Chapter XVI

Otto Jahn’s Recovery of Letters

This was the last year of Beethoven’s personal intercourse with the Erdödys, a very interesting memorial of which, namely, a series of notes and letters, has been preserved and made public by the coolness and decision of Otto Jahn. Being in Munich in 1852, or about that time, he learned that this correspondence was in the hands—if our memory serve—of the widow Brauchle, and obtained permission to read it in the presence of the possessor. Suddenly starting up he exclaimed (in effect): “I will copy this at the hotel,” and before the lady, in her amazement and perplexity, could refuse or prevent, he was away, and made the only copy known to be in existence, except transcripts made from it.[153]Several of these papers are only Beethoven’s apologies for not coming to Jedlersee “to-day” or “to-morrow”—but all are interesting in the glimpse which they give of the affectionate intimacy which they show as existing between Beethoven and the family.

A letter to Brauchle is important from a biographical point of view. It reads:

I had scarcely returned before I found my brother making lamentable inquiries about the horses—please do me the favor to go to Enzersdorf about the horses, take horses at my expense in Jedlersee, I’ll gladly recompense you. His sickness (my brother’s) is accompanied by a sort of unrest—let us be of help where we can, I amobliged to act thus and not otherwise! I await a speedy fulfillment of my wishes and a friendly answer on the subject from you—do not spare expenses I’ll willingly bear them. It is not worth while to let anyone suffer for the sake of a few dirty florins.

Neate and the Erdödys have carried us forward quite out of the strict order of time, to which we now return, beginning with letters to our old Bonn and London acquaintance, Johann Peter Salomon and others:

Vienna, June 1, 1815.My respected countryman!I have long hoped for the fulfillment of a wish to see you in person in London, to hear you, but the wish has always been frustrated by manifold hindrances—and for the reason that I am not in a position to do so I hope you will not deny my request which is that you speak with some publisher there, and offer him the following works for me: a Grand Trio for pianoforte, violin and violoncello (80 ducats). Sonata for pianoforte and violin (60 ducats). Grand Symphony in A (one of my most excellent), smaller Symphony in F.—Quartet for 2 violins, viola and violoncello in F minor.—Grand Opera in score, 30 ducats—Cantata with choruses and solo voices 30 ducats. Score of the Battle of Vittoria on Wellington’s victory, 80 ducats as also the pianoforte arrangement (if it has not, as I am assured already been published)—I have set down the honorarium of a few works which I think fair for England, but leave it to you in the case of these as well as the others, to do what you think best as to my pay. I hear, indeed, that Kramer is also a publisher[154]but my pupil Ries wrote me recently that hehad publicly expressed himself against my compositions, I hope for no other reason thanthe good of art, wherefore I have no objection to offer, but if Kramer wants any of these injurious works of art, he is just as agreeable to me as any other publisher. I only reserve to myself the privilege of also giving the same works to my local publisher so that the works will appear only in London and Vienna and simultaneously.Perhaps you may be able to point out to me in what manner I may get from the Prince Regent at least the copyist’s charges for the Battle Symphony on Wellington’s Victory at the battle of Vittoria, which I gave him, for I have long ago abandoned all hope of ever getting anything more, I was not even vouchsafed an answer as to whether I might dedicate the work to the Prince Regent when I publish it, I hear even that the work has already been published in London in pianoforte arrangement, what a fate for an author!!! While the newspapers are full of reports concerning the success of this work as performed at the Drury Lane Theatre, the author is unable to show even a friendly line touching it, not even the expense of copying, besides all this, the loss of all profit, for if it is true that the pianoforte arrangement is already published, no German publisher will take it, it is probable that the pianoforte arrangement will soon appear in a reprint by a German publisher and I will lose honor and honorarium.Your well-known noble character bids me hope that you will take an interest in the matter and show yourself active in my service; the wretched paper money of our country has already been reduced to the fifth part of its value, I was treated according to the scale, but after much urging the full standard with a considerable loss, but we have again reached a point where the currency is worth much less than one-fifth and I am confronted for the second time with the prospect that my salary will be reduced tonothingwithout recourse of any kind. My only earnings now come from my compositions, if I could count on their sale in England it would be very advantageous to me.Count on my boundless gratitude, I hope for a speedy, a very speedy answer from you.

Vienna, June 1, 1815.

My respected countryman!

I have long hoped for the fulfillment of a wish to see you in person in London, to hear you, but the wish has always been frustrated by manifold hindrances—and for the reason that I am not in a position to do so I hope you will not deny my request which is that you speak with some publisher there, and offer him the following works for me: a Grand Trio for pianoforte, violin and violoncello (80 ducats). Sonata for pianoforte and violin (60 ducats). Grand Symphony in A (one of my most excellent), smaller Symphony in F.—Quartet for 2 violins, viola and violoncello in F minor.—Grand Opera in score, 30 ducats—Cantata with choruses and solo voices 30 ducats. Score of the Battle of Vittoria on Wellington’s victory, 80 ducats as also the pianoforte arrangement (if it has not, as I am assured already been published)—I have set down the honorarium of a few works which I think fair for England, but leave it to you in the case of these as well as the others, to do what you think best as to my pay. I hear, indeed, that Kramer is also a publisher[154]but my pupil Ries wrote me recently that hehad publicly expressed himself against my compositions, I hope for no other reason thanthe good of art, wherefore I have no objection to offer, but if Kramer wants any of these injurious works of art, he is just as agreeable to me as any other publisher. I only reserve to myself the privilege of also giving the same works to my local publisher so that the works will appear only in London and Vienna and simultaneously.

Perhaps you may be able to point out to me in what manner I may get from the Prince Regent at least the copyist’s charges for the Battle Symphony on Wellington’s Victory at the battle of Vittoria, which I gave him, for I have long ago abandoned all hope of ever getting anything more, I was not even vouchsafed an answer as to whether I might dedicate the work to the Prince Regent when I publish it, I hear even that the work has already been published in London in pianoforte arrangement, what a fate for an author!!! While the newspapers are full of reports concerning the success of this work as performed at the Drury Lane Theatre, the author is unable to show even a friendly line touching it, not even the expense of copying, besides all this, the loss of all profit, for if it is true that the pianoforte arrangement is already published, no German publisher will take it, it is probable that the pianoforte arrangement will soon appear in a reprint by a German publisher and I will lose honor and honorarium.

Your well-known noble character bids me hope that you will take an interest in the matter and show yourself active in my service; the wretched paper money of our country has already been reduced to the fifth part of its value, I was treated according to the scale, but after much urging the full standard with a considerable loss, but we have again reached a point where the currency is worth much less than one-fifth and I am confronted for the second time with the prospect that my salary will be reduced tonothingwithout recourse of any kind. My only earnings now come from my compositions, if I could count on their sale in England it would be very advantageous to me.

Count on my boundless gratitude, I hope for a speedy, a very speedy answer from you.

Some time about October 15th, Beethoven returned to Vienna. And now another bitter parting: The Erdödys, accompanied by Brauchle, Sperl and Linke, departed to Croatia never to return.

Birchall Becomes Beethoven’s Publisher

The letters to Smart, Salomon and Ries were not in vain; through their efforts, especially Salomon’s, Mr. Robert Birchall, Music Publisher of No. 133 New Bond St., was induced to purchase four of the works enumerated by Häring, viz: the pianoforte arrangements of the “Wellington’s Victory,” Op. 91, and Symphony in A, Op. 92; the Trio in B-flat, Op. 97, and the Sonata for Pianoforte and Violin, Op. 96, for “the sum of one hundred and thirty-five gold Dutch ducats—value in English currency, sixty-five pounds.” The correspondence between the composer and publisher as presented by Mr. Birchall’s successors begins with a paper in extraordinary English which has hitherto passed as a note received from Vienna, but which, it is obvious, is nothing but the effort of some resident German to interpret the contents of the following letter from Beethoven:[155]

Vienna, October 28th, 1815.Well-born Sir!I inform you that the Battle and Victory Symphony on Wellington’s Victory in pianoforte arrangement was dispatched to London several days ago to the house of Thomas Coutts, in London, whence you may fetch it. I beg you to be speedy as possible in printing it andinform me of the daywhen you purpose publishing it so that I may give timely notice of the fact to the publisher here—such great hurry is not necessary with the 3 works which follow and which you will receive soon and in the case of whichI shall take the libertyto fix the day:—Mr. Salomon willhave the goodness to explain to you more clearly why there is this greater haste in the matter of the Battle and Victory Symphony.Awaiting a very speedy answer regardingthe day of publicationof the work which you have received.I remain your obedient servant,Ludwig van Beethoven

Vienna, October 28th, 1815.

Well-born Sir!

I inform you that the Battle and Victory Symphony on Wellington’s Victory in pianoforte arrangement was dispatched to London several days ago to the house of Thomas Coutts, in London, whence you may fetch it. I beg you to be speedy as possible in printing it andinform me of the daywhen you purpose publishing it so that I may give timely notice of the fact to the publisher here—such great hurry is not necessary with the 3 works which follow and which you will receive soon and in the case of whichI shall take the libertyto fix the day:—Mr. Salomon willhave the goodness to explain to you more clearly why there is this greater haste in the matter of the Battle and Victory Symphony.

Awaiting a very speedy answer regardingthe day of publicationof the work which you have received.

I remain your obedient servant,Ludwig van Beethoven

A Dying Brother’s Injunction

We now reach one of the most important and at the same time most melancholy events in Beethoven’s life—an event which exerted the profoundest influence on the rest of his life—the death of his brother Karl. We introduce it with that brother’s last will and testament:

Certain that all men must die and feeling that I am near this goal, but in the full possession of my understanding, I have freely and voluntarily deemed it good to make these, my last dispositions.1. I commend my soul to the mercy of God, but my body to the earth from which it came and desire that it be buried in the simplest manner in accordance with the rites of Christian Catholicism.2. Immediately after my death, four holy masses are to be said, to which end I set apart 4 florins.3. My heirs general are commanded to pay the pious legacies according to law.4. As my wife at our marriage brought me and paid over 2000 fl. in B. bonds, for which I gave no receipt, I acknowledge receipt of these 2000 fl. in B. bonds and desire that these 2000 fl. in B. bonds as also the deposit be rectified in accordance with the existing marriage contract.5. I appoint my brother Ludwig van Beethoven guardian. Inasmuch as this, my deeply beloved brother has often aided me with true brotherly love in the most magnanimous and noblest manner, I ask, in full confidence and trust in his noble heart, that he shall bestow the love and friendship which he often showed me, upon my son Karl, and do all that is possible to promote the intellectual training and further welfare of my son. I know that he will not deny me this, my request.6. Convinced of the uprightness of Hrn. Dr. Schönauer, Appellate and Court Advocate, I appoint him Curator for probate, as also for my son Karl with the understanding that he be consulted in all matters concerning the property of my son.7. The appointment of heirs being the essential matter in a testament, I appoint my beloved wife Johanna, born Reiss, and my son Karl, heirs general to all my property in equal portions after the deduction of my existing debts and the above bequests.8. The wagon, horse, goat, peacocks and the plants growing in vessels in the garden are the property of my wife, since these objects were all purchased with money from the legacy received from her grandfather.In witness whereof, I have not only signed this, my last will with my own hand, but to aid in its execution have also called in three witnesses.Thus done, Vienna, November 14, 1815.Karl van Beethoven,m. p.Carl Gaber, m. p.House owner, Breitenfeld No. 9.Benedikt Gaber, m. p.House owner, Breitenfeld No. 25.Johann Naumann, m. p.House No. 5, Breitenfeld.(“This testament was delivered under seal to the R. I. L. Austrian General Court, by the Karl Scheffer Solicitor Dr. Schönauer, on November 17, 1815, etc.”)Codicil to my WillHaving learned that my brother, Hr Ludwig van Beethoven, desires after my death to take wholly to himself my son Karl, and wholly to withdraw him from the supervision and training of his mother, and inasmuch as the best of harmony does not exist between my brother and my wife, I have found it necessary to add to my will that I by no means desire that my son be taken away from his mother, but that he shall always and so long as his future career permits remain with his mother, to which end the guardianship of him is to be exercised by her as well as my brother. Only by unity can the object which I had in view in appointing my brother guardian of my son, be attained, wherefore, for the welfare of my child, I recommendcomplianceto my wife and moremoderationto my brother.God permit them to be harmonious for the sake of my child’s welfare. This is the last wish of the dying husband and brother.Vienna, November 14, 1815.Karl van Beethovenm. p.We, the undersigned, certify in consonance with truth that Karl van Beethoven declared in our presence that he had read the statement on the opposite page and that the same is in accordance with his will, finally we certify that he signed it with his own hand in our presence and requested us to witness the act.Thus done on November 14, 1815.Carl Gaber, m. p.Benedikt Gaber, m. p.Johann Neumann, m. p.(“This codicil was delivered under seal to the R. I. L. Austrian General Court by the Karl Scheffer Solicitor Dr. Schönauer, on Nov. 17, 1815, etc.”)

Certain that all men must die and feeling that I am near this goal, but in the full possession of my understanding, I have freely and voluntarily deemed it good to make these, my last dispositions.

1. I commend my soul to the mercy of God, but my body to the earth from which it came and desire that it be buried in the simplest manner in accordance with the rites of Christian Catholicism.

2. Immediately after my death, four holy masses are to be said, to which end I set apart 4 florins.

3. My heirs general are commanded to pay the pious legacies according to law.

4. As my wife at our marriage brought me and paid over 2000 fl. in B. bonds, for which I gave no receipt, I acknowledge receipt of these 2000 fl. in B. bonds and desire that these 2000 fl. in B. bonds as also the deposit be rectified in accordance with the existing marriage contract.

5. I appoint my brother Ludwig van Beethoven guardian. Inasmuch as this, my deeply beloved brother has often aided me with true brotherly love in the most magnanimous and noblest manner, I ask, in full confidence and trust in his noble heart, that he shall bestow the love and friendship which he often showed me, upon my son Karl, and do all that is possible to promote the intellectual training and further welfare of my son. I know that he will not deny me this, my request.

6. Convinced of the uprightness of Hrn. Dr. Schönauer, Appellate and Court Advocate, I appoint him Curator for probate, as also for my son Karl with the understanding that he be consulted in all matters concerning the property of my son.

7. The appointment of heirs being the essential matter in a testament, I appoint my beloved wife Johanna, born Reiss, and my son Karl, heirs general to all my property in equal portions after the deduction of my existing debts and the above bequests.

8. The wagon, horse, goat, peacocks and the plants growing in vessels in the garden are the property of my wife, since these objects were all purchased with money from the legacy received from her grandfather.

In witness whereof, I have not only signed this, my last will with my own hand, but to aid in its execution have also called in three witnesses.

Thus done, Vienna, November 14, 1815.

Karl van Beethoven,m. p.Carl Gaber, m. p.House owner, Breitenfeld No. 9.Benedikt Gaber, m. p.House owner, Breitenfeld No. 25.Johann Naumann, m. p.House No. 5, Breitenfeld.

(“This testament was delivered under seal to the R. I. L. Austrian General Court, by the Karl Scheffer Solicitor Dr. Schönauer, on November 17, 1815, etc.”)

Codicil to my Will

Having learned that my brother, Hr Ludwig van Beethoven, desires after my death to take wholly to himself my son Karl, and wholly to withdraw him from the supervision and training of his mother, and inasmuch as the best of harmony does not exist between my brother and my wife, I have found it necessary to add to my will that I by no means desire that my son be taken away from his mother, but that he shall always and so long as his future career permits remain with his mother, to which end the guardianship of him is to be exercised by her as well as my brother. Only by unity can the object which I had in view in appointing my brother guardian of my son, be attained, wherefore, for the welfare of my child, I recommendcomplianceto my wife and moremoderationto my brother.

God permit them to be harmonious for the sake of my child’s welfare. This is the last wish of the dying husband and brother.

Vienna, November 14, 1815.

Karl van Beethovenm. p.

We, the undersigned, certify in consonance with truth that Karl van Beethoven declared in our presence that he had read the statement on the opposite page and that the same is in accordance with his will, finally we certify that he signed it with his own hand in our presence and requested us to witness the act.

Thus done on November 14, 1815.

Carl Gaber, m. p.Benedikt Gaber, m. p.Johann Neumann, m. p.

(“This codicil was delivered under seal to the R. I. L. Austrian General Court by the Karl Scheffer Solicitor Dr. Schönauer, on Nov. 17, 1815, etc.”)

On November 20, 1815, the “Wiener Zeitung” printed the announcement: “Died on November 16, Hr. Karl van Beethoven, Cashier in the R. I. Bank and Chief Treasury, aged 38 years,[156]of consumption.” And so in his own house died the brother Karl whose last moments came with a suddenness which aroused his brother’s suspicions that the end had been hastened by poison! Nor would he be satisfied upon the matter until his friendBertolini had made apost mortemexamination “whereby the lack of foundation for the suspicion was proved.”

A few weeks before his death, Karl had applied for leave of absence from his office on the score of his feeble condition; but his petition was harshly refused in a document on which Beethoven afterwards wrote: “This miserable financial product caused the death of my brother.” In fact, however, it made probably little difference; his was evidently one of those common cases of phthisis, where the patient, except to the experienced eye, shows no signs of immediate danger; who at the last moments finds himself free from pain and blessed with a buoyancy of spirit that gives him vain hopes of prolonged life. It is the last flickering of the flame, as the skillful physician well knows.

As above noted, Karl van Beethoven’s will was deposited with the proper authorities on the 17th, and “the R. I. L. Austrian Landrecht (General Court) on November 22, 1815, appointed the widow of the deceased, Johanna van Beethoven, guardian, the brother of the deceased, Ludwig van Beethoven, associate guardian of the minor son Karl.” And so, for the present, we will leave the matter.[157]

And Breuning? Why during these years and especially in this time of sorrow does his name nowhere meet us? His son answers the question in that extremely interesting little volume “Aus dem Schwarzspanierhause.”[158]

Jacob Rösgen, an employee in the office of the Minister of War in which Breuning was a Secretary, had learned certain facts, or suspicions, in relation to Karl van Beethoven’s integrity, which he thought should be communicated to Ludwig as a warning “not to have anything to do with him in financial matters.” To this end he, having obtained Breuning’s word of honor not to make known the source of the information, imparted to him the whole matter. “Breuning faithfully performed the task which he had assumed; but Ludwig, in his tireless endeavor to better his brother,hastened to take him to task for his conduct and charge him with the acts which had been reported to him; he went so far, when pressed by his brother for the source of his information, as to mention the name of his friend Steffen. Kaspar (Karl) then appealed directly to my father and asked the name of the author of the ‘denunciation,’ and when my father resolutely declined to give the name (Rösgen) Kaspar indulged himself in abuse to such an extent that he left insulting letters addressed to him and unsealed with the portier of the Ministry of War. My father, angered and pained at this impertinence and Ludwig’s breach of confidence, read the latter a sharp lecture which ended with the declaration that because of such unreliability it would be impossible longer to hold association with him.”[159]It will be long before we meet Breuning again.

There is a striking incongruity between Beethoven’s pleas of poverty in his letters to correspondents in England at this period and the facts drawn from official and other authentic sources. Let us tarry a moment on this point.

A Period of Prosperity

He was now, at the end of 1815, in the regular receipt of his annuity, 3400 florins in notes of redemption; in March and April the arrears, 4987 florins in such notes, had been paid him; the profits of his concerts since January 1, 1814, with presents from crowned heads and others were, if we may trust Schindler, who appears to speak from accurate knowledge, sufficient in amount to purchase somewhat later the seven bank-shares, which at his death, “according to the price current on the day of his death,” had a value in convention-coin of 7441 florins; Neate had paid him 75 guineas; for the works sold to Steiner and Co. he had “been wholly compensated”; in March (1816) he received from Mr. Birchall 65 pounds sterling; and there were payments to him from Thomson and others, the aggregate of which cannot be determined.

This incongruity is not essentially diminished either by his taxes—sixty pounds for 1814, he tells Thomson—nor by the 10,000 florins W. W. expended for the benefit of his brother, whether the “Wiener Währung” in the letter to Ries be understood as the old five for one, or the new in notes of redemption; for this fraternal charity extended back over a series of years. In this letter to Ries, the reader will observe also a remarkable instance of its writer’s occasional great carelessness of statement, where he speaks of his “entire loss of salary” for several years; for the Archduke’s share had throughout been punctually paid; notto mention again the receipt of what had for a time been withheld of the Kinsky and Lobkowitz subscriptions. The omission of these facts in this and other letters, imparted to Ries an utterly false impression; and on their publication in 1838, to the public also. Hence the general belief that Beethoven was now in very straitened circumstances, and that Karl’s widow and child had been left in abject poverty; the truth as to them being this: that the property left them produced an annual income, which with the widow’s pension amounted at this time to above 1500 florins. From the day that Beethoven assumed the office of guardian and took possession of the child, he had a valid claim upon the mother for a part of the costs of maintaining him—a claim soon made good by legal process. If he afterward elected to suffer in his own finances rather than press his sister-in-law, this is no justification of the heedless statements in some of his letters now—a truth to be held in mind. And now the letter to Ferdinand Ries:

Wednesday, November 22, Vienna, 1815.Dear R!I hasten to write you that I to-day sent the pianoforte arrangement of the Symphony in A by post to the house of Thomas Coutts and Co., as the Court is not here, couriers go not at all or seldom, and this besides is the safest way. The Symphony should appear toward the end of March, I will fix the day, it has occupied too much time for me to make the term shorter,—more time may be taken with the Trio and the Sonata for violin, and both will be in London in a few weeks—I urgently beg of you, dear Ries! to make this matter your concern and to see that I get the money; it will cost a great deal before everything gets there and I need it—I had to lose 600 fl. annually of my salary, at the time of the bank-notes it was nothing then came the notes of redemption and because of them I lost the 600 fl. with several years of vexation and entire loss of salary—now we have reached a point where the notes of redemption are worse than the bank-notes were before; I pay 1000 fl. for house-rent; figure to yourself of the misery caused by paper money. My poor unfortunate brother has just died; he had a bad wife, I may say he had consumption for several years, and to make life easier for him I gave what I may estimate at 10,000 fl. W. W. True, that is nothing for an Englishman, but very much for a poor German, or rather Austrian. The poor man had changed greatly in the last few years and I can say that I sincerely lament him, and I am now glad that I can now say to myself that I neglected nothing in respect of care for him. Tell Mr. Birchall to repay Mr. Salomon and you the cost of postage for your letters to me and mine to you; he may deduct it from the sum which he is to pay me, I want those who labor for me to suffer as little as possible.Wellington’s Victory at the Battle of Vittoria, this is also the title on the pianoforte arrangement, must have reached Th. Coutts and Co. long ago. Mr. Birchall need not pay the honorarium until he has received all the works, make haste so that I may know the day when Mr. Birchall will publish the pianoforte arrangement. For to-day, no more except the warmest commendation of my affairs to you; I am always at your service in all respects. Farewell, Dear R!

Wednesday, November 22, Vienna, 1815.

Dear R!

I hasten to write you that I to-day sent the pianoforte arrangement of the Symphony in A by post to the house of Thomas Coutts and Co., as the Court is not here, couriers go not at all or seldom, and this besides is the safest way. The Symphony should appear toward the end of March, I will fix the day, it has occupied too much time for me to make the term shorter,—more time may be taken with the Trio and the Sonata for violin, and both will be in London in a few weeks—I urgently beg of you, dear Ries! to make this matter your concern and to see that I get the money; it will cost a great deal before everything gets there and I need it—I had to lose 600 fl. annually of my salary, at the time of the bank-notes it was nothing then came the notes of redemption and because of them I lost the 600 fl. with several years of vexation and entire loss of salary—now we have reached a point where the notes of redemption are worse than the bank-notes were before; I pay 1000 fl. for house-rent; figure to yourself of the misery caused by paper money. My poor unfortunate brother has just died; he had a bad wife, I may say he had consumption for several years, and to make life easier for him I gave what I may estimate at 10,000 fl. W. W. True, that is nothing for an Englishman, but very much for a poor German, or rather Austrian. The poor man had changed greatly in the last few years and I can say that I sincerely lament him, and I am now glad that I can now say to myself that I neglected nothing in respect of care for him. Tell Mr. Birchall to repay Mr. Salomon and you the cost of postage for your letters to me and mine to you; he may deduct it from the sum which he is to pay me, I want those who labor for me to suffer as little as possible.

Wellington’s Victory at the Battle of Vittoria, this is also the title on the pianoforte arrangement, must have reached Th. Coutts and Co. long ago. Mr. Birchall need not pay the honorarium until he has received all the works, make haste so that I may know the day when Mr. Birchall will publish the pianoforte arrangement. For to-day, no more except the warmest commendation of my affairs to you; I am always at your service in all respects. Farewell, Dear R!

On the same day he wrote to Birchall:

Vienna, November 22, 1815.Enclosed you are receiving the pianoforte arrangement of the Symphony in A. The pianoforte arrangement of the Symph. Wellington’s Victory at the Battle of Vittoria was dispatched 4 weeks ago by the business messenger, Hrn. Neumann, to Messrs. Coutts and Co., and therefore must long ago have been in your hands.You will receive also the Trio and Sonata in a fortnight in exchange for which you will please pay to Messrs. Thomas Coutts and Co. the sum of 130 gold ducats. I beg of you to make haste with the publication of these musical compositions and to inform me of the day of publication of the Wellington Symphony, so that I may make my arrangements here accordingly. With great respect I remain,Yours truly,Ludwig van Beethoven, m. p.

Vienna, November 22, 1815.

Enclosed you are receiving the pianoforte arrangement of the Symphony in A. The pianoforte arrangement of the Symph. Wellington’s Victory at the Battle of Vittoria was dispatched 4 weeks ago by the business messenger, Hrn. Neumann, to Messrs. Coutts and Co., and therefore must long ago have been in your hands.

You will receive also the Trio and Sonata in a fortnight in exchange for which you will please pay to Messrs. Thomas Coutts and Co. the sum of 130 gold ducats. I beg of you to make haste with the publication of these musical compositions and to inform me of the day of publication of the Wellington Symphony, so that I may make my arrangements here accordingly. With great respect I remain,

Yours truly,Ludwig van Beethoven, m. p.

The Trio and Sonata, however, were not forwarded until the 3d of the next February—a decidedly long “fortnight.”

In those days £65 was no small sum for the mere right of republication in England of these pianoforte works and arrangements, and Ries richly merited these words of his old master: “And now my heartiest thanks, dear Ries, for all the kindness you have shown to me, and particularly for the corrections. Heaven bless you and make your progress even greater, in which I take a cordial interest.”

Becomes an Honorary Citizen of Vienna

About the first of December, “a magisterial deputation solemnly delivered” into the hands of Beethoven a certificate conferring upon him the citizenship of Vienna in acknowledgment of his benevolent services in behalf of St. Mark’s Hospital. Ries, writing on September 29th for Salomon, who had broken his right shoulder in a fall from his horse, informs Beethoven that at that date the three overtures purchased by Neate for the Philharmonic Society had not reached London. Beethoven, in December, repeats this to Neate, who was still in Vienna, adding, in substance, his readiness to make any desired written agreement about these things in England. Salomon’s misfortune occurred in August; he lingered only until the 25th of November. No higher proof of his reputation in England can be given than the fact that the remains of this Bonn violinist rest near those of Handel in Westminster Abbey.

Schindler somewhere censures theGesellschaft der Musikfreundefor its long delay in making Beethoven an honorarymember. It did what was better. Hardly was it organized, when its directors turned their attention to him; and, in the second year of its legal existence, proposed to him through Zmeskall to compose an oratorio for its use. On the 22d of December, Count Appony reported: “that Hr. L. v. Beethoven, through Hrn. v. Zmeskall, had declared his readiness to deliver a large work to the society and that the Board of Management were awaiting his conditions.” It was but the course of common propriety—of ordinary delicacy—to leave him free of all obligation to the society until this matter of business should be settled; indeed, that Streicher was one of the principal founders and most influential members of the society is a sufficient pledge, that no disrespect for, nor indifference to, his great merits, had aught to do with the delay, which Schindler blames. We shall find that, so soon as it was certain that Beethoven could not live to fulfill his engagement, the society sent him its honorary diploma. Could it well do this before?

Of noteworthy new friends and acquaintances may be mentioned here Peters, tutor of the young Princes Lobkowitz, and Carl Joseph Bernard, a young literateur and poet—the reviser of Weissenbach’s poem—a great admirer of Beethoven’s music, soon to be appointed Editor of the official “Wiener Zeitung.” He is the “Bernardus non Sanctus” of the Conversation Books; and the two are the friends whom Beethoven set to music in the text:

Sanct Petrus war ein Fels!Bernardus war ein Sanct??[160]

Another was Anton Halm, “in whose fresh military nature Master Ludwig took delight,” says Schindler. He was a native of Styria, and now but twenty-six years of age. After some years’ service against Napoleon, he had resigned (1812) his lieutenancy in the 44th Regiment. He was a pianoforte player of very respectable rank, and even before entering the army had appeared in public in Beethoven’s C minor Trio, Op. 1, and the C major Pianoforte Concerto, Op. 15. He had now been three years in Hungary, living during the third with his friend, Brunswick, who gave him a letter to Beethoven upon his departure for Vienna, whither he had come to be tutor in a Greek family named Gyike. “Halm once brought a sonata of his own composition to him,” says Czerny, “and when Beethoven pointed out a few errors, Halm retorted that he (B.) had also permitted himself many violations of the rules, Beethoven answered: ‘I may do it, but not you.’”

Growing Intercourse with Schindler

Young Schindler’s acquaintance with Beethoven had now advanced a step:

Toward the end of February, 1815 (Schindler writes), I accepted an invitation to become tutor at Brünn. Scarcely arrived there, I was summoned before the police officials. I was questioned as to my relations with some of the tumultuaries of the Vienna University as also certain Italians in whose company I had often been seen in Vienna. As my identification papers, especially the statement concerning the different lectures which I had attended, were not in good order, the latter really faulty—through no fault of mine—I was detained, notwithstanding that a government officer of high standing offered to become my bondsman. After several weeks of correspondence back and forth it was learned that I was not a propagandist and was to be set at liberty. But a whole year of my academic career was lost.Again returned to Vienna, I was invited by one of Beethoven’s intimate acquaintances to come to an appointed place, as the master wanted to hear the story of the Brünn happening from my own lips. During the relation, Beethoven manifested such sympathetic interest in my disagreeable experiences that I could not refrain from tears. He invited me to come often to the same place and at the same hour, 4 o’clock in the afternoon, where he was to be found nearly every day—reading the newspapers. A handgrasp said still more. The place was a somewhat remote room in the beer-house “Zum Rosenstock” in the Ballgässchen. I was there right often and came to know the place as a quasi-crypt of a number of Josephites of the first water, to whom our master presented no discordant note, for his republican creed had already received a considerable blow through a more intimate acquaintance with the English Constitution. A captain of the Emperor’s bodyguard and Herr Pinterics, widely known in musical Vienna, who played an important rôle in the life of Franz Schubert, were the closest companions of the master and, in the exchange of political views, his seconds actively and passively. From this place I soon began to accompany him on his walks.

Again returned to Vienna, I was invited by one of Beethoven’s intimate acquaintances to come to an appointed place, as the master wanted to hear the story of the Brünn happening from my own lips. During the relation, Beethoven manifested such sympathetic interest in my disagreeable experiences that I could not refrain from tears. He invited me to come often to the same place and at the same hour, 4 o’clock in the afternoon, where he was to be found nearly every day—reading the newspapers. A handgrasp said still more. The place was a somewhat remote room in the beer-house “Zum Rosenstock” in the Ballgässchen. I was there right often and came to know the place as a quasi-crypt of a number of Josephites of the first water, to whom our master presented no discordant note, for his republican creed had already received a considerable blow through a more intimate acquaintance with the English Constitution. A captain of the Emperor’s bodyguard and Herr Pinterics, widely known in musical Vienna, who played an important rôle in the life of Franz Schubert, were the closest companions of the master and, in the exchange of political views, his seconds actively and passively. From this place I soon began to accompany him on his walks.

But Schindler’s intimacy with Beethoven was not yet such as to save him from errors when writing of this time. Thus he gravely assures us that a concert which took place on the 25th of December “provided the impulse which led the Magistracy of Vienna to elect our master to honorary citizenship.” And yet the “solemn delivery” of the diploma is already an item of news in the Vienna newspapers of December 15. This concert, in the large Ridotto room, conducted by Beethoven was for the benefit of theBürgerspitalfond(Citizens’ Hospital Fund) and the works performed were “an entirely new overture” (that in C, known as the “Namensfeier”); “a new chorus on Goethe’s poem ‘Die Meeresstille’”; “Christus am Ölberg.” Between the cantata and the oratorio, Franz Stauffer, “the twelve-year-old son of a citizen of Vienna,” played a “Rondo brillant” by Hummel.

The compositions which are known or, on good grounds, are supposed to belong to the year 1815 are:

1. “15 Scottish Songs, in the month of May,” arranged for Thomson; but they are not all Scottish.2. Chorus: “Es ist vollbracht”; for Treitschke’s “Ehrenpforte.”3. Two Sonatas for Pianoforte and Violoncello; C major and D major, Op. 102; in July and August.4. Chorus with orchestra: “Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt”; text by Goethe; Op. 112.5. Song: “Das Geheimniss”; text by Weissenberg.6. Song: “An die Hoffnung”; text by Tiedge; Op. 94 (probably finished).7. Canons:“Das Reden,” “Das Schweigen” and “Glück zum neuen Jahre.”[161]

1. “15 Scottish Songs, in the month of May,” arranged for Thomson; but they are not all Scottish.

2. Chorus: “Es ist vollbracht”; for Treitschke’s “Ehrenpforte.”

3. Two Sonatas for Pianoforte and Violoncello; C major and D major, Op. 102; in July and August.

4. Chorus with orchestra: “Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt”; text by Goethe; Op. 112.

5. Song: “Das Geheimniss”; text by Weissenberg.

6. Song: “An die Hoffnung”; text by Tiedge; Op. 94 (probably finished).

7. Canons:“Das Reden,” “Das Schweigen” and “Glück zum neuen Jahre.”[161]

The ascertained publications of the year are:

1. Polonaise, in C major, Op. 89; published by Mechetti, in March.2. Sonata for Pianoforte, E minor, Op. 90; by Steiner, in June.3. Song: “Des Kriegers Abschied,” text by C. L. Reissig; by Mechetti, in June.4. Chorus: “Es ist vollbracht,” pianoforte arrangement; by Steiner in July.

1. Polonaise, in C major, Op. 89; published by Mechetti, in March.

2. Sonata for Pianoforte, E minor, Op. 90; by Steiner, in June.

3. Song: “Des Kriegers Abschied,” text by C. L. Reissig; by Mechetti, in June.

4. Chorus: “Es ist vollbracht,” pianoforte arrangement; by Steiner in July.

The Year 1816—Guardianship of the Nephew—Giannatasio del Rio—Beethoven’s Works in London—Birchall and Neate—New Distinctions.

Compared with the years immediately preceding, the year 1816 is comparatively barren of large incidents in the life of Beethoven; its recorded history, therefore, is to be found to a still larger extent than before in the composer’s extended correspondence together with explanatory annotations. Some of the letters, especially those written to his English friends, are likely to make a somewhat melancholy, and to that extent erroneous, impression. The real record of the writer finds expression in the letters which he wrote to Steiner and Co. and Zmeskall. These are bubbling over with playfulness and jocularity, proving that the writer was generally in a cheerful humor and in this year was anything but the melancholy Beethoven of the romance writers. He seems to have endured the rapid and disquieting increase in his malady, an inevitable consequence of the exertions and excitement attending the rehearsing and conducting of so many large concerts, with surprising patience and resignation. And why not? His pecuniary affairs were in good condition, notwithstanding his lamentations to Ries and others; he had won his lawsuit with his brother’s widow, and his artistic ambition must have found complete satisfaction in the great fame which he had won. A letter concerning a new operatic project first invites attention. The eight rôles which Madame Milder had played in the past summer in Berlin, had given such keen delight that she had been reëngaged for a second and much longer series. Domestic troubles and sorrows, in which her husband, the jeweler Hauptmann, appears to have been entirely the guilty party and which embittered all her future life, rendered her utterly unable for the present to appear upon the stage; and “because of illness and weakness” it was not until several weeks after her return from the baths at Pyrmont that she could begin the new engagement onOctober 3d. Meantime “Fidelio” had been put upon the boards and “given for the first time on October 11th with great success.” “This opera,” said the Berlin “Dramaturgisches Wochenblatt” in its notice of the event, “bears within itself the seeds of a dramatico-musical reformation and will hasten the end of the bastard music.” And yet on this evening, theLeonorewas Mad. Schultze—Schuppanzigh’s sister-in-law. When, three days after, Mad. Milder took the part, its greatness was for the first time fully appreciated; and of the twenty-four evenings to which her engagement extended, this greatest representative then living of Gluck’s grandest inspirations devoted eleven to “Fidelio.” This triumph of his opera in Berlin, drew from the composer a letter (dated January 6, 1816) full of expressions of gratitude and enthusiastic appreciation of the singer’s talents, and giving voice too, to a rekindled dramatic ambition. He says:

If you were to beg Baron de la Motte Fouqué—in my name—to invent a grand opera subject which would at the same time be adapted to you, you would do a great service to me and the German stage. I should like, moreover, to compose it exclusively for the Berlin stage as I shall never bring about another opera for the parsimonious management here.

The next letter relates to the oratorio for the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde:

My dear Zmeskall!With dread I observe for the first time to-day that I have not yet answered the application of the Gesellschaft der Musif. of the Austrian capital for an oratorio.The death of my brother two months ago, the guardianship of my nephew which thereby devolved upon me, together with many other unpleasant circumstances and occurrences are the cause of my tardy writing. Meanwhile the poem by H. von Seyfried is already begun and I shall also soon set the same to music. That the commission is highly honorable, I scarcely need tell you; that is self-evident and I shall try to execute it as worthily as my small powers will allow.As regards the artistic means to be employed in the performance I shall be considerate, but do not wish not to be allowed to depart from those already introduced. I hope that I have made myself understood in this matter. As they insist upon knowing what honorarium I ask, I inquire in turn whether the Society thinks 400 ducats in gold agreeable for such a work. I again beg pardon of the society for the tardiness of my answer; meanwhile, you my dear friend have at least reported by word of mouth my readiness to compose the work, before this, which sets my mind measurably at ease—My dear Z.Your B.

My dear Zmeskall!

With dread I observe for the first time to-day that I have not yet answered the application of the Gesellschaft der Musif. of the Austrian capital for an oratorio.

The death of my brother two months ago, the guardianship of my nephew which thereby devolved upon me, together with many other unpleasant circumstances and occurrences are the cause of my tardy writing. Meanwhile the poem by H. von Seyfried is already begun and I shall also soon set the same to music. That the commission is highly honorable, I scarcely need tell you; that is self-evident and I shall try to execute it as worthily as my small powers will allow.

As regards the artistic means to be employed in the performance I shall be considerate, but do not wish not to be allowed to depart from those already introduced. I hope that I have made myself understood in this matter. As they insist upon knowing what honorarium I ask, I inquire in turn whether the Society thinks 400 ducats in gold agreeable for such a work. I again beg pardon of the society for the tardiness of my answer; meanwhile, you my dear friend have at least reported by word of mouth my readiness to compose the work, before this, which sets my mind measurably at ease—My dear Z.

Your B.

The next selections require the preliminary statement of certain facts. Beethoven’s dissatisfaction at the appointment(on November 22d) of his sister-in-law as the guardian of her son—now nine years old—was expressed in an appeal to the Upper AustrianLandrechton the 28th, to transfer the guardianship to himself. Next day, the 29th, that tribunal ordered the petitioner and Dr. Schönauer to appear before it in this matter on December 2d at 10 o’clock a. m. At that time the subject was deferred to the same hour on the 13th. Beethoven then appeared and declared that he could produce “weighty reasons why the widow should be entirely excluded from the guardianship.” Whereupon, on the 15th, it was ordered that he produce those grounds within three days, “failing which, the preparation of the guardianship decree to the widow would be proceeded with without further delay.” The same day Beethoven signed a petition to the City Magistrates for an official certificate concerning the “condemnation of his (Karl’s) mother, Johanna van Beethoven, on an investigation for infidelity.” The magistrate answered him on the same day through their secretary that they could not legally grant him a copy of the judgment against her, but would communicate the “necessary disclosures” to the tribunal. This was done on the 21st. Then came the Christmas holidays, and no further action was taken until the 9th of January, when a decision was rendered in Beethoven’s favor, and he was ordered to appear on the 19th to take the “vows for the performance of his duties.” He complied, and on the outside of this order is written:

To-day appeared Ludwig van Beethoven as the legally appointed guardian of his nephew Carl and vowed with solemn handgrasp before the assembled council to perform his duties.

The Nephew Taken from His Mother

This document also empowered the new guardian to take possession of the boy, who of course was still with his mother. But what to do with him? Beethoven could not take him into his own lodging; a child of that age needs a woman’s care and tenderness.

A certain Cajetan Giannatasio del Rio was at that time proprietor and manager of a private school in the city for boys, which enjoyed a high and deserved reputation. His family consisted of his wife and two highly accomplished daughters, young women of fine talents, of much musical taste and culture, and—especially the eldest—enthusiasts for Beethoven’s music. The composer, accompanied by Bernard and the boy, visited and inspected the school, and was so much pleased with it and the family, that he determined to withdraw his nephew from the public school, and place him there as pupil and boarder. On February 1st, he wrote to Giannatasio:

With sincere pleasure I inform you that at last on to-morrow I shall bring to you the precious pledge that has been intrusted to me. Moreover I beg of you again under no circumstances to permit the mother to exercise any influence, now or when she may see him, all this I will talk over with you to-morrow. You may impress this also on your servants, forminein another matter wasbribedby her! More by word of mouth though silence would be preferable to me—but for the sake of your future citizen of the world, this melancholy communication is necessary.[In Karl’s hand]: I am very glad to come to you, and am your Carl van Beethoven.

[In Karl’s hand]: I am very glad to come to you, and am your Carl van Beethoven.

The next day, February 2, the boy was taken from his mother. The intolerable annoyance caused by her appearing in person or sending a messenger daily to take him from the school, drew from Giannatasio on the 11th a written application to the guardian for “a formal authority in a few lines for refusing without further ado to permit her to fetch her son.” In his reply, Beethoven writes: “as regards the mother I request that on the plea that he is busy you do not admit her to him at all.” He then consulted Joseph Edler von Schmerling, a member of theLandrecht, upon the measures proper for him to adopt, and communicated that gentleman’s advice to Giannatasio by letter, on the morning of the 15th. The same day, taking Bernard with him, he went to the school, and there meeting Giannatasio, the three prepared a formal petition to theLandrecht, praying that tribunal to grant the guardian plenary authority to exclude the widow and her agents from all or any direct communication with the boy. This was signed by Beethoven and immediately presented. On the 20th, theLandrechtgranted, essentially, this petition; but its decree contained this proviso: that the mother might still visit her son “in his leisure hours, without disturbing the course of his education or the domestic arrangements, in the company of a person to be appointed by the guardian or the director of the educational institution.” Armed with this authority, Giannatasio on March 8th informed in writing “Madame Jeannette de Beethoven, Vorstadt, Alsergasse, No. 121,” that she has in future “to apply solely to the uncle as to whether, how and when” she can see her son. And thus this wretched business again for the present rested. In these days belongs a letter by Beethoven to Giannatasio:

The Queen of Night surprised us yesterday and also delivered a veritable anathema against you; she showed her usual impertinence and malice against me and set me back for a moment and I almost believed that what she said was right, but when I reached home later I received the result of the decision of the L. R. which turns out to be just what wasdesired and I communicate the most necessary point, although you will probably receive acopy of ittowards evening....

Neate was now gone to London. On his departure Beethoven wrote in his album two canons entitled “Das Schweigen” (Silence) and “Das Reden” (Speech), adding with the date, “January 24, 1816,” the words:

My dear English compatriot insilenceand inspeechremember your sincere friendLudwig van Beethoven.

My dear English compatriot insilenceand inspeechremember your sincere friend

Ludwig van Beethoven.

The London Philharmonic Buys Overtures

The document concerning the sale of the three overtures to the Philharmonic Society which Beethoven promised to give Neate (which Moscheles printed in his paraphrase of Schindler’s biography in translation, as if it had been written in English and not altogether correctly)[162]ran as follows:

In the month of July, 1816 [sic] Mr. Neate in the name of the Philharmonic Society in London, received from me 3 overtures and paid me for the same an honorarium of 75 guineas in consideration of which I bind myself not to permit them to be published in parts[163]anywhere, though the right is reserved by me to perform them wherever I please as well as to publish them in pianoforte arrangement though not before Mr. Neate shall have written to me that they have been performed in London. Moreover, Mr. Neate has assured me that he will kindly take it upon himself (to assure me) that the Philharmonic Society will give me permission after a lapse of one or two years to publish the 3 overtures in score and parts, inasmuch as I can do this only with their consent, with which I present my compliments to the P. S.Ludwig van Beethoven.Vienna, February 5, 1816.

Ludwig van Beethoven.

Vienna, February 5, 1816.

The three overtures had already been sold to Steiner, but were not published till six years later. The works entrusted to him, as remembered by Mr. Neate forty-five years afterwards, were: 1. A copy of the Violin Concerto, Op. 61, with a transcription of the solo for Pianoforte on the same pages, which Beethoven said he himself had arranged and was effective; 2. The two Sonatas for Pianoforte and Violoncello, Op. 102, with a dedication to Neate; 3. The Seventh Symphony in score; 4. “Fidelio” in score; and 5. The String Quartet in F minor, Op. 95—all in manuscript. There is some reason to think that besides these works Neate also took a copy of “Der glorreiche Augenblick.” On January 20, Beethoven wrote the following letter to Ries in London:[164]

Vienna, January 20, 1816.My dear Ries:I see from your letter of January 18, that you have safely received the two things—as no couriers are going, the post is safest, but it costs a great deal, I will send you the bill for what I have paid here for copying and postage soon, it is very little for an Englishman but all the more for a poor Austrian musician!See that Mr. B.[165]recompenses me for this, since he has the compositions for England very cheaply. Neate, who has been about to go every moment, but always remains, will bring the overtures with him, I have always communicated to him the injunctions touching them given by you and our deceased S.[166]—the symphony will be dedicated to the Empress of Russia. The pianoforte arrangement of the Symphony in A must not be published before the month of June, the publisher cannot be earlier—tell this at once to B. my dear good R.The Sonata with violin, which will go from here by the next post, may also be published in London in the month of May—but the Trio later. (It will also arrive by the next post) I will fix the date myself later.And now my heartiest thanks dear Ries, for all the kindness you have shown to me and particularly for the corrections. Heaven bless you and make your progress ever greater in which I take a cordial interest—commend me to yourwife.

Vienna, January 20, 1816.

My dear Ries:

I see from your letter of January 18, that you have safely received the two things—as no couriers are going, the post is safest, but it costs a great deal, I will send you the bill for what I have paid here for copying and postage soon, it is very little for an Englishman but all the more for a poor Austrian musician!

See that Mr. B.[165]recompenses me for this, since he has the compositions for England very cheaply. Neate, who has been about to go every moment, but always remains, will bring the overtures with him, I have always communicated to him the injunctions touching them given by you and our deceased S.[166]—the symphony will be dedicated to the Empress of Russia. The pianoforte arrangement of the Symphony in A must not be published before the month of June, the publisher cannot be earlier—tell this at once to B. my dear good R.

The Sonata with violin, which will go from here by the next post, may also be published in London in the month of May—but the Trio later. (It will also arrive by the next post) I will fix the date myself later.

And now my heartiest thanks dear Ries, for all the kindness you have shown to me and particularly for the corrections. Heaven bless you and make your progress ever greater in which I take a cordial interest—commend me to yourwife.

It is necessary here to state certain facts, both to explain the failure of Mr. Neate to sell any of these works to the London publishers, and to render some of the letters to come intelligible.

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