fry'Off-l't'^/'-.'-f-i'zfy., >-f^'.f mr^riTT • ;ri: THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES LUIIART. The Life of Ludwig van Beethoven By Alexander Wheelock Thayer Edited, revised and amended from the original English manuscript and the German editions of Hermann Deiters and Hugo Riemann, con- cluded, and all the documents newly translated By Henry Edward Krehbiel Volume II Published by The Beethoven Association New York SECOND PRIX TING Copyright, 1921, By Henry Edward Krehbiel From the press of G. Schirmer, Inc., New York rrinted in the U. S. A. PAGE Music Library ML Contents of Volume II Chapter I. The Year 1803 — Cherubini's Operas in Vienna and Rivalry between Schikaneder and the Imperial Theatres — Beethoven's Engagement at the Theater- an-der-Wien — "Christus am Olberg" again — Bridge- tower and the "Kreutzer" Sonata — Career of the Violinist — Negotiations with Thomson for the Scottish Songs — New Friends — Willibrord Mahler's Portrait of Beethoven — Compositions of the Year — A Pianoforte from Erard 1 Chapter IL The Year 1804 — Schikaneder Sells His Theatre and is then Dismissed from the Manage- ment — Beethoven's Contract Ended and Renewed by Baron Braun — The "Sinfonia Eroica" — Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia — Quarrel between Beethoven and von Breuning — The "Waldstein" Sonata — Sonnleith- ^ ner, Treitschke and Gaveaux — Paer and His Opera "Leonora" — "Fidelio" Begun — Beethoven's Growing PbpTriarity-=— Publications of the Year 22 Chapter HI. The Year 1805 — Schuppanzigh's First Quar- tet Concerts — First Public Performance of the "Eroica" — Pleyel — The Opera "Leonore," or "Fidelio"; Jahn's Study of the Sketchbook — The Singers and the Production — Vienna Abandoned by the Aristocracy as French Advance — Rockel's Story of the Revision of the Opera — Compositions and Publications of the Year 41 Chapter IV. The Year 1806— Repetitions of "Fidelio": A Revision of the Book by von Breuning — Changes i^ in the Opera — The "Leonore" Overtures — A Second Failure — Beethoven Withdraws the Opera from the Theatre — Marriage of Karl Kaspar van Beethoven — A Journey to Silesia — Beethoven Leaves Prince Lich- nowsky's Country-seat in Anger — George Thomson and His Scottish Songs — Compositions and Publications of [v] 1^ O '^ ^n^ "^ _k_ V_' '5_ C^"0/''*a> vi Contents of Volume II the Year — The "Appassionata" Sonata and Rasoiimowi sky Quartets — Reception of the Quartets in Russia and England — The Concerto for Violin 57 Chapter V. Beethoven's Friends and Patrons in the First Lustrum of the Nineteenth Century — Archduke Rudolph, an Imperial Pupil — Count Andreas Rasou- mowsky — Countess Erdody — Baroness Ertmann — Marie Bigot — Therese Malfatti — Nanette Streicher — Doctor Zizius — Anecdotes 78 Chapter VI. Princes and Counts as Theatrical Direc- tors : Beethoven Appeals for an Appointment — Vain Expectations — Subscription Concerts at Prince Lobko- witz's — The Symphony in B-flat — Overture to "Corio- lan" — Contract with Clementi — Errors in the Dates of Important Letters — The Mass in C — ^A Falling-out with Hummel — The "Leonore" Overtures again — Per- formances of Beethoven's Works at the "Liebhaber" Concerts— The Year 1807 98 Chapter VII. The Year 1808 — Johann van Beethoven Collects a Debt and Buys an Apothecary Shop in Linz — Wilhelm Rust — Plans for New Operas — Sketches for "Macbeth" — Imitative Music and the "Pastoral" Symphony — Count Oppersdorff and the Fourth Sym- phony — A Call to Cassel — Organization of Rasoumow- sky's Quartet — Appreciation of Beethoven in Vienna: Disagreement with Orchestral Musicians — Mishaps at the Performance of the Choral Fantasia 114 Chapter \TIL Jerome Bonaparte's Invitation — A New Plan to Keep Beethoven in Vienna — The Annuity Con- tract — Ries's Disappointment — Farewell to Archduke Rudolph in a Sonata — The Siege and Capitulation of Vienna — Seyfried's "Studies" — Reissig's Songs — An Abandoned Concert — Commission for Music to "Eg- mont" — Increased Cost of Living in Vienna — Dilatory Debtors— Products of 1809 135 Chapter IX. The Years 1807-09 : a Retrospect— Beet- hoven's IntclN^ctual Development and Attainments : Growth after Ein.inripation from Domestic Cares — His Natural Disposition — Eager in S«'lf-Instniction — In- terest in Oriental Studies— His Religious Beliefs — Atti- tude towards the Church 163 Contents of Volume II vii Chapter X. The Year 1810 — Disappointing Decrease in Productivity — The Music for "Egmont" — Money from Clementi, and a Marriage Project — A New Infatuation Prompts Attention to Dress — Therese Malfatti — Beethoven's Relations with Bettina von Arnim — Her Correspondence with Goethe — A Question of Authen- ticity Discussed — Beethoven's Letter to Bettina — An Active Year with the Pubhshers 170 Chapter XI. The Year 1811 — Bettina von Arnim — The Letters between Beethoven and Goethe — The Great Trio in B-flat — Music for a New Theatre in Pesth: "The Ruins of Athens" and "King Stephen"— Com- positions and Pubhcations of the Year 196 Chapter XII. The Year 1812 — Reduction of Income from the Annuity — The Austrian "Finanzpatent" — Legal Obligation of the Signers to the Agreement — First Performance of the Pianoforte Concerto in E-flat — A Second Visit to Teplitz — Beethoven and Goethe — Amalie Sebald — Beethoven in Linz — He Drives His Brother Johann into a Detested Marriage — Rode and the Sonata Op. 96 — Spohr — The Seventh and Eighth Symphonies — Malzel and His Metronome — A Canon* and the Allegretto of the Eighth Symphony 211 Chapter XIII. The Year 1813 — Beethoven's Journal — • Illness of Karl Kaspar van Beethoven — He Requests the Appointment of His Brother as Guardian of His Son — Death of Prince Kinsky — Obligations under the Annuity Agreement — Beethoven's Earnings — Malzel and "Wellington's Victory" — Battle Pieces and Their- — — Popularity — Postponement of the Projected Visit to London — The Seventh Symphony — Spohr on Beet- hoven's Conducting — Concerts, Compositions and Pub- lications of the Year 239 Chapter XIV. The Year 1814— Success of "Wellington's Victory" — Umlauf Rescues a Performance — Revival /" and Revision of "Fidelio" — Changes Made in the fr Opera — Success Attained — The Eighth Symphony — Beethoven Plays in the Great Trio in B-flat — ^Anton Schindler Appears on the Scene — The Quarrel with Malzel — Legal Controversy and Compromise — Mo- scheles and the Pianoforte Score of "Fidelio" — The ^J viii Contexts of Volume II Vienna Congress — Tribute from a Scottish Poet — "Weis- senbach — Tomaschek — Meyerbeer — Rasoumowsky's Palace Destroyed by Fire 261 Chapter XV. The Year 1815 — New Opera Projects Con- sidered — "Romulus and Remus" — Settlements with the Heirs of Prince Kinsky — Unjust Aspersions on the Conduct of Kinsky and Lobkowitz — "The ]\Iount of Olives" in England — Negotiations with English Pub- lishers — Diabelli — Charles Neate — Death of Karl Kaspar van Beethoven — His Wishes with regard to the Guar- dianship of His Son — Growth of Beethoven's Intimacy with Schindler — Compositions and Publications of the Year 3(M, Chapter XVI. The Year 1816 — A Commission from the Ge- sellschaft der Musikfreunde — Guardianship of Nephew Karl — Giannatasio del Rio — Beethoven's Music in London — The Philharmonic Society — Three Overtures Composey rzcrny is also intorosting: "In the Sonata wrillt-n for nriilK<'t<p i r /yr , F i ^^ p^ i.t said to Im" Itorrowi-d from a picfp of Krent/.er's already in print. I had this assur- ance immediately after the puMication of tlie Hi-etlinven Sonata from a French musi- cian nHO.5). It would \m' worth while to in vesti^;iite the matter. Perhaps therein lies the rra.*on of il.s c|<-dication." .\nd further: "Mridiri-towcr was a muhilto and played very extravagantly; when he played the sonata with Hccthoven it was laughed at." The Career of Bridgetower , 11 Bridgetower, when advanced in years, talking with Mr. Thirlw^all about Beethoven, told him that at the time the Sonata, Op. 47, was composed, he and the composer were constant com- panions, and that the first copy bore a dedication to him; but before he departed from Vienna they had a quarrel about a girl, and Beethoven then dedicated the work to Rudolph Kreutzer. ^ ^Letters and other documents, some of which were placed in Mr. Thayer's hands by Samuel Appleby, Esq., relative to Bridgetower, are printed in an appendix to Vol. II of the first German edition of this biography and as foot-notes and otherwise in Vol. III. What is essential in the memoranda and documents can be put into a much smaller compass. The subscription for the concert amounted to 1140 florins and the list was headed by the English envoy. Bridgetower's father was known in England as the "Abyssinian Prince," and Mr. Thayer speculates whether the title was genuine or but a sobriquet given to him suggested by Dr. Johnson's "Rasselas"; but it will appear presently that he was called an "African Prince," not an Abyssinian; how his father got to Biala in Poland, where Bridgetower was born, or whether his mother was a German or a Pole, remains a mystery which has not yet been cleared up. The first memo- randum of information in Mr. Thayer's collection was in the shape of an excerpt from a communication from London written by Abt Vogler and printed in Bossier's "Musi- kalische Correspondenz" on July 7, 1790. Abt Vogler's letter bears date London, June 6, 1790; in it he said: "Last Wednesday, June 2nd, I attended a concert here in Hanover Square where two young heroes contested with each other on the violin and all music-lovers and cognoscenti found most agreeable entertainment for three hours. The two played concertos alternately and both won the warmest applause. The quartet, however, which was played by young virtuosi whose combined ages did not reach 40 years, by virtue of a fine, cheerful, witty and yet harmonious performance exceeded all the expectations that experienced players could gratify. The first violin was played by Clement of Vienna, eight and one-half, the second by Bridgetower of Africa, ten years of age." The Prince of Wales, afterwards King George IV, took the youth into his ser- vice as first violinist in the Pavilion at Brighton. The next piece of information which reached Thayer told of Bridgetower's first concert in Dresden on July 24, 1802. A second concert was given on March 18, 1803, at which a brother of the violinist, who played the violoncello, took part. A letter from Friedrich Lindemann, a member of the Prince of Wales's orchestra, dated January 14, 1803, contained the informa- tion that a letter of Bridgetower's forwarded to Brighton by a certain "Billy" Cole had been placed in the hands of the Prince, who read it at once, appeared to be highly sat- isfied, and granted the writer's request to be permitted to go to Vienna. Thayer did not learn the dates of Bridgetower's birth or death, but Dr. Riemann in his revision of the second Volume says that he died "between 1840 and 1850." This is an error. In the May number for 1908 of "The Musical Times" (London) Mr. F. G. Edwards printed the results of an investigation into Bridgetower's life, and provided some new and definite information from a collection of letters and documents in the possession of Arthur F. Hill, F.S.A. From this article it appears that Bridgetower was a pupil of Barthelemon, Giornovichi, Thomas Attwood and — as he claimed — Haydn. If he really was a pupil of Haydn, he must, as Mr. Edwards pointed out, have been in the neighborhood of Vienna before he had completed his tenth year. To this the present writer adds that if he had been a pupil of Haydn's the latter would not have omitted his name in the list of names which he made of the London musicians on his first visit to the English metropolis, for he included "Clement petit," who was then between ten and eleven years old. (See, "Music and Manners in the Classical Period," by H. E. Krehbiel, p. 77.) He made his first public appearance in Paris at a Concert Spirituel on April 13, 1789. In the announcement of this concert he was described as "Mr. Georges Bridgetower, ne aux colonies anglaises, age de 9 ans." (Yet his passport issued by the police authorities, gives Biala in Poland as his birthplace.) A concert for his benefit was given on May 27, 1789, at the Salle du Pantheon. Soon thereafter he crossed the channel and, if his father is to be believed, he played for the first time in England before George III and his court at Windsor Castle. Next he appears at Bath, the "Morning Post" of 1^2 The Life of Ludwig van Beethoven WTien Beethoven removed from the house "am Peter" to the theatre building, he took his brother Karl (Kaspar) to live November io, 1789, reporting "Amongst those added to the Sunday promenade were the African Prince in the Turkish attire. The son of this African Prince has been celebrated as a very accomplished musician." The same newspaper, on December 8, a fortnight later, tells of a concert given on the Saturday morning immediately preceding the publication which was "more crowded and splendid than has ever been known at this place, upwards of 550 people being present. Rauzzini was enrap- tured, and declared that he had never heard such execution before, even from his friend La Motte, who was, he thought, much inferior to this wonderful boy. The father was in the gallery, and so affected by the applause bestowed on his son, that tears of pleasure and gratitude flowed in profusion." It would seem as if the modern methods of advertising musical artists is far behind the old in the impudent display of charlantanry. The plain "Georges" of the first Paris concert, the later George Polgreen, in the announcement of his first concert in Bath becomes George Augustus Frederick. Why.' The Christian name of the Prince of Wales was George Augustus Frederick. In this announcement he is described as "a youth of Ten Years old. Pupil of the celebrated H.\tdn." The newspapers were amiable or gullible, or both. The lad played a concerto between "the 2d and 3d Acts" of "The Messiah" at a performance of Handel's oratorio given for the benefit of Rauzzini on Christmas eve of the same year. He gave a concert in Bristol on December 18, 1789, leading the band "with the coolness and spirit of a Cramer to the astonishment and delight of all present," and on New Year's day, 1790. Next he went to London, where, at Drury Lane Theatre on February 19, 1790, he played a solo at a performance of "The Messiah. ' Referring to the Lenten concerts of that year, Parke says in his "Musical Memoirs": "Concertos were performed on the oboe by me and on the violin for the first time by Master Bridgetower, son of an African Prince, who was attended by his father habited in the costume of his country." The concert described by Abt Vogler was under the patronage of the Prince of Wales. At the Handel Commemoration of 1791 in Westminster Abbey, Bridgetower and Hummel, in scarlet coals, sat on either side of Joah Bates at the organ and pulled out the stops for him. He played in the orchestra at the Haydn-Salomon concerts in 1791, at several of the Lenten concerts in the King's Theatre in 179i, and on May 28 he performed a concerto by Viotti at Mr. Bartheiemon's concert, the announcement stating that "Dr. Haydn will preside at the pianoforte. ' (Haydn's note-book contains no mention of the concert, which would in likelihood have been the case had Bridgetower ever been his pupil.) He was plainly on terms of intimacy with such musicians as Viotti, Francis Cramer, Attwood, and later of Samuel Wesley, who WTote of him in a tone of enthusiastic appreciation. In 1S02, being then in the Prince of Wales's band at Brighton, he obtained leave, as Thayer notes, to \-isit Dresden and take the baths at Teplitz and Carlsbad; eventually, too. as we have seen, to visit Vienna. The passport issued to him in Vienna for his return to London described him as "a musician, native of Poland, aged 24 years, medium height, clean shaven, dark brown hair, brown eyes and straight, rather broad nose." He .seems to have become a resident of London and to have continued in favor with mutical and othiT notables for a considerable space, for Dr. Crotch asks his aid in se< uriiig tin- patronage of the Prince Regent for a concert. He renipos«Ml wa.s the pn-.^t-nt IIaiipt.stras.se No. 9i of Dol>liii>» unfl hore the oUl No. 4 of the Hofzeile. In 1SJ)0 the owner of the house and the Miinnergesangsverein of Dcihling placed a, tablet on thi- "Kroica" house, whose occupants "were still in pos- session of a tradition concerning Heethoven's occupation of it." So says Dr. RiemanD. Association with W. J. Mahler 15 confining himself to any one art, he achieved no great distinc- tion. He wrote respectable poetry and set it to correct and not unpleasing music; sang well enough to be recorded in Boeckh's "Merkwiirdigkeiten der Haupt- und Residenz-Stadt Wien" (1823) as "amateur singer," and painted sufficiently well to be named, on another page of Boeckh, "amateur portrait painter." He painted that portrait of the composer, about 1804-5, which is still in possession of the Beethoven family, and a second 1814- 15 — (Mr. Mahler could not recall the precise date) — once owned by Prof. Karajan. Several of the portraits now in possession of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna are from his pencil; but two or three of the very best specimens of his skill have been sold to a gentleman in Boston, U.S.A. ^ Soon after Beethoven returned from his summer lodgings to his apartment in the theatre building, Mahler, who had then recently arrived in Vienna, was taken by Breuning thither to be introduced. They found him busily at work finishing the "Heroic Symphony." After some conversation, at the desire of Mahler to hear him play, Beethoven, instead of beginning an extempore performance, gave his visitors the finale of the new Symphony; but at its close, without a pause, he continued in free fantasia for two hours, "during all which time," said Mr. Mahler to the present writer, "there was not a measure which was faulty, or which did not sound original." He added, that one circumstance attracted his particular notice; viz.: "that Beethoven played with his hands so very still; wonderful as his execution was, there was no tossing of them to and fro, up and down; they seemed to glide right and left over the keys, the fingers alone doing the work." To Mr. Mahler, as to most others who have recorded their impressions of Beethoven's improvisations, they were the non plus ultra of the art. There was, however, be it noted in passing, a class of good musicians, small in number and exceptional in taste, who, pre- cisely at this time, had discovered a rival to Beethoven, in this his own special field. Thus Gansbacher writes, as cited by Frolich in his "Biographic Voglers": Sonnleithner gave a musical soiree in honor of Vogler and invited Beethoven among others. Vogler improvised at the pianoforte on a theme given to him by Beethoven, 4^^ measures long, first an Adagio and then fugued. Vogler then gave Beethoven a theme of three meas- ures (the scale of C major, alia breve). Beethoven's excellent piano- forte playing, combined with an abundance of the most beautiful ^Th. von Frimmel discusses the Beethoven portraits in his "Neue Beethoven- iana," p. 189 et seq., and "Beethoven-Studien," Vol. II (1905). 16 The Life of Ludwig van Beethoven thoughts, surprised me beyond measure, but could not stir up the enthusiasm in me which had been inspired by Vogler's learned playing, which was beyond parallel in respect of its harmonic and contrapuntal treatment. An undated note of Beethoven, to Mahler, which belongs to a somewhat later period — since its date is not ascertainable nor of much importance — may be inserted here, as an intro- duction to Mr. Mahler's remarks upon the portrait to which it refers: I beg of you to return my portrait to me as soon as you have made sufficient use of it — if you need it longer I beg of you at least to make haste — I have promised the portrait to a lady, a stranger who saw it here, that she may hang it in her room during her stay of several weeks. Who can withstand such charming importunities, as a matter of course a portion of the lovely favors which I shall thus gamer will also fall to you. To the question what picture is here referred to, Mr. Mahler replied in substance: "It was a portrait, which I painted soon after coming to Vienna, in which Beethoven is represented, at nearly full length, sitting; the left hand rests upon a lyre, the right is extended, as if, in a moment of musical enthusiasm, he was beating time; in the background is a temple of Apollo. Oh! If I could but know what became of the picture!" "What!" was the answ^er, to the great satisfaction of the old gentleman, "the picture is hanging at this moment in the home of Madame van Beethoven, w^idow, in the Josephstadt, and I have a copy of it."^ The extended right hand — though, like the rest of the pic- ture, not very artistically executed — was evidently painted with care. It is rather broad for the length, is muscular and nervous, as the hand of a great pianist necessarily grows through much practice; but, on the whole, is neatly formed and well propor- tioned. Anatomically, it corresponds so perfectly with all the authentic descriptions of Beethoven's person, that this alone proves it to have been copied from nature and not drawn after the painter's fancy. Wlioever saw a long, delicate hand with fingers excpiisitely tapering, like Mendelssohn's, joined to the short stout muscular figure of a Beethoven or a Schubert.'* A few of Beethoven's letters belonging to this period must be introduced here. The first, dated September 22, 1803, ad- dressed to IIofTmeister, is as follows: 'A ropy of this porfrnit whirh holongod to Thayor is now in the possession of Mrs. Jkbez Fox, and is presented in photogravure as frontispiece to the present volume. Correspondence with George Thomson 17 Herewith I declare all the works concerning which you have written to me to be your property; the list of them will be copied again and sent to you signed by me as your confessed property. I also agree to the price, 50 ducats. Does this satisfy you.^* Perhaps I may be able to send you instead of the variations for violin and violoncello a set of variations for four hands on a song of mine with which you will also have to print the poem by Goethe, as I wrote these variations in an album as a souvenir and consider them better than the others; are you content? The transcriptions are not by me, but I revised them and improved them in part, therefore do not come along with an announcement that I had arranged them, because if you do you will lie, and, I haven't either time or patience for such work. Are you agreed.'* Now farewell, I can wish you only 'large success, and I would willingly give you everything as a gift if it were possible for me thus to get through the world, but — consider, everything about me has an official appointment and knows what he has to live on, but, good God, where at the Imperial Court is there a place for a parvuni talentum com ego? In this year began the correspondence with Thomson. George Thomson, a Scotch gentleman (born March 4, 1757, at Limekilns, Dunfermline, died at Leith, February 18, 1851), distin- guished himself by tastes and acquirements which led to his appointment, when still a young man, as "Secretary to the Board of Trustees for the Encouragement of Arts and Manufactures in Scotland" — a Board established at the time of the Union of the Kingdoms, 1707 (not the Crowns, 1603), of England and Scotland — an office from which he retired upon a full pension after a service of fifty years. He was, especially, a promoter of all good music and an earnest reviver of ancient Scotch melody. As one means of improving the public taste and at the same time of giving currency to Scotch national airs, he had published sonatas with such melodies for themes, composed for him by Pleyel in Paris, and Kozeluch in Vienna — -two instrumental composers enjoying then a European reputation now difficult to appreciate. The fame of the new composer at Vienna hav- ing now reached Edinburgh, Thomson applied to him for works of a like character. Only the signature of the reply seems to be in Beethoven's hand: A Monsieur George Thomson, Nr. 28 York Place Edinburgh. North Britain Vienna le 5. 8^^^ igOS. Monsieur! J'ai regu avec bien de plaisir votre lettre du 20 Juillet. Entrant volontiers dans vos propositions je dois vous declarer que je suis pret de composer pour vous six sonates telles que vous les desirez y intro- 18 The Life of Ludwig van Beethoven duisant meme les airs ecossais d'une maniere laquelle la nation Ecos- saise trouvera la plus favorable et le plus d'accord avec le genie de ses chansons. Quant au honoraire je crois que trois cent ducats pour six sonates ne sera pas trop, vu qu'en Allemagne on me donne autant pour pareil nonibre de sonates meme sans accompagnement. Je vous previens en meme tems que vous devez accelerer votre declaration, par ce qu'on me propose tant d'engagements qu'apres quel- que tems je ne saurois peutetre aussitot satisfaire a vos demandes. — Je vous prie de me pardonner, que cette reponse est si retardee ce qui n'a ete causee que par mon sejour a la campagne et plusieurs occupations tres pressantes. — Aimant de preference les airs eccossais je me plairai particulierement dans la composition de vos sonates, et j'ose avancer que si nos interets s'accorderront sur le honoraire, vous serez parfaitement contente. Agreez les assurances de mon estime distingue. Louis van Beethoven. Mr. Thomson's endorsement of this letter is this: 50 D. 1803. Louis van Beethoven, Vienna, demands 300 ducats for composing six Sonatas for me. Replied 8th Nov. that I would give no more than 150, taking 3 of the Sonatas when ready and the other 3 in six months after; giving him leave to publish in Germany oil his own account, the day after publication in London. The sonatas were never composed. Not long afterwards, on OctoV)er ^'-2, Beethoven, enraged at efforts to reprint his works, issued the following characteristic fulmination in large type, filling an entire page of the journal: Warning. Herr Carl Zulehner, a reprinter at Ma,yence, has announced an edition of all my works for pianoforte and string instruments. I hold it to be my duty hereby publicly to inform all friends of music that I have not the slightest part in this edition. I should not have offered to make a collection of my works, a proceeding which I hold to be Iiremature at the best, without first consulting with the publishers and caring for the correctness which is wanting in some of the individual pul)lications. Mor<*over, I wish to call attention to the fact that the illicit edition in ({ucstion can never be complete, inasmuch as some new works will soon aj)i)ear in Paris, which Herr Zulehner, as a French sul)jrct, will not be permitted to reprint. I shall soon make full an- noniicernont of a collection of my works to be made under my super- vi.^ion and after a severe revision.' 'The fniMirntion of a rfimplftc edition of his rompositiona freqiiontly occupied the mind of Hccthovcn. In 1S()(J lircilkopf and Hiirtcl tried to get all of IJeethovcn's wdrks for piililiration l>y them; it is likely that similar efforts on the part of Viennese publishers date hack as far as ISO.S. Later the plan plays a role in the correspondence with Probst and Simrork. As late as iHH it was urged by Andreas Strcieher. It has alreacly l)een said that Heelhoven at an early date rlesired to make an arrangement with a publisher by whi< h he might be relievefi of anxiety about monetary matters. He wanted to give all his compositions to one publisher, who should pay him a fixed salary. Meissner's Oratorio Text Rejected 19 Alexander Macco, the painter, after executing a portrait of the Queen of Prussia, in 1801, which caused much discussion in the public press but secured to him a pension of 100 thalers, went from Berlin to Dresden, Prague, and, in the summer of 1802, to Vienna. Here he became a great admirer of Beethoven, both as man and artist, and claimed and enjoyed so much of his society as the state of his mind and body would allow him to grant to any stranger. Macco remained but a few months here and then returned to Prague, whence he wrote the next year offering to Beethoven for composition an oratorio text by Prof. A. G. Meissner — a name just then well known in musical circles because of the publication -of the first volume of the biog- raphy of Kapellmeister Naumann. If Meissner had not re- moved from Prague to Fulda in 1805, and if Europe had remained at peace, perhaps Beethoven might, two or three years later, have availed himself of the offer; just now he felt bound to decline it, which he did in a letter dated November 2, 1803. In it he said: I am sorry, too, that I could not be oftener with you in Vienna, but there are periods in human life which have to be overcome and often they are not looked upon from the right point of view, it appears that as a great artist you are not wholly unfamiliar with such, and so — I have not, as 1 observe, lost your good will, of which fact I am glad because I esteem you highly and wish that I might have such an artist in my profession to associate with. Meissner's proposal is very wel- come, nothing could be more desirable than to receive such a poem from him, who is so highly honored as a writer and who understands musical poetry better than any other German author, but at present it is im- possible for me to write this oratorio because I am just beginning my opera which, together with the performance, may occupy me till Easter — if Meissner is not in a hurry to publish his poem I should be glad if he were to leave the composition of it to me, and if the poem is not completed I wish he would not hurry it, since before or after Easter I would come to Prague and let him hear some of my compositions, which would make him more familiar with my manner of writing, and either — inspire him further — or perhaps, make him stop altogether, etc. Was, then, the correspondent of the "Zeitung fiir die Elegante Welt" right .^^ Had Beethoven really received one of Schikaneder's heroic texts .'^ This much is certain: that in the words "because I am just beginning my opera," no reference is made to the "Leonore" ("Fidelio"). They may only express his expectation of beginning such a work immediately; or they may refer to one already begun, of which a fragment has been preserved. In Rubric II of the sale catalogue of Beethoven's manuscripts and music, No. 67, is a "vocal piece with orchestra. 20 The Life of Ludwig van Beethoven complete, but not entirely orchestrated." It is an operatic trio^; the dramatis personae are Poms, Volivia, Sartagones; the handwriting is that of this part of the composer's life; and the music is the basis of the subsequent grand duet in "Fidelio," "O namenlose Freude." The temptation is strong to believe that Schikaneder had given Beethoven another "Alexander," the scenes laid in India — a supplement to that with which his new theatre had been opened two years before. However this was, circumstances occurred, which prevented its completion, or indeed the composition by Beethoven of any text prepared by Schikaneder. The compositions which may safely be dated 1803, are few in comparison with those of 1802. The works published in the course of the year were the two Pianoforte Sonatas, Op. 31, Nos. 1 and 2 (in Nageli's "Repertoire des Clavecinistes") ; the three Violin Sonatas, Op. 30 (Industrie-Comptoir) ; the two sets of Variations, Op. 34 and 35 (Breitkopf and Hartel); the seven Bagatelles, Op. 33 (Industrie-Comptoir); the Romanza in G for Violin, Op. 40 (Hoif meister and Kiihnel) ; the arrangement for Pianoforte and Flute (or Violin) Op. 41 of the Serenade (Op. 25), which was not made by Beethoven but examined by him and "corrected in parts" (HofiFmeister and Ktihnel); the two Preludes for Pianoforte, Op. 39 (HofiPmeister and Ktihnel); two songs, "La Partenza" and "Ich Hebe dich" (Traeg) ; a song, "Das Gliick der Freundschaft," Op. 88 (Lbschenkerl in Vienna and Simrock in Bonn), of which Nottebohm found a sketch amongst the sketches for the "Eroica" Symphony in the book used in 1803 and which, therefore, though it may have been jHi early work, was probably rewritten in 1803; and the six Sacred Songs by Gellert, dedicated to Count Browne (Artaria). The two groat works of the year were the "Kreutzer" Sonata for Violin and the "Sinfonia Eroica." The title of the former, "Sonata per il Pianoforte ed un Violino obligato in uno stilo (stile) molto concertante quasi come d'un Concerto," is found on the inner side of the last sheet of the sketchbook of 1803 de- scribed by Nottebohm. Beethoven wrote the word "brillante" after "stilo" but .scratched it out. It is obvious that he wished to emphasize the difference between this Sonata and its prede- cessors. Siinrork's tardiness in publishing the Sonata annoyed Beethoven. He became iinj)atient and wrote to the publisher as follows, under date of October 4, 1804: 'Nottebohm, "Skizrenbuch, etc., 1803," p. 56, says "quartet." Kreutzer and His Sonata 21 Dear, best Herr Simrock, I have been waiting with longing for the Sonata which I gave you — but in vain — please write me what the condition of affairs is concerning it — whether or not you accepted it from me merely as food for moths — or do you wish to obtain a special Imperial privilegium in connection with it? — well it seems to me that might have been accomplished long ago. — Where in hiding is this slow devil — who is to drive out the sonata — you are generally the quick devil, are known as Faust once was as being in league with the imp of darkness and for this reason you are loved by your comrades; but again — where in hiding is your devil — or what kind of a devil is it that sits on my sonata and with whom you have a misunderstanding? — Hurry, then, and tell me when I shall see the sonata given to the light of day — when you have told me the date I will at once send a little note to Kreutzer, which you will please be kind enough to enclose when you send a copy (as you in any event will send your copies to Paris or even, perhaps, have them printed there) — this Kreutzer is a dear, good fellow who during his stay here' gave me much pleasure. I prefer his un- assuming manner and unaffectedness to all the Exterieur or interieur of all the virtuosi — as the sonata is written for a thoroughly capable violinist, the dedication to him is all the more appropriate — although we correspond with each other (i.e., a letter from me once a year) — • I hope he will not have learned anything about it. . . . As a proof of the growing appreciation of Beethoven in foreign lands it may be remarked here that in the summer of 1803 he received an Erard pianoforte as a gift from the celebrated Parisian maker. The instrument belongs to the museum at Linz and used to bear an inscription, on the authority, of Beet- hoven's brother Johann, that it was given to the composer by the city of Paris in 1804. The archives of the Erard firm show, however, that on the 18th of Thermidor, in the Xlth year of the Republic (1803), Sebastien Erard made a present of "un piano forme clavecin" to Ludwig van Beethoven in Vienna. ^Kreutzer came to Vienna with Bernadotte in 1789. Chapter II The Year 1804— The "Sinfonia Eroica"— Beethoven and Breu- ning — The "Waldstein" Sonata — Sonnleithner, Treitschke and Gaveaux — "Fideho" Begun — Beethoven's Popularitj^ DT7RIXG the winter 1803-04 negotiations were in progress the result of which put an end for the present to Beet- hoven's operatic aspirations. Let Treitschke, a personal actor in the scenes, explain :i On February 24, 1801, the first performance of "Die Zauber- flote" took place in the Royal Imperial Court Theatre beside the Karnth- nerthor. Orchestra and chorus as well as the representatives of Sarastro (Weinmliller), the Queen of Night (Mme. Rosenbaum), Pamina (De- moiselle Saal) and the Moor (Lippert) were much better than before. It remained throughout the year the only admired German opera. The loss of large receipts and the circumstance that many readings were changed, the dialogue shortened and the name of the author omitted from all mention, angered S. (Schikaneder) greatly. He did not hesitate to give free vent to his gall, and to parody some of the vulnerable passages in the performance. Thus the change of costume accompanying the metamorphosis of the old woman into Papagena seldom succeeded. Schikaneder, when he repeated the opera at his theatre, sent a couple of tailors on to the stage who slowly accomplished the disrobing, etc. These incidents would be trifles had they not been followed by such significant consequences; for from that time dated the hatred and jealousy which existed between the German operas of the two theatres, which alternately persecuted every novelty and ended in Baron von Braun, then manager of the Court Theatre, pur- chasing the Theater-an-der-Wien in 1804, by which act everything came under the staff of a single shepherd but never became a single flock. Zittcrbarth harl, some months before, purchased of Schi- kaneder all his rights in the i)roj)crty, paying him 100,000 florins for the j)rivik'gium alone; and, therefore, being absolute master, "had permitted a dicker down to the sum of 1,060,000 florins Vienna standard. . . . The contract was signed on February •"Orpheus," 1841, p. 248. [ 22 1 Clementi Comes to Vienna 23 11th and on the 16th the Theater-an-der-Wien under the new arrangement was opened with Mehul's opera 'Ariodante.' "^ Zitterbarth had retained Schikaneder as director; but now Baron Braun dismissed him, and the Secretary of the Court Theatres, Joseph von Sonnleithner, for the present acted in that capacity. The sale of the theatre made void the contracts with Vogler and Beethoven, except as to the first of Vogler's three operas, "Samori" (text by Huber), which being ready was put in rehearsal and produced May 7th. It was no time for Baron Braun, with three theatres on his hands, to make new contracts with composers, until the reins were fairly in his grasp, and the affairs of the new purchase brought into order and in condition to work smoothly; nor was there any necessity of haste; the repertory was so well supplied, that the list of new pieces for the year reached the number of forty-three, of which eighteen were operas or Singspiele. So Beethoven, who had already occupied the free lodgings in the theatre building for the year which his contract with Zitter- barth and Schikaneder granted him, was compelled to move. Stephan von Breuning even then lived in the house in which in 1827 he died. It was the large pile of building belonging to the Esterhazy estates, known as "das rothe Haus," which stood at a right angle to the Schwarzspanier house and church, and fronted upon the open space where now stands the new Votiv- Kirche. Here also Beethoven now took apartments. ^ It is worth noting, that this was the year — October, 1803 to October, 1804 — of C. M. von Weber's first visit to Vienna, and of his studies under Vogler. He was then but eighteen years old and "the delicate little man" made no very favorable impression upon Beethoven. But at a later period, when Weber's noble dramatic talent became developed and known, no former prejudice prevented the great symphonist's due appreciation and hearty acknowledgment of it. Among the noted strangers who came to Vienna this spring was Clementi. "He sent word to Beethoven that he would like to see him." "Clementi will wait a long time before Beethoven goes to him," was the reply. Thus Czerny. When he came (says Ries) Beethoven wanted to go to him at once, but his brother put it into his head that Clementi ought to lAllg. Mus. Zeit. XXIV, p. 320. 'But Ries says that Beethoven hired these lodgings besides those in the theatre. 24 The Life of Ludwig van Beethoven make the first visit. Though much older Clementi would probably have done so had not gossip begun to concern itself with the matter. Thus it came about that Clementi was in Vienna a long time without knowing Beethoven except by sight. Often we dined at the same table in the Swan, Clementi with his pupil Klengel and Beethoven with me; all knew each other but no one spoke to the other, or confined himself to a greeting. The two pupils had to imitate their masters, because they feared they would otherwise lose their lessons. This would surely have been the case with me because there was no possibility of a middle- way with Beethoven. ("Notizen," p. 101.) Early in the Spring a fair copy of the "Sinfonia Eroica" had been made to be forwarded to Paris through the French embassy, as Moritz Lichnowsky informed Schindler. In this symphony (says Ries) Beethoven had Buonaparte in his mind, but as he was when he was First Consul. Beethoven esteemed him greatly at the time and likened him to the greatest Roman consuls. I as well as several of his more intimate friends saw a copy of the score lying upon his table, with the word "Buonaparte" at the extreme top of the title-page and at the extreme bottom "Luigi van Beethoven," but not another word. Whether, and with what the space between was to be filled out, I do not know. I was the first to bring him the intelligence that Buonaparte had proclaimed himself emperor, where- upon he flew into a rage and cried out: "Is then he, too, nothing more than an ordinary human being.' Now he, too, will trample on all the rights of man and indulge only his ambition. He will exalt himself above all others, become a tyrant!" Beethoven went to the table, took hold of the title-page by the top, tore it in two and threw it on the floor. The first page was rewritten and only then did the symphony receive the title: "Sinfonia eroica." There can be no mistake in this; for Count Moritz Lich- nowsky, who happened to be with Beethoven when Ries brought the oflFensive news, described the scene to Schindler years before the publication of the "Notizen," The Acts of the French Tribunate and Senate, which ele- vated the First Consul to the dignity of Emperor, are dated May 3, 4, and 17. Napoleon's assumption of the crown occurred on the 18tli and the solemn proclamation was issued on the 20th. Even in those days, news of so important an event would not have required ten days to reach Vienna. At the very latest, then, a fair ropy of the "Sinfonia Eroica," was complete early in ^^ay, 1804. That it was a copy, the two credible witnesses, Ries and Lichnowsky, attest. Beethoven's own score — pur- chaser! at the sale in 1S>27, for 3 fl. 10 kr., Vienna standard (less than .S'j francs), by the Vienna composer Hr. Joseph Des- sauer — could not have been the one referred to above. It is, The "Eroica" and Napoleon 25 from beginning to end, disfigured by erasures and corrections, and the title-page could never have answered to Ries' descrip- tion. It is this: " (At the top:) N. B. 1. Cues for the other instruments are to be written into the first vioHn part. Sinfonia Grande [Here two words are erased] SOi im August del Sigr Louis van Beethoven Sinfonie 3 Op. 55 (At the bottom:) N. B. 2. The third horn is so written that it can be played by by [sic] a prima'rio as well as a secundario. A note to the funeral march, is evidently a direction to the copyist, as are the remarks on the title-page: N. B. The notes in the bass which have stems upwards are for the violoncellos, those downward for the bass-viol. One of the two words erased from the title was "Bonaparte"; and just under his own name Beethoven wrote with a lead pencil in large letters, nearly obliterated but still legible, "Composed on Bonaparte." It is confidently submitted, therefore, that all the tradi- tions derived from Czerny, Dr. Bertolini and whomsoever, that the opening' Allegro is a description of a naval battle, and that the Marcia funebre was written in commemoration of Nelson or Gen. Abercrombie, ^ are mistakes, and that Schindler is cor- rect; and again, that the date "804 im August," is not that of the composition of the Symphony. It is written with a differ- ent ink, darker than the rest of the title, and may have been inserted long afterwards, Beethoven's memory playing him false. The two "violin adagios with orchestral accompaniment" offered by Kaspar van Beethoven to Andre in November, 1802, ^See, in the "Allg. Mus. Zeit." Ill, a criticism of "Nelson's Great Seabattle," for pianoforte, violin and violoncello by Ferd. Kauer. Years afterward this piece may have been confounded with the Symphony in Dr. Bertolini's memory. From Otto Jahn's papers we learn that Dr. Bertolini told him that the first idea of the "Sin- fonia eroica" was suggested to Beethoven by Bonaparte's expedition to Egypt (May, 1798); and the rumor of Nelson's death at the battle of Aboukir (June 2£), at which Nelson was wounded in the head, was the cause of the funeral march. Czerny wrote: "According to Beethoven's long-time friend. Dr. Bertolini, the first idea of the 'Sin- fonia eroica' was suggested by the death of the English general Abercrombie; hence the naval (not land-military) character of the theme and the entire first movement." Music of a naval character to celebrate the death of an army ofl5cer! Czerny seems to have been at least temporarily weak either in history or logic. 26 The Life of Ludwig van Beethoven cannot well be anything but the two Romances, yet that in G, Op. 40, bears the date 1803. Perhaps Kaspar wrote before it was complete. But what can be said to this.'^ It is perfectly well known that Op. 124 was performed on October 3, 1822; yet the copy sent to Stumpff in London bore this title: "Over- ture by Ludwig van Beethoven, composed for the opening of the Josephstadt Theatre, towards the end of September, 1823, and performed for the first time on October 3, 1824, Op. 124." That the "804 im August" may be an error, is at all events pos- sible, if not established as such. "Afterwards," continues Ries, "Prince Lobkowitz bought this composition for several years' [?] use, and it was performed several times in his palace." There is "an anecdote told by a person who enjoyed Beethoven's society,"^ in Schmidt's "Wiener Musik-Zeitung" (1843, p. 28), according to which, as may readily be believed, this work, then so difficult, new, original, strange in its effects and of such unusual length, did not please. Some time after this humili- ating failure Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia paid a visit to the same cavalier (Lobkowitz) in his countryseat. . . . To give him a surprise, the new and, of course, to him utterly unknown symphony, was played to the Prince, w^ho "listened to it with tense attention which grew with every movement." At the close he proved his admiration by requesting the favor of an immediate repetition; and, after an hour's pause, as his stay was too limited to admit of another concert, a second. "The impression made by the music was general and its lofty con- tents were now recognized." To those who have had occasion to study the character of Louis Ferdinand as a man and a musician, and who know that at the precise time here indicated he was really upon a journey that took him near certain estates of Prince Lobko- witz, there is nothing improbable in the anecdote. If it be true, and the occurrence really took place at Raudnitz or some other "countryseat" of the Prince's, the rehearsals and first perform- ances of the Symphony at Vienna had occurred, weeks, perhaps months, before "804 im August." However this be, Ries was present at the first rehearsal and incurred the danger of receiv- ing a box on the ear from his master. In the first Allegro occurs a wicked whim (bose Laune) of Beet- hoven's for the horn; in the second part, several measures before the 'Dr. Schmidt is of opinion that that this anecdote was contributed to his journal by Hieronymus Payer, certainly good authority. A Quarrel with von Breuning 27 theme recurs in its entirety, Beethoven has the horn suggest it at a place where the two vioHns are still holding a second chord. To one unfamiliar with the score this must always sound as if the horn player had made a miscount and entered at the wrong place. At the first rehearsal of the symphony, which was horrible, but at which the horn player made his entry correctly, I stood beside Beethoven, and, think- ing that a blunder had been made I said: "Can't the damned hornist count .f^ — it sounds infamously false!" I think I came pretty close to receiving a box on the ear. Beethoven did not forgive the slip for a long time. (P. 79, "Notizen.") It was bad economy for two young, single men, each ta have and pay for a complete suite of apartments in the same house, especially for two who were connected by so many ties of friendship as Breuning and Beethoven. Either lodging con- tained ample room for both; and Beethoven therefore very soon gave up his and moved into the other. Breuning had his own housekeeper and cook and they also usually dined together at home. This arrangement had hardly been effected when Beethoven was seized with a severe sickness, which when conquered still left him the victim of an obstinate intermittent fever. Every language has its proverbs to the effect that he who serves not himself is ill served. So Beethoven discovered, when it was too late, that due notice had not been given to the agent of Esterhazy, and that he was bound for the rent of the apart- ments previously occupied. The question, who was in fault, came up one day at dinner in the beginning of July, and ended in a sudden quarrel in which Beethoven became so angry as to leave the table and the house and retire to Baden with the de- termination to sacrifice the rent here and pay for another lodg- ing, rather than remain under the same roof with Breuning. "Breuning," says Ries, "a hot-head like Beethoven, grew so enraged at Beethoven's conduct because the incident occurred in the presence of his brother." It is clear, however, that he soon became cool and instantly did his best to prevent the momen- tary breach from becoming permanent, by writing — as may be gathered from Beethoven's allusions to it — a manly, sensible and friendly invitation to forgive and forget. But Beethoven, worn with illness, his nerves unstrung, made restless, unhappy, petulant by his increasing deafness, was for a time obstinate. His wrath must run its course. It found vent in the following letters to Ries, and then the paroxysm soon passed. The first of the letters was written in the beginning of 1804, Dear Ries: Since Breuning did not scruple by his conduct ta present my character to you and the landlord as that of a miserable. 28 The Life of Ludwig van Beethoven beggarly, contemptible fellow I single you out first to give my answer to Breuning by word of mouth. Only to the one and first point of his letter which I answer only in order to vindicate my character in your eyes. Say to him, then, that it never occurred to me to reproach him because of the tardiness of the notice, and that, if Breuning was really to blame for it, my desire to live amicably with all the world is much too precious and dear to me that I should give pain to one of my friends for a few hundreds and more. You know yourself that altogether jocularly I accused you of being to blame that the notice did not arrive on time. I am sure that you will remember this; I had forgotten all about the matter. Now my brother began at the table and said that he believed it was Breuning's fault; I denied it at once and said that you were to blame. It appears to me that was plain enough to show that I did not hold him to blame. Thereupon Breuning jumped up like a madman and said he would call up the land- lord. This conduct in the presence of all the persons with whom I associate made me lose my self-control; I also jumped up, upset my chair, went away and did not return. This behavior induced Breuning to put me in such a light before you and the house-steward, and to write me a letter also which I have answered only with silence. I have nothing more to say to Breuning. His mode of thought and action in regard to me proves that there never ought to have been a friendly relationship between him and me and such certainly will not exist in the future. I have told you all this because your statements degraded all my habits of thinking and acting. I know that if you had known the facts you would certainly not have made them, and this satisfies me. Now I beg of you, dear Ries! immediately on receipt of this letter go to my brother, the apothecary, and tell him that I shall l(Nive Baden in a few days and that he must engage the lodgings in Dobling imme- diately you have informed him. I was near to coming to-day; I am tired of being here, it revolts me. Urge him for heaven's sake to rent the lodgings at once because I want to get into them immediately. Tell it to him and do not show him any part of what is written on the other page; I want to show him from all {)ossible points of view that I am not so small-minded as he and wrote to him only after this (Breuning's) letter, although my resolution to end our friendship is and will remain firm. Your friend Beethoven. Not long thereafter there followed a second letter, which Ries gives as follows: Baden, July U, 1804. If you, dear Ries, are able to find better quarters I shall be glad. I want them on a large (juiet sfpuire or on the ramparts. ... I will t.'ike care to be at the reiieursal on Wednesday. It is not pleasant to mo that it is at Schuppanzigh's. He ought to be grateful if my humiliations make him thinner. Farewell, dear Ries! We are having bad we;ither here and I am not safe from people; I must flee in order to be alone. End of a Friendship Threatened 29 From a third letter, dated "Baden, July 24, 1804," Ries prints the following excerpt: .... No doubt you were surprised at the Breuning affair; believe me, dear (friend), my eruption was only the outburst consequent on many unpleasant encounters between us before. I have the talent in many cases to conceal my sensitiveness and repress it; but if I am irritated at a time when I am more susceptible than usual to anger, I burst out more violently than anybody else. Breuning certainly has excellent qualities, but he thinks he is free from all faults and his greatest ones are those which he thinks he sees in others. He has a spirit of pettiness which I have despised since childhood. My judg- ment almost predicted the course which afifairs would take with Breu- ning, since our modes of thinking, acting and feeling are so different, but I thought these difficulties might also be overcome; — experience has refuted me. And now, no more friendship! I have found only two friends in the world with whom I have never had a misunderstand- ing, but what men! One is dead, the other still lives. Although we have not heard from each other in nearly six years I know that I occupy the first place in his heart as he does in mine. The foundation of friend- ship demands the greatest similarity between the hearts and souls of men. I ask no more than that you read the letter which I wrote to Breuning and his letter to me. No, he shall never again hold the place in my heart which once he occupied. He who can think a friend capable of such base thoughts and be guilty of such base conduct towards him is not worth my friendship. The reader knows too well the character of Breuning to be prejudiced against him by all these harsh expressions written by Beethoven in a fit of choler of which he heartily repented and "brought forth fruits meet for repentance." But, as Ries says, "these letters together with their consequences are too beautiful a testimony to Beethoven's character to be omitted here," the more so as they introduce, by the allusions in them, certain matters of more or less interest from the "Notizen" of Ries. Thus Ries writes: One evening I came to Baden to continue my lessons. There I found a handsome young woman sitting on the sofa with him. Think- ing that I might be intruding I wanted to go at once, but Beethoven detained me and said: "Play for the time being." He and the lady remained seated behind me. I had already played for a long time when Beethoven suddenly called out: ''Ries, play some love music''; a little later, "Something melancholy T' then, "Something passionate T' etc. From what I heard I could come to the conclusion that in some manner he must have offended the lady and was trying to make amends by an exhibition of good humor. At last he jumped up and shouted: "Why, all those things are by me!" I had played nothing but move- ments from his works, connecting them with short transition-phrases, which seemed to please him. The lady soon went away and to my great amazement Beethoven did not know who she was. I learned 30 The Life of Ludwig van Beethoven that she had come in shortly before me in order to make Beethoven's acquaintance. We followed her in order to discover her lodgings and later her station. We saw her from a distance (it was moonlight), ^ but suddenly she disappeared. Chatting on all manner of topics we ■walked for an hour and a half in the beautiful valley adjoining. On going, however, Beethoven said: "I must find out who she is and you must help me." A long time afterward I met her in Vienna and dis- covered that she was the mistress of a foreign prince. I reported the intelligence to Beethoven, but never heard anything more about her either from him or anybody else. The rehearsal at Schuppanzigh's on "Wednesday" (18th) men- tioned in the letter of July 14th, was for the benefit of Ries, who was to play in the first of the second series of the regular Augarten Thursday concerts which took place the next day (19th) or, perhaps, the 26th. Ries says on page 113 of the "Notizen": Beethoven had given me his beautiful Concerto in C minor (Op. 37) in manuscript so that I might make my first public appearance as his j)upil with it; and I am the only one who ever appeared as such while Beethoven was alive. . . . Beethoven himself conducted, but he only turned the pages and never, perhaps, was a concerto more beautifully accompanied. We had two large rehearsals. I had asked Beethoven to write a cadenza for me, but he refused and told me to write one myself and he would correct it. Beethoven was satisfied with my composition and made few changes; but there was an extremely bril- liant and very difficult passage in it, which, though he liked it, seemed to him too venturesome, wherefore he told me to write another in its place. A week before the concert he wanted to hear the cadenza again. I played it and floundered in the passage; he again, this time a little ill-naturedly, told me to change it. I did so, but the new passage did not satisfy me; I therefore studied the other, and zealously, but was not quite sure of it. When the cadenza was reached in the public concert Beethoven quietly sat down. I could not persuade myself to choose the easier one. When I boldly began the more difficult one. Beethoven violently jerked his chair; but the cadenza went through all right and Beethoven was so delighted that he shouted "Bravo!" loudly. This electrified the entire audience and at once gave me a standing among the artists. Afterward, while expressing his satis- faction he added: "But all the same you are willful! If you had made a slip in the passage I would never have given you another lesson." A little farther on in his book Ries writes (p. 115): The pianoforte part of the C minor Concerto was never completely irritten out in the score; Beethoven wrote it down on separate sheets of paper expressly for ine. This confirms Soyfried, as quoted on a preceding page. "Xot on my life would I have l)elieved that I could be so lazy as I am here. If it is followed by an outburst of industry, '"Full moon, July ii." almanac of 1804. The F Minor Sonata, Op. 57 31 something worth while may be accomplished," Beethoven wrote at the end of his letter of July 24. He was right. His brother Johann secured for him the lodging at Dobling where he passed the rest of the summer, and where the two Sonatas Op. 53 and 54, certainly "something worth while," were com- posed. In one of the long walks, previously described by Ries, in which we went so far astray that we did not get back to Dobling, where Beethoven lived, until nearly 8 o'clock, he had been all the time humming and sometimes howling, always up and down, without sing- ing any definite notes. In answer to my question what it was he said: '*A theme for the last movement of the sonata has occurred to me." When we entered the room he ran to the pianoforte without taking off his hat. I took a seat in a corner and he soon forgot all about me. Now he stormed for at least an hour with the beautiful finale of the sonata. Finally he got up, was surprised still to see me and said: "I cannot give you a lesson to-day, I must do some more work." The Sonata in question was that in F minor, Op. 57. Ries had in the meantime fulfilled Beethoven's wish for a new lodg- ing on the ramparts, by engaging for him one on the Molker- bastei three or four houses only from Prince Lichnowsky in the Pasqualati house — "from the fourth storey of which there was a beautiful view," namely, over the broad Glacis, the north- western suburb of the city and the mountains in the distance. "He moved out of this several times," says Ries, "but always returned to it, so that, as I afterwards heard. Baron Pasqualati was good-natured enough to say: 'The lodging will not be rented; Beethoven will come back.'" To what extent Ries was correctly informed in this we will not now conjecture. The lessons of Fors- ter's little boy had been interrupted so long as his teacher dwelt in the distant theatre buildings: they were now renewed, the first being particularly impressed upon his memory by a severe reproof from Beethoven for ascending the four lofty flights of stairs too rapidly, and entering out of breath: "Youngster, you will ruin your lungs if you are not more careful," said he in substance. The two new Sonatas were finished and were now made known to Beethoven's intimates. In the one in C major. Op. 53, there was a long Andante. A friend of Beethoven's said to him that the Sonata was too long, for which he was terribly taken to task by the composer. But after quiet reflection Beet- hoven was convinced of the correctness of the criticism. The Andante was therefore excluded and its place supplied by the interesting Introduction to the Rondo which it now has. A year after the publication of the Sonata it also appeared sepa- rately. In these particulars Ries is confirmed by Czerny, who 32 The Life of Ludwig van Beethoven adds: "Because of its popularity (for Beethoven played it fre- quently in society) he gave it the title 'Andante favori.' I am the more sure of this since Beethoven sent me the proof together with the manuscript for revision." The arrangement for string quartet may have been made much later, probably by Ries (?). This Andante (Ries continues) has left a painful memory in me. When Beethoven played it for the first time to our friend Krumpholtz and me, it delighted us greatly and we teased him until he repeated it. Passing the door of Prince Lichnowsky's house (by the Schottenthor) on my way home I went in to tell the Prince of the new and glorious composition of Beethoven's, and was persuaded to play it as well as I could remember it. Recalling more and more of it the Prince urged me to repeat it. In this way it happened that the Prince also learned a portion of the piece. To give Beethoven a surprise the Prince went to him the next day and said that he too had composed something which was not at all bad. In spite of Beethoven's remark that he did not want to hear it the Prince sat down and to the amazement of the composer played a goodly portion of the Andante. Beethoven was greatly angered, and this was the reason why I never again heard Beethoven play. Prince Louis Ferdinand, now on his w^ay into Italy, made a short stay at Vienna, renewing his acquaintance with Beet- hoven; but of their intercourse few particulars are known. Ries relates ("Notizen," p. Ill), that an old countess gave a little musical entertainment "to which, naturally, Beethoven was invited. When the company sat down to supper, plates for the high nol)ility only were placed at the Prince's table — none for Beethoven. He flew into a rage, made a few ugly remarks, took his hat and went away. A few days later Prince Louis gave a dinner to which some members of the first company, ' including the old countess, were invited. When they sat down to table the old countess was placed on one side of the Prince, Beethoven on the other, a mark of distinction which Beethoven always referred to with pleasure." The Pianoforte Concerto in C minor was then in the hands of the engraver; upon its publication in November, Prince Louis Ferdinand's name appeared upon the title. Concerning the compositi(ms of the Prince, Beethoven remarked: "Now and then there are pretty bits in tiiem" — so said Czerny. Before this time Beethoven and Breiming "met each other by accident and a complete reconciliation took place and every inimical resolve of Hccthovcn's, (h-spite their vigorous expression in the two letters, was wholly forgotten." — (Ries.) And not this alone; he "laid his peace olFeriiig on the altar of reconciliation." It was the best picture of himself which exists from those years, Beethoven and Breuning Reconciled 33 a beautiful miniature painted upon ivory by Hornemann, still in the possession of Breuning's heirs. With it he sent the fol- lowing letter: Let us bury behind this pictiu-e forever, my dear Steffen, all that for a time has passed hehveen us. I know that I broke your heart. The feelings within me which you must have noticed have sufficiently punished me for that. It was not wickedness that I felt towards you; no, if that were so I should never again be worthy of your friendship; passion on your part and on mine; but mistrust of you arose in me; men came between us who are not worthy of you and me. My por- trait was long ago intended for you; you know that I always intended it for somebody. To whom could I give it with so warm a heart as to you, faithful, good, noble Steffen! Forgive me if I have pained you; I suffered no less. When I no longer saw you near me I felt for the first time how dear to my heart you are and always will be. Surely you will come to my arms again as in past days. Nor was the reconciliation on Breuning's part less perfect. On the 13th of November he writes to Wegeler and, to excuse his long silence, says: He who has been my friend from youth is often largely to blame that I am compelled to neglect the absent ones. You cannot conceive, my dear Wegeler, what an indescribable, I might say, fearful effect the gradual loss of hearing has had upon him. Think of the feeling of being unhappy in one of such violent temperament; in addition reservedness, mistrust, often towards his best friends, in many things want of decision! For the greater part, with only an occasional excep- tion when he gives free vent to his feelings on the spur of the moment, intercourse with him is a real exertion, at which one can scarcely trust to oneself. From May until the beginning of this month we lived in the same house, and at the outset I took him into my rooms. He had scarcely come before he became severely, almost dangerously ill, and this was followed by an intermittent fever. Worry and the care of him used me rather severely. Now he is completely well again. He lives on the Ramparts, I in one of the newly-built houses of Prince Esterhazy in front of the Alstercaserne, and as I am keeping house he eats with me every day. Not a word about the quarrel! Not a word to intimate that Beethoven had not occupied his rooms with him until at the usual time for changing lodgings he had crossed the Glacis to Pasqualati's house; not a word of complaint — nothing but deepest pity and heartiest sympathy. In December the famous Munich oboist Ramm was in Vienna and took part with Beethoven in one of Prince Lobko- witz's private concerts. Beethoven directed the performance of the "Sinfonia Eroica" and in the second part of the first Allegro, "w^here the music is pursued for so many measures in half-notes 34 The Life of Ludwig van Beethoven against the beat," he, as Ries says, threw the orchestra into such confusion that a new beginning had to be made. On the same evening he played his Quintet for Pianoforte and Wind-instruments with Ramra as oboist. In the last Allegro there are several holds before the theme is resumed. At one of these Beet- hoven suddenly began to improvise, took the Rondo for a theme and entertained himself and the others for a considerable time, but not the other players. They were displeased and Ramm even very angry. It was really very comical to see them, momentarily expecting the per- formance to be resumed, put their instruments to their mouths only to put them down again. At length Beethoven was satisfied and dropped into the Rondo. The whole company was transported with delight. Turn we again to the Theater-an-der-Wien, for a new con- tract has been made with Beethoven, by which his operatic aspirations and hopes are again awakened, with a better pros- pect of their gratification. At the end of August Sonnleithner retired from the direction and Baron Braun took the extra- ordinary step of reinstating his former rival and enemy, Schikanedcr — a remarkable proof of the Baron's high opinion of his tact and skill in the difficult business of management. When one calls to mind the extraordinary praises which have been bestowed upon Baron Braun for his supposed pat- ronage of Beethoven, it is worth noting, as a coincidence if noth- ing more, that now when Schikanedcr finds himself in a strait for novelty and new attractions for his stage, the project of appealing to Beethoven's genius is revived. Before proceeding, a word upon Sonnleithner and Treitschke may be permitted. The eldest son, born 1765, of Christoph Sonnleithner, Doctor of Laws and Dean of the Juridical Faculty at Vienna, Joseph Ferdinand by name, was educated to his father's pro- fession, and early rose to the positions of Circuit Commissioner and Royal Imperial Court Scrivener {Kreis-Kommif>.sdr iind K. K. IloJ-Concipist). All the Sonnleithners, from Dr. Chris- toph down to the excellent and beloved representative of the family, I>e()[)()l(l, his grandson who died in 1878, have stood in the front ranks of musical dilettanti, as composers, singers, in- strumental performers and writers on topics pertaining to the art. Joseph Ferdinand was no exception. He gave his atten- tion j)articularly to musical and theatrical literature, edited the Court 'J'heatre Calendars, 1794-5, so higiily lauded by Gerber, and prepared himself by appro|)riate studies to carry out Forkel's plan of a "History of Music in Exami)les," which was to reach the great extent of 50 volumes, folio. To this end he spent SONNLEITHNER AND TrEITSCHKE 35 nearly three years, 1798-1802, in an extensive tour through northern Europe making collections of rare, old music. Upon his return to Vienna, resigning this project again into the hands of Forkel, he became one of the earliest partners, if not one of the founders, of the publishing house known as the "Kunst- und Industrie-Comptoir" (Bureau d'Arts et d'Industrie), of which Schreyvogel was the recognized head. The latter had been ap- pointed Secretary of the Court Theatre in 1802, but resigned, and, on February 14, 1804, Sonnleithner "was appointed, and on this account was most honorably retired from his former post as Court Scrivener." On what grounds he has been called an *'actor" (Schauspieler) is unknown. One of his colleagues in the various offices of the Court Theatres was Georg Friedrich Treitschke, born in 1776, a native of Leipsic, who came to the Court Theatre in 1800 as an actor, but whose talents and fine character raised him in the course of the next two years to the position of poet and stage-manager of the German Court Opera, a post which he still and for many years continued to hold. He was therefore now (1804) in close business relations with Baron Braun and Sonnleithner; and, until some proof be adduced of lapse of memory — for his known probity forbids all suspicion of intentional or careless misrep- resentation — his statements in regard to them may be accepted with perfect confidence. Treitschke wrote thus in the "Orpheus" of 1841 (p. 258): At the end of 1804 Baron von Braun, the new owner of the Royal Imperial priv. Theater-an-der-Wien, commissioned Ludwig van Beet- hoven, then in the full strength of youth, to write an opera for that playhouse. Because of his oratorio, "Christus am Olberg," it was believed that the master might do as much for dramatic music as he had done for instrumental. Besides his honorarium ^ he was offered free lodgings in the theatre buildings. Joseph Sonnleithner under- took to provide the text, and chose the French book, "L' Amour con- jugal," although it had already been set by Gaveaux and to Italian words as "Leonora" by Paer, but had been translated from both drama- tizations into German. Beethoven had no fear of his predecessors and went to work with eager delight, so that the opera was nearly finished by the middle of 1805.2 ^This honorarium was a share in the receipts. 'In the second (German) edition of Thayer's "Life," etc., Dr. Riemann amends this statement in the text as follows: These statements of Treltschke's prove to be inaccurate, inasmuch as it has definitively been determined that Beethoven began work on "Leonore" before Paer's opera had been produced in Dresden, i.e., October 3, 1804. This is proved by the discovery of sketches for the early numbers of the opera among sketches for the "Eroica" symphony, and is confirmed by Ries. The latter says: "When he composed 'Leonore' he had free lodgings for a year in the Wiedener Theatre; but as these opened on the courtyard they were not agree- 36 The Life of Ltjdwig van Beethoven Such is Treitschke's simple and compendious statement of the facts; a statement which has been affirmed to contain "manifold errors," yet, in truth, not a single point in it can be controverted. In Paris, at the close of the 18th century, Shakespeare's "being taken by the insolent foe and redemption thence" was by far the most popular subject for the stage. Doubtless so many facts stranger than fiction in recent narratives of escape from dungeon and guillotine, rendered doubly fascinating by beau- tiful exhibitions of disinterested affection, exalted generosity and heroic self-sacrifice, were not without their effect upon pub- lic taste. Certain it is that no other class of subjects is so numer- ously represented in the French drama of that precise period as this. "Les deux Journees" by J. N. Bouilly stands confessedly at its head. In Beethoven's opinion in 18*23, this and "La Vestale" were the two best texts then ever written. Two years before the "Deux Journees" — that is, on February 19th, 1798 — the same poet had produced another of that class of texts, which, if less abounding in pleasing and exciting scenes, still contained one supreme moment that cannot readily find its like. This was "Leonore, ou I'Amour conjugal"; the seventeenth and last in Fetis' list of Pierre Gaveaux's thirty-five operas and operettas. Gaveaux was a singer at the Theatre Feydeau in Paris — a man of no great musical science, but gifted with a natural talent for melody and for pleasing though not always correct instrumentation, which secured the suffrages of the Feydeau audience for nearly all the long list of his productions. These were mostly short pieces in one act, in which he wrote the prin- cipal tenor part for himself. His "Le petit Matelot" (1794), as "Der kleine Matrose," became immediately popular throughout Germany; Rellstab at Berlin published a pianoforte arrange- ment of it in 1798; and it so endured the fluctuations in public able to him. He therefore hired, at the same time, quarters in the Rothes Haus on the Al.serkaserne." "Now," Nottebohm continues, "lieethoven lived in the Theater- an-der-Wien in May, ISU.'J, and later in the Rothes Haus in the sprinj? of 1804." Con- sequently he must have wrk on the "Waldatein" Sonata. Op. 53, dates back to 180.S, or at the lat>-1, and his su)).sequent relin(iuishment of the aj)arti7ients in "das Rotlie Haus" to share those of Hreuning, comixllcd his brother Kus|)ar to seek a lodg- ing of his own, which he found for the present on the Hohen Markt. But the new contract, with Baron Braun, gave the composer again a right to the ai)artments in the theatre build- ing, which he improved, at the same time retaining tlie dwelling in the Pasf|ualati house. The city directory for 180.5 gives his The Sketches for "Fidelio" 45 address at the theatre, and there he received visitors; at the Pasqiiahiti house he was accustomed to sechide himself for work, forbidding his servant to admit any person whatever. In the summer he retired to Iletzendorf, and wrought out his opera, sitting in the same crotched oak in tlie Sch()nl)runn Garden where, four years before, he Iiad composed the "(.'hristus am Olberg." Thus again he had tlu-ee lodgings at the same time, as in the preceding summer; with this difference, that now one was no expense to him. The thousand times repeated story of Ries, that in 1804 he had four dwellings at once, is a mistake. Before his migration to Iletzendorf — say about the middle of June — Beethoven had completely sketched the music of his opera. This is made sufficiently certain by one of those whim- sical remarks that he was in the hal)it of making on the blank spaces of whatever manuscript he happened to have before him. In this case he writes: *'June 2d Finale always simpler. All pianoforte music also. God knows why my ])ianoforte music always makes the worst impression, especially when it is badly played." This is in the midst of sketches to the final chorus of the opera, and is written upon the up])er outer corner of page 291 of the "Leonore" sketchbook which became the property of Mr. Paul Mendelssohn, of Berlin. The principal value of this manuscript lies of course in the insight which it gives the musician into the master's methods of composition;' but for the biographer the volume is by no means without its value. Its striking confirmation of the previously formed opinion, that two current notions in relation to the composition of the opera are erroneous, well repays the toil of studying it through. First: A misinterpreted sentence in Jalm's article on "Leonore, oder Fidelio,'* has originated and given currency to the idea that Beethoven's "daring enthusiasm for the welfare of men and their rights" led him to begin his sketches for the opera with the "second finale, with its hymn-like character." But the sketchbook, if it proves anything, proves this: that Beethoven began at the beginning and took up all the principal numbers in order, as they stood in Sonnleithner's text; that the final choruses were the last to be sketched; and that this sketch- book happens to begin in the midst of the chorus of prisoners (originally the second finale) because the previous studies are wanting. 'See Nottcbohm's study of the sketches for "Fidelio" in "Zwoite Beethoveniana," p. 409 et seq.; also what Jahn has to say, and the results of Erich Prieger's labors in connection with the reprint of the original form of the opera. 46 The Life of Ludwig van Beethoven This volume contains the first sketches of Nos. 11, 18, 15a, 17a and 18a (appendix) of Jahn's edition; Nos. 1 and 5 occur, but not in the original studies; Nos. 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 are either entirely wanting or only come up in mere fragmentary afterthoughts, as No. 9, on page 51, where Beethoven has written at the top of the page: "in the duet between P. and R." and just below: "dann schleich ich," with a hint (4 bars of music unisono) for the accompaniment. Afterthoughts for the duet "Um in die Ehe" — Fidelio and Marcelline — occur also on pages 23, 344, and possibly one or two others, but not more. The studies for Fidelws recitative "Ach brich noch nicht" and aria "Komm Hoffnung" (No. 11), which are found near the end of the volume, seem to form a mairked exception to the rule; but if these are really the first sketches, their appearance after the final scenes is explained by two remarks in Beethoven's hand on page 344: "Duetto with Miiller {Marcelline) and Fidelio aside," and "Aria for Fidelio, another text which agrees with her." These notes clearly indicate a change of plan in connection with the duet, and that the beautiful air, "Komm Hoffnung," did not stand in Sonnleithner's original text. The other current error thoroughly exploded by the sketch- book is this, namely, that the noblest passages in the opera are a sort of spontaneous outpouring in music of feelings and sentiments awakened, or rendered intense and vivid, by the unfortunate love-affairs of the composer. Now, there is nothing from the first page to the last of this manuscript that conveys the impres- sion of any such spontaneity. Every number, as it now stands complete in the score, was the tardy result of persevering labor — of the most painstaking study. AVhere Jahn says: "I have not had an opportunity to study many of Beethoven's sketchbooks, but I have found no instance in which one was not compelled to recognize that the material chosen was not the best, or to de])lore that the material which he rejected had not been used," he might have added, with truth, that some of the first ideas noted to passages, now among the gems of the opera, are commonplace and trivial to such a degree, that one can hardly attribute them to Beethoven. Yet, there they are in his own hand. Jahn's compendious general description of the contents of this manuscri])t cannot be improved, excej)t in a single passage, in which, probably trusting his memory a little too much, he conveys the mistaken (as we think) impression, that the aria of Marcelline is here first sketched. Patient Labor on the Opera 47 The sketches [says he] are, naturally enough, of very different kinds; in part they are widely varying efforts to give musical expression to the same text, and many numbers, like the airs of Marcelline and Pizarro, the grave duet, a few striking passages, appear for the first time with motivi wholly different from those now to be found in the opera. ... At other times, whole pieces are written down in a breath essentially as they have remained. This is rather too strongly expressed, unless Jahn had in mind the arias of Rocco and Marcelline. By the side of such passages are examples of indefatigable detail work, which cannot find a conclusion, of turning not only single motivi and melodies but the tiniest elements of them this way and that, and out of all conceivable variations to draw out the form that is best. One is amazed at this everlasting experimentation and cannot conceive how it will be possible to create an organic whole out of such musical scraps. But if one compares the completed art-work with the chaos of sketches one is overwhelmed with wonder at the cre- ative mind which surveyed its task so clearly, grasped the foundation and the outlines of the execution so firmly and surely that with all the sketches and attempts in details the whole grows naturally from its roots and develops. And though the sketches frequently create the impression of uncertainty and groping, admiration comes again for the marvelously keen self-criticism, which, after everything has been tested with sovereign certainty, retains the best.^ In the notices of the "Leonore" sketchbook, made for use in this work, are copied eighteen different beginnings to Florestan' s air, "In des Lebens Friihlingstagen," and ten to the chorus, "Wer ein holdes Weib"; others being omitted, because illegible or little more than repetitions. The studies for that wondrous outburst of joy, "O namenlose Freude," are numerous; but the first bars of the duet are the same in all of them, having been taken by Beethoven from an "old opera." It certainly seems a little like cold-blooded cruelty thus ruthlessly to demolish the structure of romance which has been rising for thirty years on the sandy foundation laid by Schindler in his story of the Countess Guicciardi, and of which, through some fancied connection, the opera "Leonore" has become an imposing part. But facts are stubborn things, and here they are irreconcilable with the romance. Inborn genius for musical composition, untiring industry, and the ambition to rival Cherubini in his own field, sufficiently explain the extraordinary merits of this work of Beethoven; want of practice and experience in operatic writing, its defects. Beethoven's seclusion at Hetzendorf from June to September (probably) and his labor of reducing the chaos of the sketch- ijahn, "Gesammelte Schriften," p. 244. 48 The Life of Ludavig van Beethoven book into the order and beauty of the score of "Leonore" — on which, as he told Schindler, he wrought in the bright summer days, sitting in the shades of Schonbrunn — are unbroken for us except by his first meeting with Cherubini. Some time in July — for that master arrived in Vienna after the 5th of that month, and Vogler was in Salzburg before the 28th — "Cherubini, Beet- hoven and Vogler were gathered together at Sonnleithner's; every- body played, Vogler first, and without ceasing, so that the com- pany meanwhile sat down to table. Beethoven was full of atten- tion and respect toward Cherubini." Such is Jahn's note of a communication to him by Grillparzer; and Czerny told him: "B. did not give Cherubini a friendly reception in 1805, as the latter complained to Czerny later." At the end of the summer season Beethoven returned to town with his opera ready to be put in rehearsal. Here Ries found him. "He was really fond of me," says he, "and gave me a comical proof of the fact in one of his fits of absent- mindedness"; and Ries goes on to relate in the "Notizen": When I came back from Silesia, where, on Beethoven's recommen- dation, I had spent a considerable time as pianoforte player for Prince Lichnowsky on his estate, I went into his room; he was about to shave and had lathered himself up to the eyes (for his fearful beard extended so far). He jumped up, embraced me cordially and, behold! he had transferred the soap from his left cheek to my right so completely that there was nothing left of it on him. Didn't we laugh! With all his kindness to Ries, Beethoven had neither for- gotten nor forgiven the affair of the "Andante favori": One day when a small company including Beethoven and me breakfasted with Prince (Lichnowsky) after the concert in the Augarten (8 o'clock in the forenoon), it was proposed that we drive to Beethoven's house and hear his opera "Leonore," which had not yet been performed. Arrived there Beethoven demanded that I go away, and inasmuch as the most urgent appeals of all present were fruitless, I did so with tears in my eyes. The entire company noticed it and Prince Lichnowsky, following me, askod me to wait in an anteroom, because, having been the cause of the trouble, he wanted to have it settled. But tlie feeling of hurt to my honor would not admit of this. I heard afterward that Prince Lichnowsky had sharply rebuked Beethoven for his conduct, sinee only love for his works had been to })lamc for the incident and consequently for his anger. But the only result of these representa- tions was that Beethoven refused to play any more for the company. It so happcncn's uiidisi)uled talent. Beethoven had often sacrificed beauty to newness and singularity and therefore something new and original had been experted, l)ut these were the qualities which were least noticeable. The music is distinguish<'d neither by invention nor execution. The overture is not comparable with that of "I'rornetlieus." As a rule there is nothing new in the vocal parts; they are generally too long, the text is ceaselessly repeated and the cliaracterization misses fire, as, for instance, in the duet after the recognition. A canon in the first act and an aria in F [E] are more successful, though the pretty accompaniment with its three horns obhiigato and bassoon is somewhat overioarled. The choruses, especially the song of the prisoners, are a failure. Dr. Henry Reeve, of Xorwich, England, one of the (-arliest collaborators on the *'Ediiibur<;Ii Review," then a young man of 2.5, was in \'ienna at the time of the French invasion and attend<'d the se<-ond representation of the f)pera on November 21sf. Sir Cieorge drove sent a copy of a page from his journal to Thayer. lie thought the plot a sad mixture of bad action and romantic situations, but the airs, duets and choruses wortliy of all praise. The "overtures," of which there was one for every act, were too artificial to be generally agreeable and an nj)pre<-iati and the beginning of 180.5. Schindler says that Haslinger bought the overture imraedialcly after it had been laid aside by Beet- hoven. That would have been in ISO.). But Haslinger was not in Vienna till 1810. If Steiner and Co., with which firm Haslinger associated himself shortly after his arrival in the Austrian capital and of which the firm of Tobias Haslinger was the successor, was meant by Schindler, it remains a mystery that the publishers, so intimately con- nected with Beethoven, should have kept an overture under lock and key for 23 years and then have given it out as a work bought at the sale of Beethoven's effects. That circumstance could only awaken the suspicion that the composer did not think it worthy of his name and fame. If he did so think, he would not have demanded that Haslinger publish it in 1823. Judging by internal evidence the overture certainly seems to be an earlier work than the overtures which the world knows by the titles "Leonore," Nos. 2 anil 3; but contemijorary reports fa letter from N'iettna printed in the "Journal des Luxus tind der .Moden, " Weimar, 1808) olfer evidence in addition to the testimony of Seyfried that Beethoven ' "Witn