel of confusion as to the right feeling, and what confusion also in regard to the conception of beethoven's sacred legacy to posterity is thus exhibited![ ] and similar inconsistencies are apparent throughout all his works in these new editions.[ ] who does not with deep regret feel that such gross neglect amounts almost to profanation of the works of the great master? are, then, these divine compositions to be converted into show pieces for the performance of professional piano-forte players? nevertheless, i am bound to admit that some of the _tempi_, as marked in the new london edition, approximate more nearly to the composer's original intention. the fashion of the day tends to preclude any one from attempting to play one of beethoven's sonatas who has not for a year together practised the hand and finger-spraining exercises of modern performers. what is now-a-days thought of a simple _allegro_, as written by mozart or beethoven? it is converted into a _presto_; and so other movements are accelerated in gradation. and, truly, this is the method whereby the works of these great masters, already become antiquated, are accommodated to modern taste! it is not yet very long since an assiduous practice of the studies of aloys schmidt and of john cramer used to smooth the way of the intelligent pianist to the most difficult works of beethoven; and if greater mechanical dexterity of fingering was required to make the path more secure, the studies of hummel, moscheles, or kalkbrenner were found sufficient. but what would the practice of these exercises now avail?[ ] they would not enable the student to play the first three sonatas of beethoven according to the newest fashion. what, then, it may be asked, becomes of feeling and expression which ought to have room to develop themselves, so that in certain passages the tone may seem, as it were, to sing and reverberate? where now is feeling--where expression, and, indeed, where opportunity for the manifestation of any sensibility? let beethoven's piano-forte works be played according to the new metronomic directions, and it will soon be perceived that no more opportunity is left for feeling and expression than the most rapid fingering affords; and that this rule extends even to the execution of the _adagio_. in this state of things the best advice that can be given to the piano-forte practitioner is--shun all metronomic directions, be they given by whom they may[ ]--turn from them as you would from the misleading lights of ignes-fatui--set to work with the right spirit and the preliminary knowledge for the task, and apply to all the works of beethoven the composer's words--"no metronome, &c."[ ] thus you will with certainty attain the wished-for object, and be spared the mortification of renouncing your own feelings to substitute those of another in their stead. moreover, while examining the metronomic signs affixed to his works by their different editors, beethoven discovered that the metronomes themselves vary one from another; an inconvenience which has been greatly increased since beethoven's time, by numerous counterfeits. he perceived, for example, that the fourth movement of the symphony in c minor was deprived of all dignity when performed in the accelerated time indicated thus [illustration: musical note] = .; and that, in the fourth movement of the symphony in b flat major, the metronomic sign was a decided contradiction to the italian words "allegro ma non tanto;" whilst the movement, if performed in accordance with the metronomic direction, would be a mere mass of confusion, such rapid time being incompatible with a sufficiently clear and distinct execution of the semiquaver passages by the bow instruments. he now saw the necessity of directing his attention to a more careful adaptation of the metronomic signs, so as to give a slower time to most of the _allegro_ movements. but excessive occupation, added to the different strokes of adverse fortune which have been detailed in the biographical portion of the present work, prevented him from entering upon this important task. besides, he called the metronoming a mere "business" matter, and this view of the labour tended to increase his distaste for it. the publishers of his latter works must be aware how dilatory he was in determining the metronomic signs which were frequently obtained from him only after repeated correspondence. an example of this is proved by his letters of the th and th of april, , addressed to m. ries in london.[ ] moreover, when it happened that beethoven metronomed the same work twice over, he marked the _tempi_ differently each time. a striking example of this occurred with respect to the ninth symphony, which he first metronomised for the publisher, and then several months afterwards for the philharmonic society of london.[ ] in the latter instance he made the signs for every movement differ from those which he had adopted in the former case; making the _tempi_ sometimes quicker and sometimes slower; and when i accidentally found the copy of the first metronomising which he had marked for the messrs. schott, he answered impatiently, "better no metronome![ ] he who has correct feeling has no need of it; and to him who does not possess that feeling it is equally useless, for he runs astray, and the whole orchestra with him." this truth is confirmed by frequent experience. if it were recognised by every orchestral director, together with old matheson's maxim, the works of beethoven and other great masters would never be brought down from their lofty elevation, and we should secure their purity and imperishability, which is the common duty of us all.[ ] i was much gratified to observe m. habeneck's judicious regulations of time in the performance, under his direction, of beethoven's works at the conservatory in paris. an impression of the very contrary was conceived by beethoven himself; for, during his lifetime it used to be said, that in parisian orchestras the over-rapid performance of his quick movements made them resemble quadrilles and gallopades. it is however possible, that in france, as in germany, this error may be traced to the incorrect metronomising which was held to be unquestionable authority, until m. habeneck discovered the root of the evil, and proved that the rossinian "effetto! effetto!" was no longer to be held identical with the dignity and grandeur of beethoven's poetic music. let us hope that among the musicians of france there will speedily arise some few who, unfettered by the bonds of fashion, and devoid of egotism, will turn with a pure and deeply poetic spirit to the piano-forte works of beethoven, and draw freely from the ever-living waters of that sacred well which the muses have consecrated. much has already been done in france by franz liszt, who so thoroughly comprehends the spirit of beethoven. but the efforts of one individual are insufficient for the wide diffusion of important principles. the advantage which may be derived from beethoven's piano-forte compositions is yet almost wholly unknown to french pianists, as i have had frequent opportunities to observe, and nothing has so greatly contributed to create this unfortunate ignorance as the absurdly refined mechanism of piano-forte playing, which, years ago, beethoven justly feared would banish all truth of feeling from music. in a letter which he addressed to ries, dated july th, , he alludes to certain "allegri di bravura, which demand too much mechanism of fingering, and therefore he does not admire them." indeed, the only piano-forte compositions of beethoven which have hitherto obtained attention from the french, and i may add, from most of the german pianists, are such as afford scope for the display of mechanical dexterity. compositions of this class being precisely those which are characterised by an exuberant freedom of fancy, are inferior in poetic spirit to his other piano-forte works. these latter are, however, far more difficult to comprehend and to perform than those which merely demand a greater degree of digital dexterity. that cheval de bataille for fleet-fingered pianists, the sonata, op. , is, of all beethoven's sonatas, (without accompaniments) after op. , the only one on which they take their full revenge; and i affirm, with a thorough conviction of being correct, that, out of a hundred pianists whose talent is swayed by the dominion of fashion, it would be difficult to find two who know anything of these sonatas, with the exception of op. . of the sonatas, from op. to op. inclusive, there are but few that have the honour of being known to the legion of fashionable piano-forte players. the gods whom this legion worship have no place among the immortals; and if we estimate their productions by the standard of art, they must be ranked on a level with those musical idols of the day whose chief merit is that they set the feet of the multitude in motion. the limited knowledge of beethoven's sonatas in germany may be attributed to the circumstance of our teachers placing those works at too early a period before their pupils. they forget that, for a due comprehension of the highest style of art, a sum of knowledge and experience, a certain degree of mental maturity, are required, without which all endeavours to force a taste for the most elevated objects will be vain, or possibly productive of disgust. the study of beethoven's music should be earnestly entered upon, after the mind has been cultivated by a course of education at once philosophic and elegant: without such a preparation, the study will infallibly be harassing and disagreeable, even to those who possess more than common susceptibility for musical poetry. music is the offspring of deep feeling, and by deep feeling alone can its genuine beauties be comprehended and enjoyed. now, with regard to the sonatas, i have further to observe that the hints which i received from beethoven on the subject of their composition, and the proper style of their performance, had direct reference to only a few of those compositions. still, no doubt, many persons will be gratified by what i have to communicate. to the intelligent lover of music these hints will afford matter for reflection, whereby he may not only more thoroughly comprehend the works in question, but also, by the help of the key thus obtained, open for himself a path to the knowledge of other compositions of the like kind, imbued with the like soul and spirit. among the most rich in materials, and, unfortunately, among the least known, are the two sonatas comprised in op. . the first is in e major, and the second in g major. both these sonatas have for their subject a dialogue between a husband and wife, or a lover and his mistress. in the second sonata, this dialogue, with its signification, is very forcibly expressed, the opposition of the two principal parts being more sensibly marked than in the first sonata. by these two parts beethoven intended to represent two _principles_, which he designated the _entreating_ and the _resisting_. even in the first bars the contrary motion marks the opposition of these principles. [illustration: musical notation] by a softly gliding transition from earnest gravity to tenderness and feeling, the eighth bar introduces the entreating principle alone. [illustration: musical notation] this suing and flattering strain continues until the middle part is taken up in d major, when both principles are again brought into conflict, but not with the same degree of earnestness as at the commencement. the resisting principle is now relaxing, and allows the other to finish without interruption the phrase that has been begun. in the following phrase-- [illustration: musical notation] both approximate, and the mutual understanding is rendered distinctly perceptible by the succeeding cadence on the dominant. in the second section of the same movement the opposition is again resumed in the minor of the tonic, and the resisting principle is energetically expressed in the phrase in a flat major. to this succeeds a pause on the chord of the dominant, and then in e flat the conflict is again resumed till the tranquil phrase [illustration: musical notation] comes in as it were like a preparation for mutual concord, for both repeat several times the same idea, resembling an interrogation, beginning slowly, and with lingering pauses, then over and over again in rapid succession. the introduction in the tonic of the principal motivo renews the conflict, and the feelings alternate as in the first part; but, at the conclusion of the movement, the expected conciliation is still _in suspenso_. it is not completely brought about until the end of the sonata, when it is clearly indicated, and as it were expressed, on the final close of the piece, by a distinctly articulated "yes!" from the resisting principle. [illustration: musical notation] then was not beethoven justified in saying, that the poetic idea which had stimulated his imagination in the composition of this work was quite obvious? in fact, is not the explanation of every individual phrase perfectly natural? of this let any one convince himself, by comparing the above indication of the design with the sonata itself. but the reality and certainty of the composer's intention is fully obtained only on the performance of the piece, the difficulty of which, be it observed, is much greater than it is generally believed to be. for example, words directing the quickening or retarding of the time, such as _accelerando_, _ritardando_, &c., do not, in their ordinary acceptation, convey an adequate idea of the wonderfully delicate shading which characterized beethoven's performance; and on this account he would have experienced great impediments had he proceeded with his intended revisal of many other works in the like style. this obstacle he clearly foresaw. m. ries, alluding to the _sonate pathétique_, p. of his _notizen_, makes the following remarks on the performance of beethoven:--"in general, he played his own compositions in a very capricious manner; he nevertheless kept strictly accurate time, occasionally, but very seldom, accelerating the _tempi_. on the other hand, in the performance of a _crescendo_ passage, he would make the time _ritardando_, which produced a beautiful and highly striking effect. sometimes in the performance of particular passages, whether with the right hand or the left, he would infuse into them an exquisite, but altogether inimitable expression. he seldom introduced notes or ornaments not set down in the composition." yes, it may truly be said that the expression was inimitable! what the _sonate pathétique_ became under the hands of beethoven--though he left much to be desired on the score of pure execution--can only be conceived by those who have had the good fortune to hear it played by him. yet it required to be heard over and over again before one could be convinced that it was a work, by name at least, already well known. in short, all music performed by his hands appeared to undergo a new creation. these wonderful effects were in a great degree produced by his uniform _legato_ style, which was one of the most remarkable peculiarities of his playing.[ ] all the pieces which i have heard beethoven himself play were, with few exceptions, given without any constraint as to the rate of the time. he adopted a _tempo-rubato_ in the proper sense of the term, according as subject and situation might demand, without the slightest approach to caricature. beethoven's playing was the most distinct and intelligible declamation, such, perhaps, as in the same high degree can only be studied in his works. his old friends, who attentively watched the development of his genius in every direction, declare that he adopted this mode of playing in the first years of the third period of his life, and that it was quite a departure from his earlier method, which was less marked by shading and colouring; thence it appears that his perceptive sagacity had then discovered a sure method of throwing open, to the unlearned as well as the initiated, a door to the mysterious workings of his imagination. in the performance of his quartett music he wished the same rules to be observed as in playing his sonatas; for the quartetts paint passions and feelings no less than the sonatas. among the latter, however, there are several in which a strict observance of time is indispensable; scarcely permitting, much less demanding, any deviation from regularity. those compositions require to be played in what is termed the _bravura_ style; they are op. , , , and some others. i will now, as far as verbal description may permit, endeavour to convey an idea of the manner in which beethoven himself used to play the two sonatas contained in op. . his wonderful performance of these compositions was a sort of musical declamation, in which the two principles were as distinctly separated as the two parts of a dialogue when recited by the flexible voice of a good speaker. he commenced the opening _allegro_ with vigour and spirit, relaxing these qualities at the sixth bar, and in the following passage:-- [illustration: musical notation] here a slight _ritardando_ made preparation for gently introducing the entreating principle. the performance of the phrase-- [illustration: musical notation] was exquisitely shaded, and to the following bars:-- [illustration: musical notation] beethoven's manner of holding down particular notes, combined with a kind of soft gliding touch, imparted such a vivid colouring, that the hearer could fancy he actually beheld the lover in his living form, and heard him apostrophising his obdurate mistress. in the following groups of semiquavers-- [illustration: musical notation] he strongly accented the fourth note of each group, and gave a joyous expression to the whole passage, and at the succeeding chromatic run he resumed the original time, and continued it till he arrived at this phrase,-- [illustration: musical notation] which he gave in _tempo andantino_, beautifully accenting the bass, and the third notes of the upper part of the harmony, as i have marked them in the two last bars of the subjoined example, thereby rendering distinct to the ear the separation of the two principles. on arriving at the ninth bar,-- [illustration: musical notation] he made the bass stand out prominently, and closed the succeeding cadence on the dominant in the original time, which he maintained without deviation to the end of the first part. in the second part beethoven introduced the phrase in a flat major, by a _ritardando_ of the two preceding bars. he attacked this phrase vigorously, thus diffusing a glow of colour over the picture. he gave a charming expression to the following phrase in the treble by strongly accenting and holding down longer than the prescribed time the first note in each bar,-- [illustration: musical notation] [illustration: musical notation] whilst the bass was played with gradually increasing softness, and with a sort of creeping motion of the hand. the passage next in succession was touched off brilliantly; and in its closing bars the _decrescendo_ was accompanied by a _ritardando_. the following phrase was begun in _tempo andante_:-- [illustration: musical notation] at the fifth bar there was a slight _accellerando_, and an increase of tone. at the sixth bar the original time was resumed. throughout the remainder of the first movement beethoven observed the same time as that which he had taken in the opening bars. various as were the _tempi_ which beethoven introduced in this movement, yet they were all beautifully prepared, and if i may so express myself, the colours were delicately blended one with another. there were none of those abrupt changes which the composer frequently admitted in some of his other works, with the view of giving a loftier flight to the declamation. those who truly enter into the spirit of this fine movement will find it advisable not to repeat the first part: by this allowable abridgment the gratification of the hearer will be unquestionably increased, whilst it may possibly be diminished by the frequent repetition of the same phrases. it would lead me too far to describe circumstantially the principal points in all the three movements of this sonata; and so with others. the shades of expression are so various and important that i can only lament the impossibility of conveying any adequate idea of them by words. perhaps it is only by the publication of a new edition of these and other compositions, that the manner in which beethoven did or would have executed them can be rendered perfectly obvious to the performer, as well as their right comprehension facilitated to those lovers of the art whose cultivated perception may enable them to recognise poetic ideas clothed in a musical garb. with regard to the second sonata in e major (op. ), the subject of which is similar to that of the second, i shall confine myself to the description of beethoven's manner of performing a very few passages. in the eighth bar of the first _allegro_ movement-- [illustration: musical notation] as well as in the ninth bar, he retarded the time, touching the keys more _forte_ and holding down the fifth note, as marked above. by these means he imparted to the passage an indescribable earnestness and dignity of character. in the tenth bar-- [illustration: musical notation] the original time was resumed, the powerful expression being still maintained. the eleventh bar was _diminuendo_ and somewhat lingering. the twelfth and thirteenth bars were played in the same manner as the two foregoing. on the introduction of the middle movement-- [illustration: musical notation] the dialogue became sentimental. the prevailing time was _andante_, but not regularly maintained, for every time that either principle was introduced a little pause was made on the first note, thus:-- [illustration: musical notation] at the following phrase-- [illustration: musical notation] a joyous character was expressed. the original _tempo_ was taken, and not again changed till the close of the first part. the second part, from this passage [illustration: musical notation] forward, was characterised by an increased breadth of rhythm, and augmented power of tone, which, however, was further on shaded into an exquisitely delicate _pianissimo_; so that the apparent meaning of the dialogue became more perceptible without any over-strained effort of imagination. the second movement _allegretto_ was, as performed by beethoven, more like an _allegro furioso_; and, until he arrived at the single chord-- [illustration: musical notation] on which he made a very long pause, he kept up the same _tempo_. in the _maggiore_, the _tempo_ was taken more moderately, and played by beethoven in a beautifully expressive style. he added not a single note; but he gave to many an accentuation which would not have suggested itself to any other player. on the subject of accentuation i may state, as a general remark, that beethoven gave prominent force to all appoggiaturas, particularly the minor second, even in running passages; and in slow movements his transition to the principal note was as delicately managed as it could have been by the voice of a singer. in the rondo of the sonata to which i am here referring, beethoven maintained the time as marked until he arrived at the bars introducing the first and third pauses. these bars he made _ritardando_. the two sonatas in op. , the first sonata (f minor) in op. ; the first sonata (c minor), op. ; the sonate pathétique (c minor), op. ; the sonata quasi fantasia in c sharp minor, op. , and some others, are all pictures of feeling; and in every movement beethoven varied the time according as the feelings changed. i will now endeavour to make the reader acquainted with the effect which beethoven intended should be given to particular phrases or whole movements of his symphonies. that orchestral music does not admit of such frequent changes of time as chamber music, is, of course, an understood fact. but it is equally well known that in orchestral performances the greatest and most unexpected efforts may be produced by even slight variations of time. passing over the first symphony, i shall proceed to notice the second. in the first movement the prescribed time must not be altered, and it must by no means be taken faster than is understood by the direction _allegro_. by too fast a _tempo_ the intrinsic dignity of the movement would be utterly lost. the second movement, _larghetto_, requires a frequent change of measure. the first _tempo_ is kept up to the phrase-- [illustration: musical notation] where the time is gradually quickened, by which the character of the movement acquires a greater degree of warmth and spirit. the passage immediately following-- [illustration: musical notation] is like the echo of a very melancholy wail, and is given more slowly than the original time, which is resumed only with the succeeding cadence. the same variation of time should be observed on the repetition of the same phrases in the second part of the movement. to afford at a glance an idea of the right mode of playing these phrases, and to show that their accurate performance is perfectly practicable by a well-trained orchestra, i subjoin the whole in a connected form, together with the requisite marks for the changes of the _tempi_:-- [illustration: musical notation] [illustration: musical notation] [illustration: musical notation] this _allegretto_ is continued until the theme is taken up in c minor. the first _larghetto_ time is then resumed. i recommend orchestral directors to try on the piano this fragment as far as the a minor passage, and they will be convinced of the deep expression produced by the variations of the _tempi_ as i have marked them. the phrase in c major _ff_ likewise demands a deviation from the original time, and if slightly accelerated will be found to acquire additional power and effect.[ ] the style of performance above described will be found to infuse into this long movement a degree of grace, dignity, and feeling, which is not attainable if the _tempo_ be kept uniform. by the variation the orchestra is kept constantly on the stretch, but the performance will be found easy if it be conducted with steadiness and decision. i do not recollect anything remarkable with regard to the manner of performing the other movements of this symphony. the _tempi_ as marked may be adhered to. i have already observed that beethoven marked the second movement of the a major symphony with the direction _andante, quasi allegretto_. but at the part in c major the time may be somewhat quickened, which will be found to produce an extremely pleasing effect, forming likewise a fine contrast to the mysterious character of the introduction. the passage in a minor, which prepares the conclusion, demands, particularly in those parts where the violins answer the wind-instruments, little breaks of the time, which the subject and the declamation render indispensable. the right colouring is thus given to the back-ground of the picture, and the deepest impression produced on the hearer. concerning the symphonia eroica, beethoven wished that the first movement should be taken in more moderate time than is indicated by the direction, _allegro con brio_, which in the course of performance is usually converted into a _presto_. this detracts from the elevated character of the composition, and transforms it into a concertante display. on the contrary, a perfectly tranquil movement should prevail from beginning to end, even in the loudest parts. the tempo should be somewhat retarded in this phrase:-- [illustration: musical notation] and this measure should be maintained to the following _pianissimo_ passage,-- [illustration: musical notation] where a gentle _accelerando_ brings back the original time of the movement. this latter time must be rigidly observed as far as the _forte_ phrase in b major. the same changes of time should be observed in the corresponding phrases of the second part of the movement. before i proceed to comment on the second movement, the marcia funebre, i must bring to the reader's recollection beethoven's declaration in reference to this movement, given in the second period. whether this declaration be taken as jest or earnest, it contains a great deal of truth. though beethoven said he composed the music appropriate to the tragical end of the great emperor seventeen years prior to the event, yet the extent of his fancy is more powerfully manifested in the manner in which he has portrayed the catastrophe. does not, for example, the middle movement in c major plainly point to the rising of a star of hope? further on, does not this same middle movement indicate the firm resolution of the hero to overcome his fate? the succeeding fugue-movement, also, still pictures out a conflict with fate. after this there is perceptibly a decline of energy, which, however, again revives, until in this phrase: [illustration: musical notation] resignation is expressed, the hero gradually sinks, and at length, like other mortals, is consigned to the grave. the _maggiore_ itself demands a somewhat animated _tempo._ in the c minor symphony, beethoven intended that only a very few variations should be made in the time; yet these few are in the highest degree important and interesting, and they refer principally to the first movement. the opening of this movement (that is to say, the first five bars with the two pauses) requires to be played in something like this tempo, [illustration: musical note] = , _an andante con moto_.[ ] thus the mystical character of the movement is in an infinite degree more clearly manifested than by a rapid expression of this phrase, so full of deep meaning. beethoven expressed himself in something like vehement animation, when describing to me his idea:--"it is thus that fate knocks at the door." at the sixth bar, where the first violin is introduced, the _allegro con brio_, [illustration: musical note] = , commences; and this time is continued until this passage[ ]-- [illustration: musical notation] where, according to beethoven's idea, fate again knocks at the door--only more slowly. at the passage for the first violin, in the succeeding bar, the _allegro_ is again taken up. in the second part of this movement the retardation of the quick time occurs twice: first at the phrase succeeding the pause on the major triad of e flat.[ ] [illustration: musical notation] and secondly at the repetition of the same phrase (page of the score). respecting any essential changes of time in the other three movements of this symphony, i received no information from beethoven. * * * * * the above hints on matter and manner in relation to beethoven's music will, i trust, be found satisfactory. for several reasons it appears to me that further details would here be out of place. i must, however, most earnestly and indignantly protest against every reproach founded on the suspicion that these hints and other observations did not emanate from beethoven, but have been the offspring of my invention. beethoven's quartett, performed by schuppanzigh and the three other initiated players, plainly shows the effect which the music was capable of producing when executed in obedience to the composer's personal directions. those who have not had the good fortune to hear that performance, and to have thereby obtained the advantage of observing that by varying the time at suitable points powerful effects are produced, and the most abstruse music rendered an intelligible language to unlearned ears, may possibly doubt the accuracy of what i have stated; but, nevertheless, unjustly. if beethoven did not direct the performance of his instrumental music in the manner above described, it was for the important reason that he had not, _ex officio_, any orchestra under his control, and none would have had patience to be schooled by him. this sort of study could only be practicable with the well-organised orchestra of a chapel or musical _conservatoire_. with respect to the orchestra of the vienna theatre, the performers engaged in it have always insisted that, with the exception of their duties on the nights of performance, nothing more shall be required of them; and the orchestra of the concert-spirituel includes among its coadjutors many dilletanti, who cannot devote the necessary time to rehearsals. these circumstances serve to explain the complaints made by beethoven to hofrath rochlitz in the year . those complaints, which unfortunately contained mortifying truths, are thus related by rochlitz in his work entitled "für freunde der tonkunst," vol. iv. p. :--"he (beethoven), turning the conversation upon himself and his works, said:--'none of my compositions are heard here.'--'none in the summer season?' inquired i, writing the words on the slate.--'neither in summer nor winter,' exclaimed he.--'what should they hear?--fidelio?'--'they cannot perform it, and would not listen to it if they could.'--'the symphonies?'--'they have not time for them.'[ ]--'the concertos?'--'our instrumental players prefer strumming and scraping their own productions.'--'the solos?'--'they have been long out of fashion here; and now-a-days fashion rules everything,'" &c. i once more repeat that beethoven's music would have founded a new era, had the composer been enabled, in the new edition of his works, to accomplish the much-desired object of classical explanation--or had he possessed the control of an orchestra, which, under his own instruction and superintendence, he might have made a model for the whole musical world. that his ideas of possible improvement would not have been narrowly circumscribed, may be inferred from the proposition laid down by himself--"the boundary does not yet exist of which it can be said to talent co-operating with industry--_thus far shalt thou go and no farther!_" * * * * * i had just finished this portion of my work when the "journal des débats," of the th of january last, containing a letter from vienna, dated the th of the same month, reached my hands. this letter relates to a calligraphic collection of beethoven's works, which the archduke rudolph has bequeathed by will to the "society of the lovers of music of the austrian empire," whose patron his imperial highness had been for many years. it contains some inaccuracies, which might furnish occasion for misconceptions and controversies; it may, therefore, not be amiss to subjoin a simple statement of the fact--in which beethoven is directly implicated--in order to correct the errors in that letter. mr. tobias haslinger, while a partner in the house of steiner and co., music-publishers (of which he is now sole proprietor), undertook to produce a calligraphic copy of all beethoven's works. after a number of the works already printed had been so copied, beethoven received intelligence of the circumstance; and though the expensive undertaking of mr. haslinger was represented to him as a mercantile speculation, which, however, according to his statement, it was not intended to be, the composer was perfectly indifferent, since he could not have raised any reasonable objection, let the purpose of the enterprise be what it might. now, the letter from vienna in the "journal des débats" asserts that beethoven had previously revised and corrected, and, "in fact, put the finishing hand" to all his works for the benefit of this calligraphic copy: this assertion must be contradicted. at the time that beethoven heard what mr. haslinger was about, he was not on good terms with the above-mentioned house, neither of course with mr. haslinger himself; and soon afterwards followed the rupture mentioned in the third period, because beethoven would not subscribe to the scale of prices in mr. haslinger's hand-writing. by such inaccurate statements sent forth to the world, not without some object, as i suppose, i am induced to subjoin that list of prices.[ ] from the remarks annexed, in beethoven's own handwriting, it will be seen that, just at this time ( and ), the above-mentioned publishers were in treaty with beethoven respecting an edition of his complete works. another vienna house was likewise treating with him at the same time for the same purpose. how, then, could beethoven have put a finishing hand to his works for the benefit of that calligraphic copy, since he himself projected an edition of them, and had so many important points not yet settled in his own mind to decide upon? and though he may have subsequently corrected a few wrong notes (of which there are unluckily too many in his works) for mr. haslinger's undertaking, this cannot by any means be called "putting the finishing hand to a work." it were indeed to be wished that beethoven had done so in this instance, and that his intentions were to be found there. how many and what great works has beethoven written after the rupture with that house, which have been introduced into the calligraphic copy! is it to be supposed that he put the finishing hand to these also for the benefit of that undertaking? if so, look, above all, at the quartett no. , and others of the latest quartetts, and discover if you can the remarks and explanations to them which beethoven sent to prince nicholas von galitzen, to st. petersburg (as i have mentioned at pp. - of the present volume), and which he designed to append in a more explicit form to a second edition, in order to render those works more intelligible; and then those "hieroglyphics," as they are called, will be all at once deciphered for the whole world, and bright sunshine pervade them, as it does his quartett no. . when beethoven was informed that mr. haslinger was in treaty with the archduke rudolph for the sale of the calligraphic works, and that the price demanded for them was said (if i recollect rightly) to be , florins--the "journal des débats" says that they cost the archduke upwards of , florins ( , francs)--the great master was again indifferent, and merely muttered to himself something about "a poor devil," and that, "such he was and such he should ever remain while others contrived to suck out his marrow and fatten upon it." but i was accustomed to such exclamations, or freaks of fancy: they had nothing alarming, but much that grieved; for when the beloved friend had vented his spleen in this manner, he would take up the pen and again fall to writing what he used punningly to call _noten in nöthen_--notes in emergency. ii. characteristic traits and peculiarities of beethoven. beethoven's religious principles--his dislike of giving lessons--his frankness, and, at the same time, dexterity in evading questions--vindication of him from the charge of discourtesy to brother artists--proofs that though a rigid, he was a just critic--kind encouragement afforded by him to professional merit--his modest appreciation of himself--his extempore playing--his every-day occupations--propensity for dabbling in water--pension--certificates--beethoven erroneously compared with jean paul richter--mortifying trick played by him at the instigation of a friend--motivo of a movement in one of his quartetts--his peculiar habits in eating and drinking--extent of his knowledge of languages--comments on statements of m. von seyfried relative to beethoven's domestic habits--spurious mss. attributed to him--his person--portraits of him. beethoven was educated in the catholic religion; and that he was truly religious, the whole tenor of his life sufficiently proves. it was, however, a remarkable peculiarity in his character that he never conversed on religion, or expressed any opinion on the creeds of different christian sects. if my [illustration: fac-simile of beethoven's hand-writing. _published by henry colburn great marlborough street _] observation entitles me to form an opinion on the subject, i should say be inclined to deism; in so far as that term may be understood to imply natural religion. he had written with his own hand two inscriptions, said to be taken from a temple of isis. these inscriptions, which were framed, and for many years constantly lay before him on his writing-table, were as follows:-- i. "i am that which is.--i am all that is, all that was, and all that shall be.--no mortal man hath my veil uplifted!" ii. "he is one, self-existent, and to that one all things owe their existence."[ ] i shall carefully watch over the preservation of these pious relics of my friend, who regarded them as an epitome of the loftiest and purest religion. they were to him dearly-prized treasures. i have already, in the biographical part of this work, alluded to beethoven's repugnance to giving lessons. i may now add that his distaste for tuition was experienced by the "dames de predilection" who could boast of being his pupils. even these ladies found themselves sometimes forgotten by him for weeks at a time; and, when at length he presented himself, he was generally received with looks of displeasure, which, however, made but little impression on him. with respect to his mode of conveying instruction, the following particulars may interest the reader. those who wished to obtain from beethoven that valuable information which he was so capable of communicating, could not succeed in that object unless they had the opportunity of being near him at every hour of the day; for nothing could induce him to give himself up to any business at a fixed time. now and then he would speak readily and entertainingly on the various branches of knowledge with which he was familiar; he would even give direct instruction; but how few had opportunity to profit by these communicative intervals! they frequently occurred at meal-times, and during his walks, or, to speak more properly, runs; and on these occasions he would often suddenly break off the conversation if he found his companion unable to keep pace with him. in his philosophic discussions there were only two topics which beethoven never touched upon, and which, indeed, he carefully avoided--namely, thorough-bass and religion. both, he declared, were exhausted subjects, which admitted of no farther discussion. * * * * * if candour be the type of nobleness of mind, that virtue was fully possessed by beethoven. he gave expression to his feelings without any reserve; and the propriety of repressing offensive remarks was a thing that never entered his thoughts. on the other hand, it was no easy matter to get him to pronounce an opinion or judgment on music and musicians; and it was only after an attentive observation of his expressions, sometimes for the space of several days, that anything decided or consistent could be gained from him. with the witty, satirical, and sarcastic remarks which were always ready at his tongue's end, he endeavoured to evade questions to which he did not wish to give direct answers; and he usually succeeded in discouraging inquirers, who got something like a reply, but nothing to the purpose.[ ] it was seldom, either at meal-time or during his walks, that he was, to use his own expression, "quite unbuttoned." when he was, he wielded the rod of satire without mercy; and emperor, king, and artist, were all alike subject to his critical lash. beethoven had to pay an annual impost, called a class-tax, amounting to twenty-one florins. these twenty-one florins furnished him yearly with a subject for twenty-one thousand sarcasms, of which, in return, his diversified talent never failed to make a repartition and re-assessment, which produced, as usual, a result in the highest degree humorous. beethoven has too frequently been accused of a discourteous bluntness of manner towards his brother artists, which had a discouraging effect on the efforts of young beginners. even m. ries, in his _notizen_, plainly shows that he thought this charge against beethoven not without foundation. in allusion to this subject, a friend of beethoven's has thus expressed himself:--"these people cannot separate the man oppressed by fate from the caprice and irritability which are caused by that fate; they cannot see the noble side of his disposition. nevertheless, it is a melancholy fact that, to his unhappy state of existence, we are in a great measure indebted for his wonderful musical fancy and susceptibility." m. moscheles will remember the amiable reception he experienced when he presented to beethoven the sonata in e, which he had dedicated to him. he will likewise recollect the patient attention with which beethoven corrected his pianoforte arrangement of fidelio, published by d. artaria; and how kindly he encouraged his labours, until they were brought to a satisfactory conclusion. he even persuaded moscheles to introduce an arrangement of one piece from the opera, which hummel had prepared for artaria, and which beethoven had condemned, or, to speak the truth, contemptuously torn up, not knowing at the time that it was the work of hummel. at the end of every piece he arranged from the opera, moscheles, probably under the apprehension of being treated with as little ceremony as hummel, wrote the words, "_fine, with god's help_," and beethoven wrote underneath, "o man, help thyself!" beethoven's kindness will, no doubt, be borne in mind by that esteemed composer, m. anton halm, when he arranged the grand fugue for the pianoforte. this fugue had previously formed the fourth movement of the quartett in b (no. ), which beethoven, at the request of the publisher (math. artaria), converted into a distinct work (op. ). he then composed a new fourth movement for the quartett; and it is worthy of remark, that this movement was positively beethoven's last work. he completed it in november, . czerny had arranged the fugue above alluded to, before halm; but his production met with no more approval than hummel's movement from fidelio.[ ] the above facts show that if beethoven was a rigid, he was likewise a just critic: that he was rigid in exactions upon himself more than upon others, is obvious from the scores of all his works. his critical judgment on musical compositions was frequently accompanied by violent ebullitions of temper. a remarkable instance of this occurred after he had examined ries's concerto, entitled "farewell to london." beethoven was so singularly displeased with this work, that he addressed a fulminating letter to the editor of the leipzig _musikalische zeitung_, wherein he enjoins ries no longer to call himself his pupil. kanne and schuppanzigh, whom i acquainted with this affair, joined me in persuading the enraged master to refrain from any further demonstration of displeasure. but, in the mean time ries had received his reprimand, and that for several years afterwards he smarted under the heavy rebuke of his old master is, i think, evident from a passage in his _notizen_. why did not ries insert beethoven's letter in that publication? it would have been in many respects interesting, and, at the same time, a real example of the great master's peculiarities.[ ] franz lachner, t. horzalka, and leopoldine blahetka, all experienced from beethoven a kind reception, and an acknowledgment of their eminent talents. it was in consequence of the encouragement, and indeed the assistance of beethoven, in her education, that mademoiselle blahetka was destined by her father to the musical profession. how greatly did beethoven admire the genius of franz schubert! but it was not until he was on his death-bed that he had a complete perception of that talent, which the representations of certain persons had previously caused him to underrate. when i made him acquainted with schubert's _ossians gesänge_, _die bürgschaft_, _die junge nonne_, _grenzen der menschheit_, and some other productions of the same composer, he exclaimed, with deep emotion:--"truly schubert is animated by a spark of heavenly fire!" i could quote the names of many other artists, who will cherish, as long as they live, a gratifying remembrance of the kindness shown to them by beethoven. that our great master was not disposed to treat with undue courtesy artistical presumption, which sometimes, in his latter years, boldly raised its head before him, may naturally be supposed. _exempla sunt odiosa._ but on such aberrations beethoven's high mind looked down with compassion. i will close this chapter with the following remarks:-- beethoven possessed too much genuine religious feeling to believe that nature had created him to be a model for future ages, as many of his worshippers, not unfrequently actuated by interested motives, would fain have persuaded him. a stranger to the business of this world, and living, as it were, in another, beethoven was like a child, to whom every external influence gives a new impulse; and who in like manner does not turn an unwilling ear to flattery, because incapable of estimating the purpose for which the adulation is bestowed. this ignorance of the world--this lofty or puerile feeling, whichever it may be termed, was in beethoven only transitory, and he soon recovered his manly tone of mind. beethoven well knew and always respected the motto--_palmam qui meruit ferat!_ his upright, impartial mind led him to bestow, unsolicited, the most unequivocal approbation on foreign talent; often as he found that approbation lessened, or discovered that it had been altogether cast away upon certain "backsliding men," as he termed them. beethoven always bore in mind that a mozart had preceded him, and that another might follow him. he ever cherished high expectations of the future, for he fervently believed in the omnipotence of the creator, and the inexhaustibility of nature. oh! how great was beethoven as a man! who ever learned to know him on that side, and was capable of comprehending and judging not only of his mighty genius but also of his noble heart, will not fail to place the moral man, if not above the great composer, at least on the same level with him. * * * * * beethoven was very fond, especially in the dusk of the evening, of seating himself at the piano to improvise, or he would frequently take up the violin or viola, for which purpose these two instruments were always left lying on the piano. in the latter years of his life, his playing at such times was more painful than agreeable to those who heard it. the inward mind alone was active; but the outward sense no longer co-operated with it: consequently the outpourings of his fancy became scarcely intelligible. sometimes he would lay his left hand flat upon the key-board, and thus drown, in discordant noise, the music to which his right was feelingly giving utterance. it is well known that beethoven, in his early years, did not perform his own compositions purely; for no other reason, however, than his want of time to keep the mechanical power of his fingers in practice; but his improvisations, when he was free from the restraint of reading notes, were the finest effusions of the kind imaginable. the imperial court piano-forte-maker, conrad graf, made for beethoven a sound-conductor, which, being placed on the piano-forte, helped to convey the tone more distinctly to his ear; but though this contrivance was ingenious, it afforded no assistance in beethoven's case of extreme deafness. the most painful thing of all was to hear him improvise on stringed instruments, owing to his incapability of tuning them. the music which he thus produced was frightful, though in his mind it was pure and harmonious. * * * * * in winter as well as in summer it was beethoven's practice to rise at day-break, and immediately to sit down to his writing-table. there he would labour till two or three o'clock, his usual dinner-time. meanwhile he would go out once or twice in the open air, where, to use m. saphir's phrase, he would work and walk. then, after the lapse of half an hour or an hour, he would return home to note down the ideas which he had collected. as the bee gathers honey from the flowers of the meadows, so beethoven often collected his most sublime ideas while roaming about in the open fields. the habit of going abroad suddenly and as unexpectedly returning, just as the whim happened to strike him, was practised by beethoven alike at all seasons of the year: cold or heat, rain or sun-shine, were all alike to him. in the autumn he used to return to town as sun-burnt as though he had been sharing the daily toil of the reapers and gleaners. winter restored his somewhat yellow complexion. in no. of the appendix will be found a fac-simile of some of his first ideas, noted down with pencil, immediately as they were conceived amidst the inspiring scenery of nature. the use of the bath was as much a necessity to beethoven as to a turk; and he was in the habit of submitting himself to frequent ablutions. when it happened that he did not walk out of doors to collect his ideas, he would not unfrequently, in a fit of the most complete abstraction, go to his wash-hand basin, and pour several jugs of water upon his hands, all the while humming and roaring, for sing he could not. after dabbling in the water till his clothes were wet through, he would pace up and down the room, with a vacant expression of countenance, and his eyes frightfully distended; the singularity of his aspect being often increased by an unshaven beard. then he would seat himself at his table and write; and afterwards get up again to the wash-hand basin, and dabble and hum as before. ludicrous as were these scenes, no one dared venture to notice them, or to disturb him while engaged in his inspiring ablutions, for these were his moments, or i should rather say his hours, of profoundest meditation. it will be readily believed, that the people in whose houses he lodged were not very well pleased when they found the water trickling through the floor to the ceiling below, as sometimes happened; and beethoven's change of lodgings was often the consequence of these occurrences. on such occasions comical scenes sometimes ensued. at every quarterly payment of his pension beethoven was required, before he could receive the money, to procure from the curate of the district in which he resided, a certificate to prove that he was actually living. when he happened to be in the country, he used to get me or some other friend to draw up this certificate, and whenever he wrote to make this request it was always in some humorous or jesting manner. on one of these occasions he addressed to me a note containing merely the following words, unaccompanied by any explanation; he of course knew very well that i should understand their import:-- "certificate. "the fish is alive. "vidi, "pastor romualdus." it has been so much the custom to compare beethoven with jean paul richter, that the correctness of the comparison seems to be taken for granted; nevertheless, it appears to me to be very unjust. jean paul was not his favourite author. if beethoven ever looked into his works, he cannot be said to have read them; they were too aphoristic and enigmatical for his taste. to imagine that there exists any general resemblance between our great composer and jean paul richter is a great mistake; that writer, it is true, occasionally makes excursions into the region of dreamy and sentimental life; but as a painter of feelings he is not to be placed on a level with beethoven. a comparison with shakspeare or michael angelo might be more correct. shakspeare was beethoven's favourite poet. though beethoven was throughout his whole life a prey to misfortune and disappointment, yet there were moments in which he did not scruple to inflict pain and disappointment on others. nevertheless, it must be observed that in most cases of this kind he acted under some other influence than that of his own feelings. the following circumstance occurred in the latter years of his life. the wife of m. h----m, an esteemed piano-forte player and composer, residing in vienna, was a great admirer of beethoven, and she earnestly wished to possess a lock of his hair. her husband, anxious to gratify her, applied to a gentleman who was very intimate with beethoven, and who had rendered him some service. at the instigation of this person, beethoven was induced to send the lady a lock of hair cut from a goat's beard; and beethoven's own hair being very gray and harsh, there was no reason to fear that the hoax would be very readily detected. the lady was overjoyed at possessing this supposed memorial of her saint, proudly showing it to all her acquaintance; but when her happiness was at its height, some one, who happened to know the secret, made her acquainted with the deception that had been practised on her. in a letter addressed to beethoven, her husband warmly expressed his feelings on the subject of the discovery that had been made. convinced of the mortification which the trick must have inflicted on the lady, beethoven determined to make atonement for it. he immediately cut off a lock of his hair, and enclosed it in a note, in which he requested the lady's forgiveness of what had occurred. the respect which beethoven previously entertained for the instigator of this unfeeling trick was now converted into hatred, and he would never afterwards receive a visit from him. this is not the only instance that could be mentioned, in which our great master was influenced by vulgar-minded persons to do things unworthy of himself. * * * * * questions have frequently been addressed to me respecting the motive of the last movement of the quartett in f, op. ; to which beethoven affixed as a superscription the words--_der schwer-gefasste entschluss. un effort d'inspiration. "muss es sein?" "es muss sein!"_[ ] between beethoven and the people in whose houses he at different times lodged, the most ludicrous scenes arose whenever the period arrived for demanding payment of the rent. the keeper of the house was obliged to go to him, almanack in hand, to prove that the week was expired, and that the money must be paid. even in his last illness he sang with the most comical seriousness to his landlady the interrogatory motivo of the quartett above mentioned. the woman understood his meaning, and, entering into his jocose humour, she stamped her foot, and emphatically answered, "_es muss sein!_" there is another version of the story relative to this motivo. it refers to a publisher of music, and does not differ very much from the anecdote i have just related. both turn upon the article money, and are merely jokes. but what a poetic palace has beethoven built on this very prosaic foundation! great men as well as their inferiors, are subject to certain natural wants, such as eating and drinking. some of beethoven's peculiarities in these matters, which will not be uninteresting to many of his admirers, deserve at the same time to be ranked among the curiosities of housekeeping. for his breakfast he usually took coffee, which he frequently prepared himself; for in this beverage he had an oriental fastidiousness of taste. he allowed sixty beans for each cup, and lest his measure should mislead him to the amount of a bean or two, he made it a rule to count over the sixty for each cup, especially when he had visitors. he performed this task with as much care as others of greater importance. at dinner his favourite dish was macaroni with parmesan cheese, which must have been very bad before he pronounced it to be so; but that it was not always very good may be inferred from the uncertainty of the time he occupied in writing, and consequently of the hour for his meals. he was likewise very fond of every kind of fish; and consequently fast days imposed no sacrifice on him. to certain guests he only gave invitations on fridays, for then his table was always adorned with a fine _schill_[ ] and potatoes. supper was not a meal which he cared much about. a plate of soup, or something left from dinner, was all he partook of, and he was in bed by ten o'clock. he never wrote in the afternoon, and but very seldom in the evening. he disliked to correct what he had written. this he always felt an irksome task. he preferred making a fresh copy of his notes. beethoven's favourite beverage was fresh spring water, of which he often drank copiously from morning to night. he preferred the wine of the heights around buda to every other; but, as he was no judge of wine, he could not distinguish the adulterated from the pure; and, by drinking the former, he frequently caused great derangement to his weak stomach; but no warning of this kind had any effect upon him. among his enjoyments may also be numbered a glass of good beer and a pipe of tobacco in the evening. to these may be added the perusal of the political journals, especially the augsburg _allgemeine zeitung_. this sort of reading engrossed a great deal of his time. he frequently visited taverns and coffee-houses, even in the latter years of his life; but he usually had some favourite one, which was provided with a back door, at which he could go in and out. strangers who wished to get a sight of beethoven used to go to the coffee-house he was in the habit of frequenting; for thither he would repair to a certainty once or twice a week, not for the purpose of conversing, but of reading the journals. when he had glanced over the last paper, he would hurry away, making his exit by the back door. * * * * * m. ignaz von seyfried, in his account of beethoven,[ ] states that he was a perfect master of the latin, french, and italian languages. in as far as relates to the first-mentioned language, dr. wegeler mentions in his work (p. ) that beethoven "learned something of latin at bonn." but, in proof of his very slight acquaintance with that language, i need only mention the fact that, on the first occasion of his composing a mass, he was obliged not only to get the words translated, but also the quantities of the different syllables explained to him. how far he was conversant with the french language may be seen from the style of his letter to cherubini (in the third period); and other examples of the same kind might be quoted. that he was better acquainted with it in his earlier days, before his deafness rendered him incapable of joining in conversation, may be readily presumed. as to italian, he could only read it. beethoven greatly admired the classic writers of antiquity, and perused their works in the best translations, of all of which he possessed copies. this industrious reading, combined with his vast musical labours, left him little time for the study of languages. he had, however, as intimate a knowledge of the translated works of some of the greek authors as he had of his own scores. with shakspeare, also, he was equally well acquainted. in his friends he required the same extent of reading; otherwise their society became wearisome to him. i feel bound to notice some observations made by m. von seyfried on the subject of beethoven's housekeeping. at page of his publication he states that "beethoven used to go himself to market, and after bargaining and buying, not at the best price, he would return home and cook, with his own hands, the articles he had purchased," &c. oh! m. seyfried! "quousque tandem?"--is it not usual for persons in the most respectable conditions of life to purchase rare vegetables or fruit for the table? beethoven did so, but when he wished to furnish his table with some rarities for his guests his housekeeper accompanied him, and carried home what he purchased; and he always purchased the best. his old housekeeper, on the contrary, was not so nice in her selection. had m. von seyfried ever been beethoven's guest, he might have persuaded himself that his table was not ill provided. but that beethoven should have been so far the victim of suspicion as to be induced, by an absurd distrust of others, to cook his own food, is a circumstance which i never heard of; and other friends of the great composer, to whom i have applied for information, disclaim in like manner all knowledge of the fact. however, as beethoven was very fond of a joke, it is not impossible that he may have got up this cookery farce for the sake of mystifying some of his guests. nevertheless, thus much is certain, that in his latter days he carried his suspicious feeling to such an extreme that he would trust nobody to pay the most trifling bills for him, and would often doubt the authenticity of a receipt. this suspicion extended even to his trustworthy old housekeeper. m. von seyfried must pardon this comment on his statements. the exaggeration was doubtless on his part unintentional; he wrote from hearsay, a medium through which facts are frequently altered and perverted. in the year he was, as he mentions, on a footing of intimate intercourse with beethoven, but that intimacy did not extend either to a previous or a subsequent period. however, the suspension of personal communication had not the effect of diminishing the respect entertained for beethoven by m. von seyfried; that able artist did not regard our great composer with the jaundiced eye with which he was regarded by certain _hommes de metier_. m. von seyfried is one of the few who understood and appreciated beethoven's inward worth, without being misled by outward appearances. (see p. of his work.) the doubts respecting the genuineness of many manuscripts attributed to beethoven, which have come to light since his death, are worthy of consideration.[ ] a great deal of imposition has already been practised, and will probably be carried still further; consequently, only beethoven's handwriting, or his attestation to the authenticity of the manuscripts, can remove doubts on the subject. i will mention one instance out of many, to show how far unblushing effrontery has already been carried on this point. in the year , a few months after beethoven's death, a certain m. e---- offered for sale to the messrs. schott, in mainz, an opera alleged to be composed by beethoven. those publishers having consulted me on the business, i advised them to demand a sight of the work in beethoven's hand-writing, adding, that there existed no authentic manuscript opera by beethoven. the particulars of this not unimportant affair were published in , in the th volume of the cæcilia. it is a positive fact, that beethoven never wrote any scientific work, either on music or any other subject. whatever works, therefore, may have been published under his name, cannot be authenticated upon autographic evidence. i will wind up these biographical particulars with a description of the great master's personal appearance, together with a few remarks on the best portraits of him with which i am acquainted. beethoven's height scarcely exceeded five feet four inches, vienna measure. his figure was compact, strong, and muscular. his head, which was unusually large, was covered with long bushy grey hair, which, being always in a state of disorder, gave a certain wildness to his appearance. this wildness was not a little heightened when he suffered his beard to grow to a great length, as he frequently did. his forehead was high and expanded; and he had small brown eyes, which, when he laughed, seemed to be nearly sunk in his head; but, on the other hand, they were suddenly distended to an unusually large size when one of his musical ideas took possession of his mind. on such occasions he would look upwards, his eyes rolling and flashing brightly, or straight forward with his eyeballs fixed and motionless. his whole personal appearance then underwent a sudden and striking change. there was an air of inspiration and dignity in his aspect; and his diminutive figure seemed to tower to the gigantic proportions of his mind. these fits of sudden inspiration frequently came upon beethoven when he was in company, and even when he was in the street, where he naturally excited the marked attention of every passer by. every thought that arose in his mind was expressed in his animated countenance. he never gesticulated either with his head or his hands, except when he was standing before the orchestra. his mouth was well formed; his under lip (at least in his younger years) protruded a little, and his nose was rather broad. his smile diffused an exceedingly amiable and animated expression over his countenance, which, when he was in conversation with strangers, had a peculiarly pleasing and encouraging effect. but though his smile was agreeable, his laugh was otherwise. it was too loud, and distorted his intelligent and strongly marked features. when he laughed, his large head seemed to grow larger, his face became broader, and he might not inaptly have been likened to a grinning ape; but fortunately his fits of laughter were of very transient duration. his chin was marked in the middle and on each side with a long furrow, which imparted a striking peculiarity to that part of his countenance. his complexion was of a yellowish tint, which, however, went off in the summer season, when he was accustomed to be much out in the open air. his plump cheeks were then suffused with fresh hues of red and brown. under this latter aspect, full of health and vigour, and during one of his intervals of inspiration, the painter, h. schimon, (now in munich,) took his likeness. the picture is a bust size, in oil. at the time it was painted, beethoven was forty-nine years old. the engraving prefixed to this work is taken from it. some years after this picture was painted, another was executed by stieler, the portrait painter to the court of munich. this is a half length, and the composer is represented with a pen in his hand, writing on a piece of music paper the words "missa solennis." this picture is excellent, and the likeness faithful; but it has not the air of vigour and animation portrayed in that of schimon, the absence of which may be easily accounted for, beethoven having suffered a fit of illness of two years' duration. but he remained as stieler's portrait represents him until his death, which took place five years after the picture was painted. beethoven's family possess a portrait of him, which was painted at an earlier period than either of those i have described. it is a half length, and represents him in a sitting posture. these three pictures are the only ones which can be relied on, as likenesses of the great composer, and as worthy of the attention of his admirers. the few others which are here and there to be seen are valueless, having been painted merely from the imagination of the artists. the same remark is applicable to most of the copperplate and lithographic portraits of beethoven. excepting the copperplate engraving by letronne, and the lithographic drawing after stieler's picture, (however only those published by trentschensky, late artaria, in vienna,) i know of no print which conveys an accurate idea of the countenance of my beloved friend and master--that countenance which i fancy i still behold, living, and before me. [the author of this biography adds here an appendix, which i have omitted, as having too little relation with the object of this work, and by his own authorisation to the publisher. it suffices to mention that it treats of the state of music at münster and aix-la-chapelle. in the first town m. schindler lived three years as director of a musical institute, and since he has been music-director at aix-la-chapelle. in both these towns he has endeavoured, more or less successfully, to exalt the taste for classical music. he bears testimony also against the eccentricity and degeneracy of the modern style of pianoforte-playing, particularly in reference to the manner of performing beethoven's music, and draws the attention of the musical world to a most promising talent, a mdlle. hansemann, in aix-la-chapelle, his pupil. this lady, according to his expectations, will develop in her style of playing the true spirit of beethoven.--ed.] supplement to volume ii. no. i. beethoven's letters to mlle. von breuning, wegeler, and ries. . _to mlle. von breuning._ vienna, november nd, . charming eleonora--my dearest friend, a year has elapsed since my stay in this capital, and this is the first letter you receive from me; yet rest assured you have ever lived in my recollection. i have often conversed with you and yours, although not with that peace of mind which i could have desired, for the late wretched altercation was hovering before me, showing me my own despicable conduct. but so it was; and what would i not give, could i obliterate from the page of my life this past action, so degrading to my character, and so unlike my usual proceedings.[ ] it is true, there were many circumstances widening the breach between us, and i presume that in those whisperings, conveying to us our mutual expressions, lay the chief source of the growing evil. we both imagined that we spoke from conviction, and yet it was but in anger, and we were both of us deceived. your good and noble mind has, i know, long forgiven me, but they say that self-accusation is the surest sign of contrition, and it is thus i wanted to stand before you. now let us draw a veil over the whole affair, taking a warning by it, that, should a difference arise between friends, they should not have recourse to a mediator, but explain face to face. you receive herewith a dedication from me to you, and i only wish the work were greater and more worthy of you. they wanted me here to publish this little work, and i avail myself of the opportunity, to give you, my charming eleonora, a token of my friendship and esteem, as well as a proof that you and all yours are ever present to my memory. accept this trifle as coming from a warm admirer. oh! if it could but give you pleasure, my wishes would be fulfilled.[ ] let it be a revival of the many blessed hours which i spent at your house; perhaps it may tend to recall me to your mind until i return, which however will not be so soon. how we _will_ rejoice then, my dear friend; you will find me a more cheerful creature, whose days of trouble have passed away, their furrows smoothed by the lot of better days! should you see b. koch,[ ] i beg you will tell her it is not fair that she has not once written to me, whilst i sent her two epistles, to malchus[ ] _three_, and no answer. tell her that if _she_ chooses not to write she should at least make malchus do so. i venture to conclude with a request that i might be so happy as once more to be put in possession of an angola waistcoat, knitted by your hand.[ ] do excuse the troublesome request of your friend: it originates in a great predilection for all that comes from your hands, and, let me acknowledge the secret, in the gratification of my vanity, at being able to say that i possess something from one of the best and most charming young ladies of bonn. i have still got the one which you were so kind as to give me at bonn, but the present fashion has made it look so antiquated, that i can only keep it in my wardrobe as your gift, and as such it will ever be dear to me. you would give me sincere pleasure were you to favour me soon with a letter. should you like to have any of mine, i promise you i shall await the opportunity to show you in this, as in all other instances, how truly i am your friend and admirer, l. v. beethoven. p.s. the variations will be somewhat difficult to play, particularly the shake in the coda.[ ] but let not that alarm you; it is so managed that you need only do the shake, leaving out the other notes which occur in the violin part also. i should never have written such a thing, but that i had noticed an individual about vienna who, after having heard me extemporize the preceding evening, put down many of my peculiarities the next day, showing them off as his own.[ ] taking it for granted that such things would shortly appear, i thought it wiser to be the first to publish them. another reason was to put the piano-forte masters of this place to confusion, for many of them are my deadly enemies, and i thus take my revenge upon them, knowing how they will be asked every now and then to play these variations, and to how little advantage my gentlemen will appear in them. beethoven. . second letter to mlle. v. breuning. i was most agreeably surprised by the beautiful cravat, the work of your hands. it created sensations of sorrow, much as i was pleased by the thing itself. this sorrow was called up by a recollection of former times, and by the shame i felt at your generous conduct. truly, i did not think you had deemed me worthy of your remembrance. oh! could you have witnessed my feelings at yesterday's occurrence, you would not deem me guilty of extravagance when i assure you that your remembrance saddened me and called forth many tears. do pray believe me, little as i may have deserved it, believe me, _my friend_ (let me ever call you such), i have suffered much, and still suffer, from the loss of your friendship. never shall i forget you and your dear mother. you were so kind to me that your loss cannot and will not so soon be made up to me. i know what i had, what i lost, and what you were to me; but i must return to scenes equally painful for you to hear, as for me to relate, were i to fill up this blank. as a slight return for your kind recollection of me, i take the liberty of sending the variations and the rondo with violin accompaniments. i am very busy just now, or i would have copied the long-promised sonata for you. it is but a sketch in my manuscript, and even paraquin, clever as he is, would have had much difficulty in transcribing it. you may have the rondo copied, and return the score; that which i now send is the only thing amongst my works which could be of use to you, and as you are about going to kerpen, i thought these trifles might afford you some pleasure. farewell, my friend, i cannot possibly give you any other name; indifferent as i may be to you, i hope you will believe in the assurance of my regard for yourself and your mother. pray let me know if i have it in my power in any way to contribute to your pleasure; it is the only remaining means of showing you my gratitude for past kindness. a happy journey to you, and may your dearest mother return home perfectly recovered! do not forget your still admiring friend, beethoven. . beethoven to wegeler. vienna, june , .[ ] my dear and beloved wegeler, a thousand thanks to you for your recollection of me; i have not deserved it; i have not even _tried_ to deserve it; and yet my most unpardonable carelessness cannot check your friendship, which remains pure and unshaken. do not for a moment think that i could forget you or any of those once so dear to me; there are times when i long for you, when i sincerely wish to stay with you for a while. my country and the charming place which gave me birth are ever before my eyes; their beauty undimmed as when i left them--in short, i shall consider that time the happiest, which leads me back to you all, once more greeting the rhine in its patriarchal beauty. i cannot tell you _when_ this may be, but thus much i must say to you all, that you shall not see me until i am much greater--not greater only in my art, but better and more perfect as a man; and then, if our country should be more flourishing, i will employ my art for the benefit of the poor only.[ ] o blessed moment! how happy do i deem myself that i can call thee forth, that i can myself create thee! * * * you wish me to say something of my circumstances; why, they are by no means bad. lichnowsky, who, improbable as it may seem to you, from the little altercations we have had, but which tended only in confirming our friendship[ ]--lichnowsky, who has always been my warmest patron, has settled upon me the sum of six hundred florins, which i may draw until i find a convenient appointment; my compositions are well paid, and i may say i have more orders than i can well execute; six or seven publishers, and more, being ready to take any of my works: i need no longer submit to being bargained with--i ask my terms, and am paid. you see this is an excellent thing; as, for instance, i see a friend in want, and my purse does not at the moment permit me to assist him; i have but to sit down and write, and my friend is no longer in need. i am grown much more economical too; should i remain here, i think i may rely upon having a day for a concert once a-year. i have already had several. but an evil spirit in the shape of my bad health plays me false; my hearing has become weaker and weaker for the last three years, and my constitution has been much weakened by a stomach complaint, fearfully increased during my stay here, which is said to be the cause of this evil. frank wanted to restore my health by tonics, and my hearing by oil of almonds; but, alack a-day, this was not to be! my hearing remained impaired, my digestion in its former condition; this continued till last autumn, when i was many a time in despair. a medical practitioner of the genus _ass_ advised the cold bath for me; a more rational one ordered me that of the danube, which is tepid: this did wonders; my general health improved, my hearing continued bad, or became worse. last winter i was in a wretched state--every ailment returning with renewed force, until about a month ago i went to vering, judging that my case might require surgical, as well as medical assistance, and having much confidence in his skill. he succeeded in alleviating my sufferings by the use of the tepid bath, into which was poured a strengthening mixture; he gave me no medicine, only four days ago i had some pills, besides a _tea_ for my ears, and i may say i feel stronger and better--but my ears! they are ringing and singing night and day. i do think i spend a wretched life; for the last two years shunning all society, because i cannot bring myself to walk up to people and say, "_i am deaf_." in any other profession this might pass; but in the one i have chosen, it is a wretched plight to be in; besides, my enemies, who are not few in number, what would they say? to give you a notion of this extraordinary deafness, i must tell you that i am forced in a theatre to lean up close to the orchestra in order that i may understand the actor. i do not hear the high notes of instruments or singers at a certain distance, and it is astonishing that there are individuals who never noticed it while conversing with me; from my having been subject to frequent reveries, they attribute my silence to these. i sometimes hear those who speak in a low voice--that is to say, the sounds, but not the words, and yet if any one begins to bawl out, it annoys me excessively. heaven knows what it may end in! vering says i shall certainly be much better, although i may not entirely recover. i have often cursed my existence; plutarch has won me back to resignation. i will, if possible, defy my fate, although there will be moments when i shall be the most miserable of god's creatures. i beg of you not to mention my affliction to any one--no, not even to laura. i confide this secret to you only, and should be glad if you would, some day, enter into correspondence upon it with vering. should it continue, i shall come to you next spring. you will take a cottage for me in some beautiful spot in the country, and there i shall ruralize for six months; perhaps _that_ may work a change. resignation! what a miserable resource, and yet it is the only one left me. do excuse my troubling you with my griefs, when you are already in sorrow yourself. stephen breuning is here, and i see him daily, enjoying those recollections which his presence calls back to my mind. he is indeed grown an excellent fellow, as kind and true-hearted as i trust we all are. i have beautiful rooms just now, leading on to the bastei (ramparts), and of infinite value to me, on account of my health. i believe i shall be able to prevail upon breuning to come to me. you shall have your antiochus, and plenty of my music, if you do not think they will put you to too much expense. honestly speaking, i am truly pleased with your love of the art. let me but know _how_, and i will send you all my works, which are now become pretty numerous, and daily increasing. i send you in exchange for my grand-father's picture, which i beg you will forward to me by coach, that of his grandson, your ever faithful beethoven; it has appeared at artaria's, who, together with many other publishers, solicited me to let them have it. i intend shortly to write to stephen, for the purpose of lecturing him upon his obstinate mood. i will make his ears ring with our old friendship, and entreat him not to add vexation to your sufficiently saddened circumstances. i shall also write to the amiable laura. i have never forgotten one of you, dear, kind friends, even when i was most silent; for, as to writing, why, that you know never was my forte--the dearest friends have not had letters from me for years. i live entirely in my music, and no sooner is one thing finished than i begin another--indeed, i now sometimes write three or four things at the same time. pray let me hear from you oftener, and i will take care to find time for replying to your letters. kind regards to all, including my dear mme. v. breuning; tell her i am still subject to the "raptus." as to k., i am not surprised at the change in her. fortune's wheel is round, and does not always halt before the best and noblest. a word about ries, to whom give my kind regards, and say that i shall further write to you respecting his son, although i believe paris would be a better place than vienna to make his fortune in. vienna is so overstocked, that even those who have great merit stand a bad chance of succeeding. by the autumn or winter i shall be able to judge what i can do for him, as everybody then hastens back to town. farewell, my faithful wegeler. be ever assured of the love and friendship of yours, beethoven. . beethoven to wegeler. vienna, nov. , . my dearest wegeler, i am truly obliged for the new marks of your interest in my welfare, the more so as i feel myself unworthy of them. you wish to know how i am, what i am taking; and, much as i dislike conversing upon the subject at all, i would rather do so with you, than with any one else. vering, for the last few months, has applied blisters to both my arms, consisting of a certain bark, known to you, as i suppose.[ ] this is a most disagreeable remedy, as it deprives me of the free use of my arms for two or three days at a time, until the bark has drawn sufficiently, which occasions a good deal of pain. it is true, the ringing in my ears is somewhat less than it was, especially in my left ear, in which the disease began, but my hearing is by no means improved; indeed i am not sure but that the evil is increased. my health is improved, and the tepid bath always sets me up for eight or ten days. i take but little medicine, and have begun to use the herb-poultice as you prescribed. vering opposes the shower-bath. i am upon the whole much dissatisfied with him; he cares too little about his patients; were i not to call upon him sometimes, which indeed is but seldom, i should never see him. what do you think of schmidt?[ ] i am not fond of changing, but i think vering is too much of the practitioner to allow of his gathering fresh thoughts from books. schmidt seems to differ widely from him in this respect, and might not be so careless. they tell me wonders of galvanism; what is your opinion of it? a medical man told me he had seen a deaf and dumb child recover its hearing (at berlin), as well as a man who had been deaf for seven years. i hear that your friend schmidt[ ] makes experiments of this nature. i have begun to mix in society again, and thus to enjoy my existence rather more than i did; you cannot conceive how deserted and miserable a life i have led these two years, my deafness pursuing me like a spectre and scaring me from mankind: i must have appeared a perfect misanthrope, whilst i am so far from it. a dear and charming girl has wrought this beneficial change in me; she loves me as i do her, and this has brought back some happy moments, the first i have enjoyed these two years; it is the first time i feel that marriage could render me happy.[ ] she is not, unfortunately, of my station in life, and at present i certainly _could_ not marry, for i must be tossed about the world first. were it not for my hearing, i should have travelled over half the globe--that is what i long for. my greatest enjoyment is to pursue my art and produce in it. do not think i should be happy with you all about me. in how far could that ameliorate my condition? your very anxiety for me would be painfully visible in your looks, and would add to my misery. and that beautiful country of mine, what was my lot in it?--the hope of a happy futurity. this might now be realised if i were freed from my affliction. oh, freed from that, i should compass the world! i feel it, my youth is but beginning--have i not hitherto been a sickly creature? my physical powers have for some time been materially increasing, those of my mind likewise; i feel myself nearer and nearer the mark--i feel, but cannot describe it. this alone is the vital principle of your beethoven. no rest for me, i know of none but sleep, and i grieve at having to sacrifice to it more time than i have hitherto deemed necessary. take but one half of my disease from me, and i will return to you a matured and accomplished man, renewing the ties of our friendship, for you shall see me as happy as i _may_ be in this sublunary world--not as a sufferer, no, that would be more than i could bear. i will blunt the sword of fate, it shall not utterly destroy me. how beautiful it is to live a thousand lives in one--no, i am not made for a retired life, i feel it. you will write as soon as possible, will you? take care stephen make up his mind to take an appointment somewhere in the teutonic order. his health will not endure the fatiguing life which he leads here; he is, moreover, so deserted that i do not see how he is to stand it. you know how we get on here; indeed i will not assert that society would diminish his exhaustion of nerve, and he is not to be prevailed upon to go anywhere. i had some music at my rooms some time since; friend stephen did not appear. do recommend him more coolness and self-possession; i have not succeeded in enforcing it; without them he cannot recover his health and happiness. let me know in your next letter whether you don't mind my sending you a great quantity of my music; you can sell that which you do not want, and thus pay your postage having my likeness into the bargain. my kindest remembrances to laura, to mamma, also to christopher. you love me a little, eh? be assured that i do love you, and remain ever your faithful friend, beethoven. . beethoven to ries. baden, july , . * * * * you will have been surprised at the affair with breuning;[ ] believe me, my friend, that i had been wrought into this burst of passion by many an unpleasant circumstance of an earlier date. i have the gift of concealing and restraining my irritability on many subjects; but if i happen to be touched at a time when i am more than usually susceptible of anger, i burst forth more violently than any one else. breuning has doubtless most excellent qualities, but he thinks himself utterly without faults, and yet is most open to those, for which he blames others. he has a littleness of mind, which i have held in contempt since my infancy. my powers of judgment had almost prophesied to me the course which matters would take with breuning, for we differ too materially in our manner of thinking, acting, and feeling. i fancied late difficulties might have been overcome--experience has taught me otherwise, and now, no more friendship for me. i have met with two friends only in this world with whom i never had any altercation; but what men were they!--the one is dead, the other still alive. although we have not heard from each other these six years, yet i know that i hold the first place in his heart, as he does in mine. the basis of friendship should be the greatest similarity in the minds and feelings of men. i only wish you would read my letter to breuning and his to me. no, he will never regain the place in my heart which he once held in it. whoever can attribute so mean a proceeding to his friend, and can himself act so basely towards him, is not worthy of my friendship. do not forget the matter of my lodgings. farewell. do not tailor[ ] too much; make my respects to the fairest of the fair, and send me a dozen needles. i should never have thought i could be as idle as i am here. should a fit of industry succeed i may accomplish something grand. vale. beethoven. . beethoven to wegeler. vienna, may nd, . my good old friend, i can almost fancy these lines creating a surprise in your mind; and yet, although left without epistolary witnesses, you live most vividly in my recollection; indeed, there is amongst my mss. one long destined for you, and which you will certainly receive during this summer.[ ] my retired life has ceased these last few years, and i have been forcibly drawn into the world. i have not yet decided for or against this change, but who has not felt the storm which is raging around us? i, however, should be happy, perhaps the happiest of men, had not that demon taken possession of my ears. i have read somewhere that man should not wilfully part from this life whilst he could do but one good deed; and, but for this, i should ere now have ceased to exist, and by my own hand too. oh, life is so charming; but to me it is poisoned! you will not refuse my request to procure me a copy of my baptismal register. the expenses, whatever they be, could be remitted to you by stephen breuning, with whom i know you have a running account, and i will settle with him. should you think it worth your while to investigate the matter, and should you like to go from coblentz to bonn for that purpose, i beg you will put your costs down to me. there is one thing to be considered in the matter--that i had a brother born before me, likewise named ludwig, with the second name of maria, but who died young. the birth of this brother should be ascertained previous to my age being fixed.[ ] i know i have been put down as older than i am, by a mistake arising from this circumstance. alas! i have lived some time without knowing my own age. i had a family-book; but that has been lost, the lord knows how! do not be angry, therefore, if i recommend this to you most warmly, and try to find out the birth of the ludwig maria, as well as that of the ludwig who came after him. the sooner you send me the register, the greater my obligation. they tell me you sing a song of mine at your freemasons' lodge; probably one in e major, which i have not got myself; pray send it to me, and i promise to make you ample amends for it.[ ] think of me with kindly feelings, little as i apparently deserve it. embrace your dear wife, kiss your children, and all that are dear to you, in the name of your friend, beethoven. . beethoven to wegeler. vienna, sept. , . i take the opportunity which offers through j. simrock,[ ] to recall myself to your memory. i hope you have received my engraving,[ ] and the bohemian glass. as soon as i shall again wander through bohemia, you shall have something similar. farewell, you are husband and father--so am i, but without a wife.[ ] love to all yours--to all _mine_. your friend, beethoven. . beethoven to wegeler. vienna, oct. , . my old and dearest friend, i cannot give you an adequate idea of the delight i felt in your and laura's letter. it is true, my answers should have followed with the swiftness of an arrow; but i am careless in replying to my friends, because i believe those whom i really love know me without my writing to them. i often get an answer ready in my thoughts, but when i want to put it on paper i mostly throw away my pen, because i cannot write as i feel. i do remember every kindness you have shown me: for instance, when you had my room whitewashed, and thus made me a most agreeable surprise.[ ] i feel the same gratitude towards the breunings: our separation was the necessary result of the instability of men's lives--each pursuing his own ends and trying to fulfil destiny--the principle of all that is unalterably good still firmly uniting us. i regret i cannot to-day write you at full length as i should wish, being in bed. i will answer but a few points of your letter. you say that i am mentioned somewhere as a natural son of the deceased king of prussia. i had heard this long ago, but from principle i have never written on myself, or answered anything that others have said of me; thus i leave you most willingly to vindicate my parents' honour, and especially that of my mother, in the eyes of the world. you speak of your son. i hope it is understood that when he comes here, he will find a father and a friend in me, and that i shall serve him with the greatest pleasure wherever i can. i have yet your laura's _silhouette_, a proof positive how i still value all that was dear and near to me in my youth. on the subject of my diplomas, i will mention to you, but shortly, that i am an honorary member of the royal society of arts in sweden, the same in amsterdam, and an honorary citizen of vienna. some time ago a dr. spieker took away with him to berlin my last great symphony with chorusses; it is dedicated to the king, and he made me write the dedication in my own hand. i had previously asked and received permission at the embassy to dedicate the work to the king. on dr. spieker's suggestion i had to send my ms., with my own corrections and improvements, to his majesty, to be deposited in the royal library. something has been whispered to me about the order of the red eagle of the second class. i don't know how it will end, for i never sought a distinction _like_ this; in our times, however, it would not be unwelcome to me for many reasons. my motto is always--_nulla dies sine lineâ_, and if i give my muse any rest it is but that she should arise with new vigour. i hope to achieve a few more great works, and then to close my earthly career like an old child amongst some good people. you will receive some music through the brothers schott, of mayence. the portrait which i send herewith is a master-piece of art, but not the last likeness which has been taken of me. i have to name another mark of distinction conferred upon me, as i know it gives you pleasure. a medal has been sent me by the late king of france, with the inscription "donné par le roi à m. beethoven," and accompanied by a most obliging letter of the duc de chartres, premier gentilhomme du roi.[ ] thus much to-day. my dearest friend, i am over-powered by the recollections of the past, and this letter reaches you bedewed with my tears. now that a beginning is made, you shall soon hear from me again, and the more you write, the greater will be my happiness. there can be no question as to our friendship on either side, and so farewell. i beg you will embrace your dear laura and your children in my name, and think of me. god be with you. with true esteem, ever your faithful friend, beethoven. . beethoven to wegeler. vienna, feb. , .[ ] my old and worthy friend, i received most fortunately your second letter through breuning. i am still too weak to answer it, but you may think that its contents are truly welcome to me.[ ] my convalescence, if such i may call it, goes on slowly. it is to be expected that a fourth operation must take place, although the medical men have not yet pronounced upon this. i take patience, and think: evil sometimes leads to good. but how surprised i felt to find from your last letter that you had not received anything. from the letter which you here receive, you will see that i wrote on the th of december of last year. it is the same with the portrait, as the date will show when it reaches you.[ ] stephen insisted upon sending you the things by private hand, but they were left until now, and it was difficult to get them back even at this moment. you will now receive the portrait by post through messrs. schott, who also send you the music. i should like to say much to you to-day, but i am too weak, so i can only embrace you and laura. with true friendship and devotedness to you and yours, believe me, your old and faithful friend, beethoven. [this letter, too, was written in a strange hand, and signed by beethoven.] no. ii. [beethoven's correspondence with mr. c. neate, of london, and f. ries, (beethoven's former pupil,) concerning the publication of several of his works--their performance at the philharmonic concerts--beethoven's intended visit to england.[ ]] . beethoven to mr. neate, at vienna. vienna, december, . my dear mr. neate, i have received a letter from mr. ries, as amanuensis to salomon (who has had the misfortune to break his right shoulder in a fall from his horse), and he tells me, on the th of september, that the three overtures which you took of me for the philharmonic society[ ] four months ago, had not then reached london. this being the second remembrancer which mr. salomon sends me on the subject, i thought i had better let you know. should you not have sent them off, i should like to revise the overture in _c major_, as it may be somewhat incorrect. with regard to any written agreement you may like to have about these things for england, that is very much at your service at a moment's notice. i would not have them suppose that i could ever act otherwise than as a _man of honour_. there are dispositions so fickle that they think _one way_ to-day and _another way_ to-morrow, and fancy others as ready to change their mind; and with such tempers one cannot be positive and mistrustful enough. so fare you well, my dear mr. neate. yours truly, ludwig von beethoven. . beethoven to f. ries. wednesday, november nd, vienna, . dear ries, i hasten to inform you that i have to-day sent off the piano-forte score of the symphony in a by post to the house of thomas coutts and co. the court not being here, there are very few, if any, couriers, and this is, moreover, the safest way. the symphony is to be brought out about march. i shall fix the day. it has been so long in doing, that i cannot name an earlier time. the trio in the sonata for violin may come out later, and both will be in london in a few weeks. i beg of you, dear ries, to look after these things, and to take care i receive the money; the expenses are great ere these things reach you. i want cash; i have had a loss of florins in my yearly salary. at the time of the bank-notes (_banco-zettel_) it was nothing--the reduced paper-money (_einlösungs-scheine_) succeeded, and it is through these i lose the florins, after several years of vexation and entire loss of salary. we are now at a juncture when the _einlösungs-scheine_ stand lower than ever did the _banco-zettel_. i pay florins rent; figure to yourself the misery which this paper-money causes. my poor unhappy brother (carl) has just died; he had a bad wife; i may say he was in a consumption for some years, and to make life bearable to him, i gave him what i may reckon at , florins (_wiener währung_). i own this is not much for an englishman, but a vast deal for a poor german or austrian. the poor fellow was much changed of late years, and i may say i lament him with all my heart, whilst i am truly glad to be able to say to myself, i have not neglected anything which could contribute to his preservation. tell mr. birchall to repay you and mr. salomon for the postage of your letters to me, and mine to you; he may deduct it from the sum which he has to pay me; i am anxious that those who are active for me, should suffer the least possible through it. _wellington's victory at the battle of vittoria_[ ] must have arrived long ago at coutts and co.'s. mr. birchall need not pay me till he has got all the works. do let me know as soon as possible the day which mr. birchall fixes for the publication of the piano-forte score. thus much to day, with the warmest recommendation of my concerns; i am at your service wherever you may require it. farewell, dear ries! your friend, beethoven. . beethoven to ries. vienna, january , . my dear ries! the symphony will be dedicated to the empress of russia. the piano-forte score of the symphony in a must not come out till the month of june; the publisher here cannot be ready before that time. will you, my dearest ries, inform mr. birchall of this without delay? the sonata, with violin accompaniment, will be sent off by the next post, and may be likewise published in london by the month of may--the trio somewhat later (you will receive it by the next post, too). i shall myself fix the time for its publication. and now, my dear ries, take my sincere thanks for all your good offices, and in particular for the correction of the proofs. may heaven bless you, and may you progress more and more; i shall ever take the most sincere interest in it. my best regards to your wife. ever your sincere friend, ludwig van beethoven. . manuscript agreement, as drawn up by beethoven for the philharmonic society of london, concerning the above-named three ms. overtures:-- vienna, february , . mr. neate has taken of me, in july, , three overtures for the philharmonic society of london, and has paid me for them the sum of guineas, for which sum i engage, not to have these said overtures printed elsewhere, either in parts or score, always reserving for myself the right to have the said works performed wherever i please, and to publish them in piano-forte arrangement so soon as mr. neate shall write me word that they have been performed in london; besides which, mr. neate assures me that he obligingly takes upon himself, after the lapse of one or two years, to obtain the consent of the society to my publishing these three overtures in parts as well as in score, their consent to that effect being indispensable. thus i respectfully salute the philharmonic society. ludwig van beethoven. . beethoven to ries. vienna, february , . * * * i have not been well for some time; my brother's death has had its influence upon my mind and my writings. i am truly grieved at salomon's death; he had a noble mind, and i remember him since my earliest youth. you have become his executor, and i, at the same time, the guardian of my poor brother's child. you will scarcely have had as much vexation as i had at this death; yet i feel the sweet consolation of having rescued a poor little innocent from the hands of an unworthy mother. farewell, dear ries! if i can be of the least use whatever to you, pray consider me wholly as your true friend, beethoven. . beethoven to ries. vienna, march , . my answer comes somewhat late; but i was ill, and had a good deal of work. * * * as yet i have not seen a farthing of the ten ducats, and i begin to fancy that the english are generous only in foreign countries, the prince regent, too, has not even given me the value of the copying expenses for my battle, which i sent him, nor has he vouchsafed a verbal or written acknowledgment. my income amounts to florins in paper; i have to pay florins rent, and florins to my servant and his wife: now, do you calculate yourself what remains; and besides this, i have entirely to provide for my little nephew; he is at school at present, which costs about florins, and leaves much to desire; so i must go into regular housekeeping to take him home. how much there is required to live here, and yet there is no end to it because--because--because--. you know what i mean. i should be glad of some commissions from the philharmonic society, besides the concert. above all, my dear pupil ries should sit down and dedicate something of sterling worth to me, upon which the master would return measure for measure. how can i send you my portrait? * * * my best wishes for your wife; alas, i have none; and _one_ only have i met, but shall never possess her; this does not, however, make me an enemy to the sex. your sincere friend, beethoven. . beethoven to ries. vienna, april , . * * * * neate must be in london by this time; he has taken charge of several of my works and has promised me all his interest for them. the archduke rudolph, amongst others, plays your compositions with me, dear ries, and your _sogno_ pleases me above all the rest. farewell. i commend me to your well-beloved wife and to all the fair english women who will receive my greetings. your true friend, beethoven. .[ ] beethoven À mr. neate. vienne, le maj, . (adresse sailerstadt, no. et , au éme étage.) mon tres cher ami! l'amitié de vous envers moi me pardonnerà touts le fauts contre la langue francaises, mais la hâte ou j'ecris la lettre, ce peu d'exercice et dans ce moment même sans dictionnaire français tout cela m'attire surement encore moins de critique qu'en ordinairement. avanthier on me portoit un extrait d'une gazette anglaise nommée _morning cronigle_, ou je lisoit avec grand plaisir, que la société philarmonique à donné ma sinfonie in a#; c'est une grande satisfaction pour moi, mais je souhais bien d'avoir de vous même des nouvelles, que vous ferez avec tous les compositions, que j'ai vous donnés: vous m'avez promis ici, de donner un concert pour moi, mais ne prenez mal, si je me méfis un peu, quand je pense que le prince régent d'angleterre ne me dignoit pas ni d'une reponse ni d'une autre reconnoissance pour la bataile que j'ai envoyé a son altesse, et lequelle on a donnée si souvent a londre, et seulement les gazettes annoncoient le reussir de cet oeuvre et rien d'autre chose--comme j'ai deja ecrit une lettre anglaise à vous mon tres cher ami, je trouve bien de finir, je vous ai ici depeignée ma situation fatal ici, pour attendre tout ce de votre amitié, mais hélas, pas une lettre de vous--ries m'a ecrit, mais vous connoissez bien dans ces entretiens entre lui et moi, ce que je vous ne trouve pas necessaire d'expliquer. j'espere donc cher ami bientôt une lettre de vous, ou j'espere de trouver de nouvelles de votre santé et aussi de ce que vous avez fait a londres pour moi--adieu donc, quant à moi je suis et je serai toujour votre vrai ami, beethoven. . beethoven to mr. neate. vienna, may , .[ ] my dear neate, by a letter of mr. ries i am acquainted with your happy arrival at london. i am very well pleased with it, but still better i should be pleased if i had learned it by yourself. concerning our business, i know well enough that for the performance of the greater works, as the symphony, the cantate, the chorus, and the opera, you want the help of the philharmonic society, and i hope your endeavour to my advantage will be successful. mr. ries gave me notice of your intention to give a concert to my benefit. for this triumph of my art at london i would be indebted to you alone; but an influence still wholesomer on my almost indigent life, would be to have the profit proceeding from this enterprise. you know, that in some regard i am now father to the lovely lad you saw with me; hardly i can live alone three months upon my annual salary of florins in paper, and now the additional burden of maintaining a poor orphan--you conceive how welcome lawful means to improve my circumstances must be to me. as for the quatuor in f minor, you may sell it without delay to a publisher, and signify me the day of its publication, as i should wish it to appear here and abroad on the very day. the same you be pleased to do with the two sonatas op. for pianoforte and violoncello;[ ] yet with the latter it needs no haste. i leave entirely to your judgment to fix the terms for both works, to wit, the quatuor and the sonatas, the more the better. be so kind to write to me immediately for two reasons; st, that i may not be obliged to shrink up my shoulders when they ask me if i got letters from you; and dly, that i may know how you do, and if i am in favour with you. answer me in english if you have to give me happy news, (for example, those of giving a concert to my benefit,) in french if they are bad ones. perhaps you find some lover of music to whom the trio and the sonata with violin, mr. ries had sold to mr. birchall, or the symphony arranged for the pianoforte, might be dedicated, and from whom there might be expected a present. in expectation of your speedy answer, my dear friend and countryman, i am, yours truly, ludwig von beethoven. . beethoven to ries. vienna, june , . my dear ries, i am sorry again to put you to the expense of postage; much as i like to serve and assist others, it always hurts me to draw upon them on my own account. the ten ducats are not forthcoming, which leads to the conclusion that in england, as well as here, there are people who promise, but do not perform. i do not blame _you_ in this matter. not having heard anything from neate, i only beg you will ask him, whether he has disposed of the quartett in _f minor_. i am almost ashamed to speak of all the other works intrusted to him, ashamed to own to myself that i have given them to him with that unbounded confidence which knows of no other conditions, than those which his care and friendship would suggest for my benefit. i have had the translation of a notice in the morning chronicle on the performance of my symphony (probably the one in a) given to me. it seems i shall fare with this work, and with all those which neate has taken, as i did with my battle (of vittoria). i shall read of their performance in the newspapers, and get nothing else by them. yours, &c., beethoven. mr. neate had been intrusted by beethoven with several ms. works, (the two sonatas, op. , for pianoforte and violoncello, and the pianoforte trio in b flat, op. ,) to dispose of them to english publishers, but found great obstacles in so doing from the difficulty of the music and the unwillingness of some of the principal music-publishers to purchase works so little understood, by an author too who, at that time, was more noted for his eccentricities than for any of those noble attributes which in after days have procured for him the admiration of the age. the delays occasioned by these circumstances, as well as by others relating to mr. neate's private life, and finally the unsatisfactory results of his negotiations, led beethoven to the suspicion that his interest had been neglected and his confidence betrayed. this induced mr. neate to write the following letter. . mr. neate to beethoven. london, october , . my dear beethoven, nothing has ever given me more pain than your letter to sir george smart.[ ] i confess that i deserve your censure, that i am greatly in fault; but must say also that i think you have judged too hastily and too harshly of my conduct. the letter i sent you some time since, was written at a moment when i was in _such_ a state of mind and spirits that i am sure, had you seen me or known my sufferings, you would have excused every unsatisfactory passage in it. thank god! it is now all over, and i was just on the point of writing to you, when sir george smart called with your letter. i do not know how to begin an answer to it; i have never been called upon to justify myself, because it is the first time that i ever stood accused of dishonour; and what makes it the more painful is "that i should stand accused by the man who, of all in the world, i most admire and esteem, and one also whom i have never ceased to think of, and wish for his welfare, since i made his acquaintance." but as the appearance of my conduct has been so unfavourable in your eyes, i must tell you again of the situation i was in, previous to my marriage. * * * * * * * i remain in my profession, and with no abatement of my love of beethoven! during this period i could not myself do anything publicly, consequently all your music remained in my drawer unseen and unheard. i however did make a very considerable attempt with the philharmonic, to acquire for you what i thought you fully entitled to. i offered all your music to them upon condition that they made you a very handsome present; this they said they could not afford, but proposed to see and hear your music, and then offer a price for it; i objected and replied "that i should be ashamed that your music should be put up by auction and bid for!--that your name and reputation were too dear to me;" and i quitted the meeting with a determination to give a concert and take all the trouble myself, rather than that your feelings should be wounded by the chance of their disapproval of your works. i was the more apprehensive of this, from the unfortunate circumstance of your overtures not being well received; they said they had no more to hope for, from your other works. i was not a director last season, but i am for the next, and then i shall have a voice which i shall take care to exert. i have offered your sonatas to several publishers, but they thought them too difficult, and said they would not be saleable, and consequently made offers such as i could not accept, but when i shall have played them to a few professors, their reputation will naturally be increased by their merits, and i hope to have better offers. the symphony you read of in the 'morning chronicle' i believe to be the one in c minor; it certainly was not the one in a, for it has not been played at a concert. i shall insist upon its being played next season, and most probably the first night. i am exceedingly glad that you have chosen sir george smart to make your complaints of me to, as he is a man of honour, and very much your friend; had it been to any one else, your complaint might have been listened to, and i injured all the rest of my life. but i trust i am too respectable to be thought unfavourably of, by those who know me. i am, however, quite willing to give up every sheet i have of yours, if you again desire it. sir george will write by the next post, and will confirm this. i am sorry you say that i did not even _acknowledge_ my obligation to you, because i talked of nothing else at vienna, as every one there who knows me can testify. i even offered my purse, which you generously always declined. pray, my dear friend, believe me to remain, ever yours, most sincerely, c. neate. in reply to the above, mr. neate received the following letter from mr. häring, a private gentleman and distinguished amateur on the violin, who used to keep up a friendly intercourse with beethoven at vienna:-- . mr. haring to mr. c. neate, (at beethoven's dictation.) vienna, th december, . , seiler-staette, third story. my dear sir, both letters to mr. beethoven and to me arrived. i shall first answer his, as he has made out some memorandums, and would have written himself, if he was not prevented by a rheumatic feverish cold. he says: "what can i answer to your warmfelt excuses? past ills must be forgotten, and i wish you heartily joy that you have safely reached the long-wished-for port of love. not having heard of you, i could not delay any longer the publication of the symphony in a which appeared here some few weeks ago. it certainly may last some weeks longer before a copy of this publication appears in london, but unless it is soon performed at the philharmonic, and something is done for me afterwards by way of benefit, i don't see in what manner i am to reap any good. the loss of your interest last season with the philharmonic, when all my works in your hands were unpublished, has done me great harm; but it could not be helped, and at this moment i know not what to say. your intentions are good, and it is to be hoped that my little fame may yet help. with respect to the two sonatas, op. , for piano-forte and violoncello, i wish to see them sold very soon, as i have several offers for them in germany, which depend entirely upon me to accept; but i should not wish, by publishing them here, to lose all and every advantage with them in england. i am satisfied with the ten guineas offered for the dedication of the trio, and i beg you to hand the title immediately to mr. birchall, who is anxiously waiting for it; you'll please to use my name with him. i should be flattered to write some new works for the philharmonic--i mean symphonies, an oratorio, or cantatas,[ ] &c. mr. birchall wrote as if he wished to purchase my 'fidelio.' please to treat with him, unless you have some plan with it for my benefit concert, which in general i leave to you and sir george smart, who will have the goodness to deliver this to you. the score of the opera 'fidelio' is not published in germany or anywhere else. try what can be done with mr. birchall, or as you think best. i was very sorry to hear that the three overtures were not liked in london. i by no means reckon them amongst my best works, (which, however, i can boldly say of the symphony in a), but still they were not disliked here and in pesth, where people are not easily satisfied. was there no fault in the execution? was there no party-spirit? "and now i shall close, with the best wishes for your welfare, and that you enjoy all possible felicity in your new situation of life. "your true friend, "louis van beethoven." . beethoven to ries. vienna, july , . dear friend, i feel much flattered by the honourable proposals you make me in your letter of the th of june: this comes to show you how i appreciate them, and, were it not for my unlucky affliction, and for the additional attendance this would make me require on a journey and in a strange country, i should _at once_ accept the proposal of the philharmonic society. now place yourself in my situation, consider how many more difficulties i have to contend with than any other artist, and then judge whether my demands be unjust. i am going here to subjoin them, and beg you will communicate them to the directors of the above-named society. . i mean to be in london in the middle of january, , at the latest. . the two grand new symphonies are then to be ready, and are to remain the society's exclusive property. . the society to give me for them three hundred guineas, and allow me one hundred guineas for my travelling expenses, which will much exceed that sum, as i must necessarily take some one with me. . as i shall immediately begin the two symphonies, if my proposals be accepted, the society to send me at once a cheque of one hundred and fifty guineas, that i may provide a carriage and other necessaries for my journey without delay. . i accept the conditions relative to my non-appearance in any other public orchestra, to my non-conducting, to my giving the preference to the philharmonic society upon equal terms, and in fact, with my sense of honour, all this would have been understood, though not mentioned. . i may rely upon the assistance of the society in one or more benefit concerts, as circumstances may permit. i feel sure of this, from the feelings of friendship of several of the directors of this estimable body, as indeed from the kind interest which most of the professional men have shown for my works; this will be an additional spur to my endeavours to fulfil their expectations. . i also beg to have the above written out in english, signed by three directors of the society, and sent over to me. you may easily imagine how i enjoy the thoughts of becoming acquainted with the worthy sir george smart, and of seeing you and neate again. would i could fly across to you instead of this letter! your sincere admirer and friend, l. v. beethoven. * * * * * (p.s. in his own hand.) dear ries,--i embrace you with all my heart. i have expressly made use of another hand for the above that you might read and lay it before the society with more ease. i have full confidence in your feelings towards me, and hope the philharmonic society will accept my proposals; you may rest assured that i shall exert all my powers to fulfil, in the worthiest manner possible, the honourable call of so distinguished a body of musicians. how strong is your band? how many violins, &c. &c., with single or double wind instruments? is the room large--does the music tell in it? . beethoven to ries. vienna, march , . my dear ries, much as i wished it, i could not possibly manage to get to london this year; i beg you will inform the philharmonic society that it was my weak state of health which prevented me. i have some hopes of being effectually cured this spring, and then i shall avail myself about autumn of the proposals made to me by the society--fulfilling all their conditions. will you ask neate in my name not to make a public use, at least, of such works of mine as he has got, until my arrival: whichever way matters may stand with him, he has given me cause to complain. potter called on me several times; he seems to be a good creature, and has much talent for composition. i hope and wish that your circumstances may improve from day to day; i cannot say that mine do. * * * * * i cannot bear to see want--i must give; so you may fancy how much more i suffer in this matter. pray let me hear from you soon. if possible, i shall decamp sooner, to escape my utter ruin, and shall be in london towards the end of winter at the latest. i know you will assist a distressed friend; had it been in my power, and had i not ever been fettered by circumstances, surely i should have done much more for you. fare you well! remember me to neate, smart, cramer--although i understand that the latter moves in contrary motion to you and me. never mind; i hope i somewhat understand the art of managing such matters, and producing a pleasing harmony at our meeting in london. i embrace you with all my heart. your friend, ludwig van beethoven. my kind regards to your dear, and, as i understand, beautiful wife. . beethoven to ries. vienna, april , . my dear ries, i could not ere this answer your last letter of the th of december. your sympathy does me good. it is impossible to get to london for the present, entangled as i am in various ways; but god will assist my plans of reaching it certainly next winter, when i shall bring the new symphonies. i am in expectation of the text for an oratorio which i am to write for our musical society, and which may likewise serve us in london. do for me what you can, for i stand in need of it. i should gladly have accepted any orders for the philharmonic society; neate's reports, however, of the all but failure of the three overtures have vexed me; they have not only been successful here, each in its own way, but those in e flat and c have even produced a powerful effect; so that the fate of these compositions in the philharmonic society is a riddle to me. you will have received the arrangement of the quintetto and the sonata. pray let them both be engraved immediately, especially the quintetto. the sonata may follow a little more at leisure, but that too not later than two or three months hence. i had not received your former letter which you mention, and therefore did not scruple to strike a bargain for both these works in this place too--that is to say, only for germany. it will be three months before the sonata comes out here, but you must hurry with the quintett. as soon as you send me a cheque for the money i shall let you have an agreement for the publisher, securing him the property of these works for england, scotland, ireland, france, &c. the _tempi_ of the sonata, according to maelzel's metronome, will reach you by the next post. the quintett and sonata are gone by de smidt, courier to prince paul esterhazy. i shall send my portrait by the earliest opportunity, as i understand that you really wish for it. farewell! think kindly of your friend beethoven. _my_ best love to _your_ best love!!! . vienna, april , . here, dear ries! are the _tempi_ of the sonata (op. ). first allegro, _allegro_ alone, strike out the _assai_, and add maelzel's metronome [illustration: musical note, half note][ ] = second movement scherzoso, m. m. [illustration: musical note, half note] = third movement, m. m. [illustration: musical note, eighth note] = observe that another bar should be prefixed to this movement, viz.:-- [illustration: musical notation][a] fourth movement, _introduzione largo_ m. m. [illustration: musical note, sixteenth note] = fifth and last movement, / time [illustration: musical notation][b] excuse the mistakes; if you knew my circumstances you would not be surprised at them, but would wonder at what i produce in spite of them. the quintett cannot be delayed any longer, and will shortly appear; not so the sonata, about which i anxiously expect to hear from you, inclosing the terms. the name of the courier, through whom you have to receive the quintett and sonata, is de smidt. i beg to have a speedy answer, and shall soon write more at length. in haste, yours, beethoven. . beethoven to ries. vienna, april , . dear friend, excuse the trouble which i am giving you. i cannot account for the numerous mistakes which have found their way into the copy of the sonata, unless, indeed, they proceed from the circumstance of my not being able any longer to keep a copyist of my own; events have brought this about, and may the lord help me until ... become better off. this will take another twelvemonth. it is most shocking how this matter has been brought about, and what has become of my salary, and no one can say what _may_ become of it, until the above-mentioned twelvemonth comes round. should the sonata (op. ) not do for london, i might send another, or you may leave out the largo and begin with the fugue of the last movement, or else the first movement, the adagio, and for the third, the scherzo and the largo and allegro risoluto. i leave it to you to manage this as you think proper.[ ] this sonata was written in time of need; for it is hard to write almost for one's daily bread; thus far am i reduced. we must correspond further upon my visit to london. it would certainly be the only means of saving me from my miserable and needy condition, which ruins my health, and will never permit my faculties to act as they might under more favourable circumstances. beethoven. . beethoven to ries. vienna, may , . * * * i was all the while oppressed with such cares as i had never known, and all through my excessive benevolence to others. write on industriously. my dear little archduke rudolph and i, we often play your works, and he says the former pupil does his master credit. now fare you well. i content myself with embracing your wife--who, i understand is very handsome--in fancy only, for the present, but hope to have that pleasure in reality during next winter. do not forget the quintett, and the sonata, and the money--i meant to say the _honoraire, avec ou sans honneur_. i trust to hear from you not only as fast as _allegro_, but _veloce prestissimo_, and good tidings too. this letter reaches you through a right clever englishman; they are a powerful race for the most part, and i should like to spend some time amongst them in their own country. prestissimo--responsio, il suo amico e maestro beethoven. . beethoven to ries. vienna, november , . dear ries, i write to let you know that the sonata is out, that is to say, only about a fortnight; and it is about six months since both were sent to you--the quintett and the sonata. i shall despatch in a few days through a courier who leaves this, the quintett as well as the sonata, so that you will be able to correct both works. not having heard from you of the receipt of either, i thought the matter had fallen to the ground. have i not been wrecked once before in this year through neate? i wish you could try to get me the fifty ducats; i have reckoned upon receiving them, and, indeed, have many ways for my money. enough for to-day, only let me tell you that i have almost concluded a new mass; let me know what you could do with it in london; but that soon, very soon, and soon too let me have the money for both the works. i will write more fully another day. in haste, your true and sincere friend, beethoven. . beethoven to ries. vienna, april , . my dearest ries, i have been ill again for the last six months and more, and thus could never answer your letter. i have received the £ , and am sincerely obliged to you for them, but your symphony dedicated to me has not arrived. my greatest work is a grand mass, which i have lately written, &c. &c. time presses to-day, so i say only the needful; what might the philharmonic society offer me for a symphony? i will think of coming to london, if my health would but permit it--perhaps next spring! you would find in me a master who truly appreciates the pupil, in his turn become a great master, and who knows how, and in what way, the art might be benefited from our acting jointly. i am as ever completely devoted to my muses, and this alone can ensure me happiness. i act for others, too, as best i may. you have two children--i have one (my brother's son)--but you are married, consequently your two cannot be as expensive as my one. now, farewell; kiss your fair lady, until i may perform this solemn act in person. your sincere friend, beethoven. p.s. be quick in letting me have your dedication, that i may show off in return, which i mean to do as soon as i have received yours. . beethoven to ries. vienna, december , . my dear ries, i have had so much business on hand, that i could not send you a reply to your letter of the th of november. i gladly accept the request of the philharmonic society to write a new symphony for them; although the terms offered are not what they ought to be, and what the english might afford, in comparison to other nations. if i _could_ but get to london, what would i not write for the philharmonic society! for, heaven be praised, beethoven _can_ write, although he can do nothing else. if it please god to restore my health, which is somewhat improved, i may yet avail myself of the several proposals made to me from the different parts of europe, and even from north america, and thus might i once more be put in a flourishing state. yours, &c., beethoven. . beethoven to ries. [extract of a letter, the beginning of which is nowhere to be found.] * * * do get matters speedily arranged for your poor friend; i expect your travelling plan too;[ ] i can bear up no longer; i am in for it, deeper than ever; should i not go, look you, there is a _crimen læsæ_! since you seem to wish for a dedication of mine, i am quite ready to gratify you; much more ready than i should be for any great man--for the greatest, _entre nous_. the d----l knows where one might fall into their hands. you will receive the new symphony (the ninth with choral parts) with the dedication to yourself. i hope at length to get possession of yours to me. "b" is to open the letter to the king (george the fourth) he took charge of, and he will see what has been written to the king about the battle of vittoria; the enclosed letter to him[ ] contains the same; but there is no longer a question about the mass. let our amiable friend b. try and get me at least a battle-axe or a turtle; the printed copy of the score of the battle is, of course, also to be given to the king. this letter puts you to great expence,[ ] pray deduct it from what you have to send me; how much i regret being so troublesome to you! the lord be with you. best love to your wife, until i come myself. have a care; you think i am old; i am an old youngster. ever yours, beethoven. . beethoven to mr. neate. vienna, february , . my dear friend, ries tells me you wish to have three quartetts of me, and i now write, to beg you will let me know about what time they are to be ready, as i am fully satisfied with your offer of a hundred guineas for them; only let me beg of you, to send me a cheque for that sum, upon one of our banking-houses, so soon as i shall let you know that the quartetts are finished, and i will, in my turn, deliver them to the same banker upon the receipt of the hundred guineas. i trust you are enjoying to the full the blessings of a family life; would i could have the pleasure of becoming an eye-witness to your happiness! i have sent ries a new overture for the philharmonic society, and am only waiting the arrival of a cheque for the new symphony, to forward him that too, through our austrian embassy. you will find in the bearer, mr. a. bauer, a man equally intelligent and amiable, who can give you a full account of my doings. should my health improve,[ ] i mean to visit england in ; let me know what you think about it. i should be delighted to write for the philharmonic society, to see the country and all its distinguished artists; and as to my pecuniary circumstances, they too might be materially benefited by this visit, as i feel that i shall _never_ make anything in germany. my name on the address of letters is sufficient security for their reaching me. with every kind wish for your welfare, believe me your sincere friend, beethoven. . beethoven to ries. vienna, april , . dear ries, the cardinal (archduke rudolph) has been staying here for a whole month; and as i had to give him two hours and a half's lesson per day, i was robbed of much time, besides feeling, the day after such lessons, scarcely able to think, much less to write. my distressed circumstances, however, require that i should instantly write that which will procure money, sufficient for the moment. what a sad discovery this must be to you! and, moreover, all my troubles have caused me to be unwell--have given me sore eyes. but do not be alarmed; you will shortly receive the symphony. indeed it is all brought on by these miserable circumstances. you will also receive, a few weeks hence, thirty-three new variations on a subject (a valse op. ) dedicated to your wife. bauer (first secretary to the austrian embassy) has the score of the "battle of vittoria," which was dedicated to the then prince regent, and for which i have still to receive the copying expenses. now i beg of you, dear friend, to send me, as soon as possible, a draught for the amount of whatever you may be able to get me for it. you and i know the publishers well. with regard to your tender conjugal point, you will always find me in direct opposition to yourself, and decidedly taking the lady's part. ever your friend, beethoven. . beethoven to ries. hetzendorf, near vienna, july , . my dear ries, the receipt of your letter, the day before yesterday, gave me great pleasure. i suppose you have got the variations by this time. i could not write the dedication to your wife, as i do not know her name. pray make it in the name of your own and your wife's friend, and let her be surprised with it, on its coming out. the fair sex is fond of that sort of thing. between ourselves, the great charm of the _beautiful_ lies in its coming upon us unawares. with regard to the allegri di bravura, i shall pardon yours. to say the truth, i am no friend to that species of writing, calculated to promote mechanism all too much, in those at least which i know. i have not looked at your's yet, but shall inquire for them at ----, with whom i beg you will not communicate without great prudence. might i not be your agent here for many things? these publishers are certainly acting up to their name by _publishing_ your works; but you get nothing by such publicity, which is only a _reprint_. matters might perhaps be differently managed. i shall certainly send you a few chorusses; and, if required, produce a few new ones. they are quite my hobby. many thanks for the produce of the _bagatelles_. i am quite content with it. do not give anything to the king of england. take whatever you can get for the variations: i shall be satisfied anyhow. but one thing i must stipulate, that i shall positively take no other reward for the dedication to your wife than a kiss to be received by me in london. you sometimes write guineas, whereas i receive but pounds sterling, and i understand there is a difference.[ ] do not be angry at this, with a _pauvre musicien autrichien_; but indeed my situation is a difficult one. i am likewise writing a new violin quartett. might that too be offered to the musical or unmusical london jews?--_en vrai juif_. with the sincerest embrace, your old friend, beethoven. . beethoven to ries. vienna, sept. , . my dear good ries, i still continue without news of the symphony, yet you may depend upon it ... will soon reach london. were i not so poor as to be obliged to live by my pen, i should not take anything of the philharmonic society. as it is, i must certainly wait until my terms for the symphony be made payable here. wishing, however, to prove my confidence and affection for this society, i have already sent off the new overture. i leave it to the society to settle for it at its own rate. my worthy brother (johann), who keeps his carriage, thought fit to draw upon me too; and has consequently offered this same overture, unknown to me, to a london publisher, boosey. pray tell him, my brother was mistaken with regard to the overture. he bought it of me to carry on usury with it, as i perceive.--_o frater!_ as yet i have not seen anything of your symphony dedicated to me. did i not consider this dedication as a kind of challenge, demanding satisfaction on my side, i should by this time have inscribed some work to you. as it is, i thought i ought by rights to see your work first; and how i wish i could in any way show you my gratitude! i am deep in your debt for so many proofs of attachment and active kindness. should my health improve by a proposed course of bathing, i shall embrace your wife in in london. ever yours, beethoven. [the following three letters are given as originally written in french, not in beethoven's own hand, but signed by himself:]-- . beethoven À monsieur c. neate. vienne, le janvier, . ce fut avec le plus grand plaisir que je reçus votre lettre du ... par laquelle vous avez eu la bonté de m'avertir que la société philharmonique distinguée d'artistes m'invite à venir à londres. je suis bien content des conditions que me fait la société, seulement je désire de lui proposer de m'envoyer, outre les guinées qu'elle me promet, encore guinées pour faire les dépenses du voyage; car il faudra acheter une voiture; aussi dois-je être accompagné de quelqu'un. vous voyez bien que cela est nécessaire; d'ailleurs je vous prie de m'indiquer l'auberge où je pourrai descendre à londres. je prendrai un nouveau quatuor avec moi. quant au bruit dont vous m'écrivez, qu'il existe un exemplaire de la ^{ème} symphonie à paris, il n'est point fondé. il est vrai que cette symphonie sera publiée en allemagne, mais point avant que l'an soit écoulé, pendant lequel la société en jouira. sur ce point il faut encore vous avertir de ne faire que de petites preuves de cette composition, en quatuor par exemple, car c'est la seule manière d'étudier bien une belle oeuvre; les choeurs, avant tout, doivent être exercés. il y a encore quelques erreurs, dont je vous enverrai le catalogue par la poste prochaine. il me semble avoir été oublié dans la de partie de la symphonie, qu'à la répétition du minor après le presto il faut commencer de nouveau du signe [illustration: musical sign, "segno"] et continuer sans répétition jusqu'à la ferma, alors on prend aussitôt la coda. je vous prie de me répondre au plus vite possible, car on demande de moi une grande composition nouvelle, que je ne commençerai cependant pas, sans avoir votre réponse. il faut que j'écrive toujours, pas pour me faire des richesses,--seulement pour pourvoir à mes besoins. or je dois avoir de la certitude sur ce point.--je serai bien charmé de vous voir, et de connoitre la noble nation anglaise. je suis, avec la plus haute consideration, monsieur, votre sincere ami, louis van beethoven. . beethoven À monsieur neate. vienne, le mars, . mon très cher ami! je ne pourrai guère venir à londres durant le printemps, mais qui sait quel accident m'y conduit peut-être en automne. j'espére que vous vous trouvez bien dans votre famille, et en bonne santé. quant aux quatuors, dont vous m'écrivez dans vos lettres, j'en ai achevé le premier, et je suis à présent à composer le second, qui, comme le troisiéme, sera achevé dans peu de temps. vous m'offrez guinées pour quatuors, je trouve cette proposition bien généreuse. il se demande seulement, s'il m'est permis de publier ces quatuors après un an et demie, ou deux ans.[ ] c'est ce qui serait tres avantageux pour mes finances. en ce qui concerne la manière de simplifier l'envoiement des quatuors, et de l'argent de votre part, je vous propose de remettre les oeuvres à messrs. fries & co., qui témoigneront à vous même, ou à quelque banquier de londres, d'être possesseurs des quatuors, et qui vous les remettront aussitôt après l'arrivée de l'argent. voici une affaire, par laquelle vous pouvez me prouver votre amitié. je vous prie seulement de me répondre au plus-tôt possible. je me fie toujours à votre amitié pour moi, et vous assure que vous pouvez faire de même à moi. je suis, avec la plus grande consideration, votre ami, beethoven. . beethoven À monsieur neate. vienne, le may, . mon ami! je crois nécessaire de vous écrire encore une fois. je vois dans la lettre que vous m'avez écrite il y a deux ans, que l'honoraire des quatuors est £ sterling. je suis content de cette offre, mais il est nécessaire de vous avertir, que le er quatuor est si cherché par les plus célèbres artistes de vienne, que je l'ai accordé à quelques uns d'eux pour leur benefice. je crois tromper votre amitié en ne vous avertissant point de cette circonstance, parceque vous pouvez aussi en faire usage à londres. or si vous me repondez que vous êtes content des propositions que je vous ai faites dans ma lettre dernière, je vous enverrai aussitôt le er quatuor; cependant je vous prie d'accélerer votre resolution, puisque les éditeurs desirent vivement de le posseder. cependant vous n'avez point de remettre l'honoraire qu'après avoir reçu l'assurance de ma part, que les autres quatuors sont achevés. seulement je vous prie d'ajouter à votre lettre l'assurance de votre contentement en ce qui concerne mes offres. voilà ce que j'ai cru devoir vous dire. je crois vous avoir fait une complaisance, et je suis certain que vous ferez le même envers moi. conservez votre amitié pour moi. je suis, avec le plus grand estime, votre ami sincère, louis van beethoven. . beethoven to ries at bonn. vienna, april , . dear worthy ries, the needful in all haste! in the score of the symphony which i sent you (it is the ninth with choruses), there stands, as far as i remember, in the first oboe in the nd bar,-- it should be thus: [illustration: musical notation] instead of [illustration: musical notation] i have looked over the whole of the parts, with the exception of the brass band--that only in part--and i trust they must be tolerably correct. i would willingly have sent you the score,[ ] but i have a concert before me, and the only score i possess is my manuscript. the concert, however, depends upon my health; for i must soon set off to the country, where alone i can prosper at this time. you will soon receive the _opferlied_, copied a second time; and i beg you will mark it as corrected by myself, that it might not be used together with the one you have already by you. this song gives you an idea of the miserable copyist i have had ever since _schlemmer's_ death. there is scarcely a note in which i can trust him. as you have already had all the written parts of the finale of the symphony, i have now sent you the second choral parts. you can easily have these scored from before the beginning of the chorus; and at the commencement of the vocal, it will be quite easy to have the instrumental parts prefixed to the second vocal ones: it will require a little reflection. it was impossible to write all this at once; and, had we hurried such a copyist, there would have been errors upon errors. i have sent you an overture in c, / time, not yet published: the printed parts, too, you will receive by the next post. the _kyrie_ and _gloria_ (two of the principal pieces of the _messe solemnelle_), in d major, are likewise on their way to you, together with an italian vocal duet. you will receive, besides these, a grand march with chorusses, well fitted for grand musical performances.[ ] another grand, and as yet unknown, overture might come forth, but i fancy you have enough of these. farewell, in the land of the rhine, ever dear to me.[ ] every enjoyment of life attend you and your wife. the most friendly remembrances to your father. from your friend, beethoven. no. iii. account of a concert given by beethoven at the kaernthnerthor theatre, vienna.[ ] * * * * * on the th of may, , a grand musical performance took place at the kärnthnerthor theatre. the leaders of the music were kapellmeister umlauf and m. shuppanzigh, and the great composer himself assisted on the occasion. he took his place at the side of the principal leader, and, with his original score before him, indicated the different movements and determined the precise manner in which they were to be given; for, unfortunately, the state of his hearing prevented him from doing more. the theatre was crowded to excess, and the sensation caused by the appearance of this great man was of a kind that is more easy to imagine than to describe. the arrangement of the pieces performed was as follows:-- st, beethoven's grand overture in c major; nd, three grand hymns, with solo and chorus parts, from his new mass, never before performed; rd, a grand new symphony, with a finale, in which are introduced a solo and chorus part from schiller's _lied an die freude_ (song of joy). this also was performed for the first time, and is beethoven's last composition. we shall offer a few observations on each of these in the order of their performance. with respect to the overture, it indisputably belongs to the most finished of his compositions. the introductory _andante_ is throughout of the most simple, noble, and masterly kind, and the rather lengthened _allegro_ that follows is full of brilliant fancy: it is in the free fugue style, in three parts, each of which is sustained with equal power and effect. it is never monotonous, its form is constantly varying without in any manner sacrificing unity of effect; without the smallest rest point, the interest is constantly kept up; it flows along in a stream of harmony always pure and limpid; but it certainly presents an arduous task to the performer. it is thus that handel would have written, had he had at his disposal the rich orchestra of our times; and it is only a spirit congenial with that of the immortal author of the messiah that could succeed in treading in the footsteps of this giant of the art. the three hymns are principal portions of the new mass which beethoven has lately composed. the first, which was the _kyrie eleison_, is in d major, a movement full of fire and deep religious feeling. the _christe_ that followed is in triple time, and full of happy effects of counterpoint; the return to the first measure of the _kyrie_ is managed in a masterly manner, and the whole terminates in harmonics of a very singular and touching character. but altogether the effect is not so much that of children supplicating a parent, which is the true intent of the words, in the place in which they stand, as the deep and mournful supplications of a people humbled in the dust. the treatment of the _credo_ that follows is in the highest degree original and uncommon. both the principal key, b flat major, as well as the time, change perhaps too often, so that the ear is scarcely able to comprehend the suddenness of the effects intended to be produced. at the _consubstantialem patri_, a short but very powerful figure commences; the _incarnatus est_ is a movement of very pathetic effect, and the tender and touching passage, _passus et sepultus est_, with its well placed dissonances in the violin accompaniment, is not to be described. well imagined and sustained, the strongly figured movement at the entrance of the contra-theme is somewhat quickened, but the first _moderato_ again returns. the amen opens with a broad and richly ornamented passage; it swells into splendid effect, and terminates in a long dying fall. if it were permitted in a church composition to speak of effect in the same manner as in a secular production, it cannot be denied that this retarding kind of conclusion tends to weaken the powerful impression produced by the preceding bolder results; especially when no reasonable cause can be assigned for such a mode of conclusion, unless it be the determination of a composer to differ from all the rest of the world. who does not feel himself inspired by those brilliant fugues with which a naumann, a haydn, and a mozart terminate their compositions of this kind, which seem as if on the wings of seraphs to waft the soul towards heaven? the character of the _agnus dei_, in b minor, is solemn and tender, and the introduction of four french horns tends to heighten the effect in an extraordinary degree. the _dona_ in d major, / time, passes into an _allegretto_ movement of feeling, and advances in beautiful imitations, till suddenly the passage changes, and the kettle-drums, like distant thunder, intone the deep _pacem_.[ ] a soprano solo introduces the second _agnus dei_ in a kind of recitative, and a chorus, strengthened by trumpets, precedes the tremendous _miserere nobis_. the effect of the latter is singular in the extreme, and when we reflect upon the sentiments intended to be expressed, we scarcely know whether to praise or blame. with respect to the new symphony it may, without fear, stand a competition with its eight sister works, by none of which is the fame of its beauty likely to be eclipsed; it is evidently of the same family, though its characteristic features are different-- facies non omnibus una non diversa tamen, qualem debet esse sororum.--ovid. the opening passage is a bold _allegro_ in d minor, full of rich invention, and of athletic power; from the first chord till the gradual unfolding of the colossal theme, expectation is constantly kept alive and never disappointed. to give a skeleton of this composition would be scarcely practicable, and, after all, would convey but a very faint idea of the body; we shall therefore only touch upon some of the more prominent features, among which is a _scherzo_ movement (d minor) full of playful gaiety, and in which all the instruments seem to contend with each other in the whim and sportiveness of the passage; and a brilliant march in the vivid major mode, forms a delightful contrast with the passages by which it is introduced. whoever has imagined in hearing the _andante_ of the th symphony, that nothing could ever equal, not to say surpass it, has but to hear the movement of the same kind in the present composition in order to change his sentiments. in truth, the movement is altogether divine, the interchanges and combinations of the motives are surprising, the tasteful conduct of the whole is easy and natural, and in the midst of the rich exuberance of the subject, the simplicity that prevails throughout is truly admirable. but it is in the finale that the genius of this great master shines forth most conspicuously. we are here, in an ingenious manner, presented with a return of all the subjects in short and brilliant passages, and which, as in a mirror, reflect the features of the whole. after this a singular kind of recitative by the contra-basses introduces a _crescendo_ passage of overwhelming effect, which is answered by a chorus of voices that bursts unexpectedly in, and produces an entirely new and extraordinary result. the passages from schiller's "song of joy" are made admirably expressive of the sentiments which the poet intended to convey, and are in perfect keeping with the tone and character of the whole of this wonderful composition. critics have remarked of the finale, that it requires to be heard frequently in order to be duly appreciated. at the conclusion of the concert beethoven was unanimously called forward. he modestly saluted the audience, and retired amidst the loudest expressions of enthusiasm. yet the feeling of joy was tempered by a universal regret, to see so gifted an individual labouring under an infliction the most cruel that could befal an artist in that profession for which nature had destined him. we have no doubt but the master will consider this as one of the proudest days in his existence; and it is to be hoped that the testimony of general feeling which he has witnessed will tend to soothe his spirit, to soften down some of its asperities, and to convince him that he stands upon a pinnacle far above the reach of envy and every malignant passion. both singers and instrumental performers acquitted themselves on this interesting occasion in a manner that is deserving of the highest praise. of the worthy kapellmeister umlauf, who undertook the conduct of this great work, and m. shuppanzigh, a master of known abilities, who led the band, it is but justice to say that their zeal, knowledge, and talents deservedly obtained them the most conspicuous place and the merited thanks of their brother artists. the impracticability of devoting sufficient time for the number of rehearsals that were necessary, in order to do justice to music which is at once new and of so lofty a character, made it impossible to give it with that precision, and those delicate shades of forte and piano, which are required to do them justice. the deep and general feeling which this concert, in honour of the great master of the modern art in germany, excited, together with the disappointment experienced by many who were unable to obtain admission, induced the director of the theatre to make an offer to the composer of a certain consideration if he would condescend once more to appear in public, and assist at a repetition of the same music. with this request he complied; and in addition to the pieces before performed, he offered them a manuscript terzetto, with italian words, which was accordingly performed, and considered by the numerous italian amateurs in vienna as a kind of compliment paid by the composer to themselves. the performance went off with still greater _éclat_ than on the former occasion, and this new composition was hailed by all with no less enthusiasm than the other works. no. iv. characteristics of beethoven, from wegeler and ries's "notizen." when beethoven's reputation had attained the highest point at vienna, his dislike to playing in society was so ungovernable that he used completely to lose his temper in consequence; and would often come to see me in the most melancholy mood, complaining that play he _must_, although he felt the blood tingling in his fingers. by degrees i used to draw him into a conversation of a more cheerful tendency, and always succeeded in ultimately pacifying him. this object attained i used to drop all discourse, sit down to my writing-desk, and thus oblige beethoven to take the chair next to me, for the purpose of further conversation--that chair being the one used at the piano. the vicinity of the instrument soon led him to strike some chords at random, whence sprung the most beautiful melodies. oh! why did i not more fully understand him! wishing to possess a manuscript of his, i more than once put before him on the desk some music-paper, seemingly without intention; it was always filled, but when he had done this, he folded it and put it into his pocket, leaving me to laugh at my own miscalculation. he never permitted me to say much, if anything, about his playing on these occasions, and always went away an altered being, ready to come back to me. his antipathy to playing in company, however, remained unshaken, and was frequently the cause of the greatest quarrels between him and his friends and patrons. * * * * * haydn had been anxious that beethoven should write on the titles of his early works "_pupil of haydn_;" to this beethoven objected, saying, that although he had received some instructions from haydn, yet _he had never learnt anything of him_. beethoven during his first stay at vienna had been mozart's pupil for a short time, but used to complain of this great master never having played to him. albrechtsberger gave him instructions in counterpoint, and salieri in dramatic music. i was well acquainted with these three men; they all agreed in their regard for beethoven, as well as in their opinion of his mode of learning. each said beethoven had always been so obstinate and self-willed, that his own hard earned experience often had to teach him those things the study of which he would not hear of; this was more especially affirmed by albrechtsberger and salieri. the dry rules of the former, and the less important ones of the latter on dramatic composition (in the old italian school), would not excite any interest in beethoven; we may therefore be allowed to doubt seyfried's "incontrovertible evidence" as given in his studies, that "beethoven devoted his two years' _apprenticeship_ with albrechtsberger with unremitting perseverance to his theoretical studies." * * * * * ries says, in his notizen, page , beethoven had promised the three sonatas for piano-forte solo (op. ), to nägeli of zurich, whilst his brother carl (caspar), who alas! always would interfere in his affairs, wanted to sell them to a leipsic publisher. the brothers used to have frequent disputes on this subject, beethoven being determined to keep his promise. at the time of sending off these sonatas, beethoven lived in heiligenstadt. he was one day walking with his brother when a new quarrel arose between them on this subject, which actually ended in blows. the next day he gave me the sonatas to be sent off to zürich without delay; he had at the same time written to his brother, and sent the letter under cover to stephen breuning for perusal. i never heard a lecture given more forcibly and more good-naturedly than that which beethoven here preached to his brother, on his conduct of the preceding day. he began by showing it to him in its true and most despicable light--then forgave him everything--but warned him that if he valued his own future happiness, he must alter his life and conduct altogether. his letter to breuning on this occasion was no less beautiful than the above-mentioned. * * * * * as a proof of beethoven's extraordinary faculties it may here be quoted, that, at the first rehearsal of his piano-forte concerto in c major, which took place at his house, his piano proved to be half a tone lower than the wind instruments. he immediately desired these to tune in b instead of a, whilst he himself played his part in c sharp. * * * * * ries gives us a curious instance of the manner in which the great master showed his originality. he says it is in the first movement of the sinfonia eroica that beethoven has vented his spleen upon the horn. previous to the motivo returning in the second part, he has indicated it through the horn whilst the two violins hold on the chord of the second. those who are not initiated into this secret of the score, must ever think the horn-player had miscounted, and made a wrong entry. at the first rehearsal of this symphony, which was a stormy one, and where the horn-player came in correctly, i stood next to beethoven, and, taking it for granted that the horn-player was wrong, i said "listen to that stupid fellow--can he not count--it sounds wretchedly!" i think my ears narrowly escaped being boxed, and beethoven did not for some time forgive me.[ ] he played the same evening his piano-forte quintett with wind instruments. ram, the celebrated oboe-player of munich, played also, and accompanied the quintett. at one of the pauses in the last allegro, previously to the subject coming on again, beethoven of a sudden began to extemporize, taking the rondo for his subject, thus amusing himself and his audience for some time. not so his wind instruments; these lost their temper, particularly mr. ram, who was much incensed. it was indeed ludicrous to see these gentlemen, who were constantly expecting to recommence, putting up their instruments, and as quickly taking them down again. at length beethoven was satisfied, and returned to the rondo, the whole company being in raptures. * * * * * the funeral march of the grand sonata, op. , in a flat minor, dedicated to prince lichnowsky, owes its existence to the high encomiums which were bestowed by beethoven's friends on paer's funeral march in his opera of "achilles."[ ] * * * * * on steibelt coming from paris to vienna, several of beethoven's friends were afraid lest the great reputation of the former should be injurious to beethoven. steibelt did not call upon him, and they first met at count fries's where beethoven performed his new trio in b major for piano, clarionet, and violin (op. ) for the first time; the player not having here an opportunity for display. steibelt listened with a kind of condescension, and paid beethoven some every-day compliment, thinking himself secure in his triumph. he played a quintett of his own, and an extempore fantasia, and produced much effect by the novelty of his tremulandos. beethoven was not to be persuaded into a second performance. at a concert, which took place a week later at count fries's, steibelt again played a quintett with much success, and had, moreover, got up for the occasion (as was palpably felt) a brilliant fantasia, upon the very subject of the variations in beethoven's trio: this so incensed his admirers and himself that he was made to extemporize; he went up to the instrument in his usual, i may say uncouth manner, being half pushed towards it, took _en passant_ the violoncello part of steibelt's quintett, laid it (intentionally?) upside down on the desk, and drummed a subject, beginning at the first bars with one finger; but having been excited and offended at the same time, he gave us such a performance as to make steibelt quit the room ere he had done, declaring he would never meet beethoven again, and indeed making beethoven's non-appearance a condition to those who desired to have him. * * * * * beethoven usually put off to the very last moment such compositions as were to be ready at a stated period; thus he had promised the celebrated horn-player, ponto, to write a sonata for piano-forte and french horn (op. ), and play it with him at ponto's concert; this had been publicly announced, never having been commenced till the day before the concert, and was terminated for the performance. * * * * * the celebrated sonata in a minor, op. , with violin-concertante, dedicated to kreuzer, had originally been written for bridgetower, an english performer, and much in the same manner, although the first allegro was finished in good time. bridgetower urged him on to set about it, his concert being announced, and he anxious to study his part. i was suddenly called to beethoven one morning at half-past four, and he said--"write out this violin part of the first allegro with all haste" (his usual copyist was already employed): he had but slightly sketched the piano-forte part, and bridgetower played that lovely subject with variations in f major, from beethoven's own manuscript, at eight in the morning at his concert in the 'augarten'--there being no time to copy it. the last allegro / a major, had, on the contrary, been beautifully copied both in the violin and piano-forte part, having originally belonged to the first sonata, op. , in a major, dedicated to the emperor alexander; he deemed it too brilliant for this work, and substituted those variations which we still find in it. * * * * * beethoven esteemed mozart and handel most of all composers, and next to them s. bach. if ever i found him with music in his hand, or on his desk, it was sure to be that of one of these mighty men. haydn rarely escaped without a side cut, partly perhaps from a former grudge he bore him, and of which the following may be a cause:--beethoven's three trios, op. , were to be first ushered into the world of cognoscenti at one of prince lichnowsky's soirées. all those distinguished in the art had been invited, and haydn amongst the number; _his_ judgment being anxiously looked up to. the trios were played and at once created a great sensation. haydn, too, expressed himself with much satisfaction to beethoven, advising him, however, _not_ to publish the third in c minor, whilst he, considering this the best,[ ] was much struck by haydn's advice, leaving him under the impression of being envied and looked upon rather in jealousy than as a friend. * * * * * if, in playing to him, i made a mistake in passages, or if i happened to strike a _wrong_ note where he required a particularly accentuated one, he seldom said anything; but if i showed any want of expression, if i omitted a _crescendo_, &c., or if i did not succeed in rendering the character of the piece, he became incensed: the former, he said, was chance; but the latter, want of knowledge, of feeling, or of attention. indeed, he himself might often be reproached with the former defect, even when playing in public. * * * * * in the second symphony in d major, the manuscript score of which beethoven gave me, something very striking occurs, in the larghetto quasi andante. this larghetto is so beautiful, so clear and bright, and the harmony so pure, that the hearer could not imagine it had ever been altered. the plan had indeed been the same from the beginning, but, in the second violin, as well as in many parts of the tenor, there are considerable alterations in the accompaniments, the original thoughts having been so carefully effaced as to render it impossible for me to trace them in spite of all the pains i took to that effect. on questioning beethoven about it, he drily retorted, "_it is better thus._" * * * * * during a walk which i took with beethoven, i was talking to him of two consecutive fifths which occur in one of his earliest violin-quartetts in c _minor_, and which, to my surprise, sound most harmoniously. beethoven did not know what i meant, and would not believe they _could_ be fifths. he soon produced the piece of music-paper which he was in the habit of carrying about with him, and i wrote down the passage with its four parts. when i had thus proved myself to be right, he said, "well, and who forbids them?" not knowing what to make of this question, i was silent, and he repeated it several times, until i at length replied, in great amazement, "why, it is one of the very first rules." he, however, still repeated his question, and i answered, "marpurg, kirnberger, fuchs, &c. &c.--in fact, all theorists." "well, then, _i_ permit them," was his final answer. * * * * * while beethoven was playing with me at count brown's his three marches for two performers, op. , p---- was carrying on a loud and merry conversation with a beautiful young lady seated in the doorway near the ante-room. beethoven made several attempts to silence them, and when these proved fruitless, suddenly and in the midst of playing lifted my hands off the keys, jumped up and said, loud enough to be heard by everybody, "i do not play for such swine." all attempts to make him return to the piano proved fruitless, nor did he permit me to play any more. the music ceased accordingly, to the vexation of every person present. * * * * * the following was the cause of his breaking with himmel. they had met one day, and beethoven sat down to extemporise at himmel's request, afterwards desiring him to do the same; himmel was weak enough to consent, and, after having played for a considerable time, beethoven exclaimed, "well, when are you going to begin in good earnest?" himmel, who had thought wonders of his own performance, started up at these words, and both became rude to each other. beethoven said to me, "i thought himmel had just been preluding." they made it up afterwards, and himmel could forgive but not forget; they even carried on a correspondence for some little time, but at last himmel played beethoven a sad trick. the latter always wanted to have the last news from berlin, which somewhat annoyed himmel, who at length wrote to him--"the latest piece of news is the invention of a lantern for the blind." beethoven carried this piece of intelligence abroad, and all the world wished to know how this might possibly be. he immediately wrote to _himmel_, and reproached him with not having sent a full explanation. the answer received, but which i cannot here impart, was such as finally closed their correspondence; all that was ludicrous in the letter fell to beethoven's share, and yet he was so imprudent as to show it to several persons. one of our country excursions led us on so far that we did not return to döbling (beethoven's residence) till eight o'clock. he had been humming to himself the whole way, and keeping up a kind of howling, up and down, without articulating any distinct sounds. upon asking him what he meant, by this, he said "i have just thought of a subject for the last movement of the sonata (in f minor, op. ). on entering the room, he ran up to the piano without taking off his hat. i sat down in a corner, where he soon forgot me, and for the next hour he went on storming over the keys until the finale, such as we now admire it, was struck out. at length he got up, and, surprised at still finding me there, said, "i cannot give you a lesson to-day, i must work." beethoven once laid down a serious plan for a joint and very extensive tour, where i was to have arranged the concerts and played all his concertos and other works. he himself would have conducted and extemporised only. the latter was in fact the most extraordinary performance that could be witnessed, especially when he was in good spirits, or otherwise excited. i never heard any one come near the height which beethoven had attained in this branch of execution. the stores of thought which crowded upon him, the caprice by which he was led on, the variety of treatment, and the difficulties, whether accidental or called forth by himself, were inexhaustible. * * * * * as we were one day talking of subjects for fugues at the conclusion of a lesson, i sitting at the piano and he next to me, i began to play the subject of the first fugue of graun's "death of jesus." beethoven soon played it after me, first with the left hand, and then bringing in the right, he worked it up for more than half an hour without the slightest interruption. i am still at a loss to think how he could bear his uncomfortable position; but his inspiration made _him_ insensible to external impressions. on clementi's coming to vienna, beethoven was going to call upon him; but his brother persuaded him that clementi ought to pay him the first visit; this he would probably have done, although much the older of the two, had there been no gossip about it. as it was, clementi had been at vienna for some time, before he knew beethoven even by sight. at one time we used often to dine at the "swan," at one and the same table--clementi with his pupil klengel, beethoven with me: we knew each other, but did not speak or even bow, as by so doing we might either of us have forfeited our lessons; for my own part, i know this must have been the case, as beethoven never held a middle course. the sonata in c major (op. ), dedicated to his first patron, count waldstein, had originally a long andante. a friend of beethoven's pronounced this sonata to be too long, which brought him a volley of abuse in return; upon quietly weighing the matter, however, my master convinced himself of the truth of his assertion. he then published the grand andante in f major, / time, separately, and afterwards composed the highly interesting introduction to the rondo, such as it now stands. this andante will ever bring a sad recollection to my mind. when beethoven played it for the first time to his friend krumpholz and me, we were so delighted with it, that, by dint of begging, we got him to play it over again. on my return home, as i passed prince lichnowsky's door, i went in, to tell him of beethoven's beautiful new composition, and was now compelled to play the piece as far as i could remember it. as i went on, i remembered more and more of it, so that the prince made me try the whole over again: by this means he too learnt part of it, and, thinking to afford beethoven a surprise, he walked into his room the next day, saying, "i too have composed something which is not bad." beethoven firmly declared he would not hear it; but in spite of this the prince sat down and played the greater part of the andante, to the amazement of the composer. he was so incensed at this that he vowed he never would play to me again; no, nor even in my presence, and often required of me to leave the room on that account. one day, as a small party were breakfasting with the prince after the concert at the "augarten" (at eight in the morning), beethoven and i being present, it was proposed that we should drive to beethoven's house to hear his new opera "leonora," which had never been performed. upon our arrival, beethoven desired me to leave, and as the earnest solicitations of all present were of no avail, i did go, but with tears in my eyes. the whole party noticed it, and, prince lichnowsky following my steps, desired i would remain in the ante-room, and he would make up the matter, of which he considered himself to have been the cause. of this, however, my wounded pride would not hear. i learnt afterwards that lichnowsky had reproached beethoven with great violence, as after all it was only the prince's love for the great composer's works which brought about the whole occurrence, and consequently beethoven's wrath too; but all this tended only to make matters worse, as he now declined playing to the company assembled. * * * * * the third of his violin-quartetts in _d major_ (op. ) was first composed, and the one in f, now the first, had originally been the third. * * * * * beethoven had scarcely travelled at all; he had in his younger years, towards the close of the century, been to presburgh, pesth, and once to berlin. although his manner was alike to men, whether of the highest or the lowest conditions, yet he was by no means insensible to the civilities of the former. whilst at berlin he played several times at court (in the reign of king frederick william ii.), and there composed the two sonatas with violoncello _obligato_ (op. ) for himself and duport, first violoncello to the king. beethoven was presented, on his departure, with a gold snuff-box filled with louis-d'ors, and he used to relate with much complacency, that it was no common box, but such as is usually given to ambassadors. * * * * * he used to see a good deal of himmel, whom he set down as having a pleasing talent, but nothing more; his piano-forte playing he called elegant and agreeable, but said he must not be compared to prince louis ferdinand. he paid the latter, as he thought, a great compliment, by telling him he did not consider him anything like a royal or princely performer, but a famous piano-forte player. * * * * * during prince ferdinand's stay at vienna, the old countess ---- gave a musical _soirée_ to a few friends,--beethoven amongst the number; but at supper there was a table laid for the prince and the highest nobility alone, and no cover for beethoven. he took fire, uttered some coarse expressions, and took his hat and left the house. a few days later prince louis gave a dinner-party, to which the old countess had been invited. on sitting down, places were assigned to the countess on one, to beethoven on the other side of the prince, a distinction which he always talked of with great pleasure. * * * * * my father's letter of introduction to beethoven contained at the same time a credit to a small amount, should i stand in need of it. i never made use of it, but whenever he found my cash running low he sent me money unsolicited, and never would allow me to refund it to him; he really loved me, and in one of his absent fits gave me a singular proof of it. on my return to silesia, where i had been as pianist to prince lichnowsky, upon beethoven's recommendation, he was in the act of shaving just as i entered his room, soaped up to his very eyes, to which his excessively strong beard extended. on perceiving me, he started up and embraced me with so much cordiality, that he effectually transferred every particle of the soapy substance from his left cheek to my right. how we did laugh at this! * * * * * one evening, on coming to baden to continue my lessons, i found beethoven sitting on the sofa, a young and handsome lady beside him. afraid of intruding my presence, which i judged might be unwelcome, i was going to withdraw, but beethoven prevented me, saying, "you can play in the mean time." he and the lady remained seated behind me. i had been playing for some time, when beethoven suddenly exclaimed, "ries, play us an _amoroso_;" shortly after "a _malinconico_;" then an "_appassionato_," &c. from what i heard i could guess that he had in some way given offence to the lady, and was now trying to make up for it by such whimsical conduct. at last he started up, crying, "why that is my own, every bit!" i had all along been playing extracts from his own works, linked together by short transitions, and thus seemed to have pleased him. the lady soon left, and i found to my utter astonishment that beethoven did not know who she was. i learnt that she had come in shortly before me to make his acquaintance. we followed her steps to discover her residence, and thence her rank; we saw her at a distance, the moon shining brightly, but found that she suddenly disappeared. we extended our walk through the lovely valley for the next hour and a half; on leaving him that night, he said, "i _must_ find out who she is, and you must help." i met her a long time afterwards at vienna, when i discovered her to be the mistress of some foreign prince. i communicated the news to beethoven, but never heard anything more concerning her, either from him or any one else. * * * * * i never saw more of beethoven than whilst i lodged at a tailor's, who had three most beautiful daughters, of irreproachable conduct. it is to this he alludes when he thus concludes his letter of july , : "do not tailor too much, make my respects to the fairest of the fair, and send me half-a-dozen needles." beethoven took lessons of krumpholz, on the violin, at vienna; and when first i knew him,[ ] we used to play his sonatas with violin together. this was, however, wretched music, for in his zealous ecstasy he did not perceive that he had missed the right fingering of the passages. * * * * * beethoven was most awkward and helpless, and his every movement completely void of grace. he seldom laid his hand upon anything without breaking it: thus he several times emptied the contents of the inkstand into the neighbouring piano. no one piece of furniture was safe with him, and least of all a costly one: he used either to upset, stain, or destroy it. how he ever managed to learn the art of shaving himself still remains a riddle, leaving the frequent cuts visible in his face quite out of the question. he never _could_ learn to _dance_ in time. * * * * * beethoven's violin quintett (op. ), in c _major_, had been sold to a publisher at leipzig, but was stolen at vienna, and suddenly appeared at artaria & co.'s. having been copied in one night, it had innumerable mistakes, and whole bars had been left out. beethoven behaved on this occasion with a degree of policy of which we in vain look for a second example in his life. he required artaria to send me fifty printed copies for correction, but desired me at the same time to be so lavish of the ink upon the coarse paper, and to draw my pen so thickly through some of the lines, as to render it impossible for artaria to sell or use any one of these copies. the corrections applied chiefly to the _scherzo_. i kept strictly to beethoven's request; and artaria, to avoid a law-suit, was compelled to melt down the plates. * * * * * beethoven was very forgetful in most things. count browne having presented him with a beautiful horse, in return for the dedication of the variations in a _major_ (no. , on a russian air), he rode it a few times, but soon forgot it, and, what is worse, its food also. his servant, who became aware of this, began to hire out the horse for his own profit; and, to avoid beethoven's noticing this, he purposely kept back the bills for provender until at last a tremendously long one reached him. this at once recalled to his memory both his horse and his forgetfulness. * * * * * beethoven was at times exceedingly passionate. one day when i dined with him at the "swan," the waiter brought him a wrong dish. beethoven had no sooner uttered a few words of reproof (to which the other retorted in no very polite manner), than he took the dish, amply filled with the gravy of the stewed beef it contained, and threw it at the waiter's head. those who know the dexterity of viennese waiters in carrying at one and the same time numberless plates full of different viands, will conceive the distress of the poor man, who could not move his arms, while the gravy trickled down his face. both he and beethoven swore and shouted, whilst all the parties assembled roared with laughter. at last beethoven himself joined the chorus, on looking at the waiter, who was licking in with his tongue the stream of gravy which, much as he fought against it, hindered him from uttering any more invectives; the evolutions of his tongue causing the most absurd grimaces. the picture was worthy a hogarth. * * * * * beethoven scarcely knew what money was, which frequently caused unpleasant scenes; for, being suspicious by nature, he would fancy himself deceived without a cause. irritable as he was, he used to call the people cheats, an appellation which had often to be atoned for by a _douceur_ to the waiters. at those hotels which he mostly frequented they became at last so well acquainted with his fits of absence or eccentricity, that they would let him do anything, and even allow him to leave without having paid his reckoning. * * * * * as to beethoven's posthumous manuscripts, i have my doubts about, them. the "oeuvres posthumes" will not be acknowledged as such by me, unless i see them attested in his own hand-writing. my reasons are the following:-- firstly. because, during the time of my stay with him, from the year until november, , and on my return to vienna in , there was no one manuscript in his possession. beethoven was in arrears with works up to his death. secondly. all such trifles and things which he never meant to publish, as not considering them worthy of his name, were secretly brought into the world by his brothers. such were the songs, published when he had attained the highest degree of fame, composed years before at bonn, previous to his departure for vienna; and in like manner other trifles, written for albums, &c., were secretly taken from him and brought out. thirdly. as most of his letters addressed to me whilst in england speak of pecuniary distress, why should he not have sent me manuscripts, if possessed of any? again. after having succeeded--and that not without trouble--to get the philharmonic society of london to order three overtures of him, as their exclusive property, he sent me three, not one of which we could use. the public was naturally led to anticipate great things from such a name as beethoven's: he was expected to produce works of no common order for these concerts, and such alone could the society bring forward. he published the three overtures three years later, and the society did not think this worth a prosecution. the overture to the "ruins of athens" was one of the three. i think it unworthy of him. had beethoven possessed better productions amongst his manuscripts, he would doubtless have sent them to this society: this his letters clearly prove. his frequent assertion too, that he could live by his pen, makes me doubt the genuineness of the three posthumous piano-forte quartetts published by artaria. i never could convince myself that they were his. beethoven could not possibly have cobbled together from old themes his gigantic work, the three sonatas, op. , which he dedicated to haydn, and which at once excited so great a sensation in the musical world, any more than he could in later years have misapplied those themes for flimsy, ill-written quartetts; for, till his death, his genius was incessantly productive of originality. no. v. additional characteristics, traits and anecdotes of beethoven. (extracted from seyfried's work, "beethoven studien," &c.) beethoven should by no means be offered as a model for directors of orchestras. the performers under him were obliged cautiously to avoid being led astray by their conductor, who thought only of his composition, and constantly laboured to depict the exact expression required by the most varied gesticulations. thus, when the passage was loud, he often beat time downwards, when his hand should have been up. a diminuendo he was in the habit of making by contracting his person, making himself smaller and smaller; and when a pianissimo occurred, he seemed to slink, if the word is allowable, beneath the conductor's desk. as the sounds increased in loudness, so did he gradually rise up, as if out of an abyss; and when the full force of the united instruments broke upon the ear, raising himself on tiptoe, he looked of gigantic stature, and, with both his arms floating about in undulating motion, seemed as if he would soar to the clouds. he was all motion, no part of him remained inactive, and the entire man could only be compared to a _perpetuum mobile_. when his deafness increased, it was productive of frequent mischief, for the maestro's hand went up when it ought to have descended. he contrived to set himself right again most easily in the piano passages, but of the most powerful fortes he could make nothing. in many cases, however, his eye afforded him assistance, for he watched the movements of the bows, and, thus discovering what was going on, soon corrected himself. * * * * * among his favourite dishes was bread soup, made in the manner of pap, in which he indulged every thursday. to compose this, ten eggs were set before him, which he tried before mixing them with the other ingredients; and if it unfortunately happened that any of them were musty, a grand scene ensued; the offending cook was summoned to the presence by a tremendous ejaculation. she, however, well knowing what might occur, took care cautiously to stand on the threshold of the door, prepared to make a precipitate retreat; but the moment she made her appearance the attack commenced, and the broken eggs, like bombs from well directed batteries, flew about her ears, their yellow and white contents covering her with viscous streams. he never walked in the streets without a notebook, in which he entered whatever occurred to him at the moment. if the conversation accidentally turned upon this habit, he parodied the words of joan of arc,--"without my colours i must not come," and with undeviating firmness observed the self-imposed law. but his regularity was confined to this: the most exquisite confusion reigned in his house; books and music were scattered in all directions; here the residue of a cold luncheon--there some full, some half-emptied bottles; on the desk the hasty sketch of a new quartett; in another corner the remains of breakfast; on the piano-forte the scribbled hints for a noble symphony, yet little more than in embryo; hard by, a proof-sheet, waiting to be returned; letters from friends, and on business, spread all over the floor; between the windows a goodly stracchino cheese, and on one side of it ample vestiges of a genuine verona salami; and, notwithstanding all this confusion, he constantly eulogised, with ciceronian eloquence, his own neatness and love of order! when, however, for whole hours, days, and often weeks, something mislaid was looked for, and all search had proved fruitless, then he changed his tone, and bitterly complained that everything was done to annoy him. but the servants knew the natural goodness of their master; they suffered him to rave, and in a few moments it was all forgotten, till a similar occasion renewed the scene. * * * * * he himself often joked about his almost illegible characters, and used to add, by way of excuse, "life is too short to paint letters or notes, and fairer notes would hardly rescue me from poverty" (punning upon the words _noten_ and _nöthen_). the whole of the morning, from the earliest dawn till dinner-time, was employed in the mechanical work of writing; the rest of the day was devoted to thought, and the arrangement of his ideas. scarcely had the last morsel been swallowed, when, if he had no more distant excursion in view, he took his usual walk; that is to say, he ran in double-quick time, as if hunted by bailiffs, twice round the town. whether it rained, or snowed, or hailed, or the thermometer stood an inch or two below the freezing point--whether boreas blew a chilling blast from the bohemian mountains, or whether the thunder roared and forked lightnings played,--what signified it to the enthusiastic lover of his art, in whose genial mind, perhaps, were budding, at the very moment when the elements were in fiercest conflict, the harmonious feelings of a balmy spring! * * * * * beethoven permitted himself but rarely, even among his intimate friends, to express his opinions of contemporary artists. his own words, however will attest what he thought of the four following masters:-- "cherubini is, in my opinion, of all the living composers, the most admirable. moreover, as regards his conception of the requiem, my ideas are in perfect accordance with his, and some time or other, if i can but once set about it, i mean to profit by the hints to be found in that work. "c. m. weber began to learn too late; the art had not time to develop itself, and his only and very perceptible effort was, to attain the reputation of geniality. "mozart's zauberflöte will ever remain his greatest work, for in this he showed himself the true german composer. in don giovanni he still retained the complete italian cut and style, and moreover the sacred art should never suffer itself to be degraded to the foolery of so scandalous a subject. "handel is the unequalled master of all masters! go, turn to him, and learn, with few means, how to produce such effects." "what is rossini?" he was once asked. he immediately wrote in answer, as after he became deaf, he spoke but little,--"a good scene-painter." during his last illness it was found necessary to draw off the water, and during the operation he observed, "rather water from my body than from my pen." * * * * * he received a flattering invitation from a musical society to compose a cantata, the request being accompanied by a portion of the sum to be paid for the work. beethoven accepted it. for a very long time, however, nothing more was heard of him. then came, couched in the most delicate terms, a letter to remind him of his engagement, signed, in consequence of the absence of the president of the society, by his locum tenens (_stellvertreter_). the reply was--"i have not forgotten; such things must not be hurried; i shall keep my word.--beethoven, mp.[ ] (selbstvertreter) se ipsum tenens!" alas! he _could not_ keep his word. * * * * * if he happened not to be in the humour, it required pressing and reiterated entreaties to get him to the piano-forte. before he began in earnest, he used sportively to strike the keys with the palm of his hand, draw his finger along the key-board from one end to the other, and play all manner of gambols, at which he laughed heartily. during his summer residence at the seat of a mecænas, he was on one occasion so rudely pressed to exhibit before the stranger guests, that he became quite enraged, and obstinately refused a compliance which he considered would be an act of servility. a threat that he should be confined a prisoner to the house--uttered, no doubt, without the slightest idea of its being carried into execution--so provoked beethoven, that, night-time as it was, he ran off, upwards of three miles, to the next town, and thence travelling post, hurried to vienna. as some satisfaction for the indignity offered him, the bust of his patron became an expiatory sacrifice. it fell, shattered into fragments, from the book-case to the floor. * * * * * during one of my visits to vienna, my brother, who is a resident of prague, made a journey expressly to see me; and one morning, finding i had an appointment with beethoven, was exceedingly anxious to get a sight of a man of such celebrity, whom he had never yet had an opportunity of seeing. it was very natural that i should wish to gratify his curiosity, but i told him, that although he was my own brother, yet i knew the peculiarities of the man so well, that nothing could induce me to commit the indiscretion of an introduction. he was, however, too intent upon his wish to let the opportunity escape without a further endeavour, and said that, surely, i might allow him to call, as if in furtherance of another appointment which we had mutually made. to this i consented, and off we went to beethoven's, where i left my brother in the passage below to wait the issue of our arrangement. i remained with beethoven about half an hour, when taking out my watch and looking at it, i hastily wrote in his conversation-book that i had a particular appointment at that hour, and that i apprehended my brother was still waiting below to accompany me. beethoven, who was sitting at the table in his shirt-sleeves, instantly started from his seat, and quitting the room with precipitation, left me in no little embarrassment, wondering what was to follow. in a minute afterwards back he came, dragging in my brother by the arm, and in a hurried manner forced him into a seat. "and is it possible," said he, "that you, too, could think me such a bear as not to receive your brother with kindness?" my brother, who had before received some vague insinuations that the renowned composer was not at all times in his sober senses, looked as pale as ashes, and only began to regain his self-possession on hearing the question which beethoven so kindly, yet so reproachfully, asked me; for it appeared that the latter had rushed precipitately down the stairs, and, without saying a word, seized my brother by the arm and dragged him up stairs as if he had caught hold of a criminal. no sooner was my brother fairly seated than he behaved in the most kind and obliging manner towards him, pressing him to take wine and other refreshments. this simple but abrupt act clearly shows, that however strange his manners were, he had at heart that kindly and good feeling which ever accompanies genius. if we were to take the external manner for the internal man, what egregious mistakes should we often make!--ed. no. vi. beethoven's last moments. the property found after his death. correspondence relative to the gift made to beethoven by the philharmonic society of london. . mr. schindler to mr. moscheles. vienna, march , . my dear good moscheles, you must not be surprised at the difference of date between these two letters. i wished to retain beethoven's for a few days, because, on the day after that letter was written, _i. e._ the th of march, we had every reason to fear that our great master was about to breathe his last. this event, however, has not yet happened, but by the time you read these lines, my good moscheles, our friend will be no longer among the living. his dissolution approaches with rapid steps, and indeed it is the unanimous wish of us all to see him released from his dreadful sufferings. nothing else remains to be hoped for. one may indeed say that, for the last eight days, he has been more like a dead than living man, being able only now and then to muster sufficient strength to ask a question, or to inquire for what he wanted. his condition appears, to all accounts, to be very similar to that which was lately endured by the duke of york. he is in an almost constant state of insensibility, or rather of stupor; his head hanging down on his chest, and his eyes staringly fixed for hours upon the same spot. he seldom recognises his most intimate acquaintances, and requires to be told who stands before him. this is dreadful to behold, but only for a few days longer can such a state of things last: since yesterday all the natural functions of the body have ceased; he will, therefore, please god, soon be released, and we shall no longer have to behold his sufferings. crowds of people flock to his abode, to see him for the last time, though none are admitted, except those who are bold and audacious enough to molest the dying man in his last hours. we have been so fortunate as to arrange everything respecting his last will, though there is hardly anything left but a few pieces of old furniture and some manuscripts. he had in hand a quintett for stringed instruments, and the tenth symphony, of which he makes mention in his letter to you. of the quintett there are two movements entirely finished, and it was intended for diabelli.[ ] the day immediately succeeding the receipt of your letter he was in extremely good spirits, and talked much of the plan of the symphony, which was to have proved so much the more grand, as it was intended for the philharmonic society. he has frequently spoken of a journey to england as soon as he should recover, and had calculated how he and myself could live most economically on the tour. but, good god! his journey will probably lead him much further than to england. when he found himself a little relieved, he amused himself with reading the ancient greek authors; also several of walter scott's novels. as soon as your consolatory letter had reached him, all his melancholy thoughts, and all his dread of future misery at once vanished. he cheerfully said, "now we may again occasionally treat ourselves with a merry day." his funds had been already nearly exhausted, and he had consequently been obliged for some time past to retrench his table, which grieved him more than anything else. he immediately desired to have his favourite dish of fish, even if it were only that he might taste of it. the exaltation of his mind is indeed so great, that he at times borders upon the childish. we were also obliged to procure for him a great arm-chair, which cost fifty florins, on which he rests daily at least for half an hour, whilst his room and bed are arranging. his caprice, or rather obstinacy, are, however, excessive; just as ever: and this falls particularly hard upon me, since he wishes to have absolutely nobody about him but myself. and what remained for me to do in this, but to give up my teaching and my whole business, in order to devote all my time to him? everything he eats or drinks i must taste first, to ascertain whether it might not be injurious for him. however willingly i do all this, yet this state of things lasts too long for a poor devil like myself. whatever there remains of the thousand florins, we intend to apply in defraying the expenses of a respectable interment, which shall be performed without parade in the churchyard near döbling,[ ] where he ever delighted to roam. as early as during your last visit to this city,[ ] i stated to you the condition of beethoven's finances, but did not at that time apprehend that we were to see this excellent man so soon arrive, and thus miserably too, at his last moment. [interval of some hours.] i have just left beethoven. he is certainly dying; before this letter is beyond the walls of the city, the great light will have become extinct for ever. he is still in full possession of his senses. the enclosed lock i have just cut from his head. i hasten to despatch the letter, in order to run to him. god bless you! your most sincere friend, a. schindler. . mr. rau to mr. moscheles. vienna, march th, . dear friend, beethoven is no more; he departed this life, in a most painful struggle and with dreadful sufferings, on the th instant, between five and six o'clock p.m., after having been insensible for the last twenty-four hours. and now as to the state of his affairs. my last letter to you spoke of nothing but the extreme want and poverty in which he was, according to his own statements, and yet, when an inventory of his effects was taken, in my presence, we found, in an old, half-mouldy box, no less than seven bank-shares. whether beethoven had hidden these intentionally (for he was naturally mistrustful, and hoped for a speedy recovery), or whether their possession had escaped his own memory, is a problem which i do not venture to solve. the sum of one thousand florins, as sent by the philharmonic society, was found untouched. i laid claim to it in conformity with your instructions, but was obliged to deposit it with the magistrates until further notice from the society as to its final disposal. i would not consent to their defraying the burial expenses out of this money without the society's authorization to that effect. should you have it in your power to dispose of any part of the money, pray let it be done in favour of the two old servants who have attended the patient with the utmost care and devotedness, and who--poor faithful creatures!--have been entirely forgotten in the will, beethoven's nephew being named his sole heir.[ ] as to the present which beethoven intended sending to the philharmonic society, you will hear of it in due time from mr. schindler. let me know soon and circumstantially what steps i am to take, and you may rely upon my conscientiousness in fulfilling your wishes. beethoven will be buried on the th, and an invitation to attend the funeral has been sent to all professors of the different chapels and theatres. the body will be borne by twenty composers, and as many more will be torch-bearers; grillparzer has written a most affecting address to be spoken by anschütz at the grave; indeed, everything which could be done to render the solemnity worthy of the deceased seems to be in preparation. * * * * * * * * * * * * * your friend, rau. . extract of a letter from mr. schindler to mr. moscheles. vienna, september th, . my dear friend, i avail myself of the departure for london of mr. levisey, the english courier, to write, and also intrust to his care a memorial of our friend beethoven, since in your last you wished for a manuscript of some well-known composition of the great master: well, here is the end of the scherzo of the last symphony, and along with it one of those memorable sketch-books which beethoven used mostly to fill in the open air, and afterwards to write his scores from them at home; i was so fortunate as to rescue several of them, and to me they are of the deepest interest, since they are scarcely intelligible to the uninitiated. i must tell you that the one i send contains sketches of one of his last quartetts; and should you ever hear that work, you will no doubt recognise some of the passages, written down at full length. i believe i cannot better prove you my friendship than by sending you this relic, the first and only one i shall ever part with. mr. l----r informs me he has already sent you beethoven's portrait; i trust it is _that_ lithograph in which he is represented sitting and writing, as all others are bad; on the sheet of paper before him stands _missa solemnis_. i meant to send you all this together through mr. clementi, whose acquaintance i made at baden, but he left before i was aware of it. * * * * * * * most sincerely, your friend, a. schindler. . mr. rau to mr. moscheles. vienna, february , . dear friend, i send you enclosed a letter from the guardian of beethoven's nephew, who is named his sole heir, by which you will see that matters are drawing to a close. i was requested, officially, to make a deposition respecting the thousand florins which the philharmonic society of london had given to beethoven, but not having heard from you to that effect, and not wishing to take any responsibility upon myself, i requested a delay sufficient to allow of my writing and receiving your answer. the guardian's letter will at once show you how matters stand.[ ] and now between ourselves. if you _could_ induce the directors to give up the thousand florins it would save much trouble, and perhaps a lawsuit. even dr. eltz and baron eskeles think it would be most difficult to identify the thousand florins found in beethoven's possession at his death with those sent by the society, the more so as hofrath breuning, who had been appointed to take the inventory, has died since. should the money, however, contrary to all expectations, be required back again, it will be necessary for the philharmonic society to send dr. eltz a legal writ, empowering him to proceed for them, and at their expense: this might indeed eat up the whole sum. pray write _soon_ and _most explicitly_. * * * * * * your friend, rau. no. vii. funeral honours to beethoven. the th of march, , was fixed upon for the funeral of the lamented beethoven. the following fac-simile of the card (on the opposite page) relative to the funeral may not be uninteresting to the reader. translation of the card. "invitation to ludwig van beethoven's funeral, which will take place on the th of march, at three o'clock in the afternoon. * * * * * the company will assemble at the lodgings of the deceased, in the schwarz-spanier house, no. , on the glacis, before the scotch gate. the procession will thence go to trinity church, at the fathers' minorites in alser street. * * * * * the musical world sustained the irreparable loss of this celebrated composer about six o'clock in the evening of the th of march, . beethoven died of dropsy, in the th year of his age, after receiving the holy sacraments. the day of the exequies will be made known hereafter by l. van beethoven's admirers and friends." einladung zu _ludwig van beethoven's_ leichenbegängnisse, _welches am . märz um uhr nachmittags statt finden wird_. * * * * * man versammelt sich in der wohnung des verstorbenen im schwarzspanier-hause, nr. , am glacis vor dem schottenthore. der zug begibt sich von da nach der dreifaltigkeits-kirche bei den p. p. minoriten in der alsergasse. * * * * * die musikalische welt erlitt den unerfeßlichen verlust des berühmten tondichters am . märz abends gegen uhr. beethoven starb an den folgen der wassersucht, im . jahre seines alters, nach empfangenen heil. sacramenten. der tag der exequien wird nachträglich bekannt gemacht von l. van beethoven's berehrern und freunden., (dieser karte wird in lob, <g>haslingers</g> musikalienhandlung vertheilt.) this card having been largely distributed, all the necessary arrangements for the funeral were made with the utmost zeal and promptitude by mr. haslinger, the music publisher, and messrs. schindler and hart, friends of the deceased. the morning was fine; and at an early hour crowds of people began to assemble on the glacis of alservorstadt, the quarter of the town in which beethoven resided. towards the middle of the day, the numbers had increased to upwards of twenty thousand persons of all classes; and so great was the pressure round the residence of the deceased, that it was found necessary to close the gates of the court-yard, where, under an awning, stood the coffin raised upon a bier, and surrounded by mourners. at half-past four the procession began to move, the way having been cleared by a body of the military. eight principal singers of the opera-house--eichberger, schuster, cramolini, a. müller, hoffmann, rupprecht, borschitzky, and a. wranitzky--had offered to carry the coffin on their shoulders. after the priest had pronounced some prayers, the singers performed a highly impressive funeral chant by b. a. weber, and the whole procession moved forward in the following order:-- . the cross-bearer; . four trombone-players--the brothers böck, waidl, and tuschky; . the master of the choir, m. assmayer; and, under his direction, . a choir of singers--m. tietze, schnitzer, gross, sikora, frühwald, geissler, rathmeyer, kokrement, fuchs, nejebse, ziegler, perschl, leidl, weinkopf, pfeiffer, and seipelt, which, alternately with the trombone quartett, performed the miserere. this walking orchestra was immediately followed by, . the high priest; . the coffin, borne by the above-mentioned opera-singers, and attended by the chapel-masters--- eybler, hummel, seyfried, and kreutzer, on the right, and weigl, gyrowetz, gänsbacher, and würfel, upon the left, as pall-bearers. on both sides, from the beginning of the procession to the coffin, were the torch-bearers, thirty-six in number, consisting of poets, authors, composers, and musicians, among whom were m. grillparzer, anschütz, bernard, castelli, mayseder, c. czerny, j. böhm, linke, hildebrand, schuppanzigh, holz, katter, krall, baron lannoy, j. merk, f. schubert, riotte, schoberlechner, steiner, haslinger, sig. lablache, david, radichi, mechetti, meric, pacini, meier, schick, schmidl, streicher, weidman, wolfmeyer, c. graf, raimund, piringer, grünbaum, &c.; the whole in full mourning, with white roses and bunches of lilies fastened to the crape on their arms. next followed beethoven's brother, and m. von breuning, (one of the earliest friends of the deceased, and the executor of his last will,) the pupils of the conservatorio, and the scholars of kapellmeister drechsler, (the thorough-bass teacher of st. ann's,) all deeply lamenting the loss which the musical world had sustained. as the procession approached the church, the _miserere_[ ] was entoned to an original melody of the deceased, with an accompaniment of four trombones. the history of this striking composition is as follows:--when beethoven was, in the autumn of , visiting his brother, at the time an apothecary in linz, he was requested by m. glögll; kapellmeister of the cathedral, to compose some movement of a solemn kind for the approaching festival of all souls. beethoven willingly undertook the task, and wrote a piece, entitled _equale a quatro tromboni_, remarkable for the originality of the harmonies, and its faithful imitation of the genuine antique style.[ ] on the morning of the th of march, , when all hope of beethoven's recovery had been given over, mr. haslinger repaired with it to kapellmeister seyfried, with a request that he would adapt the words of the miserere to this _equale_, that, the body of the prince of musicians might be accompanied to its everlasting rest by his own creations. m. seyfried, in pursuance of this idea, undertook the work, which was finished the night following beethoven's death, with infinite judgment and good taste. the movements were arranged for four voices (two tenors and two basses) and four trombones. on reaching the church, the body was placed on a bier at the foot of the high altar, when, after the usual prayers, was sung the solemn anthem _libera me domine, de morte eterná_, composed by kapellmeister von seyfried, in the genuine ecclesiastical style. on quitting the church, the coffin was placed in a hearse drawn by four horses, which proceeded towards the burial-ground at währing, followed by a line of more than two hundred carriages. on reaching the gates of the cemetery, the following poem, from the pen of grillparzer, was recited by anschütz, the tragedian, in a very feeling manner:-- 'tis done! a master-spirit of the age has pass'd away to his eternal rest: henceforth his name belongs to history's page, enroll'd with men the noblest and the best. yet, though his name does to all time belong, ye lately heard and saw the wond'rous man, ye heard his living voice, his living song, and to receive his dying accents ran. then deep in mem'ry treasure up his form: that brow, though stern, with sweetest fancies fraught, that eye with inspiration kindling warm, that bosom labouring with the force of thought. and ye, to whom it was not given to view his living lineaments with wond'ring eye, may in his tones behold him pictured true, in breathing colours that can never die. yes: he could paint, in tones of magic force, the moody passions of the varying soul-- now winding round the heart with playful course, now storming all the breast with wild control. forthdrawing from his unexhausted store, 'twas his to bid the burden'd heart o'erflow: infusing joys it never knew before, and melting it with soft luxurious woe! we came his funeral rite to celebrate, obedient to fond love and duty's call; but on this moment such proud feelings wait, it seems a joyous birthday festival. he liveth! it is wrong to say he's dead:-- the sun, though sinking in the fading west, again shall issue from his morning bed, like a young giant vigorous from his rest. he lives! for that is truly living, when our fame is a bequest from mind to mind: his life is in the breathing hearts of men, transmitted to the latest of his kind. baron von schlechta and m. castelli read short but eloquent poems to the sorrowing multitude, and, before the grave was closed, m. haslinger put into the hands of m. hummel three wreaths of laurel, which were dropped upon the coffin. the mourners waited till the earth was smoothed over the grave. all the visitants in turn took a last farewell of the mortal remains of a great genius, and returned home in silence, the shades of evening having by this time gathered around. on the rd of april, , a solemn tribute was paid to the memory of beethoven at the imperial church of st. augustin by the performance of mozart's _requiem_, in which the great singer lablache sung the bass part, in a manner that produced a deep impression and shows him to be a profound artist: the whole terminated with the solemn _miserere_ and _libera_ of kapellmeister von seyfried. on the th of april, , was performed, in the church of st. charles, the whole of cherubini's celebrated _requiem_, admirably executed under the direction of kapellmeister hummel. a musical performance also took place, by way of opening a subscription for a monument to beethoven. it commenced with the celebrated pastoral symphony of the lamented master, which was followed by a _kyrie_ from his second mass in d. from the abbé vogler's celebrated _missa pro defunctis_, were given the _dies iræ_, the _sanctus_, and _benedictus_. the whole closed with catel's overture to _semiramis_. the selection was admirably performed, and the object proposed adequately fulfilled. latin epitaphs on beethoven's tomb. . ludovico . van . beethoven. cujus. ad . triste . mortis . nuncium. omnes . flevere . gentes. plaudente. coelitum . choro. . in tumulum ludovici van beethoven. fato mortalis; vita bonus; arte perennis, morte suum moriens eximit ipse decus. miserere, performed at beethoven's funeral, at vienna, march , . [illustration: musical notation] [illustration: musical notation] [illustration: musical notation] [illustration: musical notation] [illustration: musical notation] [illustration: musical notation] [illustration: musical notation] [illustration: musical notation] [illustration: musical notation] [illustration: musical notation] [illustration: musical notation] [illustration: musical notation] [illustration: amplius.] [illustration: musical notation] [illustration: musical notation] [illustration: musical notation] [illustration: musical notation] libera. (by seyfried.) [illustration: musical notation] [illustration: musical notation] [illustration: musical notation] [illustration: musical notation] [illustration: musical notation] [illustration: musical notation] [illustration: musical notation] [illustration: musical notation] [illustration: musical notation] [illustration: musical notation] [illustration: musical notation] no. viii. concert in aid of beethoven's monument at drury lane theatre, july th, . it was in the summer of the year that the citizens of bonn, who had for the last two years been actively engaged in raising funds for the erection of a monument to beethoven in his native city, addressed lord burghersh, through the baron von schlegel, president of their managing committee, in the following letter:-- my lord, monsieur le baron de bulow has encouraged me to address your lordship on behalf of the proposed monument to ludwig van beethoven, in his native town of bonn. this project has been most favourably entertained in germany: we have received the profits of many concerts given for this purpose in the small as well as large towns, besides private subscriptions; nevertheless, our means are still insufficient for the execution of a monument in all respects worthy of this great genius. besides, his glory would remain imperfect if we did not obtain for it some conspicuous support from abroad, and especially from london, which has become one of the principal places in europe in which music is cultivated in the greatest perfection. a public concert, given in that capital, in aid of the monument to beethoven, would complete our wishes. if a connoisseur and patron of talent like your lordship would deign to encourage such an undertaking, distinguished artists will zealously assist, and the numerous admirers of beethoven will not refuse their aid to do honour to his memory. having had the honour, in former times, of being received by your lordship, and of being present at your brilliant musical entertainments in florence and in london, i gladly avail myself of this occasion to recal myself to your kind recollection; and i beg you to accept the expression of my devotion and of the great respect with which i have the honour to be, my lord, your most obedient and humble servant, (signed) a. w. de schlegel. bonn, may st, . lord burghersh, taking up the matter with the utmost zeal, addressed an appeal to the principal musical institutions of london, which in their turn showed their readiness to promote the object in view. at a meeting of the professors belonging to the ancient concert, the co-operation of the members of that body was unanimously granted, mr. knyvett and mr. cramer being deputed to act as its representatives. a like course was adopted by the philharmonic society, which nominated sir george smart and mr. moscheles in a similar capacity; mr. mori and sig. costa were appointed by the orchestra of the italian opera to express the adherence of that body; and messrs. potter and c. lucas, at the suggestion of lord burghersh, on the part of the disposable forces of the royal academy. several of the principal english and foreign vocalists then in london offered their co-operation with the utmost willingness and liberality. mr. bunn granted the use of drury lane theatre, and on the th of july, , under the management of a committee presided over by lord burghersh, assisted by the right hon. the earl of cawdor and the right hon. sir gore ouseley, bart., and formed of the members of the musical bodies above specified, a grand concert was given, the following account of which is extracted from the musical journals of the day. the performance which took place at drury lane theatre on wednesday evening was but thinly attended, owing to a variety of causes, among which may be noticed the dissolution of parliament and the approaching elections, the lateness of the season, and, we fear, the high terms demanded for admission, namely, half-a-guinea the boxes, seven shillings the pit, and five shillings the gallery. in a musical point of view it realised the highest expectations that could have been formed of it; for assuredly it was the noblest entertainment of this description that ever was given in england. but considered with respect to its object, it has unfortunately been a failure, the attendance having been too small to produce any substantial contribution to the fund. this circumstance must have, in some measure, diminished the enjoyment which the admirers of beethoven derived from the performance of some of his greatest masterpieces. but it did not damp the ardour of the performers. they evidently exerted themselves _con amore_; and we have never heard music performed with greater care, energy, or effect. nothing could have surpassed the splendour of the orchestra on this occasion, which was erected upon the stage, and the back of it was as high as the second tier of boxes. the principal singers were arranged in front; the chorus, consisting of voices, on each side; the conductor in the centre. the band consisted of fifty violins, twelve violas, twelve violoncellos, eleven double basses, twenty-five wind instruments, &c., making a total of instruments, and a grand total of about performers. the soli performers were mesdames schroeder devrient, bishop, knyvett, birch, wyndham; messrs. braham, bennett, balfe, seguin, and h. phillips. the conductors, sir george smart, mr. moscheles, and mr. knyvett; the leaders, messrs. f. cramer, loder, and t. cooke. the selection combined: part i. the mount of olives. part ii. the choral symphony. part iii. overture egmont.--canon from fidelio.--concerto in e flat (pianoforte, mr. moscheles).--grand scena in e.--and finale from fidelio. the mount of olives, which formed the first act, was given entire for the first time in england. the solo parts were sung by mrs. knyvett, mrs. bishop, miss birch, mr. braham, mr. phillips, and mr. bennett. braham was in perfect voice, and had his voice perfectly under his command. he sang, indeed, so well, that the principal performers in the orchestra could not refrain from offering him their friendly and hearty congratulations. the band was led by f. cramer, and conducted by sir george smart. beethoven's great choral symphony formed the second act. it was admirably performed, and received with immense applause. schroeder sang with a power and truth which only the music and a kindred genius could have supported. mr. moscheles' performance of the noble concerto, and his conducting the choral symphony, have been already mentioned in these pages. both were beyond commendation. the choralists in "here seize him," and the "hallelujah," were very effective; the former (which is a similar movement to the pistol scene in the "fidelio") was unanimously encored. so far the journals. that the pecuniary result of this concert should have fallen short of what might be anticipated from such a cause and such assistance, must have had its cause in the lateness of the season and the recent death of king william the fourth. the clear profits of this concert, together with some donations, amounted to only _l._! no doubt that many of beethoven's admirers in england, who were prevented from attending this solemnity, would have taken a pride in honouring the memory of the great master under more favourable auspices. as to the proceedings of the committee for the beethoven monument at bonn, the following particulars may not be uninteresting. the president of the committee, baron a. w. von schlegel, having relinquished his office, owing to an accumulation of private business, dr. breidenstein[ ] was elected in his stead. the committee have been most successful in their appeal to the musical world throughout europe, so that the expenses of the proposed monument are now nearly covered. the sums received are the produce of concerts in more than fifty different towns, the receipts of a concert given by those eminent artists thalberg and de beriot, at bonn, for the same purpose, and the generous donation of , francs from liszt, who joined the committee as an active member. promises of concerts for the same purpose have been received from vienna, paris, brussels, and other places. the committee has already issued an address to artists, inviting them to send designs for the monument before the st of march, . from among the designs or sketches that shall be received, the three best will be selected by competent judges, and for each of them a premium of twenty frederics d'or will be paid, upon condition that the authors of them, if required, will have models made of them, upon a reduced scale, and send them to the committee. in order to insure perfect impartiality in the selection of the designs, the authors are requested to attach a motto to each, and to inclose the same motto in an envelop, together with the name and the address of the artist. the competition is open to artists of all countries. it is necessary to add the following remarks, as they may have an influence upon the work itself:-- . it is decided that the monument, or rather the statue, which is to form the most essential part of it, shall be executed, not in marble, but in bronze. . the sum which, at the commencement of next year, we shall have at our disposal amounts to about , dollars, prussian currency; in addition to which contributions are announced, and confidently expected, from several of the most important german and european capitals.--ed. no. ix. sale of beethoven's mss. and musical library.[ ] vienna, march , . the sale of the lamented beethoven's mss. and musical library, which lately took place here, excited uncommon interest among the lovers of music, amateurs as well as professional men. the following are the heads under which the articles were arranged in the catalogue:-- . fragments from beethoven's musical portfolio, consisting of noted paper, scraps of various themes, &c. . fragments and sketches in a more complete form. . autographs of scores already published. . autographs of unpublished music. . copies of various symphonies, choruses, overtures, masses, &c., corrected by the composer's own hand. . printed music and theoretical works. . a small collection of works of general literature. . a small collection of musical instruments. the contest for several of the articles was warm and spirited, particularly between the well-known music-sellers artaria, haslinger, and steiner. more than forty works, unknown to the public, were brought to the hammer, the greater part of which are productions of beethoven's earlier years. no doubt the present possessors will, ere long, afford the world an opportunity of enjoying these works of the lamented master. we observed that the greater proportion of them became the property of artaria, after a severe contest with his brother publishers; several fetched extraordinarily high prices. besides a great many other articles, beethoven's last work, an unfinished quintett, begun in november, , fell to the lot of diabelli, who triumphantly bore it away, at a very high price, from a host of competitors. the same gentleman also became possessor of a solo-capriccio, of a rondo for pianoforte and orchestra, and of the english pianoforte which beethoven had received as a present from the messrs. broadwood. the gold medal which the composer had the honour to receive from louis xviii. on receiving the copy of one of his grand masses was bought by some anonymous collector. but by far the most interesting article of the whole sale fell to the lot of m. haslinger--the collection of contrapuntic exercises, essays, and finished pieces, which beethoven wrote while under the tuition of his master, the celebrated albrechtsberger, all in his own handwriting, with the interlineal corrections of that master, and his remarks on the margin. it is in five thick volumes, which were evidently preserved with great care. the struggle for the possession of this invaluable relic--the fruit of beethoven's first studies--was long and spirited; but the stamina of m. haslinger brought him through: after many a fiercely-contested round, he was at length declared the victor, none of his antagonists coming to time. we are happy to be able to state that this collection of studies,[ ] so interesting to the whole musical world, is immediately to be placed in the hands of kapellmeister seyfried, who is to prepare it for the press. m. haslinger also became the fortunate possessor of a pianoforte trio, consisting of an allegro, adagio, finale, and variations, composed while beethoven filled the place of organist in cologne; of a short sonata for four hands; of several songs and other vocal pieces; of a small collection, entitled _zapfenstreiche für türkische musik_; of two violins, with the possessor's seal on each; and lastly, of beethoven's copy of the works of handel, dr. arnold's edition, in forty volumes folio. the latter, as is well known, was presented to the lamented composer by his friend m. stumpff, of london, the possession of which tended so much to soothe beethoven during his last protracted illness. the mind and talents of handel were kindred to his own, and he was seen for hours hanging over these volumes in rapture and forgetting his sufferings. two other competitors contended warmly for this prize--m. gläser of gotha, and mr. schenk, the well-known composer of _der dorfbarbier_; but m. haslinger still retained his honours as champion of the field.[ ] we must, however, observe, that, warm as the opposition was between these different opponents, the contest was still conducted with becoming respect--not to say with a certain solemnity due to the relics of the mighty dead. some of the prices given astonished even the most enthusiastic admirers of the composer, and are the most satisfactory proofs of the deep zeal and love for the art predominant among us. [illustration: nº . first sketches of the vocal subjects of beethoven's th symphony.] [illustration: musical notation] systematic catalogue of all the original works by ludwig von beethoven, as published by t. haslinger, from vienna. a.--piano forte music. i.--sonatas. for the piano forte alone. no. op. . sonata in e flat . " in d . " in f minor . " in f minor . " in a . " in c . " in e flat . " in c minor . " in f . " in d . " in c minor . " in e . " in g . " in b flat . " in a flat . " in c sharp minor . " in e flat . " in d . " in g . " in d minor . " in e flat . " in g minor . " in g . " in c . " in f . " in f minor . " in f sharp . " in g . " in e flat . " in e minor . " in a . " in b flat . " in e . " in a flat . " in c minor ii.--miscellaneous pieces, for the piano forte alone. . andante favori, in f . bagatelles in f . " " . " " . fantasie in g minor . polonaise in c . preludes in c . rondo in c . " in g . " in g (for pianoforte and violin) . dances (seven waltzes) . " (six waltzes) . " (minuets and waltzes) iii.--variations for the piano-forte, with and without accompaniments. .--_for the piano-forte alone._ no. op. . variations (thême de marche) . " (quant' è più bello) . " (nel cor più non) . " (nozze disturbate) . " (waldmädchen) . " (mich brennt ein) . " (air russe) . " (tändeln und scherzen) . " (la stessa) . " (kind willst du) . " (es war einmahl) . " (in a familiar style) . " (vieni amore) . " (god save the king) . " (rule britannia) . " (thême orig.) . " (with a fugue) . " (thirty-two variations) . " (thême russe) . " (waltz by diabelli) .--_with accompaniments._ . variations (se vuol ballare) for piano-forte and violin . " (air de händel) for piano-forte and violoncello . " (ein mädchen) . " (bey männern) . " (thême orig.) for piano-forte, violin and violoncello . " (air écossais) for piano-forte and flute . " (air écossais) . " (air autrichien) . " (air écossais) . " (air écossais) . " (air écossais) . " (air tirolien) . " (air écossais) . " (air russe) . " (air écossais) . " (air tirolien) . " (air écossais) . " (air russe) . " (air écossais) . " (air écossais) . " (air écossais) . " (schwestern von prag) for violin and violoncello iv.--pieces for two performers on the piano-forte. no. op. . sonata in d . variations in c . variations in d . three marches in c, e flat, and d v.--duets for piano-forte and violin. . sonata in d . " in a . " in e flat . " in a minor . " in f . " in a . " in c minor . " in g . " in a . " in g vi.--duets for piano-forte and violoncello. . sonata in f . " in g minor . " in f (with violoncello or french horn) . " in a . " in c . " in d vii.--trios for piano-forte, violin, and violoncello. . trio in e flat . " in g . " in c minor . " in b flat (clar.) . trio in d (viol.) . " in e flat . " in b flat viii.--quartetts and quintetts for the piano-forte. . quartett in e flat, for piano-forte, violin, alto, and violoncello . quintett in e flat, for piano-forte, hob. clar. bassoon and horn ix.--concertos for the piano-forte, with orchestral accompaniments. . concerto in c . " in b flat . " in c minor . " in c, for piano-forte, violin, violoncello, concertante, and orchestra . " in g . " in e flat . fantasia, with chorus b.--violin music. x.--trios for violin, alto, and violoncello. no. op. . trio in e flat . " (serenade) . " in g . " in d . " in c minor . " (serenade) for violin, flute, and alto xi.--quartetts for two violins, alto, and violoncello. . quartett in f . " in g . " in d . " in c minor . " in a . " in b flat . " in f . " in e minor . " in c . " in e flat . " in f minor . " in e flat . " in b flat . " in c sharp min. . " in a minor . " in f . fugue in b flat xii.--quintetts for two violins, two altos, and violoncello. . quintett in e flat . " in c . fugue in d xiii.--sextetts and septetts for the violin, etc. . septett in e flat for violin, alto, violoncello, clarionet, bassoon, horn, and double bass . sextett in e flat, for two violins, alto, two horns, and violoncello xiv.--concertos and romances for the violin, with orchestral accompaniments. . romance in g . " in f . concerto in d c.--vocal music. xv.--songs and ballads, with accompaniment of the piano-forte. no. . war song of the austrians ( ). _kriegslied der Österreicher._ . farewell to the citizens of vienna. _abschiedsgesang, &c._ . drinking song. _trinklied_ . la partenza . tender love. _zärtliche liebe_ . prayers (six sacred songs of gellert's), op. . love of our neighbour. _die liebe des nächsten_ . of death. _vom tode_ . reverence of god through nature. _die ehre gottes aus der natur_ . god's power and providence. _gottes macht und vorsehung_ . penitential hymn. _busslied_ . adelaide, op. . the blessing of friendship. _das glück der freundschaft_ . the free man. _der freye mann_ . hymn of sacrifice. _opferlied_ . urian's voyage round the world, op. } . fire-colour. _feuerfarb_ } . the song of rest. _das liedchen von der ruhe_ } . may song. _maygesang_ } . molly's parting. _molly's abschied_ } eight songs . love. _liebe_ } . marmoth } . the flower of st. john's wort. _das blümchen } wunderhold_ } . the call of the oevail, op. . _der wachtelschlag_ . to hope, op. . _an die hoffnung_ . longing ( st melody), op. . _sehnsucht_ . " ( nd melody) . " ( rd melody) . " ( th melody) . canon for the new year. _zum neuen jahr_ . mignon (six songs and melodies), op. . new love, new life. _neue liebe, neues leben_ . romance (göthe's faust) . gretel's warning . to the absent lover. _an den fernen geliebten_ . the contented man. _der zufriedene_ . song of the absent. _lied aus der ferne_ . longing. _sehnsucht_ . the warrior's adieu. _des kriegers abschied_ . in questa tomba . the lover. _der liebende_ . the youth in a foreign land. _der jüngling in der fremde_ . hope, op. . _hoffnung_ . the lover's lament. _liebes klage_ . l'amante impatiente. _stille frage_ . l'amant. _liebes-ungeduld_ . joys of life. _lebens-genuss_ . pleasures of melancholy } . longing } three songs, op. , by göthe . with a coloured ribbon } . remembrance (mathison), op. . _andenken._ . elegy on the death of a bodle. _elegie auf den tod eines pudels._ . to a mistress who wished to part. _als die geliebte sich trennen wollte_ . merkenstein, op. . the spirit of the bard. _der bardengeist_ . the call from the mountain. _ruf vom berge_ . germania . to my beloved. _an die geliebte_ (_von stoll_) . so or so . resignation . the secret. _das geheimniss_ . silence. _das schweigen._ (canon) . to hope. _an die hoffnung_, op. . to a distant mistress. _an die ferne geliebte_ (a series of six songs, by a. jeitteles), op. . the man of his word. _der mann von wort_, by f. a. kleinschmid, op. . . merkenstein, near baden, by j. b. rupprecht, op. . . evening hymn. _abendlied_, op. . o hope. _o hoffnung_ . the song of the nightingale. _der gesang der nachtigall_ . canon for six voices . canon for four voices . canon for three voices . the kiss. _der kuss_, op. . drinking song. _trinklied_ xvi.--vocal music, with part or the whole of an orchestral accompaniment. no. op. . scena e aria: ah perfido . germania . it is achieved. _es ist vollbracht_ . scotch songs, book st } with accompaniment for piano . " " book nd } forte, violin, and violoncello . " " book rd } . calm at sea and prosperous voyage . march and chorus from the ruins of athens . terzett: tremate, empi, tremate! . elegiac song . hymn of sacrifice, by mathison, for solo and chorus . hymn of alliance, by göthe, for two solo voices and chorus xvii.--masses, oratorios, operas. no. op. . mass in c, for four voices and orchestra . " in d, for four voices and orchestra . christ on the mount of olives, oratorio . the glorious moment, cantata . fidelio, grand opera . egmont, tragedy (overture, entreacts and songs) d.--orchestral music. xviii.--symphonies. . symphony in c . " in d . " eroica in e flat . " in b flat . " in c minor . " pastorale in f . " in a . " in f . " choral in d minor . wellington's victory in the battle of vittoria xix.--overtures for the orchestra. . overture (prometheus) . " (coriolanus) . " (egmont) . " (leonore) . " (fidelio) . " (ruins of athens) . " (the emperor's name day) . " (king stephen) . " (inauguration of the theatre) . " (characteristique) xx.--dances and ballets for the orchestra. . minuets in e flat . " in d . german dances in c . waltzes in d . " in d . prometheus, ballet xxi.--music for wind instruments. no. op. . trio for two hoboes and english horn . sestetto for two clarionets, two bassoons, and two horns . harmonies . equale for four trombones . marches for military bands. messrs. cramer and co. are publishing a complete edition of beethoven's works, edited by j. moscheles. the following have already appeared:-- no. opera. key . sonata pathetique, dedicated to prince lichnowski c minor. . grand sonata, dedicated to ditto a flat. . sonata, no. , op. g. . ditto, no. , ditto d minor. . ditto, no. , ditto a flat. . grand sonata, dedicated to count de browne b flat. . sonata, dedicated to mademoiselle juliette guicciardo, no. c minor. . sonata, dedicated to the princess de lichtenstein, no. e flat. . sonata (pastorale), dedicated to m. sonnenfells d. . sonata e minor. . ditto f. . ditto a flat. . ditto, dedicated to the countess of brunswick f # major. . sonata, dedicated to haydn, no. f minor. . ditto, ditto, no. a. . ditto, ditto, no. c. . grand sonata, dedicated to madame antonia de brentano c minor. . grand sonata e flat. . sonata, no. g minor. . ditto, no. g. . sonata, dedicated to madame la comtesse de browne, no. c minor. . ditto, dedicated to ditto, no. f. . ditto, dedicated to ditto, no. d. . grand sonata, dedicated to count de waldstein c. . sonata appassionata, dedicated to count de brunswic f minor. . sonata caracteristique e flat. . sonata, no. e. . ditto, no. g. . grand sonata e. . grand sonata, part i. b flat. . ditto, part ii. b flat. . sonata a. . sonata g. . fantasia g minor. . andante f. . variations e finale alla fuga e flat. sonatas for piano and violin . grand sonata, no. , dedicated to salieri d. . sonata, no. , dedicated to ditto a. . ditto, no. , dedicated to ditto e flat. . sonata, dedicated to monsieur le comte maurice de fries, no. a minor. . sonata, dedicated to ditto, no. . f. . sonata, dedicated to the emperor of russia, no. a. . ditto, dedicated to ditto, no. c minor. . ditto, dedicated to ditto, no. g. . grand sonata, dedicated to prince rudolphe g. . grand sonata, dedicated to m. kreutzer a. sonatas for piano and violoncello. . grand sonata, no. f. . sonata, no. . g. . sonata f. . ditto a. . ditto, no. c. . ditto, no. d. trios for piano, violin, and violoncello. . trio, no. e flat. . ditto, no. g. . ditto, no. c minor. . trio b flat. . trio (from the septetto) e flat. . ditto, no. d. . ditto, no. e flat. . ditto b flat. concertos. no. opera. key. . concerto c. . ditto, dedicated to monsieur charles nikl b flat. . concerto, dedicated to prince louis ferdinand de prusse c minor. . concerto g. . concerto, dedicated to archduke rudolphe e flat. . fantasia with chorus c minor. airs with variations. . air russe . nel cor più . une fièvre . air from the ballet of le nozze . la stessa la stessissima . swiss air (to be continued.) mount of olives (oratorio)--english version. by thos. oliphant, esq. the choral parts to be had separately. six songs, with english words. by thos. oliphant, esq. fidelio, a grand opera. *** publishing by subscription, a complete edition of the quatuors for two violins, tenor, and violoncello. the end. london: printed by william clowes and sons, stamford street. footnotes: [ ] delivered in the year , in carlsruhe, darmstadt, francfort, mayence, stuttgart, and tübingen; they appeared in print in . [ ] it was that of . [ ] it must be obvious that, in this division, i do not mean to assert that beethoven's mental development admits of the like limitation, or is tacitly comprehended under it. to pretend to fix precise limits to that would be a bold attempt, inasmuch as his works were not published in the order in which they were composed. i shall recur to this subject in treating of the first period. [ ] at page of his biographical particulars, ries, in his account of the meeting of beethoven and steibelt at the house of count fries, where steibelt performed a "studied fantasia brillante on a theme from a trio of beethoven's," tells us, "this gave great offence to the admirers of beethoven, as well as to that composer himself; he was next called to the piano to extemporize: he went in his usual, i might say, rude way, to the instrument, as though half-pushed towards it." but hold!--who could help being revolted also on reading this instance of beethoven's rudeness from the pen of his pupil and friend, and reasoning thus:-- rudeness is the highest degree of ill-breeding. if he, from his thirtieth to his thirty-fifth year, "usually behaved rudely," even in the higher circles--as we are told in the anecdote related by ries, page --he was and must have been rude all his life, even though he had intercourse with an archduke of austria. at that period of life beethoven had arrived when ries was in vienna. what then could be alleged in excuse of beethoven, if ries were right? but how many of those friends and admirers of the illustrious deceased, who knew him longer and had opportunities of forming a more correct opinion of him than ries, will solemnly protest against such a charge! is it fair to publish to the world a momentary fit of ill-humour in any man, be he who he may, that it may serve as an authentic source for estimating his character? and especially in a man who belongs to remote posterity, who deserves to be recommended in so many respects to younger artists as a model worthy of imitation? or, let me ask, is it right to drag before the tribunal of the public what has been said and done in unguarded moments among friends and acquaintance? that maxim is in general entirely false which says that "about great men anything and everything may be told: it can do them no harm." without taking into account that this maxim is in itself very relative, the character of every man, without any reference to his mental qualities, is the point which, in a portraiture of him, should be treated with most tenderness, at the same time without derogating in the slightest degree from the truth. [ ] dr. wegeler published in consequence a copy of beethoven's baptismal register, which is as follows:-- "extract, church register, st. remigii, at bonn. "anno millesimo septingentesimo septuagesimo, die decima septima decembris, baptizatus est _ludovicus_, domini johannis van beethoven et helenae keverichs, conjugum, filius legitimus: patrini: dominus ludovicus van beethoven, et gertrudis müllers, dicta baums. "witness to the truth of the above extract, "the burgomaster. (signed) "windeck. "_bonn, th june, ._" [ ] when m. brockhaus announced the eighth edition of the "conversations-lexicon," i wrote to him, on the th of february, , calling his attention to that fable, and requesting him to omit the passage relative to beethoven's parentage in the new edition, which he complied with. [ ] the same count von waldstein to whom beethoven dedicated his grand sonata, op. . [ ] or, as wegeler gives it, like the "iniquæ mentis asellus" of horace.--ed. [ ] see my note, p. .--ed. [ ] m. ries was treated in the same manner, as he told me, while under beethoven's tuition. "i played," said ries to me, "while beethoven composed or did something else; and it was very rarely that he seated himself by me and so remained for half an hour." ries tells a different story in his publication. [ ] how happens it that beethoven, sensible of the impropriety of this system of education, should not have avoided it in bringing up his nephew? we shall have occasion to recur to this subject in the proper place. [ ] "in order to become a good composer, a person should have studied the theory of harmony and the art of counterpoint from the age of seven to eleven, that when the imagination and feeling awake, he may have accustomed himself to invent according to rule." how absurd and untrue this assertion is, in every respect, i there showed in the proper place; and likewise that beethoven thought precisely the reverse, especially on instruction in counterpoint, and that he expressed himself clearly and explicitly on that subject. [ ] see supplement no. iv., vol. ii. [ ] and yet m. ignatz von seyfried, in the biographical particulars of beethoven appended to the work published by him and m. haslinger, with the title of "beethoven studien," does maintain the contrary, which dr. wegeler has shown to be wholly unfounded. [ ] this sonata, quasi fantasia, op. , is known in austria by the inappropriate appellation of "moonshine sonata," which is meant to designate nothing more than that enthusiastic period of beethoven's passion. [ ] for the correction of each of his larger works beethoven took, upon an average, one-third of the time that had been occupied in its composition. this observation i had occasion to make from many of his works. his corrected scores show how he proceeded in general in the labour of revising and improving. [ ] see supplement no. i., vol. . [ ] printed in the _neue zeitschrift für musik_, no. , of the year . for the series of beethoven's letters to the music-publishers of leipzig, see supplement no. i., vol. . [ ] beethoven was not accustomed to ask singers if they could execute what he had written. the consequence was that these made arbitrary alterations without consulting him. [ ] of the first members of that quartett, which belongs to the history of the art, m. sina is the only one now living, and in paris. m. franz weiss died shortly before beethoven, m. schuppanzigh soon after him, and m. linke a few years since. [ ] the consequences of this excess must inevitably follow, and the gigantic enterprises of this kind that are so frequently seen and heard of, resting on insecure foundations, will, by degrees, fall of themselves, after doing much more injury than benefit to the art. [ ] count franz of brunswick, baron j. gleichenstein, baron pasqualati, m. de zmeskall, m. and madame streicher, and moritz count von lichnowsky. [ ] this document, in beethoven's own handwriting, has lately been left in charge of messrs. cramer and co., to be disposed of for the benefit of a female relative of beethoven's, who hopes to derive some advantage from its sale.--ed. [ ] the whole tenor of this will, or rather memorandum addressed to his brothers, attests the state of deep melancholy into which beethoven had fallen on account of his deafness--a state which, owing to the same cause, was of frequent recurrence. that throughout this paper beethoven should not have mentioned the name of his second brother, johann, and only marked it with dots, is singularly striking; since this brother, as we have just seen, had recently come to vienna, and had scarcely begun to take any part in the occupations and other concerns of the great composer. [ ] the noble-minded count moritz lichnowsky, whose devotedness to the interests of beethoven the latter acknowledged by the dedication of two works,--the variations op. , and the sonata op. (e minor), died in december, , in vienna. he was the last of that set so remarkable in the history of the art, which used to assemble at the house of his brother, the prince. [ ] such is the account given by count moritz lichnowsky, who, with ferdinand ries, witnessed the circumstance. [ ] is not this meant to be--"per festeggiare la memoria d'un grand' uomo?"--ed. [ ] the originally french libretto was translated into german by joseph sonnleithner. [ ] in the third period i shall have something more to say about it in the proper place. [ ] refer to breuning's letter to dr. and mad. wegeler. supplement no. ii., vol. ii. the circumstance which occurred at the house of prince lichnowsky, on occasion of the alteration made in this opera in , which m. röckel,{*} then engaged as tenor singer at the theater an der wien (with whom i am myself well acquainted), afterwards related to m. ries in london, and which the latter communicates in his "_notizen über beethoven_," (p. ), is interesting and authentic. not less worthy of notice is breuning's letter of the th of june, , to dr. wegeler (p. ) on the fortunes of the opera of "fidelio" at its first representation. count moritz lichnowsky was one of the company, in which beethoven opposed with might and main the omission of a single bar, and gave all present a great deal of trouble. {*} the following note from wegeler's notizen is, i think, not misplaced here:-- "dear röckel,--try and do your best with _milder_" [ma dame milder, for whom the part of fidelio was written--ed.], "and pray tell her you ask her to-day in my name, that this early invitation may prevent her singing _anywhere else_. to-morrow i mean to come myself 'to kiss the hem of her garment.' do not forget _marconi_" [a celebrated contra-alto of the time.--ed.], "and, above all, do not be angry with me for thus overburthening you. "ever yours, "beethoven." [ ] it is said that, in the rehearsals of his "christ on the mount of olives," quarrels took place from similar causes between beethoven and the singers. [ ] mozart experienced similar, nay still more painful mortifications, calumnies, and even depreciation of his abilities, on account of his opera '_die entführung aus dem serail_,' from the singers and other envious creatures, at the head of whom was his professional colleague m. salieri. we learn from the biography of that unrivalled composer, published by m. von nissen and mozart's widow, that those cabals and persecutions were carried much further on occasion of his succeeding opera '_figaro's hochzeit_,' so that, on the conclusion of the second act, mozart, filled with indignation, went to the emperor joseph in his box, and complained of the singers, who were brought back to their duty by a severe reprimand from the monarch. such baseness and such malice, which incessantly persecuted the immortal mozart, even after his death, and which found means to deprive his family, left in necessitous circumstances, of the promised support of the emperor leopold, are, and will perhaps for ever, remain unparalleled. [ ] it were sincerely to be wished that, in future editions of beethoven's works, the dedications should never be omitted, as is so frequently the case. it was in some instances affection, in others gratitude, which gave our artist occasion to name those who were loved and esteemed by him; and with many of these dedications not unimportant circumstances are associated. beethoven meant thereby to pay a real tribute of honour and respect to his friends and patrons, without harbouring the slightest expectation of being presented with rings, shirt-pins, gold snuff-boxes, and watches, for his public testimonies of esteem. [ ] at p. , m. ries speaks of the performance of the _fantasia for the piano-forte_, op. , in which the clarinet-player, by overlooking a repetition, occasioned an interruption. m. ries proceeds thus with his narrative:--"beethoven started up furiously, turned himself round, and abused the members of the orchestra in the grossest terms and in so loud a tone as to be heard by the whole audience. at length, he cried 'begin again!' the theme was re-commenced; each performer fell in at the proper place, and the result was splendid. but when the concert was over, the performers, remembering too well the honourable epithet which beethoven had publicly applied to them, fell into the most vehement rage, as though the affront had only just then been offered; and vowed never to play again if beethoven was in the orchestra." the assertion that beethoven loudly desired that fantasia to be repeated, on account of the blunder of the first clarinet, is true enough; but, as for any abuse of the members of the orchestra, who were not in fault, and that, too, "in the grossest terms," m. fr. clement, the able orchestra-director, with whom beethoven brought out his fidelio, the fourth, fifth, and sixth symphonies, and that fantasia, who still occupies his post at the theater an der wien, knows nothing about it.{**} other members of the orchestra at that time, who are still living, know just as little of the matter, and protest against the statements of m. ries. the latter was not present when fidelio was brought out, for he was then on his way to russia, and those symphonies mentioned by him, p. , were not composed by beethoven till several years afterwards, any more than the fantasia in question. at p. , m. ries thus continues:--"a similar scene is said to have once occurred, but the orchestra resolved not to put up with the affront, and peremptorily insisted that he should not conduct. accordingly, during the rehearsal, beethoven was obliged to stay in an adjoining room, and it was a long time before this quarrel was made up." not a creature in vienna has any recollection of such a scene, and, during my residence of twenty-three years in that city, i never heard a syllable on that subject. {**} i remember having myself been present at the performance in question, seated in a corner of the gallery in the theater an der wien: during the last movement of the fantasia i perceived that--like a carriage run away with down hill--an overturn was inevitable. almost immediately after, it was, that i saw beethoven give the signal for stopping. his voice was not heard; but he had probably given directions where to begin again--and after half a moment's respectful silence on the part of the audience--the orchestra re-commenced, and the performance proceeded without further mistake or stoppage. to those who are acquainted with the work, it may be interesting to know the precise point at which the mistake occurred. it was in the passage where, for several pages, every three bars make up a triple rhythm, as shown on the following page. this peculiarly-constructed rhythm has, until the present time, like most of beethoven's characteristics, remained his undisputed property.--ed. [ ] the house of count franz von brunswick at pesth had been for many years a seminary of the true and pure professional faith, without prepossession in favour of any classic. none of the seductive false doctrines of the present day could gain admittance there. to describe the part taken in these pursuits by the countess, who is his pupil, and the most exquisite player on the piano-forte that i ever heard, would require a separate essay, in order to do justice to her performances and to their effects upon her auditors. let us hope that these abilities may be hereditary in that remarkable family. a family akin for talents and abilities to that of brunswick, and whose pursuits have taken the same direction, is still to be found at geilenkirchen, in the province of rhenish prussia. the house of m. max. flemming, merchant, of geilenkirchen, near aix-la-chapelle, exactly resembles in this point that of the hungarian magnate. an intimate acquaintance with, and profound comprehension of, the musical classics were transmitted by the parents to the children in a degree that is rarely witnessed in our times, when domestic music in particular has universally assumed an ephemeral character, and aims only at tickling the senses. thus in that house too a temple has been erected to beethoven's muse, and its service heightens the happiness of the interesting inmates in a manner that must inspire the intelligent observer with the warmest interest for persons holding forth so rare an example. [ ] among other scenes between beethoven, his brothers, and friends, m. ries describes with graphic minuteness one which is particularly to the point (p. ).--see supplement no. iv., vol. ii. [ ] "during the short bombardment of vienna by the french, in , beethoven was excessively alarmed; he passed most of the time in a cellar at his brother caspar's, where, besides, he covered his head with pillows that he might not hear the cannon."--such are the words of m. ries, p. of his '_notizen_.' [ ] to this sum the archduke rudolph contributed florins, prince lobkowitz , and prince ferdinand kinsky . [ ] see supplement no. vi., vol. i. [ ] bettina relates, in her letter of the th of may, to göthe, that she committed to writing beethoven's remarks on art, &c., which he made the day before in a walk with her, and that she gave him them to read, upon which he asked her in astonishment--"and did i indeed say all this?--then i must certainly have had a _raptus_!" [ ] the correspondence which passed between the composer and madame bettina von arnim may be thought hardly to bear out m. schindler's opinion of beethoven's style of expression. the reader, however, will be enabled to judge for himself, as he will find in the supplement no. iii., vol. i., a series of letters, from one of which the passage here cited by the biographer is extracted.--ed. [ ] there is a remarkable coincidence, not only of sentiment but of expression, between the above passage and one of the noblest songs of burns, particularly the lines-- "a prince can make a belted knight, a marquis, duke, and a' that, but an honest man's aboon his might--."--ed. [ ] beethoven here alludes to a small sum which he had to expect from abroad. [ ] i must claim for my friend meyerbeer the place here assigned to hummel, who had to act in the cannonade; and this i may the more firmly assert, as, the cymbals having been intrusted to me, meyerbeer and i had to play from one and the same part.--ed. [ ] i witnessed the origin and progress of this work, and remember that not only did maelzel decidedly induce beethoven to write it, but even laid before him the whole design of it; himself wrote all the drum-marches and the trumpet-flourishes of the french and english armies; gave the composer some hints, how he should herald the english army by the tune of "rule britannia;" how he should introduce "malbrook" in a dismal strain; how he should depict the horrors of the battle, and arrange "god save the king" with effects representing the hurrahs of a multitude. even the unhappy idea of converting the melody of "god save the king" into a subject of a fugue in quick movement, emanates from maelzel. all this i saw in sketches and score, brought by beethoven to maelzel's workshop, then the only suitable place of reception he was provided with.--ed. [ ] i am proud to say that i am four years in advance of my friend schindler, having made beethoven's much-desired acquaintance four years sooner--in .--ed. [ ] this work may not, perhaps, rank equally high with some of beethoven's most sublime productions; yet it speaks _his_ language, and has all the charms so peculiar to himself, particularly in the choral parts. it consists of-- no. . _chorus._ . _recitativo_ and _chorus_. . _grand scena_, soprano, with violin obligato and _chorus_. . _solo_, soprano and _chorus_. . _recitativo_ and _quartett_, two soprani, tenor, and bass. . chorus and fugue. the original score of this work, with copies of both texts, has been intrusted to me by m. haslinger, of vienna; and i am still in possession of it, in case a suitable opportunity for its performance should present itself.--ed. [ ] it was m. carl maria von weber, who, after the failure{***} (see p. ) of his opera euryanthe ( ), brought the score of that work, with the most profound humility, to beethoven, requesting him to make what alterations he pleased in it, and promising to submit entirely to his opinion. beethoven, well knowing what acrimonious reviews of some of his works m. von weber had sent from prague to german journals, received him in the most friendly manner; and, after looking over the score, said to him, in my presence, that he ought to have made this application _before_ the performance of his opera, but that now he thought it too late, unless m. von weber would undertake such a reform with it as he (beethoven) did with his fidelio. it is interesting to see, for example, in the first version of the opera fidelio, how the master has composed several numbers twice and even four times. these casts, always of the same text, frequently differ very essentially from one another. upon the whole, the first score of fidelio, with the numerous variations, frequent improvements in the rhythm, in the instrumentation, and in the invention of the melody, affords a manifest truth of the extreme severity which the great master was accustomed to exercise in the correction of all his works; hence it would form an admirable study for young composers, and would deserve a place in a public library, where it would be accessible to everybody. {***}it is with reluctance that i comment upon the word "failure" applied by m. schindler to the "euryanthe" of weber, which was performed in november, . but i was present at the first performance of this opera, which the composer conducted, and the following pieces were _encored_:--the overture--the st tenor air sung by _adolar_ (haitzinger)--the finale to the st act, sung by _euryanthe_ (mlle. sontag)--the principal pieces sung by mad. grünbaum (_eglantine_) and forti (_lysiard_). the huntsmen's, as well as several other choruses, were most enthusiastically received, and the composer was called for at the end of the opera, with every testimony of approbation. the evening was wound up by a convivial supper, given by a literary and artistical society called the ludlam's höhle, at which, together with weber's pupil, m. benedict, i had the pleasure of assisting, in conclusion of a triumphant success. i do not, of course, intend to throw any doubt upon the circumstance here stated, of weber having shown the score of euryanthe to beethoven, yet there seems to be some doubt as to weber not having been on good terms with beethoven, the more so when rellstab's accounts are taken into consideration. i make some extracts from the memoirs of this much-esteemed writer and critic. he says (march th, ), "my journey to vienna had been decided upon..... yet, of all the fair promises the imperial city held out to me, there was none so exciting or so spirit-stirring as the supreme felicity which i felt at the thoughts of becoming acquainted with beethoven.".... rellstab, on his way to vienna, calls upon c. m. von weber at dresden, and, on asking him for a letter of introduction to beethoven, receives the following reply:--"beethoven does not like epistolary communication, and thinks it quite as irksome to read, as to write letters, but you may bring him all sorts of kind and respectful messages from me verbally; to judge from the kind reception he gave me during my last stay at vienna, in , i should suppose he would remember me with every feeling of sympathy and attachment." weber then proceeded to give me an account of his last visit to beethoven, to which, of course, i listened with the greatest eagerness. "we had been to him several times," said he, "without having once been able to see him; he was out of humour, and shunning all human society, yet we at length succeeded in finding the propitious moment; we were shown in, and beheld him sitting at his writing-table, from which he did not however rise at once to give us a friendly welcome. he had known me for several years, so that i could at once enter into conversation with him, but suddenly he started up, stood upright before me, and, putting his two hands on my shoulders, he shook me with a kind of rough cordiality, saying, 'you have always been a fine fellow!' and with this he embraced me in the kindest and most affectionate manner. "of all the marks of distinction then shown to me at vienna, of all the praise and fame i there earned, nothing ever touched my heart as much as this fraternal kiss of beethoven's."--ed. [ ] see supplement no. ii., vol. ii. [ ] but not "tacitly," as m. von seyfried asserts at p. of his biographical particulars. in austria there is no such thing as a tacit adoption; every adoption requires a legal confirmation in order to be valid. [ ] this was dr. bach, senior court-advocate and sworn notary, who has for the third time been elected dean of the faculty of the law in the university of vienna. [ ] for this interesting document i am indebted to my esteemed friend dr. bach. in his letter of the th of june, , when he sent it to me, he expresses this wish:--"not a trait of that great soul ought to be lost, because it proves that with an inexhaustible genius a noble spirit may be combined." he will perceive how strictly and how faithfully i have endeavoured in this work to comply with his wishes and the express desire of our mutual friend. [ ] it was only three years before his death that mozart obtained an allowance of florins, which was paid out of the privy purse of the emperor joseph, whose favourite he moreover was. we see how nearly alike were the fortunes of those two great geniuses in this particular. [ ] this axiom, which may no doubt find numerous champions to defend it, is not one that i could subscribe to; and i hope the reader may not consider the selection of anecdotes from seyfried, ries, and wegeler, which i have made in supplement nos. iv. & v., vol. ii., an unwelcome addition to m. schindler's work.--ed. [ ] at the solicitation of m. ries, i informed him, in , of the cause of the evidently exaggerated complaints made in those letters: he ought of course to have felt the more scrupulous in publishing them. [ ] as these letters _have_ already met the public eye elsewhere, they could not here be withheld, and will be found in the supplement no. i., vol. ii.--ed. [ ] the saint's day, which, in catholic countries, is celebrated like the birthday.--ed. [ ] by aug. von kotzebue. [ ] johann van beethoven had been an apothecary, and was originally supplied with the means of establishing himself by his brother ludwig. having amassed considerable wealth, he relinquished business, and became a landed proprietor. [ ] beethoven made no offer to the austrian court, but he did to prince esterhazy, who, however, declined it. [ ] consequently not ten or twelve copies, which beethoven is said to have sold in the way of subscription before the work was printed, as m. seyfried erroneously states in his biographical particulars of him. [ ] it is evident from this how beethoven felt and maintained his position in regard to the highest personages, and that he would not give up a single inch to them. this may serve, at the same time, to prove from what point of view he considered the world, and that in this particular he steadfastly adhered in practice to the immutable principle that dwelt within him (of which we have already treated in the first period), though by so doing he lost many material advantages. [ ] beethoven, whom i saw frequently about this time, lent me the instrument in question to perform upon at a concert which i gave on the th of december, , at the kärnthner-thor theater, vienna; my object being to display the difference between the effects producible on viennese, and on english instruments, by playing on one of the former in the first, and upon beethoven's piano in the second act. the latter was internally and externally in so bad a state, owing to frequent removals and severe treatment on the part of its owner, that i should not have been able to avail myself of it, had not m. graf, the imperial piano-forte maker, been kind enough to put it into perfect order. for this concert beethoven also lent me his then ms. overture in c, op. , and gave me directions with respect to its performance, that i might be able to impart his views to the players at the rehearsal. it may not be uninteresting to add, that the present owner of the piano-forte alluded to, is about to consign it to my care for the purpose of disposing of it.--ed. [ ] see supplement, no. v., vol. i. [ ] he merely saw two representations, one of which was the _barber of seville_, but without hearing a word of them. at his desire the score was sent to his lodgings, and after he had looked through it he made this curious remark:--"rossini would have been a great composer if his master had oftener given him a sound flogging." [ ] i am so fortunate as to possess the original score of this work. reminding beethoven of the fate of the kyrie in the grand mass, and apprehensive that this score might also be used by his servants as waste paper for wrapping up boots and shoes, i asked him for it, and he gave it to me, attaching no higher value to such a gift than an ordinary sheet of paper. in the year his manuscripts fared precisely as they had done twenty years earlier, as m. ries remarks (p. ). all of them lay about in the utmost confusion, and any one that chose might take away what he pleased unmolested. may not this indifference towards the productions of his genius, the value of which, however, he well knew, be considered as the strongest proof that in his mind there was no trace of conceit, self-importance, or even egotism? in whom has the like ever been seen? [ ] afterwards king of saxony. [ ] the kind archduke was needlessly concerned. when beethoven was quite well, he went in general only with great reluctance to his illustrious patron and scholar; nay, he was ill in imagination whenever he heard that the archduke was coming to town. he was accustomed to call the giving of lessons in this case "court-service," and what ideas he connected with that term it is easy to guess. on the other hand, his dislike to give systematic instruction made matters still worse. we discover in all this the very same "ill-tempered donkey," as at the time when he lived at bonn. then again the lessons of this archduke required preparation on the part of the instructor, and also some regard to the toilet;{****} hence it was so hard a task for him to go to the imperial palace, but one above which, in this case, he could not set himself. {****} any restraint experienced by beethoven in his intercourse with the archduke can only have originated in his own aversion to giving lessons. nothing could be generally more urbane or less ceremonious in the matter of exactions as to toilet, than was this distinguished patron of music. i may be permitted, perhaps, to recall a personal instance of this: on waiting upon the archduke for the purpose of presenting him with a copy of the duet in e flat (op. ), which i had the honour of dedicating to him, i found him, to my surprise, in his ecclesiastical cardinal's robes, in which i had never, till then, seen him. his usual affability of manner, however, remained unchanged. he took up the copy with eagerness, and, hardly allowing himself time to glance over it, said, "let us try it." this was done as soon as said. i knew not whether most to admire the clever manner in which he played this composition at sight, or at the disparity of the persons engaged in its execution--not in rank only, but in costume; for it was impossible, as often as my eye glanced downwards towards the pedal, not to be struck by the sight of his red stockings side by side with my black ones.--ed. [ ] these letters are addressed to the kappellmeister hofmeister, who, under the firm of hofmeister and kühnel, bureau de musique, commenced the correspondence in the year with his friend beethoven. that firm afterwards changed its designation, though retaining all its copyrights, to a. kühnel bureau de musique: the business was next transferred, with the same proviso, to c. f. peters, of whose heirs it was purchased by me in , likewise with all the copyrights.--_c. g. s. böhme._ [ ] the german word _stechen_ signifies both to engrave and to sting: hence arises in the original a pun which cannot possibly be conveyed in the translation. [ ] a ducat is about ten shillings english money.--ed. [ ] wenzel müller. [ ] it is remarkable that beethoven, even at that time, should manifest in these lines so correct a notion of musical copyright. though no man of business, he perceived that the purchaser of the original melody must at the same time have a right of property of all arrangements, if copyright is to be maintained inviolate. [ ] the same pun with the word _stechen_ that has been remarked before. [ ] this alludes either to the "italian and german songs" (four numbers) published by me, or the "italian and german ariettes," op. . [ ] this probably means the missa solemnis (op. ), afterwards published by the brothers schott; for that brought out by breitkopf and härtel (op. ) had appeared long before the date of this letter. [ ] the compositions mentioned above by beethoven have, as far as we know, never appeared in print, and were probably disposed of at the sale of his effects. [ ] the river which waters berlin. [ ] göthe's poem "johanna sebus." [ ] clemens brentano, the poet, bettine's brother. [ ] see göthe's correspondence with a child. [ ] from the harmonicon, january, . [ ] a neat little walled town of austria, famous for its hot baths, seated on the river schwocha. this must not be confounded with the more celebrated town of the same name in switzerland. [ ] mozart expressed himself in a similar manner; and haydn, when at a performance of the messiah in westminster abbey, was nearly overpowered by its sublime strains, and wept like a child. [ ] from the harmonicon, december, . [ ] beethoven had already expressed himself to the same effect two years before to hofrath rochlitz, as may be seen in his work--"for the friends of music," vol. , page . i shall recur to this subject at the conclusion of the musical part of this book. [ ] there is no doubt that the vocal parts of beethoven's works frequently lie very high, especially in places where words are to be pronounced. this is the case with his ninth symphony with _soli_ and chorus. the st recitative for the bass voice is in some parts uncomfortably high; and the composer himself permits the singer, in its opening notes, to sing [illustration: musical note], or [illustration: musical note]. he would certainly have given similar licences in several other parts of this recitative, if it had not been against his plan of unity in this musical poem, as the same notes of the recitative are performed by the double-bass in the foregoing instrumental movement. when i prepared, for the first time, to conduct this symphony, on the occasion of its revival by the philharmonic society (april th, ), i found similar difficulties in other parts of the vocal movement. an imperfect execution of these was to be apprehended, derogatory to the general effect. i considered it a bold undertaking to attempt any alteration, since every work which comes from such a master-genius should be reverentially handled: i nevertheless ventured to facilitate the execution of the passages in question. the full amount of changes made by me is acknowledged in the following illustration:--in so doing i hope to prove the truth of the saying, "that he who accuses himself has the best chance of finding mercy at the hands of critical judges."--ed. [ ] he was in a measure right, for, what with _fioriture_ and roulades, the true cantabile style had until then remained to these two ladies. [ ] the same thing took place with the bass solo part, in which, however, beethoven at length gave way, and made a little alteration in the recitative, because it was too high for the singer. [ ] in this they were not in the wrong. as to the saying, "_jurare in verba magistri_," i am of opinion that it would be better to spoil the effect of a whole piece than to destroy a single voice; and that therefore every skilful director should make such alteration as may be found necessary for the voices, especially in the mass, where there are many soprano passages, which may be screamed, but cannot be sung. these alterations are, besides, very easily made, and the effect will be grand and true, when all the voices can proceed at ease. [ ] for an account of this concert see supplement, no. iii., vol. ii. [ ] this refers to his brother johann. [ ] see the correspondence with mr. neate in the supplement, no. ii., vol. ii. [ ] hofrath rochlitz had already, in , made him, in the name of m. härtel, a proposal for the composition of göthe's faust. [ ] one of these answers, in beethoven's hand-writing, i sent, in the year , to professor marx, in berlin, for the berlin musical journal, but have never seen or heard of it since. [ ] this passage refers to the law-suit with his sister-in-law. [ ] beethoven's brother. [ ] that he might not have to charge himself with any neglect, beethoven, contrary to his custom, remained in town during the summer of . [ ] as far as i have been able to learn, this nephew now holds some civil appointment under the austrian government. it is therefore probable that time, circumstances, and mature reflection, have induced him to return to the right path, as we must all wish that he should. when we remember, however, the evil auspices under which his early education was conducted, we shall be inclined to seek in that period for the original causes of these most painful occurrences, and not be tempted to lift a stone against him, but rather leave him to be judged before the tribunal of that divine providence who has seen fit to subject our immortal composer to the severe trials beneath which he so early sunk. [ ] see the correspondence between beethoven and the editor, supplement no. vi., vol. ii. [ ] in a letter to ries, dated the th of september, , beethoven says,--"my brother johann, who keeps his carriage, has been trying to draw upon me." [ ] mr. stumpff, the proprietor of a harp manufactory in london, presented to beethoven, the year before, the complete works of handel, in upwards of forty folio volumes, of the rare and costly london edition. he was more delighted with this present than if he had received the order of the garter. at the sale of his effects, m. tobias haslinger bought this work for florins!!! and from this it is easy to imagine what prices were paid at that auction for articles of less value. [ ] this gentleman, my particular friend, was for many years attached to the house of baron von eskeles, at vienna, as tutor and companion to his only son. the reader will find some letters from him in the supplement no. vi., vol. ii.--ed. [ ] it was not possible, and i therefore complied with his desire immediately after his decease, and conveyed his thanks to these two worthy men. [ ] beethoven would have designated his career more accurately had he said--_drama finitum est._ [ ] it is worthy of mention that beethoven for several weeks obstinately rejected the advice of dr. bach and myself, to place the property to be left for his nephew in the hands of trustees, till he should attain his majority, for which there existed the most urgent reasons. he wished that after his death his heir should come into the immediate possession of it, and dispose of it just as he pleased. it was not till after he had received the plainest proofs of the indifference of this heir to his misfortunes--since he often left beethoven's letters for weeks together unanswered--that he agreed to our proposal, and accordingly wrote with his own hand his will, consisting of but three lines, by which, after the death of his nephew, the property was to devolve to his natural heirs. [ ] this will be more fully elucidated by m. rau's letters. see supplement, no. vi., vol. ii.--ed. [ ] for an account of the funeral, see supplement, no. vii., vol. ii. [ ] this part properly belongs to the historical section of the biography, of which it forms the completion. but as its incorporation with the historical matter would frequently have occasioned an interruption of the narrative, i have thought it better to make the exclusively musical part of the work the subject of a distinct section. [ ] in like manner, clementi has characterized his grand sonata, no. , op. . having taken his ideas from the history of dido, he illustrated his composition by the superscription:--"didone abbandonnata--scena tragica;" and besides, in the course of the work, not only the different movements, but also single passages, are rendered intelligible by particular superscriptions. it is truly unpardonable that this noble work, deserving to be ranked on a level with beethoven's sonatas, should be unknown to most of the pianoforte players of the present day. in the judgment of modern musicians and dilettanti, clementi belongs to the old school; but i may here take the opportunity of recording beethoven's opinion of him. among all the masters who have written for the pianoforte, beethoven assigned to clementi the very foremost rank. he considered his works excellent as studies for practice, for the formation of a pure taste, and as truly beautiful subjects for performance. beethoven used to say,--"they, who thoroughly study clementi, at the same time make themselves acquainted with mozart and other composers; but the converse is not the fact." [ ] with few exceptions, the sonatas were all composed at the two periods alluded to. [ ] the happy state of feeling by which beethoven was at this time animated inspired him with the idea of setting to music, with full orchestral parts, schiller's "lied an die freude." [ ] the reader will recollect an anecdote of beethoven and his brother, relative to a circumstance which occurred on new year's day, , together with the new year's day card. [ ] this calls to mind the fact related by ries, in his _notizen_, p. , in reference to the direction he received, when in london, from beethoven:--"at the commencement of the _adagio_ in the sonata, op. , place these two notes for the first bar." ries expresses great astonishment at the effect produced by the two notes. [ ] that this maxim admits, in our unpoetic and superficial age, of a much more extended application than it did in former times, must be with regret acknowledged by every unprejudiced observer of the modern phenomena in the region of art. twenty or thirty years ago, great musical talent, enjoying the good fortune of being directed by able instruction, might easily have attained the highest degree of cultivation, there being then no reason to fear those seductive and slippery paths of the musical career, whereby distinguished talent is now so often led astray. a period not yet more remote than twenty or thirty years ago, was favourable to the development of faculties like those of the countess sidonie of brunswick, in pesth, of whom mention has been made in the second period. the present age repeats with enthusiasm the name of "clara wieck,"{*****} who for versatility of talent will not easily find a rival among her own sex. but talent which is to be judged by the tribunal of public opinion, if it do not render homage to the taste of the age, must at least show deference to it, and thereby lose its genuine artistical purity. this purity of taste is to be looked for only in dilettanti, who always keep in view the ideal beauty of pure unperverted truth of feeling, because their talents are exercised only in a small circle of musical friends of their own choice. such persons, however, always remain mere dilettanti, as they do not cease to fulfil those duties which their domestic or other social relations demand, and which, by a prudent distribution of time, are easily rendered compatible with study in any situation in life. it is only on these conditions that their efforts in art, when they rise far above the common level, will win the admiration and approval of all truly cultivated artists. {*****}now mad. schuman.--ed. [ ] so far as my observation goes, it inclines me to dissent from this opinion. not only are the new editions of beethoven's works substantial evidences that his magnificent and various talent finds an increasing number of worshippers among the amateurs of europe, but there are few of the distinguished solo players of the day, who do not seek to recommend themselves by acquaintance with his music, and public and private performances of it. in new countries and circles, moreover, is the taste for it rapidly spreading: i may instance london and paris, where it is now deeply studied by the profession, and eagerly sought after by the public.--ed. [ ] matheson's "vollkommener kapell-meister" was published at hamburgh, in . [ ] there is so much intrinsic spirit and value in beethoven's orchestral works, that it is beyond the power of occasional mistakes or exaggerations in _tempo_, on the part of the players, to convert them into common prose. in england, certain movements are frequently taken too slow; in france, others too quick--according to my recollection of the _tempo_ as given to the orchestra by the composer when he conducted--still without the metamorphosis taking place.--ed. [ ] the reader may deem it not uninteresting to be made acquainted with mozart's opinion with reference to the unsatisfactory manner in which his compositions were sometimes performed. in the biography published by h. von nissen and mozart's widow, we find, at p. , the following passage:--"mozart complained bitterly of the injury which his compositions frequently sustained by faulty performance, especially by a too great acceleration of the _tempo_. they think that this rapidity imparts fire to the composition; but truly if there is not fire in the music itself, it can never be galloped into it." (these were mozart's own words.) [ ] the structure and extent of the hall of the great imperial ridotto at vienna, in which the concerts of the musical society are held, renders a powerful orchestra necessary. [ ] this was the exact number of performers on the occasion when his symphonies were first brought forward.--ed. [ ] the metronomic sign may be compared to a paragraph of a code of laws which is cited as an authority for the decision in some particular case. the dictating movement of the metronome facilitates a just comprehension of a musical composition. a correct metronomic direction leads the intelligent musician by the right path into the spirit of the music; whilst an erroneous indication of the time leads him very far astray in his endeavours to seize that spirit. [ ] by way of excepting my self from the sweeping censure here bestowed upon all who have attempted to fix the metronomic signs to beethoven's compositions, i hope i may be permitted to state, that in superintending for messrs. cramer and co. the new edition of his works, and in metronomising the several compositions, i have not merely listened to my own musical feelings, but been guided by my recollections of what i gathered from beethoven's own playing, and that of the baroness ertman, whom i have heard perform many of his works in his presence, and to his entire satisfaction, at the musical meetings alluded to by m. schindler in this work, vol. i, p. , and at mr. zmeskall's. in some of the quick movements i have purposely refrained from giving way to that rapidity of piano-forte execution, so largely developed at the present time. it is with satisfaction that i add, that the _tempi_ i have ventured to give differ very slightly from those affixed to haslinger's vienna edition, by carl czerny, whom i consider to be a competent authority in the matter.--ed. [ ] did not m. schindler, in page of this volume, more duly appreciate the merits of liszt than the reader might infer from the above, i should gladly avail myself of this opportunity to do homage to the amazing talent of that artist.--ed. [ ] i cannot calmly submit to be put under this ban, but rather stand up and defend my metronomic signs of the op. , as well as of all the others in the edition.--ed. [ ] in this angry denunciation against metronomising m. schindler goes too far. the musical world knows, that marking the time by a metronome is but a slight guide for performers and conductors. its object is to show the general time of a movement, particularly at its commencement; but it is not to be followed strictly throughout; for no piece, except a march or a dance, would have any real life and expression, or light and shade, if the solo performer, or the orchestra under its conductor, were strictly to adhere to one and the same _tempo_, without regard to the many marks which command its variations. (see m. schindler's own subsequent words on this subject, pp. and .) the player or conductor, who enters into the time and spirit of the piece must feel _when_ and _where_ he has to introduce the necessary changes: and these are often of so delicate a nature, that the marks of the metronome would become superabundant, not to say impossible. this duly considered, the differences in the metronomic signs here denounced will be found too trifling to draw forth such animadversions.--ed. [ ] in op. both title and dedication vary from the mode in which they are given by the composer. the following are the words written by beethoven, which refer specially to no. :--"sonata quasi fantasia, dedicata alla madamigella contessa giulietta di guicciardi." [ ] this reasoning seems to me somewhat void of logic, since the same spirit which would urge m. schindler's "most fashionable" piano-forte player to exceed the _tempi_ of beethoven's sonatas, would prompt him also to play the above-mentioned studies with such a degree of celerity as must enable him to be prepared for the difficulties, at _prestissimo_ speed, of the great master's sonatas.--ed. [ ] beethoven himself?--ed. [ ] i shall presently have occasion to quote a remark of beethoven's, in which the above words occur. [ ] "the _tempo_ of the sonata, fixed by maelzel's metronome, you shall have by next post," says beethoven, in his letter of the th of april. why not have sent it with the manuscript of the music? it was a mechanical occupation, and beethoven was not inclined to turn to it on that day. unfortunately, he was not better disposed to set about it before the departure of the following post. [ ] the reader will recollect beethoven's letter to moscheles, dated march th, , alluded to in the third period. in that letter he enclosed the metronomic signs for the ninth symphony, after the symphony to which those signs belonged had been some time in london. [ ] if beethoven, though acknowledging the useful adaptability of the metronome, was, nevertheless, frequently undetermined, and, by twice fixing metronomic signs to the same works, contradicted himself, it merely shows that he was influenced by the musical feeling of the moment. another proof that two different musicians, like czerny and myself, could naturally hardly fail to deviate slightly in pointing out the _tempo_ of beethoven's works. his saying here quoted, "better no metronome!" is no proof that he wished to abolish its use, but that he only feared that it might be insufficient to determine the rate of movement in its different variations.--ed. [ ] see my note, p. .--ed. [ ] with regard to pianoforte playing, beethoven always inculcated the following rule:--"place the hands over the key-board in such a position that the fingers need not be raised more than is necessary. this is the only method by which the player can learn to _generate tone_, and, as it were, to make the instrument sing." he abjured the _staccato_ style, especially in the performance of phrases, and he derisively termed it "finger-dancing," or "manual air-sawing." there are many passages in beethoven's works which, though not marked with slurs, require to be played _legato_. but this a cultivated taste will instinctively perceive. [ ] i agree with m. schindler in these remarks. the slight deviations of time recommended must give life and expression, not only to this movement, but also to the imaginative compositions of all the great masters. their success, however, can only be assured by intimate acquaintance on the part of the band with the manner of the conductor, and his mode of conveying his intentions, either from long intercourse or careful rehearsals.--ed. [ ]?!--ed. [ ] see score, p. . [ ] see score, p. . [ ] will it be believed in vienna that beethoven's symphonies were assiduously practised from twelve to sixteen months, and the ninth symphony, with schiller's ode to joy, full two years, in the conservatoire of paris, before they were performed in public? this is a fact. it is also a fact that on occasion of the first performance of this ninth symphony, in , at the kärnthner-thoe theater, beethoven could obtain no more than two rehearsals, because the orchestra was engaged in rehearsing a new ballet. remonstrances and entreaties, on the part of beethoven, for a third rehearsal, which he considered necessary, proved unavailing. he received for definitive answer--"two rehearsals will be quite sufficient." what will the professors of the paris conservatoire, and m. habeneck, the leader, say to this? [ ] instrumental music. ducats. symphonies for the whole orchestra - overtures - for the violin. concertos for violin, with orchestral accompaniments ottetts for various instruments septetts ditto sextetts ditto quintetts for violins, violas, and violoncello quartetts for violins, viola, and violoncello terzetts for violin, viola, and violoncello for the piano-forte. concertos for the piano-forte, with orchestral accompaniments fantasia, ditto rondo, ditto variations, ditto ottetts for piano-forte, with accompaniments of various instruments septett ditto quintett ditto quartett ditto terzetts for piano-forte, viola, and violoncello duetts for piano-forte and violin duetts for piano-forte and violoncello duo for piano-forte, for four hands sonata (grand) for piano-forte, alone sonata for piano-forte, solo fantasia for piano-forte rondo for piano-forte variations for piano-forte, with accompaniments - variations for piano-forte, solo - six fugues for piano-forte - divertimentos, airs, preludes, pot-pourris, bagatelles, adagio, andante, toccatas, capriccios, for piano-forte, solo - vocal music. grand mass smaller mass greater oratorio smaller oratorio graduale offertorium te deum laudamus requiem vocal pieces with orchestral accompaniments an opera seria six songs, with piano-forte accompaniments six shorter ditto ditto a ballad immediately underneath were the following remarks in beethoven's handwriting:--"one might reserve a right occasionally to alter or to fix new prices. if the above are meant merely for austria, or (at most) france, and england is left to me, they might be accepted. in regard to several items, one might retain the right of fixing the price oneself. as to the publication of the complete works, england and france should perhaps be reserved for the author. the sum to be paid by the publishers would be , florins, vienna currency. as they wish also to treat for the publication of the complete works, _such_ a contract would, in my opinion, be the best." ... "perhaps stand out for london and paris, and write to schlesinger on the subject." [ ] see beethoven's facsimile in the original german, of which the above is a translation. no. i. [ ] i remember, after having been for some time resident in england, in the course of a conversation with beethoven, at his house in vienna (in november, ), asking him in writing (then the only mode of communication with him), "how is the archduke rudolph?" he answered abruptly, "he is quietly tending his sheep at olmütz" (er hütet seine schafe in olmütz)--an allusion to the archduke's cardinalship. the same conversation was remarkably interesting to me, as affording me many proofs of the extreme interest beethoven took in the diffusion of his works in england, and the fondness with which he cherished the idea of himself directing their performance and witnessing their popularity in that country. he asked me many minute questions about the state of the orchestras, and the organization of the different musical societies of london.--ed. [ ] with respect to most of the arrangements of beethoven's works for two or four hands, especially his symphonies, it is curious to imagine the destruction which the great master would have dealt among them, had he lived to see them. he would have waged war against them with fire and sword, and none would have been spared except those of watts and hummel. these beethoven pronounced to be the best pianoforte arrangements of his works. as to the other arrangers, one of them has copied half of the score, and by this means burdened the performer with difficulties, which, on the pianoforte, owing to the homogeneous tone of the instrument, are useless, and frequently undistinguishable, whilst they obstruct the free flow of the melody, and, by fatiguing both the eyes and fingers of the player, render him incapable of following the spirit and soul of the music. another of such arrangers, or, to speak more correctly, derangers, deserves to have his knuckles rapped for the liberty he has taken in making essential omissions and additions, with the view of improving beethoven's music. m. simrock would render a gratifying tribute to the memory of beethoven, by engaging m. watts to arrange all the symphonies. by his arrangement of the fourth and sixth symphonies, watts has shown that he is more capable than any other of executing that difficult task in a spirit congenial with the composer's intention. [ ] beethoven did not receive rossini, though the latter called on him no less than four times. i shall make no comment on this fact, further than to observe that i wish beethoven had not thus acted. [ ] the resolution thus hesitatingly formed. an effort of inspiration. "must it be?" "it must be!" [ ] a kind of fish resembling the haddock, caught in the danube. [ ] "beethoven studien," p. . [ ] ries, in his "notizen," p. , sets forth at length the reasons for these doubts. [ ] this fully proves that beethoven always showed more contrition than his fault could warrant. the cause of the altercation is not mentioned in wegeler's _notizen_, from which these letters are extracted.--ed. [ ] this work was the variations on mozart's figaro, "se vuol ballare." (dunst, th part, no. .) he afterwards dedicated a sonata, or rather sonatina, to her, which appeared in dunst's edition, st part, no. . [ ] barbara koch, afterwards countess belderbusch, an intimate friend of madame von breuning, a lady distinguished alike in all the qualities which can adorn the mind of woman. she was surrounded not only by men of the highest talent--such as beethoven, romberg, reicha, &c.--but science as well as rank did homage to her brilliant qualities. [ ] afterwards count of marienstadt, and a classical writer. [ ] angola rabbits, or silk hares. [ ] a shake is carried on through several bars with alternate fingers, whilst three fingers are employed besides. the fingering is marked. [ ] beethoven complained to me of this musical espionage. he named to me the abbé gelinek, that most fertile writer of variations, who always quartered himself in his vicinity. this might have been the cause of beethoven's always choosing lodgings in a square or on the ramparts. [ ] the date of the year is wanting, but it is most probably . [ ] bonn had, through the war, lost its prince, the court, the administrative body--in fact, all its resources. it never had any trade or manufactures. [ ] beethoven was most easily excited, and consequently very irritable; but when the first burst of passion had subsided, he had an open ear and a yielding heart for the reproofs of his friends. he would consequently be much more contrite than the occasion warranted. i have now before me a note of his which i received at vienna, and which runs thus:--"what an abominable picture of myself you have shown me! oh! i feel it: i am not worthy of your friendship. i did not meditate a base action: it was thoughtlessness which urged me to my unpardonable conduct towards you." thus he fills three pages; and this is the end:--"but no more. i fly to you, and in an embrace ask for my lost friend; and you will restore him to me--to your contrite, faithful, and loving friend, beethoven." the two letters to mlle. von breuning, as above quoted, are of the same tenor. he had quarrelled with stephen von breuning (as with what friend did he not quarrel?), but, being made sensible of _his grievous wrong_, he wrote and acted in the same way, upon which the most heartfelt reconciliation took place; and the sincerest friendship subsisted uninterruptedly between them until beethoven's death. [ ] the bark of daphne mezereum. [ ] john adam schmidt, councillor, &c. &c., oculist, and author of several classical works. [ ] i lived in close and friendly intimacy with schmidt and hunczovsky up to their death. the former wrote under his portrait, which he sent me,-- "cogitare et esse sui, idem est. wegelero suo schmidt." [ ] my brother-in-law stephen breuning, ferdinand ries, bernard romberg, and myself, have been taught by experience that beethoven was ever a slave to the tender passion, and that in the highest degree. his and stephen breuning's first love was mlle. jeannette d'honrath, of cologne, who often spent some weeks at the residence of the breunings. she was as fair as lively, engaging and amiable, had a beautiful voice, and delighted in music. she often used to sing, in derision, to our friend, the well-known song:-- "what! part with thee this very day? my heart a thousand times says nay, and yet i know i must not stay." the happy rival was major greth, of cologne, who married the fair lady. this attachment of beethoven's was followed by one for the amiable mlle. w----; and it is but three years since b. romberg told me many anecdotes of this werther-like love. neither this nor any of the former inclinations left any lasting impression upon his own mind or that of the fair ones. beethoven was a great favourite at vienna, and perhaps more so than many an adonis might be; and i will leave connoisseurs and dilettanti to judge whether "adelaide," "fidelio," and many other things, could have been written if the author had not experienced those feelings which they so admirably depict. but let us take the author's word for it, as given in this letter, that he _was_ swayed by love. to the best of my knowledge, his affections were generally placed in the higher ranks. [ ] this alludes to a violent quarrel which arose between the composer and his friend, about some lodgings which the latter had taken for him. [ ] ries then lived at a tailor's, who had beautiful daughters. [ ] my lot in this particular was that of his pupil ries. the dedication was made by letter only; but are not such letters of greater value? [ ] this alludes to what will appear by and by in ries's sketches. [ ] beethoven was here mistaken. it was not a song of his composition which he no longer possessed, but merely new words put to matthisson's ode. i did the same thing with an early song of beethoven's--"who is a free man?" (_wer ist ein freier mann?_) beethoven wished to have words for the theme of those variations with which the grand sonata, op. , dedicated to prince lichnowsky, commences. my attempt did not however satisfy me: thus he never saw it. [ ] joseph simrock, music publisher, the head of the present house. [ ] "dessiné par letronne, et gravé par hoefel, . for my friend wegeler. vienna, march , . ludw. van beethoven." our mutual friend, director eichhoff, brought it away for me after the congress. [ ] beethoven was educating the son of his brother caspar, who had died the preceding year. [ ] beethoven was then living at bonn, in the wenzel street. [ ] the reader may judge hereby what to think of beethoven's contempt of such distinctions. [ ] a month before his death. [ ] i had, if my memory serves me, reminded him of blumauer, who lived many years after having been tapped. i proposed to him to fetch him from the bohemian baths, take him by a circuitous route to the upper rhine, and then down to coblentz, where he was finally to recover. [ ] on the portrait stands, _above_ his name, "to my long tried and much beloved friend, f. g. wegeler." there is no date affixed. [ ] i am indebted to the kindness of mr. neate for the following correspondence, which succeeded the acquaintance formed between the two at vienna in the year ; and, as will be seen, includes a letter from mr. neate in elucidation of a misunderstanding which had arisen between them. beethoven's letters to ries i extract from dr. wegeler's notices, &c.--ed. [ ] mr. neate was at the time one of the directors of the philharmonic society.--ed. [ ] this is the title on the piano-forte score.--(beethoven's own note). [ ] the reader will perceive that i have given this letter without attempting to correct its orthography, conceiving it to be one of those cases where the original imperfection rather adds to than diminishes the interest of the document.--ed. [ ] this letter, not written but signed in beethoven's own handwriting, is here given in the original english text.--ed. [ ] these were dedicated by the author to mr. neate.--ed. [ ] this letter cannot be produced.--ed. [ ] in consequence of this offer, the philharmonic society ordered a symphony for one hundred guineas, and he accordingly sent them his ninth symphony.--ed. [ ] i have, in my edition of this sonata, marked the time of the first movement of maelzel's metronome, because beethoven himself had fixed that number. he, according to "wegeler's notizen," gives it with a minim--i with a crotchet; but neither of these can, to my mind, be made to suit the character of the movement. the minim increases it to so fearful a prestissimo as beethoven could never have intended, since he desired the _assai_, originally prefixed to the _allegro_, to be omitted. the crotchet slackens the movement all too much; and although i have, in my edition, allowed beethoven's numbers to remain, in deference to the great man, yet i would advise the player to hold a middle course, according to the following mark: [illustration: musical note, half note] = .--ed. [a] ries gives the following account of this new bar:--all the "initiated" must be interested in the striking fact which occurred respecting one of beethoven's last solo-sonatas (in b major, with the great fugue op. )--a sonata which has _forty-one pages of print_. beethoven had sent it to me to london for sale, that it might appear there at the same time as in germany. the engraving was completed, and i in daily expectation of the letter naming the day of publication. this arrived at last, but with the extraordinary "request,"--"prefix the following two notes, as a first bar, to the beginning of the adagio." this adagio has from nine to ten pages in print. i own the thought struck me involuntarily, that all might not be right with my dear old master, a rumour to that effect having often been spread. what! add _two notes_ to a composition already worked out and out, and completed six months ago? but my astonishment was yet to be heightened by the _effect_ of these two notes. never could such be found again--so striking, so important--no, not even if contemplated at the very beginning of the composition. i would advise every true lover of the art to play this adagio first without, and then _with_ these two notes, which now form the first bar, and i have no doubt he will share in my opinion. [b] this minim should be a crotchet--an error which originates either in a misprint in dr. wegeler's "notizen," or in beethoven's own manuscript letter to ries.--ed. [ ] how numerous his proposals! how much scope he leaves me! was it in presentiment of the difficulties which would attend its sale?--ries. [ ] the plan for beethoven's journey. [ ] the letter, sealed in two places, as also the direction on the cover, were written in beethoven's own hand. these were inclosed in a letter to me, and a cover put over the whole. probably the address seemed so illegible to himself that he put a third cover over it, without removing the second one.--ries. [ ] seventeen shillings: ten and a fifth florins.--ries. [ ] it has materially suffered during the last three years. [ ] beethoven received guineas in a cheque of £ _s._, while the calculations were made in pounds.--ries. [ ] mr. neate did not succeed in disposing of these three quartets (oeuvres posthumes) to a publisher.--ed. [ ] it was suggested that this symphony should be performed at the musical festival at aix-la-chapelle. beethoven, however, did not send it. the committee had written to him directly, but had received promises only. at last i wrote, and begged that, knowing him and his scores as well as i did, he would send me the original score, which i should be able to make out. i promised him at the same time (well aware of his constant want of money) another present, which i received for him some time after to the amount of forty louis-d'ors.--ries. [ ] probably belonging to a dramatic piece, "the ruins of athens," written for a performance at pesth. [ ] when i left england i went to live at godesberg, near bonn, one of the most beautiful parts on the rhine. i had invited beethoven to come and see me there; and had pressed him to live at once with me, and in his native home, for some little time.--ries. [ ] from the harmonicon, october, . [ ] most of our readers will concur with us in thinking this a most eccentric mode of colouring musically so gentle a word. [ ] this passage has puzzled many a leader and conductor, and many have altered it thus:-- [illustration: musical notation] whilst in the score it is written,-- [illustration: musical notation] ed. [ ] beethoven being in the box of a much esteemed lady during the performance of "la molinara," she said, on hearing the well-known "nel cor più," "i had some variations on this subject, but have lost them." beethoven, the same night, wrote the six variations on this subject, and the next morning sent them to the lady, writing upon them, "variazioni, &c., perdute da----, retrovate du luigi v. b." they are so easy that the lady might well have played them at first sight.--wegeler. [ ] as it proves to be in our days, where it is always the one most admired. [ ] consequently after his hearing had been impaired.--wegeler. [ ] _manu propria_, with his own hand. [ ] a music-seller at vienna. [ ] a village in a romantic country, about three miles from vienna. [ ] towards the latter end of . [ ] in answer to the above, i informed mr. rau, in the name of the philharmonic society, that the money having been sent for the express purpose, and on condition that beethoven himself should make use of it, the society would, now that the event had taken place before the end in view could be achieved, expect the money to be returned.--ed. [ ] the above-mentioned enclosure from the guardian (mr. hotschilar, imperial notary) urges still more forcibly all that mr. rau hints confidentially, with the request that i would lay before the philharmonic society the case of young beethoven (then under age), and earnestly solicit that body not to reclaim the one thousand florins, but, in honour of the great deceased, allow the small patrimony, which he spared no sacrifice in securing for his nephew, to remain untouched. i complied with mr. hotschilar's request, and the society gave its tacit consent by relinquishing all further proceedings: thus doing homage to the great man even in death.--ed. [ ] given in the following pages.--ed. [ ] the original ms. of this curious production is in the possession of mr. haslinger, and prized as a relic of no common kind.--ed. [ ] this gentleman, who stands in high repute as a professor of music at bonn, has made himself so meritoriously known as a teacher of harmony and counterpoint, that the honour of instructing h. r. h. prince albert, while at the university of bonn, in that branch of the art, devolved upon him. [ ] from the harmonicon, april, . [ ] this work has indeed been published.--ed. [ ] m. schindler has informed us that this valuable collection was bought by haslinger for florins, about £ sterling--a price which would not seem to bespeak much spirit in the rival bidders; and the writer of the above account of the sale adds, in a note, that the purchaser almost immediately advertised it for sale in the leipzig musical gazette, price florins, or £ .--translator. beethoven's letters. ( - .) from the collection of dr. ludwig nohl. also his letters to the archduke rudolph, cardinal-archbishop of olmÜtz, k.w., from the collection of dr. ludwig ritter von kÖchel. translated by lady wallace. _with a portrait and fac-simile._ in two volumes. vol. ii. boston: oliver ditson & co., washington street. new york: c.h. ditson & co. contents of volume ii. second part. life's mission. - . (_continued._) . to steiner & co. . to the same . to tobias haslinger . to the same . to baroness dorothea von ertmann . to zmeskall . to steiner & co. . to g. del rio . to the same . to the same . to the same . to the same . to czerny . to the same . to the same . to zmeskall . to g. del rio . to frau von streicher . to the same . to the same . to f. ries, london . to zmeskall . to the same . to frau von streicher . to g. del. rio . to zmeskall . to the same . to the same . to the same . to frau von streicher . to the same . to the same . to the same . to the archduke rudolph . to g. del rio . to the same . to the archduke rudolph . to g. del rio . to the same . to czerny . to f. ries, london . to the rechnungsrath vincenz hauschka . to the archduke rudolph . to the same . to ferdinand ries . to the same . to the same . to the philharmonic society in laibach . to ferdinand ries, london . to the archduke rudolph . to the same . to the same . to the same . to the same . to the same . to the same . to the same . to the same . to the same . to the same . to herr blöchlinger . canon on herr schlesinger . to artaria, vienna . a sketch by beethoven . to artaria . petition to the magistracy . to f. ries, london . to the archduke rudolph . memorandum . to the archduke rudolph . to the same . to the royal and imperial high court of appeal . to the archduke rudolph . testimonial in favor of herr von kandeler . to theodore amadeus hoffmann . to haslinger . to the same . to the archduke rudolph . to the same . to artaria & co. . to bolderini . to the archduke rudolph . to artaria & co. . to haslinger . to the archduke rudolph . to the same . to steiner & co. . to a friend . to the archduke rudolph . to f. ries, london . to herren peters & co., leipzig . to the same . to the same . to artaria . to herr peters, leipzig . to the archduke rudolph . to herr peters, leipzig . to f. ries, london . to ignaz ritter von seyfried third part. life's troubles and close - . . to zelter . to f. ries, london . to schindler . to the same . to herr kind . to cherubini . to schindler . to herr peters, leipzig . to zelter . to the archduke rudolph . to schindler . to f. ries, london . to herr lissner, petersburg . to schindler . to the same . to the same . to the same . to the same . to the same . to the same . to the same . to the archduke rudolph . to schindler . to pilat, editor of the "austrian observer" . to schindler . to the same . to the same . to the same . to the same . to the same . to the archduke rudolph . to f. ries . to herr von könneritz . to herr von könneritz . to schindler . to his nephew . to the archduke rudolph . to the same . to the same . to f. ries, london . to the same . to the archduke rudolph . to the same . to schindler . to the same . to the same . to herr grillparzer . to herr probst, leipzig . to schindler . to herr von rzehatschek . to prince trautmannsdorf . to count moritz lichnowsky . to herr schuppanzigh . to schindler . to herr von sartorius . to schindler . to the same . to the same . to the same . to the same . to steiner & co . to haslinger . to steiner & co . to haslinger . to the same . to the same . to m. diabelli . to herr probst, leipzig . to haslinger . to herr schott, mayence . to the archduke rudolph . to his nephew . to herr peters . to hans georg nägeli, zurich . to his nephew . to herr nägeli . to herr schott, mayence . to hauschka . to herr nägeli, zurich . to the archduke rudolph . to herr schott, mayence . to carl holz . to the same . to herr schott, mayence . to friends . to schindler . to linke . to * * * . to f. ries . to herr jenger, vienna . to schott . to ludwig rellstab . to * * * . to his brother johann . to herr von schlemmer . to his nephew . to the same . to dr. braunhofer . to his nephew . to the same . to the same . to the same . to his nephew . to the same . to the same . to the same . to the same . to the same . to the same . to the same . to the same . to the same . to the same . to the same . to the same . to the same . to the same . to the same . to the same . to his brother johann, gneixendorf . to his nephew . to the same . to the same . to his copyist . to his nephew . to the same . to zmeskall . to herr friedrich kuhlau . to his nephew . to the same . to herr von schlesinger . to his nephew . to the same . to the same . to the same . to the abbé maximilian stadler . to gottfried weber . to herr probst, leipzig . to stephan von breuning . to the same . to the same . testimonial for c. holz . to c. holz . to the king of prussia . to wegeler . to tobias haslinger . to the same . to carl holz . to dr. bach . to wegeler . to sir george smart, london . to herr moscheles . to schindler . to baron von pasqualati . to the same . to sir george smart, london . to baron von pasqualati . to the same . to herr moscheles . to schindler . to herr moscheles . codicil beethoven's letters. . to steiner & co. the adjutant's innocence is admitted, and there is an end of it! we beg you to be so good as to send us two copies in score of the symphony in a. we likewise wish to know when we may expect a copy of the sonata for baroness von ertmann, as she leaves this, most probably, the day after to-morrow. no. --i mean the enclosed note--is from a musical friend in silesia, not a rich man, for whom i have frequently had my scores written out. he wishes to have these works of mozart in his library; as my servant, however, has the good fortune, by the grace of god, to be one of the greatest blockheads in the world (which is saying a good deal), i cannot make use of him for this purpose. be so kind therefore as to send to herr ---- (for the _generalissimus_ can have no dealings with a petty tradesman), and desire him to _write down the price of each work_ and send it to me with my two scores in a, and also an answer to my injunction about ertmann, as early to-day as you can (_presto, prestissimo_!)--_nota bene_, the _finale_ to be _a march in double-quick time_. i recommend the best execution of these orders, so that no further obstacle may intervene to my recovery. l. van beethoven, the best _generalissimus_ for the good, but the devil himself for the bad! . to steiner. the lieutenant-general is requested to send his _diabolum_, that i may tell him myself my opinion of the "battle," which is _printed in the vilest manner_. there is much to be altered. the g----s. . to tobias haslinger. my good adjutant,-- best of all little fellows! do see again about that house, and get it for me. i am very anxious also to procure _the treatise on education_. it is of some importance to me to be able to compare my own opinions on this subject with those of others, and thus still further improve them. as for our juvenile adjutant, i think i shall soon have hit on the right system for his education. your contra fa, _manu propria._ . to the high-born herr haslinger, honorary member of the hÖfen grabens and pater noster gÄsschen. best of all printers and engravers,-- be kinder than kind, and throw off a hundred impressions of the accompanying small plate.[ ] i will repay you threefold and fourfold. farewell! your beethoven. [footnote : this is possibly the humorous visiting-card that beethoven sometimes sent to his friends, with the inscription _wir bleiben die alten_ ("we are the same as ever"), and on reversing the card, a couple of asses stared them in the face! frau eyloff told me of a similar card that her brother schindler once got from beethoven on a new year's day.] . to baroness dorothea von ertmann.[ ] feb. , . my dear and valued dorothea cecilia,-- you have no doubt often misjudged me, from my apparently forbidding manner; much of this arose from circumstances, especially in earlier days, when my nature was less understood than at present. you know the manifestations of those self-elected apostles who promote their interests by means very different from those of the true gospel. i did not wish to be included in that number. receive now what has been long intended for you,[ ] and may it serve as a proof of my admiration of your artistic talent, and likewise of yourself! my not having heard you recently at cz---- [czerny's] was owing to indisposition, which at last appears to be giving way to returning health. i hope soon to hear how you get on at st. polten [where her husband's regiment was at that time quartered], and whether you still think of your admirer and friend, l. van beethoven. my kindest regards to your excellent husband. [footnote : it was admitted that she played beethoven's compositions with the most admirable taste and feeling. mendelssohn thought so in at milan, and mentions it in his _letters from italy and switzerland_.] [footnote : undoubtedly the sonata dedicated to her, op. .] . to zmeskall. dear z.,-- i introduce to your notice the bearer of this, young bocklet, who is a very clever violin-player. if you can be of any service to him through your acquaintances, do your best for him, especially as he is warmly recommended to me from prague.[ ] as ever, your true friend, beethoven. [footnote : carl maria bocklet, a well-known and distinguished pianist in vienna. he told me himself that he came for the first time to vienna in , where he stayed six weeks. on april th he gave a violin concert in the _kleine redoutensaale_. he brought a letter of introduction to beethoven, from his friend dr. berger in prague.] . to steiner & co. the lieutenant-general is desired to afford all aid and help to the young artist bocklet from prague. he is the bearer of this note, and a virtuoso on the violin. we hope that our command will be obeyed, especially as we subscribe ourselves, with the most vehement regard, your generalissimus. . to g. del rio. i only yesterday read your letter attentively at home. i am prepared to give up carl to you at any moment, although i think it best not to do so till after the examination on monday; but i will send him sooner if you wish it. at all events it would be advisable afterwards to remove him from here, and to send him to mölk, or some place where he will neither see nor hear anything more of his abominable mother. when he is in the midst of strangers, he will meet with less support, and find that he can only gain the love and esteem of others by his own merits. in haste, your beethoven. . to g. del rio. i request you, my dear friend, to inquire whether in any of the houses in your vicinity there are lodgings to be had at michaelmas, consisting of a few rooms. you must not fail to do this for me to-day or to-morrow. your friend, l. van beethoven. p.s.--n.b. though i would gladly profit by your kind offer of living in your garden-house, various circumstances render this impossible. my kind regards to all your family. . to g. del rio. house of giannatasio!-- the treatise on the piano is a general one,--that is, it is a kind of compendium. besides, i am pleased with the swiss [probably weber, a young musician who had been recommended to him], but the "guaden" is no longer the fashion. in haste, the devoted servant and friend of the giannatasio family, beethoven. . to g. del rio. you herewith receive through carl, my dear friend, the ensuing quarter due to you. i beg you will attend more to the cultivation of his feelings and kindness of heart, as the latter in particular is the lever of all that is good; and no matter how a man's kindly feeling may be ridiculed or depreciated, still our greatest authors, such as goethe and others, consider it an admirable quality; indeed, many maintain that without it no man can ever be very distinguished, nor can any depth of character exist. my time is too limited to say more, but we can discuss verbally how in my opinion carl ought to be treated on this point. your friend and servant, l. van beethoven. alser vorstadt--beim apfel, ter Étage, no. , leiberz, dressmaker. . to g. del rio. this is at any rate the first time that it has been necessary to remind me of an agreeable duty; very pressing business connected with my art, as well as other causes, made me totally forget the account, but this shall not occur again. as for my servant bringing home carl in the evening, the arrangement is already made. in the mean time i thank you for having been so obliging as to send your servant for him yesterday, as i knew nothing about it, so that carl probably must otherwise have remained at czerny's. carl's boots are too small, and he has repeatedly complained of this; indeed, they are so bad that he can scarcely walk, and it will take some time before they can be altered to fit him. this kind of thing ruins the feet, so i beg you will not allow him to wear them again till they are made larger. with regard to his pianoforte studies, i beg you will keep him strictly to them; otherwise his music-master would be of no use. yesterday carl could not play the whole day, i have repeatedly wished to hear him play over his lessons, but have been obliged to come away without doing so. "_la musica merita d'esser studiata._" besides, the couple of hours now appointed for his music lessons are quite insufficient. i must therefore the more earnestly urge on you their being strictly adhered to. it is by no means unusual that this point should be attended to in an institute; an intimate friend of mine has also a boy at school, who is to become a professor of music, where every facility for study is afforded him; indeed, i was rather struck by finding the boy quite alone in a distant room practising, neither disturbing others, nor being himself disturbed. i beg you will allow me to send for carl to-morrow about half-past ten o'clock, as i wish to see what progress he has made, and to take him with me to some musicians. i am, with all possible esteem, your friend, l. van beethoven. . to czerny. dear czerny,-- i beg you will treat carl with as much patience as possible; for though he does not as yet get on quite as you and i could wish, still i fear he will soon do even less, because (though i do not want him to know it) he is over-fatigued by the injudicious distribution of his lesson hours. unluckily it is not easy to alter this; so pray, however strict you may be, show him every indulgence, which will, i am sure, have also a better effect on carl under such unfavorable circumstances. with respect to his playing with you, when he has finally acquired the proper mode of fingering, and plays in right time, and gives the notes with tolerable correctness, you must only then first direct his attention to the mode of execution; and when he is sufficiently advanced, do not stop his playing on account of little mistakes, but only point them out at the end of the piece. although i have myself given very little instruction, i have always followed this system, which quickly forms a _musician_; and this is, after all, one of the first objects of art, and less fatiguing both to master and scholar. in certain passages, like the following,-- [music: treble clef, sixteenth notes.] i wish all the fingers to be used; and also in similar ones, such as these,-- [music: treble clef, sixteenth notes.] &c. [music: treble clef, sixteenth notes.] &c. so that they may go very smoothly; such passages can indeed be made to sound very _perlés_, or like a pearl, played by fewer fingers, but sometimes we wish for a different kind of jewel.[ ] more as to this some other time. i hope that you will receive these suggestions in the same kindly spirit in which they are offered and intended. in any event i am, and ever must remain, your debtor. may my candor serve as a pledge of my wish to discharge this debt at some future day! your true friend, beethoven. [footnote : carl czerny relates in the vienna _a.m. zeitung_ of , no. , as follows:--"beethoven came to me usually every day himself with the boy, and used to say to me, 'you must not think that you please me by making carl play my works; i am not so childish as to wish anything of the kind. give him whatever you think best.' i named clementi. 'yes, yes,' said he, 'clementi is very good indeed;' and, added he, laughing, 'give carl occasionally what is _according to rule_, that he may hereafter come to what is _contrary to rule_.' after a hit of this sort, which he introduced into almost every speech, he used to burst into a loud peal of laughter. having in the earlier part of his career been often reproached by the critics with his _irregularities_, he was in the habit of alluding to this with gay humor."] . to czerny. dear czerny,-- i beg you will say nothing _on that particular subject_ at giannatasio's, who dined with us on the day you were so good as to call on me; he requested this himself. i _will tell you the reason_ when we meet. i hope to be able to prove my gratitude for your patience with my nephew, that i may not always remain your debtor. in haste, your friend, beethoven. . to czerny. dear czerny,-- can you in any way assist the man i now send to you (a pianoforte maker and tuner from baden) in selling his instruments? though small in size, their manufacture is solid. in haste, your friend, beethoven. . to zmeskall. wednesday, july , . dear zmeskall,-- i have changed my mind. it might hurt the feelings of carl's mother to see her child in the house of a stranger, which would be more harsh than i like; so i shall allow her to come to my house to-morrow; a certain tutor at puthon, of the name of bihler, will also be present. i should be _extremely_ glad if you could be with me about six o'clock, but not later. indeed, i earnestly beg you to come, as i am desirous to show the court that you are present, for there is no doubt that a _court secretary_ will be held in higher estimation by them than a man _without an official character, whatever his moral character may be!_ now, jesting apart, independent of my real affection for you, your coming will be of great service to me. i shall therefore expect you without fail. i beg you will not take my _badinage_ amiss. i am, with sincere esteem, your friend, beethoven . to g. del rio. your friend has no doubt told you of my intention to send for carl early to-morrow. i wish to place his mother in a more creditable position with the neighborhood; so i have agreed to pay her the compliment of taking her son to see her in the company of a third person. this is to be done once a month. as to all that is past, i beg you will never allude to it again, either in speaking or writing, but forget it all--as i do. . to frau von streicher. i have been occupied in arranging my papers; an immense amount of patience is required for such an affair as putting them in order, but having once summoned it to our aid we must persevere, or the matter would never be completed. my papers, both musical and unmusical, are nearly arranged at last; it was like one of the seven labors of hercules![ ] [footnote : ries (in wegeler's _notizen_) relates: "beethoven placed very little value on the mss. of his pieces written out by himself; when once engraved they were usually scattered about the anteroom, or on the floor in the middle of his apartment, together with other music. i often arranged his music for him, but the moment beethoven began to search for any piece, it was all strewed about again."] . to frau von streicher. you see what servants are! [he had gone out and taken the key with him.] such is housekeeping! so long as i am ill, i would fain be on a different footing with those around me; for dearly as i usually love solitude, it is painful to me now, finding it scarcely possible, while taking baths and medicine, to employ myself as usual,--to which is added the grievous prospect that i may perhaps never get better. i place no confidence in my present physician, who at length pronounces my malady to be _disease of the lungs_. i will consider about engaging a housekeeper. if i could only have the faintest hope, in this corrupt austrian state, of finding an honest person, the arrangement would be easily made; but--but!! [he wishes to hire a piano and pay for it in advance; the tone to be as loud as possible, to suit his defective hearing.] perhaps you do not know, though i have not always had one of your pianos, that since i have invariably preferred yours. it is peculiarly hard on me to be a burden on any one, being accustomed rather to serve others than to be served by them. . to frau von streicher. i can only say that i am better; i thought much of death during the past night, but such thoughts are familiar to me by day also. . to f. ries,--london. vienna, july , . my dear friend,-- the proposals in your esteemed letter of the th of june are very flattering, and my reply will show you how much i value them. were it not for my unhappy infirmities, which entail both attendance and expense, particularly on a journey to a foreign country, i would _unconditionally_ accept the offer of the philharmonic society. but place yourself in my position, and consider how many more obstacles i have to contend with than any other artist, and then judge whether my demands (which i now annex) are unreasonable. i beg you will convey my conditions to the directors of the above society, namely:-- . i shall be in london early in january. . the two grand new symphonies shall be ready by that time; to become the exclusive property of the society. . the society to give me in return guineas, and for my travelling expenses, which will, however, amount to much more, as i am obliged to bring a companion. . as i am now beginning to work at these grand symphonies for the society, i shall expect that (on receiving my consent) they will remit me here the sum of guineas, so that i may provide a carriage, and make my other preparations at once for the journey. . the conditions as to my non-appearance in any other public orchestra, my not directing, and the preference always to be given to the society on the offer of equal terms by them, are accepted by me; indeed, they would at all events have been dictated by my own sense of honor. . i shall expect the aid of the society in arranging one, or more, benefit concerts in my behalf, as the case may be. the very friendly feeling of some of the directors in your valuable body, and the kind reception of my works by all the artists, is a sufficient guaranty on this point, and will be a still further inducement to me to endeavor not to disappoint their expectations. . i request that i may receive the assent to and confirmation of these terms, signed by three directors in the name of the society. you may easily imagine how much i rejoice at the thoughts of becoming acquainted with the worthy sir george smart [music director], and seeing you and mr. neate again; would that i could fly to you myself instead of this letter! your sincere well wisher and friend, ludwig van beethoven. [p.s. on a separate sheet of paper.] dear ries,-- i cordially embrace you! i have purposely employed another hand in my answer to the society, that you might read it more easily, and present it to them. i place the most implicit reliance on your kindly feelings toward me. i hope that the philharmonic society may accept my proposals, and they may rest assured that i shall employ all my energies to fulfil in the most satisfactory manner the flattering commission of so eminent a society of artists. what is the strength of your orchestra? how many violins, &c.? have you _one or two sets of wind instruments_? is the concert room large and sonorous? . to zmeskall. nussdorf, july , . my dear good zmeskall,-- i shall soon see you again in town. what is the proper price for fronting a pair of boots? i have to pay my servant for this, who is always running about. i am really in despair at being condemned by my defective hearing to pass the greater part of my life with this most odious class of people, and to be in some degree dependent on them. to-morrow, early, my servant will call on you, and bring me back a _sealed answer_. . to zmeskall. august , . my dear good z.,-- i heard of your indisposition with great regret. as for myself, i am often in despair, and almost tempted to put an end to my life, for all these remedies seem to have no end. may god have compassion on me, for i look upon myself to be as good as lost! i have a great deal to say to you. that this servant is a _thief_, i cannot doubt--he must be sent away; my health requires living _at home_ and greater comfort. i shall be glad to have your opinion on this point. if my condition is not altered, instead of being in london i shall probably be in my grave. i thank god that the thread of my life will soon be spun out. in haste, your beethoven. n.b. i wish you to buy me a quarter of a yard of green wax-cloth, green on both sides. it seems incredible that i have not been able to get anything of the kind from these _green_ people here. it is far.... [illegible]. [x. brought the trio in c minor (op. , no. ) to show to beethoven, having arranged it as a quintet for stringed instruments (published by artaria as op. ). beethoven evidently discovered a good many faults in the work; still, the undertaking had sufficient attractions to induce him to correct it himself, and to make many changes in it. a very different score was thus of course produced from that of x., on the cover of whose work the genial master, in a fit of good humor, inscribed with his own hand the following title:-- a terzet arranged as a quintet, by _mr. well-meaning_, translated from the semblance into the reality of five parts, and exalted from the depths of wretchedness to a certain degree of excellence, by _mr. goodwill_. vienna, aug. , . n.b. the original three-part score of the quintet has been sacrificed as a solemn burnt-offering to the subterranean gods.][ ] [footnote : this quintet appeared as op. at artaria's in vienna.] . to frau von streicher. when we next meet, you will be surprised to hear what i have in the mean time learned. my poor carl was only misled for the moment; but there are men who are brutes, and of this number is the priest here, who deserves to be well cudgelled. . to g. del rio. august , . i unluckily received your letter yesterday too late, for she had already been here; otherwise i would have shown her to the door, as she richly deserved. i sincerely thank fraulein n. for the trouble she took in writing down the gossip of this woman. though an enemy to all tattling and gossip, still this is of importance to us; so i shall write to her, and also give her letter to me to herr a.s. [advocate schönauer?] i may possibly have let fall some words in her presence in reference to the recent occurrence, and the irregularity on your part, but i cannot in the slightest degree recall ever having written to her about you. it was only an attempt on her side to exasperate you against me; and thus to influence you and obtain more from you, in the same way that she formerly reported to me all sorts of things that you had said about me; but i took no heed of her talk. on this recent occasion i wished to try whether she might not be improved by a more patient and conciliatory mode of conduct: i imparted my intention to herr a.s., but it has utterly failed; and on sunday i made up my mind to adhere to the former necessary severity, as even during the glimpse she had of carl, she contrived to inoculate him with some of her venom. in short, we must be guided by the zodiac, and only allow her to see carl twelve times a year, and then barricade her so effectually that she cannot smuggle in even a pin, whether he is with you or me, or with a third person. i really thought that by entirely complying with her wishes, it might have been an incitement to her to improve, and to acknowledge my complete unselfishness. perhaps i may see you to-morrow. frau s. can order the shoes and stockings and all that carl requires, and i will remit her the money at once. i beg that you will always order and buy anything carl ought to have, without any reference to me, merely informing me of the amount, which i will forthwith discharge, without waiting for the end of the quarter. i will take care that carl has a new coat for the next examination. one thing more. the mother affects to receive her information from a person in your house. if you cannot arrange with czerny to bring carl home, he must not go at all; "_trau, schau, wem!_" [trust not till you try.] the only impression that his mother ought to make on carl is what i have already told him,--namely, to respect her as _his mother_, but _not to follow her example in any respect_; he must be strongly warned against this. yours truly, l. v. beethoven. . to zmeskall. sept. , . dear z.,-- the answer from london arrived yesterday [see no. ], but in english. do you know any one who could translate it verbally for us? in haste, your beethoven. . to zmeskall. oct. , . dear z.,-- the devil himself cannot persuade your _famulus_ to take away the wine. pray forgive my behavior yesterday; i intended to have asked your pardon this very afternoon. _in my present condition_ i require _indulgence_ from every one, for i am a poor unfortunate creature! in haste, as ever, yours. . to zmeskall. dear z.,-- i give up the journey; at least i will not pledge myself on this point. the matter must be more maturely considered. in the mean time the work is already sent off to the prince regent. _if they want me they can have me_, and i am still at _liberty_ to say _yes_! or _no_! liberty!!!! what more can any one desire!!! . to zmeskall. dear z.,-- don't be angry about my note. are you not aware of my present condition, which is like that of hercules with queen omphale??? i asked you to buy me a looking-glass like yours, which i now return, but if you do not require it, i wish you would send yours back to me to-day, for mine is broken. farewell, and do not write in such high-flown terms about me, for never have i felt so strongly as now the strength and the weakness of human nature. continue your regard for me. . to frau von streicher. the autumn of . i have had an interview with your husband, whose sympathy did me both good and harm, for streicher almost upset my resignation. god alone knows the result! but as i have always assisted my fellow-men when i had the power to do so, i also rely on his mercy to me. educate your daughter carefully, that she may make a good wife. to-day happens to be sunday; so i will quote you something out of the bible,--"love one another." i conclude with best regards to your best of daughters, and with the wish that all your wounds may be healed. when you visit the ancient ruins [frau streicher was in baden], do not forget that beethoven has often lingered there; when you stray through the silent pine forests, do not forget that beethoven often wrote poetry there, or, as it is termed, _composed_. . to frau von streicher. how deeply am i indebted to you, my excellent friend, and i have become such a poor creature that i have no means of repaying you. i am very grateful to streicher for all the trouble he has taken on my behalf [about a house in the gärtner strasse], and beg he will continue his inquiries. god will, i hope, one day enable me to return benefit for benefit, but this being at present impossible, grieves me most of all.... now heaven be praised! [he thus winds up a long letter about a bad servant,] i have contrived to collect all these particulars for you with no little toil and trouble, and god grant that i may never, never more be obliged to speak, or write, or think again on such a subject, for mud and mire are not more pernicious to artistic soil, than such devilry to any man!!! . to frau von streicher. as to frau von stein [stone], i beg she will not allow herr von steiner to turn into stone, that he may still be of service to me; nor must frau von stein become too stony towards herr von steiner, &c. my good frau von streicher, do not play any trick [streiche] to your worthy little husband, but rather be to all others frau von stein [stone]!!!! where are the coverlets for the beds? [music: treble clef. where? where?] . to frau von streicher. ... it is now very evident from all this that if _you_ do not kindly superintend things for me, i, with my _infirmities_, must meet with the _same fate_ as usual at the hands of these people. their _ingratitude_ towards you is what chiefly degrades both of them in my eyes. but i don't understand your allusion about gossip? on one occasion alone can i remember having forgotten myself for the moment, but _with very different people_. this is all i can say on the subject. for my part i neither encourage nor listen to the gossip of the lower orders. i have often given you hints on the subject, without telling you a word of what i had heard. away! away! away! with such things! . to the archduke rudolph. nussdorf, sept. , . i hope to be able to join you in baden; but my invalid condition still continues, and though in some respects improved, my malady is far from being entirely cured. i have had, and still have, recourse to remedies of every kind and shape; i must now give up the long-cherished hope of ever being wholly restored. i hear that y.r.h. looks wonderfully well, and though many false inferences may be drawn from this as to good health, still every one tells me that y.r.h. is much better, and in this i feel sincerely interested. i also trust that when y.r.h. again comes to town, i may assist you in those works dedicated to the muses. my confidence is placed on providence, who will vouchsafe to hear my prayer, and one day set me free from all my troubles, for i have served him faithfully from my childhood, and done good whenever it has been in my power; so my trust is in him alone, and i feel that the almighty will not allow me to be utterly crushed by all my manifold trials. i wish y.r.h. all possible good and prosperity, and shall wait on you the moment you return to town. [k.] . to g. del rio vienna, nov. , . my altered circumstances render it possible that i may not be able to leave carl under your care beyond the end of this quarter; so, as in duty bound, i give you this _warning_ a quarter in advance. though it is painful to admit it, my straitened circumstances leave me no choice in the matter; had it been otherwise, how gladly would i have presented you with an additional quarter's payment when i removed carl, as a slight tribute of my gratitude. i do hope you will believe that such are my _genuine and sincere_ wishes on the subject. if on the other hand i leave carl with you for the ensuing quarter, commencing in february, i will apprise you of it early in january, . i trust you will grant me this _favor_, and that i shall not solicit it in vain. if i ever enjoy better health, so that i can _earn more money_, i shall not fail to evince my gratitude, knowing well how much more you have done for carl than i had any right to expect; and i can with truth say that to be obliged to confess my inability to requite your services at this moment, distresses me much. i am, with sincere esteem, your friend, l. v. beethoven. . to g. del rio. my dear friend,-- i have been hitherto unable to answer your friendly letter, having been much occupied and still far from well. as to your proposal, it merits both gratitude and consideration. i must say that the same idea formerly occurred to me about carl; at this moment, however, i am in the most unsettled state. this was why i made the stipulation to which i begged you to agree, namely, to let you know in the last month of the present quarter whether carl was to continue with you. in this way our plans would neither be hurried nor demolished. i am, besides, well aware that it can be no advantage to you to have carl either on his present terms, or according to your last proposal, and on that very account i wished to point out to you in my letter how gladly, besides the usual remuneration, i would have testified my gratitude in some additional manner. when i spoke of my _inability_, i knew that his education would cost me even more elsewhere than with you; but what i intended to convey was that every father has a particular object in the education of his child, and it is thus with me and carl. no doubt we shall soon discover what is best for him; whether to have a tutor here, or to go on as formerly. i do not wish to tie myself down for the moment, but to remain free to act as his interests may dictate. carl daily costs me great sacrifices, but i only allude to them on his own account. i know too well the influence his mother contrives to acquire over him, for she seems resolved to show herself well worthy of the name of "queen of the night." besides, she everywhere spreads a report that i do nothing whatever for carl, whereas she pays everything!! as we have touched on this point, i must thank you for your most considerate letter, which in any event will be of great use to me. pray ask herr l.s. to be so kind as to make my excuses to his brother for not having yet called on him. partly owing to business and also to indisposition, it has been nearly impossible for me to do so. when i think of this oft-discussed affair, i should prefer going to see him on any other subject. she has not applied to me; so it is not my business to promote a meeting between her and her son. with regard to the other matter, i am told that in _this_ case we must have recourse to compulsion, which will cost me more money, for which i have chiefly to thank herr adlersburg [his advocate]. as carl's education, however, must be carried on so far as possible independent of his mother, for the future as well as the present we must act as i have arranged. i am, with esteem, your attached friend, l. v. beethoven. . to the archduke rudolph. last day of december, . the old year has nearly passed away, and a new one draws near. may it bring y.r.h. no sorrow, but rather may it bestow on you every imaginable felicity! these are my wishes, all concentrated in the one i have just expressed. if it be allowable to speak of myself, i may say that my health is very variable and uncertain. i am unhappily obliged to live at a great distance from y.r.h., which shall not, however, prevent my having the extreme gratification of waiting on you at the first opportunity. i commend myself to your gracious consideration, though i may not appear to deserve it. may heaven, for the benefit of so many whom you befriend, enrich each day of your life with an especial blessing! i am always, &c., &c. [k.] . to g. del rio. jan. , . to prevent any mistake i take the liberty to inform you that it is finally settled my nephew carl should leave your excellent institution the end of this month. my hands are also tied with regard to your other proposal, as if i accepted it, my further projects for carl's benefit would be entirely frustrated; but i sincerely thank you for your kind intentions. circumstances may cause me to remove carl even before the end of the month, and as i may not be here myself, i will appoint some one to fetch him. i mention this to you now, that it may not appear strange when the time comes; and let me add, that my nephew and i shall feel grateful to you through life. i observe that carl already feels thus, which is to me a proof that although thoughtless, his disposition is not evil; far less has he a bad heart. i am the more disposed to augur well of him from his having been for two years under your admirable guidance. i am, with esteem, your friend, l. v. beethoven. . to g. del rio. vienna, jan. , . i do not come to you myself, as it would be a kind of leave-taking, and this i have all my life avoided. pray accept my heartfelt thanks for the zeal, rectitude, and integrity with which you have conducted the education of my nephew. as soon as i am at all settled, we mean to pay you a visit; but on account of the mother, i am anxious that the fact of my nephew being with me should not be too much known. i send you my very best wishes, and i beg especially to thank frau a.z. for her truly maternal care of carl. i am, with sincere esteem, yours, l. v. beethoven. . to czerny. my dear good kind czerny,--[ ] i have this moment heard that you are in a position i really never suspected; you might certainly place confidence in me, and point out how matters could be made better for you (without any pretensions to patronage on my part). as soon as i have a moment to myself, i must speak to you. rest assured that i highly value you, and am prepared to prove this at any moment by deeds. yours, with sincere esteem, l. van beethoven. [footnote : zellner, in his _blätter für musik_, relates what follows on czerny's own authority:--in czerny was requested by beethoven in a letter (which he presented some years ago to cocks, the london music publisher) to play at one of his last concerts in the large _redoutensaal_, his e flat major concerto, op. . czerny answered, in accordance with the truth, that having gained his livelihood entirely for many years past by giving lessons on the piano, for more than twelve hours daily, he had so completely laid aside his pianoforte playing, that he could not venture to attempt playing the concerto properly within the course of a few days (which beethoven desired). on which he received, in the above letter, a touching proof of beethoven's sympathy. he also learned subsequently that beethoven had exerted himself to procure him a permanent situation.] . to f. ries,--london. vienna, march , . my dear ries,-- in spite of my wishes it was impossible for me to go to london this year [see no. ]. i beg you will apprise the philharmonic society that my feeble health prevented my coming; i trust, however, i shall be entirely restored this spring, so that in the autumn i may avail myself of their offers and fulfil all their conditions. pray request neate, in my name, to make no public use of the various works of mine that he has in his hands, at least not until i come. whatever he may have to say for himself, i have cause to complain of him. potter[ ] called on me several times; he seems to be a worthy man, and to have a talent for composition. my wish and hope for you is that your circumstances may daily improve. i cannot, alas! say that such is the case with my own.... i cannot bear to see others want, i must give; you may therefore believe what a loser i am by this affair. i do beg that you will write to me soon. if possible i shall try to get away from this earlier, in the hope of escaping utter ruin, in which case i shall arrive in london by the winter at latest. i know that you will assist an unfortunate friend. if it had only been in my power, and had i not been chained to this place, as i always have been, by circumstances, i certainly would have done far more for you. farewell; remember me to neate, smart, and cramer. although i hear that the latter is a _counter subject_ both to you and to myself, still i rather understand how to manage people of that kind; so notwithstanding all this we shall yet succeed in producing an agreeable harmony in london. i embrace you from my heart. your friend, l. van beethoven. many handsome compliments to your charming, (and as i hear) handsome wife. [footnote : schindler, in his _biography_ (vol. ii. ), states that cipriani potter came to vienna in .] . to the rechnungsrath, vincenz hauschka.[ ] . first and foremost member of our society, and grand cross of the violon--cello! you wish for an _heroic_ subject, whereas i have none but a _spiritual_ one! i am contented; still, i think an infusion of the spiritual would be quite appropriate in such a mass. i have no objections to h. v. bernard, but you must pay him; i do not speak of myself. as you call yourselves "friends of music," it is only natural that you should expect a great deal to be done on the score of friendship. now farewell, my good hauschka! as for myself, i wander about here with music paper, among the hills and dales and valleys, and scribble a great deal to get my daily bread; for i have brought things to such a pass in this mighty and ignominious _land of the goths and vandals_, that in order to gain time for a great composition, i must always previously _scrawl away_ a good deal for the sake of money, to enable me to complete an important work. however, my health is much improved, and if the matter is urgent, i can do as you wish now. in haste, your friend, beethoven. [footnote : hauschka was at that time on the committee, and agent for the "friends to music" who commissioned beethoven to write an oratorio in . schindler is of opinion that the repeated performance of the abbé stadler's heroic oratorio, _die befreiung von jerusalem_, was the cause of the society in bespeaking, through hauschka, "an oratorio of the heroic order."] . to the archduke rudolph. . i have the honor to send the masterly variations[ ] of y.r.h. by the copyist schlemmer, and to-morrow i shall come in person to wait upon y.r.h., and much rejoice at being able to serve as a companion to my illustrious pupil on the path of fame. [k.] [footnote : the letters and , allude to the pianoforte variations composed by the archduke rudolph and dedicated to his instructor.] . to the archduke rudolph. jan. , . all that can be comprehended in one wish, or individually named,--health, happiness, and prosperity,--all are included in the prayer i offer up for y.r.h. on this day. may the wish that i also form for myself be graciously accepted by y.r.h., namely, that i may continue to enjoy the favor of y.r.h. a dreadful occurrence[ ] has lately taken place in my family, which for a long time stunned my senses, and to this must be ascribed my not having waited on y.r.h., nor taken any notice of the masterly variations of my much-honored and illustrious pupil, and favorite of the muses. the gratitude i feel for the surprise and the honor you have done me, i dare not venture to express either verbally or in writing, for i am _too far beneath you_, even if i _could_ or wished ever so ardently _to return like for like_. may heaven accept and listen with peculiar favor to my prayers for y.r.h.'s health. in the course of a few days i trust i shall myself hear the masterpiece y.r.h. has sent to me, and nothing will rejoice me more than to assist y.r.h. as early as possible, in taking the place already prepared for you on parnassus. [k.] [footnote : the "dreadful occurrence" which took place in the end of in beethoven's family cannot be discovered.] . to ries. vienna, april [march?] , . dear ries,-- i am only now able to answer your letter of december th. your sympathy does me good. it is impossible for me to go to london at present, being involved here in various ways; but god will, i trust, aid me, and enable me to visit london next winter, when i shall bring the new symphonies with me. i every day expect the text for a new _oratorio_, which i am to write for our musical society here, and no doubt it will be of use to us in london also. do what you can on my behalf, for i greatly need it. i should have been glad to receive any commission from the philharmonic, but neate's report of the all but failure of the three overtures vexed me much. each in its own style not only pleased here, but those in e flat major and c major made a profound impression, so that the fate of those works at the philharmonic is quite incomprehensible to me. you have no doubt received the arrangement of the quintet [op. , see no. ] and the sonata [op. ]. see that both, especially the quintet, be engraved without loss of time. there is no such hurry about the sonata, though i should like it to appear within two or three months. never having received the previous letter to which you allude, i had no scruple in disposing of both works here; but for germany only. it will be at any rate three months before the sonata appears here, but you must make haste with the quintet. as soon as you forward me a check for the money, i will send an authority to the publisher, securing him the exclusive right to these works for england, scotland, ireland, france, &c., &c. you shall receive by the next post the _tempi_ of the sonata marked in accordance with maelzel's metronome. prince paul esterhazy's courier, de smidt, took the quintet and the sonata with him. you shall also have my portrait by the next opportunity, as i understand that you really wish for it. farewell! continue your regard for me, your friend, beethoven. all sorts of pretty compliments to your pretty wife!!! from me!!!! . to ries. vienna, april , . dear ries,-- here are the _tempi_ of the sonata. st allegro, allegro (alone), erase the _assai_. maelzel's metronome [half-note] = . d movement, scherzoso. maelzel's metronome [half-note] = . d movement, maelzel's metronome [eighth-note] = . observe that a previous bar is to be inserted here, namely:-- [music: new bar. piano staves (treble & bass), d major, / time.] th movement, introduzione--largo. maelzel's metronome [sixteenth-note] = . th and last movement, / time. maelzel's metronome [half-note] = . [music: treble clef, b-flat major.] pray forgive the confused way in which this is written. it would not surprise you if you knew my situation; you would rather marvel that i accomplish so much in spite of it. the quintet can no longer be delayed, and must shortly appear; but not the sonata, until i get an answer from you and the check, which i long to see. the name of the courier is de smidt, by whom you will receive both the quintet and sonata. i beg you will give me an immediate answer. i will write more fully next time. in haste, your beethoven. . to ries. april , . my dear friend,-- i ask your forgiveness a thousand times for the trouble i cause you. i cannot understand how it is that there are so many mistakes in the copying of the sonata. this incorrectness no doubt proceeds from my no longer being able to keep a copyist of my own; circumstances have brought this about. may god send me more prosperity, till ---- is in a better position! this will not be for a whole year to come. it is really dreadful the turn affairs have taken, and the reduction of my salary, while no man can tell what the issue is to be till the aforesaid year has elapsed. if the sonata be not suitable for london, i could send another, or you might omit the _largo_, and begin at once with the _fugue_ in the last movement, or the first movement, _adagio_, and the third the _scherzo_, the _largo_, and the _allegro risoluto_. i leave it to you to settle as you think best. this sonata was written at a time of great pressure. it is hard to write for the sake of daily bread; and yet i have actually come to this! we can correspond again about my visit to london. to be rescued from this wretched and miserable condition is my only hope of deliverance, for as it is i can neither enjoy health, nor accomplish what i could do under more favorable auspices. . to the philharmonic society in laibach.[ ] vienna, may , . i fully appreciate the high compliment paid to me by the respected members of the philharmonic society, in acknowledgment of my poor musical deserts, by electing me honorary member of their society, and sending me the diploma through herr von tuscher; and as a proof of my sense of this honor, i intend in due course to forward to the society an unpublished work of mine.[ ] moreover, at any time when i can be of use to the society, i shall be prepared to forward their wishes. i remain, the humble servant and honorary member of the philharmonic society, ludwig van beethoven. [footnote : in dr. fr. keesbacher's pamphlet, "_the philharmonic society in laibach, from to _," he says:--"the philharmonic society, always anxious to add to its lustre by attracting honorary members, resolved to appoint the great master of harmony as one of these. this idea had previously occurred to them in . at that time they asked dr. anton schmidt whether he thought that the election of beethoven, and also hummel's son, would contribute to the advancement of the society. on that occasion the society appear to have had recourse to haydn for the composition of a canon; whether they applied to him for a new one or an already existing one is not known. schmidt replied, 'i, for my part, with such an object in view, would prefer giving my vote for the latter, (hummel's son, who is second kapellmeister, haydn being the first, to the reigning prince niklas esterhazy.) _beethoven is as full of caprice as he is devoid of complaisance._ i have not seen father haydn for a long time, his residence being so distant. he is now in failing health and scarcely ever writes; i will, however, shortly call on him and make the attempt to get a canon from him.' this discouraging picture of beethoven, who had indeed too often a repulsive manner, might well deprive the society of all courage to think any more of him as one of their honorary members. on the th of march, , however, the society prepared the diploma for beethoven, the usually stereotyped form being exceptionally varied in his honor, and running thus:--'the philharmonic society here, whose aim it is to promote refinement of feeling and cultivation of taste in the science of music, and who strive by their incessant efforts to impart to the society both inwardly and outwardly, by the judicious selection of new members, greater value, solidity, and distinction, are universally animated with the desire to see their list adorned by the name of beethoven. the organ of this society, the undersigned directors, fulfil the general wish in thus performing _their most agreeable duty_, and giving you, sir, the strongest proof of their profound admiration, by appointing you one of their honorary members.--laibach, march , .'" a fac-simile of beethoven's handwriting is hung up in a frame under glass in the hall of the society and affixed to dr. keesbacher's pamphlet.] [footnote : we are told, "one work alone of beethoven's in the collection of the society bears visible marks of coming from his own hand, and that is the _pastoral symphony_." the above-mentioned copy is a ms. score (though not in his writing); on the cover is written by himself in red pencil, now almost illegible, "sinfonie pastorale;" and underneath are inscribed the following words in ink by another hand: "beethoven's writing in red pencil." this score contains various corrections in pencil. two of these appear to be by beethoven, but unluckily the pencil marks are so much effaced that it is difficult to decide as to the writing. in the scene "by the rivulet," where the / time begins (in b flat major), these words are written, "violoncelli tutti con basso." the b especially recalls his mode of writing. moreover the _tempo_ at the beginning of "the shepherd's song," (in f, / time,) _allegretto_, is qualified by the same hand in pencil thus, _quasi allegro_. no direct proof exists of this being sent by him.] . to f. ries,--london. vienna, may , . ... i was at the time burdened with cares beyond all i had ever in my life known,[ ] caused solely by my too lavish benefits to others. do compose industriously! my dear pupil the archduke rudolph and i frequently play your works, and he says that my quondam pupil does honor to his master. now farewell! as i hear that your wife is so handsome, i venture to embrace her in imagination only, though i hope to have that pleasure in person next winter. do not forget the quintet, and the sonata, and the money, i mean the _honoraire, avec ou sans honneur_. i hope soon to hear good news from you, not in _allegro_ time, but _veloce prestissimo_. this letter will be given to you by an intelligent englishman; they are generally very able fellows, with whom i should like to pass some time in their own country. _prestissimo--responsio de suo amico e maestro,_ beethoven. [footnote : in schindler's _beethoven's nachlass_ there is a large calendar of the years used by beethoven, in which he has marked, "arrived at mödling may !!!--_miser sum pauper_." carl too was again ill at that time. beethoven took him to blöchlinger's institution, june .] . to the archduke rudolph. . i learned with deep sorrow of your being again unwell; i trust it will only be a passing indisposition. no doubt our very variable spring is the cause of this. i intended to have brought the variations [see no. ] yesterday; they may well boldly face the light of day, and no doubt y.r.h. will receive an application for your consent on this point. i very much regret being only able to express a _pia desideria_ for y.r.h's. health. i earnestly hope the skill of your aesculapius may at length gain the victory and procure permanent health for y.r.h. [k.] . to the archduke rudolph. mödling, july , . i have been very ill since my last visit to y.r.h. in town; i hope however to be much better by next week, in which case i will instantly join y.r.h. at baden. meanwhile i went several times to town to consult my physician. my continued distress about my nephew, whose moral character has been almost totally ruined, has been the main cause of my illness. at the beginning of this week i was obliged to resume my guardianship, the other guardian having resigned, and much has taken place for which he has asked my forgiveness. the solicitor has also given up his office, because, having interested himself in the good cause, he has been loudly accused of partiality. thus these endless perplexities go on, and no help, no consolation! the whole fabric that i had reared now blown away as if by the wind! a pupil of pestalozzi, at present an inmate of the institute where i have placed my nephew, seems to think that it will be a difficult matter for him and for my poor carl to attain any desirable goal. but he is also of opinion that the most advisable step is the removal of my nephew to a foreign country! i hope that the health of y.r.h., always so interesting to me, leaves nothing to be desired, and i look forward with pleasure to soon being with y.r.h., that i may be enabled to prove my anxiety to serve you. [k.] . to the archduke rudolph. . may i beg the favor of y.r.h. to inform h.r.h. archduke ludwig of the following circumstances. y.r.h. no doubt remembers my mentioning the necessary removal of my nephew from here, on account of his mother. my intention was to present a petition to h.r.h. archduke ludwig on the subject; no difficulties however have hitherto arisen on the subject, as all the authorities concerned are in my favor. among the chief of these are the college of privy councillors, the court of guardians, and the guardian himself, who all entirely agree with me in thinking that nothing can be more conducive to the welfare of my nephew than being kept at the greatest possible distance from his mother; moreover, all is admirably arranged for the education of my nephew in landshut, as the estimable and renowned professor sailer is to superintend everything connected with the studies of the youth, and i have also some relations there, so no doubt the most desirable results may be thus attained for my nephew. having, as i already said, as yet encountered no obstacles, i had no wish whatever to trouble h.r.h. the archduke ludwig, but i now understand that the mother of my nephew intends to demand an audience from h.r.h. in order to _oppose_ my scheme. she will not scruple to utter all sorts of _calumnies against me_, but i trust these can be easily refuted by my well known and acknowledged moral character, and i can fearlessly appeal to y.r.h. for a testimony on this point for the satisfaction of h.r.h. archduke ludwig. as for the conduct of the mother of my nephew, it is easily to be inferred from the fact of her having been declared by the court wholly incapable of undertaking the guardianship of her son. all that she _plotted_ in order to ruin her poor child can only be credited from her own depravity, and thence arises the _unanimous agreement_ about this affair, and the boy being entirely withdrawn from her influence. such is the natural and unnatural state of the case. i therefore beg y.r.h. to intercede with h.r.h. archduke ludwig, and to warn him against listening to the slanders of the mother, who would plunge her child into an abyss whence he could never be rescued. that sense of justice which guides every party in our just austrian land, does not entirely exclude her either; at the same time, this _very same sense of justice_ must render all her remonstrances unavailing. a religious view of the fourth commandment is what chiefly decides the court to send away the son as far as possible. the difficulty those must have who conduct the boy's education in not offending against this commandment, and the necessity that the son should never be tempted to fail in this duty or to repudiate it, ought certainly to be taken into consideration. every effort has been made by forbearance and generosity to amend this unnatural mother, but all has been in vain. if necessary i will supply h.r.h. archduke ludwig with a statement on the subject, and, favored by the advocacy of my gracious master y.r.h. the archduke rudolph, i shall certainly obtain justice. [k.] . to the archduke rudolph. . i regret to say that, owing to a judicial meeting about the affairs of my nephew (being unable to alter the hour fixed), i must give up the pleasure of waiting on y.r.h. this evening, but shall not fail to do so to-morrow at half-past four o'clock. as for the affair itself, i know that i shall be treated with indulgence. may heaven at length bring it to a close! for my mind suffers keenly from such a painful turmoil. [k.] . to the archduke rudolph. mödling, july , . i heard with deep regret of y.r.h.'s recent indisposition, and having received no further reliable information on the subject, i am extremely uneasy. i went to vienna to search in y.r.h.'s library for what was most suitable to me. the chief object must be to _hit off our idea at once_, and _in accordance with a high class of art_, unless the object in view should require different and more _practical_ treatment. on this point the ancient composers offer the best examples, as most of these possess real artistic value (though among them the _german handel_ and sebastian bach can alone lay claim to _genius_); but _freedom_ and _progress_ are our true aim in the world of art, just as in the great creation at large; and if we moderns are not so far advanced as our _forefathers_ in _solidity_, still the refinement of our ideas has contributed in many ways to their enlargement. my illustrious musical pupil, himself a competitor for the laurels of fame, must not incur the reproach of _onesidedness, et iterum venturus judicare vivos et mortuos_. i send you three poems, from which y.r.h. might select one to set to music. the austrians have now learned that the _spirit of apollo_ wakes afresh in the imperial house; i receive from all sides requests for something of yours. the editor of the "mode zeitung" is to write to y.r.h. on the subject. i only hope that i shall not be accused of being _bribed_--to be _at court and yet no courtier_! after that, what is not credible??!!! _i met with some opposition from his excellency the obersthofmeister[ ] in selecting the music._ it is not worth while to trouble y.r.h. on the subject in writing; but this i will say, that such conduct might have the effect of repelling many talented, good, and noble-minded men, who had not enjoyed the good fortune to learn from personal intercourse with y.r.h. all the admirable qualities of your mind and heart. i wish y.r.h. a speedy, speedy recovery, and, _for my own peace of mind_, that i may hear some good tidings of y.r.h. [k.] [footnote : probably the obersthofmeister, count laurencin, by no means approved of the manner in which beethoven searched for music, which accounts for this outbreak on the part of the irritable _maestro_.] . to the archduke rudolph. . i have unhappily only myself to blame! i went out yesterday for the first time, feeling pretty well, but i forgot, or rather paid no attention to the fact, that, being an invalid only just recovering, i ought to have gone home early; i have consequently brought on another attack. i think, however, that by staying at home to-day, all will be right by to-morrow, when i hope to be able to wait on my esteemed and illustrious pupil without fail. i beg y.r.h. not to forget about handel's works, as they certainly offer to your mature musical genius the highest nourishment, and their study will always be productive of admiration of this great man. [k.] . to the archduke rudolph. mödling, aug. , . i yesterday received the intelligence _of a fresh recognition and homage[ ] offered to the admirable qualities of your head and heart_. i beg that y.r.h. will graciously accept my congratulations. they spring from the heart, and do not require to be suggested! i hope things will soon go better with me also. so much annoyance has had a most prejudicial effect on my health, and i am thus far from well; so for some time past i have been obliged to undergo a course of medicine which has only permitted me to devote myself for a few hours in the day to the most cherished boon of heaven, my art and the muses. i hope, however, to be able to finish the mass[ ] so that it can be performed on the th--if that day is still fixed. i should really be in despair[ ] were i prevented by bad health from being ready by that time. i trust, however, that my sincere wishes for the accomplishment of this task may be fulfilled. as to that _chef-d'oeuvre_, the variations of y.r.h., i think they should be published under the following title:-- theme or subject composed by l. van beethoven, forty times varied, and dedicated to his instructor, by the illustrious author. the inquiries about this work are numerous, and yet, after all, this excellent composition may be ushered into the world in mutilated copies, for y.r.h. yourself cannot possibly resist giving it first to one person and then to another; so, in heaven's name, together with the great homage y.r.h. now publicly receives, let the homage to apollo (or the christian cecilia) also be made public. perhaps y.r.h. may accuse me of _vanity_; but i do assure you that precious as this dedication is to my heart, and truly proud of it as i am, this is certainly not my chief object. three publishers have offered to take the work,--artaria, steiner, and a third whose name does not at this moment occur to me. so of the two i have named, which is to have the variations? i await the commands of y.r.h. on this point. they are to be engraved at the cost of either of those publishers, according to their own offer. the question now is whether y.r.h. _is satisfied with the title_. my idea is that y.r.h. should entirely close your eyes to the fact of the publication; when it does appear, y.r.h. may deem it a misfortune, _but the world will consider it the reverse_. may providence protect y.r.h., and shower down the richest blessings of his grace on y.r.h.'s sacred head, and preserve for me your gracious regard! [on the cover] my indisposition must be my excuse with y.r.h. for this confused letter. [k.] [footnote : the emperor francis had sent the new archbishop of olmütz, archduke rudolph, the grand cross of the order of st. stephen.] [footnote : the mass for the solemnities of the archduke rudolph's enthronization in olmütz (march , ) was not completed by beethoven till .] [footnote : beethoven had, however, no cause for despair on the subject. the kind-hearted archduke showed the utmost indulgence to him on this occasion as well as on many others, and even at a later period accepted the dedication of this long delayed composition.] .[ ] to the archduke rudolph. . i perceive that baron schweiger has not informed y.r.h. of the attack i had yesterday. i was suddenly seized with such sharp fever that i entirely lost consciousness; a bruised foot may have contributed to bring this on. it is therefore impossible for me to leave the house to-day. i hope, however, to be quite recovered by to-morrow, and i request y.r.h. to appoint the orchestra to come to-morrow afternoon at a quarter to three o'clock, that the musicians may appear a little earlier, and leave sufficient time to try over the two overtures. if y.r.h. wishes to hear these, i shall require four horns; the symphonies, however, require only two. for the proper performance of the symphonies we must have at least four violins, four second, four first, two double basses, two violoncellos. i beg you will be so good as to let me know what you decide on. no pleasure can ever be greater to me than hearing my works performed before my illustrious pupil. may god speedily restore your health, which often causes me anxiety! [k.] [footnote : the letters , , , relate to arrangements for musical meetings at which beethoven caused his new works to be played for the archduke.] . to the archduke rudolph. . i beg you will be so kind as to let herr von wranitzky[ ] know your commands about the music, and whether to bespeak two or four horns. i have already spoken with him, and suggested his only selecting musicians who can accomplish a performance, rather than a mere rehearsal. [k.] [footnote : anton wranitzky (born , died ), director of prince lobkowitz's opera and band. his brother paul (born , died ) was from to kapellmeister at the royal opera in vienna.] . to the archduke rudolph. . it is impossible to double the parts by eleven o'clock to-morrow, most of the copyists having so much to write this week. i think therefore you will perhaps appoint next saturday for our _resurrection day_, and by that time i expect to be entirely recovered, and better able to conduct, which would have been rather an arduous task for me to-morrow, in spite of my good-will. on friday i do hope to be able to go out and inquire for y.r.h. [k.] . to the archduke rudolph. . (_a fragment._) the day when a high mass of mine is performed in honor of the solemnities for y.r.h. will be the most delightful of my life, and god will enlighten me so that my poor abilities may contribute to the splendors of that solemn occasion. i send you the sonata with heartfelt gratitude; i think the violoncello part is wanting,--at least i could not lay my hand on it at the moment. as the work is beautifully engraved, i have taken the liberty to add a published copy, and also a violin quintet. in addition to the two pieces written in my hand on y.r.h.'s name-day, there are two more; the last a grand _fugato_, so that it forms one great sonata,[ ] which is now shortly to appear, and has been long _in my heart_ dedicated to y.r.h. _the recent occurrence connected with y.r.h.[ ] is not in the slightest degree the cause of this._ i beg you will forgive my bad writing. i implore the lord to bestow his richest blessings on y.r.h., whose love of humanity is so comprehensive,--one of the choicest of all qualities; and in this respect y.r.h. will always, either in a _worldly_ or _spiritual_ point of view, be one of our brightest examples. [k.] [footnote : the grand sonata with two movements, and two additional ones, of which the last is a grand fugued one, can scarcely be any other than the pianoforte sonata (op. ) composed in , dedicated to the archduke rudolph, and published in september, .] [footnote : the "recent occurrence" to which beethoven alludes is no doubt his being appointed archbishop.] . to herr blÖchlinger. mödling, sept. , . florins enclosed. dear sir,-- i have the honor to send you payment for the ensuing month, which begins on the d sept., and i add florins in order to provide for any unforeseen expenses, which you will please account for to me on the th october. the following persons alone are to have free access to my nephew: herr von bernard, herr von oliva, herr von piuss. if any persons, exclusive of those i have named, wish to see my nephew, i will give them a letter to you, when you will be so obliging as to admit them; for the distance to your house is considerable, and those who go there can only do so to oblige me, as, for example, the bandage-maker, &c., &c. my nephew must never leave your house without a written permission from me. from this you will at once plainly perceive your line of conduct towards carl's mother. i must impress on you the necessity of these rules (proceeding from the magistrates and myself) being strictly enforced. you, dear sir, are too little experienced in these circumstances, however obvious your other merits are to me, to act on your own judgment in the matter, as you have hitherto done. credulity can in the present instance only lead to embarrassment, the result of which might prove injurious to you rather than beneficial, and this i wish to avoid for the sake of your own credit. i hear that my nephew requires, or at all events wishes to have, a variety of things from me; he has only to apply to myself. be so good as to forward all his letters through herr steiner & co., pater noster gässel, auf'm graben. your obedient beethoven, _sole guardian of my nephew carl van beethoven._ n.b. any outlay will be at once repaid. . vienna, sept. , . in honor of the visit of herr schlesinger of berlin. [music: four staves (satb), b-flat major, / time, repeating. glaube und hoffe glaube und hoffe und hoffe glaube und hoffe, glaube und hoffe glaube und hoffe, ] l. v. beethoven. . to herr artaria,--vienna. oct. , . most excellent and most virtuous of virtuosi, and no humbug! while informing you of all sorts of things from which we hope you will draw the best conclusions, we request you to send us six (say ) copies of the sonata in b flat major, and also six copies of the variations on the scotch songs, as the author's right. we beg you to forward them to steiner, in pater noster gässel, whence they will be sent to us with some other things. in the hope that you are conducting yourself with all due propriety and decorum, we are your, &c., b----. . a sketch written by beethoven,-- corrected by artaria's bookkeeper, wuister. . having heard from herr b. that y.r. highness [the archduke rudolph] has written a most masterly work, we wish to be the first to have the great honor of publishing y.r. highness's composition, that the world may become acquainted with the admirable talents of so illustrious a prince. we trust y. royal highness will comply with our respectful solicitation. falstaff--[ ] _ragged rascal!_ [footnote : the name beethoven gave to artaria's partner, bolderini.] . to artaria. mödling, oct. , . pray forgive me, dear a. (?), for plaguing you as follows:-- we are coming to town the day after to-morrow, and expect to arrive at four o'clock. the two days' festival compels us to return the same day, as carl must prepare with his master here for the second examination, these very holidays enabling the tutor to devote more time to him; but i must soon return to town on account of the certificate of carl's birth, which costs more time and money than i like. i at all times dislike travelling by the _diligence_, and this one has moreover one peculiarity, that you may wish to go on what day you please, but it always turns out to be a friday on which it sets off; and though a good christian, still one friday in the year is sufficient for me. i beg you will request the leader of the choir (the devil alone knows what the office is!) to be so good as to give us carl's _certificate of birth_ on the afternoon of the same day if possible. he might do so at seven o'clock in the morning, at the time we arrive; but he ought to be punctual, for carl is to appear at the examination at half-past seven o'clock. so it must be _either to-morrow at_ seven, or _at all events in the afternoon_. we shall call on you to-morrow before seven o'clock to inquire about this, with the proviso of a visit later in the day. in haste, and asking your pardon, your l. van beethoven. . petition to the magistracy.[ ] oct. , . gentlemen,-- my brother, carl van beethoven, died on november , , leaving a boy twelve years old,--his son carl. in his will, by clause , he bequeathed to me the guardianship of the boy, and in the codicil b he expressed a wish that his widow, johanna, should have a share in this duty, adding that, for the sake of his child, he recommended her to submit to my guidance. this explicit declaration of the father, added to my legal claim, i being the nearest relative (clause ), entitles me clearly to the guardianship of my nephew, carl van beethoven; and the court of justice, by their decree e, committed to me, under existing circumstances, the guardianship, to the exclusion moreover of beethoven's widow. a journey on business having compelled me to be for some time absent, i did not object to an official guardian supplying my place for the time, which was effected by the nomination of the town sequestrator, herr nussböck. being now, however, finally settled here, and the welfare of the boy very precious to me, both love and duty demand that i should resume my rights; especially as this talented lad is coming to an age when greater care and expense must be bestowed on his education, on which his whole future prospects depend. this duty ought not to be confided to any woman, far less to his mother, who possesses neither the will nor the power to adopt those measures indispensable to a manly and suitable education. i am the more anxious to reclaim my guardianship of carl, as i understand that, in consequence of want of means to defray the expenses of the school where i placed him, he is to be removed, and his mother wishes him to live with her, in order herself to spend his trifling provision, and thus save the one half of her pension, which, according to the decree, she is bound to apply to his use. i have hitherto taken a paternal charge of my nephew, and i intend to do the same in future at my own expense, being resolved that the hopes of his deceased father, and the expectations i have formed for this clever boy, shall be fulfilled by his becoming an able man and a good citizen. with this view i accordingly request that the highly respected magistrates whom i now address will be pleased to annul the town sequestrator nussböck's interim office, and forthwith transfer to me the sole guardianship of my nephew carl van beethoven.[ ] ludwig van beethoven. [footnote : evidently drawn up by his advocate, dr. bach, from beethoven's notes.] [footnote : the magisterial decree of nov. , , was adverse to beethoven.] . to f. ries,--london. vienna, nov. , . dear ries,-- i write to let you know that the sonata is already out, though only a fortnight ago, and it is nearly six months since i sent you both the quintet and the sonata. in the course of a few days i will send them both to you engraved, and from them you can correct the two works. having received no letter from you on the subject, i thought the thing was at an end. i have indeed made shipwreck already with neate this year! i only wish you could contrive to get me the fifty ducats which i have yet to receive, as i calculated on them, and really am in great want of money. i shall say no more to-day, but must inform you that i have nearly completed a _new grand mass_. write to me whether you could do anything with this in london; but soon, very soon, and send the money soon also for both works. i will write more fully next time. in haste, your true and faithful friend, beethoven. . to the archduke rudolph. dec. , . immediately on last leaving y.r.h. i was taken ill, of which i apprised y.r.h., but owing to a change in my household, neither the letter in question nor another to y.r.h. was ever sent. in it i begged y.r.h.'s indulgence, having some works on hand that i was obliged to dispatch with all speed, owing to which i was, alas! compelled to lay aside the mass also.[ ] i hope y.r.h. will ascribe the delay solely to the pressure of circumstances. this is not the time to enter fully into the subject, but i must do so as soon as the right moment arrives, that y.r.h. may not form too severe or undeserved a judgment of me. my heart is always with y.r.h., and i trust at length circumstances may in so far change, that i may be able to contribute more than i have hitherto done, to perfecting your great talent. i think, however, y.r.h. is already aware of my good-will in this respect, and is fully convinced that insurmountable obstacles alone can ever detain me from the most excellent of all princes, so revered by me, and so entwined with every feeling of my heart. i did not till yesterday hear of the mistake about the two letters, and i now intend to bring them myself, for i have no one in my service on whom i can depend. i will present myself at your house this afternoon at half-past four o'clock. my warmest thanks for y.r.h.'s kind letter to me. when y.r.h. thus vouchsafes to declare your esteem for me, it only heightens and increases my impulse to all that is good. [footnote : another allusion to the grand mass in d, which seemed likely never to be completed.] . memorandum. . the mass[ ] will soon be all in y.r.h.'s hands; it ought to have been, and would have been so long ago, but--but--but--when y.r.h. becomes acquainted with my circumstances, you will be surprised that i have even now been able to finish it. [k.] [footnote : the circumstances which prevented the completion of this work were undoubtedly his perpetual state of strife with his nephew and his sister-in-law.] . to the archduke rudolph. i heard with heartfelt sorrow of y.r.h.'s indisposition, but hope soon to hear of your recovery. why am i also ill? for i might possibly discover the best mode of restoring y.r.h. i will call again to inquire after y.r.h., and hope to hear good news. [k.] . to the archduke rudolph. i have been rather an invalid all this time, though i try to think myself tolerably well. i deeply regret to hear of y.r.h.'s attack, especially as i knew nothing of it, or i certainly should have hastened to inquire whether it was in my power in any way to alleviate your sufferings. to-morrow, in compliance with y.r.h.'s wish, i shall certainly enjoy the pleasure of seeing my own most dear and illustrious master. [k.] . to the royal and imperial high court of appeal. jan. , . gentlemen,-- on the plea of the decree a, i sought to have transferred to myself the guardianship of my nephew, carl v. beethoven, but was referred by the magistracy to the previous decision. on my consequent remonstrance the same result ensued. i find myself the more aggrieved by this, inasmuch as not only are my own rights set at naught, but even the welfare of my nephew is thus utterly disregarded. i am therefore compelled to have recourse to the highest court of appeal to lay before them my well-founded claim, and rightfully to demand that the guardianship of my nephew should be restored to me. my reasons are the following:-- st. i am entitled to the guardianship of my nephew, not only by his father's will, but by law, and this the court of justice confirmed to the exclusion of the mother. when business called me away from vienna, i conceded that herr nussböck should act for me _ad interim_. having now, however, taken up my residence here, the welfare of my nephew demands that i should again undertake the office of his guardian. d. my nephew has arrived at an age when he requires to be trained to a higher degree of cultivation. neither his mother nor his present guardian are calculated to guide the boy in the pursuit of his studies. the former, in the first place, because she is a woman; and as to her conduct, it has been legally proved that, to say the least of it, she has no creditable testimonials to bring forward,[ ] on which account she was expressly prohibited from acting by the court of justice. how the honorable magistracy could nevertheless again appoint her is quite incomprehensible. the latter is unfit; because, on the one hand, his office as sequestrator and administrator of houses and lands, occupies his time too much to enable him properly to undertake the duties of guardian to the boy; and, on the other, because his previous occupation as a paper manufacturer, does not inspire me with any confidence that he possesses the intelligence or judgment indispensable to conduct a scientific education. d. the welfare of my nephew is dearer to my heart than it can be to any one else. i am myself childless, and have no relations except this boy, who is full of talent, and i have good grounds to hope the best for him, if properly trained. now i am compelled to hear that he has been delayed a whole year by remaining in his previous class, from want of means to defray the expense, and that his mother intends to remove him from his present school, and wishes him to live with her. what a misfortune to the boy, were he to become a victim to the mismanagement of his mother, who would fain squander on herself that portion of her pension which she is obliged to devote to the education of her son! i have therefore declared in due form to the honorable magistracy that i am myself willing to undertake the expenses of his present school, and also to provide the various masters required. being rather deaf, which is an impediment to conversation, i have requested the aid of a colleague, and suggested for this purpose herr peters, councillor of prince lobkowitz, in order that a person may forthwith be appointed to superintend the education and progress of my nephew, that his moral character may one day command esteem, and whose acquirements may be a sure guaranty to all those who feel an interest in the youth's welfare, that he will undoubtedly receive the education and culture necessary to develop his abilities. my efforts and wishes have no other aim than to give the boy the best possible education,--his abilities justifying the brightest hopes,--and to fulfil the trust placed in my brotherly love by his father. the shoot is still flexible; but if longer neglected it will become crooked, and outgrow the gardener's training hand, and upright bearing, intellect, and character, be destroyed forever. i know no duty more sacred than the education and training of a child. the chief duties of a guardian consist in knowing how to appreciate what is good, and in adopting a right course; then alone has proper attention been devoted to the welfare of his ward, whereas in opposing what is good he neglects his duty. indeed, keeping in view what is most for the benefit of the boy, i do not object to the mother in so far sharing in the duties of a guardian that she may visit her son, and see him, and be apprised of all the measures adopted for his education; but to intrust her with the sole guardianship of the boy without a strict guardian by her side, would cause the irrevocable ruin of her son. on these cogent grounds i reiterate my well-founded solicitation, and feel the more confident of a favorable answer, as the welfare of my nephew alone guides my steps in this affair.[ ] ludwig van beethoven. [footnote : schindler states that during these law proceedings the widow of beethoven's brother had another child.] [footnote : the court excluded carl's mother from all share in his education, and from all direct influence over her son, and again restored to beethoven the full authority of a guardian.] . to his highness the archduke rudolph. [music: treble clef, c major. seiner kaiserlichen hoheit! dem erzherzog rudolph! dem geistlichen fürsten! alles gute! alles schöne! alles gute! alles schöne! alles alles gute, alles alles schöne! alles gute! alles schöne! alles gute, alles schöne! alles alles gute, alles schöne! alles gute, alles schöne! alles gute, alles schöne!] from your obedient servant, l. v. beethoven. jan. , . . testimonial in favor of herr v. kandeler. it is certainly the duty of every musical composer to become acquainted with all the earlier as well as more modern poets, in order to select what is most suitable to his purpose for songs. such, however, not being invariably the case, this present collection of herr v. kandeler's cannot fail to be useful and commendable to many who wish to write songs, and also tend to induce more able poets to contribute something in the same direction. ludwig v. beethoven.--m.p. i entirely agree with herr v. beethoven. jos. weigel. . to theodore amadeus hoffmann.[ ] vienna, march , . i seize the opportunity through herr n. of approaching a man so gifted as yourself. you have also written of my humble self, and herr n.n. showed me some lines of yours about me in his album; i have, therefore, every reason to believe that you feel some interest in me. permit me to say that, on the part of so talented a man as yourself, this is truly gratifying to me. i wish you all possible good and happiness, and remain, sir, with esteem, your obedient beethoven. [footnote : it is well known that hoffmann, in the years to , wrote the first really important articles on beethoven's works for the _leipzig a.m. zeitung_ on his instrumental music, his trios, and masses, &c., &c.] . to herr haslinger,--adjutanterl. i request the adjutant to lend me the score of the overture in e flat, which i will return as soon as the performance is over. i also beg he will be so good as to send me kirnberger's work to supply the place of mine, as i am at this moment giving lessons in counterpoint, and have been unable to find my own manuscript amid my confused mass of papers. yours, mi contra fa. . to tobias,--adjutant. most worthy adjutant,-- i have made a bet of ten florins, w.w., against the truth of your having been obliged to pay a compensation of florins to artaria for the new edition of mozart's works, which have been again and again engraved and sold everywhere. i really wish to know the truth on this subject, for i cannot possibly believe what is said. if it be the fact that you have been so unhandsomely treated, then _ah, dolce contento_ must pay the ten florins. send me a true report. farewell; be a good christian. your beethoven. . to the archduke rudolph. vienna, april , . your royal highness,-- so far as i can recollect, when i was about to wait on you, i was told that y.r.h. was indisposed; i called on sunday evening to inquire, having been assured that y.r.h. did not intend to set off on monday. in accordance with my usual custom, not to remain long in an anteroom, i hurried away after receiving this information, though i observed that the gentleman in waiting wished to say something to me. unhappily i did not hear till monday afternoon that y.r.h. had really gone to olmütz. i must confess that this caused me a very painful feeling, but my consciousness of never having neglected my duty in any respect, induced me to suppose that the same may have been the case on this occasion, as it often is in human life,--for i can easily conceive that y.r.h., immersed in ceremonies and novel impressions, had very little time to spare in olmütz for other things. i should otherwise certainly have anticipated y.r.h. in writing. may i ask you graciously to inform me what length of stay you intend to make in olmütz? it was reported that y.r.h. intended to return here towards the end of may; but a few days ago i heard that you were to remain a year and a half in olmütz; owing to this i may perhaps have adopted wrong measures, not with regard to y.r.h., but myself. as soon as i receive information from you on the subject, i will enter into further explanations. may i also beg that in the mean time y.r.h. will not listen to certain reports about me? i have heard a great deal of what may be termed gossip here, which people seem to think may be acceptable to y.r.h. as y.r.h. is pleased to say that i am one of those whom you esteem, i can confidently declare that y.r.h. is the person whom i value most in the universe. although no courtier, i believe that y.r.h. knows me too thoroughly to believe that mere selfish interest has ever attached or attracted me towards y.r.h., but, on the contrary, true and heartfelt affection alone. i can with truth say that a second blondel has long since set forth on his pilgrimage, and if no richard can be found in this world for me, god shall be my sovereign! it seems to me that my idea of giving a quartet is the best; even though some works have been already performed on a grand scale at olmütz, still something might thus be introduced into moravia to attract the attention of the musical world, and for the benefit of art. if, according to the above reports, y.r.h. should return here in may, i advise y.r.h. to reserve your _spiritual children_ for me [see no. ] till then, because it would be better that i should hear them performed by yourself. but if your stay in olmütz is really to be of such long duration, i will receive them now with the greatest pleasure, and strive to accompany y.r.h. to the summit of parnassus. may god preserve y.r.h. in health for the good of humanity, and also for that of all your warm admirers. i beg you will be graciously pleased soon to write to me. y.r.h. cannot fail to be convinced of my readiness at all times to fulfil your wishes. i am y.r.h.'s humble and faithful servant, ludwig v. beethoven . to the archduke rudolph. mödling, aug. , . i have this moment received the letter in which y.r.h. informs me yourself of your journey hither, and i sincerely thank y.r.h. for such a mark of attention. i intended to have hastened to town to-morrow to wait on y.r.h., but no carriage is to be had; i expect however to get one before next saturday, when i shall lose no time, and set off at an early hour to inquire for y.r.h. with regard to the sacrifice y.r.h. intends to offer up to the muses, i will make a proposal verbally on the subject. i heartily rejoice in knowing that y.r.h. is once more so near me. may i in all respects be enabled to assist in fulfilling your wishes! may heaven bless y.r.h., and mature all your plans! [k.] . to herr artaria, falstaff, & co. vienna, oct. , . i politely request that you will hand over to herr oliva the sum of florins, which has no doubt already been received by you in full. having been entirely occupied by removing to my new lodgings, i could not do myself the honor of expressing my thanks to you and sir john falstaff in person. your obedient servant, ludwig v. beethoven. . to bolderini. my very worthy falstaff!-- i request, with all due civility, that you will send me a copy of each of the two works for pianoforte and flute, with variations. as for the receipt, you shall have it to-morrow; and i also beg you will forward it forthwith. give my compliments to herr artaria, and thank him from me for his kind offer of an advance, but as i have received from abroad the money due to me, i do not require to avail myself of his aid. farewell, knight falstaff; do not be too dissipated, read the gospel, and be converted! we remain, your well-affected beethoven. to sir john falstaff, knight. to the care of herr artaria & co. . to the archduke rudolph. mödling, sept. . since last tuesday evening i have been far from well, but hoped by friday, certainly, to have had the happiness of waiting on y.r.h. this proved a delusion, and it is only to-day that i am able to say confidently that i expect to present myself before y.r.h. next monday or tuesday at an early hour. i ascribe my illness to having taken an open _calèche_, in order not to miss my appointment with y.r.h. the day was very wet and positively _cold_ here towards the evening. nature seems almost to have been offended by the liberty i took, and by my audacity, and to have punished me in consequence. may heaven bestow on y.r.h. all that is good and holy, as well as every charm and blessing, and on _me_ your favor, _but only in so far as justice sanctions_! [k.] . to herr artaria & co. vienna, dec. , . i thank you warmly for the advance of florins, for which i have made out the receipt in the name of his imperial highness the cardinal, and i beg, as i am in danger of losing one of my bank shares, that you will advance me another florins, which i pledge myself to repay within three months at latest from this date. as a proof of my gratitude, i engage in this letter to make over to you, as your exclusive property, one of my compositions, consisting of two or more movements, without claiming payment for it hereafter. your ever-complaisant beethoven. [l.s.] . to tobias v. haslinger. baden, sept. , . my very dear friend,-- on my way to vienna yesterday, sleep overtook me in my carriage, which was by no means strange, for having been obliged to rise so early every morning, i never had a good night's sleep. while thus slumbering i dreamt that i had gone on a far journey, to no less a place than to syria, on to judea, and back, and then all the way to arabia, when at length i actually arrived at jerusalem. the holy city gave rise to thoughts of the holy books. no wonder then if the man tobias occurred to me, which also naturally led me to think of our own little tobias and our great tobias. now during my dream-journey, the following canon came into my head:-- [music: bass clef, f major, / time. _lively in the upper octave._ o tobias! o tobias! dominus ha--slinger o! o! o tobias!] but scarcely did i wake when away flew the canon, and i could not recall any part of it. on returning here however, next day, in the same carriage, (that of a poor austrian musician,) i resumed my dream-journey, being, however, on this occasion wide awake, when lo and behold! in accordance with the laws of the association of ideas the same canon again flashed across me; so being now awake i held it as fast as menelaus did proteus, only permitting it to be changed into three parts. [music: treble, tenor, and bass clef staves, f major, / time. o tobias! o tobias! dominus ha--slinger o!] farewell! i intend to send next something composed on steiner's name, to show that his is no heart of stone [stein]. adieu, my good friend; it is my most heartfelt wish that you may prosper as a publisher; may all credit be given to you, and yet may you never require credit. sing daily the epistles of st. paul, and daily visit father werner, who can show you in his little book how to go straight to heaven. see, how anxious i am about the welfare of your soul! i remain always, with infinite pleasure, henceforth and forever, your faithful debtor, beethoven. . to the archduke rudolph. unterdöbling, july , . i yesterday heard of y.r.h.'s arrival here; joyful tidings for me, but saddened by knowing that it must be some time before i can have the good fortune to wait on y.r.h.; having been long very ill, at last _jaundice_ declared itself, which i consider a most loathsome malady. i trust, however, i shall be so far recovered as to see y.r.h. before you leave this. last winter, too, i had some very severe rheumatic attacks. much of this proceeds from the melancholy state of my family affairs; i have hitherto hoped, by every possible exertion on my part, at last to remedy these. that providence, who searches my inmost heart, and knows that as a man i have striven sacredly to fulfil all the duties imposed on me by humanity, god, and nature, will no doubt one day extricate me from all these troubles. the mass [in d] will be delivered to y.r.h. here. i hope y.r.h. will excuse my entering into the various causes of the delay. the details could not be otherwise than painful to y.r.h. i would often gladly have written to y.r.h. from here, but you told me to wait till i first heard from you. what, then, was i to do? y.r.h. might have been displeased had i not attended to your injunction, and i know that there are people who are glad to calumniate me to y.r.h., which pains me exceedingly. i therefore often think that my sole recourse is to keep quiet till y.r.h. expresses a wish either to see or to hear of me. i was told that y.r.h. had been indisposed, but i hope it was nothing serious. may heaven shower down its most precious blessings on y.r.h.! i trust it may not be very long before i shall be so fortunate as to assure y.r.h. how entirely i am, &c., &c. [k.] . to the archduke rudolph. unterdöbling, july , . i have written a long and minute letter to y.r.h., which my copyist schlemmer will deliver. i wrote it on hearing the day before yesterday of the arrival of y.r.h. how much i grieve that the attack of jaundice with which i am affected prevents my at once hastening to y.r.h. to express in person my joy at your arrival. may the lord of all things, for the sake of so many others, take y.r.h. under his protection! [k.] . to the most celebrated music firm in europe, messrs. steiner & co., paternoster-(miserere) gÄssel. i request geh'-bauer[ ] to send me two tickets, as some of my friends wish to attend your hole-and-corner music. you probably have some of these worthless admission tickets; so let me have one or two. the part i send belongs to the chorus, of which bauer has the other portions. your _amicus_ beethoven. [footnote : gebauer established the "concerts spirituels" in , and died in .] . address unknown. baden, sept. , . i hope, sir, that you will forgive the liberty i take in thus intruding on you. the bearer of this, h. v. ----, has been commissioned by me to exchange or sell a bank-note. being ignorant of everything connected with these matters, i beg you will be so good as to communicate your views and advice to the bearer. the two illnesses i had last winter and summer rather deranged all my calculations. i have been here since the th of september, and must remain till the end of october. all this costs a great deal of money, and prevents my earning it as usual. i indeed expect shortly to receive money from abroad, but as bank-notes stand so high at present, i consider this the easiest resource, and intend subsequently to purchase a new bank-note in its place. immediate--in haste. your friend, beethoven. [this unsealed letter was enclosed in an envelope on which was written:] you will at once see what kind of commercial genius i am. after writing the enclosed, i for the first time consulted a friend about the note, who pointed out to me that all i had to do was to cut off a _coupon_, and the affair was completed. i rejoice, therefore, not to be obliged to plague you further on the subject. yours, beethoven. . to the archduke rudolph. feb. , . i went to-day early to the palace, not, indeed, with the intention of meeting y.r.h., (not being yet dressed), but only to beg zips to mention that i had called, and was sincerely rejoiced at your arrival here; but i could no longer discover y.r.h.'s apartments, and wherever i knocked in the hope of finding y.r.h., my dress seemed to be so closely scrutinized that i hurried away, and write to-day to recommend myself to y.r.h. to-morrow i intend to pay my respects to y.r.h., when i hope also to hear whether the usual _musical and intellectual meetings_ are to continue, and when they are to take place. my not having written all this time to y.r.h. has indeed a very bad appearance, but i delayed from day to day, hoping always to send the mass, the mistakes in which were really quite dreadful; so much so that i was obliged to revise _every part_, and thus the delay occurred. other pressing occupations and various circumstances tended to impede me, which is often the case when a man least expects it. that y.r.h., however, was ever present with me is shown by the following copies of some novelties,[ ] which have been lying finished by me for some time for y.r.h., but i resolved not to forward them till i could at the same time send the mass. the latter now only requires binding, when it shall be respectfully delivered to y.r.h. by myself. sincerely rejoiced at the hope of soon personally waiting on y.r.h., i remain, with devoted homage, yours till death. [k.] [footnote : the _novelties_ which beethoven sends to the archduke are:-- six _bagatelles_ for the pianoforte, op. (composed in ). sonata for pianoforte in e major " ( " " ? ). " " " a flat major " ( " " ).] . to f. ries,--london. vienna, april , . my dearest and best ries,-- having been again in bad health during the last ten months, i have hitherto been unable to answer your letter. i duly received the l. sterling, and thank you sincerely; i have not, however, yet got the sonata you dedicated to me. my greatest work is a _grand mass_ that i have recently written. as time presses, i can only say what is most urgent. what would the philharmonic give me for a symphony? i still cherish the hope of going to london next spring, if my health admits of it! you will find in me one who can thoroughly appreciate my dear pupil, now become a great master, and who can tell what benefit art might derive from our conjunction! i am, as ever, wholly devoted to my muse, who constitutes the sole happiness of my life, and i toil and act for others as i best can. you have two children; i only one (my brother's son); but you are married, so both yours will not cost you so much as my one costs me. now farewell! kiss your handsome wife for me until i can perform this solemn act in person. your attached beethoven. pray send me your dedication, that i may strive to return the compliment, which i mean to do as soon as i receive your work. . to herren peters & co., music publishers,--leipzig. vienna, june , . gentlemen,-- you did me the honor to address a letter to me at a time when i was much occupied, and i have also been extremely unwell for the last five months. i now only reply to the principal points. although i met steiner by chance a few days ago, and asked him jestingly what he had brought me from leipzig, he did not make _the smallest_ allusion to _your commission or to yourself_. he urged me, however, in the very strongest manner, to _pledge myself to give him the exclusive right of publishing all my works, both present and future_,--and indeed to _sign a contract to that effect_,--which i declined. this _trait_ sufficiently proves to you why i often give the preference to other publishers both home and foreign. i love uprightness and integrity, and am of opinion that no one should drive a hard bargain with artists, for, alas! however brilliant the exterior of fame may appear, an artist does not enjoy the privilege of being the daily guest of jupiter on olympus; unhappily commonplace humanity only too often unpleasantly drags him down from these pure ethereal heights. the _greatest_ work i have hitherto written is a _grand mass_ with choruses, and four _obbligati_ voice parts, and full orchestra. several persons have applied to me for this work, and i have been offered louis d'or, hard cash, for it; but i demand at least florins c.m. [ florins to the mark], for which sum i will also furnish a pianoforte arrangement. variations on a waltz [diabelli's] for the piano (they are numerous), ducats in gold,--n.b. vienna ducats. with regard to songs, i have several rather important descriptive ones: as, for example, a comic aria, with full orchestra, on goethe's text, "mit mädeln sich vertragen;" and another aria, in the same style, ducats each (furnishing also a pianoforte arrangement if required); also several descriptive songs, with pianoforte accompaniment, ducats each; among these is a little italian cantata, with recitative; there is also a song with recitative among the german ones. a song with pianoforte accompaniment, ducats. an elegy, four voices, with the accompaniment of _two violins, viola, and violoncello_, ducats. a dervise chorus, with full orchestra, ducats. also the following instrumental music: a grand march for full orchestra, with pianoforte accompaniment, ducats, written for the tragedy of "tarpeia." romance for the violin (a solo with full orchestra), ducats. grand terzet for two oboes, and one english horn (which might be arranged for other instruments), ducats. four military marches with turkish music; when applied for, i will name the sum. _bagatelles_, or minor pianoforte solos, the price to be fixed when required. the above works are all completed. solo pianoforte sonata, ducats (which could soon be delivered); quartet for _two violins, tenor, and violoncello_, ducats (this will also soon be ready). i am by no means so anxious about these, however, as about _a full and complete edition of my works_, being desirous to edit them during my lifetime. i have indeed received many proposals on this subject, but accompanied by stipulations to which i could scarcely agree, and which i neither could nor would fulfil. i am willing to undertake, in the course of two years, or possibly a year, or a year and a half, with proper assistance, to edit and superintend a complete edition of my works, and to furnish a new composition in each style; namely, a new work in the style of variations, one in the sonata style, and so on in every separate class of work that i have ever composed, and for the whole combined i ask , florins c.m. i am no man of business, and only wish i were; as it is, i am guided by the offers made to me by different competitors for my works, and such a competition is rather strong just now. i request you to say nothing on the subject, because, as you may perceive from the proceedings of these gentlemen, i am exposed to a great deal of annoyance. when once my works appear published by you, i shall no longer be plagued. i shall be very glad if a connection be established between us, having heard you so well spoken of. you will then also find that i infinitely prefer dealing with _one_ person of your description than with a variety of people of the ordinary stamp. pray, let me have an immediate answer, as i am now on the verge of deciding on the publication of various works. if you consider it worth while, be so good as to send me a duplicate of the list with which you furnished herr steiner. in the expectation of a speedy reply, i remain, with esteem, your obedient ludwig van beethoven. . to herren peters & co. vienna, july , . i write merely to say that i agree to give you the mass and pianoforte arrangement of it for florins c.m. you shall receive the above, written out in score, by the end of july, perhaps a few days sooner or later. as i am always very much occupied, and have been indisposed for the last five months, and works to be sent to a distance requiring the most careful supervision, i must proceed rather more slowly than usual. at all events, steiner shall get nothing further from me, as he has just played me a most jewish trick; so he is not one of those who might have had the mass. the competition for my works is at present very great, for which i thank the almighty, as i have hitherto been such a loser. i am the foster-father of my brother's destitute child, a boy who shows so much aptitude for scientific pursuits that not only does his study of these, and his maintenance, cost a great deal of money, but i must also strive to make some future provision for him; being neither indians nor iroquois, who, as we know, leave everything to providence, whereas we consider a pauper's existence to be a very sad one. i assure you on my honor, which, next to god, is what i prize most, that i authorized no one to accept commissions for me. my fixed principle has always been never to make any offer to publishers; not from pride, but simply from a wish to ascertain how far the empire of my small talents extended. i must conclude for to-day, and wishing you every success, i am, with esteem, your obedient beethoven. .[ ] to herr peters. vienna, august , . i already wrote to you that my health was still far from being quite restored. i am obliged to have recourse to baths and mineral waters as well as to medicine; all this makes me rather unpunctual, especially as i must go on writing; corrections, too, run away with a great deal of time. as to the songs and marches and other trifles, my choice is still undecided, but by the th of this month everything shall be ready to be sent off. i await your orders on the subject, and in the mean time shall make no use of your bill of exchange. as soon as i know that the money for the mass and the other works has arrived here, all shall be ready for delivery by the th; and after that date i must set off to some mineral waters near this, when it will be most desirable for me to avoid all business for a time. more as to other matters when less occupied. pray, do not suspect me of any ignoble motives. it pains me when i am obliged to bargain. in haste. with esteem, yours, beethoven. [footnote : schindler states that the advance of florins c.m. was made to beethoven in august, . the receipt is dated nov. , .] . to herr artaria. august , . being overwhelmed with work, i can only briefly say that i will always do what i can to repay your obliging kindness to me. with regard to the mass, i have been offered florins (c.m.) for it. my circumstances do not permit me to accept a less sum from you; all that i can do is to give you the preference. rest assured that i do not ask you one farthing more than others have offered me, which i can prove to you by written documents. you can consider about this, but i must request you to send me an answer on the subject to-morrow, it being a post-day, and my decision expected elsewhere. with regard to the florins for which i am your debtor, i intend to make you a proposal, as i stand in great need of the florins. i beg you will observe strict secrecy as to the mass. now, as ever, your grateful friend, beethoven. . to herr peters,--leipzig vienna, november , . i now reply to your letter of the th november, in which i expected to find just reproaches for my apparent negligence, you having sent me the money and as yet received nothing in return. unfair as this may appear, i know you would be mollified towards me in a few minutes were we to meet. everything is now ready for you, except selecting the songs, but at all events you shall receive one more than our agreement. i can send you more _bagatelles_ than i promised, as i have got ten others beside; if you write to me immediately, i will send you these, or as many as you wish for, along with the rest. my health, indeed, is not entirely reestablished by the baths, yet on the whole i think i have improved. i had another annoyance here, owing to a person having engaged an unsuitable lodging for me, which is hard on me, as i cannot yet accustom myself to it, and my occupations are thus sadly deranged. the case with regard to the mass stands thus: i finished one long ago, and another is in progress. there is always a certain degree of gossip about people of our class, which has, no doubt, misled you. i don't yet know which you are to get. besieged on all sides, i am almost forced to testify the reverse of the _dictum_ that "the spirit cannot be weighed." i send you my best wishes, and trust that time will foster a beneficial and honorable connection between us. beethoven. . to the archduke rudolph. i was extremely unwell both yesterday and the day before; unfortunately there was no one whom i could send to apprise y.r.h. of the fact. as i felt better towards evening, i went into the town to make schlemmer correct the sonata.[ ] he was not at home, so i requested him to come here to-day. i send the sonata by him, and will come in to-day before four o'clock to wait on y.r.h. [k.] [footnote : the c minor pianoforte sonata, op. ?] . to herr peters. vienna, december , . i take advantage of a moment's leisure to-day to answer your letter. not one of all the works that are your property is unfinished, but time is too precious to particularize all the details that prevent the copying and sending off the music to you. i recollect in a former letter having offered you some more _bagatelles_, but i by no means press you to take them. if you wish only to have the four, so be it; but in that case i must make a different selection. herr ---- has not as yet got anything from me. herr ---- begged me to make him a present of the songs for the "journal de la mode," which, in fact, i did not write for money; indeed, i find it quite impossible to act in every case according to so much _per cent_. it is painful for me to calculate in this manner oftener than is absolutely necessary. my position is far from being so brilliant as you think, &c., &c. it is not possible to listen to all these proposals at once, being far too numerous, but many cannot be refused. a commission is not always quite in accordance with the inclinations of an author. if my salary were not so far reduced as to be no salary at all,[ ] i would write nothing but symphonies for a full orchestra, and church music, or at most quartets. of my minor works, you can still have variations for two oboes and one english horn, on the theme from "don giovanni," "_la ci darem la mano_," and a gratulation minuet for a full orchestra. i should be glad, likewise, to have your opinion about the full edition of my works. in the most desperate haste, your obedient beethoven. [footnote : it was reduced from gulden to .] . to f. ries,--london vienna, december , . my dear ries,-- i have been so overburdened with work that i am only now able to reply to your letter of november . i accept with pleasure the proposal to write a new symphony for the philharmonic society. although the prices given by the english cannot be compared with those paid by other nations, still i would gladly write even gratis for those whom i consider the first artists in europe--were i not still, as ever, the poor beethoven. if i were only in london, what would i not write for the philharmonic! for beethoven, thank god! can write--if he can do nothing in the world besides! if providence only vouchsafes to restore my health, which is at least improving, i shall then be able to respond to the many proposals from all parts of europe, and even north america, and may thus perhaps be some day in clover. . to ignaz ritter von seyfried. . my dear and worthy brother in apollo,-- i heartily thank you for the trouble you have taken in aiding my _charitable work_.[ ] i rejoice that its success is universally admitted, and hope you will never fail to let me know when it is in my power to serve you by my poor talents. the worthy municipal corporation is, no doubt, thoroughly convinced of my good-will; in order to give fresh proofs of it, we ought to have a friendly interview as to the mode in which i can best serve the corporation. when such a master as yourself takes an interest in us, our pinions ought never to droop. i am, with the warmest esteem, your friend, beethoven. [footnote : seyfried, at a concert for the benefit of the burgher hospital, performed beethoven's grand fugue _fest ouverture_ (in c major, in op. ), , in celebration of the opening of the new josephstadt theatre. the written parts were returned to him with the grateful thanks of the committee.] third part life's troubles and close. to . . to zelter.[ ] vienna, feb. , . my brave colleague in art,-- i write, having a favor to ask of you, for we are now so distant from each other that we can no longer converse together, and, indeed, unhappily, we can seldom write either. i have written a grand mass, which might also be given as an oratorio (for the benefit of the poor, a good established custom here). i do not wish to publish it in the usual way, but to dispose of it to some of the leading courts alone. i ask fifty ducats for it. no copies are to be sold except those subscribed for, so that the mass will be, as it were, in manuscript; but there must be a fair number of subscribers, if any profit is to accrue to the author. i have made an application to the prussian embassy here, to know if the king of prussia would vouchsafe to take a copy, and i have also written to prince radziwill, to ask him to interest himself in the affair. i beg you likewise to do what you can for me. it is a work that might likewise be useful to the academy of singing, for there is scarcely any portion of it that could not be almost entirely executed by voices. the more these are increased and multiplied in combination with instruments, the more effective would be the result. it ought to be appropriate also as an oratorio, for such societies as those for the benefit of the poor require marks of this kind. having been an invalid for some years past, and consequently my position anything but brilliant, i have had recourse to this scheme. i have written much; but as to profits, they are nearly _nil_! the more do i look upwards; but both for his own sake, and that of others, man is obliged to turn his eyes earthwards; for this, too, is part of the destiny of humanity. i embrace you, my dear fellow-artist, and am, with sincere esteem, your friend, beethoven. [footnote : zelter was in vienna in .] . to f. ries,--london. ... manage this as soon as you can for your poor friend. i also expect my travelling route from you. things have become quite too bad here, and i am fleeced worse than ever. if i do not go at all, lo! and behold a _crimen laesae_!... as it seems that you wish soon to have a dedication from me, i gladly comply with your request, much more so than with that of any great man; though, _entre nous_, the devil alone can tell how soon one may fall into their hands! the dedication to you will be written on the new symphony; and i hope i shall at length receive yours to me. b. is to open the letter he took charge of for the king [george iv.], in which he will see what i have written to his majesty on the subject of the "battle of vittoria." the tenor of the enclosed is the same; but not a word as to the mass.[ ] our amiable friend b. must try to get me at least a battle-axe or a turtle for it! the engraved copy of the score of "the battle" must also be presented to the king. this letter will cost you a good deal [seventeen shillings]; but i beg you will deduct it from your remittance to me. how much i regret being so troublesome! may god prosper you! say all that is amiable to your wife till i come myself. beware! you think me old; but i am a young veteran! yours, as ever, b. [footnote : on february , , beethoven wrote to the king of england that, so far back as , he had sent him "wellington's victory," but never had received any communication on the subject; he, therefore, now sent an engraved copy of the work, which had been intended for him since . he closed the letter by saying: "convinced of the discrimination and kindness which your majesty has always evinced in protecting and encouraging art and artists, the undersigned ventures to hope that your majesty will graciously take the matter into consideration, and vouchsafe to comply with his respectful solicitation."] . to schindler. my very best optimus optime,-- pray try to hunt out a philanthropist who will advance me some money on a bank-share, that i may not put the generosity of my friends too much to the test, nor myself be placed in difficulty by the delay of this money, for which i have to thank the fine plans and arrangements of my precious brother. you must not let it appear that this money is really wanted. . to schindler. dear schindler,-- don't forget the bank-share. it is greatly needed; it would be very annoying to be brought into court; indeed, i would not be so for the whole world. my brother's conduct is quite worthy of him. the tailor is appointed to come to-day, still i hope to be able to get rid of him for the present by a few polite phrases. . to herr kind. dear kind,-- i intend to call on you at latest on wednesday afternoon at four o'clock, when i will settle everything. your obedient beethoven. . to cherubini.[ ] march , . highly esteemed sir,-- i joyfully take advantage of this opportunity to address you. i have done so frequently in spirit, as i prize your theatrical works beyond others. the artistic world has only to lament that, in germany at least, no new dramatic piece of yours has appeared. highly as all your works are valued by true connoisseurs, still it is a great loss to art not to possess any fresh production of your great genius for the theatre. true art is imperishable, and the true artist feels heartfelt pleasure in grand works of genius, and that is what enchants me when i hear a new composition of yours; in fact, i take greater interest in it than in my own; in short, i love and honor you. were it not that my continued bad health prevents my going to see you in paris, with what exceeding delight would i discuss questions of art with you! do not think that this is merely intended to serve as an introduction to the favor i am about to ask of you. i hope and feel convinced that you do not for a moment suspect me of such base sentiments. i recently completed a grand solemn mass, and have resolved to offer it to the various european courts, as it is not my intention to publish it at present. i have therefore solicited the king of france, through the french embassy here, to subscribe to this work, and i feel certain that his majesty would, at your recommendation, agree to do so. _ma situation critique demande que je ne fixe pas seulement, comme ordinnaire, mes voeux au ciel; au contraire, il faut les fixer aussi_ ["_aussi_" in beethoven's hand] _en bas pour les nécessités de la vie._ whatever may be the fate of my request to you, i shall forever continue to love and esteem you, _et vous resterez toujours celui de mes contemporains que je l'estime le plus. si vous me voulez faire un extrême plaisir, c'était si vous m'écrivez quelques lignes, ce que me soulagera bien. l'art unit tout le monde_, how much more, then, true artists, _et peut-être vous me dignez aussi_ to include me in that number. _avec le plus haut estime_, _votre ami et serviteur_, beethoven. [footnote : cherubini declared that he never received this letter.] . to schindler.[ ] dear schindler,-- i am not sure whether the other copy was corrected or not, so i send you this one instead. as to n. in s----, i beg you not to say a word; bl. is already very uneasy on the subject. in haste, your friend, beethoven. [footnote : we cannot understand what induced beethoven, who lived in the same house with schindler, to write to him; but he often did so to persons with whom he could easily have spoken, partly in order to get rid of the matter while it was in his thoughts, and also because he was a great deal from home; that is, going backwards and forwards from one lodging to another, having often several at the same time.] . to herr peters,--leipzig. vienna, march , . the other three marches are only to be sent off to-day, as i missed the post last week. irregular as i have been on this occasion in our transactions, you would not think me so culpable if you were here, and aware of my position, a description of which would be too tedious both for you and me. i have now an observation to make with regard to what i have sent off to you. several sets of wind instruments may combine in the performance of the grand march, and if this cannot be done, and a regimental band is not strong enough for its present arrangement, any bandmaster can easily adapt it by omitting some of the parts. you can, no doubt, find some one in leipzig to show you how this can be managed with a smaller number, although i should regret if it were not to appear engraved exactly as it is written. you must forgive the numerous corrections in the works i send; my old copyist no longer sees distinctly, and the younger one has yet to be trained, but at all events there are no errors left. it is impossible for me to comply at once with your request for a stringed and a pianoforte quartet, but if you will write to me fixing the time you wish to have both works, i will do what i can to complete them. i must, however, apprise you that i cannot accept less than ducats for a stringed quartet, and for a pianoforte one, without incurring loss; indeed, i have repeatedly been offered more than ducats for a violin quartet. i am, however, always unwilling to ask more than necessary, so i adhere to the sum of ducats, which is, in fact, nowadays the usual price. the other commission is indeed an uncommon one, and i, of course, accept it, only i must beg you to let me know soon when it is required; otherwise, willing as i am to give you the preference, i might find it almost impossible to do so. you know i wrote to you formerly that quartets were precisely what had risen most in value, which makes me feel positively ashamed when i have to ask a price for a _really great work_. still, such is my position that it obliges me to secure every possible advantage. it is very different, however, with the work itself; when i never, thank god, think of _profit_, but solely of _how i write it_. it so happens that two others besides yourself wish to have a mass of mine, and i am quite disposed to write at least three. the first has long been finished, the second not yet so, and the third not even begun. but in reference to yourself, i must have a certainty, that i may in any event be secure. more of this next time i write; do not remit the money, at any rate till you hear from me that the work is ready to be sent off. i must now conclude. i hope your distress is, by this time, in some degree alleviated. your friend, beethoven. . to zelter. vienna, march , . sir,-- i avail myself of the present opportunity to send you my best wishes. the bearer of this asked me to recommend her to you; her name is cornega; she has a fine _mezzo soprano_, and is a very artistic singer, and has, moreover, been favorably received in several operas. i have also specially considered your proposals about your academy for singing. if the mass is ever published, i will send you a copy free of all charge. there is no doubt that it might be almost entirely executed _à la capella_; in which case, however, the work would have to be arranged accordingly; perhaps you have patience to do this. besides, there is already a movement in the work quite _à la capella_, and that style may be specially termed the true church style. thanks for your wish to be of service to me, but never would i accept anything whatever from so highly esteemed an artist as yourself. i honor you, and only wish i could have an opportunity to prove this by my actions. i am, with high consideration, your friend and servant, beethoven. . to his imperial highness the archduke rudolph. the spring of . your imperial highness,-- it must still be some days before i can wait on you again, as i am in the greatest hurry to send off the works that i named to your r.h. yesterday, for if they are not punctually dispatched, i might lose all profit. your r.h. can easily understand how much time is occupied in getting copies made, and looking through every part; indeed, it would not be easy to find a more troublesome task. your r.h. will, i am sure, gladly dispense with my detailing all the toil caused by this kind of thing, but i am compelled to allude to it candidly, though only in so far as is absolutely necessary to prevent your r.h. being misled with regard to me, knowing, alas! only too well what efforts are made to _prejudice your r.h. against_ me. but time will prove that i have been in all respects most faithful and attached to your r.h., and if my position were only as great as my zeal to serve your r.h., no happier man than myself would exist. i am your r.h.'s faithful and obedient servant, beethoven. . to schindler. _imprimis._--papageno, not a word of what i said about prussia. no reliance is to be placed on it; martin luther's table-talk alone can be compared to it. i earnestly beg my brother also not to remove the padlock from his lips, and not to allow anything to transpire beyond the selchwurst-gasse.[ ] _finis._--inquire of that arch-churl diabelli when the french copy of the sonata in c minor [op. ] is to be published. i stipulated to have five copies for myself, one of which is to be on fine paper, for the cardinal [the archduke rudolph]. if he attempts any of his usual impertinence on this subject, i will sing him in person a bass aria in his warehouse which shall cause it and all the street (graben) to ring![ ] [footnote : schindler relates: "the royal decision (to subscribe for a copy of the mass) was brought to beethoven by the chancellor of the embassy, hofrath wernhard. whether prince hatzfeld [the ambassador] made the following offer from his own impulse, or in consequence of a commission from berlin, is not known. at all events, the hofrath put this question in the name of the prince to the great composer, 'whether he would be disposed to prefer a royal order to the fifty ducats' [the sum demanded for the mass]. beethoven replied at once, 'the fifty ducats.' scarcely had the chancellor left the room when beethoven, in considerable excitement, indulged in all kinds of sarcastic remarks on the manner in which many of his contemporaries hunted after orders and decorations, these being in his estimation generally gained at the cost of the sanctity of art."] [footnote : schindler relates that diabelli had refused to let beethoven again have the ms. of the sonata, which he had repeatedly sent for when in the hands of the engraver, in order to correct and improve it. diabelli therefore coolly submitted to all this abuse of the enraged composer, and wrote to him that he would note down the threatened bass aria, and publish it, but would give him the usual gratuity for it, and that beethoven had better come to see him. on this beethoven said no more. this sonata is dedicated to the archduke rudolph, and is also published by schlesinger.] . to f. ries,--london. vienna, april , . dear ries,-- the cardinal's stay here of a month robbed me of a great deal of time, being obliged to give him daily lessons of two or three hours each; and after such lessons i was scarcely able next day to think, far less to write. my continued melancholy situation compels me, however, to write immediately what will bring me in sufficient money for present use. what a sad revelation is this! i am, besides, far from well, owing to my many troubles,--weak eyes among others. but do not be uneasy, you shall shortly receive the symphony; really and truly, my distressing condition is alone to blame for the delay. in the course of a few weeks you shall have thirty-three new variations on a theme [valse, op. ] dedicated to your wife. bauer [first secretary to the austrian embassy] has the score of the "battle of vittoria," which was dedicated to the then prince regent, and for which i have still to receive the costs of copying. i do beg you, my dear friend, to remit me as soon as possible anything you can get for it. with regard to your tender conjugal discussion, you will always find an opponent in me,--that is, not so much an opponent of yours as a partisan of your wife's. i remain, as ever, your friend, beethoven. . to herr lissner,--petersburg. vienna, may , . sir,-- herr v. schuppanzigh assured me, when he was here, that you were anxious to acquire some of my productions for your house. perhaps the following works might suit your purpose, namely: six _bagatelles_ for pianoforte, gold ducats; thirty-five variations on a favorite theme for pianoforte, forming one entire work, gold ducats; two grand airs with chorus, the poetry by goethe and matthisson, which can be sung either with instrumental or pianoforte accompaniment, gold ducats. i request an answer as soon as possible, for others also wish to have my works. i am, sir, your obedient ludwig van beethoven. .[ ] to schindler. hetzendorf, . samothracian vagabond!--[ ] you must hunt out from schlemmer [the copyist] what is still wanting in the "kyrie;" show him the postscript, and so, _satis_, no more of such a wretch! farewell! arrange everything; i am to bind up my eyes at night, and to spare them as much as possible; otherwise, says smetana, i shall write little more music in the time to come. [footnote : "we arrived at hetzendorf on may " is written by carl in beethoven's note-book of ; and on this note is written, in the "scamp's" hand, hetzendorf, .] [footnote : "by the word 'samothracian,' beethoven alludes to the samothracian mysteries, partly grounded on music. their mutual participation in the beethoven mysteries is intended to be thus indicated. among the initiated were also brunswick, lichnowsky, and zmeskall." [from a note of schindler's on the subject.]] . to schindler. hetzendorf, (?). pray, forward the packet to-day, and inquire this afternoon, if possible, about the housekeeper in the glockengasse, no. , d Étage. she is a widow, understands cookery, and is willing to serve merely for board and lodging, to which, of course, i cannot consent, or only under certain conditions. my present one is too shameful. i cannot invite you here, but be assured of my gratitude. . to schindler.[ ] hetzendorf, . i enclose the letter to herr v. obreskow [chargé d'affaires of the russian legation]; as soon as i receive the money, i will immediately send you florins for your trouble. not a word more than what is absolutely necessary! i have advertised your house. you can mention, merely as a casual remark at the right moment, that france also remitted the money to you. never forget that such persons represent majesty itself. [footnote : louis viii. sent a gold medal for his subscription copy of the mass on february , .] . to schindler. i beg you will kindly write out the enclosed invitation neatly for me on the paper i send you, for carl has too much to do. i wish to dispatch it early on wednesday. i want to know where grillparzer lives; perhaps i may pay him a visit myself.[ ] you must have a little patience about the florins; as yet it is impossible for me to send them, for which you are as much to blame as i am. [footnote : it is well known that in the winter of - beethoven was engaged in the composition of an opera for the royal theatre; for which purpose grillparzer had given him his _melusina_.] . to schindler. i send k.'s [kanne's] book [libretto]. except the first act, which is rather insipid, it is written in such a masterly style that it does not by any means require a first-rate composer. i will not say that on this very account it would be the more suitable for me; still, if i can get rid of previous engagements, who knows what may or will happen! please acknowledge the receipt of this. . to schindler. i wish to know about esterhazy, and also about the post. a letter-carrier from the mauer [a place near hetzendorf] was here; i only hope the message has been properly delivered. nothing as yet from dresden [see no. ]. i mean to ask you to dine with me a few days hence, for i still suffer from my weak eyes; to-day, however, for the first time, they seem to improve, but i scarcely dare make any use of them as yet. your friend, beethoven. p.s. as for the tokay,[ ] it is better adapted for _summer_ than for _autumn_, and also for some fiddler who could _respond_ to its noble fire, and yet _stand firm as a rock_. [footnote : a musical friend had sent the _maestro_ six bottles of genuine tokay, expressing his wish that it might tend to restore his strength. schindler, he says, wrote to beethoven at hetzendorf, to tell him of this, and received the above answer, and the order through "frau schnaps" to do as he pleased with the wine. he sent one bottle of it to hetzendorf, but beethoven at that time had inflamed eyes.] . to schindler. i cannot at present accept these tempting invitations [from sonntag and unger]; so far as my weak eyes permit, i am very busy, and when it is fine, i go out. i will myself thank these two fair ladies for their amiability. no tidings from dresden. i shall wait till the end of this month, and then apply to a lawyer in dresden. i will write about schoberlechner to-morrow. . to schindler. june , . you ought to have perfectly well known that i would have nothing to do with the affair in question. with regard to my being "liberal," i think i have shown you that i am so on principle; indeed, i suspect you must have observed that i even have gone _beyond_ these principles. _sapienti sat._[ ] [footnote : franz schoberlechner, pianist in vienna, wrote to beethoven on june , , to ask him for letters of introduction to leipzig, dresden, berlin, and russia, etc. the _maestro_, however, wrote across the letter, "an active fellow requires no other recommendation than from one respectable family to another," and gave it back to schindler, who showed it to schoberlechner, and no doubt at his desire urged beethoven to comply with his request. beethoven, however, did not know schoberlechner, and had no very high opinion of him, as he played chiefly _bravura_ pieces, and, besides, on the bills of his concerts, he pompously paraded all his titles, decorations, and as member of various societies, which gave ample subject for many a sarcastic remark on the part of beethoven.] . to the archduke rudolph. vienna, june , . i have been always ailing since y.r.h. left this, and latterly afflicted by severe inflammation of the eyes, which has now in so far subsided that for the last eight days i have been able once more to use my sight, though very sparingly. y.r.h. will perceive from the enclosed receipt of june , the dispatch of some music. as y.r.h. seemed to take pleasure in the c minor sonata,[ ] i thought i did not take too much on myself by surprising y.r.h. with the dedication. the variations[ ] have been written out for at least five or six weeks past, but the state of my eyes did not permit me to revise them thoroughly myself. my hope of being entirely restored proved vain. at last i made schlemmer look them over, so, though they may not look very neat, still they are correct. the c minor sonata was engraved in paris in a very faulty manner, and being engraved here from that copy, i tried to make it as correct as possible. i intend shortly to send you a beautifully engraved copy of the variations. with regard to the mass[ ] that y.r.h. wished should be more generally known, my continued bad health for some years past, causing me to incur heavy debts, and compelling me to give up my intention of going to england, induced me to ponder on some mode of improving my condition. this mass seemed well adapted to my purpose. i was advised to offer it to different courts. painful as this was to me, i felt that i should have cause for self-reproach if i neglected doing so. i therefore applied to various courts to subscribe to the mass, fixing the price at fifty ducats; the general opinion being that this was not too much, and if there were a good many subscribers, the scheme would not be unprofitable. hitherto the subscription is indeed flattering to me, as their majesties of france and prussia have each taken a copy. i also received a letter from my friend prince nicolaus gallizin a few days ago, from petersburg, in which this most amiable prince mentions that h.m. the emperor of russia had become a subscriber, and that i should soon hear further on the subject from the imperial russian embassy. notwithstanding all this (and though there are some other subscribers), i have not yet realized as much as the sum a publisher offered me for it; the only advantage being that the work remains _mine_. the costs of copying are also great, and further increased by three new pieces being added, which, as soon as they are completed, i will send to y.r.h. perhaps you would not think it too much trouble to apply to h.r.h. the grand duke of tuscany to take a copy of this mass. the application was indeed made some time ago to the grand duke of tuscany through the agent here, v. odelga, who faithfully assured me that the proposal would be graciously accepted. i place no great faith, however, in this, as some months have elapsed, and no notice has been again taken of the application. as the affair is now set agoing, it is but natural that i should do all i can to attain my desired object. the undertaking was from the first disagreeable to me, and still more so to mention it to y.r.h., or to allude to it at all, but "_necessity has no law_." i only feel grateful to him who dwells above the stars that i now begin once more to be able to use my eyes. i am at present writing a new symphony for england,[ ] bespoken by the philharmonic society, and hope it will be quite finished fourteen days hence. i cannot strain my eyes as yet long at a time; i beg therefore y.r.h.'s indulgence with regard to your variations,[ ] which appear to me very charming, but still require closer revision on my part. y.r.h. has only to persevere, especially to accustom yourself to write down your ideas at once at the piano, quickly and briefly. for this purpose a small table ought to be placed close beside the piano. by this means not only is the imagination strengthened; but you learn instantly to hold fast the most fugitive ideas. it is equally necessary to be able to write without any piano; and sometimes a simple choral melody, to be carried out in simple or varied phrases, in counterpoint, or in a free manner, will certainly entail no headache on y.r.h., but rather, in finding yourself thus right amid the centre of art, cause you very great pleasure. the faculty of representing precisely what we wish and feel comes by degrees; an essential _desideratum_ for a noble-minded man. my eyes warn me to conclude. with every kind and good wish for y.r.h., i remain, &c., &c. [k.] postscript. if y.r.h. should confer the happiness of a letter on me, i beg you will address to me at vienna, for i shall receive all my letters here safely forwarded by the post from there. if agreeable to y.r.h., i would beg you to recommend the mass to prince anton in dresden,[ ] so that the king of saxony may subscribe to it, which he will, no doubt, do if y.r.h. shows any interest in the matter. as soon as i know that you have actually done me this favor, i will forthwith apply to the general-director there[ ] of the royal theatre and of music, whose office it is to arrange these things, and send him a request to procure a subscription from the king of saxony, which i am reluctant to do without a recommendation from y.r.h. my opera, "fidelio," was performed with much applause in dresden at the festivities there in honor of the visit of the king of bavaria, when their majesties were all present. i received this intelligence from the above-named director-general, who asked me for the score through weber, and afterwards sent me really a very handsome present in return. i hope y.r.h. will excuse my intruding such a request on you, but y.r.h. knows that i am not usually importunate. should, however, the slightest obstacle arise to render my request disagreeable to you, i shall not be the less convinced of your generosity and kindness. neither avarice, nor the love of speculation, which i have always avoided, prompted this scheme; but necessity compels me to use every effort to rescue my self from my present condition. candor is best, for it will prevent my being too hardly judged. owing to constant ill health, which has prevented my writing as usual, i have incurred a debt of to florins c.m.,[ ] which can only be discharged by vigorous exertions on my part. if my subscription succeeds better than it has hitherto done, it will be an effectual help, and if my health improves, of which there is every hope, i shall be able once more to resume my compositions with fresh energy. in the mean time i trust y.r.h. will not be offended by my candor. had it not been the fear of being accused of not sufficiently _bestirring_ myself, i would have persevered in my usual silence. as to the recommendation, i am at all events convinced that y.r.h. is always glad to effect good results for others when _possible_, and that you are not likely to make any exception in my case. [footnote : this sonata, op. , dedicated to the archduke rudolph, was composed in , and published by schlesinger in the beginning of .] [footnote : these _variations_ are, no doubt, the c major variations for pianoforte, op. , on a waltz of diabelli's, dedicated to madame brentano, composed in , and published in the june of the same year.] [footnote : the grand mass in d.] [footnote : the symphony which beethoven declared he had completed in fourteen days was the th in d minor, composed in or , first performed on the th may, and published in .] [footnote : the archduke's variations alluded to by beethoven are not published or now known.] [footnote : in a letter from the archduke rudolph of july , , he says, "my brother-in-law, prince anton, has written to me that the king of saxony is expecting your beautiful mass."] [footnote : the director-general of the musical court band and opera in dresden ( ) was von könneritz.] [footnote : this debt of to florins had only been incurred by beethoven in order not to sell out his shares in the austrian loan; he was in no need.] . to schindler. hetzendorf, july , . i am myself writing to wocher [cabinet courier to prince esterhazy? no. ], and for more speed i send by carl, who chances to be driving in, the application to prince e. be so good as to inquire the result; i doubt its being favorable, not expecting much kindly feeling on his part towards me, judging from former days.[ ] i believe that female influence alone ensures success with him in such matters; at all events, i now know, by your obliging inquiries, how i can safely write to this scholz. the bad weather, and more especially the bad atmosphere, prevented my paying her [countess schafgotsch] a visit about this affair.[ ] your _amicus_, beethoven. p.s. nothing yet from dresden! schlemmer [the copyist] has just been here asking again for money. i have now advanced him gulden. speculations are for commercial men, and not for poor devils like myself. hitherto the sole fruit of this unlucky speculation [a subscription for his mass] are only more debts. you have, no doubt, seen that the "gloria" is completed. if my eyes were only strong again, so that i could resume my writing, i should do well enough. [written on the cover:] are the variations [op. ] sent off yet to london? n.b.--so far as i can remember, it was not mentioned in the application to prince esterhazy that the mass was to be delivered in manuscript only. what mischief may ensue from this! i suspect that such was the intention of herr artaria in proposing to present the mass _gratis_ to the prince, as it would give artaria an opportunity for the third time to steal one of my works. wocher's attention must be called to this. of course, there is nothing obligatory on papageno in the matter. [footnote : beethoven wrote the mass in c for him in the year , which was by no means satisfactory to the prince when performed at eisenstadt in the year following, and conducted by beethoven himself.] [footnote : scholz, music director at warmbrunn in silesia, had written a german text for the mass in c. beethoven also wished to have from him a german translation from the latin words adapted to the music of the grand mass. schindler says, that the words "prevented my visiting her" refer to countess schafgotsch, whom beethoven wished to see on account of scholz, who unhappily died in the ensuing year. his text, however, is given in the _cecilia_, - .] . to pilat, editor of the "austrian observer." sir,-- i shall feel highly honored if you will be so good as to mention in your esteemed journal my nomination as an honorary member of the royal swedish musical academy. although neither vain nor ambitious, still i consider it advisable not wholly to pass over such an occurrence, as in practical life we must live and work for others, who may often eventually benefit by it. forgive my intrusion, and let me know if i can in any way serve you in return, which it would give me much pleasure to do. i am, sir, with high consideration, your obedient beethoven. . to schindler. hetzendorf, july, . most worthy ragamuffin of epirus and brundusium!-- give this letter to the editor of the "observer," but write the address on it first; ask him at the same time whether his daughter makes great progress on the piano, and if i can be of any use to her by sending her a copy of one of my compositions. i wrote that i was an "_honorary_ member;" i don't know, however, whether this is correct; perhaps i ought to have said, "a corresponding member;" neither knowing nor caring much about such things. you had also better say something on the subject to _bernardum non sanctum_ (editor of the "vienna zeitschrift"). make inquiries, too, from bernard about that knave ruprecht; tell him of this queer business, and find out from him how he can punish the villain. ask both these philosophical newspaper scribes whether this may be considered an honorable or dishonorable nomination. . to schindler. master flash in the pan, and wide of the mark! full of reasons, yet devoid of reason!--everything was ready yesterday for gläser (the copyist). as for you, i shall expect you in hetzendorf to dinner at half-past two o'clock. if you come later, dinner shall be kept for you. . to schindler. hetzendorf, july , . worthy herr v. schindler,-- the incessant insolence of my landlord from the hour i entered his house up to the present moment compels me to apply for aid to the police; so i beg you will do so for me at once. as to the double winter windows, the housekeeper was desired to see about them, and especially to state if they were not necessary after such a violent storm, in case of the rain having penetrated into the room; but her report was that the rain had not come in, and, moreover, that it could not possibly do so. in accordance with her statement, i locked the door to prevent this rude man entering my room during my absence (which he had threatened). say also further what his conduct to you was, and that he put up a placard of the lodgings being to let, without giving me notice, which, besides, he has no right to do till st. james's day. he is equally unfair in refusing to give up the receipt from st. george's day till st. james's, as the enclosure shows; i am charged, too, for lighting, of which i know nothing. this detestable lodging,[ ] without any open stove, and the principal flue truly abominable, has cost me (for extra outlay, exclusive of the rent) florins, in order merely to keep me alive while i was there during the winter. it was a deliberate fraud, as i never was allowed to see the rooms on the first floor, but only those on the second, that i might not become aware of their many disagreeable drawbacks. i cannot understand how a flue _so destructive to health can be tolerated by the government_. you remember the appearance of the walls of your room owing to smoke, and the large sum it cost even to lessen in any degree this discomfort, although to do away with it wholly was impossible. my chief anxiety at present is that he may be ordered to take down his placard, and to give me a receipt for the house-rent i have paid; but nothing will induce me to pay for the abominable lighting, without which it cost me enough actually to preserve my life in such a lodging. my eyes do not yet suffer me to encounter the town atmosphere, or i would myself apply in person to the police. your attached beethoven. [footnote : the pfarrgasse, in the laimgrube, where schindler lived with him.] . to schindler. i must have an attested copy of all the writings; i send you kreutzers. how could you possibly accept such a proposal from our churlish landlord when accompanied by a threat? where was your good sense? where it always is. to-morrow early i shall send for the variations, copy and originals. it is not certain whether the pr. comes or not; so be so good as to stay at home till eight o'clock. you can come to dinner either to-day or to-morrow; but you must settle which you mean to do, as it is not easy _for me_ to provide provisions. not later than half-past two o'clock. the housekeeper will tell you about a lodging in the landstrasse. it is high time, truly! as soon as you hear of anything to be had on the bastei or the landstrasse, you must at once give me notice. we must find out what room the landlord uses on account of the well.--_vale!_ . to schindler.[ ] hetzendorf, . samothracian vagabond!-- you were dispatched yesterday to the south pole, whereas we went off to the north pole, a slight difference now equalized by captain parry. there were, however, no mashed potatoes there. bach [his lawyer], to whom i beg my best regards, is requested to say what the lodging in baden is to cost; we must also try to arrange that carl should come to me once every fortnight there (but cheaply; good heavens! poverty and economy!). i intrust this matter to you, as you have your friends and admirers among the drivers and liverymen. if you get this in time, you had better go to bach to-day, so that i may receive his answer to-morrow forenoon. it is almost too late now. you might also take that rascal of a copyist by surprise; i don't expect much good from him. he has now had the variations for eight days. your ["friend" stroked out] _amicus_, beethoven. [footnote : he no doubt alludes to captain parry, the celebrated traveller, who wrote an article in the _a.m. zeitung_ on the music of the esquimaux.] . to schindler.[ ] june, . samothracian!-- don't trouble yourself to come here till you receive a _hati scherif_. i must say you do not deserve the _golden_ cord. my fast-sailing frigate, the worthy and well-born frau schnaps, will call every three or four days to inquire after your health. farewell! bring _no one whatever_ with you: farewell! [footnote : schindler says in his _biography_: "these _variations_ [op. ] were completed in june, , and delivered to the publisher, diabelli, without the usual amount of time bestowed on giving them the finishing touches; and now he set to work at once at the ninth symphony, some jottings of which were already written down. forthwith all the gay humor that had made him more sociable, and in every respect more accessible, at once disappeared. all visits were declined," &c.] . to the archduke rudolph. hetzendorf, july , . i trust that you are in the best possible health. as for my eyes, they are improving, though slowly, and in six or seven days at most i hope to have the good fortune to wait on y.r.h. if i were not obliged to use spectacles, i should get better sooner. it is a most distressing occurrence, and has thrown me back in everything. what soothes my feelings, however, is y.r.h. being fully aware that i am always to be of service to you. i have another favor to ask of y.r.h., which i hope you will graciously accede. will y.r.h. be so kind as to grant me a testimonial to the following effect: "that i wrote the grand mass expressly for y.r.h.; that it has been for some time in your possession; and that you have been pleased to permit me to circulate it." this ought to have been the case, and being no untruth, i hope i may claim this favor. such a testimonial will be of great service to me; for how could i have believed that my slight talents would have exposed me to so much envy, persecution, and calumny. it has always been my intention to ask y.r.h.'s permission to circulate the mass, but the pressure of circumstances, and above all my inexperience in worldly matters, as well as my feeble health, has caused this confusion. if the mass is engraved hereafter, i hope to dedicate it to y.r.h. when published,[ ] and not till then will the limited list of royal subscribers appear. i shall ever consider y.r.h. as my most illustrious patron, and make this known to the world whenever it is in my power. in conclusion, i entreat you again not to refuse my request about the testimonial. it will only cost y.r.h. a few lines, and ensure the best results for me. i will bring the variations[ ] of y.r.h. with me. they require little alteration, and cannot fail to become a very pretty pleasing work for all lovers of music. i must indeed appear a most importunate suitor. i beg you will kindly send me the testimonial as soon as possible, for i require it. [k.] [footnote : the grand mass (_op._ ) was published in .] [footnote : the _variations_ composed by the archduke rudolph, mentioned in the letters and , are not the same as the published ones, and are unknown.] . to f. ries. hetzendorf, july , . my dear ries,-- i received your letter with much pleasure the day before yesterday. the variations have, no doubt, arrived by this time. i could not write the dedication to your wife, not knowing her name; so i beg you will write it yourself on the part of your wife's friend and your own; let it be a surprise to her, for the fair sex like that.--_entre nous_, surprise is always the greatest charm of the beautiful! as for the _allegri di bravura_, i must make allowance for yours. to tell you the truth, i am no great friend to that kind of thing, as it is apt to entail too much mere mechanism; at least, such is the case with those i know. i have not yet looked at yours, but i shall ask ---- about them. i recommend you to be cautious in your intercourse with him. could i not be of use to you in many ways here? these printers, or rather _misprinters_, as they ought to be called to deserve their names, pirate your works, and give you nothing in return; this, surely, might be differently managed. i mean to send you some choruses shortly, even if obliged to compose some new ones, for this is my favorite style. thanks for the proceeds of the _bagatelles_, with which i am quite satisfied. give nothing to the king of england. pray accept anything you can get for the variations. i shall be perfectly contented. i only must stipulate to take no other reward for the dedication to your wife than the kiss which i am to receive in london. you name _guineas_, whereas i only get _pounds sterling_, and i hear there is a difference between these. do not be angry with _un pauvre musicien autrichien_, who is still at a very low ebb. i am now writing a new violin quartet. might not this be offered to the musical or unmusical london jews?--_en vrai juif_. i am, with cordial regard, your old friend, beethoven. . to herr geheimrath von kÖnneritz,--dresden,[ ] director of the royal orchestra and theatre in saxony. hetzendorf, july , . sir,-- i have too long deferred sending you a signed receipt and thanks, but i feel sure you will pardon the delay from my great pressure of business, owing to my health having improved, and god knows how long this may continue. the description given by my dear friend maria weber[ ] of your generous and noble disposition encourages me to apply to you on another subject, namely, about a grand mass which i am now issuing in manuscript. though i have met with a previous refusal on this matter [ ], still, as my esteemed cardinal, h.r. highness the archduke rudolph, has written to h.r.h. prince anton, requesting him to recommend the mass to his majesty the king of saxony, i think this fresh application might at all events be made, as i should consider it a great honor to number among my distinguished subscribers (such as the king of prussia, the emperor of russia, the king of france, &c.) so great a connoisseur in music as the king of saxony. i leave it to you, sir, to decide from this statement how and when you can best effect my purpose. i am unable to send you to-day the application for a subscription to my mass to h.m. the king of saxony, but i will do so by the next post. in any event i feel assured that you will not think i am one of those who compose for the sake of paltry gain; but how often do events occur which constrain a man to act contrary to his inclinations and his principles? my cardinal is a benevolent prince, but means are wanting! i hope to receive your forgiveness for my apparent importunity. if my poor abilities can in any way be employed in your service, what extreme pleasure it would give me. i am, sir, with esteem, your expectant beethoven. [footnote : the director-general of the dresden theatre at that time was von könneritz, who sent beethoven forty ducats (requesting a receipt) for his opera of _fidelio_, performed with great applause april , , and conducted by c.m. von weber. madame schröder-devrient made her _début_ in the character of leonore.] [footnote : in weber's _biography_ it is stated (vol. ii. p. ) that beethoven and weber exchanged several letters about the performance of _fidelio_, and in fact weber did receive letters from beethoven on february , april , and june . unhappily, no part of this correspondence has yet been discovered, except a fragment of the sketch of a letter written by weber of january , , which sufficiently proves that beethoven was right in calling him his _friend_. it is as follows:--"this mighty work, teeming with german grandeur and depth of feeling, having been given under my direction at prague, had enabled me to acquire the most enthusiastic and instructive knowledge of its inner essence, by means of which i hope to produce it before the public here with full effect, provided as i am with all possible accessories for the purpose. each performance will be a festival to me, permitting me to pay that homage to your mighty spirit which dwells in the inmost recesses of my heart, where love and admiration strive for the mastery." on october of this year, weber visited beethoven in baden, with haslinger and benedict.] . to herr v. kÖnneritz,--dresden. vienna, july , . sir,-- forgive my importunity in sending to your care the enclosed letter from me to his r.h. prince anton of saxony; it contains an application to his majesty the king of saxony to subscribe to a mass of mine. i recently mentioned to you that the cardinal archduke rudolph had written to his m. the king of saxony about this mass; i entreat you to use all your influence in this matter, and i leave it entirely to your own judgment and knowledge of local matters to act as you think best. although i do not doubt that the recommendation of my cardinal will have considerable weight, still the decision of his majesty cannot fail to be much influenced by the advice of the administrator of objects connected with the fine arts. hitherto, in spite of apparent brilliant success, i have scarcely realized as much as a publisher would have given me for the work, the expenses of copying being so very great. it was the idea of my friends to circulate this mass, for, thank god! i am a mere novice in all speculations. in the mean time, there is not a single _employé_ of our government who has not been, like myself, a loser. had it not been for my continued bad health for many years past, a foreign country would at least have enabled me to live free from all cares except those for art. judge me kindly, and not harshly; i live only for my art, and my sole wish is to fulfil my duties as a man; but this, alas! cannot always be accomplished without the influence of the _subterranean powers_. while commending my cause to you, i also venture to hope that your love of art, and above all your philanthropy, will induce you to be so good as to write me a few lines, informing me of the result as soon as you are acquainted with it. i am, sir, with high consideration, your obedient beethoven. . to schindler. august, . you samothracian villain!-- make haste and come, for the weather is just right. better early than late--_presto, prestissimo_! we are to drive from here.[ ] [footnote : beethoven had apartments in a summer residence of baron pronay's on his beautiful property at hetzendorf. suddenly, however, the _maestro_, deeply immersed in the _ninth symphony_, was no longer satisfied with this abode, because "the baron would persist in making him profound bows every time that he met him." so, with the help of schindler and frau schnaps, he removed to baden in august, .] . to his nephew. baden, august , . my dear boy,-- i did not wish to say anything to you till i found my health improving here, which, however, is scarcely even yet the case. i came here with a cold and catarrh, which were very trying to me, my constitution being naturally rheumatic, which will, i fear, soon cut the thread of my life, or, still worse, gradually wear it away. the miserable state of my digestive organs, too, can only be restored by medicines and diet, and for this i have to thank my _faithful_ servants! you will learn how constantly i am in the open air when i tell you that to-day for the first time i properly (or improperly, though it was involuntary) resumed my suit to my muse. i _must_ work, but do not wish it to be known. nothing can be more tempting (to me at least) than the enjoyment of beautiful nature at these baths, but _nous sommes trop pauvres, et il faut écrire ou de n'avoir pas de quoi_. get on, and make every preparation for your examination, and be unassuming, so that you may prove yourself higher and better than people expect. send your linen here at once; your gray trousers must still be wearable, at all events at home; for, my dear son, you are indeed very _dear_ to me! my address is, "at the coppersmith's," &c. write instantly to say that you have got this letter. i will send a few lines to that contemptible creature, schindler, though i am most unwilling to have anything to do with such a wretch. if we could write as quickly as we think and feel, i could say a great deal not a little remarkable; but for to-day i can only add that i wish a certain carl may prove worthy of all my love and unwearied care, and learn fully to appreciate it. though not certainly exacting, as you know, still there are many ways in which we can show those who are better and nobler than ourselves that we acknowledge their superiority. i embrace you from my heart. your faithful and true father. . to the archduke rudolph. august, . i am really very ill, and not suffering from my eyes alone. i intend to drag myself to-morrow to baden, to look out for a lodging, and to go there altogether in the course of a few days. the air in town has a very bad effect on my whole organization, and has really injured my health, having gone twice to town to consult my physicians. it will be easier for me to repair to y.r.h. in baden. i am quite inconsolable, both on account of y.r.h. and myself, that my usefulness is thus limited. i have marked some things in the variations, but i can explain these better verbally. [k.] . to the archduke rudolph. baden, august , . your gracious letter led me to believe that y.r.h. intended to return to baden, where i arrived on the th, very ill; but i am now better. i had recently another inflammatory cold, having just recovered from one. my digestion, too, was miserable, and my eyes very bad; in short, my whole system seemed impaired. i was obliged to make the effort to come here, without even being able to see y.r.h. thank god, my eyes are so much better that i can again venture to make tolerable use of them by daylight. my other maladies, too, are improving, and i cannot expect more in so short a period. how i wish that y.r.h. were only here, when in a few days we could entirely make up for lost time. perhaps i may still be so fortunate as to see y.r.h. here, and be able to show my zeal to serve y.r.h. how deeply does this cause me to lament my unhappy state of health. much as i wish for its entire restoration, still i greatly fear that this will never be the case, and on this account i hope for y.r.h.'s indulgence. as i can now at length prove how gladly i place myself at y.r.h.'s disposal, my most anxious desire is that you would be pleased to make use of me. [k.] . to the archduke rudolph. . i have just been enjoying a short walk and composing a canon, "grossen dank, ÷ ÷ ÷," when, on returning home, with the intention of writing it out for y.r.h., i find a petitioner who is under the delusion that his request will be better received if made through me. what can i do? a good action cannot be too soon performed, and even a whim must be sometimes humored. the bearer of this is kapellmeister drechsler, of the josephstadt and baden theatre; he wishes to obtain the situation of second court organist. he has a good knowledge of thorough bass, and is also a good organist, besides being favorably known as a composer,--all qualities that recommend him for this situation. he _rightly_ thinks that the best recommendation to secure him the appointment is that of y.r.h., who, being yourself so great a connoisseur and performer, know better than any one how to appreciate true merit; and assuredly h.i. majesty would prefer such testimony to every other. i therefore add my entreaties, though with some hesitation, to those of herr d., relying on the indulgence and kindness of y.r.h., and in the hope that the illustrious patron and protector of all that is good will do what lies in his power to be of use on this occasion. my canon shall be sent to-morrow,[ ] together with the confession of my sins, intentional and unintentional, for which i beg your gracious absolution. my eyes, alas! prevent me from saying to-day as i could wish my hopes and desires that all good may attend you. p.s. i ought also to mention that herr drechsler is the unsalaried professor of thorough bass at st. anna's, and has been so for the last ten years. [k.] [footnote : the canon, _grossen dank, ÷ ÷ ÷_, is not to be found in either breitkopf & härtel's or thayer's catalogue, nor anywhere else.] . to f. ries. baden, september , . my dear friend,-- you advise me to engage some one to look after my affairs; now i did so as to the variations; that is, my brother and schindler took charge of them, but how? the variations were not to have appeared here till after being published in london; but everything went wrong. the dedication to brentano [antonie v. brentano, _née_ edlen von birkenstock] was to be confined to germany, i being under great obligations to her, and having nothing else to spare at the moment; indeed, diabelli, the publisher, alone got it from me. but everything went through schindler's hands. no man on earth was ever more contemptible,--an arch villain; but i soon sent him packing! i will dedicate some other work to your wife in the place of this one. you, no doubt, received my last letter [no. ]. i think thirty ducats would be enough for one of the _allegri di bravura_, but i should like to publish them here at the same time, which might easily be arranged. why should i give up so much profit to these rogues here? it will not be published here till i am told that it has arrived in london; moreover, you may yourself fix the price, as you best know london customs. the copyist to-day at last finished the score of the symphony; so kirchhoffer and i are only waiting for a favorable opportunity to send it off. i am still here, being very ill when i arrived, and my health still continues in a most precarious condition, and, good heavens! instead of amusing myself like others at these baths, my necessities compel me to write every day. i am also obliged to drink the mineral waters besides bathing. the copy will shortly be sent off; i am only waiting till i hear of an opportunity from kirchhoffer, for it is too bulky to forward by post. my last letter must have given you an insight into everything. i will send you some choruses; let me have any commissions for oratorios as soon as you can, that i may fix the time at once. i am sorry about the variations on account of ----, as i wrote them more for london than here. this is not my fault. answer me very soon, both as to particulars and time. kind regards to your family. . to f. ries,--london. baden, september , . my dear kind ries,-- i have still no tidings of the symphony, but you may depend on its soon being in london. were i not so poor as to be obliged to live by my pen, i would accept nothing from the philharmonic society; but as it is, i must wait till the money for the symphony is made payable here; though as a proof of my interest and confidence in that society, i have already sent off the new overture, and i leave it to them to settle the payment as they please. my brother, who keeps his carriage, wished also to profit by me; so without asking my permission, he offered this overture to boosey, a london publisher. pray, tell him that my brother was mistaken with regard to the overture. i see now that he bought it from me in order to practise usury with it. _o frater!!_ i have never yet received the symphony you dedicated to me. if i did not regard this dedication as a kind of challenge to which i am bound to respond, i would ere this have dedicated some work to you. i always, however, wished first to see yours, and how joyfully would i then testify my gratitude to you in one way or another. i am, indeed deeply your debtor for your kind services and many proofs of attachment. should my health improve by my intended course of baths, i hope to kiss your wife in london in . yours, ever, beethoven. . to the archduke rudolph. . i have just heard that y.r.h. is expected here to-morrow. if i am still unable to follow the impulse of my heart, i hope you will ascribe it to the state of my eyes. i am better, but for some days to come i dare not breathe the town air, so prejudicial to my eyes. i only wish that the next time y.r.h. returns from baden, you would be so good as to let me know, and also name the hour at which i am to present myself, and once more have the good fortune to see my gracious master. but as it is probable y.r.h. will not long remain here, it is the more incumbent on us to take advantage of the short time at our disposal to carry out our artistic discussions and practice. i will myself bring "grossen dank, ÷ ÷ ÷," as it must be sent to baden. herr drechsler thanked me to-day for the _liberty_ i had taken in recommending him to y.r.h., who received him so graciously that i beg to express my warmest gratitude for your kindness. i trust that y.r.h. will continue firm, for it is said that abbé stadler is endeavoring to procure the situation in question for some one else. it would also be very beneficial to drechsler if y.r.h. would vouchsafe to speak to count dietrichstein[ ] on the subject. i once more request the favor of being told the date of your return from baden, when i will instantly hasten into town to wait on the best master i have in this world. y.r.h.'s health seems to be good; heaven be praised that it is so, for the sake of so many who wish it, and among this number i may certainly be included. [k.] [footnote : count moritz dietrichstein was in court director of the royal band.] . to the archduke rudolph. i was very much affected on receiving your gracious letter yesterday. to flourish under the shade of a stately verdant fruit-tree is refreshing to any one capable of elevated thought and feeling, and thus it is with me under the aegis of y.r.h. my physician assured me yesterday that my malady was disappearing, but i am still obliged to swallow a whole bottle of some mixture every day, which weakens me exceedingly, and compels me, as y.r.h. will see from the enclosed instructions of the physician, to take a great deal of exercise. i have every hope, however, that soon, even if not entirely recovered, i shall be able to be a great deal with y.r.h. during your stay here. this hope will tend to recruit my health sooner than usual. may heaven bestow its blessings on me through y.r.h., and may the lord ever guard and watch over you! nothing can be more sublime than to draw nearer to the godhead than other men, and to diffuse here on earth these godlike rays among mortals. deeply impressed by the gracious consideration of y.r.h. towards me, i hope very soon to be able to wait on you. [k.] . to schindler. baden, september, . signore papageno,-- that your scandalous reports may no longer distress the poor dresdener, i must tell you that the money reached me to-day, accompanied by every possible mark of respect to myself. though i should have been happy to offer you a _substantial_ acknowledgment for the [illegible, effaced by schindler] you have shown me, i cannot yet accomplish to the full extent what i have so much at heart. i hope to be more fortunate some weeks hence. [see no. .] _per il signore nobile, papageno schindler._ . to schindler. . the occurrence that took place yesterday, which you will see in the police reports, is only too likely to attract the notice of the established police to this affair. the testimony of a person whose name is not given entirely coincides with yours. in such a case private individuals cannot act; the authorities alone are empowered to do so.[ ] yours, beethoven. [footnote : schindler says, "brother johann, the apothecary, was ill in the summer of , and during that time his disreputable wife visited her lover, an officer, in the barracks, and was often seen walking with him in the most frequented places, besides receiving him in her own house. her husband, though confined to bed, could see her adorning herself to go in search of amusement with her admirer. beethoven, who was informed of this scandal from various quarters, appealed vigorously to his brother, in the hope of persuading him to separate from his ill-conducted wife, but failed in his attempt, owing to the indolence of this ill-regulated man." it was schindler, too, who prevented beethoven making any further application to the police. the following note probably refers to this. in his note-book of november, , is a canon written by beethoven on his brother johann and his family, on these words, "fettlümerl bankert haben triumphirt," no doubt an allusion to the disgraceful incident we have mentioned. brother johann's wife had a very lovely daughter before she married him.] . to schindler. wiseacre! i kiss the hem of your garment! . to herr grillparzer, court composer. esteemed sir,-- the directors wish to know your terms with regard to "melusina." [see no. .] in so far she has asserted herself, which is certainly better than being obliged to importune others on such matters. my household has been in great disorder for some time past, otherwise i should have called on you, and requested you to visit me in return.[ ] pray, write your conditions at once, either to the directors or to myself, in which case i will undertake to deliver them. i have been so busy that i could not call on you, nor can i do so now, but hope to see you before long. my number is . in the afternoons you will find me in the coffee-house opposite the "goldene birne." if you do come, i beg that you may be _alone_. that obtrusive appendage, schindler, has long been most obnoxious to me, as you must have perceived when at hetzendorf,[ ] _otium est vitium_. i embrace and esteem you from my heart. yours, beethoven. [footnote : in the note-book of is written, in beethoven's hand: th or th november, bad humor. another bad day. another bad day. and underneath, in schindler's hand: devil take such a life!] [footnote : the _elegante zeitung_ of , no. , relates the following anecdote about this visit:--"during the composition of the opera many conferences took place between the two artistic colleagues, when the new work was zealously discussed on both sides. on one occasion the poet drove out to visit the composer in the country. beethoven's writing-desk was placed somewhat like a sentry-box opposite a cupboard for provisions, the contents of which compelled the housekeeper to be perpetually coming and going, attracting thereby many an admonitory look askance in the midst of his conversation from the deaf _maestro_. at last the clock struck the dinner-hour. beethoven went down to his cellar, and soon after returned carrying four bottles of wine, two of which he placed beside the poet, while the other two were allotted to the composer himself and a third guest. after dinner beethoven slipped out of the room, and held a short parley with the coachman hired for the occasion, who was still waiting at the door. when the time arrived for returning to town, beethoven proposed driving part of the way with his guests, and did not get out of the carriage till close to the burgthor. scarcely was he gone when the companions he had just quitted found some papers lying on the seat he had vacated, which proved to be six _gulden_, the amount of the carriage-hire. they instantly stopped the carriage, and shouted to their friend (who was making off as quick as he could) that he had forgotten some money; but beethoven did not stand still till he was at a safe distance, when he waved his hat, rejoicing with the glee of a child at the success of his trick. there was no possibility of refusing his _naïf_ generosity, and they had sufficient delicacy of feeling not to poison his enjoyment by any untimely remonstrances."] . to probst, music publisher,--leipzig. vienna, march , . ... these are all i can at present give you for publication. i must, alas! now speak of myself, and say that this, the greatest work i have ever written, is well worth florins c.m. it is a new grand symphony, with a finale and voice parts introduced, solo and choruses, the words being those of schiller's immortal "ode to joy," in the style of my pianoforte choral fantasia, only of much greater breadth. the price is florins c.m. one condition is, indeed, attached to this symphony, that it is not to appear till next year, july, ; but to compensate for this long delay, i will give you a pianoforte arrangement of the work gratis, and in more important engagements you shall always find me ready to oblige you. . to schindler. . frau s. [schnaps] will provide what is required, so come to dinner to-day at two o'clock. i have good news to tell you,[ ] but this is quite _entre nous_, for the _braineater_ [his brother johann] must know nothing about it. [footnote : this no doubt refers to a letter from prince gallizin, march , :--"i beg you will be so good as to let me know when i may expect the quartet, which i await with the utmost impatience. if you require money, i request you will draw on messrs. stieglitz & co., in st. petersburg, for the sum you wish to have, and it will be paid to your order."] . to herr v. rzehatschek. . my worthy herr v. rzehatschek,-- schuppanzigh assures me that you intend to be so kind as to lend me the instruments required for my concert;[ ] thus encouraged, i venture to ask you to do so, and hope not to meet with a refusal when thus earnestly soliciting you to comply with my request. your obedient servant, beethoven. [footnote : it seems highly probable that this concert is the celebrated one in the spring of , when the ninth symphony and a portion of the grand mass were performed.] . to the high chamberlain prince trautmannsdorf.[ ] i am deeply indebted to your highness for your invariable politeness, which i prize probably the more from y.h. being by no means devoid of sympathy for my art. i hope one day to have the opportunity of proving my esteem for your h. [footnote : enclosed in a note to schindler, who was to apply for the great _redoutensaal_ for the concert on april , .] . to count moritz lichnowsky.[ ] insincerity i despise; visit me no more; my concert is not to take place. beethoven. [footnote : the originals of these three well-known notes were found by schindler on the piano, where beethoven usually left things of the kind, which he intended his amanuensis to take charge of. lichnowsky, schuppanzigh, and schindler had all met at beethoven's, as if by chance, in order to discuss with him some difficulties which stood in the way of the concert. the suspicious _maestro_ saw only collusion and treachery in this, and wrote these notes, which schindler did not allow to be sent.] . to herr schuppanzigh. come no more to see me. i give no concert. beethoven. . to herr schindler. do not come to me till i summon you. no concert. beethoven. . to herr v. sartorius, royal censor. sir,-- as i hear that obstacles are likely to arise on the part of the royal censorship to a portion of sacred music being given at an evening concert in the theatre "an der wien," i must inform you that i have been particularly requested to give these pieces, that the copies for this purpose have already caused serious expense, and the intervening time is too short to produce other new works. besides, only three sacred compositions are to be given, and these under the title of hymns. i do earnestly entreat you, sir, to interest yourself in this matter, as there are always so many difficulties to contend with on similar occasions. should this permission not be granted, i do assure you that it will be impossible to give a concert at all, and the whole outlay expended on the copying be thrown away. i hope you have not quite forgotten me. i am, sir, with high consideration, yours, beethoven. . to schindler. . if you have any information to give me, pray write it down; but seal the note, for which purpose you will find wax and a seal on my table. let me know where duport[ ] lives, when he is usually to be met with, and whether i could see him alone, or if it is probable that people will be there, and who? i feel far from well. _portez-vous bien._ i am still hesitating whether to speak to duport or to write to him, which i cannot do without bitterness. do not wait dinner for me; i hope you will enjoy it. i do not intend to come, being ill from our bad fare of yesterday. a flask of wine is ready for you. [footnote : schindler says that on april , , he applied to duport, at that time administrator of the kärnthnerthor theatre, in beethoven's name, to sanction his giving a grand concert there, allowing him to have the use of the house for the sum of florins c.m. further, that the conducting of the concert should be intrusted to umlauf and schuppanzigh, and the solos to mesdames unger and sonntag, and to the bass singer preisinger.] .[ ] to schindler. i beg you will come to see me to-morrow, as i have a tale to tell you as sour as vinegar. duport said yesterday that he had written to me, though i have not yet got his letter, but he expressed his satisfaction, which is best of all. the chief feat however is not yet performed, that which is to be acted in front of the _proscenium_! [in beethoven's writing:] yours, _from c# below to high f_, beethoven. [footnote : written by his nephew.] . to schindler. after six weeks of discussion, here, there, and everywhere, i am fairly boiled, stewed, and roasted. what will be the result of this much-talked-of concert if the prices are not raised? what shall i get in return for all my outlay, as the copying alone costs so much? . to schindler. at twelve o'clock to-day "in die birne" [an inn on the landstrasse]--thirsty and hungry--then to the coffee-house, back again here, and straight to penzing, or i shall lose the lodging. . to schindler. when you write to me, write exactly as i do to you, without any formal address or signature--_vita brevis, ars longa_. no necessity for details; only the needful! . to herr steiner & co. baden, may , . p.n.g. [paternostergÄssel],-- have the goodness to give me a proof of your great complaisance, by using your hand-rostrum (ruler) (not _rostrum victoriatum_) to rule lines of music for me, somewhat in the style i now send, and also on equally fine paper, which you must include in your account. send it, if possible, to-morrow evening by carl, for i require it. perhaps plenary indulgence may then be granted. . pour m. de haslinger, gÉnÉral musicien et gÉnÉral-lieutenant. my dear friend,-- you would really do me great injustice were you to suppose that negligence prevented my sending you the tickets; i assure you that it was my intention to do so, but i forgot it like many other things. i hope that some other opportunity may occur to enable me to prove my sentiments with regard to you. i am, i assure you, entirely innocent of all that duport has done, in the same way that it was _he_ who thought fit to represent the terzet [op. ] as new, _not i_. you know too well my love of truth; but it is better to be silent now on the subject, as it is not every one who is aware of the true state of the case, and i, though innocent, might incur blame. i do not at all care for the other proposals duport makes, as by this concert i have lost both time and money. in haste, your friend, beethoven. . to steiner & co. my kind friend,-- be so good as to read the enclosed, and kindly forward it at once to the authorities. your servant and _amicus_, beethoven. . to herr tobias peter philip haslinger. the horn part and the score are shortly to follow. we are immensely indebted to you. observe the laws. sing often my canon in silence,--_per resurrectionem_, &c. farewell! your friend, beethoven. . to haslinger. have the goodness to send me my shoes and my sword. you can have the loan of the "eglantine" for six days, for which, however, you must give an acknowledgment. farewell! yours, beethoven. . to haslinger. baden, june . my good friend,-- something worth having has been put in your way; so make the most of it. you will no doubt come off with a handsome fee, and all expenses paid. as for the march with chorus [in the "ruins of athens," op. ], you have yet to send me the sheets for final revision, also the overture in e flat ["to king stephen," op. ]; the terzet [op. ]; the elegy [op. ]; the cantata ["_meeresstille und glückliche fahrt_," op. ]; and the opera. out with them all! or i shall be on very little ceremony, your right having already expired. my liberality alone confers on you a larger sum than you do on me. i want the score of the cantata for a few days, as i wish to write a kind of recitative for it; mine is so torn that i cannot put it together, so i must have it written out from the parts. has the leipzig musical paper yet retracted its lies about the medal i got from the late king of france? i no longer receive the paper, which is a shabby proceeding. if the editor does not rectify the statement, i shall cause him and his consumptive chief to be _harpooned_ in the northern waters among the whales. even this barbarous baden is becoming enlightened, and now instead of _gutten brunn_, people write _guten brun_. but tell me what are they about in paternoster street? i am, with all esteem for yourself, but with none for the barbarian paternoster-gässel, your devoted, _incomparativo_, b----n. paternoster-gässel _primus_ will no doubt, like mephistopheles, emit fiery flames from his jaws. . to m. diabelli. sir,-- pray forgive my asking you to send me the score of my mass,[ ] being in urgent need of it; but i repeat that no public use is to be made of it until i can let you know _how_ and _when_. it will be at first performed under my direction, with the addition of several new pieces composed expressly for it, which i will with pleasure send to you afterwards. there are certain conventionalities which must be observed, especially as i am so dependent on foreign connections, for austria does not furnish me with the means of existence, and gives me nothing but vexation. i will soon appoint a day for you to visit carl. i remain, sir, with the highest esteem, yours, beethoven. [footnote : this letter seems to be addressed to diabelli, who in the summer of begged the loan of the mass in d for a few days, but neglected to return it.] . to probst,--leipzig. vienna, july , sir,-- overwhelmed with work and concerts, it is only now in my power to inform you that the works you wished to have are finished and transcribed, and can be delivered at any time to herr glöggl [music publisher in vienna]. i therefore request you will transmit the viennese ducats to herr glöggl, and let me know when you have done so. i must conclude for to-day, and defer the pleasure of writing further till another opportunity. i am, with esteem, yours obediently, beethoven.[ ] [footnote : probst answered the letter as follows:-- "august , . "the many gossiping reports about the differences between you and a publisher here in a similar transaction are the cause, i frankly own, of my wishing first to see your manuscript. the piracy in engraving, so universal in austria, often prevents the german publisher paying the price for a work which it merits; and even at this moment in vienna, with regard to your compositions [schindler mentions three songs with pianoforte accompaniment, six _bagatelles_, and a grand overture], i can see that the birds of prey are on the watch to rob me of them under the shelter of the law." on one of these letters beethoven writes in pencil, "do not listen to gossip; i have no time at this moment to enter on the subject, but i have all the proofs in my own hands; more of this hereafter."] . to t. haslinger.[ ] my very worthy friend,-- have the goodness to send me the rochlitz article on the beethoven works, and we will return it to you forthwith by the flying, driving, riding, or migrating post. yours, beethoven. [footnote : the _rochlitz'sche article_ is probably the report in the _a.m. zeitung_ of the works performed at the grand concert of may .] . to herr schott,--mayence. . the overture[ ] that you got from my brother was recently performed here, and i received many eulogiums on the occasion. what is all this compared to the grandest of all masters of harmony above! above! above! rightfully the _most high_! while here below all is a mere mockery--_dwarfs_--and the _most high_!! you shall receive the quartet with the other works. you are open and candid, qualities which i never before found in publishers, and this pleases me. i say so in writing, but who knows whether it may not soon be in person? i wish you would transmit the sum due for the quartet to p., as at this moment i require a great deal of money, for i derive everything from foreign sources, and sometimes a delay occurs--caused by myself. [footnote : the overture to which he alludes is no doubt op. , in c major, _zur weihe des hauses_, published by schott. it was performed in the great concert of may of this year ( ), which in the estimation of a beethoven, already absorbed in new great works, might well be termed "recently performed." schott himself says the letter is written between july and september , .] . to the archduke rudolph. baden, august , . your royal highness,-- i live--how?--the life of a snail. the unfavorable weather constantly throws me back, and at these baths it is impossible to command one's natural strength. a few days ago, nägeli, a musical author and poet of considerable repute, wrote to me from zurich; he is about to publish poems, and among these some are suitable for musical composition. he urged me much to apply to y.r.h. to request that you would be graciously pleased to subscribe to this collection. the price is very moderate, groschen, or florin kreutzers. were y.r.h. to subscribe for six copies, it would immediately be noised abroad, although i am well aware that my illustrious master does not care for anything of the kind; it will suffice for the present if y.r.h. will condescend to inform me of your will on the subject. the money can be paid when the copies arrive, probably a couple of months hence. i have conveyed herr nägeli's request, and now i must ask another favor, on his account, from myself. everything cannot be measured by line and plummet; but wieland says: "a little book may be well worth a few _groschen_." will y.r.h. therefore honor these poems by permitting your august name to be prefixed to them, as a token of your sympathy for the benefit of this man? the work is not likely to be quite devoid of value. being convinced of y.r.h.'s interest in all that is noble and beautiful, i hope i shall not fail in my intercession for nägeli, and i beg that y.r.h. will give me a written permission to inform nägeli that you will be one of his subscribers. i remain, with all dutiful fidelity and devotion, your r. highness's obedient servant, beethoven. . to his nephew. baden, august , . my dear young scamp,-- how active our _mahogany holz_ [wood] is! my plans are decided. we will give the present quartet to artaria, and the last to peters. you see i have learned something; i now perceive why i first _explored the path_; it was for your sake, that you might find it smooth. my digestion is terribly out of order, and no physician! i wish to have some ready-made pens, so send some in a letter. don't write to peters on saturday; we had better wait a little, to show him our indifference on the subject. since yesterday i have only taken some soup, and a couple of eggs, and drank nothing but water; my tongue is discolored; and without medicine and tonics, whatever my farcical doctor may say, my digestion will never improve. the third quartet [in c sharp minor, op. ] also contains six movements, and will certainly be finished in ten or twelve days at most. continue to love me, my dear boy; if i ever cause you pain, it is not from a wish to grieve you, but for your eventual benefit. i now conclude. i embrace you cordially. all i wish is that you should be loving, industrious, and upright. write to me, my dear son. i regret all the trouble i give you, but it will not go on long. holz seems inclined to become our friend. i expect a letter soon from [illegible]. your faithful father. . rough draft of a letter to peters. . i wrote to you that a quartet ["and a grand one too" is effaced] is ready for you; as soon, therefore, as you let me know that you will accept it for the florins c.m., or ducats, i will at once forward it to you. my works are now paid at a higher rate than ever; besides, you have only yourself to blame in this affair. your own letters show what you formerly desired to have, and the works i sent you were _what they ought to have been_ (the numerous pirated editions prove the truth of this); but the quartet will convince you that, so far from wishing to take my revenge, i now give you what could not possibly be better, were it intended even for my best friend. i beg that you will make no delay, so that i may receive your answer by the next post; otherwise i must forthwith return you the florins c.m. i shall, at all events, be rather in a scrape, for there is a person who wishes to have not only this but another newly finished work of mine, though he does not care to take only one. it is solely because you have waited so long (though you are yourself to blame for this) that i separate the quartet from the following one, now also completed. (do you think that the latter ought to be also offered here? but, of course, cunningly and warily: _comme marchand coquin!_) you need have no misgivings that i am sending you something merely to fulfil my promise; no, i assure you on my honor as an artist that you may place me on a level with the lowest of men, if you do not find that it is one of my very best works. . to hans georg nÄgeli,--zurich. baden, september , . my much-valued friend,-- the cardinal archduke is in vienna, and owing to my health, i am here. i only yesterday received from him a gracious written consent to subscribe to your poems, on account of the services you have rendered to the progress of music. he takes six copies of your work. i will shortly send you the proper address. an anonymous friend is also on the list of subscribers. i mean myself, for as you do me the honor to become my panegyrist, i will on no account allow my name to appear. how gladly would i have subscribed for more copies, but my means are too straitened to do so. the father of an adopted son, (the child of my deceased brother,) i must for his sake think and act for the _future_ as well as for the _present_. i recollect that you previously wrote to me about a subscription; but at that time i was in very bad health, and continued an invalid for more than three years, but now i am better. send also the complete collection of your lectures direct to the archduke rudolph, and, if possible, dedicate them to him; you are certain at all events to receive a present, not a very large one probably, but still better than nothing; put some complimentary expressions in the preface, for he understands music, and it is his chief delight and occupation. i do really regret, knowing his talents, that i cannot devote myself to him as much as formerly. i have made various applications to procure you subscribers, and shall let you know as soon as i receive the answers. i wish you would also send me your lectures, and likewise sebastian bach's five-part mass, when i will at once remit you the money for both. pray, do not imagine that i am at all guided by self-interest; i am free from all petty vanity; in godlike art alone dwells the impulse which gives me strength to sacrifice the best part of my life to the celestial muse. from childhood my greatest pleasure and felicity consisted in working for others; you may therefore conclude how sincere is my delight in being in any degree of use to you, and in showing you how highly i appreciate all your merits. as one of the votaries of apollo, i embrace you. yours cordially, beethoven. write to me soon about the archduke, that i may introduce the subject to his notice; you need take no steps towards seeking permission for the dedication. it will and ought to be a surprise to him. . to his nephew. baden, evening, september , . my dear son,--, whether it rains heavily to-morrow or not, stifling dust or pouring rain would be equally prejudicial to me. it does grieve me to know that you are so long with this demon; but, pray, strive to keep out of her way. you must give her a letter, written in my name, to the manager of the hospital, in which you must state that she did not come on the st, partly because she was unwell, and also from various people having come here to meet me, _basta cosi_! i send you florins for the singing-master [corépétiteur]. get a written receipt from him: how many mistakes are thus avoided! and this should be done by every one who pays money for another. did not holz bring rampel's receipt [the copyist] unasked, and do not others act in the same way? take the white waistcoat for yourself, and have the other made for me. you can bring the metronome with you; nothing can be done with it. bring also your linen sheets and two coverlets, and some lead-pencils and patterns; be sure you get the former at the brandstatt. and now farewell, my dear son; come to my arms as early as you can,--perhaps to-morrow. [the paper is here torn away.] as ever, your faithful father. p.s. all that could be done was to send you by the old woman's _char à banc_, which, however, including everything, costs florins kreutzers. do not forget anything, and be careful of your health. . to herr nÄgeli. vienna, september , . my esteemed friend,-- i gladly comply with your wish that i should arrange the vocal parts of my last grand mass for the organ, or piano, for the use of the different choral societies. this i am willing to do, chiefly because these choral associations, by their private and still more by their church festivals, make an unusually profound impression on the multitude, and my chief object in the composition of this grand mass was to awaken, and deeply to impress, religious feelings both on singers and hearers. as, however, a copy of this kind and its repeated revision must cause a considerable outlay, i cannot, i fear, ask less than ducats for it, and leave it to you to make inquiries on the subject, so that i may devote my time exclusively to it. i am, with high consideration, your obedient beethoven. . to schott,--mayence. baden, near vienna, september , . the quartet [op. , in e flat major] you shall also certainly receive by the middle of october. overburdened by work, and suffering from bad health, i really have some claim on the indulgence of others. i am here entirely owing to my health, or rather to the want of it, although i already feel better. apollo and the muses do not yet intend me to become the prey of the bony scytheman, as i have yet much to do for you, and much to bequeath which my spirit dictates, and calls on me to complete, before i depart hence for the elysian fields; for i feel as if i had written scarcely more than a few notes of music. i wish your efforts all possible success in the service of art; it is that and science alone which point the way, and lead us to hope for a higher life. i will write again soon. in haste, your obedient beethoven. . to hauschka. baden, september , . my dear and valued friend,-- as soon as i arrive in town, i will write bernard's oratorio [see no. ], and i beg you will also transmit him payment for it. we can discuss when we meet in town what we further require and think necessary, and in the mean-time, i appoint you high and puissant intendant of all singing and humming societies, imperial violoncello-general, inspector of the imperial _chasse_, as well as deacon of my gracious master, without house or home, and without a prebendary (like myself). i wish you all these, most faithful servant of my illustrious master, as well as everything else in the world, from which you may select what you like best.[ ] that there may be no mistake, i hereby declare that it is our intention to set to music the bernard oratorio, the "sieg des kreuzes" and speedily to complete the same. witness this our sign and seal, ludwig van beethoven. st p.s. take care that the venison is not devoured by rats or mice--you understand? strive for better choice and variety. yours, as a christian and in apollo, b. d p.s. as for the little flag on the white tower, we hope soon to see it waving again! [footnote : an allusion to hauschka's subserviency to all persons in high court offices.] . to herr nÄgeli,--zurich. vienna, november , . my much-valued friend,-- deeply absorbed in work, and not sufficiently protected against this late season of the year, i have again been ill; so believe me it was impossible for me to write to you sooner. with regard to your subscription, i have only succeeded in getting one subscriber for two copies, herr v. bihler, tutor in the family of his imperial highness the archduke carl; he tried to get the archduke also, but failed. i have exerted myself with every one, but, unluckily, people are here actually deluged with things of the same kind. this is all that i can write to you in my hurry. i urged the matter, too, on haslinger, but in vain; we are really poor here in austria, and the continued pressure of the war leaves but little for art and science. i will see that the subscriptions are paid, but let me know distinctly where the money is to be sent to. i embrace you in spirit. always rely on the high esteem of your true friend, beethoven. . to the archduke rudolph. november , . your royal highness,-- on my return from baden, illness prevented my waiting on y.r.h. according to my wish, being prohibited going out; thus yesterday was the first time i dared to venture again into the open air. when your gracious letter arrived, i was confined to bed, and under the influence of sudorifics, my illness having been caused by a chill; so it was impossible for me to rise. i feel sure that y.r.h is well aware that i never would neglect the respect so properly your due. i shall have the pleasure of waiting on you to-morrow forenoon. moreover, there will be no lack of opportunity here to awaken the interest y.r.h. takes in music, which cannot fail to prove so beneficial to art,--ever my refuge, thank god! i remain y.r.h.'s obedient servant, beethoven. . to schott,--mayence. vienna, november , . i regret being obliged to tell you that some little time must yet elapse before i can send off the works. there was not in reality much to revise in the copies; but as i did not pass the summer here, i am obliged to make up for this now, by giving two lessons a day to h.r.h. the archduke rudolph. this exhausts me so much that it almost entirely unfits me for all else. moreover, i cannot live on my income, and my pen is my sole resource; but _no consideration is shown either for my health or my precious time_. i do hope that this may not long continue, when i will at once complete the slight revision required. some days ago i received a proposal which concerns you also; its purport being that a foreign music publisher was disposed, &c., &c., to form a connection with you, in order to guard against piracy. i at once declined the offer, having had sufficiently painful experience on these matters. (perhaps this was only a pretext to spy into my affairs!) . to carl holz. i send you my greetings, and also wish to tell you that i am not going out to-day. i should be glad to see you, perhaps this evening after your office hours. in haste, your friend, beethoven. i am by no means well. . to carl holz. my worthy holz--be no longer holz [wood]! the well-beloved government wishes to see me to-day at ten o'clock. i beg you will go in my place; but first call on me, which you can arrange entirely according to your own convenience. i have already written a letter to the _powers that be_, which you can take with you. i much regret being forced to be again so troublesome to you, but my going is out of the question, and the affair must be brought to a close, yours, beethoven. . to schott,--mayence. vienna, december [beethoven's birthday], . i write to say that a week must yet elapse before the works can be dispatched to you. the archduke only left this yesterday, and much precious time was i obliged to spend with him. i am beloved and highly esteemed by him, _but_--i cannot live on that, and the call from every quarter to remember "that he who has a lamp ought to pour oil into it" finds no response here. as the score ought to be correctly engraved, i must look it over repeatedly myself, for i have no clever copyist at present. pray, do not think ill of me! _never_ was i guilty of anything base! . march, . my good friends,-- each is herewith appointed to his own post, and formally taken into our service, pledging his honor to do his best to distinguish himself, and each to vie with the other in zeal. every individual cooperating in this performance must subscribe his name to this paper.[ ] schuppanzigh, (_manu propria._) weiss. linke, (m.p.) confounded violoncello of the great masters. holz, (m.p.) the _last_, but only as to his signature. [footnote : in reference to the rehearsals of the first production of the e flat major quartet, op. , in march, .] . to schindler. the spring of . i have waited till half-past one o'clock, but as the _caput confusum_ has not come, i know nothing of what is likely to happen. carl must be off to the university in the prater; so i am obliged to go, that carl, who must leave this early, may have his dinner first. i am to be found in the "wilde mann" [an inn in the prater]. to herr schindler, _moravian numskull_.[ ] [footnote : schindler was a moravian.] . to linke, violoncellist.[ ] dear linke,-- having heard herr v. bocklet very highly spoken of, i think it would be advisable to ask him kindly to play in the trio at your concert. i do not know him myself, or i would have applied to him on your behalf. always rely on me when it is in my power to serve you. yours truly, beethoven. [footnote : bocklet, a pianist in vienna, tells me that he rehearsed the trio with holz and linke in or at beethoven's.] .[ ] to * * * sir,-- through the stupidity of my housekeeper your mother was recently sent away from my house, without my having been informed of her visit. i highly disapprove of such incivility, especially as the lady was not even shown into my apartments. the _rudeness_ and _coarseness_ of the persons whom i am so unfortunate as to have in my service are well known to every one; i therefore request your forgiveness. your obedient servant, l. v. beethoven. [footnote : in the new vienna _musik zeitung_ the occasion of this note is thus related:--"in , a well-known artist and _dilettante_ in the composition of music published a book of waltzes, each of these being composed by the most popular and celebrated musicians of the day; as no one declined giving a musical contribution to the editor, the profits being intended to enable him to go to carlsbad for the benefit of the waters there. the work met with unusual support and sympathy. it then occurred to the editor to apply for a contribution to the great ludwig van beethoven, with whom he had been acquainted in former days through his father and grandfather. the great musician at once, in the most gracious and amiable manner, promised to comply with the request, and sent him not only a waltz, but (the only one who did so) also a trio, desiring the editor to send in the course of a month for these works, which would by that time be completed. as the editor was in the mean time taken ill, he was not able to call for the work himself, and was thus obliged to give up this interesting visit. he therefore requested his mother to apply for the waltz, &c., and to express his thanks; but the housekeeper, to whom she gave her name, refused to admit her, saying she could not do so, 'for her master was in such a crazy mood.' as at this very moment beethoven chanced to put his head in at the door, she hurried the lady into a dark room, saying, 'hide yourself, as it is quite impossible that anyone can speak to him to-day,' getting out of the way herself as fast as she could. a couple of days afterwards beethoven sent the waltz, &c., to the house of the musical editor in question, with the above letter."] . to f. ries. vienna, april , . my dear good ries,-- i write only what is most pressing! so far as i can remember in the score of the symphony [the th] that i sent you, in the first hautboy, d bar, there stands [music: f e d] instead of [music: f e e]. i have carefully revised all the instrumental parts, but those of the brass instruments only partially, though i believe they are tolerably correct. i would already have sent you my score [for performance at the aix musical festival], but i have still a concert in prospect, if indeed my health admits of it, and this ms. is the only score i possess. i must now soon go to the country, as this is the only season when i profit by it. you will shortly receive the second copy of the "opferlied;" mark it at once as corrected by myself, that it may not be used along with the one you already possess. it is a fine specimen of the wretched copyists i have had since schlemmer's death. it is scarcely possible to rely on a single note. as you have now got all the parts of the _finale_ of the symphony copied out, i have likewise sent you the score of the choral parts. you can easily score these before the chorus commences, and when the vocal parts begin, it could be contrived, with a little management, to affix the instrumental parts just above the scored vocal parts. it was impossible for me to write all these out at once, and if we had hurried such a copyist, you would have got nothing but mistakes. i send you an overture in c, / time, not yet published; you shall have the engraved parts by the next post. a _kyrie_ and _gloria_, two of the principal movements (of the solemn mass in d major), and an italian vocal duet, are also on their way to you. you will likewise receive a grand march with chorus, well adapted for a musical performance on a great scale, but i think you will find what i have already sent quite sufficient. farewell! you are now in the regions of the rhine [ries at that time lived at godesberg, near bonn], which will ever be so dear to me! i wish you and your wife every good that life can bestow! my kindest and best regards to your father, from your friend, beethoven. . to herr jenger,--vienna.[ ] . my esteemed friend,-- it will give me much pleasure to send you some day soon the score of matthisson's "opferlied." the whole of it, published and unpublished, is quite at your service. would that my circumstances permitted me to place at once at your disposal the greater works i have written, before they have been heard. i am, alas! fettered on this point; but it is possible that such an opportunity may hereafter occur, when i shall not fail to take advantage of it. the enclosed letter is for hofrath v. kiesewetter. i beg you will be so good as to deliver it, especially as it concerns yourself quite as much as the herr hofrath. i am, with high esteem, your devoted friend, beethoven. [footnote : this note is addressed to jenger in vienna, a chancery official and a musical amateur, connoisseur, factotum, and distinguished pianist. the date is not known. the _opferlied_ he refers to, is undoubtedly the d arrangement, op. -b, which according to the leipzig _a.m. zeitung_ was performed as beethoven's "most recent poetical and musical work," at the concert in the royal redoutensaal, april , .] . to schott. i have much pleasure in herewith contributing to the "cecilia"[ ] and its readers some canons written by me, as a supplement to a humorous and romantic biography of herr tobias haslinger residing here, which is shortly to appear in three parts. in the _first_ part, tobias appears as the assistant of the celebrated and solid kapellmeister fux, holding the ladder for his _gradus ad parnassum_. being, however, mischievously inclined, he contrives, by shaking and moving the ladder, to cause many who had already climbed up a long way, suddenly to fall down, and break their necks. he now takes leave of this earthly clod and comes to light again in the _second_ part in the time of albrechtsberger. the already existing fux, _nota cambiata_, is now dealt with in conjunction with albrechtsberger. the alternating subjects of the canon are most fully illustrated. the art of creating musical skeletons is carried to the utmost limit, &c. tobias begins once more to spin his web as a caterpillar, and comes forth again in the _third_ part, making his third appearance in the world. his half-fledged wings bear him quickly to the paternostergässel, of which he becomes the kapellmeister. having emerged from the school of the _nota cambiata_, he retains only the _cambiata_ and becomes a member of several learned societies, &c. but here are the canons. on a certain person of the name of schwencke.[ ] [music: treble clef, key of f major, / time. schwen-ke dich, schwen-ke dich oh-ne schwän-ke, oh-ne schwän-ke, oh-ne schwän-ke, oh-ne schwän-ke ÷ ÷ ÷ ÷ ÷ schwen-ke dich, schwen-ke dich, schwen-ke dich ÷ ÷ ÷ ÷ ÷ ÷ ÷ ÷ ÷ ÷] on a certain person of the name of hoffmann. [music: treble clef, key of c, / time. hoff-mann! hoff-mann! sei ja kein hof-mann! ja kein hof-mann! nein, nein ÷ nein ÷ ÷ ÷ ich hei-ße hoff-mann und bin kein hof-mann] ludwig van beethoven. [footnote : a periodical published for the musical world, and edited by a society of _savants_, art-critics, and artists; mayence, b. schott & sons. the publishers applied to beethoven, in the name of the editors, for a contribution to the _cecilia_.] [footnote : it appears that kapellmeister schwencke in hamburg, in many complimentary and flowery phrases, had requested beethoven to send him his autograph. perhaps beethoven, to whom the sound of certain names appeared comical, alludes here to this hamburg kapellmeister schwencke.] . to ludwig rellstab. may , . as i was just starting for the country yesterday, i was obliged to make some preparations myself; so unluckily your visit to me was in vain. forgive me in consideration of my very delicate health. as perhaps i may not see you again, i wish you every possible prosperity. think of me when writing your poems. your friend, beethoven. convey my affectionate regards and esteem to zelter,--that faithful prop of true art. though convalescent, i still feel very weak. kindly accept the following token of remembrance from your friend, beethoven. [music: treble clef, c-major. das schö-ne mit dem guten.] . to * * * vienna. sir,-- being on the point of going into the country, and only very recently recovered from an attack of internal inflammation, i can merely write you a few words. in the passage in the "opferlied," d strophe, where it runs thus:-- [music: c-clef on bottom line, a major, marked "solostimme". e-rde.] i wish it to be written thus:-- [music: e-rde. (with different notes)] . to his brother johann. baden, may , . the bell and bell-pulls, &c., &c., are on no account whatever to be left in my former lodging. no proposal was ever made to these people to take any of my things. indisposition prevented my sending for it, and the locksmith had not come during my stay to take down the bell; otherwise it might have been at once removed and sent to me in town, as they have no right whatever to retain it. be this as it may, i am quite determined not to leave the bell there, for i require one here, and therefore intend to use the one in question for my purpose, as a similar one would cost me twice as much as in vienna, bell-pulls being the most expensive things locksmiths have. if necessary, apply at once to the police. the window in my room is precisely in the same state as when i took possession, but i am willing to pay for it, and also for the one in the kitchen,-- florins kreutzers for the two. the key i will not pay for, as i found none; on the contrary, the door was fastened or nailed up when i came, and remained in the same condition till i left; there never was a key, so of course neither i myself, nor those who preceded me, could make use of one. perhaps it is intended to make a collection, in which case i am willing to put my hand in my pocket. ludwig van beethoven. . to herr von schlemmer.[ ] sir,-- it strikes me as very remarkable that carl cannot be persuaded to go into good society, where he might amuse himself in a creditable manner. this almost leads me to suspect that he possibly finds recreations, both in the evening and at night, in less respectable company. i entreat you to be on your guard as to this, and on no pretext whatever to allow him to leave the house at night, unless you receive a written request from me to that effect, by carl. he once paid a visit, with my sanction, to herr hofrath breuning. i strongly recommend this matter to your attention; it is far from being indifferent, either to you or to me; so i would once more urge you to practise the greatest vigilance. i am, sir, your obedient beethoven. [footnote : in , his nephew lived with schlemmer in the alleengasse, close to the karlskirche.] . to his nephew. frau schlemmer is to receive, or has already received, her money by our housekeeper. some letters must be written to-morrow. let me know what time would suit you best? your uncle. i left my pocket-handkerchief with you. .[ ] my dear son,-- i have this moment got your letter. i still feel very weak and solitary, and only read the horrid letter i enclose! i send you florins to buy the books at once, and you can spend the surplus when you require to do so. pray bring me back reisser's note.[ ] on saturday, the th of may, i will send a carriage into town to fetch you here; the charge is as yet very reasonable. the old woman is to inquire what hour will suit you best; you can set off at any time before six in the evening, so that you need neglect nothing. perhaps i may come myself, and then your shirts might be purchased; in which case it would be as well if you were to be at liberty by four o'clock; but if i do not come, which is very possible, drive straight here at five or six o'clock in the evening. you will not thus feel so much fatigued, and you can leave this again on monday, if nothing is neglected by the delay. you can take the money with you for the correpetitor. are you aware that this affair of the correpetitor, including board and lodging, amounts to florins a year? i can write no more to-day, i can scarcely guide my pen. show this letter to reisser. your affectionate father. [footnote : i have arranged the following notes to his nephew in their probable succession as to time. schindler has given some of these in his _biography_, but quite at random, and disjointed, without any reliable chronological order.] [footnote : reisser was vice-director of the polytechnic institution, where the nephew had been placed for some time. reisser had also undertaken the office of his co-guardian. beethoven sometimes writes _reissig_.] . to dr. braunhofer. baden, may , . my esteemed friend,-- _doctor._ "how does our patient get on?" _patient._ "still in a bad way, feeling weak and irritable, and i think that at last we must have recourse to stronger medicines, and yet not too violent; surely i might now drink white wine with water, for that deleterious beer is quite detestable. my catarrhal condition is indicated by the following symptoms. i spit a good deal of blood, though probably only from the windpipe. i have constant bleeding from the nose, which has been often the case this winter. there can be no doubt that my digestion is terribly weakened, and in fact my whole system, and, so far as i know my own constitution, my strength will never be recruited by its natural powers." _doctor._ "i will prescribe for you, and soon, very soon, shall your health be restored." _patient._ "how glad i should be to sit down at my writing-table, with some cheerful companions. reflect on this proposal." _finis._ p.s. i will call on you as soon as i come to town, only tell carl at what hour i am likely to see you. it would be a good plan to give carl directions what i am to do. (i took the medicine only once, and have lost it.) i am, with esteem and gratitude, your friend, beethoven. [music: treble clef, c major, / time. doctor sperrt das thor dem todt: rote hilft auch aus der roth. doctor sperrt das thor dem todt: rote hilft auch aus der roth.] written on may th, , in baden, helenenthal, second floor, anton's-brücke, near siechenfeld. . to his nephew. baden, may . my dear son,-- the weather here is abominable, and the cold greater even than yesterday; so much so that i have scarcely the use of my fingers to write; this is the case, however, only in the mountains, and more especially in baden. i forgot the chocolate to-day, and am sorry to be obliged to trouble you about it, but all will go better soon. i enclose you florins, to which you must add kreutzers; send it if possible with the post in the afternoon; otherwise i shall have none the day after to-morrow; the people of the house will assist you in this. may god bless you! i begin to write again very tolerably; still, in this most dreary, cold stormy weather, it is almost impossible to have any clear conceptions. now as ever, your good and loving father. . to his nephew. noon, o'clock. my dear son,-- i merely wish to let you know that the old woman is not yet returned,--why, i cannot tell. inquire immediately at höbel's in the kothgasse, whether the höbel who belongs to this place set off from vienna to baden? it is really so distressing to me to depend on such people, that if life did not possess higher charms, it would be utterly insupportable in my eyes. you no doubt got my yesterday's letter, and the florins for the chocolate. i shall be obliged to drink coffee to-morrow; perhaps after all it is better for me than chocolate, as the prescriptions of this b. [braunhofer] have been repeatedly wrong. indeed he seems to me very ignorant, and a blockhead into the bargain; he must have known about the asparagus. having dined at the inn to-day, i have a threatening of diarrhoea. i have no more white wine, so i must get it from the inn, and such wine too! for which, however, i pay florins! two days ago the old woman wrote to me that she wished to end her days in an alms-house; perhaps she will not return to me; so be it in god's name! she will always be a wicked old woman. she ought to make arrangements with the person whom she knows of. she wrote to me in a very different strain from that in which she spoke to you on sunday, and said "that the people refused to give up the bell-pull." who knows whether she may not have some interest in the matter? she went into town yesterday at six o'clock, and i begged her to make haste back here this forenoon; if she still comes, i must go to town the day after to-morrow. leave a written message to say when i am to see you.... write me a few lines immediately. how much i regret troubling you, but you must see that i cannot do otherwise.... your attached father. how distressing to be in such a state here! to herr carl van beethoven, vienna, alleengasse , karlskirche, ter Étage, at herr schlemmer's. . to his nephew. my dear son,-- i sent for the cabinet-maker to-day with the old--witch--to asinanius'[ ] house. don't forget the paintings, and the things sent in last summer; at all events look for them. i may perhaps come on saturday; if not, you must come to me on sunday. may god watch over you, my dear son. your attached father. i cannot write much. send me a few words.[ ] [footnote : it was thus beethoven named his _pseudo_-brother.] [footnote : underneath is written in pencil by another hand, "i shall be at the usual place at three o'clock, _s'il vous plait_." the whole appears to be afterwards stroked out.] . to his nephew. do send the chocolate at last by the old woman. if ramler is not already engaged, he may perhaps drive her over. i become daily thinner, and feel far from well; and no physician, no sympathizing friends! if you can possibly come on sunday, pray do so; but i have no wish to deprive you of any pleasure, were i only sure that you would spend your sunday properly away from me. i must strive to wean myself from everything; if i were only secure that my great sacrifices would bring forth worthy fruits! your attached father. . to his nephew. wednesday, may . my dear son,-- the old woman is just come, so you need be under no uneasiness; study assiduously and rise early, as various things may occur to you in the morning, which you could do for me. it cannot be otherwise than becoming in a youth, now in his nineteenth year, to combine his duties towards his benefactor and foster-father with those of his education and progress. i fulfilled my obligations towards my own parents. in haste, your attached father. the old bell-pull is here. the date of my letter is wrong; it is not may the th, but the th. . to his nephew. may . ask the house agent about a lodging in the landstrasse, ungargasse, no. , adjoining the bräuhaus,--four rooms and a kitchen, commanding a view of the adjacent gardens. i hear there are various others too in the hauptstrasse. give a gulden to the house agent in the ungargasse, to promise me the refusal of the lodgings till saturday, when, if the weather is not too bad, i mean to come on to fetch you. we must decide to-morrow whether it is to be hired from michaelmas or now. if i do come on saturday, take care that i find you at home. your attached father. . to his nephew. say everything that is kind and amiable from me to my esteemed fellow-guardian, dr. v. reissig; i feel still too feeble to write to him myself. i hope he will not object to your coming to me here every saturday evening. you are well aware that i _never abused_ such a permission when you were at blöchlinger's [see no. ]. besides, i feel sure of your intercession _in support of my request_. your attached father, beethoven. . to his nephew. baden, may . i have been assured, though as yet it is only a matter of conjecture, that a clandestine intercourse has been renewed between your mother and yourself. am i doomed again to experience such detestable ingratitude? no! if the tie is to be severed, so be it! by such ingratitude you will incur the hatred of all impartial persons. the expressions my brother made use of yesterday before dr. reissig (as he says); and your own with respect to schönauer (who is naturally adverse to me, the judgment of the court being the _exact reverse of what he desired_), were such, that i will not mix myself up with such shameful doings! no! never more! if you find the _pactum_ oppressive, then, in god's name, i resign you to his holy keeping! i have done my part, and on this score i do not dread appearing before the highest of all judges. do not be afraid to come to me to-morrow; as yet i only _suspect_; god grant that those suspicions _may not prove true_, for to you it would be an incalculable misfortune, with whatever levity my rascally brother, and perhaps your mother also, may treat the matter to the old woman. i shall expect you without fail. . to his nephew. baden, may , . my dear son,-- i intend to come to town on saturday, and to return here either on sunday evening, or early on monday. i beg you will therefore ask dr. bach [advocate] at what hour i can see him, and also fetch the key from brother bäcker's [a brother-in-law of johann beethoven's], to see whether in the room inhabited by my unbrotherly brother, the arrangements are such that i can stay a night there; and if there is clean linen, &c., &c. as thursday is a holiday, and it is unlikely that you will come here (indeed i do not desire that you should), you may easily execute these two commissions for me. you can let me know the result when i arrive on saturday. i don't send you money, for if you want any, you can borrow a gulden at home. moderation is necessary for young people, and you do not appear to pay sufficient attention to this, as you had _money without my knowledge, nor do i yet know whence it came_. fine doings! it is not advisable that you should go to the theatre at _present_, on account of the distraction it causes. the florins procured by dr. reissig, i will pay off by instalments, punctually every month. so enough of this! misled as you have been, it would be no bad thing were you at length to cultivate _simplicity and truth_, for my heart has been so deeply wounded by your deceitful conduct, that it is difficult to forget it. even were i disposed to submit like an ox to so hard a yoke without murmuring, if you pursue the same course towards others, you will never succeed in gaining the love of any one. as god is my witness, i can think of nothing but you, and my contemptible brother, and the detestable family that i am afflicted with. may god vouchsafe to listen to my prayer, for _never_ again can i trust you! your father, alas! yet fortunately not your father. . to his nephew. baden, june , . i wish you at least to come here on sundays. in vain do i ask for an answer. god help you and me! as ever, your attached father. i have written to herr v. reissig to desire you to come here on sundays. the _calèche_ leaves his house at six o'clock, from the _kugel, auf der wieden_. you have only to work and study a little in advance, to lose nothing. i regret being obliged to cause you this annoyance; you are to return the same afternoon at five o'clock, with the _calèche_. your place is already paid for; you can shave here in the morning, and a shirt and neckcloth will be ready for you, so that you may arrive at the right time. farewell. if i reproach you it is not without good cause, and it would be hard to have sacrificed so much, merely to bestow a _commonplace man_ on the world. i hope to see you without fail. if the intrigues are already matured, say so frankly (and naturally), and you will find one who will always be true to the good cause. the lodging a. was again advertised in the paper on tuesday; could you not have arranged about this? you might at all events have done so through some one else, or by writing, if you were at all indisposed. i should much prefer not moving, if i were not compelled to do so. you know my mode of living here, and it is far worse in this cold stormy weather. my continued solitude only still further enfeebles me, and really my weakness often amounts to a swoon. oh! do not further grieve me, for the scythe of death will grant me no long delay! if i could find a good lodging in the alleengasse, i would at once engage it. . tuesday morning. my dear son,-- the two patterns, one placed at the top and the other below, each florins, seem to me the best; the landlord can advise you. for the trousers -- - / . i enclose florins w.w. kreutzers. give me an exact account of how you spend this money, for it was hard to earn; still it is not worth while, for the sake of a florin a yard, not to select the best material; so choose, or get some one to choose for you, the best of the two at florins. order the highest quality for your trousers also; remember you ought never to wear your best clothes at home; no matter who comes, you need never be well dressed in the house.[ ] the moment you come home change your good clothes, and be at your ease in those set aside for the purpose. farewell. your attached father. p.s. the creature went off yesterday and has not returned; we shall see how this turns out. the old beast was determined to be off, being like a restless wild animal devoid of purpose or reason. may heaven have pity on me! the new cooking began yesterday. [footnote : see weber's narrative in his _biography_, vol. ii. . "the square cyclopean figure was attired in a shabby coat with torn sleeves."] . to his nephew. baden, june . my dear son,-- i hope you received the florins kreutzers. if you wish to order trousers of the same cloth, do so. you probably chose that at florins, and on such occasions the best quality should not be rejected for the sake of a couple of florins. you may also order two pairs of trousers of the gray cloth. you must let me know the amount of the tailor's bill, &c., &c., which shall be paid by me. "let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth." such is the sentiment of noble-minded men. you have, alas! only yourself to blame for my being forced to draw your attention to this. do not forget to call on riess (??). may aurora not only awaken you but speed your industry. now for my every-day household matters. the maid came indeed, but is not to remain; in the mean time i have spoken pretty plainly to the old woman, _so far_ as it is possible to speak to such people. but let us say no more of all this bedevilment. my brother _asinanio_ has written to me. what i find most trying of all is being alone at dinner, and it is really surprising that i can write to you even tolerably from here. possibly i may come to town on saturday, and if so you will perhaps drive out here with me at six o'clock in the evening? now farewell, my darling! deserve this name. retain what money you require; anything you want shall be purchased for you when i come in. i embrace you, and hope you will be my good, studious, noble son. now as ever, your attached father. i should like to know that you received the money safely. did the correpetitor come? . to his nephew. my dear son,-- i send you herewith the florins. get a written receipt from the landlady to prevent all mistakes afterwards; this is the invariable custom with those still under the control of guardians. my wafers are done; cannot you manage to send me a box in some way or other? acknowledge the receipt of the money at once. god bless you! do all you possibly can to rid me of that old demon. do not involve yourself in any clandestine doings with my brother; above all do nothing clandestine towards me; towards your attached father. goodnight. farewell! farewell! the old witch and satan and i?! . to his nephew. i rejoice, my dear son, that you take pleasure in this new sphere, and such being the case you must zealously strive to acquire what is necessary for it. i did not recognize your writing; i indeed look only to the _sense_ and _meaning_, but you must now attain some outward elegance also. if it is too hard a task for you to come here, give it up; but if you can by any possibility do so, i shall rejoice in my desert home to have a feeling heart near me. if you do come, the housekeeper will settle that you leave vienna at five o'clock, which leaves you ample time for your studies. i embrace you cordially. your attached father. p.s. don't forget to bring the "morgenblatt" and ries's letter.[ ] [footnote : a letter from ries of this date, in the _fischhof'sche handschrift_, is of sufficient interest to be given here at full length:-- godesberg, june , . dearest beethoven,--i returned a few days ago from aix-la-chapelle, and feel the greatest pleasure in telling you that your new symphony [the th] was executed with the most extraordinary precision, and received with the greatest applause. it was a hard nut to crack, and the last day i rehearsed the _finale_ alone for three hours; but i in particular, and all the others, were fully rewarded by the performance. it is a work beside which no other can stand, and had you written nothing but this you would have gained immortality. whither will you lead us? as it will interest you to hear something of the performance, i will now briefly describe it. the orchestra and choruses consisted of persons, and many very distinguished people among them. the first day commenced with a new symphony of mine, and afterwards handel's _alexander's feast_. the second day began with your new symphony, followed by the _davide penitente_ of mozart, the overture to the _flaute magico_, and the _mount of olives_. the applause of the public was almost terrific. i had been in aix-la-chapelle from the d of may on purpose to conduct the rehearsals, and as a mark of the satisfaction and enthusiasm of the public, i was called forward at the close of the performance, when an ode and a laurel crown were presented to me by a lady (a very pretty one too), and at the same moment another poem and a shower of flowers followed from the upper boxes. all was pleasure and contentment, and every one says that this is the finest of the seven whitsuntide festivals held here. i cannot sufficiently lament that your other music arrived too late to make use of it. it was indeed utterly impossible to do so. i herewith send you, my dear friend, a check for louis d'or on heppenmayer & co. in vienna, according to our agreement, and beg you will acknowledge the receipt, that i may settle everything relating to aix-la-chapelle. i am glad that you have not accepted any engagement in england. if you choose to reside there, you must previously take measures to ensure your finding your account in it. from the theatre alone rossini got £ . if the english wish to do anything at all remarkable for you, they must combine, so that it may be well worth your while to go there. you are sure to receive enough of applause, and marks of homage, but you have had plenty of these during your whole life. may all happiness attend you. dear beethoven, yours ever, ferdinand ries.] . to his nephew. baden, june , . my dear son,-- as in this heat you may perhaps wish to bathe, i send you two more florins. you must be careful to take a written receipt from those to whom you pay money; for that errors do occur is proved by the blue cloth, and the three florins for the looking-glass. you are a thorough viennese, and although i do not expect you to become a w.w. (depreciated vienna currency), still it is no disgrace at your age to give an exact account of all that you receive, as no one is considered to be of age till five and twenty, and even if you had property of your own, you would be obliged to account for it to your guardian at your present years. let us not refer to the past; it would be easy to do so, but only cause me pain; at last it would come to this, "you are indeed a first-rate guardian," &c. if you had any depth of feeling you would have acted very differently in most things. now as to my domestic rabble; yesterday the kitchenmaid was off again and got a fresh place; the cause is difficult to discover from my old witch, who is now once more all smiles, and no longer persists in declaring that she has incurred any _loss_ from the weekly bills; what do you think of that? [the last page of this letter is an illegible fragment.] . to his nephew. baden. my dear good carl,-- i have just got your letter this evening, and could not help laughing at it. it was not right in the people at mayence to have acted thus, but since the thing has occurred, it does not signify. our epoch requires strong minds to scourge those frivolous, contemptible, malicious beings, repulsive as it is to my feelings to cause pain to any man. besides, i intended a mere jest, and it was far from my intention to let such a thing be printed.[ ] you must ascertain instantly from a magistrate the proper mode of converting the bank obligations into rothschild's austrian loan, that you may get the authority from a magistrate (not from the _court_ of those _pseudo_-guardians!) be good and honest; you have here an instance how people rejoice when such men are properly estimated. be my own dear precious son, and imitate my virtues, but not my faults; still, though man is frail, do not at least have worse defects than those of your sincere and fondly attached father. write to me about the conversation on sunday--it is of the _court, courtly_, so you must be on your guard. holz did not come to-day; whether he is trustworthy i cannot say. [footnote : there is no doubt that he alludes to the severe castigation of haslinger in no. and the _canonization_ of the two others. see also no. , which shows that there was something amiss with haslinger.] . to his nephew. to-day is friday, to-morrow saturday. here comes _satanas_. to-day her raging fury and madness have somewhat subsided, but if she applies to you, refer her to me the day after to-morrow. during the whole week i was forced to submit and to suffer like a saint. avaunt! such dregs of the people! what a reproach to our civilization to stand in need of a class like this, and to have those whom we despise so constantly near us. go with her to-morrow as formerly to the carolin thor about the seltzer water; if the small bottles are as genuine as the larger ones, order some of them, but i think the larger size are more likely to be the _safest_; _ce dépend de votre esprit, votre distinction_, &c. now farewell, my dear son; take care to get me the genuine, and _not_ the artificial seltzer water, and go yourself to see about it, or i might get heaven knows what! farewell again, my good fellow; we are well affected towards you, and shall expect you the day after to-morrow at eight o'clock. breakfast shall be ready for you, if that early meal does not become as usual a late meal. _ah! au diable avec ces grands coquins de neveux, allez-vous en, soyez mon fils, mon fils bien aimé. adieu; je vous baise, votre père sincère comme toujours._ . to his nephew. the old goose is the bearer of this. she has given you the quills, and you have again told an untruth. alas! farewell. i await your report about the book. she is going to-day to katel, so she will have very little time for her stupid blundering. may the lord one day deliver me from her! _libera me domine de illis_, &c. .[ ] dear son, dear boy,-- do not omit the point about "the happiness." i know from my experience of the late lichnowsky, that those so-called great personages do not like to see an artist, who is at all events their equal, prosperous. _voilà le même cas, votre altesse_, sometimes in the context v.a. the address "à son altesse monseigneur le prince," &c., &c. we cannot tell whether he may have that weakness or not. a blank sheet ought to follow with my signature. you might add that he must not regard the newspaper trash, the writers of which, if i chose, would loudly trumpet forth my merits. the quartet did indeed fail the first time that it was played by schuppanzigh; for on account of his corpulence he requires more time than formerly to decipher a piece at a glance, and many other circumstances concurred in preventing its success, which were indeed predicted by me; for although schuppanzigh and two others receive pensions from royal personages [rasumowsky], their quartet-playing is not what it was when all four were in the habit of constantly playing together. on the other hand, it has been six times performed in the most admirable manner by other artists, and received with the greatest applause; it was played twice over in one evening, and then again after supper. a violinist of the name of böhm means also to give it at his benefit, and i must now let many others have it. mention the grand quartet in your letter to peters at leipzig; lose no time about this, and desire him to send me an early reply. mischances of this kind cannot well be avoided, and we must appear rather coy. seal the enclosed letter to my brother and send it to the post. desire the tailor in the kärntnerstrasse to get lining for trousers for me, and to make them long and without straps, one pair to be of kerseymere and the other of cloth. the great-coat can be fetched from wolf's. the shoemaker's shop is in the "stadt" in the spiegelgasse, in front when coming from the graben. his name is magnus senn, at the stadthaus, no. . call on hönigstein [a banker] and be _candid_, that we may really know _how this wretch has acted_; it would be wise to ascertain this before the letter to galitzin is sent off. it is probable that something else may be found for you this winter, but we can talk over the matter. before coming here on saturday call on zinbrachen in the naglergasse about the knives, which you can send at once; the old woman made a fine mess of it! when driving home yesterday i met clement, holz, linke, and rtschaschek [rzehatschek] in neudorf; they had all been to call on me while i was in town. they wish to have the quartet again. holz drove straight back here from neudorf and supped with me in the evening, when i gave him the quartet to take back with him. the attachment of genuine artists is not to be despised, and cannot be otherwise than gratifying. let me hear from you as soon as you have spoken with hönigstein; write the dedication of the overture in c [op. ] to galitzin. if the h.'s undertake to forward it, give it to them, but look sharp about it. god be with you, my dear son; i shall expect a letter from you without fail. may god bless you and me. the end must soon come of your attached father. good-by, you scamp! n.b. do not forget in your letter to galitzin to mention that the overture is already announced and about to appear, engraved and dedicated to him. [footnote : he refers to prince boris gallizin and the quartets he had ordered. the production of the first of them in e flat major had been a failure. see no. .] . to his nephew. my dear son,-- send this letter at once to my _pseudo_-brother, and add something yourself. it is impossible to permit this to continue any longer; no soup to-day, no beef, no eggs, and at last _broiled meat_ from the inn! when holz was with me lately, there was really almost nothing to eat at supper; and such is the woman's bold and insolent behavior, that i have told her to-day i will not suffer her to remain beyond the end of the month. no more to-day. all that is necessary about the magistrate is for me to write a note authorizing you to draw the money, but it would be as well were you to take the opportunity of asking what you are to do about converting the bank shares into a share in rothschild's loan. i shall say nothing further, except that i always look on you as my dear son, and one who deserves to be so. _little_ as i require what nourishes the body, as you know, still the present state of things is really too bad, besides being every moment in danger of being poisoned. farewell! be careful, my dear son, of your health in this heat; i trust you will continue well. shun all that may enervate or diminish your youthful energies. farewell! a pleasant talk together would be far better than all this writing. ever your loving and attached father, who fondly presses you to his heart. . to his nephew. my dear son,-- the enclosed will show you all. write this letter to schlesinger. to ---- schlesinger, berlin, emporium of art and science. you can couch some things in better terms. i think we may calculate on ducats. if indispensable, delay the letter to galitzin, but be sure to dispatch the one to schlesinger on saturday. i suppose you received the packet? i beg you will bring me some shaving-soap, and at least one pair of razors; the man who grinds them gets florins. you will know if anything is to be paid. now pray practise economy, for you certainly receive too much money. all in vain--a viennese will always be a viennese! i rejoiced when i could assist my poor parents; what a contrast are you in your conduct towards me! thriftless boy, farewell! your attached father. bring the newspaper with you. you have a great deal to do this time. you no doubt will write before sunday. do not flatter that wretch ----. he is a miserable, weak-minded fellow. i embrace you. my health is _no better_. . to his brother johann,--gneixendorf. baden, july , . my worthy brother,-- as you have taken such good care of the book, i beg you will take equal care that it be returned to the proprietor here. another pretty business! as to your wish that i should come to see you, i long ago fully explained myself on that point; so i request that you will never again allude to the subject, for you will find me as immovable as ever. pray spare me all details, as i am unwilling to repeat what is disagreeable. you are happy, and it is my desire that you should be so; continue thus, for every one is best _in his own sphere_. i only once made use of your lodgings, but the baking-oven nearly made me ill, so i did not go again; as i have now a lodging of my own, it is not probable that i shall even _once_ make use of the room you offer me. when you write, be sure to _seal_ your letters, and address them to the care of carl, in vienna, as such letters cost a great deal here. i once more urge you to restore the book belonging to the machinist, _an dem graben_, for such occurrences are really almost incredible, and place me in no small embarrassment. so the book! the book! to be sent to carl in vienna with all possible haste and speed. farewell, most worthy brother! yours, ludwig. . to his nephew. baden, july . my dear son,-- in your letter to schlesinger don't forget to ask whether prince radziwill is in berlin. as to the ducats, you can also write that they may be paid in _conventionsgulden_, at only florins kreutzers to the ducat; but i leave this entirely to yourself, though gold ducats would not be too much from one who has the right of publishing in england and also in france. you must be quite decided too with respect to the four months' bill. a. mayseder receives ducats for a set of violin variations! do not fail to call attention to the fact that my bad health and other circumstances constrain me to look more closely after my interests than formerly. bargaining is odious to me, but it must be so! what are my feelings when i find myself thus alone among these men! be sure to forward my letter to my brother, that the book may be restored--what a trick! i should have liked, too, to do all i could to benefit my hearing, and here i should have had time to do so. how melancholy to have such a brother! alas! alas! farewell! i embrace you from my heart. your attached father. p.s. do not be dilatory, and rise early. if you would rather not, pray do not come on sunday; but at all events write, though not at present, for if you can come we can discuss all matters together. . to his nephew. baden, july , monday. my dear son,-- you will see from the enclosure all that you wish to know; only observe _moderation_. fortune crowns my efforts, but do not lay the foundation of misery by mistaken notions; be truthful and exact in the account of your expenses, and give up the theatre for the present. follow the advice of your guide and father; be counselled by him whose exertions and aspirations have always been directed to your moral welfare, though without neglecting your temporal benefit. this herr thal will call on you, and he will also be at herr hönigstein's; you can give him the overture if you think fit. he is to stay three weeks. you may invite him to dine here. sunday would be best, as a certain scamp comes on that day at an early hour, in a carriage that i will send for him. pray show some amiability of manner towards this man; art and science form a link between the noblest spirits, and your future vocation[ ] by no means exempts you from this. you might take a _fiacre_ and drive to the copyist's if you can spare time. with respect to the transcription of the quartet, you may tell him that i write very differently now, much more legibly than during my illness; this quartet must be written out twice, and i can send it at once. i have had the offer of a copyist here, but i don't know what he can do. i should be careful not to be too confidential at first with the _holz christi_, or the splinter of the _holz christi_. write to me forthwith. perhaps the old goose may go to vienna the day after to-morrow. farewell! attend to my advice. your attached father, who cordially embraces you. you may possibly go to d---- with this herr thal; do not, however, show too much anxiety about the money. [footnote : the nephew had now resolved on a commercial career, and on this account entered the polytechnic institution.] . to his nephew. my dear son,-- so let it be! bring g----'s letter with you, for i have scarcely read it myself. my _signor fratello_ came the day before yesterday with his brother-in-law [see no. ]--what a contemptible fellow! the old witch, who went almost crazy again yesterday, will bring you the answer about the book from his brother-in-law. if it does not convey a positive certainty on the subject, send this letter at once to the base creature! when cato exclaimed, with regard to caesar, "this man and myself!" what can be done in such a case? i don't send the letter, for it will be time enough a couple of days hence. it is too late to-day. i impress my love, as with a seal, on your affectionate attachment to me. if you are likely to miss your work by coming here, then stay where you are. as ever, your loving and anxious father. three times over: ________________ |: come soon! :| . to the copyist.[ ] read _violino do_--the passage in the first _allegretto_ in the st violin--thus:-- [music: treble clef, sixteenth notes.] &c. so write it in this way; in the first _allegretto_, mark the signs of expression in all the four parts: [music: treble and bass clefs.] the notes are all right; so do not misunderstand me. now, my good friend, as to your mode of writing--_obbligatissimo_; but the signs [music: piano crescendo decrescendo] &c., are shamefully neglected, and often, very often, in the wrong place, which is no doubt owing to haste. for heaven's sake impress on kempel [a copyist] to copy everything just as it stands; look carefully over my present corrections, and you will find all that you have to say to him. when [music: staccato mark] is put over a note, [music: staccatissimo mark] is not to take its place, and _vice versa_. it is not the same thing to write [music: three staccatissimo quarter notes] and [music: three staccato quarter notes]. the [music: crescendo] are often purposely placed after the notes. for instance:--[music: three notes, decrescendo on second note]. the ties to be just as they are now placed. it is not synonymous to write [music: three notes, slurred] or thus [music: three notes, slur over first two notes]. such is our will and pleasure! i have passed no less than the whole forenoon to-day, and yesterday afternoon, in correcting these two pieces, and i am actually quite hoarse from stamping and swearing. in haste, yours, beethoven. pray excuse me for to-day, as it is just four o'clock. [the close of this letter has not been deciphered by its possessor, who has traced over the hieroglyphics with a pencil; it reads somewhat to this effect, "to go to carl at four o'clock. we were much amused," &c.] [footnote : this letter is evidently written about the same time that the copying of the a minor quartet (op. ) took place, of which the letter treats, and is probably "the enclosure" named in the following note. the corrections, or we ought rather to say revisions, of beethoven, are all fully and accurately reproduced, at all events in breitkopf & härtel's edition.] . to his nephew. tuesday, august . my dear son,-- send the enclosed to-morrow morning (wednesday) to the post; as it refers to corrections, _haste is absolutely necessary_. we must have done with this evil old creature! i have scarcely enough to eat, and am forced also to endure the sauciness and insolence of this most malicious old witch--and with such wages too! i think i must ask my _pseudo_-brother to come, and would be glad to engage again the woman from winter's, in the kothgasse, who at least knew how to cook. write me a few lines to-morrow, and direct here. i send you another florin. do not neglect your bathing; continue well, and guard against _illness_. spend your money _on good objects alone_. be my dear son! what a frightful discord would it be, were you to prove _false_ to me, as many persons maintain that you already are! may god bless you! your attached father. n.b. send off the letter to-morrow (wednesday). i have heard nothing as yet of the knives, and my made pens also begin to fail. . to his nephew. baden, august my dear son,-- i am in mortal anxiety about the quartet--namely, the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth parts, that holz took away, while the first bars of the third movement have been left here; the number of these sheets is . _i hear nothing of holz._ i wrote to him yesterday, and he is not usually remiss in writing. what a sad business it will be if he has lost it! he drinks hard, _entre nous_. tranquillize me on this point as quickly as possible. you can find out linke's lodgings from haslinger; he was here to-day and very friendly, and brought some of the sheets and other things, and begged hard for the new quartets. never interfere in this kind of business; it can only lead to what is unpleasant. for heaven's sake pacify me about the quartet--a serious loss. the sketch is only written on small fragments of paper, and i could not manage to write out the whole exactly from these. your attached father. i must remind you that next sunday and monday are holidays, so that you may arrange accordingly. on this occasion you could perhaps, when i come in, return with me here on saturday evening, which would give you the whole of sunday morning to yourself. . to zmeskall. . my good friend,-- i had scarcely got home when i bethought me of the stuff i may have written yesterday. give the enclosed to kuhlau; you know all the rest. write to me as soon as possible, or come here, next thursday being a holiday, but write beforehand. ask if the cook understands anything about game, that she may take the command of my game preserves for me. as to carl, it would be better for him to tell me about it at the _atrapper_ at _rosen_. all this _prestissimo_! as for my friendship, think of me always as _cantum firmum_. farewell! ever your friend, beethoven. . to herr friedrich kuhlau. baden, september , . [music: alto clef, b-flat major, / time. kuhl nicht lau, nicht lau, kuhl nicht lau, kuh-lau nicht lau. kuhl nicht lau, kuhl nicht lau, nicht lau. kuhl nicht lau, kuhl nicht lau, kuhl nicht lau.] i must admit that the champagne went a little to my head yesterday, and i learned once more from experience, that such things rather prostrate than promote my energies; for, though able to respond fluently at the moment, still i can no longer recall what i wrote yesterday. sometimes bear in mind your attached beethoven. . to his nephew. september , . my dear son,-- i see perfectly well how troublesome it would be for you all to come here; we must therefore make an appointment to meet every friday at schlesinger's, when i will come to town; for, in case any thing goes amiss, i must be present. this is the best plan, and settles the affair. he was here yesterday, and said that he would pay for the quintet as soon as you sent it to him. it will be enough if they play the new one only, but you can judge what is best. if they prefer thursday, i can be present then. only see that they come to an arrangement as quickly as possible, so that the money may be transmitted to peters in leipzig, to whom, however, you must on no account allude. schlesinger scarcely expects to be still in vienna on sunday; haste is therefore necessary. the ducats must be in gold; mention, as a precedent, that others do this. be sure to write to me by the old woman to-day. all i want is a rehearsal, to see whether corrections are required. make no delays, and take care that the old woman sets off in good time. the best plan would be to fix where i am to come to in town every friday for rehearsals. if schlesinger has brought you the quartet (the first), pray stand on no ceremony, for it is clear he means to pay. your letter has this moment come. so holz is not to be here till thursday, and who can tell whether even this is certain? your letter changes everything, as friday is now decided on. holz can inform me whether we meet here or in vienna. our main point now is with schlesinger, for we must delay no longer. if he is only waiting for the rehearsal, he certainly shall not have it. he said yesterday that he would not publish the quartets here; i told him it was a matter of entire indifference to me. may god bless you and keep you! your attached father. . to his nephew. september. my dear son,-- do not forget to give tobias [haslinger] the receipt together with the money. the gentleman ought to have come a little sooner; but as the affair stands, you must do as he advises. i do not wish now that you should come to me on the th of september. it is better to finish your studies. god has never yet forsaken me, and no doubt some one will be found to close my eyes. the whole thing seems to me to have been some artful collusion, in which my brother (_pseudo_) has played a part. i also know that you have no pleasure now in coming to me--which is only natural, for my atmosphere is too pure for you. last sunday you again borrowed florin kreutzers from the housekeeper, from a mean old kitchen wench,--this was already forbidden,--and it is the same in all things. i could have gone on wearing the out-of-doors coat for two years--to be sure i have the shabby custom of putting on an old coat at home--but herr carl! what a disgrace it would be! and why should he do so? herr ludwig van beethoven's money-bags are expressly for this purpose. you had better not come next sunday, for true harmony and concord can never exist with conduct such as yours. why such hypocrisy? avoid it, and you will then become a better man, and not require to be deceitful nor untruthful, which will eventually benefit your moral character. such is the impression you have made on my mind--for what avail even the most gentle reproofs? they merely serve to embitter you. but do not be uneasy; i shall continue to _care for you_ as much as ever. _what feelings_ were aroused in me when i again found a florin and kreutzers charged in the bill! do not send any more such flimsy notes, for the housekeeper can see through them in the light. i have just received this letter from leipzig, but i don't mean to send the quartet yet; we can talk of this on sunday. three years ago i only asked ducats for a quartet; we must therefore refer to the exact words you have written. farewell! he who, though he did not give you life, has certainly provided for it, and above all striven to perfect your mental culture, and been more than a father to you, earnestly implores you to pursue steadily the only true path to all that is good and right. farewell! bring back the letter with you on sunday. your attached and kind father. . to herr von schlesinger. vienna, september , . [music: tenor clef, f major, / time. si non per por-tus, per mu-ros, per mu-ros, per mu-ros.] my worthy friend, i wish you the loveliest bride! and i take this opportunity of asking you to present my compliments to herr marx, in berlin, and beg him not to be too hard on me, and sometimes to allow me to slip out at the backdoor. yours, beethoven. . to his nephew. baden, october . my dear son,-- like the sage odysseus, i know the best course to take; if you come on saturday, you need not fear the cold, for a portion of the old window-shutters is still here, with which we can protect ourselves. i hope also to get rid of my cold and catarrh here; at the same time this place is a great risk in my rheumatic condition, for wind, or rather hurricanes, still prevail here. as to biedermann, you must inquire whether schlesinger gave him a commission; for if this be not the case, we ought to write at once to peters. you could scarcely write to me to-day, but i hope to hear from you to-morrow, and to see you positively on saturday. i wish you never may have cause to feel ashamed of your want of love for me; if i alone suffer, what matters it? i wish and hope that all the pretexts you made here to go into vienna may prove true. rest assured that you may at all times expect every possible kindness from me, but can i hope for the same from you? when you see me irritable, ascribe it solely to my great anxiety on your account, for you are exposed to many dangers. i hope at all events to get a letter from you to-morrow; do not cause me uneasiness, but think of my sufferings. i ought not, properly, to have any such apprehensions, but what sorrow have i not already experienced?! as ever, your attached father. remember that i am all alone here, and subject to sudden illness. [on the outside:] _n'oubliez pas de demander des quittances, et donnez-moi aussi vite que possible des nouvelles._ . to his nephew. my dear son,-- say no more! only come to my arms; not one harsh word shall you hear! for god's sake do not bring misery on your own head. you shall be received as lovingly as ever. we can discuss in a friendly manner what is to be done and settled as to the future. i pledge my word of honor you shall meet with no reproaches from me, which, indeed, could no longer avail. you need expect only the most affectionate care and assistance from me. only come! come to the faithful heart of-- your father, beethoven. _volti sub._ set off the moment you receive this letter. _si vous ne viendrez pas, vous me tuerez sûrement. lisez la lettre et restez à la maison chez vous. venez embrasser votre père, vous vraiment adonné. soyez assuré que tout cela restera entre nous._ for god's sake come home to-day, for we cannot tell what risks you run,--hasten,--hasten to me! . to his nephew. october . dear and much-beloved son,-- i have just received your letter. i was a prey to anguish, and resolved to hurry into vienna myself this very day. god be praised! this is not necessary; follow my advice, and love and peace of mind, as well as worldly happiness, will attend us, and you can then combine an inward and spiritual existence with your outer life. but it is well that the _former_ should be esteemed superior to the _latter_. _il fait trop froid._ so i am to see you on saturday? write to say whether you come early or in the evening, that i may hasten to meet you. i embrace and kiss you a thousand times over, _not my lost, but my new-born son_. i wrote to schlemmer; do not take it amiss, but my heart is still too full [a piece is here torn away]. live! and my care of the son _i have found again_ will show only love on the part of your father. [on the cover:] _ayez la bonté de m'envoyer_ a lucifer-match bottle and matches from rospini, _ou en portez avec vous, puisque de celle de kärnthnerthor on ne veut pas faire usage_. . to his nephew. _immediate._ baden, october . i write in the greatest haste to say, that even if it rains, i shall certainly come in to-morrow forenoon; be sure, therefore, that i find you at home. i rejoice at the thoughts of seeing you again, and if you detect any heavy clouds lowering, do not attribute them to deliberate anger, for they will be wholly chased away by your promise to strive more earnestly after the true and pure happiness, based on active exertion. something hovered before me in my last letter, which though perhaps _not quite justly_ yet called forth a dark mood; this, after all that has passed, was indeed very possible; still who would not rejoice when the transgressor returns to the right path?--and this i hope i shall live to see. i was especially pained by your coming so late on sunday, and hurrying away again so early. i mean to come in to-morrow with the joiner and to send off these old hags; they are too bad for anything. until the other housekeeper arrives, i can make use of the joiner. more of this when we meet, and i know you will think i am right. expect me then to-morrow without fail, whether it rains or not. your loving father, who fondly embraces you. . to the abbÉ maximilian stadler. february , . reverend and honored sir,-- you have really done well in rendering justice to the _manes_ of mozart by your inimitable pamphlet, which so searchingly enters into the matter [the requiem], and you have earned the gratitude of the lay and the profane, as well as of all who are musical, or have any pretensions to be so. to bring a thing of this kind forward as h.w.[ ] has done, a man must either be a great personage, or a nonentity. be it remembered also that it is said this same person has written a book on composition, and yet has ascribed to mozart such passages as the following:-- [music: bass clef] and has added such things as,-- [music: treble clef, b-flat major. a-gnus de-i pec-ca-ta mun-di.] [music: treble clef, b-flat major. qui tol-lis pec-ca-ta, qui tol-lis pec-ca-ta,] as samples of his own composition! h.w.'s astonishing knowledge of harmony and melody recall the old composers of the empire,--sterkel, [illegible,] kalkbrenner (the father), andré, &c. _requiescant in pace!_ i especially thank you, my dear friend, for the pleasure you have conferred on me by your pamphlet. i have always accounted myself one of mozart's greatest admirers, and shall continue to be so to my last breath. i beg, venerable sir, for your blessing, and i am, with sincere esteem and veneration, yours, beethoven. [footnote : gottfried weber, the well-known theorist, who was one of those engaged in the dispute as to the genuineness of mozart's requiem.] . to gottfried weber. april , . holz tells me that it is your intention to publish a larger size of the engraving representing handel's monument, in st. peter's church in london. this affords me extreme pleasure, independent of the fact that i was the person who suggested this. accept my thanks beforehand. i am your obedient beethoven. . to herr probst, music publisher,--leipzig. vienna, june , . sir,-- i always consider myself in some degree bound to make you the offer of my compositions when it is possible to do so. i am at this moment more at liberty than usual. i was obliged to give my minor works to those who took the greater ones also, as without the former they refused to accept the latter. so far as i remember, however, you wished to have nothing to do with the greater works. in this view, i offer you an entirely new quartet for two violins, viola and violoncello; you must not, however, be surprised at my demanding the sum of gold ducats for it. i assure you, upon my honor, that the same sum has been remitted to me for several quartets. i must request you, in any event, to write to me on this point as soon as possible. should you accept my offer, i beg you will send the money to some bank here, where i can receive it on delivery of the work. if the reverse be the case, i shall equally expect an immediate reply, as other publishers have already made me offers. i have also the following trifles ready, with which i can supply you. a serenade-congratulatory-minuet, and an _entr'acte_, both for a full orchestra,--the two for gold ducats. in the hope of a speedy answer, i am, sir, your obedient beethoven. . to stephan v. breuning.[ ] my dear and much-loved stephan,-- may our temporary estrangement be forever effaced by the portrait i now send. i know that i have rent your heart. the emotion which you cannot fail now to see in mine has sufficiently punished me for it. there was no malice towards you in my heart, for then i should be no longer worthy of your friendship. it was _passion_ both on _your_ part and on _mine_; but mistrust was rife within me, for people had come between us, unworthy both of _you_ and of _me_. my portrait[ ] was long ago intended for you; you knew that it was destined for some one--and to whom could i give it with such warmth of heart as to you, my faithful, good, and noble stephan? forgive me for having grieved you; but i did not myself suffer less when i no longer saw you near me. i then first keenly felt how dear you were, and ever will be to my heart. surely you will once more fly to my arms as you formerly did. [footnote : schindler places this letter in the summer of , when his nephew attempted self-destruction in baden, which reduced beethoven to the most miserable state of mind, and brought afresh to his recollection those dear friends of his youth, whom he seemed almost to have forgotten in the society of holz and his colleagues. schindler states that the more immediate cause of this estrangement was breuning having tried to dissuade him from adopting his nephew. dr. v. breuning in vienna is of opinion that the reunion of the two old friends had already occurred in , or even perhaps at an earlier period. i am not at present capable of finally deciding on this discrepancy, but i believe the latter assertion to be correct.] [footnote : schindler says, "it was stieler's lithograph, which the _maestro_ had previously sent to dr. wegeler." see no. .] . to stephan von breuning. my beloved friend,-- you are harassed by work, and so am i--besides, i am still far from well. i would have invited you to dinner ere this, but i have been obliged to entertain people whose most highly prized author is _the cook_, and not finding his interesting productions at home, they hunt after them in the kitchens and cellars of others [holz for instance]. such society would not be very eligible for you, but all this will soon be altered. in the mean time do not buy czerny's "school for the pianoforte;"[ ] for in a day or two i expect to get some information about another. along with the "journal des modes" that i promised to your wife, i also send something for your children. i can always regularly transmit you the journal--you have only to express your wish on any point, for me to comply with it at once. i am, with love and esteem, your friend, beethoven. i hope we shall soon meet. [footnote : czerny, _the vienna pianoforte teacher; or, theoretical and practical mode of learning how to play the piano skilfully and beautifully in a short time by a new and easy method_. vienna: haslinger. see no. .] . to stephan v. breuning my dear good friend,-- i can at length realize my boast, and send you clement's long-promised "pianoforte school" for gerhard [breuning's eldest son]. if he makes the use of it that i advise, the results cannot fail to be good. i shall see you very shortly now, and cordially embrace you. your beethoven. .[ ] testimonial for c. holz. vienna, august , . i am happy to give my friend carl holz the testimonial he wishes, namely, that i consider him well fitted to write my biography hereafter, if indeed i may presume to think that this will be desired. i place the most implicit confidence in his faithfully transmitting to posterity what i have imparted to him for this purpose. ludwig van beethoven. [footnote : carl holz ceded his rights to dr. gassner, who however died in without having completed any biography of beethoven. in the _maestro's_ bequest, which gassner's widow was so kind as to show me, there was nothing new (at least to me) except two letters included in this collection and a couple of anecdotes. schindler also states that beethoven subsequently repented of the authority he had given holz and declared he did so too hastily.] . to carl holz. both the gentlemen were here, but they have been admonished on every side to observe the most strict secrecy with regard to the order. haslinger declares that in this respect you are a son of the deceased papageno. _prenez garde!_ i told carl to-day it was definitively settled that he could not quit the hospital except with you or me. i dine at home to-morrow, so i shall be very glad if you can come. as you have no official work to-morrow you might arrive later, but it is very necessary that you should come. _portez-vous bien, monsieur terrible amoureux._[ ] your _indeclinable_ friend, beethoven. [footnote : this letter contains all kinds of dashes and flourishes, which prove that the _maestro_ was in his happiest mood when he wrote it. his nephew was at that time in the hospital, probably owing to his attempt at suicide.] . to the king of prussia. your majesty,-- one of the greatest pieces of good fortune of my life is your majesty having graciously permitted me respectfully to dedicate my present work [the th symphony] to you. your majesty is not only the father of your subjects, but also a patron of art and science; and how much more precious is your gracious permission to me, from being myself so fortunate as to be numbered among your subjects, being a citizen of bonn. i beg your majesty will vouchsafe to accept this work as a slender token of the profound admiration with which i regard your virtues. i am, your majesty's obedient humble servant, ludwig van beethoven. . to wegeler. vienna, october , . my old and beloved friend,-- i really cannot express the pleasure your letter and that of your lorchen caused me. an answer speedy as an arrow's flight ought indeed to have responded, but i am always rather indolent about writing, because i think that the better class of men know me sufficiently without this. i often compose the answer in my head, but when i wish to write it down i generally throw aside the pen, from not being able to write as i feel. i recall all the kindness you have ever shown me; for example, your causing my room to be whitewashed, which was an agreeable surprise to me. it was just the same with all the breuning family. our separation was in the usual course of things; each striving to pursue and to attain his object; while at the same time the everlasting and immutable principles of good still held us closely united. i cannot unfortunately write so much to you to-day as i could wish, being confined to bed,[ ] so i limit my reply to some points in your letter. you write that in some book i am declared to be the natural son of the late king of prussia; this was mentioned to me long ago, but i have made it a rule never either to write anything about myself, or to answer anything written by others about me. i therefore gladly devolve on you the duty of making known to the world the respectability of my parents, and especially that of my mother. you write to me about your son. there is no possible doubt that when he comes here he will find a friend and a father in me, and whenever it may be in my power to serve or to assist him, i will gladly do so. i still have the _silhouette_ of your lorchen, by which you will see how dear to me to this hour are all those who were kind and loving to me in the days of my youth. as to my diploma, i may briefly state that i am an honorary member of the royal academy of science in sweden [see no. ] and in amsterdam, and that i have been presented with the honorary citizenship of vienna. a dr. spiecker lately took with him to berlin my last grand symphony with choruses; it is dedicated to the king, and i wrote the dedication with my own hand. i had previously applied at the embassy for permission to dedicate the work to the king, which has now been accorded.[ ] by desire of dr. spiecker i gave him the manuscript i had myself corrected, and with my own amendments, to present to the king, as it is to be deposited in the royal library. i received a hint at the time about the second class of the order of the red eagle; i do not know what the result may be, for i have never sought such distinctions, though in these days for many reasons they would not be unwelcome to me. besides, my maxim has always been,--_nulla dies sine linea_; and if i allow my muse to slumber, it is only that she may awake with fresh vigor. i hope yet to usher some great works into the world, and then to close my earthly career like an old child somewhere among good people.[ ] you will soon receive some music through the brothers schott, in mayence. the portrait which i now send you is indeed an artistic masterpiece, but not the last that has been taken of me. i must tell you further, what i know you will rejoice to hear, with regard to marks of distinction. the late king of france sent me a medal with the inscription, _donné par le roi à m. beethoven_, accompanied by a very polite letter from _le premier gentilhomme du roi, le duc de châtres_. my beloved friend, excuse my writing more to-day, for the remembrance of the past has deeply affected me, and not without many tears have i written this letter. the oftener you write the more pleasure will you confer on me. there can be no question on either side as to our friendship, so farewell. i beg you will embrace your dear children and your lorchen in my name, and think of me when you do so. may god be with you all. as ever, your attached friend, with sincere esteem, beethoven. [footnote : on which account this letter is dictated, and only signed by beethoven, who was at that time at his brother's house in the country--gneixendorf, near krems, on the danube.] [footnote : in consequence of his application to the king of prussia to subscribe to his mass, of which he had sent the ms., beethoven received the following intimation:-- _to the composer ludwig van beethoven._ berlin, nov. , . "it gave me great pleasure to receive your new work, knowing the acknowledged value of your compositions. i thank you for having sent it to me, and present you with a ring of brilliants, as a token of my sincere appreciation. "friedrich wilhelm." schindler adds that the stones in the ring were false, and casts a suspicion of fraud on the chancery director of that day, w----.] [footnote : it was during those weeks that he wrote the second _finale_ to the b. flat major quartet, op. , little anticipating that this was to be his "swan song."] . to tobias haslinger.[ ] [music: bass clef. c major. bester--] no time is left to-day for further words and vocalization. i beg you will at once deliver the enclosed letter. pray forgive my causing you this trouble; but, as you are the owner of an artistic post-office, it is scarcely possible not to take advantage of this. you will perceive that i am now at gneixendorf. the name sounds like the breaking of an axletree. the air is healthy. the _memento mori_ must be applied to all else. most marvellous and best of all tobiases, we salute you in the name of the arts and poets! i remain yours, beethoven. [footnote : the music alone and the words "i remain" at the close, are in beethoven's writing. the rest is probably written by his nephew, with whom he had been obliged to take refuge in the house of his odious brother near krems, because the police had intimated to the young delinquent that he must leave vienna. see no. on the subject of beethoven's repugnance to live in his brother's family circle, whose ignoble wife treated the gray-haired and suffering _maestro_ as badly as possible.] . to tobias haslinger. gneixendorf, october , . best of all tobiases,-- [here follow eight bars of music.] we are writing to you from the castle of our _signor fratello_. i must again intrude on you by the polite request to post the two enclosed letters without delay. i will repay you for the time i kept the "school for the pianoforte" and all the other expenses as soon as i return to vienna. i am staying here longer, owing to the weather being so fine, and also not having gone to the country at all during the summer. a quartet[ ] for schlesinger is already finished; only i don't know which is the safest way to send it to you, that you may give it to tendler and manstein and receive the money in return. schlesinger will probably not make the remittance in _gold_, but if you can contrive that i should get it, you would very much oblige me, as all my publishers pay me in gold. besides, my worthy _tobiasserl_, we stand in need of money, and it is by no means the same thing whether we have money or not. if you get a sight of holz make sure of him, and nail him at once. the passion of love has so violently assailed him that he has almost taken fire, and some one jestingly wrote that holz was a son of the deceased papageno. most astounding, most admirable, and most _unique_ of all tobiases, farewell! if not inconvenient, pray write me a few lines here. is dr. spiecker still in vienna? i am, with highest consideration and fidelity, yours, beethoven. [footnote : probably the one in f, op. .] . to carl holz. dec. . your official majesty,-- i wrote to you on my arrival here a few days ago, but the letter was mislaid; i then became so unwell that i thought it best to stay in bed. i shall therefore be very glad if you will pay me a visit. you will find it less inconvenient, because every one has left döbling to go to town. i only add, in conclusion,[ ] [music: bass clef, c major, / time. wir ir-ren al-le samt, nur je-der ir-ret an-derst.] as ever, your friend, beethoven. [footnote : here beethoven's own writing begins. the slight indisposition that he mentions, in the course of a few days became a serious illness, the result of which was dropsy, and from this the _maestro_ was doomed never to recover. indeed from that time he never again left his bed.] . to dr. bach.[ ] vienna, wednesday, jan. , . my respected friend,-- i hereby declare, at my decease, my beloved nephew, carl van beethoven, sole heir of all my property, and of seven bank shares in particular, as well as any ready money i may be possessed of. if the law prescribes any modifications in this matter, pray endeavor to regulate these as much as possible to his advantage. i appoint you his curator, and beg that, together with hofrath breuning, his guardian, you will supply the place of a father to him. god bless you! a thousand thanks for all the love and friendship you have shown towards me. ludwig van beethoven. [footnote : the signature alone is in beethoven's writing.] . to wegeler. vienna, february , . my old and worthy friend,-- i received your second letter safely through breuning. i am still too feeble to answer it, but you may be assured that its contents were most welcome and agreeable to me.[ ] my convalescence, if indeed i may call it such, makes very slow progress, and there is reason to suspect that a fourth operation will be necessary, although the medical men have not as yet decided on this. i arm myself with patience, and reflect that all evil leads to some good. i am quite surprised to find from your last letter that you had not received mine. from this one you will see that i wrote to you on the th of december last. it is the same with the portrait, as you will perceive from the date, when you get it. "frau steffen spake the word:" michael steffen insisted on sending them by some private hand; so they have been lying here until this very day, and really it was a hard matter to get them back even now. you will receive the portrait by the post, through the messrs. schott, who have also sent you the music. how much is there that i would fain say to you to-day; but i am too weak,[ ] so i can only embrace you and your lorchen in spirit. with true friendship and attachment to you and yours, your old and faithful friend, beethoven. [footnote : wegeler had reminded him of blumenauer, who, after being operated on for dropsy, lived for many years in perfect health. he at the same time suggested to him the plan of going with him in the ensuing summer to one of the bohemian baths, proposing to travel by a circuitous route to the upper rhine, and from thence to coblenz.] [footnote : beethoven's last letter to wegeler. the signature alone is his.] . to sir george smart,--london. feb. , . i remember that some years ago the philharmonic society proposed to give a concert for my benefit. this prompts me to request you, dear sir, to say to the philharmonic society that if they be now disposed to renew their offer it would be most welcome to me. unhappily, since the beginning of december i have been confined to bed by dropsy,--a most wearing malady, the result of which cannot yet be ascertained. as you are already well aware, i live entirely by the produce of my brains, and for a long time to come all idea of writing is out of the question. my salary is in itself so small, that i can scarcely contrive to defray my half-year's rent out of it. i therefore entreat you kindly to use all your influence for the furtherance of this project,--your generous sentiments towards me convincing me that you will not be offended by my application. i intend also to write to herr moscheles on this subject, being persuaded that he will gladly unite with you in promoting my object. i am so weak that i can no longer write, so i only dictate this. i hope, dear sir, that you will soon cheer me by an answer, to say whether i may look forward to the fulfilment of my request. in the mean time, pray receive the assurance of the high esteem with which i always remain, &c., &c. . to herr moscheles. vienna, feb. , . dear moscheles,-- i feel sure that you will not take amiss my troubling you as well as sir g. smart (to whom i enclose a letter) with a request. the matter is briefly this. some years since, the london philharmonic society made me the handsome offer to give a concert in my behalf. at that time i was not, god be praised! so situated as to render it necessary for me to take advantage of this generous proposal. things are, however, very different with me now, as for fully three months past i have been entirely prostrated by that tedious malady, dropsy. schindler encloses a letter with further details. you have long known my circumstances, and are aware how, and by what, i live: a length of time must elapse before i can attempt to write again, so that, unhappily, i might be reduced to actual want. you have not only an extensive acquaintance in london, but also the greatest influence with the philharmonic; may i beg you, therefore, to exercise it, so far as you can, in prevailing on the society to resume their former intention, and to carry it soon into effect. the letter i enclose to sir smart is to the same effect, as well as one i already sent to herr stumpff.[ ] i beg you will yourself give the enclosed letter to sir smart, and unite with him and all my friends in london in furthering my object. your sincere friend, beethoven. [footnote : stumpff, a thuringian maker of harps, came to vienna in , recommended to our _maestro_ by andreas streicher in a letter of sept. , in these words:--"the bearer of this is herr stumpff, an excellent german, who has lived for thirty-four years in london. the sole reason of his going to baden is to see you, my revered beethoven, the man of whom germany is so proud. pray receive him in a kind and friendly manner, as beseems the saint to whose shrine the pious pilgrim has made so long a journey." in he presented beethoven with the english edition of handel's works in folio volumes, which the _maestro_ constantly studied during his last illness. gerhard v. breuning, when a youth of fourteen, either held up the separate volumes for him, or propped them against the wall.] . to schindler. the end of february, . when we meet we can discuss the mischance that has befallen you. i can send you some person without the smallest inconvenience. do accept my offer; it is, at least, something. have you had no letters from moscheles or cramer? there will be a fresh occasion for writing on wednesday, and once more urging my project. if you are still indisposed at that time, one of my people can take the letter, and get a receipt from the post-office. _vale et fave._ i need not assure you of my sympathy with your misfortune. pray allow me to supply board for you in the mean time. i offer this from my heart. may heaven preserve you! your sincere friend, beethoven. . to baron von pasqualati.[ ] march , . my much-esteemed old friend,-- my warmest thanks for the kind present you have sent me for the benefit of my health; as soon as i have found what wine is most suitable for me i will let you know, but not abuse your kindness. i like the _compote_ much, and shall again apply to you for some. even this costs me an effort. _sapienti pauca._ your grateful friend, beethoven. [footnote : traced in feeble and trembling characters. some other hand has written on it, "march , ."] . to baron von pasqualati. my esteemed friend,-- i beg you will send me some more of the cherry _compote_, but without lemons, and quite simple. i should also like a light pudding, almost liquid, my worthy cook not being very experienced in invalid diet. i am allowed to drink _champagne_, and i wish you would send me for to-day a champagne glass with it. now, as to wine, malfatti wished me to drink moselle, but declared that no genuine moselle could be got here; so he gave me several bottles of _krumbholzkirchner_,[ ] deeming this best for my health, as no really good moselle is to be had. pray forgive my troubling you, and ascribe it chiefly to my helpless condition. i am, with much esteem, your friend, beethoven. [footnote : gumpoldskirchner--a celebrated and generous austrian wine.] . to sir george smart,--london. march , . dear sir,-- i make no doubt that you have already received through herr moscheles my letter of february , but as i found your address by chance among my papers, i do not hesitate to write direct to yourself, to urge my request once more on you in the strongest terms. i do not, alas! even up to the present hour, see any prospect of the termination of my terrible malady; on the contrary, my sufferings, and consequently my cares, have only increased. i underwent a fourth operation on the th of february, and possibly fate may compel me to submit to this a fifth time, and perhaps oftener. if this goes on, my illness will certainly continue one half the summer, and in that case, what is to become of me? how am i to subsist until i can succeed in arousing my decayed powers, and once more earn my living by my pen? but i do not wish to plague you by fresh complaints; so i only refer you to my letter of the d february, and entreat you to use all your influence with the philharmonic society to carry now into execution their former proposal of a concert for my benefit. . to baron von pasqualati. my worthy friend,-- i am still confined to my room; be so good, therefore, as to tell me, or rather, i should say, write to me, the name of the person who values this house, and where he is to be found. if you have any muterhall [?] medicine i beg you will think of your poor austrian musician and citizen of the guild. beethoven. .[ ] to baron von pasqualati. march , . my esteemed friend,-- many thanks for the dish you sent me yesterday, which will suffice for to-day also. i am allowed to have game; and the doctor said that fieldfares were very wholesome for me. i only tell you this for information, as i do not want them to-day. forgive this stupid note, but i am exhausted from a sleepless night. i embrace you, and am, with much esteem, your attached friend. [footnote : in a tremulous hand,--"march , ."] . to herr moscheles. vienna, march , . my dear moscheles,-- i recently heard, through herr lewisey,[ ] that in a letter to him of the th february, you had made inquiries as to the state of my health, about which such various rumors have been circulated. although i cannot possibly doubt that you have by this time received my letter of february d, which explains all you wish to know, still i cannot resist thanking you for your sympathy with my sad condition, and again imploring you to attend to the request contained in my first letter. i feel already certain that, in conjunction with sir smart and other friends, you are sure to succeed in obtaining a favorable result for me from the philharmonic society. i wrote again to sir smart also on the subject. i was operated on for the fourth time on the th of february, and now symptoms evidently exist which show that i must expect a fifth operation. what is to be done? what is to become of me if this lasts much longer? mine has indeed been a hard doom; but i resign myself to the decrees of fate, and only constantly pray to god that his holy will may ordain that while thus condemned to suffer death in life, i may be shielded from want. the almighty will give me strength to endure my lot, however severe and terrible, with resignation to his will. so once more, dear moscheles, i commend my cause to you, and shall anxiously await your answer, with highest esteem. hummel is here, and has several times come to see me. your friend, beethoven. [footnote : schindler mentions, on beethoven's authority, that this gentleman translated beethoven's letters to smart into english, which his nephew had previously done.] .[ ] to schindler.-- march , . wonderful! wonderful! wonderful!-- both the learned gentlemen are defeated, and i shall be saved solely by malfatti's skill! you must come to me for a few minutes without fail this forenoon. yours, beethoven. [footnote : schindler dates this note march , , and says that these are the last lines beethoven ever wrote. they certainly were the last that he wrote to schindler. on the back of the note, in another writing (probably schindler's), the receipt is given in pencil for the bath with hay steeped in it, ordered by malfatti, which the poor invalid thought had saved his life. the "learned gentlemen" are dr. wawruch and the surgeon seibert, who had made the punctures.] . to moscheles. vienna, march , . no words can express my feelings on reading your letter of the st of march. the noble liberality of the philharmonic society, which almost anticipated my request, has touched me to my inmost soul.[ ] i beg you, therefore, dear moscheles, to be my organ in conveying to the society my heartfelt thanks for their generous sympathy and aid. [say[ ] to these worthy men, that if god restores me to health, i shall endeavor to prove the reality of my gratitude by my actions. i therefore leave it to the society to choose what i am to write for them--a symphony (the th) lies fully sketched in my desk, and likewise a new overture and some other things. with regard to the concert the philharmonic had resolved to give in my behalf, i would entreat them not to abandon their intention. in short, i will strive to fulfil every wish of the society, and never shall i have begun any work with so much zeal as on this occasion. may heaven only soon grant me the restoration of my health, and then i will show the noble-hearted english how highly i value their sympathy with my sad fate.] i was compelled at once to draw for the whole sum of gulden, being on the eve of borrowing money. your generous conduct can never be forgotten by me, and i hope shortly to convey my thanks to sir smart in particular, and to herr stumpff. i beg you will deliver the metronomed th symphony to the society. i enclose the proper markings. your friend, with high esteem, beethoven. [footnote : a hundred pounds had been sent at once.] [footnote : in the original the words placed within brackets are dictated by beethoven himself, and were indeed the last he ever dictated--but they are crossed out.] . codicil.[ ] vienna, march , . i appoint my nephew carl my sole heir. the capital of my bequest, however, to devolve on his natural or testamentary heirs. ludwig van beethoven.[ ] [footnote : see no. . schindler relates:--"this testament contained no restrictions or precautionary measures with regard to his heir-at-law, who, after the legal forms connected with the inheritance were terminated, was entitled to take immediate possession of the whole. the guardian and curator, however, knowing the unexampled levity of the heir, had a valid pretext for raising objections to these testamentary depositions. they therefore suggested to the _maestro_, to alter his intentions in so far as to place his property in trust; his nephew to draw the revenue, and at his death the capital to pass to his direct heirs. beethoven, however, considered such restraints as too severe on the nephew whom he still so dearly loved in his heart [since december of the previous year the young man had been a cadet in a royal regiment at iglau, in moravia], so he remonstrated against this advice; indeed he reproached hofrath breuning as the person who had suggested such harsh measures. a note, still extant, written by breuning to beethoven, shows the state of matters, in which he still maintains, though in moderate language, the absolute necessity of the above precautions. this mode of argument seemed to make an impression on the _maestro_, who at last promised to yield his own wishes. by his desire, breuning laid the codicil of three lines before him, and beethoven at once proceeded to copy it, which was no easy matter for him. when it was finished he exclaimed, 'there! now i write no more!' he was not a little surprised to see on the paper the words 'heirs of his body' changed into 'natural heirs.' breuning represented to him the disputes to which this destination might give rise. beethoven replied that the one term was as good as the other, and that it should remain just as it was. _this was his last contradiction._"] [footnote : next day, at noon, he lost consciousness, and a frightful death-struggle began, which continued till the evening of march , , when, during a violent spring storm of thunder and lightning, the sublime _maestro_ paid his last tribute to that humanity for which he had made so many sacrifices in this world, to enter into life everlasting, which, from his life and actions, few could look forward to more hopefully.] index. academies, concerts given by beethoven, so called. the grand concerts of the year . address and appeal to london artists, from beethoven. adlersburg, dr. von, court advocate and barrister at vienna, "a most inconsiderate character," for some time beethoven's lawyer. aesthetical observations on particular subjects. albrechtsberger, the popular theorist and composer, kapellmeister at st. stephen's in vienna, for some time, about the year , beethoven's instructor in musical composition. amenda of courland, afterwards rector in talsen. "a.m.z." _see_ leipzig "allgemeine musikalische zeitung." andré, composer and music publisher in offenbach on the maine. archduke carl. arnim, frau von. _see_ brentano, bettina. artaria, print and music publisher in vienna. attorney, power of. augarten, the well-known park near vienna, in which morning concerts were frequently given. augsburg. austria, beethoven's sentiments respecting that country, his second father-land. bach, dr. johann baptist, court advocate and barrister, from the year beethoven's lawyer at vienna. bach, johann sebastian. baden, near vienna, a favorite watering-place, to which beethoven often resorted. bauer, chief secretary to the austrian embassy in london. baumeister, private secretary to the archduke rudolph. beethoven's brother carl, born at bonn in , instructed in music by beethoven; afterwards came to vienna, where he occupied the appointment of cashier in the government revenue (died nov. , ). his brother johann, born in , an apothecary, first in linz, afterwards in vienna, and at a later period proprietor of gneixendorf, an estate near krems, on the danube; named by beethoven, "braineater," "pseudo-brother," "asinanios," &c. his brother ludwig maria. his father, johann, son of ludwig van beethoven, kapellmeister to the elector of cologne, court tenor singer at the electoral chapel at bonn, a man possessing no considerable mental endowments, but an excellent musician, and beethoven's first instructor in music. unhappily, he was so addicted to habits of intemperance, that he greatly impoverished his family, the care of which, owing to the father's recklessness, devolved entirely upon his son ludwig (died dec. ). his grandfather, ludwig van beethoven, kapellmeister to the elector of cologne (died ). his mother, maria magdalena kewerich, the wife, first of leym of ehrenbreitstein, cook to the elector of treves, and afterwards of johann van beethoven, in bonn, court tenor singer to the elector of cologne. she gave birth to her illustrious son ludwig on dec. , , and died july , . his nephew, carl, son of his brother carl, beethoven's ward from the year . entered the blöchlinger institute, at vienna, june , . letters to him from beethoven. his sister-in-law, johanna, wife of his brother carl and mother of his nephew, named by beethoven "the queen of the night." beethoven's _works. in general._ i. _for pianoforte only._ sonatas of the year . op. . op. . op. . op. . op. . op. . _variations_. _bagatelles_. "allegri di bravoura." ii. _for pianoforte with obbligato instruments._ for pianoforte and violin:--sonatas. sonatas with violoncello. twelve variations in f on the theme from "figaro," "se vuol ballare." rondo. variations with violoncello and violin. for hautboys and horn. trios. concertos. fantasia with chorus. iii. _quartets._ iv. _instrumental pieces._ septet. quintets. violin romance. v. _orchestral music._ symphonies. the ninth. minuet and interlude. music for the ballet of "prometheus." "egmont." "king stephen." "the ruins of athens." "wellington's victory at vittoria." march to "tarpeia." gratulation minuet. marches. overtures. vi. _vocal music._ "adelaide." "ah! perfido." "heart, my heart," and "knowest thou the land?" "to hope." aria for bass voice with chorus. terzet on count lichnowsky. canon for spohr. "the glorious moment." on mdlle. milder-hauptmann. scotch songs. canon for schlesinger; for the archduke rudolph; on tobias haslinger. various songs; two grand songs with chorus from goethe and matthisson. choruses. "empitremate." elegy. "meeresstille und glückliche fahrt." opferlied. canons; for rellstab; for braunhofer; for kuhlau; for schlesinger. terzet. vii. _operas._ grillparzer's "melusina." "fidelio" in dresden. viii. _church music and oratorios._ "missa solennis." benedict, julius, in london, a composer, the pupil of c.m. von weber. berlin. bernard, carl, an author, editor of the "wiener zeitschrift." bihler, j.n., a special admirer of beethoven, one of the subscribers to, and the bearer of, the address presented to beethoven in the year , in which the master was requested again to present himself and his works to the viennese public. birchall, music publisher in london. "birne, zur goldnen," an eating-house in the landstrasse, vienna. blöchlinger, proprietor of an educational institution at vienna. bocklet, carl maria, of prague, pianist in vienna. böhm, joseph, a distinguished concerto violinist, professor at the vienna conservatory, and the teacher of joachim. bolderini. bonn, residence of the elector of cologne, and beethoven's birthplace, which he left in the year , never again to visit. braunhofer, dr., for some time beethoven's surgeon at vienna. breitkopf & härtel, the well-known book and music publishers in leipzig. brentano, bettina, became frau von arnim in . brentano, clemens, the poet. brentano, f.a., merchant at frankfort, an admirer of beethoven's music. _see also_ tonie. breuning, christoph von. breuning, dr. gerhard von, court physician at vienna, son of stephan von breuning. breuning, eleonore von, daughter of councillor von breuning, in bonn, the friend and pupil of beethoven; in became the wife of dr. wegeler, afterwards consulting physician at coblenz. breuning, frau von, widow of councillor von breuning, into whose house beethoven was received as one of the family, and where he received his first musical impressions. breuning, lenz (lorenz), youngest son of the "frau hofrath." breuning, stephan von, of bonn; came to vienna in the spring of , where he became councillor, and died in . browne, count, of vienna, an admirer of beethoven's music. brühl, the, a village and favorite pleasure resort near vienna. brunswick, count franz von, of pesth, one of beethoven's greatest admirers and friends in vienna. bonaparte, ludwig, king of holland. "cäcilia, a journal for the musical world," &c. carl, archduke. _see_ archduke carl. carlsbad. cassel. castlereagh, the well-known english minister. cherubini. visited vienna in . clement, franz, born , died , orchestral director at the "theater an der wien." clementi. collin, the famous austrian poet. cornega, a singer in vienna commended to beethoven by schindler. court theatre, beethoven's letter to the directors of the. cramer, john, the celebrated london pianist, also a music publisher. czerny, carl, in vienna, the well known writer of pianoforte studies. czerny, joseph, in vienna. deafness of beethoven. de la motte-fouqué, the poet of "undine," which he had arranged as an opera libretto for t.a. hoffmann. del rio, giannatasio, proprietor of an academy at vienna, under whose care beethoven placed his nephew carl from the year to . diabelli, anton, composer and music publisher in vienna. döbling, ober- and unter-döbling, near vienna, beethoven's occasional summer residence. dresden. drossdick, baroness thérèse, to whom beethoven was greatly attached. duport, director of the kärnthnerthor theatre in the year . eisenstadt, in hungary, the residence of prince esterhazy, where beethoven remained on a visit in the years and . english language, beethoven's correspondence in the. erdödy countess, in vienna, one of beethoven's best friends. ertmann, baroness dorothea (_née_ graumann), a friend of beethoven, and one of the most accomplished pianists in vienna; she especially excelled in the performance of beethoven's compositions. esterhazy, prince paul, son of the protector of haydn, and himself, at a later period, an ardent admirer of that master. france. frank, dr. frank, frau, in vienna. "frau schnaps," beethoven's housekeeper during the latter years of his life; called also "the fast-sailing frigate" and "the old goose." french language, beethoven's correspondence in the. fries, count, in vienna, an admirer of beethoven's works. fux, the well-known old theorist and composer, in vienna, author of the "gradus ad parnassum." gallizin, prince nikolaus boris, at st. petersburg, a zealous friend of art, from whom beethoven received an order for his last quartet. gebauer, franz xaver, founder of the "concerts spirituels" at vienna. gerardi, mdlle. girowetz, court musical director at the "burgtheater." giuliani, a celebrated guitar player at vienna. gläser, beethoven's copyist from the year . gleichenstein, baron, of rothweil, near freiburg in breisgau, a friend of beethoven at vienna. he left vienna about the year , and only revisited that city once afterwards, in . gneixendorf, the estate of beethoven's brother johann, near krems, on the danube, which beethoven visited, accompanied by his nephew, in the autumn of . goethe. gratz, in styria. grillparzer. guicciardi, countess giulietta, beethoven's "immortal beloved." hammer-purgstall, the distinguished orientalist in vienna. handel. haslinger, tobias, music publisher at vienna. hauschka, vincenz, government auditor, a friend of beethoven. heiligenstadt, near vienna, a favorite summer residence of beethoven, where, among other works, the "pastoral symphony" was written by him. hetzendorf, a favorite suburban residence near vienna. hoffmann, th. amadeus. hofmeister, kapellmeister and music publisher, first in vienna, and afterwards in company with kühnel in leipzig (now peters's bureau de musique). _see also_ peters. holz, carl, government official at vienna, an accomplished violinist, born in ; became a member of the schuppanzigh quartets in , and afterwards director of the concerts spirituels in that capital; a viennese of somewhat dissolute habits, by whom even the grave master himself was at times unfavorably influenced. homer, especially the odyssey, a favorite study of beethoven. hönigstein, a banker in vienna. hummel, johann nepomuk, the celebrated composer and pianist, a pupil of mozart, and for some time beethoven's rival in love matters, having married the sister of the singer röckel, to whom beethoven also was much attached (_see also_ schindler's "biography," i. ). hungary, beethoven there. imperial court at vienna. imperial high court of appeal, letter from beethoven to the. jenger, chancery officer in the imperial war office at vienna, a passionate lover of music. kalkbrenner. kandeler, testimonial from beethoven in favor of. kanne, f.a., at vienna, highly appreciated in his day as a poet, composer, and critic, an intimate friend of beethoven, and occasionally his guest (_see also_ schindler's "biography," i. ). kauka, dr., beethoven's advocate in prague. kiesewetter, councillor von, in vienna, the popular writer on the science of music, one of the subscribers to the great address presented to beethoven in february, . kinsky, prince ferdinand, of bohemia, one of beethoven's most devoted patrons in vienna. kinsky, princess. kirnberger, of berlin, the well-known theorist. koch, barbara, of bonn, daughter of the landlord of the "zehrgaden," the friend of eleonore von breuning, an amiable and intelligent lady, at whose house the leading persons of the town were accustomed to assemble; she afterwards became governess to the children of count belderbusch, whom she married in . könneritz, von, principal director of the court band and opera in dresden. kraft, anton, a celebrated violoncello-player in vienna. kuhlau, friedrich, the distinguished flute-player, a great admirer of beethoven's music. kühnel, in leipzig. _see_ hofmeister. laibach, the philharmonic society of. landrecht, beethoven's address to the honorable members of the. leidesdorf, m.j., composer and music publisher in vienna, a subscriber to the great address presented to beethoven in . leipzig "allgemeine zeitung," established in ; its remarks at first unfavorable towards beethoven. lichnowsky, count moritz, brother of prince carl lichnowsky, and, like him, the friend and patron of beethoven. schindler, in his "biography," i. , n., relates as follows:--"the acute perception of the count led him, on a nearer acquaintance with the work, to surmise that it had been written with some special intentions. on being questioned on this matter, the author replied that he had intended to set the count's love-story to music, and that if he needed titles for it, he might write over the first piece, 'fight between head and heart,' and over the second, 'conversation with the loved one.' after the death of his first wife, the count had fallen deeply in love with a distinguished opera singer, but his friends protested against such an alliance. after a contest of many years' duration, however, he at last succeeded, in , in removing all hindrances to their union." lichnowsky, prince carl, a friend and pupil of mozart, and afterwards a most zealous patron of beethoven in vienna (died april , ). liechtenstein, princess, in vienna, beethoven's patroness. linke, born , a distinguished violoncello player, member of the rasumowsky quartets. lobkowitz, prince, one of beethoven's most zealous patrons in vienna. london, england, and the english. luther. maelzel, mechanician to the imperial court of vienna, the well-known inventor of the metronome. malchus, a youthful friend of beethoven in bonn, in later years minister of finance of the kingdom of westphalia, and afterwards of that of wirtemberg (died at stuttgart in ). malfatti, dr., a celebrated surgeon in vienna; beethoven under his treatment in . marconi, contralto singer in vienna. marx, a.b., music director and professor at the university of berlin; edited, when in his twentieth year, the "berliner musikzeitung," a journal whose publication, unfortunately, lasted but a few years only. next to t.a. hofmann, he was the first who fully and thoroughly appreciated beethoven's music in all its depth and grandeur, and who manfully and intelligently defended the lofty genius of the master against the base attacks to which it was at times exposed; he has remained until the present day the most efficient representative of the progress of musical art. matthisson, the poet. maximilian franz, youngest brother of the emperor joseph ii., elector of cologne from the year , and one of the noblest and most zealous patrons of the young beethoven, on whom, in , he conferred the appointment of court organist, and in , with a view to the further cultivation of his talents, sent him to vienna, assisting him in every way until the year , at which period his country fell entirely under the dominion of france (died in ). maximilian, friedrich, elector of cologne until the year ; the first noble patron of beethoven, whom he placed under the instruction of the court organist von der eeden, and afterwards, on the death of that musician, under neefe; as an acknowledgment for which kindness, and in proof of the success which had attended his studies, the young composer, then only eleven years of age, dedicated his first sonatas to his benefactor. mayseder, the celebrated violinist (died at vienna in ). meyer, friedrich sebastian, a singer (born , died ), the husband of mozart's eldest sister-in-law, who frequently, even in beethoven's presence, made some boastful remark in praise of his deceased relative; such as "my brother-in-law would not have written that!" metronome, an instrument for measuring tune in music, invented about the year by maelzel, of vienna, and often employed and spoken of by beethoven. milder-hauptmann, mdlle., the celebrated singer, first in vienna and afterwards in berlin. mödling, a village near vienna, and beethoven's favorite summer residence. mollo, music publisher in vienna, afterwards the firm of steiner & co., and at a later period that of haslinger. mölk, the celebrated abbey on the danube. mölker bastei, the, at vienna, on several occasions beethoven's residence in the house of baron von pasqualati (_see also_ schindler's "biography," i. ). moscheles. mosel, hofrath ignaz von, in vienna, a well-known music writer, and the founder of the conservatory of music in that capital. mozart. munich. mythological subjects, reference made to, by beethoven, who, as it is well known, possessed a considerable acquaintance with ancient history. nägeli, hans georg, the distinguished founder of men's vocal unions in switzerland, also a popular composer of vocal music, a music publisher, and, at a later period, educational inspector in zurich. napoleon, when general bonaparte, so greatly admired by beethoven, that on the occasion of that general's appearance, the master was incited to compose the "eroica," which he dedicated to him ("napoleon buonaparte--luigi van beethoven"). on hearing, however, of the coronation of his hero as emperor, he angrily cast aside the intended presentation copy of his work, and refused to send it to him. neate, charles, a london artist, and a great admirer of beethoven, with whom he became acquainted in vienna in the year . nussböck, town sequestrator at vienna, for some time the guardian of beethoven's nephew. nussdorf, a favorite summer residence on the danube, near vienna. oliva, a philologist and friend of beethoven. according to schindler ("biography," i. ), he repaired to st. petersburg in , in which city he settled as professor of german literature; schindler is, however, mistaken in the date which he has given. oppersdorf, count franz von, beethoven's friend and patron. pachler-koschak, marie, of gratz, to whom beethoven was warmly attached. papageno. paris. parry, captain, wrote on the music of the esquimaux. pasqualati, baron von, merchant in vienna, an ardent admirer of beethoven, and his constant benefactor. in beethoven again occupied apartments appropriated to his use by the baron at his residence on the mölker bastei, and remained there until . penzing, a village near vienna, a favorite summer residence. peters, c.f., "bureau de musique" in leipzig (_see also_ hofmeister). peters, councillor of prince lobkowitz at vienna, a friend of beethoven. philharmonic society in london. in laibach. pianoforte, beethoven's remarks concerning the. pilat, editor of the "austrian observer." plutarch. portraits of beethoven. potter, cipriani, pianist in london. prague. prince regent, the, afterwards george iv. of england. probst, music publisher in leipzig. prussia. punto (_alias_ stich) a celebrated horn player, to whom beethoven was mainly indebted for his knowledge of that instrument (died ). "queen of the night." _see_ beethoven's sister-in-law. radziwill, prince, at berlin, a devoted patron of music and the composer of music to "faust." rampel, beethoven's copyist about the year . rasumowsky, count, afterwards prince, russian ambassador at vienna, an ardent lover of music. recke, elise von der, the well-known poetess. reisser, vice-director of the polytechnic institution at vienna, co-guardian of beethoven's nephew in the year . religious and moral sentiments on particular subjects. rellstab, ludwig, a writer and poet, for many years editor of the "vossische zeitung," in berlin. ries, ferdinand, son of the preceding, a pupil of beethoven and a distinguished composer. quitted vienna in , and, with the exception of a short residence there, on his return from russia in the autumn of , never again returned to that capital (schindler, i. ). ries, franz, court musician to the elector of cologne, a helpful friend to beethoven (born ). rochlitz, friedrich, the well-known writer on the science of music, and for nearly twenty-five years editor of the leipzig "allgemeine musikzeitung," a man who, notwithstanding his entire lack of historical acumen and his limited acquaintance with the technicalities of music, did very much towards liberating the art from its mechanical condition, and promoting its intellectual appreciation by the public. he was in vienna in the year , where he became personally acquainted with beethoven, but never fully appreciated the genius of the master,--a circumstance which beethoven himself most deeply felt, even after the retirement of rochlitz from the editorship of that journal, and which formed the subject of many ironical remarks on the part of beethoven respecting these representatives of the so-called old-german national composers. röckel, singer of the part of florestan in vienna in , still living at bath, in england. rode, the celebrated violinist; came to vienna in the winter of - , where he became acquainted with beethoven. rudolph, archduke, youngest brother of the emperor franz, born , died , a passionate lover of music, and himself a composer; he became beethoven's pupil in , and in cardinal-archbishop of olmütz. russia. rzehatschek, in vienna. salieri, kapellmeister at vienna, a contemporary and rival of haydn and mozart, for some time beethoven's instructor in the dramatic style. salomon, j.p., of bonn, the celebrated violinist, until the year director of the concerts of prince heinrich of prussia; he afterwards came to london, where he became chiefly instrumental in the introduction of german music into that capital; as is well known, it was owing to him also that j. haydn was induced to visit england. sarastro. sartorius, royal censor at vienna (_see also_ schindler's "biography," ii. ). saxony. _see also_ dresden. schade, dr., advocate at augsburg, a helpful friend of the young beethoven. schenk, the well-known composer of the "village barber," for some time beethoven's instructor in vienna (died ). schiller. schindler, anton, of moravia, beethoven's sincere friend and biographer (born , died ); he became acquainted with beethoven towards the end of march, . schlemmer, for many years beethoven's copyist until . schlemmer, a gentleman living in the alleengasse, auf der wieden, in whose house beethoven placed his nephew carl (not to be confounded with the copyist of the same name). schlesinger, moritz, music publisher in berlin and paris. schmidt, dr., army surgeon in vienna. schoberlechner, franz, pianist. scholz, music director in warmbrunn. schönauer, dr., court advocate and barrister at vienna, appointed by beethoven's brother carl testamentary trustee to his nephew--an intriguing lawsuit-pettifogger. schott, music publisher in mayence. schröder, wilhelmine, the great singer. schuppanzigh, ignaz, born , died , the celebrated violinist, whose extraordinary corpulence was a frequent subject of beethoven's witticisms; he was, however, the first who fully appreciated beethoven's music for stringed instruments, which he performed in a masterly manner. resided in russia from to . schweiger, joseph freiherr von, chamberlain to the archduke rudolph. schweizer, ed. friedrich von, chamberlain to the archduke anton, an admirer of beethoven's music and subscriber to the address of february . sebald, auguste, the singer. seibert, dr., surgeon in vienna, beethoven's operator. seyfried, ignaz ritter von, the well-known composer, publisher of the spurious edition of "studies by ludwig van beethoven," kapellmeister in vienna. shakespeare, deeply read and greatly admired by beethoven. siboni, a distinguished tenorist in vienna. sight, beethoven's weakness of. simrock, court musician (horn player) to the elector of cologne, and music publisher in bonn, a friend of beethoven's early days. his son, the present proprietor of the business in bonn, at vienna in the summer of . sketch by beethoven. smart, sir george, music publisher in london, a great admirer of beethoven's music. smetana, dr., surgeon at vienna; gained considerable popularity by his treatment of deafness. "society of friends to music in the austrian states" at vienna. sonntag, henriette, the celebrated singer. spiecker. dr., of berlin. spohr. stadler, abbé maximilian (born , died ), a composer, and the friend of mozart; an opponent of the beethoven school of music (_see_ schindler's "biography," i. ; ii. ). standenheim, a celebrated physician in vienna. stein, pianoforte manufacturer at vienna, brother of frau nanette streicher. steiner, s.a., music publisher in vienna, succeeded by t. haslinger. sterkel, franz xaver, a pleasing pianist and composer, whom beethoven visited at aschaffenburg in , and greatly astonished by his pianoforte playing. stoll, a young poet at vienna. streicher, andreas, the well-known friend of schiller's early days. he married, when in his nineteenth year, nanette stein, only daughter of the celebrated pianoforte manufacturer at augsburg, whom he took with him to vienna, where he first became teacher of the pianoforte, and afterwards, by the assistance of his wife, who had made herself acquainted with her father's art, founder of the celebrated streicher pianoforte manufactory. schindler, in his "biography," i. , speaks of the interest taken by frau streicher in beethoven's domestic matters. stumpff, harp manufacturer in london, an admirer of beethoven's works. swedish academy of music. theatres: josephstadt; kärnthnerthor; "an der wien." tiedge, the poet of "urania," and also of the song "an die hoffnung," so much admired by beethoven, and several times set to music by him. tonie, antonie, of birkenstock, daughter of a family in vienna from which beethoven received great kindness from the first period of his residence in that capital, and in which, in the year , bettina lived, who afterwards became the wife of b.a. brentano, a merchant in frankfort, to whom beethoven was greatly indebted. töplitz, in bohemia. trautmannsdorf, prince, high chamberlain. travels and travelling projects of beethoven. _see also_ london. treitschke, stage poet at vienna. unger, the celebrated singer. university, the, of vienna. ursulines, convent of the, at gratz, in styria, music supplied by beethoven in aid of. varenna, kammerprocurator at gratz. varnhagen von ense. vering, dr., army surgeon at vienna. vienna, beethoven's settled residence from the year , of which, however, he never spoke favorably. wawruch, dr., clinical professor, beethoven's last surgeon. weber, carl maria von. weber, gottfried, theorist and composer. wegeler, dr., of bonn, an early friend of beethoven. weigl, joseph, composer of the "swiss family," kapellmeister at vienna. weinmüller, singer at the kärnthnerthor theatre. weiss, tenor player at vienna. westphalia, beethoven offered the appointment of kapellmeister to the king of, in . wieden, a suburb of vienna, on several occasions beethoven's residence. wieland. wills, beethoven's. wolf, dr., advocate in prague. zelter, the song composer and friend of goethe, director of the academy of vocal music at berlin. zmeskall von domanowecz, court secretary at vienna, one of beethoven's earliest friends in the imperial city, a good violoncello player and also a composer. zulehner, music publisher at mayence. zurich. the end images of public domain material from the google print project.) [illustration: beethoven. maclure & macdonald, lith. london] beethoven: a memoir by elliott graeme. with an introductory essay by dr. ferdinand hiller. of cologne. second edition. "how glorious it is to live one's life a thousand times!" beethoven london charles griffin and company; stationers' hall court. . [_the right of translation is reserved._] preface. the following brief sketch can lay no claim to originality; it is merely a slight _résumé_ of the principal events in the master's life (from the works of schindler, ries, and wegeler, and more especially from marx and thayer), and is intended for those who, without the leisure to go deeply into the subject, yet desire to know a little more about the great tone-poet than can be gathered from the pages of a concert programme, however skilfully annotated. * * * * * the few letters introduced have been translated as nearly as possible in the manner in which they were written. beethoven's epistolary style was simple, fervent, original, but certainly not polished. * * * * * the author feels convinced that any shortcomings in the "memoir" will be more than atoned for by dr. hiller's eloquent and appreciative "_festrede_," which seems to have been dictated by that poetic genius, the possession of which he so modestly disclaims. e.g. london, _ th december, ._ preface to the second edition. the first edition of this little book was exhausted within a few months of publication, and i have repeatedly been asked since to reprint it, but have hitherto withheld my consent, trusting to be able to undertake a more comprehensive work on the subject. as, however, the necessary leisure for this is still wanting to me, and the demand for the "memoir" continues, it is fated to reappear, and i can but commend it again to the kind indulgence of the reader. several rectifications as to dates, &c., have been made throughout, in accordance with the recent researches of alexander thayer, and the chapter entitled _lehrjahre_ has been partly rewritten on the basis of nottebohm's _beethoven's studien_ (_part i., unterricht bei haydn und albrechtsberger_) by far the most important contribution to beethoven-literature which has appeared for some time. it may, indeed, be considered the first step to the _systematic_ study of the master, and as such deserves to be better known in england than is at present the case. e.g. london. _august, ._ contents. page essay _quasi_ fantasia "on the hundredth anniversary of beethoven's birth," by dr. ferdinand hiller vii chap. i.--introductory: origin of the family van beethoven--the electorate of cologne--court of clemens august the magnificent--ludwig van beethoven the elder--johann van beethoven--bonn in chap. ii.--boyhood: birth--early influences and training--neefe--first attempts at composition--the boy-organist--max friedrich's national theatre--mozart and beethoven--disappointment chap. iii.--youth: despondency--the breuning family--literary pursuits--count waldstein--national theatre of max franz--king lux and his court--the abbé sterkel--appointment as court pianist--first love--second visit of joseph haydn chap. iv.--lehrjahre: arrival in vienna--studies with haydn--timely assistance of schenk--albrechtsberger--beethoven as a student--his studies in counterpoint--what did beethoven compose in bonn?--why have we so few examples of _fugue_ in his early works?--letters to eleanore v. breuning chap. v.--the virtuoso: family occurrences--music in vienna--van swieten--prince lichnowski--beethoven's independence, personal appearance, manners--rasoumowski quartet--occurrences in lichnowski palace--first three trios--artistic tour to berlin--woelfl--beethoven as an improvisatore--steibelt chap. vi.--conflict: deafness and its consequences--his brothers' influence--letters to wegeler--"mount of olives"--beethoven's will--beethoven as a conductor--as an instructor--sinfonia eroica--"leonora" ("fidelio")--"adelaïde" chap. vii.--love: the fourth symphony--julia guicciardi--letters to an unknown--to bettina brentano--beethoven's attachments--domestic troubles--frau nanette streicher--daily life--composing "_im freien_" chap. viii.--victory and shadow: period of greatest creative activity--hummel--the battle of vittoria--congress of vienna--maelzel--pecuniary difficulties--adoption of nephew--the philharmonic society--the classical and romantic schools--the jupiter symphony--his nephew's conduct--last illness remarks on the pianoforte sonatas, by dr. hiller catalogue of beethoven's works [illustration] [illustration] the hundredth anniversary of beethoven's birth.[ ] "_quasi fantasia._" the year brought us goethe; , mozart; , schiller; and , beethoven. thus, within the short space of twenty-one years four of the greatest poetic geniuses were born--four men of whom not only the german fatherland, but all mankind must be proud. and even more happy than proud, since the most splendid gift which the divine being from time to time vouchsafes to poor humanity is that of genius. through it we receive the highest good in which we are capable of participating--the forgetfulness of self in a nobler life. genius it is that gives us, if but for a few short hours, that which the believer awaits with earnest hope in another and a better world. has there ever existed a poet who transported our souls into his ideal kingdom with more irresistible force than our beethoven? certainly not. more universal effects have been achieved by others, but none more deep or noble. nay, we may say without exaggeration that never did an artist live whose creations were so truly _new_;--his sphere was the unforeseen. amidst so much that is trivial and dispiriting in art and life, the widely diffused interest, the delight in the creations of the wondrous man is a bright sign of our times. i do not say the _comprehension_ of them; that is not, and cannot be the case. but there are, perhaps, no poems in the love and admiration of which so many of the highest intellects concur as the tone-poems of our master. to the essential nature of our art, which bears within itself the all-reconciling element of love, must we attribute the fact that against it the most violent differences in religious, political, and philosophical opinion make no stand--it is the might of beethoven's genius which subdues the proudest minds, while quickening the pulsations of the simplest hearts. if in anything the will of man shows itself weak, nay, helpless, it is in the matter of intellectual creation. a very strong will (is not even this beyond the reach of most?) may lead to great learning, to brilliant technical acquirements, to virtue itself--a spontaneous poetic thought in word, tone, or colour, it will never be able to bring forth. thus, the true relation of genius to us is that of a star, diffusing light and warmth, which we enjoy and admire. since, however, to the higher man recognition and gratitude are necessities, since he desires to add intelligence and reverence to his admiration, and would willingly offer up love also to the subject of it, he begins to investigate. he asks, what the divine germ, existing even in the lisping child, demanded for its development; what brought it out into blossom--what influences worked upon it beneficially--to what extent he who was so nobly gifted was supported and furthered by moral strength--how he used the talent committed to him--finally, how he fought through the life-struggle from which no mortal is exempt. and then he inquires again and further; which of his qualities, which of the properties peculiar to himself, affect us most strongly?--in what relation does he stand to the development of his art--in what to that of his nation?--how does he appear with regard to his own century? a mere attempt at answering these questions, and the many connected with them, would require an enormous apparatus of a biographic and æsthetic nature, including a knowledge of the history of art and culture, and an acquaintance with musical technicalities. it does not fall either within our power or the scope of these pages to make any approach to such a task. a few slight hints may suffice to prevent our forgetting (amid the extraordinary and all-engrossing occurrences of the present time) the day which sent to us a hundred years ago the no less extraordinary man, who, a prophet in the noblest sense of the word, foresaw and declared (though only in tones) the nobleness and greatness which will be revealed by the german people, if friendly stars shine upon their future. a species of caste seems to have been implanted in man by nature--there are families of statesmen, warriors, theologians, artists. it will nevertheless be admitted that while it is often the case that circumstances, family traditions, cause the sons to follow in their fathers' footsteps, it frequently happens that the calling lays hold of the man, becomes, in the truest sense of the word, a _calling_. several of our first composers have sprung out of families in which the profession of music was chiefly followed--but certainly not many. one thing, however, was common to nearly all--they were marvellous children, prodigies. _prodigy!_ now-a-days an ominous word, recalling immediately to mind industrious fathers, who force on concerts, and musical attainments which do not refresh by their maturity, but only excite astonishment at the precocity of those from whom they are exacted. the abuse of the phenomenon has brought the latter itself into a bad light. a musical hothouse plant forced into premature bloom through vanity or the thirst for money may soon become stunted; none the less, however, does the fact remain, that no intellectual gift shows or develops itself earlier than that of music. bach, handel, mozart, hummel, rossini, mendelssohn, clara schumann, liszt, joachim, were prodigies. nature knows what she is about. he alone to whom this wondrous tone-language has become a second mother tongue, will be able to express himself with freedom in it; but how soon do we begin to attempt our mother tongue! and how few succeed in really learning to _speak_ it! it would be inexplicable had not our beethoven been also a prodigy. he was one, but after such a sound, healthy sort, that those about him were more struck by the thought of his great future, than enthusiastic about his achievements at the time. the compositions which have been preserved to us from his boyish days bear traces, even then, of the frank, honest mode of expression which remained his to the end of his career. naturally, their contents are trifling; what has a boy of twelve years to communicate to the world, if his inner life develop itself according to nature? borne onwards by his artistic readiness, he attained, however, at a very early age an honourable, independent position with regard to the outer world. he had barely quitted childhood when he was organist at the elector's court in bonn. at a later period he occupied for several years the post of violist in the orchestra. the viola was then one of the most neglected orchestral instruments, and we must form but a slight estimate of beethoven's achievements upon it. it was, however, invaluable for him, the future commander of the instrumental tone-world, to have served _in the line_. in fact, every striving young composer ought, as a matter of duty, to act for at least one year as member of an orchestra, were it only at the great drum. it is the surest method of making the individuality of the different sound organs ineffaceably one's own. when the latter are entrusted to capable executants (as was the case in the electoral orchestra), the idea of a definite personality is added to the peculiarity of the instrument, which is not at all a bad thing. how often in later years may the image of one or other of his former colleagues have presented itself vividly and helpfully to the mind of the master, as he sat meditating over a score! how often may he have heard in spirit an expressive solo performed by one of them! the stimulus which beethoven received from singers in those early days at bonn did not work very deeply. his own father, indeed, was one of the elector's vocalists, and sang both in church and on the stage. but he was a sorry fellow, who saw in his gifted son only a means of extricating himself from his gloomy pecuniary difficulties, and certainly not the man to inspire him for the wedding of word to tone--the noblest union ever contracted. even in the most magnificent of beethoven's vocal works there exists a certain roughness; the words domineer over the melody, or the latter over the poem. that perfect union--that melting in one another of both factors--which is peculiar to mozart and handel is found only separately (_vereinzelt_) in him. would a youth spent in the midst of a great song-world have led our master along other paths? certainly not without significance for his development was the fact, that he was born on the lovely banks of our joyous old rhine. do we not sometimes hear it surging like a wave of the mighty stream through the beethoven harmonies? do we not feel ourselves blown upon by the fresh mountain air? and do not the cordial, true-hearted melodies, which so often escape from the master, breathe the very magic of one of those enchanting evenings which we talk or dream away on the shore of the most truly _german_ stream? the taste for an open-air life (a life _im freien_, in freeness, as the german language so nobly expresses it) remained faithful to him until the end; and we can scarcely picture him to ourselves better than as wandering in forests and valleys, listening for the springs which sparkled within himself. scientific knowledge, even in its most elementary form, was hardly presented to the notice of the young musician, and if at a later period any interest in such pursuits had arisen within him, he would have been obliged to dismiss it. on the other hand, he buried himself with his whole soul in the loftiest works of poetry, that second higher world, and always came back with renewed delight upon the works of homer, shakspere, goethe, and schiller. many and varied were the influences which they exerted upon him. they were to him "intellectual wine," as bettina once named his music. but those are completely mistaken who expect to find, either in them or anywhere else, positive expositions or elucidations of beethoven's compositions, as some have occasionally attempted to do, building their theory partly on utterances of the master. when the latter refers the constantly inquiring secretary, schindler (i know not on what occasion), to shakspere's "tempest," it was, after all, only an answer--nothing more. the awakening of pure musical imagination is just as inexplicable as are its results. one thing alone stands firm,--that which speaks to the heart, came from the heart,--but the life-blood which pulsates at the heart of the true artist is a thousand times more richly composed than that which flows in our veins. no æsthetic physiologist will ever be able to analyze it completely. and, in life, is it only the deep thoughts, the extraordinary occurrences, which call forth all our sensations, out of which alone our happiness and our misery are formed? is not a calm, serene autumn day enough to entrance our inmost nature? a single verse to console us? the friendly glance of a maiden to throw us into the sweetest _reverie_? what trifling influences affect the eternally rising and falling quicksilver of our hopes! and thus the smallest occasions may have been sufficient to cause vibration in a soul so highly strung as beethoven's. most powerfully, however, in such a genius, worked the pure creative impulse, that eternally glowing fire in the deepest recesses of his nature, with its volcanic--but, in this instance, blissful eruptions. we know that beethoven proceeded as a young man to vienna, which he never afterwards left. he found there (at least in the first half of his residence) enthusiastic admirers, intelligent friends, admission to distinguished circles, and lastly, that most necessary evil--money. nobody will grudge to the lively, good-humoured, imperial city the fame of being able to designate as her own a brilliant line of our greatest tone-poets. but then she ought not to take it amiss that we should wonder how, within her walls, at _that_ time, so magnificent an artistic development as beethoven's should ever have been accomplished. shall we say, not _because_, but--_in spite of_ her? or shall we utter the supposition that no agglomeration of men can be sufficient for genius, since it treads a way of its own, which bears no names of streets? when, however, the question comes under discussion, of the relation of a great composer to _that_ public among whom his lot is cast, we cannot deny that it is easier to understand how a handel created his oratorios in the so-called unmusical london, than how beethoven composed his symphonies in the musical vienna of the period. the former found himself in london in the midst of a grand public life,--grand were the powers over which he held sway, like the continually increasing throngs of listeners who streamed to his performances. when, on the other hand, we hear of the difficulty with which beethoven, during the course of a quarter of a century, succeeded in giving about a dozen concerts in which his titanic orchestral poems were performed _for the first time_, we become faint at heart. and i cannot do otherwise than express my conviction that, under other conditions, no inconsiderable portion of his works, which are (to use schumann's expression) _veiled symphonies_, would have revealed their true nature. the world of the musician would hardly have been more enriched thereby, but the musical public would have benefited. for millions would have been edified, where now hundreds torment themselves (with quartets and sonatas) for the most part in vain. yes! these symphonies and overtures, with their unpretending designations, are the first poems of our time, and they are _national poems_ in a far truer sense than the songs of the edda, and all connected with them, ever can or will be for us, despite the efforts of littérateurs and artists. yes! in the soul of this rhinelander, who every day inveighed against the town and the state in which he lived, who was zealous for the french republic, and ready to become kapellmeister to king jerome--in this soul was condensed the most ideal germania ever conceived by the noblest mind. with the poet we may exclaim, "for he was ours!"--_ours_ through what he uttered--_ours_ through the form in which he spoke--_ours_, for we were true to the proverb in the way we ill-treated and misunderstood him. "industry and love" goethe claims for his countrymen. no artist ever exercised these qualities with regard to his art in a higher degree than did beethoven. _she_ was to him the highest good--no care, no joy of life could separate him from her. neither riches nor honours estranged him from the ideal which he perceived and strove after so long as he breathed. he never could do enough to satisfy himself either in single works or in his whole career. he spared himself no trouble in order to work out his thoughts to the fullest maturity, to the most transparent clearness. to the smallest tone-picture he brought the fullest power. his first sketches, like the autographs of his scores, show in the plainest manner that inflexible persistency, that unwearied patience, which we presuppose in the scientific investigator, but which, in the inspired singer, fill us with astonishment and admiration. in all conflicts (and every artistic creation is a conflict) the toughest difficulty is _to persevere_. truth was a fundamental part of beethoven's character. what he sang came from his deepest soul. never did he allow himself to make concessions either to the multitude and its frivolity, or to please the vanity of executants. the courage which is bound up with this resembles the modest bravery of the citizen, but it celebrates even fewer triumphs than the latter. beethoven was proud, not vain. he had the consciousness of his intellectual power--he rejoiced to see it recognised--but he despised the small change of every-day applause. suspicious and hasty, he gave his friends occasion for many complaints, but nowhere do we find a trace of any pretension to hero-worship. he stood too high to feel himself honoured by such proceedings; but, at the same time, he had too much regard for the independent manliness of others to be pleased with a homage which clashed against that. what a fulness of the noblest, the sublimest conceptions must have lived and moved in him to admit of their crystallizing themselves into the melodies which transport us!--softness without weakness, enthusiasm without hollowness, longing without sentimentality, passion without madness. he is deep but never turgid, pleasant but never insipid, lofty but never bombastic. in the expression of love, fervent, tender, overflowing with happiness or with melancholy, but never with ignoble sensuality. he can be cordial, cheerful, joyful to extravagance, to excess--never to vulgarity. in the deepest suffering he does not lose himself--he triumphs over it. he has been called humorous--it is a question whether music, viewed in its immediateness and truth, be capable of expressing humour--yet it may be that he sometimes "smiles amid tears." with true majesty does he move in his power, in his loftiness, in the boldness of his action, which may rise to defiance--never to senseless licence. a little self-will shows itself here and there, but it suits him well, for it is not the self-will of obstinacy, but of striving. he can be pious, never hypocritical; his lofty soul rises to the unspeakable; he falls on his knees with humility, but not with slavish fear, for he feels the divinity within. a trace of heroic freedom pervades all his creations, consequently they work in the cause of freedom. the expression, "_im freien_"--liberty! might serve as the inscription on a temple dedicated to his genius! like nature herself, he is varied in his forms, without ever relinquishing a deep-laid, well-concerted basis; he is rich in the melodies which he produces, but never lavish; he acts in regard to them with a wise economy. in the working out of his thoughts he unites the soundest musical logic to the richest inventive boldness. seldom only does he forget the words of schiller,--"in what he leaves _unsaid_, i discover the master of style." this wise economy does not forsake him either in the selection or the number of the organs which he employs. he avoids every superfluity, but the spirits of sound which he invokes must obey him. nevertheless, not to slavish servitude does he reduce them; on the contrary, he raises them in their own estimation by that which he exacts from them. what might be urged against him, perhaps, is that he sometimes makes demands upon them to which they are not adequate, that his ideal conception goes beyond their power of execution. he has spoken almost exclusively in the highest forms of instrumental music, and where, in one way or other, words are added to these, he has always been actuated by high motive. he sings of love and freedom with goethe, of joy with schiller, of the heroism of conjugal love in "fidelio;" in his solemn mass he gives expression to all those feelings which force their way from man to his maker. enough, enough! we would never have done, were we to say all that could be said about such a mind. dare we now really claim his creations, which breathe the highest humanity, as specially _german_? i think this will be granted us when we add to it the consideration that our greatest poets and thinkers have, in like manner; struck root firmly in their nationality, whence they have grown up--away, beyond--into those regions from which their glance embraced but _one_ nobly striving human family. it has been often declared that we, for long, felt and recognised our national unity only through the works of our poets, artists, and philosophers; but it has never been fully recognised that it was our first tone-poets in particular, who caused the essential german character to be appreciated by other nations. there are, perhaps, no two german names which can rejoice in a popularity--widely diffused in the most dissimilar nations--equal to that of mozart and beethoven. and haydn, and weber, and schubert, and mendelssohn! what a propaganda have they made for the fatherland! that they speak a _universal_ language does not prevent their uttering in it the best which we possess _as germans_. nevertheless, as men are constituted, it is not to be denied that what enchants does not on that account overawe them; they _esteem_ the beautiful, they _respect_ only force and strength, even should these work destroyingly. well, then! germany has now shown what she can do in this way; she will bloom afresh, and follow out her high aims in every direction. the consideration which we could long since have claimed as a people, will then be freely accorded to the german state. as a musician, i can wish for the nation nothing better than that it should resemble a beethoven symphony,--full of poetry and power; indivisible, yet many-sided; rich in thought and symmetrical in form; exalted and mighty! and for the beethoven symphonies i could wish directors and executants like those of whom the world's history will speak when considering the nineteenth century. but history, if at all true to her task, must also preserve the name of the man who, nearly seventy years ago, created the eroica,--an achievement in the intellectual life which may place itself boldly by the side of every battle which has left invigorating and formative traces on the destiny of mankind. ferdinand hiller. footnotes: [footnote : this essay also appeared in germany in the _salon_.] [illustration] [illustration] beethoven: a memoir. chapter i. introductory. origin of the family van beethoven--the electorate of cologne--court of clemens august the magnificent--ludwig van beethoven the elder--johann van beethoven--bonn in . towards the middle of the seventeenth century there lived in a belgian village near louvain a family of the name van beethoven. to their position in life we have no clue, unless it be that contained in the name itself (_beet_, root; _hof_, garden), which after all only indicates that the occupation of some remote progenitor was akin to that of the "grand old gardener" from whom we all claim descent. the question, however, is immaterial. a member of this family left his native place, and in the year settled in antwerp, where he married, and became the founder of a race, one of whom was destined to render the hitherto obscure name immortal. the grandson of this beethoven had twelve children, the third of whom, ludwig, followed the example of his great-grandsire, and quitted the paternal roof at an early age. it has been imagined that this step was the result of family disagreements; however that may be, it is certain that after the lapse of some years ludwig was again in friendly correspondence with his relations. the youth bent his steps towards the home of his ancestors, where he probably had connections, and succeeded in getting an appointment for the period of three months in one of the churches of louvain. as this was merely to fill the place of the _phonascus_ who was ill, young beethoven found himself when the three months were over again adrift. he was but eighteen; tolerably well educated, however; a cultivated musician, and the possessor of a good voice. with these qualities he was pretty sure of making his way, and in the following year we hear of him at bonn, the seat of government of the splendour-loving clemens august, elector of cologne. it has been thought that he received a special summons thither, but this is, to say the least, doubtful. it is more probable that the young man, with the love of change and the confidence in his own abilities natural to his age, was drawn to bonn by the dazzling reports that were spread far and wide of the mæcenas then on the episcopal throne. a few words may not be out of place here as to the nature of the independent ecclesiastical states (and specially of cologne), which occupy so large a space in the history of germany prior to the french revolution; since the fact of the great master having been born in one of these communities had an influence on his career which would have been wanting had fate placed him in a state of more importance, politically speaking. we in england are inclined to hold somewhat in contempt the petty german court--the "pumpernickel" of thackeray,--with its formality, its gossip, its countless rules of etiquette, and its aping the doings of its greater neighbours. and yet in this ridicule there is a touch of ingratitude, for how greatly are we indebted to these "serene transparencies," and their love of pomp and display! how many masterpieces of art owe to their fostering care their very existence! how many men eminent in science and literature have to thank them for that support and encouragement without which their works, if produced at all, must have fallen to the ground dead-born! people talk of the divine power, the inherent energy of genius, but what a loss is it for the world when that energy is consumed in the effort of keeping soul and body together! the divine power will and does manifest itself at length, but enfeebled and distorted by the struggle which might have been averted by a little timely aid. these prince-bishops of cologne generally belonged to some royal house, the office being in fact regarded as a convenient sinecure for younger sons. they were chosen by the chapter, subject only to the approval of the pope and the emperor, as the supreme spiritual and temporal heads, the people themselves having no voice in the matter. they ruled over a small territory of about thirty german miles in length, and in some places only two or three in breadth. within this limited area there were several wealthy and flourishing towns; among which, strangely enough, that which gave its name to the diocese was not included, a feud of the thirteenth century between the reigning archbishop and the burghers of cologne having resulted in the recognition of the latter as a free imperial city, and the removal of the court to bonn, which continued to be the seat of government until the abolition of the electorate in . were it not that the loss of so wealthy a town as cologne was of no small moment to the episcopal coffers, the change must have been agreeable rather than otherwise, for bonn, even in those days, fairly bore the palm from cologne as a place of residence. here, then, for about five hundred years, the little state flourished, better perhaps than we, with our modern ideas as to the union of the temporal and spiritual power are willing to admit, and especially in the last fifty years of its existence, was this the case. debarred by the limited income at their disposal from taking any prominent part in political life, cut off from ordinary domestic ties and interests, the archbishops were driven to seek compensation for these deprivations in some favourite pursuit; and to their credit be it said, not the delights of the chase or the table alone engaged their attention. the old genius of appreciation of art transferred its presence from the arno to the rhine, and began to exert in the electors of cologne an influence of great importance in the æsthetic development of germany. the four last electors especially distinguished themselves, and shed a lustre on their court, by the number of talented men they drew around them, and the liberal patronage they bestowed on music and the drama. joseph clemens, the first of these, was himself a composer, after the usual fashion of royal dilettanti, no doubt, but a keen discerner of talent in others. his successor, clemens august, had passed his youth in rome, where, although modern taste was on the decline, the imperishable monuments of art by which he was surrounded seem to have breathed something of their own spirit into him. he did a great deal towards beautifying the town of bonn; built, besides churches and cloisters, an immense palace, the present university, and greatly enlarged the villa of poppelsdorf, now the natural history museum. his household was conducted on the most magnificent scale, grand fêtes were of common occurrence, and his court was thronged by celebrities of every rank. especially did the reputation of the court music stand high. the archbishop, like his predecessor, was a connoisseur, and selections from the operas of handel and the cantatas of sebastian bach were performed at bonn in a style worthy of the imperial court at vienna. it was to this brilliant little capital, then, that young ludwig van beethoven made his way in the year , with a light heart and still lighter purse, and begged for an engagement as one of the court musicians, which distinction, after the customary year's probation, was formally granted him, with an annual stipend of four hundred guldens, at that time considered a very good income for so young a man. his career seems to have been uniformly successful and honourable. existing documents speak of him as successively simple _musicus_, then _dominus van beethoven_, next as _musicus anticus_, and finally in the year as _herr kapellmeister_, when his name also figures third in a list of twenty-eight _hommes de chambre honoraires_ in the "court calendar." this success is the more remarkable when we reflect that ludwig van beethoven the elder was no composer, and in those days the musical director in the service of a prince was expected to produce offhand, at an hour's notice, appropriate music for every family occurrence, festival or funeral; so that his appointment as kapellmeister must have created no little jealousy, especially as there were several eminent composers at court. but in truth it would have been impossible for him to find much time for composition amid the multifarious duties that devolved upon him. in addition to the general responsibility over all pertaining to musical matters, including the oversight of the numerous singers, choristers, and instrumentalists in the elector's service, he was expected to conduct in church, in the theatre, on private occasions at court, to examine the candidates for vacancies in the choir and orchestra, and also to take the bass part in several operas and cantatas. truly the herr kapellmeister held no sinecure, if his royal master did! notwithstanding, he seems to have led a quiet, even-going life, able, unlike the most of his colleagues, to lay by a little sum of money, happy in the exercise of his art (alas, poor man! domestic bliss was denied him), respected and beloved by all. such was the grandfather of the great beethoven. he died when the boy was but three years of age; nevertheless the old man in the scarlet robe usually worn at that time by elderly people, with his dark complexion and flashing eye, seems to have made no ordinary impression on beethoven's childish mind. he always spoke with reverence of his grandfather, whom he doubtless regarded as the founder of the family, and the only relic that he cared to have when settled in vienna was a portrait of the old man, which he begs his friend wegeler in a letter to send him from bonn. we have hinted that ludwig van beethoven was not happy in his home. if every one is haunted by some skeleton, his was grim enough. not many years after their marriage his wife josepha had become addicted to drinking, and in fact her habits were such that it was found necessary to place her in the restraint of a convent at cologne. thayer attributes this failing to grief for the loss of her children, only one of whom lived to manhood; but this trait in her character was unfortunately reproduced in her son johann.[ ] the latter appears to have been a man of vacillating, inert temperament, gifted with a good voice and artistic sensibility, but not capable of any sustained effort. at the age of twenty-four we find him filling the post of tenor in the electoral chapel with the miserable stipend of one hundred thalers, and not distinguished in any way, unless we except his ingenuity in spelling or misspelling his own name in the petitions which he from time to time addressed to the elector for an increase of salary. in these he calls himself _bethoven_, _betthoven_, _bethof_, _biethoffen_; but this instance does not warrant us in concluding that he was a man of no education whatever, for the orthography even of those who considered themselves scholars was at that time very erratic. at the age of twenty-seven, on an income not much larger than that just mentioned, johann van beethoven took unto himself a wife. the entry in the register of the parish of st. remigius runs thus:-- "copulavi-- "nov. , . "johannem van beethoven, filium legitimum ludovici van beethoven et mariÆ josephÆ poll, et mariam magdalenam keferich, viduam leym, ex ehrenbreitstein, filiam henrici keferich et annÆ mariÆ westroffs." the object of his choice was a young widow, maria magdalena, daughter of the head cook at the castle of ehrenbreitstein. her first husband, johann leym, one of the _valets de chambre_ to the elector of treves, had left her a widow at the age of nineteen. the fruit of this plebeian union between the tenor singer of the electoral chapel and the daughter of the head cook to his grace the archbishop of treves was the great maestro. what a downfall must the discovery of this fact have been to the numerous viennese admirers of beethoven, who for long persisted in attributing to him a noble origin, confounding the flemish particle _van_ with the aristocratic _von_! it was impossible, they thought, that beethoven's undoubted aristocratic leanings could be compatible with so humble a parentage. hence the absurd fable, promulgated by fayolle and choron, which represented him as a natural son of frederic ii., king of prussia, which was indignantly repudiated by beethoven himself. in general careless of his own reputation, he could not bear that the slightest breath of slander should touch his mother; and in a letter addressed to wegeler begged him to "make known to the world the honour of his parents, particularly of his mother." her memory was always regarded by him with the deepest tenderness, and he was wont to speak lovingly of the "great patience she had with his waywardness." we cannot conclude this short sketch better than by presenting the reader with thayer's picturesque description of bonn, as it must have appeared in the eyes of the young beethoven. the old town itself wore an aspect very similar to that of the present day. there were the same churches and cloisters, the same quaint flying bridge, the same ruins of drachenfels and godesberg towering above the same orchard-embedded villages. the seven hills looked quietly down on the same classic rhine, not as yet desecrated by puffing tourist-laden steamboat or shrieking locomotive. gently and evenly flowed the life-current in the elector's capital, no foreboding of nineteenth century bustle and excitement causing even a ripple on the calm surface. "let our imagination paint for us a fine easter or whitsun morning in those times, and show us the little town in its holiday adornment and bustle. "the bells are ringing from castle tower and church steeple; the country people, in coarse but comfortable garments (the women overladen with gay colours), come in from the neighbouring villages, fill the market-places, and throng into the churches to early mass. "the nobles and principal citizens, in ample low-hanging coats, wide vests, and knee-breeches (the whole suit composed of some bright-coloured stuffsilk, satin, or velvet), with great white fluttering cravats, ruffles over the hands; buckles of silver, or even of gold, below the knee and on the shoes; high frizzed and powdered perruques on the head, covered with a cocked hat, if the latter be not tucked underneath the arm; a sword by the side, and generally a gold-headed cane; and, if the morning be cold, a scarlet mantle thrown over the shoulders. "thus attired they decorously direct their steps to the castle to kiss the hand of his serene highness, or drive in at the gates in ponderous equipages, surmounted by white-powdered, cocked-hatted coachman and footman. "their wives wear long narrow bodices with immense flowing skirts. their shoes with very high heels, and the towering rolls over which their hair is dressed, give them an appearance of greater height than they in reality possess. they wear short sleeves, but long silk gloves cover their arms. "the clergy of different orders and dress are attired as at the present day, with the exception of the streaming wigs. the electoral guard has turned out, and from time to time the thunder of the firing from the walls reaches the ear. "on all sides strong and bright contrasts meet the eye; velvet and silk, 'purple and fine linen,' gold and silver. such was the taste of the period; expensive and incommodious in form, but imposing, magnificent, and indicative of the distinction between the different grades of society." such was the bonn of . footnotes: [footnote : we are told on good authority that the elder beethoven had invested his money in "two cellars of wine," which he bought from the growers of the district, and sold into the netherlands. an unlucky speculation! johann, we learn, was early an adept at "wine-tasting."--thayer, vol. i. app., p. .] [illustration] chapter ii. boyhood. birth--early influences and training--neefe--first attempts at composition--the boy organist--max friedrich's national theatre--mozart and beethoven--disappointment. on the th of december, , in the old house in the bonngasse, ludwig van beethoven first saw the light. he was not the eldest child, johann having about eighteen months previously lost a son who had also been christened ludwig. beethoven's infant years flew by happily, the grandfather being still alive, and able to make good any deficiency in his son's miserable income; but in the year the old man was gathered to his fathers, and the little household left to face that struggle with poverty which embittered beethoven's youth. the father, however, was not yet the hardened, reckless man he afterwards became, and could still take pleasure in the manifest joy exhibited by his little son whenever he sat at the pianoforte and played or sang. the sound of his father's voice was sufficient to draw the child from any game, and great was his delight when johann placed his little fingers among the keys and taught him to follow the melody of the song. on the title-page of the three sonatas dedicated to the elector maximilian friedrich, beethoven says, "from my fourth year music has been my favourite pursuit;" and such would seem to have been really the case. the readiness with which the child learned was, however, unfortunate for him. no long interval had elapsed since the extraordinary performances of the young mozarts had astonished the whole musical world, and the evil genius of johann van beethoven now prompted him to turn his son's talents to the same account. he resolved to make of ludwig a prodigy, and foresaw in his precocious efforts a mine of wealth which would do away with any necessity for exertion on his part, and allow him to give full scope to what was fast becoming his dominant passion. with this end in view he undertook the musical education of his boy, and the little amusing lessons, at first given in play, now became sad and serious earnest. ludwig was kept at the pianoforte morning, noon, and night, till the child began positively to hate what he had formerly adored. still the father was relentless: handel, bach, mozart, all had been great as child-musicians; and if the boy (only a baby of five years) showed signs of obstinacy or sulkiness, he must be forced into submission by cruel threats and still more cruel punishments. many a time was the little ludwig seen in tears, standing on a raised bench before his pianoforte, thus early serving his apprenticeship to grief. in short, johann was fast doing all he could to ruin the genius of his son, when, fortunately for the world, it soon became evident that if ludwig were to do wonders as a prodigy, he would require a better teacher than his father, and the boy was accordingly handed over to one pfeiffer, an oboist in the theatre, and probably a lodger in johann's house. this man seems to have been of a genial, kindly nature, though only too willing to second his landlord's views with regard to the boy; for we learn that when the two came home from the tavern far on in the night (as was too often the case) the little ludwig would be dragged from his bed and kept at the pianoforte till daybreak! beethoven seems, however, to have had a great regard for pfeiffer, who was an excellent pianist, and from whom he declared he had learned more than from any one else. on hearing many years after that he was broken down and in poverty, he sent him, through simrock the music publisher, a sum of money. this ruthless conduct on the part of johann, though unjustifiable and inhuman, probably layed the foundation of the technical skill and power over the pianoforte which so greatly distinguished beethoven. it is not positively certain that the father gained his end, and made money by exhibiting the child, though we have the testimony of the widow karth (who as a child inhabited the same house as the beethovens) that on one occasion the mother made a journey to holland and belgium--probably to some relations in louvain,--where she received several considerable presents from noble personages before whom the wonder-child had performed. this, however, is a mere childish reminiscence, not to be depended on, though it certainly coincides with all we know of johann's character. the boy was also forced to learn the violin, and this he disliked infinitely more than the piano, a fact which puts to flight the pretty anecdote narrated in the "arachnologie" of quatremère disjonval, who gravely states that whenever the boy began to practise--in an old ruined garret filled with broken furniture and dilapidated music-books--a spider was in the habit of leaving its hiding-place, and perching itself upon his violin till he had finished. when his mother discovered her son's little companion she killed it, whereupon this second orpheus, filled with indignation, smashed his instrument! beethoven himself remembered nothing about this, and used to laugh heartily at the story, saying it was far more probable that his discordant growls frightened away every living thing--down to flies and spiders. when he was nine years old, pfeiffer left bonn to act as bandmaster in a bavarian regiment, and the boy was placed under the care of van den eeden, the court organist. at his death, which took place not long after, ludwig was transferred to his successor, christian gottlob neefe, whose pupil he remained for several years. this neefe, long since forgotten, was one of the best musicians of the time, and thought worthy to be named in the same breath with bach and graun. he was a ready composer, and the favourite pupil of johann adam hiller, bach's successor as cantor in the thomasschule at leipzig. he appears, moreover, to have been an amiable, conscientious man, and so high did his artistic reputation stand that he, although a protestant, was tolerated as organist in the archbishop's private chapel. how comes it, then, that with all these qualifications beethoven would not afterwards allow that he had profited by his instructions? the question is not easily solved. beethoven himself wrote from vienna to his old teacher in , "i thank you for the advice which you often gave me whilst striving in my divine art. if i ever become a great man you have a share in it." notwithstanding this tribute there was a coldness between them. it may be that master and pupil had not that entire sympathy with each other which is essential to any worthy result from the relationship. beethoven, as we know, was self-willed, and overflowing with an originality which, even at that early age, would not easily brook dictation. neefe, on the other hand, was a _young_ man, and endowed, as he himself tells us in his autobiography, with a certain satirical tendency, which he may have allowed somewhat too free play in criticising his young pupil's efforts in composition. if the latter conjecture be correct, it gives the clue to the earnest advice beethoven was wont to give the critics in after years--never to judge the performances of a beginner harshly, as "many would thus be deterred from following out what they might, perhaps, have ultimately succeeded in." contempt to a sensitive, shrinking nature is like the blast of the east wind on a tender flower; downright condemnation is easier to bear than the sneer which throws the young aspirant, smarting and humiliated, back into himself--his best energies withered for the moment. whatever beethoven's feeling to neefe may have been, it did not, at any rate, prevent his making very decided progress under his tuition, at which the organist himself rejoiced, as we learn from the following letter written by him, and published in _cramer's magazine_--the first printed notice of beethoven:--"louis van beethoven, son of the tenor mentioned above, a boy of eleven years, with talent of great promise. he plays the pianoforte with great execution and power, reads very well at sight, and, to say all in brief, plays almost the whole of sebastian bach's 'wohl-temperirte clavier,' which herr neefe has put into his hands. he who knows this collection of preludes and fugues through all the keys (which one might almost call the _non plus ultra_) will understand what this implies. herr neefe has also given him, so far as his other occupations permit, some introduction to the study of thorough-bass. now he exercises him in composition, and for his encouragement has had printed in mannheim nine variations for the pianoforte written by him on a march. this young genius deserves help in order that he may travel. he will certainly be a second wolfgang amadeus mozart if he continue as he has begun." what could be kinder than the tone of this letter? the allusion to mozart in the last sentence does credit to neefe's discernment, as the great composer was at that time comparatively little known. it is to be presumed that at this period beethoven also studied the works of c.p.e. bach, since there is evidence that he was familiar with them. his progress, in short, was such that we find him in , when he had not completed his twelfth year, installed as neefe's representative at the organ, while the latter was absent on a journey of some duration. thus we may picture the boy beethoven to ourselves, at an age when other children are frolicsome and heedless, as already a little man, earnest, grave, reserved, buried in his own thoughts, his bach, and his organ. he had no time to join his young companions in their games, even had his inclination prompted him to do so; for besides the hours devoted to music, he attended the public school, where he went through the usual elementary course, and learned besides a little latin. his knowledge of the latter must, however, have been very slight, as when composing his first mass he was obliged to make use of a translation, which, considering that he was brought up in a catholic family, is singular enough. johann v. beethoven was not the man to waste money, as he thought, on giving his son a liberal education, so that the degree of culture attained by beethoven was due only to his own efforts and the influences afterwards thrown around him. in the year the three sonatas already alluded to were published, beethoven at the time being nearly thirteen--not _eleven_ years of age as was stated,--the falsifying of his age being part of his father's plan with regard to him. we give the dedication entire, because (though probably not written wholly by beethoven himself) it offers a curious contrast to his subsequent ideas regarding the princes and great ones of the earth:-- "most illustrious prince! from my fourth year music has been my favourite pursuit. so early acquainted with the sweet muse, who attuned my soul to pure harmonies, i won her, and methought was loved by her in return. i have now attained my eleventh year, and my muse has often whispered to me in hours of inspiration, try to write down the harmonies of thy soul! eleven years old, thought i, how would the character of author become me? and what would riper artists say to it? i felt some trepidation. but my muse willed it--i obeyed, and wrote. "and dare i now, most serene highness, venture to lay the first fruits of my youthful labour before your throne? and may i hope that you will cast on them the encouraging glance of your approval? oh yes! for knowledge and art have at all times found in you a wise protector, a generous patron; and rising talent has thriven under your fatherly care. filled with this cheering conviction i venture to approach you with these youthful efforts. "accept them as the pure offering of childlike reverence, and look with favour, "most illustrious prince, "on them and their young composer, "ludwig van beethoven." it has been generally imagined that neefe was paid by the elector for the instruction given to beethoven, but this is merely a supposition, without any proof whatever. it is more than likely that neefe considered the assistance rendered to him by the boy an equivalent for his lessons. we have seen how, as early as , he was qualified to relieve him in the organ duty, rather a heavy task, owing to the number of services at which the organist was expected to be present. in addition to this, neefe soon found another way of employing him--but this will require a little explanation. whilst awaiting his appointment as court organist, neefe had acted as musical director to a troupe of singers known as the grossmann company, from the name of the leader and organizer. this was one of the best operatic companies in germany, all its members being actors of experience and reputation. now it had entered the elector's head to take this company into his own service, and found a national theatre (in imitation of that at vienna) which should serve as a school of refinement for the worthy citizens of bonn. neefe found himself, therefore, burdened with double duties as conductor and organist, and in the season of , owing to the absence of one of his colleagues (the well-known lucchesi), was almost overwhelmed with work. he found it impossible to attend the morning rehearsals in the theatre, and accordingly young ludwig was appointed _cembalist_ in the orchestra, _i.e._, to preside at the pianoforte. in those days this was considered a distinction (as such haydn regarded it in london), and in fact only an accomplished musician could fill the post, as all the accompaniments were played from the score. to this early initiation may be attributed the extreme facility with which beethoven read, _a prima vista_, the most involved and complicated scores, even when in manuscript, and that manuscript written by a bach in a manner calculated to drive any ordinary reader to despair. for two seasons young ludwig was the accompanist at all rehearsals, and in addition to the advantage of thus working out in the most practical way all that he learned of theory, he also gained a thorough acquaintance with the works of grétry and gluck. the operas were varied by dramatic representations, and these must have had an immense influence on the observant, reflective boy; for the _répertoire_ of the company was large, and embraced not only the standard pieces of the day, but the new plays of lessing, and "the robbers" of schiller, which had begun to create a ferment of excitement throughout germany; besides translations from molière, goldoni, and our own garrick and cumberland. to return to our young _cembalist_, the two years - must have been a busy time to him between the chapel and the orchestra, but not a penny did he receive for his services, although he may have earned a trifle by playing the organ every morning at the six o'clock mass in the church of st. remigius. when he was thirteen, however, through neefe's influence he was nominated officially to the post he had so long filled in reality, that of assistant organist, and would have drawn a salary but for an event which threw him back again. the elector max friedrich died, the operatic company was dismissed, and neefe, having nothing to do but play his organ, had no further need of an assistant. this must have been a great blow to the boy; not that he cared for the money in itself, but he knew how it would have lightened his poor mother's cares, and shed a gleam of sunshine over the poverty-stricken household. his father was now beginning to throw off all restraint; his failing was generally known, and more than once he was rescued from the hands of the police and brought home by his son in a state of unconsciousness. long ere this, two sons, caspar anton carl and nikolaus johann, respectively four and six years younger than ludwig, had been added to the family, and doubtless many were the secret councils between the boy and his mother as to how the few thalers of johann (_minus_ what was spent in the alehouse) could be made to meet the needs of the household. it was probably about this time that beethoven began to give lessons, that most wearisome of all employments to him, and so for more than a year, to the great hindrance of his own studies, contributed his mite to the general fund. the year , however, brought with it a little heartening; ludwig's former appointment as assistant organist was confirmed by the new elector, and with the yearly stipend of a hundred thalers an era of hope dawned for the lad. max franz, archbishop of cologne, was the youngest son of maria theresa, and the favourite of his brother, the emperor joseph ii., whom he strongly resembled in character and disposition. to any one familiar with the musical history of the period and the emperor's relation to mozart, this will be sufficient to indicate the pleasure with which the bonn musicians must have hailed his advent. nor were their expectations disappointed; max franz surpassed his predecessors not only in the munificence of his support, but (what is perhaps of more importance) in the real interest shown by him in the progress of art at his court. neither did he confine his patronage to music alone (though, as was natural in a son of maria theresa, this was his first care); painting, science, and literature alike felt the influence of his generous mind. the university was founded and endowed by him, and the utmost efforts made to meet that universal demand for a higher culture, and that striving after truth in art, which the works of schlegel, lessing, schiller, goethe, and others were rapidly disseminating throughout the length and breadth of germany. as wegeler (the friend and biographer of beethoven, at that time a medical student of nineteen) writes, "it was a splendid, stirring time in many ways at bonn, so long as the genial elector, max franz, reigned there." it can readily be imagined, therefore, that a youth so full of promise as beethoven could not escape the notice of such a prince, and that to his own talents, backed by the recommendation of neefe--not to the influence of any patron--he owed the only official appointment ever held by him. for the next year he seems to have had a comparatively easy life, his salary no doubt going to his mother, and the little he could make by teaching carefully put aside for a great purpose he had formed. a characteristic anecdote of this period is worth repeating, inasmuch as beethoven himself used often to speak of it with glee in after life as a specimen of his boyish achievements. in the old style of church music, on the tuesday, friday, and saturday of passion week it was usual to sing select portions from the lamentations of jeremiah, consisting of short phrases of from four to six lines. in the middle of each phrase a pause was made, which the accompanist was expected to fill up as his fancy might dictate by a free interlude on the pianoforte--the organ being prohibited during these three days. now it so happened that the singer to whom this was allotted in the electoral chapel was one heller, a thoroughly well-practised but somewhat boastful musician. to him beethoven declared that he was able to throw him out in his part without employing any means but such as were perfectly justifiable. heller resented the insinuation, and rashly accepted a wager on the subject. when the appropriate point was reached, beethoven ingeniously modulated to a key so remote from the original one, that although he continued to hold fast the key-note of the latter, and struck it repeatedly with his little finger, heller was completely thrown out, and obliged abruptly to stop. franz ries the violinist, father of the afterwards celebrated ferdinand, and lucchesi, who were present, declared themselves perfectly astounded at the occurrence, and the mystified singer rushed in a tumult of rage and mortification to the elector and complained of beethoven. the good-humoured max franz, however, rather enjoyed the story, and merely ordered the young organist to content himself with a more simple accompaniment for the future. in the spring of , ludwig at length reached the height of his boyish aspirations. his little savings had accumulated to what was in his eyes a large sum, and he looked forward with eagerness to a journey to vienna. it has been supposed that the funds for this visit were supplied by others, but this is improbable. at that time beethoven had no wealthy friends; there is no evidence to show that the archbishop assisted him, and certain is it that no money was forthcoming from his father. we are obliged to fall back upon the supposition that his own scanty earnings, eked out perhaps by his mother, were his only means, especially as we know that they proved insufficient for his purpose, and that he was obliged to borrow money for his journey home. what were beethoven's intentions with regard to this visit? his father's conduct, which must have many a time brought the flush of shame to his young brow, his mother's evidently failing health, the numerous unsupplied wants of the family, now increased by the birth of a daughter,[ ]--all these circumstances combined to urge on his sensitive, loving nature the necessity of making some exertion, of taking some decided step for the assistance of his dear ones. vienna, so far away, was his goal; there were assembled all the great and noble in art--gluck, haydn, mozart! the very mention of these names must have roused the responsive throb of genius in the lad. to vienna he would go, and surely if there were any truth in the adage that "like draws to like," these men must recognise the undeveloped powers within him; and help him to attain his object. that some such hopes as these must have beat high in beethoven's breast, animating him for the effort, is evident from the reaction that set in, the despair that took possession of him when he found himself forced by the iron course of events to abandon his project. arrived in the great capital he obtained an interview with mozart, and played before him. the maestro, however, rewarded his performance with but feeble praise, looking upon it as mere parade; and probably in technical adroitness the boy before him was far behind the little hummel, at that time under his tuition; for beethoven's style, through his constant organ-playing, was somewhat heavy and rough. beethoven, sensitively alive to everything, perceived mozart's opinion, and requested a thema for an improvisation. somewhat sceptically mozart complied, and now the boy, roused by the doubt cast upon his abilities, extemporized with a clearness of idea and richness of embellishment that took his auditor by storm. mozart went excitedly to the bystanders in the anteroom, saying, "pay heed to this youth--much will one day be said about him in the world!" the amiable mozart did not live to see the fulfilment of his prophecy, but he appears to have taken an interest in the boy, and to have given him a few lessons. beethoven afterwards lamented that he had never heard mozart play, which may perhaps be accounted for by the fact that the master was much occupied at the time with his "don giovanni," and also had that year to mourn the loss of his father. the following letter fully explains the cause of beethoven's sudden departure from vienna, and the apparent shipwreck of all his hopes:-- "_autumn._ _bonn_, . "most worthy and dear friend,--i can easily imagine what you must think of me--that you have well-founded reasons for not entertaining a favourable opinion of me, i cannot deny. "but i will not excuse myself until i have explained the reasons which lead me to hope that my apologies will be accepted. "i must tell you that with my departure from augsburg, my cheerfulness, and with it my health, began to decline. the nearer i came to my native city, the more frequent were the letters which i received from my father, urging me to travel as quickly as possible, as my mother's health gave great cause for anxiety. i hurried onwards, therefore, as fast as i could, although myself far from well. the longing to see my dying mother once more did away with all hindrances, and helped me to overcome the greatest difficulties. my mother was indeed still alive, but in the most deplorable state; her complaint was consumption; and about seven weeks ago, after enduring much pain and suffering, she died. "ah! who was happier than i, so long as i could still pronounce the sweet name of mother, and heard the answer! and to whom can i now say it? to the silent images resembling her, which my fancy presents to me? "since i have been here, i have enjoyed but few happy hours. throughout the whole time i have been suffering from asthma, which i have reason to fear may eventually result in consumption. to this is added melancholy, for me an evil as great as my illness itself. "imagine yourself now in my position, and then i may hope to receive your forgiveness for my long silence. "with regard to your extreme kindness and friendliness in lending me three carolins in augsburg, i must beg you still to have a little indulgence with me, as my journey cost me a great deal, and here i have not the slightest prospect of earning anything. fate is not propitious to me here in bonn. "you will forgive my having written at such length about my own affairs; it was all necessary in order to excuse myself. "i entreat you not to withdraw your valuable friendship from me; there is nothing i so much desire as to render myself worthy of it. "i am, with all esteem, "your most obedient servant and friend, "l. v. beethoven, "_cologne court organist_. "_to_ monsieur de schaden, "_counsellor at augsburg_." when years afterwards ferdinand ries came as a boy of fifteen to beethoven in vienna, and solicited his help and countenance, the master, who was much occupied at the time, told him so, adding, "say to your father that i have not forgotten how my mother died. he will be satisfied with that." franz ries had, in fact, at the time of the mother's illness, lent substantial assistance to the impoverished family; and this to the heart of the son was a sure claim on his lasting gratitude. footnotes: [footnote : margaret, who died while still an infant.] [illustration] chapter iii. youth. despondency--the breuning family--literary pursuits--count waldstein--national theatre of max franz--king lux and his court--the abbé sterkel--appointment as court pianist--first love--second visit of joseph haydn. how "flat, stale, and unprofitable" must everything in bonn have appeared to our beethoven after the charms of vienna--charms real in themselves, and surrounded by the ideal nimbus of his fresh young hopes and strivings! the desolate, motherless home, his neglected orphan brothers, his drunken father, the weary round of teaching,--it was no light task for an impetuous, ardent genius to lift; but it had to be faced, and with a noble self-sacrifice he entered on the dreary path before him. he had his reward--the very occupation which he disliked more than any other, opened up to him a friendship which secured to him more peace and happiness than he had yet known, and whose influence was potent throughout his whole life--that, namely, with the family von breuning. madame von breuning was a widow; her husband, a state councillor and a member of one of the best families in bonn, had perished in the attempt to rescue the electoral archives from a fire that had broken out in the palace, and since this calamity she had lived quietly with her brother, the canon and scholar, abraham v. keferich, solely engaged in the education of her children. these were four in number: three boys--christoph, stephan, and lenz; and one girl--eleanore. it appears that beethoven (who was about four years older than stephan) was receiving violin lessons at the same time with the latter from franz ries; and stephan, struck, no doubt, with the genius of his fellow-pupil, managed to get him introduced to his mother's house in the capacity of pianoforte teacher to the little lenz. madame von breuning was not slow to perceive the extraordinary gifts of her son's new acquaintance; and learning incidentally, with her woman's tact, the sad state of matters at home, opened her heart as well as her house to the motherless boy. he soon became one of the family, and used to spend the greater part of the day and often the night with his new friends. it is impossible to over-estimate the value of this friendship to the young man. what a contrast to his own neglected home did the well-ordered house of madame v. breuning present! now for the first time he was admitted to mix on equal terms with people of culture; here he first enjoyed the refining influence of female society (did any remembrance of leonore suggest his ideal heroine?); and here also he first became acquainted with the literature of his own and other countries. the young breunings were all intellectual, and in the pursuit of their studies they were encouraged and assisted by their uncle, the canon. christoph wrote very good verses, and stephan also tried his hand at some, which were not bad. the striving of these young people would naturally lead our sensitive musician to reflect on his own defective education, and to endeavour so to rectify it as to render himself worthy of their friendship. beethoven's love of the ancient classical writers may be traced to this period, when christoph and stephan were studying them in the original with their uncle, though it is not probable that he ever learned greek. his knowledge of homer was gained through voss's translation, and his well-worn copy of the "odyssey" testifies to the earnest study it had received from him. french and italian he seems to have been acquainted with so far as he deemed it necessary; but his principal literary studies were confined to lessing, bürger, wieland, and klopstock. the last especially was his favourite, and his constant companion in the solitary rambles among the mountains which he was fond of indulging in. there, alone with the nature he venerated, the sonorous lines and rolling periods of the german milton sank deeply into his mind, to be reproduced years after in immortal harmonies. at a later period klopstock was replaced in beethoven's esteem by goethe, of whose poems he was wont to say that they "exercised a great sway over him, not only by their meaning, but by their rhythm also. their language urged him on to composition." but of all the blissful influences which tended to make this time the happiest in his life, not one was so powerful as that of madame von breuning herself. to her everlasting honour be it said that she was the first of the very few individuals who ever thoroughly understood the morbid and apparently contradictory character of beethoven; and greatly is it to the credit of the latter that he merited the love of such a woman. not his abilities alone gave him a place in her heart; it was his true, noble, generous nature that won for him a continuance of the favours first bestowed upon the artist. madame v. breuning thoroughly appreciated beethoven; he felt that she did. hence the tacit confidence that existed between them--he coming to her as to a mother, and she advising him as she would have done one of her own sons. beethoven used to say of her that she understood how to "keep the insects from the blossoms." even she, however, sometimes failed in one point, that, namely, of inducing him to give his lessons regularly. it has been hinted before that this was an unpalatable task to beethoven. wegeler describes him as going to it _ut iniquæ mentis asellus_, and this dislike grew with every succeeding year. even his subsequent relation to his illustrious friend and pupil, the archduke rudolph, was in the highest degree irksome to him; he looked upon it as a mere court service. but while in bonn our composer was not in a position to choose his occupation. "necessity knows no law," and the higher claims of genius were forced to submit to very sublunary considerations. madame v. breuning's representations would sometimes succeed so far as to induce him to go to the house of his pupil; but it was generally only to say that he "could not give his lesson at that time--he would give two the next day instead." on such occasions she would smile and say, "ah! beethoven is in a _raptus_ again!" an expression which the composer treasured up mentally, and was fond of applying to himself in after life. about this time also beethoven gained another friend, count waldstein, a young nobleman, who was passing the probationary time previously to being admitted into the teutonic order, at bonn, under the grand-master, max franz. beethoven afterwards expressed his obligations to him in the dedication of the colossal sonata op. . he became a frequent visitor to the young organist's miserable room, which he soon enlivened by the present of a grand pianoforte, and here the friends--to outward appearance so different--doubtless passed many a happy hour, for waldstein was an excellent musician, and an enthusiastic admirer of beethoven's improvisations. these were also one of the great pleasures in the breuning circle, where wegeler relates that beethoven would often yield to the general request, and depict on the pianoforte the character of some well-known personage. on one occasion franz ries, who was present, was asked to join, which he did--probably the only instance on record of two artists improvising on different instruments at one and the same time. we have long lost sight of johann v. beethoven, however, and must retrace our steps to see what has become of him. by the year he had grown so hopelessly incapable that it was proposed to send him out of bonn on a pension of one hundred thalers, while the remaining hundred of his former salary should be spent on his children. this plan was not fully carried out, but the father's salary was by the elector's orders paid into ludwig's hands, and entrusted to his management; so that the young man of nineteen was the real head of the family. the elector max franz now followed the example of his predecessor, and established a national theatre. beethoven was not this time _cembalist_ to the company; he played the viol in the orchestra, whither he was often accompanied by his friend stephan breuning, who handled the bow creditably enough. for four years beethoven occupied this post, and the solid advantage it was to him is shown in his subsequent orchestration. in the autumn of the year an incident occurred which broke the monotony of the court life, and gives us an interesting side-glimpse of our young musician. the teutonic order, referred to before, held a grand conclave at mergentheim, at which the elector as grand-master was obliged to be present. he had passed some months there two years before, and had probably found time hang somewhat heavy on his hands; at any rate, he resolved that his private musical and theatrical staff should attend him on this occasion. the announcement of this determination was received with great approbation by all concerned, and lux, the first comedian of the day, was unanimously chosen king of the expedition. his majesty then proceeded to appoint the various officers of the household, among whom beethoven and bernhard romberg (afterwards the greatest violoncellist of his time) figure as scullions. two ships were chartered for the occasion, and king lux and his court floated lazily down the rhine and the main, between the sunny vine-clad hills where the peasants were hard at work getting in the best harvest of the year. it was a merry time, and, as beethoven afterwards said, "a fruitful source of the most beautiful images." we can imagine the boat gliding peacefully along under the calm moonlit sky--beethoven sitting by himself, enjoying the unusual _dolce far niente_; his companions a little apart are chanting a favourite boat-song; the harmonious sounds rise and fall, alternating with the gentle ripple on the water--and the young maestro, pondering on his future life, tries to read his destiny in the "golden writing" of the stars. is not some such scene the background to the adagio in the "sonata quasi fantasia," dedicated to the countess giulietta? at aschaffenburg, simrock, a leading member of the company (afterwards the celebrated music-publisher), deemed it necessary that a deputation (which included beethoven) should pay a visit of respect to the abbé sterkel, one of the greatest living pianists. they were very graciously received, and the abbé, in compliance with the pressing request of his visitors, sat down to the pianoforte, and played for some time. beethoven, who had never before heard the instrument touched with the same elegance, listened with the deepest attention, but refused to play when requested to do so in his turn. it has been mentioned that his style was somewhat hard and rough, and he naturally feared the contrast with sterkel's flowing ease. in vain his companions, who, with true _esprit de corps_, were proud of their young colleague, urged him to the pianoforte, till the abbé turning the conversation on a work of beethoven's, lately published, hinted, with disdain either real or assumed, that he did not believe the composer could master the difficulties of it himself. (the work alluded to was a series of twenty-four variations on righini's theme "vieni amore.") this touched beethoven's honour; he yielded without further hesitation, and not only played the published variations, but invented others infinitely more complicated as he went along, assuming the gliding, graceful style of sterkel in such a manner as utterly to bewilder the bystanders, who overwhelmed him with applause. it was perhaps after this display that he was promoted to a higher post in king lux's service by the royal letters patent, and to this weighty document a great seal--stamped in pitch on the lid of a little box--was attached by threads made of unravelled rope, which gave it quite an imposing aspect. seven years afterwards wegeler discovered this _plaisanterie_ carefully treasured among beethoven's possessions, a proof of the enjoyment afforded him by this excursion. at mergentheim the sensation created by the elector's musicians was immense. in an old newspaper exhumed by the indefatigable thayer, the following notice of beethoven occurs. the writer is carl ludwig junker, chaplain to prince hohenlohe, and himself a composer and critic of no mean reputation. after giving a general account of the whole orchestra, he goes on:-- "i have heard one of the greatest players on the pianoforte, the dear, worthy beethoven.... i believe we may safely estimate the artistic greatness of this amiable man by the almost inexhaustible wealth of his ideas, the expression--peculiar to himself--with which he plays, and his great technical skill. i should be at a loss to say what quality of the great artist is still wanting to him. i have heard vogler[ ] play on the pianoforte often, very often, and for hours at a time, and have always admired his great execution; but beethoven, in addition to his finished style, is more speaking, more significant, more full of expression,--in short, more for the heart; consequently as good an adagio as an allegro player. even the first-rate artists of this orchestra are his admirers, and all ear when he plays. he is excessively modest, without any pretensions whatever.... his playing differs so materially from the ordinary mode of touching the piano, that it appears as though he had intended to lay out a path for himself, in order to arrive at the perfection which he has now attained." but even the pleasantest things must come to an end, and the expedition to mergentheim was no exception to the rule. in a few weeks, archbishop, musicians, and actors were once more at bonn, busily engaged in preparing for christmas. about this time beethoven was nominated court pianist, an appointment due partly to his friend, count waldstein, partly also to the following circumstance, which gave the elector a striking proof of his young _protégé's_ abilities. a new trio by pleyel had been sent to max franz, and so great was his impatience to hear it that nothing would content him but its immediate performance, without previous rehearsal, by beethoven, ries, and romberg. to hear was to obey, and the trio was played at sight very fairly, the performers keeping well together. it was then discovered that two bars in the pianoforte part had been omitted, and supplied by beethoven so ingeniously that not the slightest break was perceptible! in the same year, , beethoven wrote the music for a splendid _bal masqué_, organized by his friend waldstein, and attended by all the nobility for miles around. it was believed for long that waldstein was the author of the music. beethoven, meanwhile, continued his intimacy with the breuning family, where from time to time another attraction offered itself in the person of fräulein jeannette d'honrath, a young lady of cologne, who occasionally paid a visit of a few weeks to her friend eleanore. it has been asserted by some writers that beethoven was insensible to the charms of woman, and that love was to him a sealed book! for the refutation of this statement it is only necessary to turn to his works, which breathe a very different story to such as have ears to hear. for those who have not, let the testimony of his friend wegeler suffice: "beethoven was _never_ without a love, and generally in the highest degree enamoured." the reason why his love was fated never to expand and ripen will be explained in its own place. here it is sufficient to say that beethoven, while glowing with fire and tenderness, eminently calculated to love and be loved, was throughout his whole life, and in every relation, delicacy itself; his nature shrunk instinctively from anything like impurity. to return: mademoiselle jeannette, a fascinating little blonde, divided her attentions so equally between beethoven and his friend stephan, and sang so charmingly about her heart being _desolé_ when the time for parting came, that each believed himself the favoured one, until it transpired that the "herzchen had long since been bestowed" in its entirety on a gallant austrian officer, whom the young lady subsequently married, and who afterwards rose to the rank of general. there does not seem to have been any attachment between beethoven and leonore; she was his pupil, his sister,[ ] but nothing more; her affections were already given to young wegeler, whose wife she afterwards became. so our beethoven was left to gnaw his fingers for the loss of his pretty jeannette, and to flutter on the outside of the crowd which hovered round fair barbara koch, the beauty of bonn, daughter of a widow, proprietress of a coffee-house or tavern. what! exclaims the reader, is this an instance of the so-called "aristocratic leanings" of beethoven? we must beg him in reply not to look at things through exclusively british and nineteenth century spectacles. the position of worthy frau koch was, if not distinguished, certainly respectable. lewes, in his life of goethe, was obliged to combat with the same prejudice in his account of the poet's student days at leipzig, and we cannot do better than quote his words with regard to the society to be found in a german wirthshaus of the period:-- "the _table d'hôte_ is composed of a circle of habitués, varied by occasional visitors, who in time become, perhaps, members of the circle. even with strangers conversation is freely interchanged, and in a little while friendships are formed, as natural tastes and likings assimilate, which are carried out into the current of life." the habitués of frau koch's house were the professors and students at the university, and such members of the electoral household as were engaged in artistic pursuits. it was a rendezvous for them all, where science, literature, art, and politics were discussed by able men; and here, doubtless, beethoven, with his friends stephan breuning and young reicha (nephew of the director), spent many a pleasant evening. the fair babette was, as we have hinted, no small attraction. she was a cultivated woman, and the great friend of eleanore v. breuning. she afterwards became governess to the children of count anton von belderbusch, whom she finally married. we now come to an event which completely changed the current of beethoven's life--the return of joseph haydn from his second visit to london. as he passed through bonn the musicians gave him a public breakfast at godesberg, on which occasion beethoven laid before him a cantata of his composition--probably that on the death of leopold ii. it met with the warmest praise from haydn, but the author apparently did not think highly of it himself, as it was never printed. whether the arrangements were made at this time for haydn's reception of beethoven as his pupil, or negotiated afterwards through waldstein, is not known. certain it is that in the october of we find his long-delayed hopes on the point of realization, a pension from the elector having removed all difficulties. beethoven had often bemoaned in secret, and specially to his friend waldstein, the irregular, broken instruction he had received, attributing mozart's early success to the systematic course of study he had pursued under the guidance of his father. it is a question, however, whether beethoven--even had he enjoyed the advantages of mozart--would ever have composed with the facility of the latter. thayer thinks not; there is evidence enough in the symphonies, &c., of our great master to prove that he "earned his bread by the sweat of his brow." the following note from waldstein evinces the deep interest he took in beethoven, and his faith in the young composer's genius:-- "dear beethoven,--"you are now going to vienna for the realization of your wishes, so long frustrated. the genius of mozart still mourns and laments the death of his disciple. he found refuge with the inexhaustible haydn, but no scope for action, and through him he now wishes once more to be united to some one. receive, through unbroken industry, the spirit of mozart from the hands of haydn. "your true friend, "waldstein. "bonn, _ th october, _." in the beginning of november, then, , beethoven finally took leave of his boyhood's friends--father and brothers, wegeler, franz ries, neefe, reicha, waldstein, pretty barbara koch, and, hardest of all, the breunings. some of these he saw for the last time. he was destined never again to tread the old familiar streets of bonn. footnotes: [footnote : one of the greatest pianists of the time.] [footnote : the following birthday greeting, surrounded by a wreath of flowers and accompanied by a silhouette of eleanore, was found among beethoven's papers:-- "glück und langes leben wünsch' ich heute dir, aber auch daneben wünsch' ich etwas mir! mir in rücksicht deiner wünsch' ich deine huld, dir in rücksicht meiner nachsicht und geduld! "von ihrer freundin und schülerin, "lorchen v. breuning. " ."] [illustration] [illustration] chapter iv. lehrjahre. arrival in vienna--studies with haydn--timely assistance of schenk--albrechtsberger--beethoven as a student--his studies in counterpoint--letters to eleanore v. breuning. behold, then, our young musician at the long-desired goal--free from all depressing, pecuniary cares, with his pension secure from the elector, and a little fund of his own to boot. he reached the capital about the middle of november, alone and friendless; nor is there any proof that the advent of the insignificant, clumsily built provincial youth made the slightest sensation, or roused the interest of one individual among the many thousands who thronged the busy streets. his first care, as shown from a little pocket-book still preserved, was to seek out a lodging suitable to his slender purse; his next, to procure a pianoforte. the first requirement he at length met with in a small room on "a sunk floor," which commended itself by the low rent asked for it. here beethoven contentedly located himself until fortune's smiles had begun to beam so brightly on him that he felt entitled to remove to more airy lodgings. we may be sure that he lost no time in setting about the purpose which he had most at heart, and enrolling himself among haydn's pupils, for he could not have been more than eight weeks in vienna when the master wrote to bonn, "i must now give up all great works to him [beethoven], and soon cease composing." the harmony, however, which at first existed between haydn and his pupil was soon disturbed. the former seems to have been always pleased with the work executed by beethoven, who, on the contrary, was very much dissatisfied with the instruction given by the master. he was obliged, in this instance, to make the same experience that he had formerly confided to junker, at mergentheim, regarding pianoforte players, viz., that he had seldom found what he believed himself entitled to expect. distance lends enchantment to the view; and the keen, striving worker soon discovered that haydn was not the profound, earnest thinker that his longing fancy had painted in bonn. but an unexpected help was at hand. one day as he was returning from his lesson at haydn's house, his portfolio under his arm, he met a friend whose acquaintance he had only recently made, but with whom he was already on intimate terms--johann schenk, a thorough and scholarly musician, afterwards well known as the composer of the "dorfbarbier," and one of the most amiable of men. to him beethoven confided his troubles, bitterly lamenting the slow progress his knowledge of counterpoint made under haydn's guidance. somewhat astounded, schenk examined the compositions in beethoven's portfolio, and discovered many faults which had been passed over without correction. haydn's conduct in this instance has never been explained. generally conscientious in the discharge of his duties as an instructor, this carelessness must have arisen either from a pressure of work, or from some undefined feeling with regard to beethoven, which prompted him to give him as little assistance as possible. the latter supposition is hardly compatible with the terms in which he wrote of his pupil to bonn, but beethoven could never shake off the idea that haydn did not mean well by him--a suspicion which was strengthened by what afterwards occurred. excessively irritated by schenk's discovery, beethoven would have gone on the impulse of the moment to reproach haydn and break off all connection with him. schenk, however, who had early perceived beethoven's worth, succeeded in calming him, promising him all the assistance in his power, and pointing out the folly of a course which would inevitably have led to the withdrawal of the pension from max franz, who would naturally have disbelieved any complaint against the greatest master of the day, and have attributed beethoven's conduct to wrong motives. the young man had the sense to perceive the justice of these remarks, and continued to bring his work to haydn (schenk always giving it a strict revisal) until the latter's journey to england in afforded a feasible opportunity of providing himself with a better teacher. thus, although neither cordially liked the other, a tolerable appearance of friendship was maintained. it was, perhaps, impossible that, between two such totally different natures the connection could have been otherwise. haydn was genial and affable; from his long contest with poverty, rather obsequious; not apt to take offence or to imagine slights; ready to render unto cæsar his due; in short, a courtier. what greater contrast to all this can be imagined than our proud, reserved, brusque beethoven? _he_ pay court to princes, or wait with "bated breath" upon their whims! he, the stormy republican, who regarded all men as on the same level, and would bow to nothing less than the divine in man! haydn, who had laughingly bestowed on him the title of the "great mogul," probably felt that there was no real sympathy, or possibility of such a feeling, between them. nevertheless, as we have said, they continued to outward seeming friends, though beethoven's suspicions would not allow him to accept haydn's offer of taking him to london. he accompanied him, however, in the summer to eisenstadt, the residence of prince esterhazy, haydn's patron, and on this occasion left the following note for schenk, which shows the friendly feeling existing between them:-- "dear schenk,--i did not know that i should set off to-day for eisenstadt. i should like much to have spoken once more to you. meanwhile, depend upon my gratitude for the kindnesses you have shown me. i shall endeavour, so far as is in my power, to requite you. "i hope to see you soon again, and to enjoy the pleasure of your society. farewell, and don't quite forget "your beethoven." one of beethoven's peculiarities may as well be referred to here in passing. although living in the same town with many of his friends--nay, within a few minutes walk of them,--years would elapse without their coming in contact, unless they continually presented themselves to his notice, and so _would_ not let themselves be forgotten. absorbed in his creations, the master lived in a world of his own; consequently, many little circumstances in his career, in reality proceeding from this abstraction, were at the time attributed to very different motives. his connection with schenk is an instance of this. though both inhabited vienna, they had not met for many years, when in beethoven and his friend schindler encountered schenk--then almost seventy years of age--in the street. if his old teacher had spent the intervening years in another world, and suddenly alighted from the clouds, beethoven could not have been more surprised and delighted. to drag him into the quietest corner of the "jägerhorn" (a tavern close at hand) was the work of a moment, and there for hours the old friends mutually compared notes, and reviewed the ups and downs of fortune that had befallen them since the days when the great mogul used to storm schenk's lodgings and abuse his master. when they parted it was in tears, never to meet again. the opportune departure of haydn allowed beethoven to place himself under the instruction of albrechtsberger, the cathedral organist. this man, who counted among his pupils not only beethoven, but hummel and seyfried, was a walking treatise on counterpoint; but far from investing the science with any life or brightness, it was his delight to render it, if possible, more austere and stringent than he had found it, and to lay down rules which to a fiery, impulsive nature were positively unbearable. nevertheless, pegasus can go in harness if need be. beethoven, who, like every true genius, was essentially modest in his estimate of himself, and had already felt the want of a thoroughly grounded knowledge, submitted to albrechtsberger's routine for a period of about fifteen months--beginning almost at the elements of the science, and working out the dry-as-dust themes in his master's gradus ad parnassum, until he had gained for himself an insight into the mysteries of fugue and canon. this is not the commonly received notion of beethoven's student-days. ries in his "notices" has the following:-- "i knew them all well [_i.e._, haydn, albrechtsberger, and salieri, who gave beethoven instruction in writing for the voice]; all three appreciated beethoven highly, but were all of _one_ opinion regarding his studies. each said beethoven was always so obstinate and self-willed that he had afterwards much to learn through his own hard experience, which he would not accept in earlier days as the subject of instruction. albrechtsberger and salieri especially were of this opinion." but this testimony ought not to be accepted for more than it is worth. haydn, absorbed in his own pursuits, and utterly unable to fathom beethoven's nature--the very reverse of his own; albrechtsberger, the formal contrapuntist, far more concerned about the outside of the cup, the form of a composition, than about its contents; salieri, the superficial composer of a few trashy operas long since forgotten,--how were these men competent to pass judgment on a _feuerkopf_ like beethoven? a little further examination of the question in the light of recent researches will enable the reader to judge for himself whether the master was an earnest, willing student, or not. until very lately, the main source whence biographers drew their accounts of the _lehrjahre_ was the work published by the chevalier von seyfried, which purported to be a correct transcription of beethoven's "studies in thorough-bass." this volume, as given to the world, was garnished with a number of sarcastic annotations, professedly emanating from beethoven himself, wherein the theoretical rule under consideration at the moment is held up to ridicule. it is this circumstance, coupled with the assertion of ries above alluded to, which has chiefly produced the prevalent impression regarding beethoven as a student. we suppose that nine readers out of ten will have pictured to themselves the master receiving instruction in much the same spirit as that in which he was wont to give it in bonn, namely, like the rebellious colt described by wegeler!--now what are the real facts of the case?--thanks to the unwearied exertions of gustav nottebohm, we are in a position to answer the question. in his admirable book, "beethoven's studien," the _actual_ work done by beethoven under haydn and albrechtsberger is at length laid before the public, and the falsity of seyfried's compilation fully proved.[ ] nottebohm has no hesitation in affirming that beethoven was a willing rather than a mutinous scholar, and that he was always intent on his subject, and strove hard to obtain a clear conception of it. as for the "sarcastic" marginal remarks which for nearly half a century have been treasured up and smiled over by every admirer of the master as eminently "characteristic" of him, will the reader believe that they turn out to be characteristic of--nothing but the unblushing impudence of kapellmeister ritter von seyfried? they have no existence except in his imagination. the running commentary which accompanies the exercises is of a very different description from that supplied by him; it contains one instance, and one only, of an ironical tendency, and this is amusing enough in its simplicity to have extorted a smile from albrechtsberger himself. one of the text-books employed appears to have been that of türk, who makes use of the term "_galant_" to designate the _free_ as opposed to the _strict_ style of composition. now what beethoven saw lurking beneath the title _galant_, or what stumblingblock it presented to him, is hard to discover; but we find the expression, as often as it occurs, invariably altered to one that suits his notions better; and once he breaks out with, "laugh, friends, at this _galanterie_!" perhaps we may arrive at an appreciation of his distaste to the phrase, if we translate it by the word _genteel_,--imagine beethoven writing in a _genteel_ style!! but in addition to thus clearing away the haze of misapprehension that had settled round our master's character as a learner, the efforts of thayer and nottebohm have also thrown much light on two questions which have proved more or less perplexing to all students, and to the brief consideration of which we would now ask the reader's attention. first, then, how is it that beethoven's genius as a composer was so late, comparatively speaking, in developing? at the time of his arrival in vienna he was in his twenty-second year, and before that age mozart, as we know, had produced no less than works. yet our master passed his boyhood in an atmosphere where every influence tended to quicken the musical life, and to hasten, rather than retard, its growth. are we to take the handful of works--the little sonatas, the crude preludes, and other trifles generally recognised as composed in bonn, to be the sole outcome of that period? impossible! alexander thayer may fairly be said to have solved the problem by a single reference to chronology. he finds that between the years - (that is, a period _commencing immediately after the conclusion of his studies_) beethoven published no fewer than ninety-two works, many of them of the first magnitude, including two symphonies, an oratorio, three concertos, nine trios, thirty-two sonatas, with and without accompaniment--and this during a time when his leisure for composition must have been scant indeed. we find him in these years incessantly occupied in more mechanical work, teaching, perfecting his style as a pianoforte virtuoso, travelling, continuing his studies with salieri, and, in addition, enjoying life as he went along, not burying himself hermit-wise in his works, as was the case at a later date. moreover, in thayer's words: "precisely at the time when he began to devote himself _exclusively_ to composition, this wondrous fertility suddenly ceased. the solution lies on the surface" viz., that many, if not most, of these works were actually composed in bonn, and deliberately kept back by the author for a certain time. "why?" we ask; "on what account?" "until he had attained, by study and observation, to the _certainty_ that he stood on the firm basis of a thoroughly-grounded knowledge," replies thayer, beethoven would give nothing to the world. that goal reached, the creations of his youthful fancy are taken in hand again one by one; the critical file, guided by the "dictates of an enlightened judgment," is faithfully applied, and the composition, bearing the final _imprimatur_ of its author's satisfaction, launched to meet its fate. well might beethoven laugh securely at his critics!--he had been beforehand with them--he had sat in judgment on himself. this view receives ample confirmation in the newly published version of the "studies." the reader may reasonably take objection to the foregoing, and may inquire: "was not beethoven, then, master of the mere technicalities of composition by the time he reached vienna? he had been engaged in studying the theory as well as the practice of music for over ten years, under a master, himself well known as a composer."--let us hear nottebohm on the point. the instruction imparted by neefe, although calculated to be eminently helpful as regards "the formation of taste and the development of musical feeling," was yet "from a technical standpoint unsatisfactory," being based, not on the strict contrapuntal system of the early ecclesiastical writers (the system which alone offers the necessary _discipline_ for the composer), but rather on the lighter and more superficial method of the _new_ leipzig school, of which johann adam hiller, neefe's master and model, was one of the leading exponents. beethoven seems to have divined intuitively where his weakness lay. for the radical defect which he recognised in his training there was but one remedy, viz., to lay aside preconceived opinion; to go back in all humility to the very _urquelle_, the fountain-head, of harmony, and trace out thence for himself, slowly and painfully, the eternal channel of law, _within_ which the mighty sound-flood may roll and toss at will, but _beyond_ whose bounds, immutable and fixed, no mortal power may send it with impunity. turning to the "studies," we find no trace of a disposition to claim exemption from toil on the score of genius. on the contrary!--commencing at the very foundation (the names of the different intervals), every branch of composition is taken up in its turn--simple, double, and triple counterpoint in all detail--and worked at with a will (several of the exercises, being written and rewritten two or three times), until we arrive at fugue, where, for a reason shortly to be noted, there is a halt. what shall we say to the picture thus presented to us?--a young man self-willed and impatient by nature, at an age when submission to direct instruction is, to say the least, unpalatable, voluntarily placing himself under the yoke--a poet, within whose soul divine melodies plead for freedom, and thoughts of fire press hard for utterance, resolutely keeping inspiration under, until he shall have penetrated into the structure of language--a painter, in whose desk lie sketches, marvellous in freshness, vigour, and originality, occupying himself for weary months in the study of anatomy! truly our beethoven at this period, as at a later, comes well within the practical definition of genius; his "capacity for painstaking" was "infinite." not so, however, his patience, as we shall presently see. now for the second difficulty to which nottebohm has found a clue: how is it that in beethoven's earlier works we have so few instances of fugue-writing--at the time one of the most favoured styles of composition; and that these, when they do occur, should from the irregularity of their construction invariably be disappointing? here again the scholarship of our critic has done good service. his minute examination of the exercises done under albrechtsberger has led him to the conclusion, that to the faulty teaching of the master is due the faulty workmanship of the pupil--a somewhat astounding discovery when we remember the high estimation in which the contrapuntist was held by his contemporaries. the fact remains, however, that the instruction given by albrechtsberger, "in several important details of fugue building, was deficient and not grounded;" hence, in all probability, the rarity of fugue during the first ten years of beethoven's creative activity. he had not entire mastery over its resources, and therefore hesitated to introduce it, save in a subordinate and fitful way. we may be surprised that the indoctrination in the works of j.s. bach, which we noted in the bonn days, should not of itself have been powerful enough imperceptibly to mould his style. there is, however, no trace of this at the period we are considering. that the influence of the _urvater_[ ] of harmony (a title applied by beethoven himself to john sebastian) worked deeply into his inner life, there can be no doubt; but its effects were not _apparent_ till a very much later date--a phenomenon, to our thinking, only to be explained on psychological grounds. to return. beethoven's patience, which had held out over two years, comes to a sudden halt on this very question. clear-sighted and tolerant of no incompetence, our young "thorough!" seems to have detected albrechtsberger's weak point, and there and then to have cast off allegiance to him. the exercises up to fugue are, generally speaking, most carefully executed. no sooner, however, does the scholar perceive that the master is almost as much "at sea" as himself, and steering vaguely without a chart, than docility is at an end; he conceives an intense disgust for the theoretical tread-mill; growls to a friend that he has "had enough of making musical skeletons!" and absolves himself, without permission, from the remainder of albrechtsberger's course. we hear the old theoretiker long after this grimly warning one of his pupils against his _ci-devant_ scholar: "have nothing to do with him. _he_ never learned anything!" "nay," beethoven might have replied, had he thought it worth his while, "i learned _all_ that _you_ had to teach. would you have had me walk with my eyes shut?" as nottebohm remarks "the one _could_ not" teach, "the other _would_ not" learn, and so the instruction came to a close, and beethoven fell back upon his own resources. he had, however, by this time achieved his purpose in the main. he had probed and examined the received theoretical axioms, and was in a position to decide for himself as to their actual importance. henceforth none were accepted by him as imperative, simply out of deference to current ideas, and thus we find instances again and again of an inflexible determination to shake off all restraints, the utility of which was not recognised by his inner consciousness. he was wont in after years, when told of any perplexity of the critics, to rub his hands together in glee, saying; "yes, yes! they are all astonished, and put their heads together, because--they don't find it in any thorough-bass book!" that independence may easily be merged in self-will, however, he sometimes proved to demonstration, to the delight of those who were on the watch for flaws. ries tells us, for instance, that on one occasion he discovered and pointed out (in the c minor quartet, op. ) two perfect fifths in succession. "well?" asks the master, testily, "and who has forbidden them?" somewhat taken aback, the scholar keeps silence. again the question is repeated. "but it is a first principle!" hesitates ries in astonishment. "who has forbidden them?" thunders out the master again. "marpurg, kirnberger. fux,--all the theorists." "and i allow them!" is the conclusion. but the obstinacy displayed in this and similar anecdotes is more an expression of petulance, than of preconsidered judgment. beethoven, as we know, enjoyed nothing better than an opportunity of mystifying certain individuals as to his real thoughts and intentions. occasionally we hear his true voice in the matter. a friend had remarked, regarding the second and third "leonora" overtures, "the artist must create in freedom, only giving in to the spirit of his age, and be monarch over his own materials; under such conditions alone will true art-works come to light." "granted," replied beethoven; "but he must _not_ give in to the spirit of his age, otherwise it is all over with originality.... had i written them [the two overtures] in the spirit that prevailed at the time, they would certainly have been understood at once, as, for example, the 'storm of kotzeluch.' but i cannot cut and carve out my works according to the fashion, as they would fain have me do. freshness and originality create themselves, without thinking about it." after all, let us remember that it is vain to measure the strides of a giant with the footsteps of ordinary men. epoch-makers are necessarily law-breakers to the eyes of their contemporaries. years must pass before the import of their work is fully discerned. reverting to our former simile, _we_ can see that while beethoven's critics believed him to be rebelliously diverting the current of harmony from the pure course directed by a palestrina, a bach, a handel, a haydn, a mozart, he was in reality simply engaged in deepening and widening its channel, that the stream might flow on in grander and nobler proportions to meet the ever-growing necessities of humanity. beethoven continued a diligent student through life; from those who had devoted special attention to any particular subject he was always eager to learn, although, as we have seen, without pledging himself to follow their views. thus we find him in studying the art of quartet-writing more closely with förster, who excelled in that branch of composition; and as late as he styles himself the "pupil" of salieri, from whom, as the friend of metastasio, and versed in the requirements of the italian school, he often sought advice in his vocal compositions. but in addition to more purely theoretic studies, beethoven was indefatigable in his practical investigations into the nature and capabilities of the instruments for which he wrote, and which his creative genius roused to unheard-of achievements. from herren kraft and linke he learned the mechanism of the violoncello; punto taught him that of the horn, and friedlowsky that of the clarionet. he often consulted these artists in after life regarding the suitability of certain passages for their respective instruments, and allowed himself to be guided by their suggestions. far otherwise was it, however, with singers; for them beethoven composed as he liked, without humouring any little predilection of the most fascinating prima donna, or introducing a single piece for display (one reason why rossini was able for so long to play the part of the successful rival). on the other hand, the singers had their revenge, and sang his music precisely as they listed, interpolating embellishments and cadenze _a piacere_ without the slightest regard to his wishes. the following letters to eleanore van breuning belong to this epoch:-- "_vienna, nov. nd, ' ._ "most esteemed eleanore! my dearest friend!--a whole year of my residence in the capital has nearly elapsed without your having received a letter from me, notwithstanding you have been continually with me in the liveliest remembrance. i have often entertained myself with the thought of you and your dear family, but oftener still i have not enjoyed the peace in doing so which i could have wished.[ ] "at such times that fatal dispute hovered before me, and my conduct in the matter appeared to me detestable. but it was past and gone. how much would i give to be able to obliterate entirely from my life the way in which i then acted! so dishonouring to me, so opposed to my general character. at the same time there were many circumstances which tended to keep us apart, and i suspect that what specially hindered a reconciliation was the manner in which the remarks of each were repeated to the other. we both believed that what we said was the result of honest conviction, when in reality it proceeded from anger inflamed by others, and so we were both deceived. your good and noble character, my dear friend, warrants me in believing that you have long since forgiven me; but they say that the truest repentance is that in which we confess our own faults, and this is what i desire to do. and let us now draw the curtain over the whole affair, only extracting the lesson from it that when a dispute happens between friends, it is always better that no mediator should be employed, but that friend should address himself direct to friend. "you will receive along with this a dedication,[ ] and i can only wish that it were greater and more worthy of you. they teased me here into publishing this little work, and i avail myself of the opportunity to give you, my esteemed eleanore, a proof of my regard and friendship for yourself, and a token of my lasting remembrance of your house. accept this trifle, and think of it as coming from a devoted friend. oh! if it only gives you pleasure, my wishes will be quite satisfied. may it be a little reawakening of the time when i passed so many happy hours in your house! perhaps it may keep you in remembrance of me until i return again, which certainly will not happen soon. oh! my dear friend, how we shall rejoice then! you will find your friend a more cheerful man, with all the former furrows of adversity chased away through time and a happier lot. "if you should see b. koch, i beg you to tell her that it is unkind of her not to have written me even once. i have written to her twice, and to malchus[ ] three times--but no answer. tell her that if she will not write herself, she might, at least, urge malchus to do so. "in concluding my letter, i venture one more request, namely, that it would make me very happy to possess an angola vest knitted by your hands, my dear friend. forgive this not very modest demand! it arises out of my great predilection for everything made by you; but i must tell you confidentially that there is also a little vanity connected with it. i want to be able to say that i possess something of one of the best and most admired girls in bonn. i have, it is true, still the first which you kindly gave me in bonn, but it has become so old-fashioned that i can only treasure it up in my wardrobe as something of yours, very dear to me. you would delight me much by favouring me soon with one of your kind letters. should mine give you any pleasure, i promise you certainly, so far as lies in my power, to continue them; since everything is welcome to me whereby i may prove to you how much i am, "with all esteem, your true friend, l. v. beethoven. "p.s.--you will find the v. [variations] somewhat difficult to play, especially the shake in the coda; but don't let this alarm you, since it is so arranged that you have nothing to do but the shake; the other notes you may leave out, as they occur in the violin part. i would never have written in this manner had i not had occasion to remark that there are several people here in v., who, after i have extemporized of an evening, write down many of my peculiarities next day, and pass them off as their own.[ ] as i foresaw that such things would soon be published, it occurred to me to anticipate their movements. another reason was also--to perplex the pianoforte teachers here. many of them are my mortal enemies, and i wished to revenge myself on them in this way; knowing that they would occasionally be asked to play the variations, when these gentlemen would come out in rather an unfavourable light." the following fragment is without date:-- "the beautiful cravat, worked by your own hands, has caused me the greatest possible surprise. although in itself so pleasing, it awakened within me feelings of melancholy. its effect was to recall the past, and to shame me by your generous behaviour. in truth, i did not think that you still considered me worthy of remembrance. "oh! could you have been a witness of my emotions yesterday when it arrived, you would not think i exaggerate in saying that the recollection of you brings the tears to my eyes, and makes me very sad. however little i may deserve credit in your eyes, i beg you to believe, _my friend_ (allow me still to call you so), that i have suffered and still suffer through the loss of your friendship. you and your dear mother i shall never forget. your goodness to me was such that the loss of you neither can nor will be easily replaced. i know what i lost and what you were to me, but----if i attempt to fill up this blank, i must refer to scenes which are as unpleasant for you to hear as for me to describe. "as a slight return for your kind remembrance of me, i take the liberty of sending you some variations, and the rondo with violin accompaniment. i have a great deal to do, or i would have copied the long-promised sonata for you. in my manuscript it is little better than a sketch, and it would be very difficult for paraquin himself,[ ] clever as he is, to transcribe it. you can have the rondo copied, and then return the score to me. it is the only one of all my compositions suitable for you, and as you are shortly going to kerpen,[ ] i thought it might afford you some pleasure. "farewell, my friend. it is impossible for me to call you by any other name, however indifferent i may be to you. pray believe that i reverence you and your mother as highly as formerly. "if it is in my power to contribute anything to your happiness, pray do not fail to let me know, since it is the only means left to me of proving my gratitude for past friendship. "may you have a pleasant journey, and bring your dear mother back in perfect health! "think sometimes of "your admiring friend, "beethoven." footnotes: [footnote : the origin of this work may not be uninteresting to the reader. it is briefly as follows. among the effects of beethoven offered for sale at the public auction of were five packets of mss., labelled "exercises in composition." these were bought by the publisher, t. haslinger, in the not unreasonable belief that they would be found to present a complete view of the preparation made by the master for his life's work. he determined to give the collection to the world, and entrusted the editing of it to the chevalier von seyfried, as a friend of beethoven and himself a scholarly musician. in process of time the volume appeared, and was received with very opposite sentiments by different sections of the public: by some it was accepted as genuine; by others rejected as a fabrication. nottebohm's investigation has proved the truth to lie between the two extremes. "seyfried's book," he says, "is neither authentic nor forged; it is a _falsified_ work." seyfried, in fact, seems to have gone to work with incredible recklessness; his "beethoven's studies" is an _olla podrida_, composed of not only beethoven's own exercises (put together without regard to natural sequence or chronology), but of another theoretical course, probably that prepared by beethoven years after for the instruction of the archduke rudolph; while a third element is actually introduced in the shape of studies from a ms. written in a strange hand, and possibly the work of another pupil of albrechtsberger!] [footnote : original father--creator.] [footnote : the following remarks are eminently characteristic of beethoven. when his fiery nature had led him into saying or doing anything which subsequent reflection showed him to be contrary to true friendship, his remorse knew no bounds. wegeler declares that his contrition was often entirely disproportionate to the fault committed, as in the present instance.] [footnote : variations on figaro's air, "se vuol ballare."] [footnote : afterwards count marienrode, and minister of finance in the kingdom of westphalia. at a later period he filled the same office in wirtemberg.] [footnote : wegeler says, "beethoven often complained to me also of this sort of _espionage_. he particularized the abbé gelinek, a very fruitful composer of variations, in vienna, who always settled himself in his neighbourhood. this may have been one of the reasons why beethoven always looked out for a lodging in as open a place as possible."] [footnote : _paraquin_, contro-basso in the electoral orchestra; a thorough musician, and universally esteemed as such.] [footnote : _kerpen_, the residence of an uncle of fräulein v. breuning, where the family usually spent some weeks in summer.] [illustration] chapter v. the virtuoso. family occurrences--music in vienna--van swieten--prince lichnowski--beethoven's independence, personal appearance, manners--rasoumowski quartet--occurrences in lichnowski's palace--first three trios--artistic tour to berlin--woelfl--beethoven as an improvisatore--steibelt. beethoven's period of study embraced over two years, during which many events took place that produced a revolution in his circumstances, and left him at their close in a very different position from that in which they had found him. the first of these was the death of his father, which happened about a month after his arrival in vienna, obliged the young man to take upon himself once more the duties of guardian to his two brothers, and necessitated the following petition to the elector:-- "most reverend and gracious prince,--some years ago your highness was pleased to grant a pension to my father, the court tenor van beethoven, and graciously to decree that one hundred thalers of his salary should be placed in my hands, that i might provide for the clothing, maintenance, and education of my two younger brothers, and also discharge the debts contracted by our father. i wished at once to present this order to your highness's treasurer; but my father earnestly implored me not to do so, that it might not be imagined he was incapable of superintending his own family; and he further added that he would himself pay me quarterly the twenty-five r. thalers, which up to the present time was faithfully performed. "after his death, however (in december last), when i wished to avail myself of your highness's kindness and present the above-mentioned order, i was alarmed by the discovery that my father had made away with it. "with all dutiful respect i therefore beg your serene highness kindly to renew this order, and to instruct your treasurer to let me have the last quarter of this gracious addition to my salary (due the beginning of february). "your serene highness's "most obedient and faithful servant, "lud. v. beethoven, _court organist_." this request was granted, and franz ries undertook the management of the money; but after june, , not only this but the pension granted to beethoven himself was suddenly stopped. the fruits of the french revolution had made themselves apparent, and the elector was forced to fly from bonn and take refuge in mergentheim. henceforth, beethoven must depend upon himself. luckily the emergency found him prepared; he was already esteemed as one of the best pianoforte players of the day--nay, there were not wanting those who assigned to him the very first place. the recommendation of count waldstein, who was nearly related to more than half a dozen of the best families in austria, coupled with that of the elector (uncle to the reigning emperor), together with the fact that he was haydn's most promising pupil, gained for the young man admission to the highest circles in the capital, where his extraordinary abilities speedily met with recognition, and placed him above all fear of want. in accounting for the peculiar facility with which beethoven obtained a hearing in vienna, the state of society and position of art at the period must not be forgotten. in a wide sense, and as we should understand it now, music was not universally cultivated or appreciated. the opera houses were two in number, one entirely given up to italian performances; the other plain and unattractive, struggling under great disadvantages to bring forward native composers. church music was at a low ebb; the influence of albrechtsberger at the cathedral not tending to much life or novelty in that branch of composition. public concerts, such as are now of daily occurrence, happened perhaps once a year, when funds were required for some charity. thus, music was not then the universal pursuit of all classes. the enjoyment of it was almost entirely limited to the privileged few--the aristocracy--who, following the example set by the reigning family, professed an adoration of the art, a devotion to it, which (though, of course, in many instances genuine) was so general, so common, as to cast a doubt upon its reality. music was, in short, the fashionable rage; to be non-musical was to shut oneself out of the pale of society--an alternative not to be thought of without shuddering by the gay, pleasure-loving viennese. accordingly the musical enthusiasm was wonderful. we find no less than ten private theatres, each with its full corps of actors and actresses, at most of which operettas were performed; and an orchestral society, composed exclusively of members of noble houses, who gave public concerts, open only to their equals in society, at the unwonted hour of six in the morning. in addition to these, every nobleman had his private orchestra, or his _quartettistes_, or, if his means would not admit of this, at least one eminent instrumental player, attached to his household. as all the great families of austria vied with each other in the splendour and _recherché_ style of their musical entertainments, it may easily be imagined how, in such a state of society, beethoven was lionized, petted, and fêted. thayer gives a list of no fewer than thirty-one great houses (nine of them belonging to princes) which must have been open to him, as the owners were all recognised, worthy dilettanti in the highest sense--not mere followers of the fickle goddess, fashion. add to these the crowd that is ever ready to patronize him whom the leaders of _ton_ have taken by the hand, and we see that beethoven could not have wanted either for pupils or for opportunities of playing at private concerts. it was, doubtless, the bustle and pressure of this episode in his life, the contact with vulgarity in high places, that gave him the dislike he afterwards manifested to playing in public. at an earlier period in bonn, as we have seen, it was his delight to communicate his ideas to others, and to pour forth the inmost feelings of his soul in the presence of a little circle of sympathising, cultivated listeners. but here, in vienna, to play at the command of some birth-proud aristocrat, who regarded art and artists as mere ministers to his pleasure--from such a task beethoven's mind revolted. wegeler relates the effect which such an occurrence would have upon him:-- "an invitation to play in society robbed him of all gaiety. he would come to me gloomy and down-cast, complaining that he was forced to play till the blood tingled to his very finger tips. by degrees we would begin to talk together in a friendly way, when i sought to distract his thoughts and to soothe him. when this end was achieved, i let the conversation drop. i placed myself at my desk, and if beethoven wished to speak to me again, he was obliged to seat himself on a chair before the pianoforte. soon, and often without turning, he would strike a few undecided chords, out of which the most beautiful melodies were gradually developed. i dared not hazard a remark about his playing, or only allude to it _en passant_. beethoven would go away quite cheerful, and always return willingly to me. the dislike, however, remained, and was often the occasion of a rupture between him and his best friends." but the halcyon days had not yet arrived when the great tone-poet could devote himself entirely to his life-mission. his own wants and those of his brothers had to be provided for, and accordingly the round of pianoforte-playing was gone through, as that of teaching had been before, and with the same result, it paved the way to life-friendships. amongst the distinct leaders of the musical taste of the capital was gottfried, baron van swieten, the son of maria theresa's dutch physician, and the composer of twelve symphonies (on which haydn's verdict was--"as stiff as himself.") he had formerly passed some time in berlin, where he had become acquainted with friedemann and emanuel bach, and had heard the "messiah," "judas maccabæus," and "alexander's feast." after his return to vienna, he acted as secretary to a musical society which met at his house, where the great works of bach, handel, and the old italian writers (including palestrina), were devotedly studied. mozart's co-operation in this undertaking had been invaluable; but mozart was gone, and van swieten was inconsolable for his loss until he discovered beethoven. he was a quaint type of a race long extinct--the genuine old _kenner_ or connoisseur. one can almost see him, when at a concert an incautious whisper was heard in the background, rising majestically from his place, and conspicuous from his great height, taking an awful survey of the room to discover the offender and wither him by a glance! in his efforts after the _true_ in art, however, no very marked line was discernible to him between the sublime and the ridiculous; hence the earnestness with which he persuaded haydn (and for which the latter never forgave him) to insert the croaking of the frogs in the seasons. but take him for all in all, he was a valuable friend to beethoven, and as such the latter regarded him. a carefully preserved note of his is still extant: "if nothing comes in the way, i should like to see you here next wednesday, at half-past eight o'clock, with your nightcap in your pocket." the latter precaution was not unnecessary, for the insatiable host (after the evening's entertainment was over and the guests gone home) would not consent to release his young _protégé_ under at least half-a-dozen of bach's fugues for a "good-night," or "_evening blessing_," as he was wont to call it. most valuable were the evenings spent in van swieten's house to beethoven, for here he was first made fully acquainted with the majesty of handel, "that unequalled master of all masters," in beethoven's estimation, of whom he once said: "go, and learn of him how to produce, with small means, such great effects!" another patron of the young musician, and one able to benefit him more substantially, was the prince karl lichnowski, the accomplished pupil of mozart, who, with his amiable wife christiane, devoted every leisure hour to artistic pursuits. this couple, worthy in all respects of their exalted rank, at first attracted by the wonderful improvisation of haydn's pupil, soon discovered, on a more intimate acquaintance, the true nobility of soul and dazzling genius which lay beneath the rough exterior. they were childless; with the utmost delicacy it was proposed to beethoven in that he should come to them; he accepted the offer in the spirit in which it was made, and for several years was an inmate of the lichnowski palace, treated with more than parental tenderness by the prince and princess. the latter took the place of madame von breuning, and beethoven used afterwards to say laughingly, "they wanted to train me there with _grandmotherly_ love; and the princess christiane would have liked to put a glass case over me, so that no evil might come nigh me." not that there was never any misunderstanding between beethoven and his patron; on the contrary, the princess had very often to mediate between them. how could it be otherwise? it was not easy for the powerful, impulsive mind of beethoven, with his previous training, to accommodate itself to the smooth, etiquette-trammelled life of a palace. to abide by a settled routine was to him impossible; and after a few ineffectual struggles the attempt to make him do so was abandoned, and the artist left free to develop himself in his own way. wegeler relates that when he came to vienna he found beethoven installed in the lichnowski palace, but by no means so content with his position as one would imagine. amongst other things he complained to him that the prince's dinner-hour was fixed at four o'clock. "now," said he, "i ought to be at home by half-past three to dress and trim my beard, &c. i could not stand that!" so some restaurant was more frequently honoured by his presence than the lichnowski dinner-table. it must not be thought that beethoven forfeited any of his independence by thus becoming an inmate of the palace. on the contrary, he knew well, and the prince did also, that the advantage was mutual. if he had a zealous and wealthy patron, the prince had in return the benefit of the constant presence of the first pianist and improvisatore of the day at all his _musikabende_, besides the _éclat_ attached to the fact that so many of the composer's productions were first performed at his house. not that either of them ever coolly balanced the one set of advantages over against the other. this was in point of fact the relation between them; in reality it was more like that of father and son. the critical judgment of the prince was highly esteemed by beethoven, who often allowed himself to be persuaded by him into making alterations which no other influence had power to effect; and his proficiency as a pianoforte-player, which enabled him to master with comparative ease the difficulties in the new style inaugurated by his _protégé_, confirmed beethoven in his own views, and gave him fresh strength to resist those who would have had him adopt a more simple manner of writing. beethoven's independence of thought and action was of vital importance in his development. "help thyself!" was his motto. but we are sometimes inclined to smile at the lengths to which he carried his favourite doctrine. for instance, having overheard the prince (who had a peculiarly loud voice) direct his jäger, that whenever beethoven and he rang at the same time, the latter should be waited on first; he took care that very day to procure a servant for himself. another time, when he had a great desire to learn riding, and the prince's stud had been placed at his disposal, he would not accept the offer, but bought an animal for his own special use. any one who has ever been so unlucky as to borrow a friend's favourite horse, will not find beethoven's conduct in this instance so very peculiar. we can now imagine our master settled for a time, in the possession of much that could make life enjoyable. his days were entirely at his own disposal, and generally occupied by study; his evenings were passed either in his patron's _salon_, at van swieten's, or at the house of some connoisseur. wherever he went, he was welcomed, in spite of his unpolished manner and appearance. we have seen how, rather than submit to the necessity of an elaborate toilette, he would content himself with the plainest fare; but there was that in beethoven's _physique_ which the utmost pains could never have smoothed down to the conventional standard. rather short, with a figure more indicative of strength than elegance, hair that baffled figaro's efforts to reduce it to order, and a broad face, whose one redeeming point was the lofty, expansive forehead--a true throne of genius--beethoven presented a _tout-ensemble_ which at once marked him out from all others, and was an index to the independent, original spirit within. his demeanour was such as might be expected in one who had made his own life-path, and had constantly encountered hostility and misunderstanding; brusque, angular, and a little defiant; but--where he was sure of his ground--gentle and loveable as a woman, innocent and guileless as a child. beethoven had no time for the _petits-soins_ of life, his thoughts were too deeply engrossed with higher matters, but that he was the bear so often represented, we emphatically deny. such accusations were brought against him by those who were incapable of appreciating either him or his works, who would have had the great poet descend to the common level of every-day life, fritter away precious time and thought, and force his powerful mind to the punctilious observance of every little social etiquette. one condition alone was necessary for beethoven to come out in a favourable light in society, viz, _he must be understood_. not flattered, not admired, not caressed,--simply understood in his true character as a poet, an artist, a revealer of beauty undreamt of by others. the following anecdote is an illustration of this:-- "when we were both still young (writes herr von griesinger, ambassador from the court of saxony to vienna), i only an _attaché_, and beethoven only a celebrated pianoforte player, but as yet little known as a composer, we happened to be both together at the house of prince lobkowitz. a gentleman, who thought himself a great connoisseur, entered into a conversation with beethoven upon a poet's life and inclinations. 'i wish,' said beethoven, with his native candour, 'that i was relieved from all the bargain and sale of publication, and could meet with some one who could pay me a certain income for life, for which he should possess the right to publish exclusively all that i wrote; and i would not be idle in composition. i believe goethe does this with cotta, and, if i mistake not, handel's london publisher held similar terms with him.' "'my dear young man,' said this grave wiseacre, 'you must not complain, for you are neither a goethe nor a handel, and it is not to be expected that you ever will be, for such masters will not be born again.' "beethoven bit his lips, gave a most contemptuous glance at the speaker, and said not another word to him. afterwards, however, he expressed himself pretty warmly on the subject of this flippant individual. "prince lobkowitz endeavoured to draw beethoven into more temperate habits of thought, and said in a friendly manner, when the conversation once turned upon this person, 'my dear beethoven, the gentleman did not intend to wound you; it is an established maxim, which most men adhere to, that the present generation cannot possibly produce such mighty spirits as the dead, who have already earned their fame.' "'so much the worse, your highness,' replied beethoven; 'but with men who will not believe and trust in me because i am as yet unknown to universal fame, i cannot hold intercourse.' "many then shook their heads, and called the young composer arrogant and overbearing. had these gentry been able to look into the future, they would have been a little ashamed of themselves." with beethoven's residence in the lichnowski palace, many characteristic anecdotes are connected, amongst others that already referred to of his reading the complicated bach ms. _a prima vista_. but one of the most important features of his life here was his connection with the schuppanzigh quartette, afterwards known as the razoumowski, which, under his auspices, took so notable a place in musical annals. the players were all very young (schuppanzigh, first violin, a boy of sixteen; sina, second violin, still a very young man; weiss, viola, fifteen; and kraft, violoncello, only fourteen years of age), and this was probably a recommendation in the eyes of the prince, who was passionately fond of the quartets of haydn and mozart, and doubtless found that he could more easily inoculate young and unformed minds with his peculiar views regarding the performance of them, than he could persuade more mature artists into adopting his views. beethoven was his able coadjutor in this attempt, and the boy-quartet, directed by one not much older than themselves, did honour to the discernment of their patron. for many years they worked harmoniously together, meeting for practice every friday morning, and probably no quartet-players, either before or since, enjoyed advantages so great. for them beethoven composed his immortal productions, and his genius fired and animated theirs, so that one mind and one will alone seemed at work. the following note, preserved by schindler, relative to the production of the difficult e flat major quartet in march, , shows how his desire that his old companions should prove equal to their reputation continued unabated to the last:-- "my good friends,--herewith each will receive his part, and must with it promise allegiance, and pledge himself in all honour to do his very best to distinguish himself, and to vie with the others in zeal. "every one who wishes to take part in the affair must sign this paper." (here follow the four signatures.) on one occasion a new pianoforte quartet by förster, a well-known composer of the day, was in progress of rehearsal. the violoncellist was suddenly called out, when beethoven, who was at the pianoforte, instantly began to sing the missing part in addition to going on with his own, which he read for the first time. the prince, astonished, asked him how he could sing music with which he was not acquainted. beethoven smiled and replied, "the bass _must_ have been so, otherwise the author could have known nothing whatever of composition." on the prince remarking further, that beethoven had taken the _presto_ so quickly that it was impossible for him to have seen the notes, he answered, "that is not at all necessary. a multitude of faults in the printing do not signify. if you only know the language, you don't see them or pay any heed to them." to show the good understanding between beethoven and the princess christiane, we give the following anecdote here, although it properly belongs to a later period. one evening, ries, while still beethoven's pupil, in performing a sonata before a large company, played a wrong note, on which the master tapped him on the head with one finger by way of reminder. beethoven next took his seat at the pianoforte, and the princess (who always felt for the weak, and had observed that ries was rather vexed by the occurrence) stationed herself behind the composer. beethoven played the beginning of one of his own compositions rather carelessly, as he was often wont to do in commencing, when the princess seized her opportunity, and giving him several well-directed blows, said: "when a pupil is punished with one finger for having failed in a single note, the master deserves to be punished with the whole hand for graver faults!" "everybody began to laugh," adds ries, "and beethoven the first. he recommenced, and played admirably." in the year , the first of that unparalleled series of works which ended only in with beethoven's death--the three trios for pianoforte, violin, and 'cello, op. i.,--was publicly performed; that is to say, before a large and brilliant assembly in the lichnowski palace. the result was most gratifying, alike to the composer and to his friends--beethoven was at once recognised as the successor of mozart. one incident alone detracted from the happiness of the young author. haydn, who was present, while warmly praising the two first trios, strongly recommended that the last, in c minor, should not be published. beethoven's suspicion, already on the alert, was fairly roused by this apparently well-meaning advice. why should that particular trio be kept back? he himself thought it the best and most original of the three, and as such it is now generally regarded. it offered, however, such a contrast to his own simple style of trio-writing, that haydn was, perhaps, honest in stating as his reason for advocating its non-publication that he did not believe the public would understand it. beethoven, however, was strengthened by this occurrence in his conviction that haydn "did not mean well by him;" and, though he deferred to the criticism at the time (probably more out of regard to lichnowski's representations) a bitter feeling towards his former master rankled in his heart. this did not prevent his dedicating the three pianoforte sonatas, op. ii., to haydn. the dedication, however, was a mere mark of appreciation, not of the man, but of his works, a compliment from one artist to the other--not a grateful recognition of the master by the pupil. in fact, when haydn wished him to inscribe on the title-page, "pupil of haydn," he flatly refused, saying that he "had never learned anything from him!" we have said that he deferred to haydn's criticism, but he went beyond it. if the c minor trio was not to be published, neither should the other two. so the unlucky works were thrust back into his portfolio, where they lay for two years, during which the irate composer paved the way for their proper reception by publishing an immense number of bagatelles, especially variations on different themes, which have no great value beyond that attached to them as studies in the development of beethoven's genius. although evincing more ingenuity and variety than the themes treated by mozart in the same way, they are often found unequal to the latter in clearness.[ ] beethoven seems to have had a lingering partiality for this style of writing. after having abandoned it, we find it adopted again in the thirty-two variations sérieuses on an original theme, which were written after he had more than established his success in the sonata form; and, so anxious was he to have them well understood and rendered, that he made ries, when studying them with him, repeat the last no fewer than seventeen times before he was satisfied with the effect; "though," adds ries rather naïvely, "i thought i played it as well as beethoven himself!" the growth of the thirty-three variations, op. , we must leave to schindler to relate:-- "in the villa of hetzendorf, beethoven wrote the thirty-three variations on a waltz by diabelli, a work which delighted him uncommonly. at first there were only to be six or seven variations, for which modest number diabelli had offered him eighty ducats (the price he received for almost each of his later sonatas). but when he set to work, there sprang into life first ten, then twenty, then twenty-five--and still he could not stop. when diabelli heard of the twenty-five variations, he was greatly concerned lest the work should be too large, but was at last obliged to accept for his eighty ducats, not _seven_, but _three and thirty variations_." the following story is a proof of the ease with which he invented variations. being one evening in a box with a lady during a performance of "la molinare," she lamented to him that she had once possessed a number of variations on the air "nel cor non più mi sento," which she had lost. next morning she received "sei variazioni perdute per la--ritrovate per luigi v. beethoven." the year brought with it two events: one the arrival of his brothers in vienna; the other his first appearance in public as a virtuoso. hitherto his performances had been confined to the lichnowski palace, and other private houses, and public curiosity had long been whetted by the various rumours which flew about concerning him. at length it was to be gratified, on the occasion of the annual concert for the widows and orphans of musicians. the direction of this was usually entrusted to salieri, who held the _bâton_ at the italian opera-house, and his programme for the year consisted of an operetta, composed by one of his pupils, and a pianoforte concerto in c major by another, herr louis van beethoven. wegeler relates that two days before the date fixed for the event the concerto was not yet finished, and there did not seem much probability of its being ready in time, as beethoven was suffering much from attacks of colic, to which he was often subject. wegeler, from his medical knowledge, was able to render a little assistance, and so the work progressed, beethoven writing as fast as he could, and handing over each sheet as it was finished to four copyists who were in attendance in the antechamber. next day, at the rehearsal, the pianoforte was found to have been tuned half a tone lower than the other instruments; when beethoven, to save time, played the whole concerto through in the key of c sharp! seyfried tells us that when beethoven asked him to turn over the leaves of several of his concertos for him while playing in public, he found nothing but a sheet of paper with here and there a bar filled in, or a mass of notes unintelligible to any one but the composer. jahn describes mozart as doing the same, but what a difference is there between his concertos and--say, _the emperor_! the year was marked by a slight variation; beethoven made a short journey to prague and berlin, the only occasion, with the exception of his visit to the baths, on which he ever left vienna or its neighbourhood. in both cities he met with a flattering reception. in berlin he played his two sonatas for pianoforte and 'cello, op. , before frederick william ii., who presented him with a snuff-box filled with friedrichs-d'or; "not an ordinary snuff-box," as beethoven was wont to remark with grim satisfaction, "but one similar to those given to ambassadors!" here, also, he unwittingly incurred the enmity of the pianist himmel. the latter had begged beethoven for an improvisation, with which request our musician complied, and then asked himmel to favour him in return. nothing loath, himmel seated himself at the pianoforte and began a succession of smooth running passages and arpeggios, skilfully linked together. beethoven listened for a while in silence, imagining this to be the prelude, but as it seemed to "go on for ever," he said with some impatience, "pray do begin now!" himmel, however had already exhausted his imagination and finished his (_quasi_) improvisation. no better fate awaited others who opposed themselves to beethoven as improvisatori, not excepting the celebrated pianists woelfl and steibelt. that the former could ever have been seriously regarded as the rival of beethoven is scarcely credible to us. such was the case, however, and as with gluck and picini in paris, and handel and buononcini in london (connected with which swift's well-known _jeu-d'esprit_ will occur to every amateur), so it was with beethoven and woelfl in vienna. each had his allies, and party spirit ran so high that beethoven, although devoid of any feeling of rivalry, accepted a challenge to improvise. the meeting took place at the villa of baron von wetzlar, woelfl's patron; the pianofortes were placed side by side, and the two artists played and improvised by turns. inspired by the ardour of contest, each seemed to surpass himself; never had woelfl's technical skill seemed greater; never had the wealth of beethoven's ideas shone out more resplendently. some of woelfl's stoutest adherents contended that he had gained the day in a technical point of view, and this may, perhaps, have been the case, since his immense hand, which enabled him to grasp tenths with the same ease as octaves, undoubtedly gave him an advantage. his sonata, "non plus ultra," gives us an idea of his execution. beethoven, on the other hand, never cared to make a display of mere dash and brilliancy; technicalities were always subordinated by him to idea and feeling. the gift of improvisation must have been his to an extent unparalleled either before or since. his wealth of idea, certainty of form, and poetry of expression, combined to produce an effect very different from that achieved by ordinary extempore players, who in general, as we have seen in the case of himmel, mistook the art of preluding for that of improvising. only one conversant with that language of music to which beethoven often alluded, could venture, without preparation, to speak to any purpose in it. a circumstance that contributed to his success was his _power of abstraction_, which, in common with all deep thinkers, he possessed in a remarkable degree. with the first few bars of the given thema, the scene before his eyes, the daylight, the bystanders, all vanished; and beethoven was as fully immersed in the solitude of his own thoughts as though he had been suddenly transported to some desert island, with penguins and sea-gulls for listeners. ries gives a curious instance of this utter disregard of all outward things, in the story of the great master's commencing one day, while giving him a lesson, to play with the left hand the first fugue from graun's "tod jesu." gradually the right hand was added, and regardless of his awkward position, the fugue developed in all conceivable manners for the space of half an hour, when he suddenly awoke to discover that his pupil was still in his place before the pianoforte. in a more formidable rival appeared at vienna in the person of steibelt. having conceived a great idea of his own powers from the flattery of his parisian admirers, steibelt came to the capital sure of conquest, and did not even consider it necessary to visit the opponent so far beneath him. they met accidentally at the house of count fries, "where," says ferdinand ries, "beethoven played for the first time[ ] his trio in b flat major for piano; clarionet, and 'cello, op. , in which there is not much room for display. steibelt heard it with a kind of condescension, paid beethoven several compliments, and believed himself sure of victory. he played a quintet of his own composition, and then improvised, and produced a great sensation by his free use of _tremolo_, which was at that time something quite new. to ask beethoven to play again was not to be thought of. eight days after there was again a concert at count fries'. steibelt played another quintet with great success; he had besides, as might be easily perceived, _studied_ a brilliant improvisation, and chosen for a subject the theme on which the finale of beethoven's trio was built. this disgusted the admirers of beethoven, and displeased the latter also. it was his turn to seat himself at the pianoforte and to improvises. he placed himself at the instrument with his ordinary air--i might say, rather ill-humouredly, and as if pushed there. in passing, he seized the violoncello part of steibelt's quintet, placed it upside down on the desk (was this designedly?), and drummed out with one finger the theme of the first few bars. "then, impelled by his insulted and excited feelings, he improvised in such a manner that steibelt quitted the room before beethoven had ceased. he would never meet him again, and, when invited anywhere, always stipulated that beethoven should not be present." but enough of such anecdotes! triumphs which would have been glory to others were nothing to him. let us pass on and see the master in the great struggle which prefaced the real commencement of life's work, and was continued without intermission until the victory was won. footnotes: [footnote : marx, vol. i., p. .] [footnote : this is evidently an error. the trio had been published in .--thayer, vol. ii., p. .] [illustration] [illustration] chapter vi. conflict. deafness and its consequences--his brothers' influence--letters to wegeler--"mount of olives"--beethoven's will--beethoven as an instructor--a conductor--sinfonia eroica--"leonora" ("fidelio")--"adelaïde." suffering and genius! apparently so far apart, in reality so near! the bitter cry of milton,-- "dark, dark, dark, amidst the blaze of noon!" has gone up from many a thousand hearts to the eternal throne; but who may presume to fathom the dispensations of a mysterious providence? or to question that wisdom which gives to every earthborn soul the necessary discipline for immortality? let us rather wonder and adore, and-- "know how sublime a thing it is to suffer and _be strong_." we left our young musician in the full flush of success, in apparently vigorous health, caressed and flattered by princes, without a rival as a virtuoso, and fast leaving all competitors behind him as a composer, when suddenly a cloud appears, the brightness is overcast, and darkness comes on apace. _beethoven became deaf._ for three years he had had premonitory fears, which were too sadly realized in the year . the loss of hearing is deprivation enough in ordinary cases; but to a young man of excitable artist temperament, and a musician! it seemed for a while worse than the loss of life itself. our beethoven writes thus to wegeler:-- "if i had not read somewhere that man must not of his own free will depart this life, i should long ere this have been no more, and that through my own act." from this despair he was mercifully rescued. the strong, secret voice within, impelling beethoven onwards and upwards to that aim which he "felt, but could not describe," spoke now in more stirring accents and with more thrilling emphasis amid the profound silence and desolation of his nature. he "was not disobedient" to the heavenly call; the triumph of mind was achieved; and from the dark prison-house the noblest strains the world has ever heard escaped to wake responsive echoes in the hearts of all who have felt and suffered. but this victory was not gained without leaving behind it evident tokens of the struggle; distrust, suspicion, irritability, those constant attendants on deafness, haunted beethoven day and night, poisoning his happiness, and casting their shadow over his childlike, benevolent disposition. stephan breuning writes thus of the alteration in his friend in a letter dated the th of november, :--"you cannot realize the indescribable impression made upon beethoven by the loss of his hearing. imagine, with his excitable temperament, the feeling of unhappiness, added to reserve, distrust of his best friends, and indecision in many things. in general, intercourse with him is a positive exertion, in which it is impossible to feel entirely at one's ease; the occasions on which his old true nature shows itself are few indeed." schindler, also his friend and biographer, describes him as being "like a child, devoid of all experience, suddenly cast upon this earth from some ideal world; like a ball, tossed from one hand to another; consequently, at the mercy of other people. and," he adds, "_so beethoven remained throughout his whole life_." these evils were increased by the presence of his brothers, carl and johann (the "evil principles" of his life, as schindler calls them), who now began to exercise an almost unlimited influence over him. these men seem to have been totally incapable of appreciating the true character or work of ludwig; they only saw that he was making money rapidly (and, as they thought, easily), and determined to take advantage of it. to this end they resolved to obtain entire possession of him, and began by endeavouring to alienate as far as possible beethoven's friends, misrepresenting to him all that occurred, and fanning every little spark of anger into a flame. their efforts partially succeeded; our unhappy composer, absorbed in his own creations, overwhelmed by his misfortune, and intensely irritable, was but too ready to believe all the world in league against him, and would have shut the door against his best friends. prince lichnowski alone had still some weight with him, and when once persuaded that he had acted unjustly, nothing could exceed beethoven's contrition and desire to make amends to those he had wounded. but he would never lay any blame upon his brothers, and even when their duplicity and falseness had been clearly pointed out to him, he would still continue to defend them strenuously, refusing to look upon their conduct in any but the most favourable light, and adding, "after all, they are my brothers." it may easily be believed how, with dispositions such as those of carl and johann, this mistaken lenity and brotherly feeling confirmed them in their course. it was they who generally made all arrangements with the music publishers, and through their instrumentality many minor pieces were given to the world which the composer had produced in bonn, and kept back from publication as unworthy of his name. such a consideration, however, had no weight with the two; money they wanted, and were resolved to get at all hazards. once only did beethoven come into collision with them regarding this, when he discovered that carl had, without his knowledge, sold a copyright which had been promised to another person. carl held a situation in the national bank of austria, and johann had been established by beethoven as an apothecary. in a very short time, however, the latter became so wealthy (how?) as to be able to exchange the pestle and mortar for the state of a country gentleman. of this he was so immoderately proud, that one new year's day he sent in to his brother a card, on which was written,-- "johann van beethoven, land proprietor." the composer, who was at table when it was brought to him, laughed heartily, and writing on the other side,-- "ludwig van beethoven, brain proprietor," sent it back to him. the following letters to wegeler display, more fully than we can describe, beethoven's condition during the first few years of his calamity:-- "_vienna, th june_, ( .) "my dear good wegeler,--how much i thank you for your remembrance of me! i have deserved it, and sought to deserve it, so little; and yet you are so good, and will not allow yourself to be discouraged even by my unpardonable neglect--you are always the same true, good, worthy friend. that i could ever forget you or yours, who were once so dear and precious to me, do not believe; there are moments in which i long for you, and wish that it were in my power to spend some time with you. my fatherland, the lovely spot in which i first saw the light, is as distinct and beautiful before my eyes now as when i first left you. in short, i shall consider it one of the happiest events of my life when i am able to see you, and to greet our father rhine again. when this will be i cannot positively say. so much i will tell you--you shall not see me again until i have become really great--not as an artist only, but a better and more perfect man: and if the prosperity of my country be once more re-established, my art shall be devoted solely to the relief of the poor. oh blissful moment! how happy do i consider myself in being able to procure thee--to create thee! "you want to know something about my position? well, after all it is not so bad. lichnowski is still, and always has been, my warmest friend, however incredible it may appear to you. (of course there were little misunderstandings between us; but did they not serve rather to cement our friendship?) since last year he has settled on me a pension of six hundred guldens, which i am to draw until i find an appointment suited to me. i make a great deal by my compositions; indeed, i may say that there are more demands upon me than i can execute. for every one of my works i have at least six or seven publishers, and could have more if i wished. they do not drive bargains with me now: i demand, and they pay. you see this is a very good thing. if, for instance, i see a friend in difficulty, and am not in funds to help him immediately, i have only to sit down and write, and in a short time he is relieved. i am also more economical than i used to be. if i remain here permanently, i shall certainly contrive to reserve one day in every year for a grand concert, of which i have already given several. that malicious demon, bad health, has cast a stumblingblock in my path--for the last three years my hearing has gradually become weaker. the original cause of this defect is the state of my digestive organs, which, as you know, was formerly bad enough, but has now become much worse, for i have been constantly troubled with diarrhoea, which has induced extreme weakness. frank tried to restore the tone to my constitution by strengthening medicines, and to my hearing by oil of almonds, but _prosit!_ with no good effect; my hearing grew worse, and my digestion remained in the same state. this lasted till the autumn of last year, and i was often in despair. then one medical _asinus_ recommended cold bathing for my complaint; another, a little more sensible, the ordinary tepid danube bath. this worked wonders; my digestion became better, but my deafness continued as bad as ever, or grew worse. last winter i was truly miserable, suffering so dreadfully from colic that i fell completely back again into my former state, in which i continued till about four weeks ago, when i went to consult vering;[ ] partly because i think my complaint requires surgical treatment, and partly also because i have always had confidence in him. he succeeded in almost entirely arresting the violent diarrhoea. he ordered me the tepid danube bath, into which i pour every time a phial of some strengthening mixture; but he gave me no medicine at all, except four days ago some digestive pills and a lotion for the ears. i must say i find myself much stronger and better for this treatment, but the buzzing and ringing in my ears continues day and night. "i may say that i pass my life wretchedly; for nearly two years i have avoided all society, because i cannot possibly say to people, '_i am deaf!_' if i were in any other profession it would not so much signify, but for a musician it is a really frightful condition. besides, what would my enemies say to it?--and they are not few! "to give you an idea of this extraordinary deafness, i must tell you that in the theatre i am obliged to lean forward quite close to the orchestra in order to understand the actors. the high tones of the instruments and voices i do not hear if i am a little way off. in conversation it is surprising that there are some people who do not observe it--they attribute it to the absent fits which i often have. many a time i can with difficulty distinguish the tones, but not the words, of any person who speaks in a low voice; and yet, directly any one begins to shout, it is unendurable to me. what is to be the result of all this, the good god alone knows. vering says that my condition will certainly improve, though i may not be perfectly restored. i have often already--cursed my existence. plutarch has led me to resignation. i am resolved, if possible, to defy my fate, although there should be moments in my life when i shall be the most unhappy of all god's creatures. "i beg of you not to mention my state to any one, not even to lorchen;[ ] i only confide it as a secret to you. i should like much if you would correspond some day with vering about it. should my affliction continue, i shall come next spring to you. you shall hire a house for me in some lovely spot in the country, and there i shall become a peasant for six months. perhaps that might bring about a change. resignation! what a miserable refuge! and yet the only one left to me! "you must forgive me for adding the burden of these friendly cares to your troubles, already gloomy enough. steffen breuning[ ] is now here, and we are almost every day together; it does me so much good to call up the old feelings. he has become really a capital fellow, who knows something, and has his heart pretty much in the right place, like us all. "i have very pleasant rooms now close to the ramparts,[ ] which is doubly advantageous for my health. i think i shall be able to manage so that breuning may come to me. "your antiochus[ ] you shall have, together with plenty of music from me,--that is, if you do not fear its costing you too much. honestly, your love of art rejoices me greatly. only let me know how to set about it, and i shall send you all my works, which now amount to a pretty number, and are daily added to. "instead of the portrait of my grandfather (which i beg you to send me as soon as possible with the mail), i send you that of his grandson, your ever loving and affectionate beethoven. it has been brought out here by artaria, who, as well as other publishers, has often begged me for it. i shall write next to stoffeln[ ], and read him a lecture about his peevish temper. i shall sound our old friendship well in his ears, and get him to promise sacredly not to annoy you again in your present sad position. "never have i forgotten one of you, my dear, good friends, although i may not have written often to you; but writing, as you know, was never my _forté_; even my best friends have not heard from me for years. i live only in my music; and, no sooner is one thing completed, than another is begun. in fact, as at present, i am often engaged on three or four compositions at one time. "write me now frequently; i shall make a point of finding time to write you occasionally. give my kind regards to all, especially to the good frau hofräthin[ ], and tell her that even now i sometimes have a 'raptus.' "with regard to k----, i am not at all surprised at the change. fortune rolls on like a ball; and naturally, therefore, does not always stop at what is noblest and best. one word for ries,[ ] to whom remember me cordially. with regard to his son,[ ] i shall write you more particularly, but i believe that paris offers a better field for his exertions than vienna, which is so overstocked that even people of the greatest merit find it a hard matter to maintain themselves. by autumn or winter i shall see what i can do for him, for then everybody will have returned to town. "farewell, my good, faithful wegeler. rest assured of the love and friendship of your "beethoven." _vienna, november, th, ._ "my dear wegeler,--for this fresh proof of your solicitude about me, i must thank you the more, that i deserve it so little. you want to know how i am progressing, and what remedies i use; however unwilling i am in general to refer to this subject, i do so with the least reluctance to you. "for several months past, vering has ordered me to apply blisters constantly to both arms, made of a certain kind of bark, which you doubtless know. this is a most disagreeable remedy, inasmuch as (without taking the pain into consideration) i am deprived of the free use of my arms for a few days, until the blisters have drawn sufficiently. it is true, and i cannot deny it, that the buzzing and ringing are somewhat less than formerly, especially in the left ear, that in which my malady first commenced--but my hearing is certainly not a whit better. i dare not say positively that it has not rather grown worse. "my digestion is better, especially after using the tepid baths, when i feel tolerably well for eight or ten days. tonics i very seldom take, but follow your advice now with regard to the herb-plasters. plunge baths vering will not hear of. on the whole, i am not at all pleased with him; he has far too little solicitude or indulgence for a malady such as mine; if i did not go to him, and this i cannot do without great difficulty, i should never see him. what do you think of schmidt?[ ] i am unwilling to make a change, but it seems to me that vering is too much of a practitioner to gain fresh ideas by reading. with regard to this, schmidt appears a very different sort of man, and might also, perhaps, not be quite so negligent of my case. "i hear wonders of galvanism--what say you to it? a medical man told me that he had known a deaf and dumb child whose hearing was fully restored by it (in berlin), and also a man who, after having been deaf for seven years, recovered his hearing. they tell me that your friend schmidt is making experiments on the subject. "i lead a somewhat more agreeable life now that i mingle more with other people. you can hardly realize what a miserable, desolate life mine has been for the last two years. like a ghost did my deafness haunt me everywhere, till i fled society, and must have appeared a misanthrope--yet this is so little my character. "this change has been brought about by a lovely and fascinating girl,[ ] who loves me, and whom i love. after the lapse of two years i have again enjoyed some blissful moments, and now for the first time i feel that marriage can bestow happiness; but, alas! she is not in the same rank of life as myself; and at present, certainly i could not marry: i must first bestir myself actively. were it not for my deafness, i would long ago have travelled half round the world, and i must do it yet. for me there is no greater pleasure than to follow and promote my art. do not believe that i could be happy with you. what would there be, indeed, to make me happier? even your solicitude would pain me; every moment i should read sympathy on your faces, and should find myself only the more wretched. "those lovely scenes of my fatherland, what part had i in them? nothing but the hope of a better future, which would have been mine, were it not for this affliction! oh! once free from this, i would span the world! my youth, i feel it, is only beginning; have i not always been a sickly creature? for some time past my bodily strength has been increasing more than ever, and my mental power as well. every day i approach nearer the goal which i feel, but cannot describe. only in this can your beethoven live. no rest for me! i know of none other than sleep, and sorry enough i am to be obliged to give up more time to it than formerly. let me be only half delivered from this malady, and then--a more perfect, mature man--i shall come to you, and renew the old feelings of friendship. "you shall see me as happy as i am destined to be here below,--not unhappy. no, that i could not bear. i will grasp fate by the throat, it shall not utterly crush me. oh! it is so glorious to live one's life a thousand times! for a quiet life, i feel it, i am no longer made. "pray do write me as soon as possible. persuade steffen to decide upon seeking an appointment somewhere from the teutonic order.[ ] his position here is too fatiguing for his health, and besides, he leads such an isolated life, that i do not see how he is ever to get on. you know how things are here. i will not positively say that society would lessen his depression, but we cannot persuade him to join in it at all. a short time ago i had some music in my house, but our friend steffen stayed away. advise him to be more calm and composed. i have already tried all my powers on him,--without this he can never be either happy or in good health. tell me in your next letter if there is any objection to my sending you my music, even though there should be a quantity of it. what you don't require, you can sell, and thus get back what you paid for carriage,--and my portrait into the bargain. "say all that is kind and obliging to lorchen, as well as to her mamma and christoph. have you still a little love for me? be convinced of the love as well as of the friendship of "your beethoven." the year found beethoven already busy with his "mount of olives," which, however, was not produced till . this, the master's first and last attempt at oratorio writing, "is a striking instance of the insufficiency of even the highest powers to accomplish that to which the special call has not been given. it was impossible for beethoven to feel himself so inspired by his task as the composer of a time when the mind of the people was almost exclusively occupied by religious convictions; the man of the revolutionary period could not see or think out a christ like that of bach and handel before him. even the pure spring, out of which we protestants of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries draw our ideas of christ--the bible--flowed not for him; his christ must first be poetically made for him. and how? the poet had no other aim but that of making verses for a composer; the latter no other motive than the ordinary creative impulse prompting him to try his powers in a different and important sphere. the result on both sides could not, therefore, be other than _phrases_, although the better of the two proceeded from the composer, and that composer was beethoven. to conceal or palliate this would be derogatory to the reverence which we all owe to beethoven,--he stands too high to be in need of extenuation." so far marx; but in addition to the miserable libretto (which imparted unreality, artificiality, to the whole work, and especially gave to the part of the saviour a theatrical air which beethoven afterwards deplored) many peculiarities of the oratorio--with all deference to the able critic just quoted--may be traced to the period in which it was composed. the very choice of subject reveals the convulsion that was taking place in beethoven's _volcanic_ nature. it is a question whether beethoven would ever have asserted his sovereignty in this branch of composition; it may be, as marx hints, that the peculiar tone of thought and feeling necessary to the successful treatment of sacred subjects was wanting in him; but there can be no doubt that had the master's attention been devoted to the subject in happier days, when his tempest-tossed natures had attained to some degree of peace and serenity, the result would have been very different. let him who would see beethoven as a _devotional_ writer, turn to his gellert songs, which breathe the very depths of true religious feeling. the greater part of the oratorio, and also of "fidelio," was composed at hetzendorf, a pretty little village near the imperial summer palace of schönbrunn. here beethoven passed several summers in the greatest retirement--wandering all day long, from early dawn to nightfall, amid the leafy glades of the park. his favourite seat was between two immense boughs of an old oak, which branched out from the parent stem about two feet from the ground. this memorable tree, endeared to beethoven as the birthplace of many a thought, was afterwards visited by him, in schindler's company, in . in a gleam of hope dawned upon the sufferer; his deafness was for a time cured by the skilful treatment of dr. schmidt (to whom, out of gratitude, he dedicated his septet arranged as a trio), by whose advice he went for the summer to the village of heiligenstadt, in the hope that the calm, sweet influence of nature, to which he was at all times most sensitive, might act beneficially upon his troubled mind. this spot--this _consecrated town_--must always be an object of veneration to those who cherish the name of beethoven, for here it was that he wrote his remarkable will, or promemoria, a document which excites our warmest sympathy, revealing, as it does, the depths of that great heart. "to my brothers, carl and ---- beethoven.[ ]--o ye who consider or represent me as unfriendly, morose, and misanthropical, how unjust are you to me! you know not the secret cause of what appears thus to you. "my heart and mind have been from childhood given up to the tender feeling of benevolence, and i have ever been disposed to accomplish something great. but only consider that for six years i have been afflicted by a wretched calamity, which was aggravated by unskilful physicians--deceived from year to year by the hope of amendment--now forced, at length, to the contemplation of a _lingering disease_ (the cure of which will, perhaps, last for years, if indeed it be not an impossibility). "born with a passionate, lively temperament, keenly susceptible to the pleasures of society, i was obliged at an early age to isolate myself, and to pass my life in loneliness. "when i at times endeavoured to surmount all this, oh, how rudely was i thrust back again by the experience--the doubly painful experience--of my defective hearing! and yet it was impossible for me to say to people, speak louder, shout; for i am deaf! alas! how could i proclaim the weakness of a sense which ought to have been with me in a higher degree than with others--a sense which i once possessed in the greatest perfection--and to an extent which few of my profession enjoy, or ever have enjoyed! oh, this i cannot do! forgive me, therefore, when you see me turn away where i would gladly mingle with you. my misfortune is doubly painful to me, inasmuch as it causes me to be misunderstood. for me there can be no relaxation in human society, no refined conversations, no mutual outpourings of thought. like an exile must i live. whenever i come near strangers, i am seized with a feverish anxiety from my dread of being exposed to the risk of betraying my condition. "thus it has been with me during these last six months which i have spent in the country. the orders of my sensible physician, to spare my hearing as much as possible, were quite in accordance with my present disposition; although often, overcome by my longing for society, i have been tempted into it. but what humiliation, when any one by my side heard from afar a flute, and i heard _nothing_, or when any one heard _the shepherd singing_, and i again heard _nothing_! "such occurrences brought me nigh to despair; but little was wanting, and i should myself have put an end to my existence. _art_--art alone--held me back! ah! it seemed impossible for me to quit the world before i had done all that i felt myself destined to accomplish. and so i prolonged this miserable life; a life so truly wretched that a sudden change is sufficient to throw me from the happiest condition into the worst. "_patience!_ it would seem that i must now choose her for my guide! i have done so. i trust that my resolve to persevere will remain firm, until it shall please the inexorable fates to cut the thread of life. perhaps i may get better; perhaps not. i am prepared. compelled to be a philosopher in my twenty-eighth year![ ] this is not easy--for the artist harder than for any one else. o god! thou lookest down upon my heart, thou seest that love to man and beneficent feelings have their abode in it! "o ye who may one day read this, reflect that you did me injustice, and let the unhappy be consoled by finding one like himself, who, in defiance of all natural obstacles, has done all that lay in his power to be received into the ranks of worthy artists and men. "my brothers, carl and----, as soon as i am dead, if professor schmidt be still alive, beg him in my name to describe my disease, and then add these pages to the history of my malady, that at least, so far as possible, the world may be reconciled to me after my death. "i also hereby declare you both heirs of my little fortune (if so it may be called). divide it honestly, bear with and help one another. what you did against me i have, as you know, long since forgiven. i thank you in particular, brother carl, for the attachment which you have shown me of late. my wish is, that your life may be happier, and more free from care, than mine has been. recommend _virtue_ to your children; it is she alone, and not money, that can confer happiness. i speak from experience; for it was virtue who raised me when in distress. i have to thank her, in addition to my art, that i did not put an end to my life through suicide. farewell, and love one another! i thank all my friends, especially prince lichnowski and professor schmidt. i should like the instruments of prince l. to be preserved by one of you; but let no dispute arise between you on this account. as soon as you perceive that it will be more to your advantage, you have only to sell them. how shall i rejoice, if even in the grave i can serve you! "thus has it happened:--with joy i hasten to meet death. should he come before i have had opportunity to develop all my artistic powers, he will have come too soon, notwithstanding my hard fate, and i shall wish that he had tarried a little longer; but even then i shall be content, for he will set me free from a state of endless suffering. come when thou wilt--i go courageously to meet thee! "farewell, and do not quite forget me even in death. i have deserved this of you, since in my life i often thought of you, and wished to make you happy. "so be it! "ludwig van beethoven." _heiligenstadt, th october, ._" "_heiligenstadt, th october, ._ "thus i bid farewell to thee, mournfully enough. even the dearest hope that i brought hither with me, the hope of being to a certain degree restored, has utterly forsaken me. as the leaves of autumn fall and wither, so has my hope faded. almost as i came do i depart; even the lofty courage which inspired me during the lovely days of summer has vanished. oh, providence! vouchsafe to me one more day of pure happiness! the responsive echo of pure joy has been so long a stranger to my heart. when, when, o god! shall i again feel it in the temple of nature and man? never? ah! that would be too hard!" (on the outside.) "for my brothers carl and----, to be read and fulfilled after my death." several writers have maintained that the consequences of beethoven's deafness are plainly discernible in his compositions; that he lost all idea of harmonic relations, that his later works are mere incongruous, erratic fancies, devoid of form and melody, and, in short, compared to his former productions, what the second part of "faust" is to the first. happily, such ideas--promulgated by theorists of the old school like fétis, and dilettanti of the mozart-italian school like oulibicheff--have now exploded, and the service rendered to art by beethoven's latest works--especially his pianoforte sonatas--is fully recognised. it is these which have brought the pianoforte to its present eminence as the most intellectual and ideal of all instruments, and which, by their depth of thought and loftiness of aim, have raised an insuperable barrier between the dilettante who trifles with music for amusement, and the artist who devotes his life to its cultivation as a god-appointed means of developing the divine in man. at the same time we come upon passages here and there which beethoven would, perhaps, have written otherwise, had his ear, as well as his mind, been sensitive to their effect. it is not posterity that has been the loser by beethoven's deafness; we, at least, ought to appreciate the "precious jewel" which his adversity carried within it, and has handed down to us. his contemporaries, however, had cause to lament, for in a few years it put a stop to all improvising and playing in public. we read, indeed, of a plan for an artistic tour with his pupil ries, when the latter was to make all arrangements for concert-giving, and to play the pianoforte concertos and other works, while beethoven conducted and improvised--but the project never came to maturity. it was, in fact, impossible. beethoven entirely lost the sensitiveness of touch which had once distinguished his playing from that of all contemporaries; and, in his efforts to extract some nourishment for his hungering ear, used to hammer the pianoforte so unmercifully as generally to break several strings. nor could it be obviated by a special instrument constructed for himself, nor by a sound-conductor invented for him by the ingenious graff. a curious feature of his deafness was the gradual manner in which the auricular nerve decayed; he first lost the power of catching the higher notes of singers or instruments, as we have seen, while deep, low sounds were long audible to him; this may account for the prevalence of those deep-lying tones in almost all his later works, especially the second mass and the ninth symphony. as a natural consequence of his affliction, he soon became unable to conduct his own orchestral works. this, however, was no great loss, for he had never possessed either the self-possession or the experience necessary to wield the _bâton_ satisfactorily. knowing thoroughly as he did what every instrument had to say, he listened excitedly for each in detail--without calmly attending to the effect of the whole; at each _crescendo_ he would rise as if about to fly, gesticulating so rapidly and energetically that the members of the orchestra (who had enough to do to follow such new and peculiar music) were often more bewildered than guided by his directions. at the same time be it distinctly understood that, however low the performance might fall beneath his "ideal," however vexatious the mistakes of individual performers might be, he never lost his temper so far as to act in the manner related by ries in his notices, of which the following is a specimen:-- "beethoven was present at the first performance of his fantasia for pianoforte, orchestra, and chorus. the clarinettist, in a passage where the beautiful subject of the finale has already entered, made by mistake a repetition of eight bars. as very few instruments are heard at this point, the error in the execution was torturing to the ear. beethoven rose furiously, turned round, and insulted the musicians in the grossest manner, and so loudly that it was heard by the whole audience. then, resuming his seat, he exclaimed, "from the beginning!" the movement was recommenced, and this time all went well, and the success was brilliant. but when the concert was over, the artists recollected only too well the honourable titles by which beethoven had publicly addressed them; and, as if the matter had but that moment occurred, became excessively angry, and vowed never to play again when beethoven was in the orchestra, &c., &c." that the clarinettist did make a mistake is true, but that beethoven behaved in the outrageous way described was most positively denied by all who were present on the occasion, including the conductor, franz clement. where ries got the story from is difficult to imagine, since he was himself in st. petersburg at the time. on the contrary, the members of the orchestra were all on excellent terms with beethoven, who prized their approval far more than that of the general public; and was wont, when particularly pleased with a performance, to turn round, his face beaming with delight, and exclaim, "bravi, tutti!" but woe betide those who dared to question the effect of the new and somewhat startling combinations which he introduced! ries found this out to his cost. at the unexpected entrance of the horn in the allegro of the eroica, he--as usual, beside his master in the orchestra--exclaimed, "how abominably wrong!" for which outburst he was nearly rewarded by a box on the ear. pianoforte playing, improvisation, and orchestral conducting were given up one after the other--not suddenly, for beethoven was resolved to defy his fate as long as possible,--but henceforth it is with beethoven the composer alone that we have to do. the autumn of saw him so far restored as to be able to commence his great work on napoleon, which, however, on account of many interruptions, was not finished until the year . in he writes thus to his publisher, hofmeister, who had requested him to compose a sonata of a revolutionary tendency:--"are you riding to the devil in a body, gentlemen, that you propose to me to write _such a sonata_? at the time of the revolutionary fever it might have done, but now, when everything is once more in the beaten track, when bonaparte has signed the concordat with the pope--now such a sonata! if it had been a _missa pro sancta maria a tre voci_, or a _vesper_, i would immediately have taken pen in hand and written in ponderous notes a _credo in unum_,--but, good heavens! such a sonata in these fresh, dawning christian times! ho! ho! i'll have nothing to do with it!" and yet at this very time he must have been busy with a work destined to the honour of the great disturber of the peace of europe. the idea for this emanated originally from general bernadotte, the french ambassador at vienna--a great admirer of the composer,--and was in reality warmly entered into by beethoven, who, with his red-hot republicanism and love for plato, was an enthusiastic supporter of the first consul, and imagined nothing less than that it was napoleon's intention to remodel france according to the platonic method, and inaugurate a golden age of universal happiness. with the news of the empire came the destruction of this elysian prospect,--beethoven in a fury tore to pieces the title-page of his symphony on which was written simply,-- "bonaparte. "luigi v. beethoven;" and stamping it under foot, showered a volley of imprecations on the head of the tyrant who had played so false a game. no persuasion could induce him at first to publish the work, but after the lapse of some years this masterpiece of ideal writing was given to the world under the title of "sinfonia eroica per festegiare il sovvenire d'un grand' uomo." great man as napoleon had been in beethoven's estimation, he never could think of him otherwise than with detestation, till the sudden collapse of the napoleonic idea in , and the death of its promoter in , changed his wrath into a kind of grim commiseration, which he showed by remarking that he had "seventeen years before composed the music suited to this catastrophe!" meaning the funeral march in the eroica. this, the first great manifesto of the sovereign of the world of sound, was a wonderful advance on the first two symphonies, produced somewhere about the years - . in these he took up the art where haydn and mozart had left it; but, "though he could dally and tarry awhile with them, he would not remain with them;" his greater earnestness impelled him on to realms unknown to them, to conquest compared with which theirs faded into comparative insignificance. in ferdinand ries left vienna, after having enjoyed beethoven's instruction for five years. he was, in fact, the only one whom beethoven recognised as his pupil (with the exception of the archduke rudolph), and to him he entrusted the playing of his concertos, &c., for the first time, when no longer able to do so himself. the impressions which ries has left in his notices, of beethoven as an instructor, are like his other statements, somewhat contradictory. in one place he declares that during the lessons the master was engaged in composition or some similar work at one end of the room, while he was playing at the other, and that he seldom sat down by him for half an hour at a time. again, he says that beethoven took extraordinary pains with him--sometimes extending the lesson over two hours, and making him repeat ten times--nay, oftener--any passage with which he was not quite satisfied. probably the truth lies between these two extremes. beethoven, who had no settled order in his life, could not be expected to be systematic in tuition; hence the impression of desultoriness left upon the mind of the pupil. a characteristic anecdote of this period is worth quoting. "beethoven," says ries, "had given me the manuscript of his third concerto, that i might appear in public with it for the first time as his pupil; beethoven conducted and turned over the pages for me. i had begged him to compose a cadenza for me, but he directed me to write one myself. he was satisfied with my composition, and altered little; but one brilliant and very difficult passage, which seemed to him too hazardous, i was to change. the easier one did not please me, and i could not make up my mind to play it in public. the critical moment arrived--beethoven had seated himself quietly--but when i boldly attacked the difficult cadence, he gave his chair a violent push. the cadenza, however, succeeded, and beethoven was so delighted that he exclaimed, 'bravo!' which electrified the audience." in beethoven produced his solitary opera, "leonora" (afterwards known as "fidelio"), amid a series of annoyances and vexations such as probably no operatic writer, either before or since, has ever had to contend against. what between troubles arising out of the libretto, the overture, the singers, the critics, and the theatrical cabals, our poor beethoven was well-nigh driven distracted. the story on which the opera is founded (originally taken from the french, and so well known as to require no repetition here) is almost too slight for dramatic purposes, inasmuch as there is but one really powerful situation--that of the grave scene--in the entire piece, and the whole interest, therefore, is concentrated on the one figure, leonora. what beethoven has made out of these slender materials; how he has depicted, in all its intensity and tenderness, that love which he was doomed never to experience, needs no description from us. what was beethoven's object in choosing this theme for his labours? was it a foreshadowing of bliss that might be his? or was it the delineation of a character which, in its earnestness and purity, should be the reverse of that "don juan" of mozart, of which he once said, "the divine art ought never to be lowered to the folly of such a scandalous subject"? the little byplay and domestic "asides" cost our soaring beethoven infinitely more trouble than the most impassioned scenas, and he was obliged to write the little air of marcelline, "o, wär' ich schon mit dir vereint," no less than thrice before he could attain the requisite lightness. the composition of the four "leonora" overtures is without a parallel in musical annals. when beethoven had finished no. , in c major, he consented to its being first tried over by a small orchestra at prince lichnowski's, in the presence of a select number of critics and connoisseurs, by whom it was condemned as being light and almost flimsy in structure, and as affording no clue to the contents of the opera. it was therefore withdrawn, and not published till after the composer's death. but may not the light-heartedness which distinguishes this overture have been intentional on the part of beethoven? may he not have wished to represent his heroine before the shadow of grief had fallen upon her, in the enjoyment of the highest wedded bliss? marx takes this view of "leonora" no. , adducing in support of it the following extract from one of the manuscript books in which beethoven was accustomed to hold intercourse with his friends:-- "aristotle, when he speaks of tragedy, says that the hero ought first to be represented as living in the greatest happiness and splendour. thus we see him in 'egmont.' when he is in the enjoyment of felicity, fate comes and throws a noose over his head from which he is not able to extricate himself. courage and defiance appear upon the scene, and boldly look destiny--aye, and death--in the face. clärchen's fate interests us, like that of gretchen in 'faust,' because she was once so happy. a tragedy which begins as well as continues gloomily, is tedious." "leonora" no. was condemned on account of the predominance of the wind instruments, and no. ultimately, because the stringed instruments had so much to do that precision was out of the question. when, at length, the composer was satisfied with his creation; when the singers (pacified by the friendly intervention of seyfried) had agreed to give the music as it was written; when all difficulties were apparently overcome, the unlucky composer's annoyances reached a climax in the reception accorded to his work by the public. with great want of judgment (purposely to annoy him, as beethoven thought) the opera was produced a few days after the french troops had entered vienna; when all his friends and patrons, including lichnowski, had sought refuge at their country seats till the storm had blown over; and the theatre was filled with french officers and soldiers, an audience utterly incapable of appreciating the master. as might have been anticipated, the work was coldly received, and, after three representations, withdrawn. in it met with the same fate, and not till did this, the grandest work of the german school--a work which has fought its way to every stage in europe, and has been brought home to every heart by a malibran, a schröder-devrient, or a tietjens,--obtain a favourable hearing. during the time the opera was in progress, beethoven (like mozart in producing his "seraglio") suffered keenly from the jealousy of some of his opponents, and his brothers took care that every barb should find its way home to his sensitive mind. even his friend stephan breuning, in his great desire to help the composer, aggravated the evil by the very warmth of his partisanship,--and thus, by constant dwelling upon them, many little slights assumed a disproportionate magnitude, and annoyed our poor beethoven intensely. but enough of darkness and despondency; life now begins, by one of those sudden and apparently inexplicable changes, to wear a rosier hue for the composer. reserving our inquiry into the cause of this, we close this chapter with the beautiful letter to the poet matthison, whose "adelaïde" he had set to music some time previously. "most esteemed friend,--you will receive, together with this, a composition of mine which has already been printed for several years, but of which, to my shame, you perhaps know nothing yet. "i may, perhaps, be able to excuse myself, and to explain why i dedicated anything to you, which came so warmly from my heart, and yet did not make you acquainted with it,--by the plea that, at first, i did not know where you resided, and then my diffidence led me to think that i had been somewhat hasty in dedicating anything to you without knowing if it had your approval. and, indeed, even now i send you the 'adelaïde' with some timidity. you yourself know what changes a few years produce in an artist who is constantly progressing; the more one accomplishes in art, the less is one satisfied with former works. "my most fervent wish will be realized if you are not altogether dissatisfied with the music to your heavenly 'adelaïde,' and if you are incited by it to compose a similar poem soon, and (should my request not seem too bold) to send it to me forthwith, when i shall put forth all my strength to approach your lovely poetry in merit. "consider the dedication as a mark of my esteem and gratitude for the exquisite pleasure which your poetry has always afforded, and will still afford me. "when playing the 'adelaïde,' remember sometimes "your sincere admirer, "beethoven." footnotes: [footnote : surgeon-in-chief to the army.] [footnote : eleanore von breuning.] [footnote : stephan von breuning.] [footnote : probably in the house of baron pasqualati.] [footnote : a painting by füger, director of the vienna academy.] [footnote : christoph breuning.] [footnote : madame von breuning.] [footnote : franz ries, the violinist.] [footnote : ferdinand, afterwards beethoven's pupil.] [footnote : professor of medicine at the académie joséphine, and author of several works.] [footnote : undoubtedly the countess julia guicciardi.] [footnote : the breuning family had long been in possession of one of the most honourable posts in the teutonic order, four members had successively filled the office of chancellor, and stephan himself was afterwards appointed to the government of mergentheim. he was generally esteemed, and died a short time after beethoven.] [footnote : the omission of the name of johann van beethoven from this document is somewhat unaccountable. it may have been caused through beethoven's irritation at his conduct. the original of the promemoria is now in the possession of madame jenny lind-goldschmidt.] [footnote : beethoven was at the time in his thirty-second year; but he never knew precisely his age.] [illustration] [illustration] chapter vii. love. the fourth symphony--julia guicciardi--letters to her--to bettina brentano--beethoven's attachments--domestic troubles--frau nanette streicher--daily life--composing _im freien_. "in love with an ideal, a creature of his own imagination, a child of air, and echo of his heart; and like a lily on a river floating, she floats upon the river of his thoughts." whence comes it that after a storm of darkness and gloom--after the disappointment of his "leonora"--the next offspring of the poet's fancy should be a symphony (no. ), the most delicately finished and bright in colouring which we possess? the mystery is not easily solved. former biographers have at once come to the conclusion that this was the period in which beethoven's love for julia guicciardi, alluded to in a letter to wegeler, had reached its climax. this hypothesis has, however, been put to flight by the discovery of alexander thayer that the lady was married to count gallenberg (afterwards the keeper of the archives of the imperial opera) in --that is, three years before the composition of the work. is the b flat major symphony, after all, as much the exponent of the master passion as is, in another way, the c sharp minor sonata? or is it, with its troubled, gloomy opening, expanding into glorious warmth and sunshine, another evidence of beethoven's resolution to set fate at defiance, and to keep at bay the monster grief which threatened to annihilate him? who can tell? when the traveller, suddenly emerging from some mist-hung mountain gorge, steps out upon the rocky platform, he beholds in the distance, beneath his delighted gaze, a landscape bathed in sunshine; so to the poet's excited fancy there must have been present some bright vision, one of those "loftier spirits, who sported with him and allotted to him nobler tasks," drawing a veil over the troubled past, and pointing him onwards to a glorious future. let the reader take which interpretation he will. we propose briefly to present to him the two sets of letters which show us beethoven in two different aspects as a lover--the first _pur et simple_, the second platonic. nothing is known with certainty of beethoven's "immortal beloved," whose name vibrates throughout the adagio of the moonlight sonata. the letters to her (of date unknown, written from some baths in hungary, whither he had been ordered for his health) breathe the very intensity of passion--a passion at times too deep for words.[ ] "_morning, th july._ "my angel! my all! my second self! "only a few words to-day, written with a pencil (with thine). my residence will not be definitely fixed before to-morrow. what a ruinous waste of time!--why this deep sorrow where necessity speaks? can our love exist otherwise than by sacrifices, than by our not expecting everything? canst thou alter the fact that thou art not wholly mine, that i am not wholly thine?--alas! look into the beauties of nature, and calm thy mind for what must be endured. love demands all, and with perfect right, and thus _i feel towards thee_ and _thou towards me_, only thou forgettest so easily that i have to live _for myself_ and _for thee_,--were we perfectly united, thou wouldst feel this trial as little as i do. "my journey was terrible. i only arrived yesterday at four o'clock in the morning, owing to the want of horses. the driver chose another route, but what a fearful one! at the last station they warned me not to travel by night, and tried to terrify me by a forest, but this only stimulated me, though i was wrong. the carriage broke down on that dreadful road, a mere rough, unmade country lane, and had not my postillions been what they were, i should have been obliged to remain there by the wayside. "esterhazy, on the usual route, had the same fate with eight horses that i had with four, and yet i felt a certain degree of pleasure, as i always do when i overcome anything happily.--now, in haste, from the outer to the inner man! we shall probably soon see each other again. i cannot communicate to thee to-day the reflections i have been making, during the last few days, on my life--were our hearts ever near to one another, i should make none such. my heart is full of much that i have to say to thee. ah! there are moments in which i feel that language is absolutely nothing. take courage! continue to be my true, my only treasure, my all, as i am thine. the gods must send the rest--that which is ordained to be, and shall be for us. "thy faithful "ludwig." "_monday evening, th july._ "thou grievest--thou--the dearest of all beings!--i have just learned that the letters must be sent off very early. mondays and thursdays are the only days on which the post goes to k---.--thou grievest! ah! where i am, there thou art with me--with our united efforts i shall attain my object--i shall pass my life with thee--what a life!!! whereas now!!! without thee--persecuted at times by the kindness of others, a kindness which i neither deserve nor wish to deserve. servility from man to his fellow-creature pains me; and, when i consider myself in relation to the universe, what am i? what is he who is called the greatest? and yet even here is displayed the divine in man!--i weep when i think that thou wilt probably receive no tidings of me before saturday. however much thou mayest love me, i love thee more fervently still--never hide thy feelings from me.--good night! as a patient here i must now go to rest. ah, god! so near!--so far apart! is not our love a true celestial mansion, enduring as the vault of heaven itself!" "_ th july._ "good morning! "even before i rise my thoughts throng to thee, my immortal beloved, at times with joy, then again mournfully, waiting to hear if fate be favourable to us. i can only live entirely with thee, or not at all. yes! i am resolved to wander apart from thee until the moment shall arrive when i may fly into thine arms, may feel my home in thee, and send my soul encompassed by thine into the world of spirits. yes, alas! it must be so! thou wilt be prepared, for thou knowest my faithfulness. never can another possess my heart; never, never. oh god! why must i fly from what is so dear to me?--and yet my life in v---- is, as at present, a sorrowful one. thy love made me at once the happiest and the most miserable of men. at my age i require a uniformity, an evenness of life; and can this be possible in our relations?--angel! i have just heard that the post goes out every day; and must stop that thou mayest receive this letter soon.--be calm; only by calmly viewing our existence can we attain our aim of passing our lives together. be calm; love me--to-day--yesterday--what longing, what tears for thee--for thee--for thee--my life! my all! farewell! oh! continue to love me--never misjudge the faithful heart of thy lover. l. "ever thine, "ever mine, "ever each other's." it was indeed the case that no other love ever did "possess his heart" in the same way. this was, if not his first, at least his only _real_ love. such letters as these beethoven wrote to no one else; the contrast between them and the three following (addressed to bettina brentano, afterwards madame von arnim) will be at once apparent:-- "_vienna, august , ._ "dearest friend,--never has there been a more beautiful spring than this year; i say so, and feel it too, because in it i first made your acquaintance. you have yourself seen that in society i am like a fish on the sand, which writhes, and writhes, and cannot get off until some benevolent galatea throws it back into the mighty ocean. i was, indeed, quite out of my element, dearest friend, and was surprised by you at a time when discouragement had completely mastered me--but how quickly it vanished at your glance! i knew at once that you must be from some other sphere than this absurd world, in which, with the best will, one cannot open one's ears. i am a miserable being, and yet i complain of others!!--but you will forgive me for this with that good heart which looks out of your eyes, and that intelligence which is hidden in your ears,--at least they know how to flatter by the way in which they listen. "my ears are, alas! a partition wall through which i cannot easily have any friendly intercourse with men. otherwise!--perhaps!--i should have felt more assured with you; but i could only understand the full, intelligent glance of your eyes, which has so taken hold of me, that i shall never forget it. dear friend, dearest girl!--art! who understands her? with whom can i discuss this great goddess?... how dear to me are the few days in which we chatted together, or, i should say, rather corresponded! i have preserved all the little notes with your witty, charming, most charming answers, and so i have to thank my defective hearing that the best part of those hasty conversations is written down. since you left i have had vexatious hours--hours of shadow in which i can do nothing. i wandered in the schönbrunn allée for about three hours after you left, but no angel met me who could have taken possession of me as you did, _my angel_. "pardon, dearest friend, this deviation from the original key, but such intervals i must have as a relief to my heart. so you have written about me to goethe, have you not? i could bury my head in a sack, so that i might not hear or see anything of all that is going on in the world, because i shall not meet you again, dearest angel, but i shall receive a letter from you soon. hope sustains me, as she does half the world; through all my life she has been my companion. what would otherwise have become of me?--i send you 'kennst du das land,' written with my own hand, as a remembrance of the hour in which i first knew you. i send you also another, which i have composed since i took leave of you; my dearest _herz_!" herz, mein herz, was soll das geben, was bedränget dich so sehr; welch ein neues, fremdes leben, ich erkenne dich nicht mehr. "answer me at once, dearest friend; write and tell me what is to become of me since my heart has turned such a rebel. write to your most faithful friend, "beethoven." "_vienna, th february, ._ "dear, beloved friend,--i have already had two letters from you, and see from those to tonie that you still remember me, and even too kindly. your first letter i carried about with me the whole summer, and it has often made me very happy. although i do not write to you frequently, and you see nothing at all of me, yet in thought i write you a thousand times a thousand letters. how you must feel in berlin amongst all the frivolous, worldly rabble, i could imagine, even though you had not written it to me yourself,--mere prating about art without any results!! the best description of this is to be found in schiller's poem, 'the river,' in which the spree speaks.--you are about to be married, dear friend, or are so already, and i have not been able to see you even once previously. may all the felicity with which marriage blesses those who enter into her bonds be poured upon you and your husband! what shall i say to you about myself? i can only exclaim with johanna, 'compassionate my fate!' if i am but spared for a few years longer, i will thank him who embraces all within himself--the most high--for this as well as for all other weal and woe.--if you should mention me when writing to goethe, strive to find all those words which can express to him my deepest reverence and admiration. i am just about to write to him myself regarding 'egmont,' to which i have composed the music, solely out of love for his poetry, which always makes me happy;--but who can sufficiently thank a poet, the most precious jewel of a nation! now no more, my dear, good friend. i only returned this morning from a _bacchanale_ where i laughed too heartily, only to weep nearly as much to-day; boisterous joy often drives me violently back upon myself. as to clemens, many thanks for his courtesy; with regard to the cantata, the subject is not important enough for us, it is very different in berlin. as for my affection, the sister has so large a share of it that not much is left for the brother--will he be content with this? now farewell, dear, dear friend. i imprint a sorrowful kiss upon your forehead, thus impressing, as with a seal, all my thoughts upon it. write soon, soon, often, to your brother, "beethoven." "_toeplitz, th august, ._ "my most dear, kind friend,--kings and princes may indeed be able to create professors and privy councillors, and to bestow titles and decorations, but great men they cannot make. spirits that tower above the common herd, these they cannot pretend to make, and therefore they are forced to respect them. when two men like goethe and myself come together, these grandees must perceive what is accounted great by such as we. "on our way home yesterday we met the whole imperial family; we saw them coming in the distance, when goethe immediately dropped my arm to place himself on one side; and say what i would, i could not get him to advance another step. i pressed my hat down upon my head, buttoned up my great-coat, and made my way with folded arms through the thickest of the throng. princes and courtiers formed a line, duke rudolph took off his hat, the empress made the first salutation. the great ones of the earth _know me_! to my infinite amusement, i saw the procession file past goethe, who stood by the side, hat in hand, bending low. i took him to task for it pretty smartly, gave him no quarter, and reproached him with all his sins, especially those against you, dearest friend, for we had just been speaking about you. heavens! had i been granted a time with you such as _he_ had, i should have produced many more great works! a musician is also a poet, and can feel himself transported by a pair of eyes into a more beautiful world, where nobler spirits sport with him, and impose great tasks upon him. what ideas rushed into my mind when i first saw you in the little observatory during that glorious may shower, which proved so fertilizing to me also! the loveliest themes stole from your glances into my heart,--themes which shall enchant the world when beethoven can no longer direct. if god grant me a few years more, i must see you again, my dearest friend; the voice which ever upholds the right within me demands it. spirits can also love one another; i shall ever woo yours; your applause is dearer to me than aught else in the world. i told goethe my opinion of the effect of applause upon men like us--we must be heard with intelligence by our peers; emotion is very well for women (pardon me), but music ought to strike fire from the souls of men. ah! dearest child, how long is it since we were both so perfectly agreed upon all points! there is no real good but the possession of a pure, good soul, which we perceive in everything, and before which we have no need to dissemble. _we must be something if we would appear something._ the world must recognise us, it is not always unjust; but this is a light matter to me, for i have a loftier aim. "in vienna i hope for a letter from you; write soon, soon and fully; in eight days i shall be there. the court goes to-morrow; to-day they are to play once more. goethe has taught the empress her _rôle_. his duke and he wished me to play some of my own music, but i refused them both, for they are both in love with chinese porcelain. a little indulgence is necessary, for understanding seems to have lost the upper hand; but i will not play for such perverse tastes, neither do i choose to be a party to the follies of princes who are for ever committing some such absurdity. adieu, adieu, dear love; your last letter lay for a whole night next to my heart, and cheered me there. musicians allow themselves everything. heavens! how i love you! "your most faithful friend and deaf brother, "beethoven." these letters were first published in bettina's book, "ilius pamphilius und die ambrosia," but the style is so unlike beethoven's simple mode of expression, that it is difficult to discover what the composer really wrote to bettina, and what has been supplied by the latter's rather too vivid imagination. the reiterated _dear_, _dearest_, and the _write soon_, _soon_, _often_, are very feminine and very _un-beethovenish_. this strange, inexplicable little being, who fascinated not only beethoven, but every one else with whom she came in contact, has also published an account of her interviews with beethoven. this is so highly coloured that we may be excused for doubting the perfect truth of the recital, especially as we know what a gloss--nay, what falseness--she contrived to give to all that related to her intercourse with goethe. she herself tells us, naïvely enough, that when she showed beethoven one morning her account of what he had said the previous day, he was quite surprised, and exclaimed, "did i really say that? i must have had a _raptus_!" bettina was, however, of some service to him, as it was doubtless she who paved the way to his acquaintance with goethe, and their meeting in at toeplitz; and her family remained true, warm friends of the composer long after the great minister had forgotten his very existence. beethoven was most unfortunate in his attachments, the objects of which were always of much higher social standing than himself. constantly associating with people of rank and culture, it was natural that to the sensitive nature of our poet, the young girl nobly born, with all the intuitive, nameless fascinations of the high-bred aristocrat, should present a great contrast to the plebeian, every-day graces of the _bourgeoise_. beethoven used to say that he had found more real appreciation of his works amongst the nobility than in any other circle, and we can hardly wonder at the infatuation with which he stakes all his chances of happiness on a love which he knows can never be gratified. the following little scrap in his handwriting has been preserved:--"only love--yes, only that--has power to give me a happier life. oh, god! let me at length find her--her who destined to be mine, who shall strengthen me in virtue!" schindler imagines that these words have reference to a well-known dilettante of great talent, fräulein marie pachler, whom beethoven admired exceedingly. he never summoned up courage enough to propose to her however, and she afterwards married an advocate in gratz. this lady may also be the subject of the allusion in a letter to ries, :--"say all that is kind from me to your wife; i, alas! have none. i found only one with whom i could have been happy, and she will probably never be mine. but i am not on this account a woman-hater!" another love of beethoven's was the countess marie erdödy, to whom he dedicated the two splendid trios, op. , but this seems to have been entirely a platonic affection. who can exaggerate the immense benefit that a loving, tender wife would have been to beethoven--a wife like mozart's constance? the consciousness of one ever by his side to whom he might safely confide all that wounded or annoyed him, would have more than neutralized the chilling, exasperating effects of the calamity that had overtaken him, would have been a fresh impetus to great achievements. but fate had willed it otherwise. in nothing was the want of a wife so apparent as in beethoven's domestic _ménage_, which certainly was the _non plus ultra_ of discomfort. one great cause of this was his habit of frequently changing his abode. he had long since left the lichnowski palace, his infirmity rendering it desirable that he should have a home of his own, but he was extremely difficult to please in the choice of a residence. one house he would leave because the sun did not shine into his apartment; another because the supply of water was deficient (a serious drawback to him, as he was accustomed to lave his head and face profusely while composing), and for even less cogent reasons he would pack up and leave at an hour's notice, so that it soon became a difficult matter to find a suitable abode for him. it may easily be imagined that this constant removal was not effected without considerable outlay, and so badly did he manage that at one time he had no less than four houses on his hands. when all other resources failed, he would take refuge in the fourth story of his friend baron pasqualati's house, which was constantly reserved for him. the summer he always spent in the country, generally in a hired lodging. on one occasion a suite of apartments in the villa of baron pronay had been placed at his disposal, and as the house stood in the midst of a superb park, it was thought that beethoven would be fully satisfied. in a few days, however, the bird had flown, alleging as his reason that he could not endure to listen to the ceremonious salutation with which his host accosted him every morning in his ramble--much less to return it! oulibischeff's amusing description of our composer's surroundings is worth repeating:-- "in his room reigned a confusion, an organized chaos, such as can hardly be imagined. books and music lay on every article of furniture, or were heaped up like pyramids in the four corners. a multitude of letters which he had received during the week or the month covered the floor like a white carpet with red spots. on the window-sill were displayed the remains of a succulent breakfast, by the side or on the top of proof sheets awaiting correction. there a row of bottles, partly sealed, partly empty; further on an _escritoire_, and on it the sketch of a quartet; on the pianoforte a flying sheet of note-paper with the embryo of a symphony; while to bring so many directly opposite things into harmony, everything was united by a thick layer of dust. "it may easily be imagined that amidst such a _well-arranged whole_, the artist had often no small trouble to find what he required. he used to complain bitterly about this, and always put the blame on other people's shoulders, for he fancied that he was extremely systematic in the way in which he kept his things, and used to declare that in the darkest night he could find even a pin belonging to him, if people 'would but put things back in their proper places'! "on one occasion an important paper was missing--neither a sketch nor a loose sheet, but a thick, clearly copied score from the mass in d. at last it was found; but where, think you? in the kitchen, where it had been used to wrap up eatables! more than one _donnerwetter_! and more than one bad egg must have flown at the head of the devoted cook, when this was discovered; for beethoven liked fresh eggs too well to use them as missiles.... once, when he had dismissed his housekeeper, a very good orderly person (and soon received into favour again), he resolved to make himself independent, and to keep no more servants, since they only 'worked mischief in the house.' and why should he not wait upon himself, and look after the kitchen himself? could it be more difficult to prepare a dinner than to compose a c minor symphony? charmed with this glorious idea, beethoven hastens to put it into execution. he invites some friends to dinner, buys the necessary provisions in the market, and carries them home himself; ties on the business-like white apron; adjusts the indispensable nightcap on his head; grasps the cook's knife, and sets to work. the guests arrive, and find him before the fire, whose scorching flame seems to act like the fire of inspiration upon him. the patience of the viennese appetites was put to an unwonted trial. at length the dishes were placed on the table, and the host proved that it was worth while waiting for him. the soup might have challenged the _soupe maigre_ given in charity; the boiled meat, scarcely cooked, presupposed in individuals of the human race the digestion of an ostrich; the vegetables swam in a sea of fat and water; the roast meat, splendidly burned to a cinder, looked as though it had found its way down the chimney; in short, nothing was fit to eat. and nobody did eat anything except the host, who by word and example encouraged his guests to fall to. in vain; beethoven's _chefs-d'oeuvre_ of cookery were not appreciated, and the guests made their dinner on bread, fruit, and sweetmeats, adding plenty of wine to prevent any bad effects from their enforced abstinence. this remarkable feast convinced even the great maestro that composing and cooking are two very different things, and the unjustly deposed cook was speedily re-established in her rights." it was very fortunate for beethoven that after some years passed in this erratic way, a sensible lady-friend at length came to the rescue, and by her feminine tact and adroitness, succeeded in persuading him to abandon his nomadic habits to some extent, and to mingle a little more in society. this was frau nanette streicher, the amiable wife of the celebrated instrument maker, and early friend of schiller. she began by putting the wardrobe of the composer to rights (as might be imagined, it was in a deplorable plight), and afterwards, in conjunction with her husband, hired a respectable house for beethoven, furnished it suitably, and engaged a man (a tailor by trade) and his wife to wait upon him. in this quiet haven our tempest-tossed beethoven came to anchor for a while, and might have been seen busy over his pianoforte, or among his papers, while his cross-legged knight of the goose stitched away comfortably in the adjoining anteroom. when fairly domiciled, beethoven's mode of life was very regular. his habit was to rise every morning, winter and summer, at daybreak, when he at once proceeded to his desk, where he wrote till about two o'clock without any interruption, except the necessary interval for breakfast, and--if his ideas did not flow rapidly enough--an occasional run of half an hour or longer into the open air. between two and three he dined, after which it was his invariable custom to make the circuit of the town twice or three times; and no weather could keep him within doors--summer heat or winter frost, thunder, hail, rain, sleet,--nothing prevented this afternoon ramble. it was, in fact, his time for composition; he never ventured out without his note-book to preserve any fugitive thoughts that might flit across his mind, and used laughingly to apply to himself johanna's words, "i dare not come without my banner!" necessarily, therefore, he was a very silent companion, but in _one_ sense only, as the whole way he continued humming (or rather growling) in a manner peculiar to himself any thema on which he was mentally at work. ries relates that on one occasion when they were walking together, beethoven suddenly exclaimed, "a theme has occurred to me!" they hurried onwards in silence, and on arriving at home the master went at once to the pianoforte (without even removing his hat), where he thundered like an inspired giant for more than an hour, during which the beautiful finale to the sonata op. (in f major) struggled into existence. beethoven generally returned from his promenade only when warned by the shadows that evening was coming on; then alone in the darkening twilight he loved to breathe to his best, his only friend, his _clavier_,[ ] the thoughts which met with no response in human sympathy. during the evening he very seldom worked, but would smoke his pipe, and play occasionally on his viola or violin, both of which must always be placed ready for him on the pianoforte. our poor deaf beethoven had, too, his little coterie of sincere and attached friends, among whom his real nature could show itself without restraint or distrust, and who clung to him through life in spite of the unceasing efforts of the two brothers to dislodge them. these were--naturally prince lichnowski and his brother count moritz, who cherished a love and admiration for beethoven which the latter warmly reciprocated, dedicating to the count his variations, op. , and the beautiful idyl, op. . to these must be added the worthy baron von zmeskall, a hungarian state secretary, to whom the composer addressed many a humorous epistle; his old friend stephan breuning; the baron von gleichenstein; his secretary schindler; and last, but not least, franz, count von brunswick, to whom he dedicated the sonata appassionata, and who had more influence over him than anybody else. one proceeding beethoven never omitted, viz., the reading of the evening paper. in these stirring times the newspaper was an absolute necessity, and our musician would never retire to rest without previously ascertaining the state of the political horizon. he used to frequent a coffee-house which boasted another means of exit besides the general one, and taking up his position in the background, he would steadily peruse the _gazette_ (not a very long task in those days, when "our own" correspondents were as yet undreamt of), and as soon as the last word of the last page had been scanned, beat a hasty retreat through the private door, and wend his solitary way homewards. ten o'clock rarely found him out of bed. such was his simple, innocent day! it was no mere phrase, that declaration of his, "_i live only in my art_,"--it was indeed the one connecting link between him and others. what he produced in suffering and loneliness stirred, like a mighty wind among the forest branches, the noblest feelings of a thousand hearts, bidding them grapple with destiny as he had done, and prove themselves _men_ and heroes! footnotes: [footnote : in translating these letters we have thought it best to keep to the original pronoun,--the simple _thou_ being more suited to beethoven's ideal love than the coarser _you_.] [footnote : beethoven could not endure the foreign word _pianoforte_.] [illustration] [illustration] chapter viii. victory and shadow. period of greatest intellectual activity--hummel--the battle of vittoria--congress of vienna--maelzel--pecuniary difficulties--adoption of nephew--the philharmonic society--the classical and romantic schools--the ninth symphony--his nephew's conduct--last illness. the period between the years and may be considered that of beethoven's greatest creative energy. it is almost impossible to keep pace with the stream of colossal works which flowed without intermission from his pen. to this period belong the g major and e flat pianoforte concertos, without exception the most poetical and the noblest compositions of the kind which we possess; the fantasia for pianoforte, orchestra, and chorus; the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth symphonies; the "calm sea and prosperous voyage" on goethe's short but suggestive poem, "_tiefe stille herrscht im wasser_; _ohne regung ruht das meer_;" the first mass; the music to "egmont;" the overtures to collin's tragedy of "coriolanus," and to "king stephen," and the "ruins of athens,"--each of which, from its intellectual grasp of subject, wonderful ideality, and highly finished detail, would merit a volume to itself. nor do these titanic orchestral productions occupy the whole of his attention. they are accompanied by a mass of works for the pianoforte, which, if in one sense slighter than those we have named, yet, in another, stand equally high; the soliloquies and dialogues (if we may be allowed the expression) contained in the pianoforte sonatas breathe thoughts as noble and as deep as those expressed by the more varied _dramatis personæ_ of the orchestra or the quartets. truly, a perfect acquaintance with beethoven would claim the devotion of the highest powers, and the study of a lifetime. any attempt, however, to depict these great works briefly in words would be futile, and we therefore pass on to the consideration of the poet's outer life. this was almost monotonous--certainly not varied. beethoven, as we have seen, lived wholly in his art, and the changes which occurred, most momentous to him, were not those of outward circumstance, but of inner, intellectual development. in the year he was offered the post of kapellmeister to the king of westphalia, with a salary of six hundred ducats; and this, his great desire of possessing a fixed income made him ready to accept; although he would certainly have been miserable in such a position, as jerome was not the man to understand either him or his works. happily, this ordeal was spared him. it was thought derogatory to the dignity of austria that her greatest composer, the one of whom she had most reason to be proud, should be allowed through pecuniary considerations to quit her bounds; and as the emperor would do nothing for beethoven (his abhorrence of etiquette and well-known republican sentiments having prevented his ever getting into favour at court), an agreement was ultimately entered into by the archduke rudolph (beethoven's pupil, afterwards archbishop of olmütz) and the princes lobkowitz and kinsky, to pay the composer annually the sum of four thousand guldens, on condition of his continuing to reside in vienna. in two years' time this was reduced one-fifth, owing to changes in the austrian finance, and subsequently it dwindled down to a mere nothing, from the death and bankruptcy of two of the contracting parties--but beethoven could get no redress, although he religiously fulfilled his part of the compact. in drawing the money from the executors of prince kinsky he was obliged always to send in a proof that he was still in existence. this annoyed him excessively, and he generally had the affair transacted for him by a friend, which on one occasion produced the following laconic voucher to schindler:-- "certificate of life.--the fish lives! _vidi_ pastor romualdus,"--an allusion to his eccentric use of water when composing. in this year also occurred the bombardment of vienna, out of which ries has contrived to bring forward an implied accusation of cowardice against the composer, in his statement that beethoven hid himself in a cellar, burying his head among cushions that he might not hear the firing. the explanation of this lies on the surface; if he did take refuge underground it was only what every other inhabitant of the city, whose duty did not call him elsewhere, was doing; and as for the cushions--the vibration of the cannonade heard in that vault must have been agony to his diseased nerve. had beethoven really been alarmed he might easily have quitted vienna. cowardice in any form is the last vice that could be attributed to him; resolute and firm, he feared no danger. in the mass in c was performed for the first time at eisenstadt, the residence of prince esterhazy, the grandson of haydn's patron, in whose service hummel was at the time as kapellmeister. esterhazy, accustomed only to the simple services and masses of the haydn-mozart school, did not know what to make of a production so totally different. accordingly, at the _déjeuner_ afterwards given in the palace to the artists and dilettanti who had assembled for the occasion, he said, with a smile, to our composer, "now, dear beethoven, what is this that you have been about again?" the susceptible musician, not a little irritated at hearing his work so lightly spoken of, glanced towards hummel, who happened to be standing by the prince's side, wearing a peculiar smile, which seemed to beethoven full of malicious pleasure. this was too much--the opinion of a fashionable worldling like esterhazy was nothing to beethoven, but that a brother in art should so misunderstand him--should rejoice at an apparent failure!--he rose abruptly, and quitted the palace. such is the correct account of the rupture between beethoven and hummel, which lasted until a few days before the death of the former, when hummel, hearing of his precarious state, hastened to vienna to effect a reconciliation before it was too late.[ ] another version of the story is that the two composers were rivals for the hand of the same lady, and that hummel, owing to beethoven's deafness and his own better position as kapellmeister, was the favoured suitor! the practice of tracing every event in our composer's life to a love affair is just as ridiculous as the opposite extreme of denying his capability for the tender passion. a more interesting incident in connection with the first mass is that related by schindler of the effect produced upon beethoven by the reading of the german text composed for it by some poet, who, though unknown to fame, seems to have translated the master's thoughts from the language of tones into that of words, with power and truth. when beethoven came to the "_qui tollis_" his eyes overflowed with tears (the first and last time that he was ever seen so affected) as he exclaimed, "thus i felt while composing this!" the tide of beethoven's earthly renown and glory, which had been slowly rising for years, reached its height in - . in the former year took place the two celebrated concerts on behalf of the austrian and bavarian soldiers wounded in the battle of hanau, when the seventh symphony, and "wellington's victory, or the battle of vittoria," were performed for the first time. we can easily imagine, from the sensation excited even now by the latter work, how intense must have been the enthusiasm which greeted its performance at a time when popular feeling was strung up to the highest pitch. beethoven himself directed, regulating the movements of his bâton by those of schuppanzigh's bow. in a notice of the concert written by himself he says: "it was an unprecedented assembly of distinguished artists, every one of whom was inspired by the desire of accomplishing something by his art for the benefit of the fatherland; and all worked together unanimously, accepting of subordinate places without regard to precedence, that a splendid _ensemble_ might be attained.... my part was the direction of the whole, but only because the music happened to be of my composition. had it been otherwise, i would have stationed myself as readily at the great drum, like herr hummel; for our only motives were love to the fatherland, and the joyful devotion of our powers to serve those who had sacrificed so much for us." in occurred the great congress, when vienna was for a season the abode of kings, princes, and delegates from every court in europe, and the glittering capital was well-nigh intoxicated by its own magnificence. the magistrates of the city invited beethoven to compose a cantata for the occasion, which produced the "glorreiche augenblick," perhaps the composer's most neglected work, and deservedly so, as it is not worthy of him. it won for him, however, the presentation of the freedom of the city, the only distinction which beethoven valued. nor was this his only triumph. his genius began to be universally recognised; he was created an honorary member of academies and societies in london, paris, stockholm, and amsterdam; and the philharmonic society in london presented him with a superb grand pianoforte of broadwood's manufacture. in short, from every nation in europe, and even from america, he received striking proofs of the love and admiration in which he was held. stimulated by these manifestations, excited by the splendour around him, and the stirring, momentous events which were taking place, beethoven was induced to depart for the time from his usual solitary habits, and to mingle for a few weeks in society. in the apartments of prince rasoumowski, the well-known russian dilettante, he was introduced to many of the illustrious visitors, and long retained a lively recollection, half comical, half gratified, of the manner in which he had been idolized;--how the grand seigneurs had paid court to him, and how admirably he had played his part in receiving their homage! he was most deeply affected by his interview with the gentle empress elizabeth of russia, with whom he conversed in his customary frank, open way, completely setting aside all etiquette; while she, on her part, expressed the highest veneration for the composer, and at her departure left him a gift of two hundred ducats, which he acknowledged after his own fashion by dedicating to her his brilliant polonaise, op. . this was the only substantial result to our poverty-stricken beethoven of the attachment professed by the whole of the gay throng! the bright episode of the congress, with its fêtes and triumphs, soon flitted past, bringing out in sterner and darker contrast the days which followed. beethoven had dedicated his "battle of vittoria" to the prince regent of england (george iv.), but to his great chagrin, no notice was taken of it. he alludes to this in a letter to ries, and referring to the prince's well-known character of _gourmand_, says, "he might at least have sent me a butcher's knife or a turtle!" another vexation in connection with the symphony, causing him infinite annoyance, arose out of the despicable conduct of maelzel, afterwards the inventor of the metronome. in the year he had made the acquaintance of the latter, who had promised to construct for him a sound-conductor, in return for which beethoven composed a kind of warlike piece for the mechanician's new instrument, the panharmonica, which he was on the point of taking to england for exhibition. the effect of beethoven's work was so marvellous, that maelzel urged him to arrange it for the orchestra, and the result was--the "battle of vittoria." maelzel meanwhile went on constructing four machines, only one of which was found available, and beethoven, without the slightest suspicion of any underhand dealing, allowed him to take the entire management of the concerts for the relief of the wounded. in his hermit life he did not hear much of what was going on around him, and his consternation may therefore be imagined when informed that his false friend was announcing the symphony everywhere as his own property, stating that it had been given to him by beethoven in return for his machine, and the sum of four hundred guldens which he professed to have lent him! he had actually contrived to have many of the orchestral parts copied out, and those that were wanting supplied by some low musician, and with this mutilated work he was on his way to england. the matter was at once placed in the hands of the law; but it was long before beethoven recovered from the effects of this fraud; it made him, in fact, suspicious ever after towards copyists. the loan of four hundred guldens proved to have been _fifty_, which beethoven accepted from him at a time when, as he states in his instructions to his lawyers, he was "in dire necessity; _deserted by every one in vienna_." this maelzel had the impudence subsequently to write to beethoven, requesting his patronage for the metronome, and pretending that he was busily engaged in preparing a sound-conductor which would enable the master to direct in the orchestra. the latter never made its appearance, but beethoven, who at first approved of the metronome, did all in his power to have it introduced. afterwards, when he saw the confusion of _tempo_ which it had occasioned, he used to say, "don't let us have any metronome! he that has true feeling will not require it, and for him who has none, it will not be of any use." this affair with maelzel gives us a glimpse into the pecuniary difficulties which harassed beethoven throughout his life, assuming greater prominence towards the end. he was always in want of money, and yet (according to the notions of the times) he was handsomely paid for his compositions. what, then, was the cause of it? were his means swallowed up by his frequent removals? did the perplexity arise simply from his unbusiness-like habits? to these questions we must add a third, which may, perhaps, afford a clue to the mystery,--what became of the valuable presents, the watches, rings, breast-pins, snuff-boxes, &c., &c., of which beethoven had received so many? when asked where such a gift was, he would look bewildered, and say after a moment's reflection, "i really don't know!" the matter would then pass entirely from his thoughts; but there were those about him who were not equally indifferent! in the cloud which for two years had been threatening, burst upon him in those troubles and sorrows which encompassed him until the end. he lost his old friend and staunch supporter, prince lichnowski, and, a few months after, his brother carl, who in dying bequeathed to him as a legacy the care of his only child. it seemed as if the annoyance which this man had caused our beethoven in his life were to be perpetuated and continually renewed in the person of his son. not so, however, did the master regard the fresh call upon him. after having done all that kindness could suggest, or money procure, to relieve his brother's sufferings and cheer his last days, he took home the orphan child to his heart with a love and tenderness that could not have been greater had the boy been his own. his first step was to remove him from the care of his mother, a woman of lax morals and low habits. in this beethoven was actuated by the purest and best motives; but, unfortunately, his zeal went too far. he forgot that the fact of his sister-in-law's having been a bad wife did not necessarily imply that she had lost a mother's heart; and in insisting upon the total separation between the two, he roused all the bitterest feelings of a woman's nature, and prepared much sorrow for himself. the "queen of night," as he nicknamed her, sought redress through the law, and for four years a suit for the possession of the lad was pending. in his appeal beethoven thus nobly expresses the sentiments which dictated his conduct:--"my wishes and efforts have no other aim than that of giving the best possible education to the boy, his talents justifying the greatest expectations; and of fulfilling the trust reposed in my brotherly love by his father. the stem is now pliable; but if it be for a time neglected, it will become crooked, and outgrow the gardener's training hand; and upright bearing, knowledge, and character will be irretrievably lost. i know of no duty more sacred than that of the training and education of a child. the duty of a guardian can only consist in the appreciation of what is good, and the adoption of a right course; and only then does he consult the welfare of his ward; whereas in obstructing the good he neglects his duty." misled by the prefix _van_, his advocate unfortunately carried the case to the aristocratic court; and, as it went on, beethoven was called upon to show his right to this proceeding. pointing with eloquent emphasis to his head and heart, the composer declared that in these lay his nobility; but, however true in the abstract, the law could not admit this plea, and after a decision had been given in his favour, the case had to be re-tried before the ordinary civil court. this occurrence wounded beethoven more than can be described; he felt his honour tarnished as a man and as an artist, and for several months no persuasion could induce him to show himself in public. in addition to this, the evidence necessarily brought forward to strengthen his plea revealed only too plainly the loose life of his sister-in-law, and such an _exposé_ of one so nearly related to himself was, for his pure and reserved nature, the height of misery. the civil court reversed the decision of the aristocratic, and the boy was given over to his mother; while beethoven, determined to gain his end, brought the case before the high court of appeal, where he was finally successful. let the reader imagine the effect of all this painful publicity, following upon the annoyances with maelzel, to a mind constituted like beethoven's. no stylites on his pillar could have suffered more than did our composer in his loneliness until the cause was gained. and what return did he meet with from the object of his solicitude?--the basest ingratitude. about this time he began seriously to think of visiting london; the philharmonic society made him the most handsome offers; and his own inclinations prompted him to quit vienna. he had at all times cherished the greatest love and admiration for england and the english nation, our free institutions harmonizing with his political views; and a commission coming from this quarter was always welcome to him, not only on account of the unwonted _honoraire_ which usually accompanied it, but also because of the high esteem in which he held the english as artists and appreciators of art. during the latter years of his life, therefore, this visit to london was his favourite scheme, and he intended _en route_ to pass through the rhine provinces, that he might once more see the home and the friends of his boyhood;--but it was destined never to take place. the four years of the lawsuit were almost barren of creative result, but in the winter of - he began his mass in d. this colossal work, written more for future generations than for us, was originally intended for the installation of the archduke rudolph as archbishop of olmütz; but as the work went on, our composer grew more and more in love with his task, which gradually assumed such proportions that it was not completed till --two years after the event it was meant to celebrate! a copy of the mass, which beethoven regarded as his most successful effort, was offered to every court in europe for the sum of fifty ducats. it was, however, accepted only by france, prussia, saxony, russia, and by prince radziwill, governor of posen, and a musical society in frankfort. the king of prussia sent to inquire, through his ambassador, if the master would not prefer a decoration to the fifty ducats. beethoven's answer was prompt--"fifty ducats!" if his work were worthy of a decoration, why not have given it in addition to the paltry sum asked for it? louis xviii. acted differently; he sent the composer a valuable gold medal, on one side of which was his bust, and on the reverse the inscription, "_donné, par le roi, à m. beethoven_." an application of beethoven's to goethe requesting him to draw the attention of karl august to the mass met with no answer, although goethe might have been able, at very trifling inconvenience to himself, to render material assistance to the master. his self-love had probably not recovered from the shock it had received during a walk with beethoven on the bastei at vienna, when, struck by the profound respect and deference manifested by every one whom they encountered, goethe exclaimed, "i really had no idea that i was so well known here!" "oh!" replies our brusque composer, "the people are bowing to me, not to you!" this was in reality the case, for the circumstance occurred in beethoven's palmy days, when he was, as marx observes, a "universally beloved and popular character, a part of vienna itself." the circumstance which more than any other casts a gloom over the master's last days is, that he was doomed (apparently) to outlive his fame, and to have the inexpressible mortification of witnessing that rupture in the musical world which has lasted down to our days, and will probably never be healed, viz., the separation of the classical from the so-called romantic school. hitherto, the followers of art had been united; naturally, individual tastes and predilections had occasionally predominated--some admiring one master and some another,--but on the whole, the lovers of music had been unanimous in their adherence to the pure and good. with the appearance of rossini (that clever scene-painter, as beethoven called him), this state of affairs underwent a complete revolution. his gay, light-hearted melodies, extravagant roulades, and inexhaustible vivacity took the public by storm--beethoven and his immortal masterpieces were forgotten. and yet, perhaps, this is only what might have been expected,--the divine in art is not for all, nor are all for the divine. beethoven might have known, like goethe, that he was too profound ever to be popular in a wide sense. the mass of mankind look upon art simply as a means of relaxation. so, indeed, it ought to be to all; but never should it stop there. art, in its highest and best forms, has power not only to provide the weary and careworn with temporary self-forgetfulness, and to dissipate grief, but--and herein lies its true, its god-given strength--to renew the energies and brace the mind for higher and nobler efforts in the future. whenever it stops short of this, satisfied with fulfilling its first and lower function, there is developed a tendency to abdicate its real position, and to degenerate into the mere panderer to man's follies, to his vices. who could have felt this more keenly than beethoven? not the mere loss of his own popularity was it that made him turn away so deeply wounded from grand displays in which snatches of his own works were performed, along with meaningless arias, and shallow, noisy overtures of the new italian school. so deeply did he take the change to heart, that he resolved to have his mass in d and the ninth symphony performed for the first time in berlin. the announcement of this intention produced a warm remonstrance (in the form of an address) from his attached little circle of friends; and the master, touched by the feeling which called out this manifestation, was induced to forego his determination, and to consent to the two works being brought out in vienna, provided a hall suitable for the purpose could be obtained. this was no easy matter, and the difficulties in connection with it gave rise to a half-comical little incident. his enemies were in power, and demanded an absurd sum for the use of the building, to which beethoven could not be induced to agree. as neither party would yield, the project seemed on the point of shipwreck, when the faithful schindler, alarmed for the success of the enterprise on which he had set his heart, persuaded count moritz lichnowski and the violinist schuppanzigh to meet him as if by accident at beethoven's house, and press the latter to yield to what was inevitable. the plan succeeded, and the necessary papers were signed; but the composer's suspicions were roused, and the three devoted friends received for their pains the following autocratic mandates:-- "to count moritz lichnowski,-- "duplicity i despise. visit me no more. there will be no concert. "beethoven." "to herr schuppanzigh,-- "come no more to see me. i shall give no concert. "beethoven." "to herr schindler,-- "do not come to me until i send for you. no concert. "beethoven." this did not in the least deter them, however, from doing what they believed necessary for his benefit: the concert took place, and was the scene of a triumph such as few have experienced. the glorious jupiter symphony seemed to act upon the immense mass of human beings that thronged the building in every part, like ambrosial nectar; they became intoxicated with delight, and when the refrain was caught up by the choir, "_seid umschlungen millionen!_" a shout of exuberant joy rent the air, completely drowning the singers and instruments. but there stood the master in the midst, his face turned towards the orchestra, absorbed and sunk within himself as usual,--he heard nothing, saw nothing. fräulein unger, the soprano, turned him gently round, and then what a sight met his astonished gaze,--a multitude transported with joy! almost all were standing, and the greater number melted to tears, now for the first time realizing fully the extent of beethoven's calamity.--probably in all that great assembly the master himself was the most unmoved. simply bowing in response to the ovation, he left the theatre gloomy and despondent, and took his homeward way in silence. verily, he, like a greater, knew what was in man. in eight days from this eventful epoch he was completely forgotten; a second concert proved an utter failure, and rossini's star was again in the ascendant. nor did the flighty viennese public cast another thought upon our beethoven until the news of his death came upon them like the shock of an earthquake, and they hastened, when it was too late, to repair the past. but if it was painful to meet with ingratitude from the public, how much harder must it have been for the master to endure the same from one nearly related to him! we have said that he adopted his brother's orphan child. this nephew, also a carl beethoven, was at his father's death about eight years of age, and a boy of great talent and promise. the four succeeding years, during which the lawsuit dragged its weary length, were extremely detrimental to him, as he seems to have been tossed about from one person to another--now with his mother, and again with his uncle--in a manner very prejudicial to any good moral development. events showed him only too plainly the character of his mother, but nature--stronger still--urged him to take her part in the contest so far as he dared; and, incited by her evil counsels, he soon began secretly to despise his uncle's authority, and openly to follow a path he had laid down for himself,--the path of self-will and sensual indulgence. expelled from the university where he was attending the philosophical course, his more than father received the repentant prodigal with open arms, and placed him in the polytechnic school to study for a mercantile career, that he might be under the supervision of herr reisser, vice-president of the institute, and co-guardian with himself over carl. in the summer of the composer wrote no fewer than twenty-nine letters to his erring nephew, every one of which exhibits his character in the most beautiful light. they breathe the cry of a david, "oh! absalom! my son! my son!"--but it is a living absalom who has to be lamented, and the most energetic appeals, the most loving remonstrances are invoked to move that stony heart. in vain,--carl went from bad to worse, and in the master was compelled to give up the habit which had been his only solace for years--that of spending the summer in the country--and to remain in vienna to watch over the young man. matters soon came to a crisis,--carl, urged to pass an examination which he had long neglected, attempted, in a fit of despair, to put an end to his own life. here the law stepped in, and after he had been treated in an asylum where his spiritual as well as his bodily condition was cared for, the miserable youth was restored to his no less wretched uncle, with orders to quit vienna within four-and-twenty hours. beethoven's old friend, stephan breuning, exerted himself to procure a cadetship for the lad, and he was at length permitted to join the regiment of the baron von stutterheim, to whom the composer gratefully dedicated one of his last quartets. pending this arrangement the unhappy uncle and nephew took refuge at gneixendorf, the estate of johann v. beethoven, who had offered them a temporary asylum. a few days here, however, were enough for the composer; irritated by the unjust reproaches and low taunts of his brother, he determined at once to return to vienna, taking his nephew with him. it was a raw, cold, miserable day in december; johann refused to lend his close carriage to him to whom he owed all his prosperity, and beethoven was obliged to perform a long journey in an open conveyance, with no shelter from the keen wind and pitiless rain. his health, which had long been failing, sank under this exposure, and he arrived in vienna with a severe attack of inflammation of the lungs, which ultimately caused his death. as soon as they arrived at home, carl was charged instantly to procure a physician for his uncle, one dr. wawruch; but this loving nephew's whole thoughts were for his old companions and his old haunts. he went to play billiards, entrusting his commission to the tender mercies of a servant of the establishment, who, in his turn, let the affair pass entirely from his memory until two days after, when he happened to be taken ill himself, and to be carried _by chance_ to the same hospital in which the doctor practised. at the sight of the physician his instructions flashed upon his memory, and he besought him to go at once to the great beethoven. horror-struck, dr. wawruch, who was an enthusiastic admirer of the composer, hastened to his house and found him lying in the most precarious state, completely alone and neglected. his unwearied efforts so far succeeded that beethoven rallied for a time, when his first care was--to appoint his worthless nephew sole heir to all his effects! soon symptoms of dropsy showed themselves, he had to be tapped four times, and it became evident that the master spirit would soon leave its earthly tabernacle for a better and more enduring habitation. he was always resigned and patient, remarking, with a smile, when a painful operation was being performed, "better water from my body than from my pen!" the philharmonic society sent him a magnificent edition of handel, and the greatest pleasure of his last days consisted in going through the works of his favourite composer. his illness, however, lasted some time; in the meanwhile he was making nothing, and his small resources began to fail him. the money he had recently made by his works he had added to the fund which he sacredly kept for his nephew, and which no persuasion could induce him to touch; he had been disappointed in a sum owing to him by the russian dilettante, prince galitzin; and in great distress the question arose, what was he to do? to whom could he turn? he bethought him of the offer made by the philharmonic society in london to give a concert for his benefit, and after much hesitation, finally applied to them, through moscheles and sir george smart, for the fulfilment of the promise. his countrymen have never been able to forgive beethoven for this step, especially as it was found after his death that he had left about £ , ; but this, as we said before, he looked upon as his nephew's property, and would not appropriate any of it to his own use--therefore, what was he to do? _forsaken by the whole world in vienna_, was he to starve? the society rejoiced in the opportunity of showing the gratitude of england to him who has placed the whole human race under an eternal obligation, and immediately despatched £ to vienna, with the intimation that if this were not sufficient more would be forthcoming. alas! more was not required; a few days after the gift arrived the great musician breathed his last. we leave the description of the closing scene to schindler:-- "when i went to him on the morning of the th of march, , i found him with distorted face, and so weak that only by the greatest effort could he utter a few words. in a short time the physician entered, and, after looking at him in silence, whispered to me that beethoven was advancing with rapid steps towards dissolution. as we had fortunately provided for the signing of the will some days previously, there remained to us but _one_ ardent wish--that of proving to the world that he died as a true christian. the physician, therefore, wrote a few lines, begging him in the name of all his friends to allow the holy sacrament to be administered to him, upon which he answered calmly and collectedly, 'i will.' the physician then left, that i might arrange for this; and beethoven said to me, 'i beg you to write to schott, and send him the document, he will require it; write to him in my name, i am too weak; and tell him that i beg him earnestly to send the wine he promised. if you have time to-day, write also to england.' the pastor came about twelve o'clock, and the holy office was performed with the greatest solemnity. "beethoven himself now began to believe in his approaching end; for hardly had the clergyman gone than he exclaimed, '_plaudite amici, comedia finita est_; have i not always said that it would come thus?' he then begged me again not to forget schott, and to thank the philharmonic society once more for their gift, adding that the society had cheered his last days, and that even on the verge of the grave he thanked them and the whole english nation. at this moment the servant of herr von breuning entered with the little case of wine sent by schott. i placed two bottles of rudesheimer on the table by his side; he looked at them and said, 'what a pity!--too late!' these were his last words. in a few moments he fell into an agony so intense that he could no longer articulate. towards evening he lost consciousness, and became delirious. this lasted till the evening of the th, when visible signs of death already showed themselves. notwithstanding, he lingered till the evening of the th, when his spirit took flight, while without a violent storm of thunder and lightning seemed to reflect his death struggle in nature herself--his best friend." the last agonies of the master were soothed by but _one_ friendly touch, that of anselm hüttenbrenner from gratz, who had hurried into vienna to press the loved hand once more. he was borne to his last resting-place by an immense concourse, exceeding twenty thousand; composers, poets, authors, artists, surrounded his coffin with lighted torches, while the choristers sang to one of his own melodies the words of grillparzer:-- "du, dem nie im leben, ruhestätt ward, und heerd und haus, ruhe nun im stillen grabe, nun im tode aus,"-- thou, who ne'er in life hadst resting-place, nor hearth, nor home--rest thee now in the quiet grave--in death. amen. footnotes: [footnote : of those last interviews between the two great composers, dr. ferdinand hiller, the veteran composer and probably the last link between the "classical" period and our own, has published an interesting account. he was at the time a pupil of hummel, whom he accompanied to beethoven's residence. his description of the master in his helplessness is most touching.] [illustration] the pianoforte sonatas.[ ] from domenico scarlatti down to frederic chopin a succession of cembalists, clavecinists, and pianists rich in talent, art, and genius, have created a series of select works, the counterpart of which, in number, variety, and lasting fame, can probably be displayed by no other branch of musical literature. two collections, however, take precedence of all this wealth of tone-poetry; these are the fugues and preludes (the "wohl-temperirte clavier") of johann sebastian bach, and the sonatas of ludwig van beethoven. both works have been so much discussed, have been analyzed in so many different ways, have had such multifarious constructions put upon them, have been praised and extolled from so many different standpoints, that the conviction must be impressed upon every observer--_they are inexhaustible_. this is really the case--they are an ever-flowing spring of study for the composer and the pianist, and of enjoyment for the educated hearer. at present, however, we have only to do with the sonatas of beethoven, and must therefore direct our attention to them. most of the german composers have become great at the pianoforte. they learned to command the technicalities of this compendium of sound, song, harmony, and polyphony, and it became to them a voice, a second tongue, a part of themselves. upon it they could express every whispering musical emotion, and lend words, we may even say, to every passing mood which stirred their sensitive souls; the utterances which bach, mozart, and beethoven confided to their pianoforte in lonely hours may have surpassed in beauty (if not in perfection of form) what they committed to writing. in no other master, however, does this familiar intercourse between the tone-poet and his instrument present itself to our minds with such wondrous clearness as in beethoven. in his mighty symphonies he speaks to the crowd like an ideal world's orator, raising them to the highest emotions of purified humanity; in his quartets he strives to impart to each instrument an almost dramatic individuality; but in his pianoforte sonatas he speaks to himself; or, if you will, to the instrument, as to his dearest friend. he relates his most secret joys and sorrows, his longing and his love, his hope and his despair. an entire, full, real, inner human life is revealed to us--sound, energetic (_kernig_), manly. whether he gives himself up to passionate outpourings or to melancholy laments, whether he jests, plays, dreams, laughs, or weeps; he continues always simple and true. we find no straining after effect, no oddity, no coquettishness, no sentimentality; the greatest depth of thought appears unadorned and unpretentious. there are a few great men who can express the noblest sentiments without a wish that they should be heard, and who yet have no cause to dread listeners for the most trifling thing that they have uttered; and such is beethoven in his pianoforte sonatas. we frequently encounter the impression that beethoven, in contradistinction to the other loftiest tone-poets, is specially the singer of melancholy and sorrow--of the most intense, passionate soul-suffering. nothing can be less true. certainly he depicted the night side of the human mind as no one had done before him. but when we view his compositions as a whole, there speaks to us out of them all--even the last, so deeply furrowed--a predominating vigorous cheerfulness, a sympathetic joy, a loving meditativeness, an earnest, resolute, fresh life. how often he sinks into blissful dreams, or gives himself up to childlike merriment! a mature man, yet seized at times by the extravagance of youth, while the battle of life makes him earnest, sometimes gloomy, but never faint-hearted or misanthropic (_weltschmerzlich_). "he was a _man_, take him for all in all;" we have not looked upon his like. the special application of what has been said to the separate sonatas would lead to nothing. although it is indisputable that the emotions and frames of mind portrayed in them are almost infinite in compass, yet it would be proportionally difficult to express the same with regard to each single piece in words, the very definiteness of which would conclusively prove their inadequacy to the task. it is no empty phrase, however often it may have been repeated, that music begins where language ends,--of course with the proviso that the former content herself with the sovereignty in the domain assigned to her. how many tone-poems should we be compelled to characterize by words not only analogous to each other, but having the very same purport, even though a goethe's wealth of language were at our command! and what a dissimilarity in the tone-forms would notwithstanding be apparent even to the most uninitiated listener! far more important than the invention of characteristic expressions is it, for those who would devote themselves to the study of beethoven's pianoforte sonatas, to get a clear idea of them in _outline_ as well as in _detail_. the comprehension of them is facilitated by this, with the natural result of a higher intellectual enjoyment. is it not elevating to see how the most daring fancy, after having been nourished by deep thought, becomes the willing, submissive subject of the all-regulating mind? beethoven never lost the reins, even in what seem the wildest flights of his genius: his pegasus may spring up into highest space--he is able to direct and guide it. no earnest, conscientious teacher should neglect to explain to those entrusted to him the essential nature of the laws which for centuries, by a kind of natural necessity, have developed themselves in the forms of instrumental music. they are so simple that their principal features may be made clear to the most childish comprehension, and every step in advance will bring with it a deeper insight. that beethoven, in the closest relation to his great predecessors, submitted to these laws, makes his appearance doubly great: he did not come to destroy, but to fulfil the law. o that our art, the most spiritual of all, were not bound by so many and such rigorous ties to matter! o that beethoven's sonatas were within the reach of all educated minds, like the lyrics of our great poets! but not this alone does nature deny to our art; she withholds from the greater number of those even who are striving as musicians and as pianists the full enjoyment of these lofty works, at least in their totality. they make demands upon the executants which are not easily met. here and there we find the necessary talent. were it but accompanied by the indispensable earnestness and diligence! beethoven's pianoforte music demands (apart from the consideration of the extraordinarily difficult works) sound and solid execution. the first conditions of this are also the rarest, viz., a powerful and yet gentle touch, with the greatest possible independence of finger. beethoven never writes difficulties merely to win laurels for those executants who shall overcome them, but neither is he deterred by any technical inconvenience, if it be necessary to give firm and clear expression to an idea. thus we meet, in works reckoned amongst the easiest, with passages which presuppose a pretty high degree of technical skill; and since a pure style properly demands that there shall be at least the _appearance_ of ease on the part of the performer,--with compositions of the intellectual depth of beethoven's this is an indispensable qualification. therefore it is not advisable to take or place the sonatas of our master in hands which are not educated for their reception. when that degree of progress has been attained which will insure the mastery of the technical difficulties, the enjoyment and advantage to be derived from their thorough study will be doubled, and the effort to grasp them intellectually unhindered. the most essential figures which beethoven employs are built upon the scale and the arpeggio. they belong, therefore, to that style which is specially designated the clementi-cramer school. the studies of these noble representatives of pure pianoforte playing will always be the best foundation for the performance of beethoven's works, and the practice of them ought to accompany without intermission the study of the master. happily, the rich productions of beethoven's imagination offer fruits for every epoch of life and of--pianoforte-playing. we can reward the diligence of the studious child by allowing him to play the two sonatinas published after the master's death, which sound to us rather as if they had been written _for_ than _by_ a beginner. but we should carefully guard against giving to immature young minds pieces which, though easy in a technical point of view (and this, after all, is sometimes only _apparent_), require a power of conception and of performance far beyond the demands made upon the fingers. who, for example, with any experience in musical life, does not remember having heard the sonata pathétique played with a _naïveté_ of style which might prove the narrowness of the boundary line between the sublime and the ridiculous? and similar misconceptions are met with every day. we give below a list of the sonatas in the order in which they ought to be studied, arranged with a view to the demands made upon the heart and mind, as well as upon the hand and finger of the performer. it is evident, however, that this cannot be done with mathematical precision, and that individual views and capability must, after all, decide; since _difficulty_ and _ease_ are but relative terms, and depend in each case upon other and pre-existing conditions. if, however, our attempt succeed so far as to render the selection easier to the student, and prevent his making any great mistakes, we shall not consider our trouble thrown away. _may beethoven speedily find a home in every house--in every heart!_ footnotes: [footnote : from an edition of the sonatas published in breslau.] [illustration] classification of beethoven's pianoforte sonatas. . op. , no. , in g major. . op. , no. , in g minor. . op. , no. , in g major. . op. , no. , in e major. . op. , in g major. . op. , no. , in f minor. . op. , no. , in c minor. . op. , no. , in f major. . op. , no. , in d major. . op. , in c minor (_pathétique_). . op. , in b flat major. . op. , in d major (_pastorale_). . op. , no. , in a major. . op. , no. , in c major. . op. , in f sharp major. . op. , in e flat major. . op. , in a flat major. . op. , no. , in e flat major. . op. , no. , in g major. . op. , in e minor. . op. , in f major. . op. , no. , in c sharp minor (_moonlight_). . op. , no. , in d minor. . op. , in c major. . op. , no. , in e flat major. . op. , in e flat major (_les adieux_). . op. , in f minor (_appassionata_). . op. , in a flat major. , op. , in e major. . op. , in a major. . op. , in c minor. . op. , in b flat major (_the giant_). list of beethoven's works. _compiled from_ marx _and_ thayer. i.--compositions designated as _opus_. . _three trios_ for pianoforte, violin, and violoncello, in e flat, g major, and c minor; ded. to prince lichnowski; composed - . . _three sonatas_ for piano, in f minor, a major, and c major; ded. to joseph haydn; pub. . . _trio_ for violin, viola, and violoncello, in e flat; composed in bonn in . . _quintet_ for two violins, two violas, and violoncello, in e flat (from the octet for wind instruments, op. ); pub. . . _two sonatas_ for piano and violoncello, in f major and g minor; ded. to frederic william ii. of prussia; composed in berlin in . . _sonata_ for piano, for four hands, in d major; pub. - . . _sonata_ for piano, in e flat; ded. to the countess babette von keglevics; pub. . . _serenade_ for violin, viola, and violoncello, in d major; pub. . . _three trios_ for violin, viola, and violoncello, in g major, d major, and c minor; ded. to the count von browne; pub. . . _three sonatas_ for piano, in c minor, f major, and d major; ded. to the countess von browne; pub. . . _trio_ for piano, clarionet (or v.), and violoncello, in b flat; ded. to the countess von thun; pub. . . _three sonatas_ for piano and violin, in d major, a major, and e flat major; ded. to f.a. salieri; pub. - . . _sonata pathétique_ for piano, in c minor; ded. to prince lichnowski; pub. . . _two sonatas_ for piano, in e major and g major; ded. to the baroness braun; pub. . . _first concerto_ for piano and orchestra, in c major; ded. to the princess odescalchi, _née_ countess von keglevics; composed . . _quintet_ for piano, clarionet, oboe, bassoon, and horn, in e flat major; ded. to the prince von schwarzenberg; performed . . _sonata_ for piano and horn in f major; ded. to the baroness braun; composed . . _six quartets_ for two violins, viola, and violoncello, in f major, g major, d major, c minor, a major, and b flat major; ded. to prince lobkowitz; pub. - . . _second concerto_ for piano and orchestra, in b flat major; ded. to m. von nickelsberg; composed . . _grand septet_ for violin, viola, violoncello, horn, clarionet, bassoon, and double-bass, in e flat; performed . . _first symphony_ for orchestra, in c major; ded. to the baron van swieten; performed . . _grand sonata_ for piano, in b flat; ded. to the count von browne; composed . . _sonata_ for piano and violin, in a minor; ded. to count moritz von fries; pub. . . _sonata_ for piano and violin, in f major; ded. to count moritz von fries; pub. (originally together with op. ). . _serenade_ for flute, violin, and viola, in d major; pub. . . _sonata_ for piano, in a flat; ded. to prince lichnowski; composed . . _two sonatas_, quasi fantasia, for piano, no. in e flat major; ded. to the princess liechtenstein; no. in c sharp minor; ded. to the countess julia guicciardi; composed (?). . _sonata_ for piano, in d major; ded. to m. von sonnenfels; composed . . _quintet_ for two violins, two violas, and violoncello, in c major; ded. to count von fries; composed . . _three sonatas_ for piano and violin, in a major, c minor, and g major; ded. to the emperor alexander i. of russia; composed . . _three sonatas_ for piano, in g major, d minor, and e flat major; composed (?). . "_to hope_," words from the "_urania_" of tiedge; pub. (first setting, _see_ op. ). . _bagatelles_ for piano; composed . . _six variations_ for piano, in f major, on an original theme; ded. to the princess odescalchi; composed in (?). . _fifteen variations_, with a _fugue_; for piano, on a theme from "_prometheus_," ded. to count moritz lichnowski; composed . . _second symphony_ for orchestra, in d major; ded. to prince lichnowski; composed . . _third concerto_ for piano and orchestra, in c minor; ded. to prince louis ferdinand of prussia; composed . . _trio_ for piano, clarionet (or v.), and violoncello (from the septet, op. ); published . . _two preludes_ through all the major and minor keys, for piano or organ; composed . . _romance_ for violin and orchestra, in g major; composed (?). . _serenade_ for piano and flute (or v.), in d major (from op. ); pub. . . _notturno_ for piano and violoncello, in d major (from op. ); pub. . . _ballet_: "_the men of prometheus_;" composed . . _fourteen variations_ for piano, violin, and violoncello, on an original theme; composed (?). . _three marches_ for piano, for four hands, in c major, e flat major, and d major; ded. to the princess esterhazy; composed (? ). . _adelaïde_: words by matthison; composed . . _sonata_ for piano and violin, in a major; ded. to the violinist rudolph kreutzer; composed . . _six spiritual songs_, by gellert; pub. . . _two easy sonatas_ for piano, in g minor and g major; composed (?). . _romance_ for violin and orchestra, in f major; composed in (?). . _two rondos_ for piano: no. in c major; pub. (?); no. in g major: ded. to the countess henriette von lichnowski; pub. . . _eight songs_: words by claudius, sophie von mereau, bürger, goethe, and lessing; partly composed in bonn before . . _grand sonata_ for piano, in c major; ded. to count waldstein; composed in (?). . _sonata_ for piano, in f major; composed (?). . _third symphony_ (eroica) for orchestra, in e flat; ded. to prince lobkowitz; composed - . . _triple concerto_ for piano, violin, and violoncello, with orchestra, in c major; composed - . . _grand sonata_ for piano, in f minor; ded. to the count von brunswick; composed . . _fourth concerto_ for piano and orchestra, in g major; ded. to the archduke rudolph; composed (?). . _three quartets_ for two violins, viola, and violoncello, in f major, e minor, and c major; ded. to prince rasoumowski; composed . . _fourth symphony_ for orchestra, in b flat; ded. to count oppersdorf; composed . . _concerto_ for violin and orchestra, in d major; ded. to stephan von breuning; composed . . _overture_: "_coriolanus_," in c minor; ded. to the dramatist heinrich von collin; composed . . _sonata_ for piano, violin, and violoncello (from the octet, op. ); pub. . . _sonata_ for piano, violin, and violoncello (from the trio, op. ); pub. . . _scena and aria_: "_ah, perfido!_" for soprano voice and orchestra; ded. to the countess clari; composed . . _twelve variations_ for piano and violoncello, in f major, on the theme, "_ein mädchen oder weibchen_," from mozart's "_zauberflöte_;" pub. . . _fifth symphony_ for orchestra, in c minor; ded. to prince lobkowitz and count rasoumowski; composed (?). . _sixth symphony_ (_pastorale_) for orchestra, in f major; ded. to prince lobkowitz and count rasoumowski; composed (?). . _sonata_ for piano and violoncello, in a major; ded. to baron von gleichenstein; pub. . . _two trios_ for piano, violin, and violoncello, in d major and e flat major; ded. to the countess marie erdödy; composed . . _sextet_ for two clarionets, two flutes, and two bassoons; performed - . . "_fidelio_" ("_leonora_"), opera in two acts; composed - . . _fifth concerto_ for piano and orchestra, in e flat; ded. to the archduke rudolph; composed . . _quartet_ (tenth) for two violins, viola, and violoncello, in e flat; ded. to prince lobkowitz; composed . . _six songs_: words by goethe and reissig; ded. to the princess kinsky; composed . . _variations_ for piano, in d major, on an original (?) theme, afterwards employed as the "_turkish march_" in the "_ruins of athens_;" ded. to his friend oliva; pub. . . _fantasia_ for piano, in g minor; ded. to the count von brunswick; composed . . _sonata_ for piano, in f sharp major; ded. to the countess von brunswick; composed . . _sonatina_ for piano, in g major; pub. . . _fantasia_ for piano, orchestra, and chorus, in c minor; words--"_schmeichelnd hold und lieblich klingen_"--by kuffner; ded. to maximilian joseph of bavaria; performed . _a_. _sonata_ for piano--"_les adieux_,"--in e flat; ded. to the archduke rudolph; composed . _b_. _sextet_ for two violins, viola, violoncello, and two horns (_obbligato_), in e flat; pub. . . _four ariettas_ and a _duet_, with pianoforte accompaniment; words of nos. , , and by metastasio; pub. . . _three songs_; words by goethe; ded. to the princess kinsky; composed . . _overture and incidental music to "egmont;"_ composed - . . "_the mount of olives_," an oratorio; text by franz xaver huber; composed (?). . _first mass_, for four voices and orchestra, in c major; ded. to prince esterhazy; composed . . _trio_ for wind instruments, in c major; performed . . "_das glück der freundschaft_," for voice and piano; pub. . . _polonaise_ for piano, in c major; ded. to the empress elisabetha alexiewna, of russia; composed . . _sonata_ for piano, in e minor; ded. to count moritz lichnowski; composed . . "_the battle of vittoria_," for orchestra; ded. to the prince regent of england; composed . . _seventh symphony_ for orchestra, in a major; ded. to count fries; composed . . _eighth symphony_ for orchestra, in f major; composed . . "_to hope_;" words from the "_urania_" of tiegde (second setting, _see_ op. ); composed . . _quartet_ for two violins, viola, and violoncello, in f minor; ded. to secretary zmeskall; composed . . _sonata_ for piano and violin, in g major; ded. to the archduke rudolph; composed . . _trio_ for piano, violin, and violoncello, in b flat; ded. to the archduke rudolph; composed . . "_an die ferne geliebte_," a _liederkreis_; words by jeitteles; ded. to prince lobkowitz; composed . . "_der mann von wort_," for voice and piano; words by kleinschmid; pub. . . "_merkenstein_," for one or two voices and piano; words by rupprecht; composed . . _sonata_ for piano, in a major; ded. to the baroness erdmann; composed . . _two sonatas_ for piano and violoncello, in c major and d major; ded. to the countess erdödy; composed . . _octet_ for wind instruments, in e flat major; composed in bonn before . . _quintet_ for two violins, two violas, and violoncello, in c minor (from the trio no. of op. ); pub. . . _six thèmes variés_ for piano, with violin _ad libitum_; composed for george thomson, - . . _sonata_ for piano, in b flat; ded. to the archduke rudolph; composed . . _ten thèmes variés russes, écossais, tyroliens_, for piano, with violin _ad libitum_; composed for george thomson, - . . _twenty-five scotch melodies_ for one or two voices and chorus (_obbligato_), violin, viola, and 'cello. . _sonata_ for piano, in e major; ded. to fräulein brentano; composed (?). . _sonata_ for piano, in a flat major; composed . . _sonata_ for piano, in c minor; ded. to the archduke rudolph; composed . . "_meeresstille und glückliche fahrt_," for four voices and orchestra; ded. to "the author of the poem, the immortal goethe;" composed . . _overture_: "_the ruins of athens_," composed - . . _marches and choruses_ from "_the ruins of athens_." . _overture_: "_namensfeier_," in c major; ded. to prince radziwill; composed . . _terzetto_ for soprano, tenor, and bass, with orchestral accompaniment; composed . . _overture and choruses_: "_king stephen_;" performed . . _elegy in memory of the baroness pasqualati_: "_sanft wie du lebtest hast du vollendet_;" ded. to the baron pasqualati; composed . . _twelve bagatelles_ for piano; composed - . . _thirty-three variations_ on a waltz by diabelli; ded. to madame brentano; composed . _a_. _adagio, variations, and rondo_, for piano, violin, and violoncello, in g major; theme, "_ich bin der schneider kakadu_;" pub. . _b_. "_opferlied_" for solo, chorus, and orchestra; words by matthison; composed . . "_in allen guten stunden_," for solo and chorus, with two clarionets, two horns, and two bassoons, words by goethe; composed . . _missa solemnis_ for four voices, chorus, and orchestra, in d major; ded. to the archduke rudolph; composed - . . _overture_: "_weihe des hauses_," in c major; ded. to prince galitzin; composed . . _ninth symphony_ (_jupiter_), with final chorus on schiller's "_ode to joy_," for orchestra, four voices, and chorus, in d minor; ded. to frederick william iii. of prussia; composed - . _six bagatelles_ for piano; composed about . . _quartet_ for two violins, viola, and violoncello, in e flat; ded. to prince galitzin; composed . . "_the kiss_;" arietta for voice and piano; composed . . _rondo capriccioso_ in g major. . _quartet_ for two violins, viola, and violoncello, in b flat; ded. to prince galitzin; composed . . _quartet_ fr two violins, viola, and violoncello, in c sharp minor; ded. to the baron von stutterheim; composed . . _quartet_ for two violins, viola, and violoncello, in a minor; ded. to prince galitzin; composed . . _grand fugue_ for two violins, viola, and violoncello, in b flat; ded. to the cardinal archduke rudolph; composed . . _grand fugue_ (op. arranged for piano for four hands). . _quartet_ (the sixteenth) for two violins, viola, and 'cello, in f major; ded. to herrn wolfmeier; composed . . "_der glorreiche augenblick_," cantata for four voices and orchestra; text by dr. weissenbach; ded. to franz i., emperor of austria, nicholas i., emperor of russia, and frederick william iii., king of prussia; composed . . _fugue_ for two violins, two violas, and 'cello, in d major; composed . . _ouverture caractérisstique_; "_leonora_" no. , in c major. ii. compositions designated simply by _numbers_. no. _a_. _twelve variations_ for piano and violin, in f major; theme: "_se vuol ballare_," from mozart's "_figaro_;" ded. to eleanore von breuning; pub. . _b_. _thirteen variations_ for piano, in a major; theme: "_es war einmal ein alter mann_;" pub. . . _nine variations_ for piano, in a major; theme: "_quant è più bello_;" pub. . _a_. _six variations_ for piano; theme: "_nel cor più non mi sento_;" composed . _b_. _two minuets_ for piano, for four hands. . _twelve variations_ for piano, in c major; theme: "_menuet à la vigano_;" pub. . _a_. _twelve variations_ for piano, in a major; theme from the ballet of the "_waldmädchen_;" pub. . _b_. _twelve variations_ for piano and violoncello, in g major; theme: "_see, the conquering hero comes!_" pub. . . _twelve variations_ for piano and violoncello, in f major. (_see_ op. .) . _eight variations_ for piano in c major; theme from grétry's "_richard coeur de lion_;" pub. . . _ten variations_ for piano in b flat major; theme: "_la stessa, la stessissima_;" pub. . . _seven variations_ for piano, in f major; theme: "_kind willst du ruhig schlafen_;" pub. . _a_. _eight variations_ for piano, in f major; theme: "_tändeln and scherzen_;" composed . _b_. _seven variations_ for piano and violoncello, in e flat; theme from the "_magic flute_;" composed (?). . _six very easy variations_ on an original theme; composed . . _six easy variations_ for piano or harp, in f major; theme: "_air suisse_;" pub. (?). . _twenty-four variations_ for piano, in d major, on a theme by righini; composed about . - . _wanting._ . "_der wachtelschlag_," for voice and piano; words by sauter; pub. . . _seven variations_ for piano, in c major; theme: "_god save the king_;" pub. . . _five variations_ (favourite) for piano, in d major; theme: "_rule, britannia_;" pub. . . _six variations_ for piano, for four hands, in d major, on an original theme; composed . . _minuet_ for piano. . _prelude_ for piano, in f minor; pub. . , . _wanting._ . "_to hope_," by tiedge (_see_ op. ). , . _wanting._ . _andante_ for piano in f major (originally in the sonata, op. ), composed (?). . _thirty-two variations_ for piano, in c minor, on an original theme; pub. . . _wanting._ . "_die sehnsucht_:" four melodies for voice and piano; text by goethe; pub. . iii. compositions designated by _letters_. a. instrumental music. _a._ _trio_ for piano, violin, and violoncello (in one movement), in b flat; ded. to "my little friend, maximiliana brentano, for her encouragement in pianoforte playing;" composed . _b._ _rondo_ for piano and violin, in g major; pub. . _c._ _andante_ for piano, in g. _d._ _sonata_ for piano, in c major (_incomplete_); composed . _e._ _two easy sonatinas_ for piano, in g major and f major; composed in bonn. _f._ _three sonatas_ for piano, in e flat major, f minor, and d major; ded. to the elector max. friedrich; composed at the age of eleven. _g._ _rondo_ for piano, in a major; pub. . _h._ _andante_ on the text: "_oh hoffnung, du stählst die herzen_" (ex. for the archduke rudolph). _i._ _favourite march_ of the emperor alexander. _k._ _eight variations_ for piano in b flat; theme: "_ich habe ein kleines hüttchen nur_." _l._ _variations_ for piano, on a march by dressler; composed at the age of ten. _m._ _variations_ for piano, for four hands, on an original theme. _n._ _variations_ for piano, for four hands, in a major. _o._ _triumphal march for orchestra_, in c major; performed . _p._ _second and third overtures to "leonora"_ ("_fidelio_"), in c major. _q._ _overture to "fidelio"_ ("_leonora_" no. ), in e major. _r._ _triumphal march_ for orchestra, in g major. _s._ _three duos_ for clarionet and bassoon, in c major, f major, and b flat; composed about . _t._ _minuet_ for piano (from the septet, op. ). _u._ _quintet_ (ms.), for two violins, two violas, and violoncello, in f major. b. dance music. twelve contre danses. twelve minuets for orchestra. six minuets for piano. twelve _danses allemandes_ for two violins and bass. seven country dances for piano. six country dances for piano. twelve _ecossaises_ for piano. six _allemandes_ for piano and violin. twelve waltzes with trios for orchestra. six waltzes for two violins and bass. two minuets for piano, for four hands. six country dances for piano. two favourite waltzes for piano, in b flat major and e minor. c. vocal music. _a._ _six songs_ from reissig's "_blümchen der einsamkeit_:"-- . "_sehnsucht_," in e major. . "_krieger's abschied_," in e flat. . "_der jüngling in der fremde_," in b flat. . "_an den fernen geliebten_," in g major. . "_der zufriedene_," in a major. . "_der liebende_," in d major. _b._ _three songs:_-- . "_an die geliebte_," in b flat. . "_das geheimniss_," in g major. . "_so oder so! nord oder süd._" _c._ _italian and german songs:_-- . "_la partenza_" ("_ecco quel fiore_"). . "_trinklied._" . "_liedchen von der ruhe._" . "_an die hoffnung._" . "_ich liebe dich, so wie du nich._" . "_molly's abschied._" . "_ohne liebe._" . "_wachtelgesang._" . "_marmotte._" . "_maigesang._" . "_feuerfarbe._" . "_ecco quel fiori istanti._" _d._ _songs_, for one or more voices, from shakspere, byron, and moore. _e._ "_der glorreiche augenblick_," for four voices and orchestra. _f._ "_lied aus der ferne._" _g._ _three songs_ from tiedge. _h._ _three songs._ _i._ _three songs._ _k._ "_oh! dass ich dir vom stillen auge._" _l._ "_sehnsucht nach dem rhein._" _m._ "_die klage._" _n._ _three andantes._ _o._ "_ruf vom berge._" _p._ "_der bardengeist_." _q._ "_als die geliebte sich trennen wollte._" _r._ _elegy_ on the death of a poodle. _s._ _arietta_ in a flat major. _t._ _canon_ in e flat major. _u._ "_zärtliche liebe._" _v._ "_resignation_," "_lisch' aus_," in e major. _w._ _canon_ for six voices. _x._ _canon_ for four voices. _y._ _canon_ for three voices. _z._ _canon_ written in the album of director neide. _tz._ _song of the monks_, from schiller's "_wilhelm tell_." _a^{ }._ "_song of the nightingale._" _b^{ }._ "_germania's wiedergeburt_," for four voices and orchestra. _c^{ }._ "_abschiedsgesang an wien's bürger._" _e^{ }._ final songs from ( ) "_die ehrenpforte_," in d major; ( ) "_die gute nachricht_." _f^{ }._ "_andenken von matthison_"--allegretto. _g^{ }._ three-part _song_. iv. compositions which appeared after beethoven's death, without being designated as _op._ or _no._ _a._ "_beethoven's heimgang_," for voice and piano. _b._ "_an sie_," song, in a flat major. _c._ _two songs_:-- . "_seufzer eines ungeliebten._" . "_die laute klage._" _d._ "_die ehre gottes in der natur_," for four voices and orchestra, in c major. _e._ _cantata: "europa steht."_ _f._ _song, "gedenke mein."_ _g._ "_empfindungen bei lydia's untreu_," in e flat. _h._ "_equali_," two pieces for four trombones. _i._ _allegretto_ for orchestra. _k._ _three quartets._ _l._ _rondo_ for piano and orchestra. _m._ _octet_ for wind instruments (now op. .) _n._ _rondino_ for eight-part harmony. _o._ _two trios_ for piano, violin, and 'cello. _p._ _military march_ for piano. _q._ "_lament at beethoven's grave._" _r._ "_the last musical thought._" j. and w. rider, printers, london. a novel with two heroes. by elliott graeme, author of "beethoven; a memoir," &c. _in two vols. post vo._ opinions of the press. "we can sincerely congratulate mr. graeme on having achieved a decided literary success.... the story is written in a lively and agreeable style ... the simple life of the worthy director is charmingly told.... several of the portraits are evidently taken from life.... the interest of the story centres in mala, the beautiful girl, who inherits her father's genius.... the characters of mr. chesney, the stately and somewhat pompous rector, and of his anti-type, a parson of quite another school, are drawn with singular truthfulness and freedom from exaggeration."--_athenæum._ "above the average even of good novels ... clever and amusing ... free from sensationalism, though full of interest, and of interest which touches many of the deeper chords of life. mr. graeme's delineation of character is remarkably good.... after all, the english rector is the gem of the book; the crust of his character so hard, but the ring of the metal itself, though harsh, so true.... mr. graeme's canvas is so crowded, that it is really difficult to select figures for illustration. when we have given the notice their prominence demands to some of the leading characters, we find our heartiest admiration and our keenest dislike really reserved for the subordinate actors, who yet are very real in the byplay on which so much of the story turns, as it would turn in actual life."--_spectator._ "in 'a novel with two heroes,' mr. graeme has produced a story of deep interest, and something more,--he has given us a love-story, or rather, two or three love-stories, without the least frivolity of the kind that most of the novel-writers of the day seem to think is the necessary accompaniment of love-making. he has shown intimate knowledge of the springs of human nature, and a power of description which is not the less admirable that it is quiet and unpretentious. there are some domestic scenes which, for their simplicity and their obvious reproduction from real life, have not often been excelled; while, again, there are dramatic scenes powerful almost to painfulness in their intensity, without being in the least disfigured by big or strong words. womanly beauty and natural scenery mr. graeme touches with a light hand, contriving to tell more about them in a few words or lines than most people could do in as many pages.... sir robert chesney is a good, plucky english lad, without a serious flaw in him, but not fond of learning, though full of humour. his experiences with his uncle are delightful.... it would be easy to go through the novel and pick out passages of high excellence.... abundant merit of a high order is shown throughout, alike in construction, plot, and treatment."--_scotsman._ "we can only point out some of the beauties of this fresh and interesting production.... one of its great charms is its singular purity.... in drawing his characters mr. graeme brings out strongly, yet without the least effort, the pathetic side of most lives; and he brightens them up at the same time with many a touch of genuine humour.... mr. graeme is no surface painter.... 'a novel with two heroes' may safely be recommended to all who can appreciate delicacy of sentiment, combined with clever portraiture and thorough knowledge of life."--_morning post._ "one of the most promising works of fiction which it has been our lot to encounter of late years. not for a long time have we read a more pleasant and enjoyable story, full of poetry and life and music, rich in subtle delineation of character, vigorous word-painting, and graphic portraitures, all steeped in that delightful dreaminess and mystic beauty with which german tales are so often and so richly flavoured.... we have been led to dwell at length on the defects of mr. graeme's work because it is one of those productions which can stand, and, we shall add, deserve severe criticism. were the faults a hundred times more numerous and grave than we have indicated, the novel would still be a remarkable production. the pictures of german life--the st. cecilian festival, the _fastnacht_, or annual saturnalia at lent, the procession of st. agnes, the sails on the river, &c., &c., are all painted with a fidelity and power not often met with but in scott. even more remarkable are the humour and pathos, as well as the variety and originality of the portraitures. every character is full of life and individuality."--_glasgow herald._ "this work has sterling merits."--_saturday review._ "better worth reading than five out of six of the novels of the day."--_examiner._ "will be heartily welcomed by all lovers of a good story."--_graphic._ "uncommon scenes and characters uncommonly well described."--_illustrated london news._ "mr. graeme has an eye for colours. he seizes upon the telling points of a story, and paints in the picturesque details of a passing scene."--_westminster review._ "very lifelike; displays depth and originality of thought."--_john bull._ "superior in all respects to the common run of novels."--_daily news._ "a novel with some delightfully fresh characters; ... not a page but is attractive."--_daily telegraph._ "this eminently readable novel ... displays an acquaintance with human nature, and a power of description of the happiest kind."--_leeds mercury._ london: charles griffin and company.