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 CORNELL UNIVERSITY 
 
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BEETHOVEN. 
 
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BEETHOVEN 
 
 % ff *mrir 
 
 By ELLIOTT GRAEME 
 
 WITH AN ESSAY 
 (Quasi Fantasia) 
 
 'ON THE HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY OF HIS BIRTH," &c. 
 By. Dr. FERDINAND HILLER 
 
 OF COLOGNE. 
 
 " How glorious it is to live one's life a thousand times !' r 
 
 Beethoven. 
 
 LONDON 
 CjHARLES GRIFFIN AND CO. 
 
 STATIONERS' HALL COURT 
 
 1870 
 
 [ The right of Translation is reserved} 
 
LONDON : 
 
 PRINTED BY J. AND W. RIDER, 
 
 BAR1HOLOMEW CLOSE. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The following brief sketch can lay no claim 
 
 o originality ; it is merely a slight resumG, of 
 
 ie .principal events in the master's life (from 
 
 ( e works of Schindler, Ries, and Wegeler, 
 
 id more especially from Marx and Thayer), 
 
 id is intended for those who, without the 
 
 sure to go deeply into the subject, yet 
 
 :sire to know a little more about the great 
 
 one-poet than can be gathered from the pages 
 
 a concert programme, however skilfully an- 
 
 tated. 
 
 C 
 The few letters introduced have been trans- 
 ad as nearly as possible in the manner in 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 which they were written.- Beethoven's episto- 
 lary style was simple, fervent, original, but 
 certainly not polished. 
 
 The author feels convinced that any short- 
 comings in the " Memoir" will be more than 
 atoned for by Dr. Hiller's eloquent and appre- 
 ciative " Festrede" which seems to have been 
 dictated by that poetic genius, the possession 
 of which he so modestly disclaims. 
 
 E. G. 
 
 London, 
 lyt/i December, 1870. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 . PAGE 
 
 J Essay quasi Fantasia "On the Hundredth Anniversary of 
 
 Beethoven's Birth," by Dr. Ferdinand Hiller . . vii 
 
 Chap. I.— Introductory : Origin of the Family Van Beet- 
 hoven — The Electorate of Cologne — Court of Clemens Au- 
 gust the Magnificent — Ludwig van Beethoven the Elder— 
 Johann van Beethoven — Bonn in 1770 1 
 
 Chap. II.— Boyhood : Birth— Early Influences and Training— 
 Neefe — First Attempts at Composition — The Boy-Organist — 
 Max Friedrich's National Theatre— Mozart and Beethoven — 
 Disappointment 12 
 
 Chap. III.— Youth : Despondency— The Breuning Family- 
 Literary Pursuits — Count Waldstein — National Theatre of 
 Max Franz — King Lux and his Court — The Abb6 Sterkel — 
 Appointment as Court Pianist — First Love — Second Visit of 
 Joseph Haydn 31 
 
 Chap. IV. — Lehrjahre : Arrival in Vienna — Studies with 
 Haydn — Timely Assistance of Schenk — Albrechtsberger — 
 Beethoven as a Student — His Studies in Counterpoint — 
 Letters to Eleanore v. Breuning ..... .46 
 
 Chap. V. — The Virtuoso : Family Occurrences — Music in 
 Vienna— Van Swieten — Prince Lichnowski — Beethoven's In- 
 dependence, Personal Appearance, Manners — Rasoumowski 
 Quartet— Occurrences in Lichnowski Palace— First Three 
 Trios — Artistic Tour to Berlin— Woelfl— Beethoven as an 
 Improvisatore — Steibelt 63 
 
Vl CONTENTS. , 
 
 __ PAGE 
 
 Chap. VI. — Conflict : Deafness jjid_Jts_CTpnsequences — His 
 Brothers' Influence,— Letters to Wegeler— "Mount of OKVes" 
 — Beethoven's Will — Beethoven as a Conductor — As an In- 
 structor— Sinfonia Eroica— ' ' Leonora " ( " Fidelio ") — " Ade- „ 
 laide" '87 
 
 Chap. VII. — Love : The Fourth Symphony— Julia Guicciardi 
 — Letters to her — To Bettina Brentano — Beethoven's At- 
 tachments—Domestic Troubles— Frau Nanette Streicher — 
 Daily Life — Composing " im Freim " .... 121 
 
 Chap. VIII. — Victory and Shadow : Period of Greatest 
 Creative Activity — Hummel — Congress of Vienna — Maelzel — 
 Pecuniary Difficulties— Adoption of Nephew — The Philhar- 
 monic Society — The Classical and Romantic Schools — The 
 Jupiter Symphony — His Nephew's Conduct — Last Illness . 141 
 
 Remarks on the Pianoforte Sonatas, by Dr. Hiller . 165 
 Catalogue of Beethoven's Works 172 
 
THE HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY OF 
 BEETHOVEN'S BIRTH* 
 
 " Quasi Fantasia." 
 The year 1749 brought us Goethe ; 1756, Mozart ; 
 1759, Schiller ; and 1770, Beethoven. Thus, within 
 the short space of twenty-one years four of the 
 greatest poetic geniuses were born — four men of 
 whom not only the German Fatherland, but all 
 mankind must be proud. 
 
 And even more happy than proud, since the most 
 splendid gift which the Divine Being from time to 
 time vouchsafes to poor humanity is that of genius. 
 Through it we receive the highest good in which we 
 are capable of participating — the forgetfulness of self 
 in a nobler life. Genius it is that gives us, if but for 
 a few short hours, that which the believer awaits with 
 earnest hope in another and a better world. 
 
 Has there ever existed a poet who transported our 
 souls into his ideal .kingdom with more irresistible 
 force than our Beethoven ? Certainly not. More 
 universal effects have been achieved by others, but 
 none more deep or noble. Nay, we may say without 
 
 • This Essay also appeared in Germany in the Salon. 
 
 b 
 
viil THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 exaggeration that never did an artist live whose 
 creations were so truly neun ; — his sphere was the 
 unforeseen. 
 
 Amidst so much that is trivial and dispiriting in art 
 and life, the widely diffused interest, the delight in 
 the creations of the wondrous man is a bright sign of 
 our times. I do not say the comprehension of them ; 
 that is not, and cannot be the case. But there are, 
 perhaps, no poems in the love and admiration of 
 which so many of the highest intellects concur as the 
 tone-poems of our master. To the essential nature 
 of our Art, which bears within itself the all-reconciling 
 element of love, must we attribute the fact that 
 against it the most violent differences in religious, 
 political, and philosophical opinion make no stand — 
 it is the might of Beethoven's genius which subdues 
 the proudest minds, while quickening the pulsations 
 of the simplest hearts. 
 
 If in anything the will of man shows itself weak, 
 nay, helpless, it is in the matter of intellectual creation. 
 A very strong will (is not even this beyond the reach 
 of most?) may lead to great learning, to brilliant 
 technical acquirements, to virtue itself — a spontaneous 
 poetic thought in word, tone, or colour, it will never 
 be able to bring forth. Thus, the true relation of 
 genius to us is that of a star, diffusing light and 
 warmth, which we enjoy and admire. Since, however, 
 to the higher man recognition and gratitude are 
 necessities, since he desires to add intelligence and 
 reverence to his admiration, and would willingly offer 
 up love also to the subject of it, he begins to investi- 
 
ESSA Y. ix 
 
 gate. He asks, what the divine germ, existing even in 
 the lisping child, demanded for its development ; what 
 brought it out into blossom — what influences worked 
 upon it beneficially — to what extent he who was so 
 nobly gifted was supported and furthered by moral 
 strength — how he used the talent committed to him — 
 finally, how he fought through the life-struggle from 
 which no mortal is exempt. 
 
 And then he inquires again and further ; which of 
 his qualities, which of the properties peculiar to him- 
 self, affect us most strongly ? — in what relation does 
 he stand to the development of his art — in what to 
 that of his nation ? — how does he appear with regard 
 to his own century ? 
 
 A mere attempt at answering these questions, and 
 the many connected with them, would require an 
 enormous apparatus of a biographic and aesthetic 
 nature, including a knowledge of the history of art 
 and culture, and an acquaintance with musical techni- 
 calities. It does not fall either within our power or 
 the scope of these pages to make any approach to 
 such a task. A few slight hints may suffice to pre- 
 vent our forgetting (amid the extraordinary and all- 
 engrossing occurrences of the present time) the day 
 which sent to us a hundred years ago the no less 
 extraordinary man, who, a prophet in the noblest 
 sense of the word, foresaw and declared (though only 
 in tones) the nobleness and greatness which will be 
 revealed by the German people, if friendly stars shine 
 upon their future. 
 
 A species of caste seems to have been implanted 
 
X THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 in man by nature — there are families of statesmen, 
 warriors, theologians, artists. It will nevertheless be 
 admitted that while it is often the case that circum- 
 stances, family traditions, cause the sons to follow in 
 their fathers' footsteps, it frequently happens that the 
 calling lays hold of the man, becomes, in the truest 
 sense of the word, a calling. 
 
 Several of our first composers have sprung out of 
 families in which the profession of music was chiefly 
 followed — but certainly not many. One thing, how- 
 ever, was common to nearly all — they w.ere mar- 
 vellous children, prodigies. Prodigy! now-a-days an 
 ominous word, recalling immediately to mind indus- 
 trious fathers, who force on concerts, and musical 
 attainments which do not refresh by their maturity, 
 but only excite astonishment at the precocity of 
 those from whom they are exacted. The abuse of 
 the phenomenon has brought the latter itself into a 
 bad light. A musical hothouse plant forced into 
 premature bloom through vanity or the thirst for 
 money may soon become stunted ; none the less, 
 however, does the fact remain, that no intellectual 
 gift shows or develops itself earlier than that of 
 music. Bach, Handel, Mozart, Hummel, Rossini^ 
 Mendelssohn, Clara Schumann, Liszt, Joachim, were 
 prodigies. Nature knows what she is about. He 
 alone to whom this wondrous tone-language has be- 
 come a second mother tongue, will be able to express 
 himself with freedom in it ; but how soon do we 
 begin to attempt our mother tongue ! And how few 
 succeed in really learning to speak it ! 
 
ESSAY. xi 
 
 It would be inexplicable had not our Beethoven 
 been also a prodigy. He was one, but after such a 
 sound, healthy sort, that those about him were more 
 struck by the'thought of his great future, than enthu- 
 siastic about his achievements at the time. The 
 compositions which have been preserved to us from 
 his boyish'days bear traces, even then, of the frank, 
 honest mode of expression which remained his to 
 the end of his career. Naturally, their contents are 
 trifling ; what has a. boy of twelve years to com- 
 municate to the world, if his inner life develop itself 
 according to nature ? Borne onwards by his artistic 
 readiness, he attained, however, at a very early age 
 an honourable, independent position with regard to the 
 outer world. He had barely quitted childhood when 
 he was organist at the Elector's Court in Bonn. At 
 a later period he occupied for several years the post 
 of violist in the orchestra. The viola was then one of 
 the most neglected orchestral instruments, and we 
 must form but a slight estimate of Beethoven's 
 achievements upon it. It was, however, invaluable 
 for him, the future Commander of the instrumental 
 tone-world, to have served in the line. In fact, every 
 striving young composer ought, as a matter of duty, 
 to act for at least one year as member of an orchestra, 
 were it only at the great drum. It is the surest 
 method of making the individuality of the different 
 sound organs ineffaceably one's own. When the 
 latter are entrusted to capable executants (as was the 
 case in the Electoral orchestra), the idea of a definite 
 personality is added to the peculiarity of the instru- 
 
xii THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 ment, which is not at all a bad thing. How often in 
 later years may the image of one or other of his 
 former colleagues have presented itself vividly and 
 helpfully to the mind of the master, as he sat medi- 
 tating over a score ! How often may he have heard 
 in spirit an expressive solo performed by one of 
 them ! 
 
 The stimulus which Beethoven received from 
 singers in those early days at Bonn did not work 
 very deeply. His own father, indeed, was one of the 
 Elector's vocalists, and sang both in church and on 
 the stage. But he was a sorry fellow, who saw in his 
 gifted son only a means of extricating himself from 
 his gloomy pecuniary difficulties, and certainly not 
 the man to inspire him for the wedding of Word to 
 Tone — the noblest union ever contracted. 
 
 Even in the most magnificent of Beethoven's vocal 
 works there exists a certain roughness ; the words 
 domineer over the melody, or the latter over the 
 poem. That perfect union — that melting in one 
 another of both factors — which is peculiar to Mozart 
 and Handel is found only separately (vereinzelt) in 
 him. Would a youth spent in the midst of a great 
 song- world have led our master along other paths ? 
 
 Certainly not without significance for his develop- 
 ment was the fact, that he was born on the lovely 
 banks of our joyous old Rhine. Do we not some- 
 'times hear it surging like a wave of the mighty 
 stream through the Beethoven harmonies ? Do we 
 not feel ourselves blown upon by the fresh mountain 
 air ? And do not the cordial, true-hearted melodies, 
 
ESSA Y. xill 
 
 which so often escape from the master, breathe the 
 very magic of one of those enchanting evenings 
 which we talk or dream away on the shore of the 
 most truly German stream ? The taste for an open- 
 air life (a life im Freien, in freeness, as the German 
 language so nobly expresses it) remained faithful to 
 him until the end ; and we can scarcely picture him 
 to ourselves better than as wandering in forests and 
 valleys, listening for the springs which sparkled within 
 himself. 
 
 Scientific knowledge, even in its most elementary 
 form, was hardly presented to the notice of the young 
 musician, and if at a later period any interest in such 
 pursuits had arisen within him, he would have been 
 obliged to dismiss it. On the other hand, he buried him- 
 self with his whole soul in the loftiest works of poetry, 
 that second higher world, and always came back with 
 renewed delight upon the works of Homer, Shakspere, 
 Goethe, and Schiller. Many and varied were the influ- 
 ences which they exerted upon him. They were to him 
 " intellectual wine," as Bettina once named his music. 
 But those are completely mistaken who expect to 
 find, either in them or anywhere else, positive expo- 
 sitions or elucidations of Beethoven's compositions; 
 as some have occasionally attempted to do, build- 
 ing their theory partly on utterances of the master. 
 When the latter refers the constantly inquiring secre- 
 tary, Schindler ,(I know not on what occasion), to 
 Shakspere's "Tempest," it was, after all, only an 
 answer — nothing more. The awakening of pure 
 musical imagination is just as inexplicable as are its 
 
xiv 7 HE L1JFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 results. One thing alone stands firm, — that which 
 speaks to the heart, came from the heart, — but the 
 life-blood which pulsates at the heart of the true 
 artist is a thousand times more richly composed than 
 that which flows in our veins. No aesthetic physiolo- 
 gist will ever be able to analyze it completely. And, 
 in life, is it only the deep thoughts, the extraordinary 
 occurrences, which call forth all our sensations, out of 
 which alone our happiness and our misery are formed ? 
 Is not a calm, serene autumn day enough to entrance 
 our inmost nature? a single verse to console us? the 
 friendlyglance of a maiden to throwus into the sweetest 
 reverie ? What trifling influences affect the eternally 
 rising and falling quicksilver of our hopes ! And 
 thus the smallest occasions may have been sufficient 
 to cause vibration in a soul so highly strung as Beet- 
 hoven's. Most powerfully, however, in such a genius, 
 worked the pure creative impulse, that eternally glow- 
 ing fire in the deepest recesses of his nature, with its 
 volcanic — but, in this instance, blissful eruptions. 
 
 We know that Beethoven proceeded as a young 
 man to Vienna, which he never afterwards left. He 
 found there (at least in the first half of his residence) 
 enthusiastic admirers, intelligent friends, admission to 
 distinguished circles, and lastly, that most necessary 
 evil — money. Nobody will grudge to the lively, good- 
 humoured, imperial city the fame of being able to 
 designate as her own a brilliant line of our greatest 
 tone-poets. But then she ought not to take it amiss 
 that we should wonder how, within her walls, at that 
 time, so magnificent an artistic development as Beet- 
 
£SSA Y. XV 
 
 hoven's should ever have been accomplished. Shall 
 we say, not because, but — in spite of her ? or shall we 
 utter the supposition that no agglomeration of men 
 can be sufficient for genius, since it treads a way of 
 its own, which bears no names of streets ? When, 
 however, the question comes under discussion, of the 
 relation of a great composer to that _ public among 
 whom his lot is cast, we cannot deny that it is easier 
 to understand how a Handel created his oratorios in 
 the so-called unmusical London, than how Beethoven 
 composed his symphonies in the musical Vienna of 
 the period. The former found himself in London in 
 the midst of a grand public life, — grand were the 
 powers over which he held sway, like the continually 
 increasing throngs of listeners who streamed to his 
 performances. When, on the other hand, we hear of 
 the difficulty with which Beethoven, during the course 
 of a quarter of a century, succeeded in giving about a 
 dozen concerts in which his Titanic orchestral poems 
 were performed for the first time, we become faint at 
 heart And I cannot do otherwise than express my 
 conviction that, under other conditions, no inconsider- 
 able portion of his works, which are (to use Schu- 
 mann's expression) veiled symphonies, would have 
 revealed their true nature. The world of the musi- 
 cian would hardly have been more enriched thereby, 
 but the musical public would have benefited. For 
 millions would have been edified> where now hundreds 
 torment themselves (with quartets and sonatas) for 
 the most part in vain. 
 
 Yes! these symphonies and overtures, with their 
 
xvi THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 unpretending designations, are the first poems of our 
 time, and they are national poems in a far truer sense 
 than the songs of the Edda, and all connected with 
 them, ever can or will be for us, despite the efforts of 
 litterateurs and artists. Yes ! in the soul of this 
 Rhinelander, who every day inveighed against the 
 town and the state in which he lived, who was 
 zealous for the French Republic, and ready to 
 become Kapellmeister to King Jerome — in this soul 
 was condensed the most ideal Germania ever con- 
 ceived by the noblest mind. With the poet we may 
 exclaim, " For he was ours ! " — ours through what 
 he uttered — ours through the form in which he spoke 
 — ours, for we were true to the proverb in the way 
 we ill-treated and misunderstood him. 
 
 " Industry and love " Goethe claims for his coun- 
 trymen. No artist ever exercised these qualities 
 with regard to his art in a higher degree than did 
 Beethoven. She was to him the highest good — no 
 care, no joy of life could separate him from her. 
 Neither riches nor honours estranged him from the 
 ideal which he perceived and strove after so long as 
 he breathed. He never could do enough to satisfy 
 himself either in single works or in his whole career. 
 He spared himself no trouble in order to work out 
 his thoughts to the fullest maturity, to the most 
 transparent clearness. To the smallest tone-picture 
 he brought the fullest power. His first sketches, 
 like the autographs of his scores, show in the plainest 
 manner that inflexible persistency, that unwearied 
 patience, which we presuppose in the scientific in- 
 
ESSAY. xvii 
 
 vestigator, but which, in the inspired singer, fill us 
 with astonishment and admiration. In all conflicts 
 (and every artistic creation is a conflict) the toughest 
 difficulty is to persevere. 
 
 Truth was a fundamental part of Beethoven's cha- 
 racter. What he sang came from his deepest soul. 
 Never did he allow himself to make concessions 
 either to the multitude and its frivolity, or to please 
 the vanity of- executants. The courage which is 
 bound up with this resembles the modest bravery of 
 the citizen, but it celebrates even fewer triumphs 
 than the latter. 
 
 Beethoven was proud, not vain. He had the con- 
 sciousness of his intellectual power — he rejoiced to 
 see it recognised — but he despised the small change 
 of every-day applause. Suspicious and hasty, he 
 gave his friends occasion for many complaints, but 
 nowhere do we find a trace of any pretension to hero- 
 worship. He stood too high to feel himself honoured 
 by such proceedings ; but, at the same time, he had' 
 too much regard for the independent manliness of 
 others to be pleased with a homage which clashed 
 against that. 
 
 What a fulness of the noblest, the sublimest con- 
 ceptions must have lived and moved in him to admit 
 of their crystallizing themselves into the melodies 
 which transport us ! — softness without weakness, 
 enthusiasm without hollowness, longing without sen- 
 timentality, passion without madness. He is deep 
 but never turgid, pleasant but never insipid, lofty 
 but never bombastic. In the expression of lore, fer-. 
 
xviii THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 vent, tender, overflowing with happiness or with 
 melancholy, but never with ignoble sensuality. He 
 can be cordial, cheerful, joyful to extravagance, to 
 excess — never to vulgarity. In the deepest suffering 
 he does not lose himself — he triumphs over it. He 
 has been called humorous — it is a question whether 
 music, viewed in its immediateness and truth, be 
 capable of expressing humour — yet it may be that 
 he sometimes " smiles amid tears." With true 
 majesty does he move in his power, in his loftiness, 
 in the boldness of his action, which may rise to defi- 
 ance — never to senseless licence. A little self-will 
 shows itself here and there, but it suits him well, for 
 it is not the self-will of obstinacy, but of striving. 
 He can be pious, never hypocritical ; his lofty soul 
 rises to the Unspeakable ; he falls on his knees with 
 humility, but not with slavish fear, for he feels the 
 divinity within. A trace of heroic freedom pervades 
 all his creations, consequently they work in the cause 
 of freedom. The expression, " Im Freien " — liberty ! 
 might serve as the inscription on a temple dedicated 
 to his genius ! 
 
 Like Nature herself, he is varied in his forms, with- 
 out ever relinquishing a deep-laid, well-concerted 
 basis ; he is rich in the melodies which he produces, 
 but never lavish ; he acts in regard to them with 
 a wise economy. In the working out of his thoughts 
 he unites the soundest musical logic to the richest 
 inventive boldness. Seldom only does he forget the 
 words of Schiller, — " In what he leaves unsaid, I 
 discover the master of style." 
 
JESSAY. xix 
 
 This wise economy does not forsake him either in 
 the selection or the number of the organs which he 
 employs. He avoids every superfluity, but the spirits 
 of sound which he invokes must obey him. Never- 
 theless, not to slavish servitude does he reduce them ; 
 on the contrary, he raises them in their own estima- 
 tion by that which he exacts from them. What 
 might be urged against him, perhaps, is that he 
 sometimes makes demands upon them to which they 
 are not adequate, that his ideal conception goes 
 beyond their power of execution. 
 
 He has spoken almost exclusively in the highest 
 forms of instrumental music, and where, in one way 
 or other, words are added to these, he has always 
 been actuated by high motive. He sings of Love 
 and Freedom with Goethe, of Joy with Schiller, of 
 the heroism of Conjugal Love in " Fidelio ; " in his 
 solemn Mass he gives expression to all those feelings 
 which force their way from man to his Maker. 
 
 Enough, enough ! we would never have done, were 
 we to say all that could be said about such a mind. 
 Dare we now really claim his creations, which breathe 
 the highest humanity, as specially German ? I think 
 this will be granted us when we add to it the con- 
 sideration that our greatest poets and thinkers have, 
 in like manner, struck root firmly in their nationality, 
 whence they have grown up — away, beyond — into 
 those regions from which their glance embraced but 
 one nobly striving human family. 
 
 It has been often declared that we, for long, felt 
 and recognised our national unity only through 
 
XX THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 the works of our poets, artists, and philosophers ; 
 but it has never been fully recognised that it was 
 our first tone-poets in particular, who caused the 
 essential German character to be appreciated by 
 other nations. There are, perhaps, no two German 
 names which can rejoice in a popularity — widely 
 diffused in the most dissimilar nations — equal to 
 that of Mozart and Beethoven. And Haydn, and 
 Weber, and Schubert, and Mendelssohn ! what a 
 propaganda have they made for the Fatherland ! 
 That they speak a universal language does not pre- 
 vent their uttering in it the best which we possess 
 as Germans. , 
 
 Nevertheless, as men are constituted, it is not to 
 be denied that what enchants does not on that 
 account overawe them ; they esteem the beautiful, 
 they respect only force and strength, even should 
 these work destroyingly. 
 
 Well, then ! Germany has now shown what she 
 can do in this way ; she will bloom afresh, and 
 follow out her high aims in every direction. The 
 consideration which we^could long since have claimed 
 as a people, will then be freely accorded to the 
 German state. 
 
 As a musician, I can wish for the nation nothing 
 better than that it should resemble a Beethoven 
 symphony, — full of poetry and power; indivisible, 
 yet many-sided ; rich in thought and symmetrical 
 in form ; exalted and mighty ! 
 
 And for the Beethoven symphonies I could wish 
 directors and executants like those of whom the 
 
ESSAY. XXI 
 
 world's history will speak when considering the 
 nineteenth century. But History, if at all true to her 
 task, must also preserve the name of the man who, 
 nearly seventy years ago, created the Eroica, — an 
 achievement in the intellectual life which may place 
 itself boldly by the side of every battle which has 
 left invigorating and formative traces on the destiny 
 of mankind. 
 
 Ferdinand Hiller. 
 
BEETHOVEN 
 
 % Sferaoir. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 Origin of the family Van Beethoven — The Electorate of Colognes- 
 Court of Clemens August the Magnificent — Ludwig van Beethoven 
 the Elder — Johann van Beethoven— Bonn in 1770. 
 
 HOWARDS the middle of the seventeenth 
 century there lived in a Belgian village 
 ffl near Louvain a family of the name Van 
 Beethoven. To their position in life we have no 
 clue, unless it be that contained in the name itself 
 (beet, root ; hof, garden), which after all only indicates 
 that the occupation of some remote progenitor was 
 akin to that of the "grand old gardener" from whom 
 we all claim descent. The question, however, is 
 immaterial. 
 
 A member of this family left his native place, and 
 
 B 
 
2 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 in the year 1650 settled in Antwerp, where he mar- 
 ried, and became the founder of a race, one of whom 
 was destined to render the hitherto obscure name 
 immortal. 
 
 The grandson of this Beethoven had twelve child- 
 ren, the third of whom, Ludwig, followed the 
 example of his great-grandsire, and quitted the 
 paternal roof at an early age. It has been imagined 
 that this step was the result of family disagreements ; 
 however that may be, it is certain that after the 
 lapse of some years Ludwig was again in friendly 
 correspondence with his relations. 
 
 The youth bent his steps towards the home of 
 his ancestors, where he probably had connections, 
 and succeeded in getting an appointment for the 
 period of three months in one of the churches of 
 Louvain. As this was merely to fill the place of 
 the Phonascus who was ill, young Beethoven found 
 himself when the three months were over again adrift. 
 
 He was but eighteen ; tolerably well educated, 
 however ; a cultivated musician, and the possessor of 
 a good voice. With these qualities he was pretty 
 sure of making his way, and in the following year 
 we hear of him at Bonn, the seat of government of 
 the splendour-loving Clemens August, Elector of 
 Cologne. 
 
 It has been thought that he received a special sum- 
 mons thither, but this is, to say the least, doubtful. 
 It is more probable that the young man, with the 
 love of change and the confidence in his own abilities 
 natural to his age, was drawn to Bonn by the dazzling 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 3 
 
 reports that were spread far and wide of the Maecenas 
 then on the episcopal throne. 
 
 A few words may not, be out of place here as to 
 the nature of the independent Ecclesiastical States 
 (and specially of Cologne), which occupy so large a 
 space in the history of Germany prior to the French 
 Revolution ; since the fact of the great master having 
 been born in one of these communities had an in- 
 fluence on his career which would have been wanting 
 had fate placed him in a state of more importance, 
 politically speaking. 
 
 We in England are inclined to hold somewhat in 
 contempt the petty German court — the "Pumper- 
 nickel " of Thackeray, — with its formality, its gossip, 
 its countless rules of etiquette, and its aping the doings 
 of its greater neighbours. And yet in this ridicule 
 there is a touch of ingratitude, for how greatly are 
 we indebted to these " Serene Transparencies," and 
 their love of pomp and display ! How many master- 
 pieces of art owe to their fostering care their very 
 existence ! How many men eminent in science and 
 literature have to thank them for that support and 
 encouragement without which their works, if produced 
 at all, must have fallen to the ground dead-born ! 
 People talk of the divine power, the inherent -energy 
 of genius, but what a loss is it for the world when 
 that energy is consumed in the effort of keeping soul 
 and body together ! The divine power will and 
 does manifest itself at length, but enfeebled and 
 distorted by the struggle which might have been 
 averted by a little timely aid. 
 
4 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 These prince-bishops of Cologne generally belonged 
 to some royal house, the office being in fact regarded 
 as a convenient sinecure for younger sons. They 
 were chosen by the Chapter, subject only to the 
 approval of the Pope and the Emperor, as the supreme 
 spiritual and temporal heads, the people themselves 
 having no voice in the matter. 
 
 They ruled over a small territory of about thirty 
 German miles in length, and in some places only 
 two or three in breadth. Within this limited area 
 there were several wealthy and flourishing towns ; 
 among which, strangely enough, that which gave its 
 name to the diocese was not included, a feud of the 
 thirteenth century between the reigning archbishop 
 and the burghers of Cologne having resulted in the 
 recognition of the latter as a free imperial city, and 
 the removal of the court to Bonn, which continued to 
 be the seat of government until the abolition of the 
 Electorate in 1794. 
 
 Were it not that the loss of so wealthy a town as 
 Cologne was of no small moment to the episcopal 
 coffers, the change must have been agreeable rather 
 than otherwise, for Bonn even in those days fairly 
 bore the palm from Cologne as a place of residence. 
 Here, then, for about four hundred years the little 
 state flourished, better perhaps than we with our 
 modern ideas as to the union of the temporal and 
 spiritual power are willing to admit, and especially 
 in the last fifty years of its existence was this the case. 
 
 Debarred by the limited income at their disposal 
 from taking any prominent part in political life, cut 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 5 
 
 off from ordinary domestic ties and interests, the 
 archbishops were driven to seek compensation for 
 these deprivations in some favourite pursuit ; and to 
 their credit be it said, not the delights of the chase 
 or the table alone engaged their attention. The old 
 genius of appreciation of art transferred its presence 
 from the Arno to the Rhine, and began to exert in 
 the Electors of Cologne an influence of great im- 
 portance in the aesthetic development of Germany. 
 
 The four last Electors especially distinguished 
 themselves, and shed a lustre on their court, by the 
 number of talented men they drew around them, and 
 the liberal patronage they bestowed on music and 
 the drama. Joseph Clemens, the first of these, was 
 himself a composer, after the usual fashion of royal 
 dilettanti, no doubt, but a p keen discerner of talent 
 in others. 
 
 His successor, Clemens August, had passed his 
 youth in Rome, where, although modern taste was 
 on the decline, the imperishable monuments of art 
 by which he was surrounded seem to have breathed 
 something of their own spirit into him. He did a 
 great deal towards beautifying the town of Bonn ; 
 built, besides churches and cloisters, an immense 
 palace, the present university, and greatly enlarged 
 the villa of Poppelsdorf, now the Natural History 
 Museum. His household was conducted on the most 
 magnificent scale, grand f6tes were of common oc- 
 currence, and his court was thronged by celebrities of 
 every rank. 
 
 Especially did the reputation of the court music 
 
6 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 stand high. The archbishop, like his predecessor, 
 was a connoisseur, and selections from the operas of 
 Handel and the cantatas of Sebastian Bach were 
 performed at Bonn in a style worthy of the imperial 
 court at Vienna. 
 
 It was to this brilliant little capital, then, that 
 young Ludwig van Beethoven made his way in the 
 year 1732, with a light heart and still lighter purse, 
 and begged for an engagement as one of the court 
 musicians, which distinction, after the customary 
 year's probation, was formally granted him, with an 
 annual stipend of four hundred guldens, at that time 
 considered a very good income for so young a man. 
 
 His career seems to have been uniformly successful 
 and honourable. Existing documents speak of him 
 as successively simple Jlfusicus, then Dominus van 
 Beethoven, next as Musicus Aulus, and finally in the 
 year 1761 as Herr Kapellmeister, when his name also 
 figures third in a list of twenty-eight Hommes de 
 chambre Honoraires in the " Court Calendar." This 
 success is the more remarkable when we reflect that 
 Ludwig van Beethoven the elder was no composer, 
 and in those days the musical director in the service 
 of a prince was expected to produce offhand, at an 
 hour's notice, appropriate music for every family 
 occurrence, festival or funeral ; so that his appoint- 
 ment as kapellmeister must have created no little 
 jealousy, especially as there were several eminent 
 composers at court. But in truth it would have been 
 impossible for him to find much time for composition 
 amid the multifarious duties that devolved upon him. 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 7 
 
 In addition to the general responsibility over all 
 pertaining to musical matters, including the oversight 
 of the numerous singers, choristers, and instru- 
 mentalists in the Elector's service, he was expected 
 to conduct in church, in the theatre, on private 
 occasions at court, to examine the candidates for 
 vacancies in the choir and orchestra, and also to take 
 the bass part in several operas and cantatas. Truly 
 the Herr Kapellmeister held no sinecure, if his royal 
 master did ! 
 
 Notwithstanding, he seems to have led a quiet, 
 even-going life, able, unlike the most of his colleagues, 
 to lay by a little sum of money, happy in the exer- 
 cise of his art (alas, poor man ! domestic bliss was 
 denied him), respected and beloved by all. 
 
 Such was the grandfather of the great Beethoven. 
 He died when the boy was but three years of age ; 
 nevertheless the old man in the scarlet robe usually 
 worn at that time by elderly people, with his dark 
 complexion and flashing eye, seems to have made no 
 ordinary impression on Beethoven's childish mind. 
 He always spoke with reverence of his grandfather, 
 whom he doubtless regarded as the founder of the 
 family, and the only relic that he cared to have when 
 settled in Vienna was a portrait of the old man, 
 which he begs his friend Wegeler in a letter to send 
 him from Bonn. 
 
 We have hinted that Ludwig van Beethoven was 
 not happy in his home. If every one is haunted by 
 some skeleton, his was grim enough. Not many years 
 after their marriage his wife Josepha had become 
 
8 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 addicted to drinking, and in fact her habits were such 
 that it was found necessary to place her in the re- 
 straint of a convent at Cologne. Thayer attributes 
 this failing to grief for the loss of her children, only 
 one of whom lived to manhood ; but this trait in her 
 character was unfortunately reproduced in her son 
 Johann. 
 
 The latter appears to have been a man of vacillat- 
 ing, inert temperament, gifted with a good voice and 
 artistic sensibility, but not capable of any sustained 
 effort. At the age of twenty-four we find him filling 
 the post of Tenor in the Electoral Chapel with the 
 miserable stipend of one hundred thalers, and not 
 distinguished in any way, unless we except his inge- 
 nuity in spelling or misspelling his own name in the 
 petitions which he from time to time addressed to 
 the Elector for an increase of salary. In these he 
 calls himself Bethoven, Bettkoven, Bethof, Biethoffen ; 
 but this instance does not warrant us in concluding 
 that he was a man of no education whatever, for the 
 orthography even of those who considered themselves 
 scholars was at that time very erratic. 
 
 At the age of twenty-seven, on an income not 
 much larger than that just mentioned, Johann van 
 Beethoven took unto himself a wife. The entry in 
 the register of the parish of St. Remigius runs thus : — 
 
 iir i - "Nov. 12, 1767. 
 
 ' Copulavi — 
 
 "JOHANNEM VAN BEETHOVEN, fllium 
 legitimum LUDOVICI VAN BEETHOVEN et MARINE 
 
 Josephs Poll, 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 9 
 
 Et 
 
 Mariam Magdalenam Keferich, 
 viduam LEYM, ex Ehrenbreitstein,. filiam HEN- 
 rici Keferich et Anbml Marine Westroffs." 
 
 The object of his choice was a young widow, 
 Maria Magdalena, daughter of the head cook at the 
 castle of Ehrenbreitstein. Her first husband, Johann 
 Leym, one of the valets de chambre to the Elector of 
 Treves, had left her a widow at the age of nineteen. 
 The fruit of this plebeian union between the tenor 
 singer of the Electoral Chapel and the daughter of 
 the head cook to his Grace the Archbishop of Treves 
 was the great maestro. 
 
 What a downfall must the discovery of this fact 
 have been to the numerous Viennese admirers of 
 Beethoven, who for long persisted in attributing to 
 him a noble origin, confounding the Flemish particle 
 van with the aristocratic von ! It was impossible, they 
 thought, that Beethoven's undoubted aristocratic 
 leanings could be compatible with so humble a 
 parentage. Hence the absurd fable, promulgated by 
 Fayolle and Choron, which represented him as a 
 natural son of Frederic II., King of Prussia, which 
 was indignantly repudiated by Beethoven himself. 
 
 In general careless of his own reputation, he could 
 not bear that the slightest breath of slander should 
 touch his mother ; and in a letter addressed to Wegeler 
 begged him to " make known to the world the honour 
 of his parents, particularly of his mother." Her 
 memory was always regarded by him with the 
 
10 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 deepest tenderness, and he was wont to speak 
 lovingly of the " great patience she had with his 
 waywardness." 
 
 We cannot conclude this short sketch better than 
 by presenting the reader with Thayer's picturesque 
 description of Bonn, as it must have appeared in the 
 eyes of the young Beethoven. 
 
 The old town itself wore an aspect very similar to 
 that of the present day. There were the same 
 churches and cloisters, the same quaint flying bridge, 
 the same ruins of Drachenfels and Godesberg tower- 
 ing above the same orchard-embedded villages. The 
 Seven Hills looked quietly down on the same classic 
 Rhine, not as yet desecrated by puffing tourist-laden 
 steamboat or shrieking locomotive. 
 
 Gently and evenly flowed the life-current in the 
 Elector's capital, no foreboding of nineteenth century 
 bustle and excitement causing even a ripple on the 
 calm surface. 
 
 " Let our imagination paint for us a fine Easter or 
 Whitsun morning in those times, and show us the 
 little town in its holiday adornment and bustle. 
 
 " The bells are ringing from castle tower and church 
 steeple ; the country people, in coarse but comfortable 
 garments (the women overladen with gay colours), 
 come in from the neighbouring villages, fill the 
 market-places, and throng into the churches to early 
 mass. 
 
 " The nobles and principal citizens, in ample low- 
 hanging coats, wide vests, and knee-breeches (the 
 whole suit composed of some bright-coloured stuff — 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 1 1 
 
 silk, satin, or velvet), with great white fluttering cra- 
 vats, ruffles over the hands ; buckles of silver, or even 
 of gold, below the knee and on the shoes ; high frizzed 
 and powdered perruques on the head, covered with a 
 cocked hat, if the latter be not tucked underneath 
 the arm ; a sword by the side, and generally a gold- 
 headed cane ; and, if the morning be cold, a scarlet 
 mantle thrown over the shoulders. 
 
 " Thus attired they decorously direct their steps to 
 the castle to kiss the hand of his Serene Highness, or 
 drive in at the gates in ponderous equipages, sur- 
 mounted by white-povydered, cocked-hatted coach- 
 man and footman. 
 
 " Their wives wear long narrow bodices with im- 
 mense flowing skirts. Their shoes with very high 
 heels, and the towering rolls over which their hair is 
 dressed, give them an appearance of greater height 
 than they in reality possess. They wear short 
 sleeves, but long silk gloves cover their arms. 
 
 " The clergy of different orders and dress are at-, 
 tired as at the present day, with the exception of the 
 streaming wigs. The Electoral Guard has turned 
 out, and from time to time the thunder of the firing 
 from the walls reaches the ear. 
 
 " On all sides strong and bright contrasts meet the 
 eye ; velvet and silk, ' purple and fine linen/ gold 
 and silver. Such was the taste of the period ; ex- 
 pensive and incommodious in form, but imposing, 
 magnificent, and indicative of the distinction between 
 the different grades of society." 
 
 Such was the Bonn of 1770. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 BOYHOOD. 
 
 Birth — Early Influences and Training — Neefe — First Attempts at Com- 
 position—The. Boy Organist — Max Friedrich's National Theatre — 
 Mozart and Beethoven — Disappointment. 
 
 j|N the 17th of December, 1770, in the old 
 house in the Bonngasse, Ludwig van 
 Beethoven first saw the light. He was not 
 the eldest child, Johann having about eighteen 
 months previously lost a son who had also been 
 christened Ludwig. 
 
 Beethoven's infant years flew by happily, the 
 grandfather being still alive, and able to make good 
 any deficiency in his son's miserable income ; but in 
 the year 1773 the old man was gathered to his 
 fathers, and the little household left to face that 
 struggle with poverty which embittered Beethoven's 
 youth. 
 
 The father, however, was not yet the hardened, 
 reckless man he afterwards became, and could still 
 take pleasure in the manifest joy exhibited by his 
 little son whenever he sat at the pianoforte and 
 
BOYHOOD. 13 
 
 played or sang. The sound of his father's voice was 
 sufficient to draw the child from any game, and great 
 was his delight when Johann placed his little fingers 
 among the keys and taught him to follow the melody 
 of the song. 
 
 On the title-page of the three Sonatas dedicated 
 to the Elector Maximilian Friedrich, Beethoven says, 
 " From my fourth year music has been my favourite 
 pursuit ; " and such would seem to have been really 
 the case. 
 
 The readiness with which the child learned was, 
 however, unfortunate for him. No long interval had 
 elapsed since the extraordinary performances of the 
 young Mozarts had astonished the whole musical 
 world, and the evil genius of Johann van Beethoven 
 now prompted him to turn his son's talents to the 
 same account. He resolved to make of Ludwig 
 a prodigy, and foresaw in his precocious efforts a 
 mine of wealth which would do away with any 
 necessity for exertion on his part, and allow him 
 to give full scope to what was fast becoming his 
 dominant passion. 
 
 With this end in view he undertook the musical 
 education of his boy, and the little amusing lessons, 
 at first given in play, now became sad and serious 
 earnest. Ludwig was kept at the pianoforte morning, 
 noon, and night, till the child began positively to 
 hate what he had formerly adored. 
 
 Still the father was relentless : Handel, Bach, 
 Mozart, all had been great as child-musicians ; and if 
 the boy (only a baby of five years) showed signs of 
 
14 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN: 
 
 obstinacy or sulkiness, he must be forced into sub- 
 mission by cruel threats and still more cruel punish- 
 ments. Many a time was the little Ludwig seen in 
 tears, standing on a raised bench before his piano- 
 forte, thus early serving his apprenticeship to grief. 
 
 In short, Johann was fast doing all he could to 
 ruin the genius of his son, when, fortunately for the 
 world, it soon became evident that if Ludwig were to 
 do wonders as a prodigy, he would require a better 
 teacher than his father, and the bey was accordingly 
 handed over to one Pfeiffer, an oboist in the theatre, 
 and probably a lodger in Johann's house. 
 
 This man seems to have been of a genial, kindly 
 nature, though only too willing to second his land- 
 lord^ views with regard to the boy ; for we' learn that 
 when the two came home from the tavern far on in 
 the night (as was too often the case) the little Ludwig 
 would be dragged from his bed__,and kept at the 
 pianoforte till "daybreak ! Beethoven seems, how- 
 ever, to have had a great regard for Pfeiffer, who was 
 an excellent pianist, and from whom he declared he 
 had learned more than from any one else. 
 
 On hearing many years after that he was broken 
 down and in poverty, he sent him, through Simrock 
 the music publisher, a sum of money. 
 
 This ruthless conduct on the part of Johann, though 
 unjustifiable and inhuman, probably layed the foun- 
 dation of the technical skill and power over the 
 pianoforte which so greatly distinguished Beethoven. 
 It is not positively certain that the father gained his 
 end, and made money by exhibiting the child, though 
 
BOYHOOD. . 1 5 
 
 we have the testimony of the widow Karth (who as a 
 child inhabited the same house as the Beethovens) 
 that on one occasion the mother made a journey to 
 Holland and Belgium — probably to some relations in 
 Louvain, — where she received several considerable 
 presents from noble personages before whom the 
 wonder-child had performed. This, however, is a 
 mere childish reminiscence, not to be depended on, 
 though it certainly coincides with all we know of 
 Johann's character. 
 
 The boy was also forced to learn the violin, and 
 this he disliked infinitely more than the piano, a fact 
 which puts to flight the pretty anecdote narrated in 
 the " Arachnologie " of Quatrem&re Disjonval, who 
 gravely states that whenever the boy began to practise 
 — in an old ruined garret filled with broken furniture 
 and dilapidated music-books — a spider was in the 
 habit of leaving its hiding-place, and perching itself 
 upon his violin till he had finished. When his mother 
 discovered her son's little companion she killed it, 
 whereupon this second Orpheus, filled with indig- 
 nation, smashed his instrument ! Beethoven himself 
 remembered nothing about this, and used to laugh 
 heartily at the story, saying it was far more probable 
 that his discordant growls frightened away every 
 living thing — down to flies and spiders. 
 
 When he was nine years old, Pfeiffer left Bonn to 
 act as bandmaster in a Bavarian regiment, and the 
 boy was placed under the care of Van den Eeden, 
 the court organist. At his death, which took place 
 not long after, Ludwig was transferred to his sue- 
 
"l6 t THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 cessor, Christian Gottlob Neefe, whose pupil he re- 
 mained for several years. 
 
 This Neefe, long since forgotten, was one of the 
 best musicians of the time," and thought worthy to be 
 named in the same breath with Bach and Handel. 
 He was a ready composer, and the favourite pupil of 
 Johann Adam Hiller, Bach's successor as Cantor in 
 the Thomasschule at Leipzig. He appears, more- 
 over, to have been an amiable, conscientious man, 
 and so high did his artistic reputation stand that he, 
 although a Protestant, was tolerated as organist in 
 the archbishop's private chapel. 
 
 How comes it, then, that with all these qualifica- 
 tions Beethoven would not afterwards allow that he 
 had profited by his instructions ? The question is 
 not easily solved. Beethoven himself wrote from 
 Vienna to his old teacher in 1793, "I thank you for 
 the advice which you often gave me whilst striving in 
 my divine art. If I ever become a great man you 
 have a share in it." 
 
 Notwithstanding this tribute there was a coldness 
 between them. It may be that master and pupil had 
 not that entire sympathy with each other which is 
 essential to any worthy result from the relationship. 
 
 Beethoven, as we know, was self-willed, and over- 
 flowing with an originality which, even at that early 
 age, would not easily brook dictation. Neefe, on the , 
 other hand, from his training in the strict Leipzig 
 school, may have been somewhat formal and narrow 
 in his ideas, apt to view with distrust anything un- 
 usual, and, as Thayer hints, to criticise contemptuously 
 
BOYHOOD. 17 
 
 his young pupil's efforts in composition. If the latter 
 conjecture be correct, it gives the clue to the earnest 
 advice Beethoven was wont to give the critics in after 
 years — never to judge the performances of a beginner 
 harshly, as " many would thus be deterred from fol- 
 lowing out what they might, perhaps, have ultimately 
 succeeded in." Contempt to a sensitive, shrinking 
 nature is like the blast of the east wind on a tender 
 flower ; downright condemnation is easier to bear 
 than the sneer which throws the young aspirant, 
 smarting and humiliated, back into himself — his best 
 energies withered for the moment. 
 
 Whatever Beethoven's feeling to Neefe may have 
 been, it did not, at any rate, prevent his making 
 very decided progress under his tuition, at which 
 the organist himself rejoiced, as we learn from the 
 following letter written by him, and published in 
 Cramer's Magazine — the first printed notice of Beet- 
 hoven : — " Louis van Beethoven, son of the Tenor 
 mentioned above, a boy of eleven years, with talent 
 of great promise. He plays the pianoforte with 
 great execution and power, reads very well at sight, 
 ■and, to say all in brief, plays almost the whole of 
 Sebastian Bach's ' Wohl-temperirte Clavier,' which 
 Herr Neefe has put into his hands. He who knows 
 this collection of preludes and fugues through all the 
 keys (which one might almost call the non plus ultra) 
 will understand what this implies. Herr Neefe has 
 also given him, so far as his other occupations permit, 
 some introduction to the study of thorough-bass. 
 Now he exercises him in composition, and for his 
 
 C 
 
1 8 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 encouragement has had printed in Mannheim nine 
 variations for «the pianoforte written by him on a 
 March. This young genius deserves help in order 
 that he may travel. He will certainly be a second 
 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart if he continue as he has 
 begun.'' 
 
 What could be kinder than the tone of this letter ? 
 
 The allusion to Mozart in the last sentence does 
 credit to Neefe's discernment, as tiie great composer 
 was at that time comparatively little known. It is 
 to be presumed that at this period Beethoven also 
 studied the works of C. P. E. Bach, since there is 
 evidence that he was familiar with them. His pro- 
 gress, in short, was such that we find him in 1782, when 
 he had not completed his twelfth year, installed as 
 Neefe's representative at the organ, while the latter 
 was absent on a journey of some duration. 
 
 Thus we may picture the boy Beethoven to our- 
 selves, at an age when other children are frolicsome 
 and heedless, as already a little man, earnest, grave, 
 reserved, buried in his own thoughts, his Bach, and his 
 organ. He had no time to join his young companions 
 in their games, even had his inclination prompted 
 him to do so ; for besides the hours devoted to music, 
 he attended the public school, where he went through 
 the usual elementary course, and learned besides a 
 little Latin. His knowledge of the latter must, how- 
 ever, have been very slight, as when composing his 
 first Mass he was obliged to make use of a transla- 
 tion, which, considering that he was brought up in a 
 Catholic family, is singular enough. Johann v. Beet- 
 
BOYHOOD. 19 
 
 hoven was not the man to waste money, as he thought, 
 on giving his son a liberal education, so that the 
 degree of culture attained by Beethoven was due only 
 to his own efforts and the influences afterwards thrown 
 around him. 
 
 In the year 1783 the three sonatas already alluded 
 to were published, Beethoven at the time being nearly 
 thirteen — not ten years of age as was stated, — the 
 falsifying of his .age being part of his father's plan 
 with regard to him. We give the dedication entire, 
 because (though probably not written wholly by 
 Beethoven himself) it offers a curious contrast to his 
 subsequent ideas regarding the princes and great 
 ones of the earth : — 
 
 " Most illustrious Prince ! From my fourth year 
 music has been my favourite pursuit. So early 
 acquainted with the sweet Muse, who attuned my 
 soul to pure harmonies, I won her, and methought 
 was loved by her in return. I have now attained my 
 eleventh year, and my Muse has often whispered to 
 me in hours of inspiration, Try to write down the 
 harmonies of thy soul ! Eleven years old, thought I, 
 how would the character of author become me ? and 
 what would riper artists say to it ? I felt some 
 trepidation. But my Muse willed it — I obeyed, and 
 wrote. 
 
 "And dare I now, most Serene Highness, venture 
 to lay the firstfruits of my youthful labour before 
 your throne ? and may I hope that you will cast on 
 them the encouraging glance of your approval ? Oh 
 
20 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 yes ! for knowledge and art have at all times found 
 in you a wise protector, a generous patron ; and rising 
 talent has thriven under your fatherly care. Filled 
 with this cheering conviction I venture to approach 
 you with these youthful efforts. 
 
 "Accept them as the pure offering of childlike 
 reverence, and look with favour, 
 " Most illustrious Prince, 
 
 " On them and their young composer, 
 " Ludwig van Beethoven." 
 
 It has been generally imagined that Neefe was 
 paid by the Elector for the instruction given to 
 Beethoven, but this is merely a supposition, without 
 any proof whatever. It is more than likely that 
 Neefe considered the assistance rendered to him by 
 the boy an equivalent for his lessons. We have seen 
 how, as early as 1782, he was qualified to relieve him 
 in the organ duty, rather a heavy task, owing to the 
 number of services at which the organist was expected 
 to be present. 
 
 In addition to this, Neefe soon found another 
 way of employing him — but this will require a little 
 explanation. 
 
 Whilst awaiting his appointment as court organist, 
 Neefe had acted as musical director to a troupe of 
 singers known as the Grossmann Company, from the 
 name of the directrice, Madame Grossmann. This 
 was one of the best operatic companies in Germany, 
 all its members being actors of experience and 
 reputation. 
 
BOYHOOD. . 21 
 
 Now it had entered the Elector's head to take this 
 company into his own service, and found a national 
 theatre (in imitation of that at Vienna) which should 
 serve as a school of refinement for the worthy citizens 
 of Bonn. Neefe found himself, therefore, burdened 
 with double duties as conductor and organist, and in 
 the season of 1783, owing to the absence of one of his 
 colleagues (the well-known Lucchesi), was almost 
 overwhelmed with work. He found it impossible to 
 attend the morning rehearsals in the theatre, and 
 accordingly young Ludwig was appointed cembalist 
 in the orchestra, i. e., to preside at the pianoforte. In 
 those days this was considered a distinction (as such 
 Haydn regarded it in London), and in fact only an 
 accomplished musician could fill the post, as all the 
 accompaniments were played from the score. 
 
 To this early initiation may be attributed the 
 extreme facility with which Beethoven read, a prima 
 vista, the most involved and complicated scores, even 
 when in manuscript, and that manuscript written by 
 a Bach in a manner calculated to drive any ordinary 
 reader to despair. 
 
 For two years young Ludwig was the accompanist 
 at all rehearsals, and in addition to the advantage 
 of thus working out in the most practical way all that 
 he learned of theory, he also gained a thorough 
 acquaintance with the works of Gr^try and Gluck. 
 
 The operas were varied by dramatic representations, 
 and these must have had an immense influence on 
 the observant, reflective boy; for the repertoire of 
 the company was large, and embraced not only the 
 
22 , THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 standard pieces of the day, but the new plays of 
 Lessing, and " The Robbers " of Schiller, which had 
 begun to create a ferment of excitement throughout 
 Germany ; besides translations from Moli&re, Goldoni, 
 and our own Garrick and Cumberland. 
 
 To return to our young cembalist, the two years 
 1783-84 must have been a busy time to him between 
 the chapel and the orchestra, but not a penny did he 
 receive for his services, although he may have earned 
 a trifle by playing the organ every morning at the 
 six o'clock mass in the church of St. Remigius. 
 
 When he was thirteen, however, through Neefe's 
 influence he was nominated officially to the post he 
 had so long filled in reality, that of assistant organist, 
 and would have drawn a salary but for an event which 
 threw him back again. 
 
 The Elector Max Friedrich died, the operatic 
 company was dismissed, and Neefe, having nothing 
 to do but play his organ, had no further need of an 
 assistant. 
 
 This must have been a great blow to the boy ; not 
 that he cared for the money in itself, but he knew 
 how it would have lightened his poor mother's cares, 
 and shed a gleam of sunshine over the poverty- 
 stricken household. 
 
 His father was now beginning to throw off all 
 restraint ; his failing was generally known, and more 
 than once he was rescued from the hands of the 
 police and brought home by his son in a state of 
 unconsciousness. Long ere this, two sons, Caspar 
 Anton Carl and Nikolaus Johann, respectively four 
 
BOYHOOD. 23 
 
 and six years younger than Ludwig, had been added 
 to the family, and doubtless many were the secret 
 councils between the boy and his mother as to how 
 the few thalers of Johann (minus what was spent in 
 the alehouse) could be made to meet the needs of the 
 household. It was probably about this time that 
 Beethoven began to give lessons, that most wearisome 
 of all employments to him, and so for more than a 
 year, to the great hindrance of his own studies, con- 
 tributed his mite to the general fund. 
 
 The year 1785, however, brought with it a little 
 heartening ; Ludwig's former appointment as assistant 
 organist was confirmed by the new Elector, and with 
 the yearly stipend of a hundred thalers an era of hope 
 dawned for the lad. 
 
 Max Franz, Archbishop of Cologne, was the 
 youngest son of Maria Theresa, and the favourite of 
 his brother, the Emperor Francis Joseph, whom he 
 strongly resembled in character and disposition. 
 
 To any one familiar with the musical history of the 
 period and the Emperor's relation to Mozart, this will. 
 be sufficient to indicate the pleasure with which the 
 Bonn musicians must have hailed his advent. Nor 
 were their expectations disappointed ; Max Franz 
 surpassed his predecessors not only in the munifi- 
 cence of his support, but (what is perhaps of more 
 importance) in the real interest shown by .'him in the 
 progress of art at his court. Neither did he confine 
 his patronage to music alone (though, as was natural 
 in a son of Maria Theresa, this was his first care) ; 
 painting, science, and literature alike felt the in- 
 
24 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 fluence of his generous mind. The university was 
 founded and endowed by him, and the utmost efforts 
 made to meet that universal demand for a higher 
 culture, and that striving after truth in art, which the 
 works of Schlegel, Lessing, Schiller, Goethe, and 
 others were rapidly disseminating throughout the 
 length and breadth of Germany. As Wegeler (the 
 friend and biographer of Beethoven, at that time 
 a medical student of nineteen) writes, "It was a 
 splendid, stirring time in many ways at Bonn, so 
 long as the genial Elector, Max Franz, reigned 
 there." It can readily be imagined, therefore, that 
 a youth so full of promise as Beethoven could not 
 escape the notice of such a prince, and that to his 
 own talents, backed by the recommendation of Neefe 
 — not to the influence of any patron — he owed the 
 only official appointment ever held by him. 
 
 For the next year he seems to have had a com- 
 paratively easy life, his salary no doubt going to his 
 mother, and the little he could make by teaching 
 ■ carefully put aside for a great purpose he had formed. 
 A characteristic anecdote of this period is worth re- 
 peating, inasmuch as Beethoven himself used often 
 to speak of it with glee in after life as a specimen of 
 his boyish achievements. 
 
 In the old style of church music, on the Tuesday, 
 Friday, and Saturday of Passion Week it was usual to 
 sing select portions from the Lamentations of Jere- 
 miah, consisting of short phrases of from four to six 
 lines. In the middle of each phrase a pause was 
 made, which the accompanist was expected to fill up 
 
BOYHOOD, 25 
 
 as his fancy might dictate by a free interlude on the 
 pianoforte — the organ being prohibited during these 
 three days. Now it so happened that the singer to 
 whom this was allotted in the Electoral Chapel was 
 one Heller, a thoroughly well-practised but some- 
 what boastful musician. To him Beethoven declared 
 that he was able to throw him out in his part without 
 employing any means but such as were perfectly 
 justifiable. Heller resented the insinuation, and 
 rashly accepted a wager on the subject. When 
 the appropriate point was reached, Beethoven in- 
 geniously modulated to a key so remote from the 
 original one, that although he continued to hold fast 
 the key-note of the latter, and struck it repeatedly 
 with his little finger, Heller was completely thrown 
 out, and obliged abruptly to stop. Franz Ries the 
 violinist, father of the afterwards celebrated Fer- 
 dinand, and Lucchesi, who were present, declared 
 themselves perfectly astounded at the occurrence, 
 and the mystified singer rushed in a tumult of rage 
 and mortification to the Elector and complained of 
 Beethoven. The good-humoured Max Franz, how- 
 ever, rather enjoyed the story, and merely ordered 
 the young organist to content himself with a more 
 simple accompaniment for the future. 
 
 In the spring of 1787, Ludwig at length reached 
 the . height of his boyish aspirations. His little 
 savings had accumulated to what was in his eyes 
 a large sum, and he looked forward with eagerness 
 to a journey to Vienna. It has been supposed that 
 the funds for this visit were supplied by others, but 
 
26 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 this is improbable. At that time Beethoven had no 
 wealthy friends ; there is no evidence to show that 
 the Archbishop assisted him, and certain is it that no 
 money was forthcoming from his father. We are 
 obliged to fall back upon the supposition that his 
 own scanty earnings, eked out perhaps by his 
 mother, were his only means, especially as we know 
 that they proved insufficient for his purpose, and 
 that he was obliged to borrow money for his journey 
 home. 
 
 What were Beethoven's intentions with regard to 
 this visit ? 
 
 His father's conduct, which must have many a 
 time brought the flush of shame to his young brow, 
 his mother's evidently failing health, the numerous 
 unsupplied wants of the family, now increased by 
 the birth of a daughter, — all these circumstances 
 combined to urge on his sensitive, loving nature the 
 necessity of making some exertion, of taking some 
 decided step for the assistance of his dear ones. 
 
 Vienna, so far away, was his goal ; there were as- 
 sembled all the great and noble in art — Gluck, 
 Haydn, Mozart ! the very mention of these names 
 must have roused the responsive throb of genius 
 in the lad. To Vienna he would go, and surely if 
 there were any truth in the adage that " like draws 
 to like," these men must recognise the undeveloped 
 powers within him, and help him to attain his object. 
 
 That some such hopes as these must have beat 
 high in Beethoven's breast, animating him for the 
 effort, is evident from the reaction that set in, the 
 
BOYHOOD. 27 
 
 despair that took possession of him when he found 
 himself forced by the iron course of events to abandon 
 his project. 
 
 Arrived in the great capital he obtained an inter- 
 view with Mozart, and played before him. The 
 maestro, however, rewarded his performance with but 
 feeble praise, looking upon it as mere parade ; and 
 probably in technical adroitness the boy before him 
 was far behind the little Hummel, at that time under 
 his tuition; for Beethoven's style, through his con- 
 stant organ-playing, was somewhat heavy and rough. 
 
 Beethoven, sensitively alive to everything, per- 
 ceived Mozart's opinion, and requested a thema for 
 an improvisation. Somewhat sceptically Mozart 
 complied, and now the boy, roused by the doubt cast 
 upon his abilities, extemporized with a clearness of 
 idea and richness of embellishment that took his 
 auditor by storm. Mozart went excitedly to the 
 bystanders in the anteroom, saying, " Pay heed to 
 this youth — much will one day be said about him in 
 the world ! " 
 
 The amiable Mozart did not live to see the fulfil- 
 ment of his prophecy, but he appears to have taken 
 an interest in the boy, and to have given him a few 
 lessons. 
 
 Beethoven afterwards lamented that he had never 
 heard Mozart play, which may perhaps be accounted 
 for by the fact that the master was much occupied at 
 the time with his " Don Giovanni," and also had that 
 year to mourn the loss of his father. 
 
 The following letter fully explains the cause of 
 
28 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 Beethoven's sudden departure from Vienna, and the 
 apparent shipwreck of all his hopes : — 
 
 "Autumn. Bonn, 1787. 
 
 "Most worthy and dear Friend, — I can 
 easily imagine what you must think of me — that 
 you have well-founded reasons for not entertaining 
 a favourable opinion of me, I cannot deny. 
 
 " But I will not excuse myself until I have explained 
 the reasons which lead me to hope that my apologies 
 will be accepted. 
 
 " I must tell you that with my departure from Augs- 
 burg, my cheerfulness, and with it my health, began 
 to decline. The nearer I came to my native city, the 
 more frequent were the letters which I received from 
 my father, urging me to travel as quickly as possible, 
 as my mother's health gave great cause for anxiety. 
 I hurried onwards, therefore, as fast as I could, al- 
 though myself far from well. The longing, to see 
 my dying mother once more did away with all 
 hindrances, and helped me to overcome the greatest 
 difficulties. My mother was indeed still alive, but in 
 the most deplorable state ; her complaint was con- 
 sumption; and about seven weeks ago, after enduring 
 much pain and suffering, she died. 
 
 " Ah ! who was happier than I, so long as I could 
 still pronounce the sweet name of mother, and heard 
 the answer ! and to whom can I now say it ? To the 
 silent images resembling her, which my fancy presents 
 to me ? 
 
BOYHOOD, 29 
 
 " Since I have been here, I have enjoyed but few 
 happy hours. Throughout the whole time I have 
 been suffering from asthma, which I have reason 
 to fear may eventually result in consumption. To 
 this is added melancholy, for me an evil as great as 
 my illness itself. 
 
 " Imagine yourself now in my position, and then I 
 may hope to receive your forgiveness for my long 
 silence. 
 
 " With regard to your extreme kindness and friend- 
 liness in lending me three carolins in Augsburg, I 
 must beg you still to have a little indulgence with 
 me, as my journey cost me a great deal, and here 
 I have not the slightest prospect of earning anything. 
 Fate is not propitious to me here in Bonn. 
 
 " You will forgive my having written at such length 
 about my own affairs ; it was all necessary in order to 
 excuse myself. 
 
 " I entreat you not to withdraw your valuable 
 friendship from me ; there is nothing I so much 
 desire as to render myself worthy of it. 
 
 " I am, with all esteem, 
 " Your most obedient servant and friend, 
 " L. v. Beethoven, 
 
 " Cologne Court Organist. 
 
 " To Monsieur de Schaden, 
 "Counsellor at Augsburg." 
 
 When years afterwards Ferdinand Ries came as a 
 boy of fifteen to Beethoven in Vienna, and solicited 
 
30 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 his help and countenance, the master, who was much* 
 occupied at the time, told him so, adding, " Say to 
 your father that I have not forgotten how my mother 
 died. He will be satisfied with that." Franz Ries 
 had, in fact, at the time of the mother's illness, lent 
 substantial assistance to the impoverished family ; 
 and this to the heart of the son was a sure claim on 
 his lasting gratitude. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 YOUTH. 
 
 Despondency — The Breuning Family — Literary Pursuits — Count Wald- 
 stein — National Theatre of Max Franz— King Lux and his Court — 
 The Abbe Sterkel— Appointment as Court Pianist — First Love — 
 Second Visit of Joseph Haydn. 
 
 OW "flat, stale, and unprofitable" must every- 
 thing in Bonn have appeared to our Beet- 
 hoven after the charms of Vienna — charms 
 real in themselves, and surrounded by the ideal 
 nimbus of his fresh young hopes and strivings ! The 
 desolate, motherless home, his neglected orphan bro- 
 thers, his drunken father, the weary round of teach- 
 ing, — it was no light task for an impetuous, ardent 
 genius to lift ; but it had to be faced, and with a 
 noble self-sacrifice he entered on the dreary path 
 before him. 
 
 He had his reward — the very occupation which he 
 disliked more than any other, opened up to him a 
 friendship which secured to him more peace and 
 happiness than he had yet known, and whose influence 
 
32 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 was potent throughout his whole life — that, namely, 
 with the family Von Breuning. 
 
 Madame von Breuning was a widow ; her husband, 
 a state councillor and a member of one of the best 
 families in Bonn, had perished in the attempt to 
 rescue the Electoral Archives from a fire that had 
 broken out in the palace, and since this calamity she 
 had lived quietly with her brother, the canon and 
 scholar, Abraham v. Keferich, solely engaged in the 
 education of her children. These were four in number : 
 three boys — Christoph, Stephan, and Lenz ; and one 
 girl — Eleanore. It appears that Beethoven (who was 
 about four years older than Stephan) was receiving 
 violin lessons at the same time with the latter from 
 Franz Ries ; and Stephan, struck, no doubt, with the 
 genius of his fellow-pupil, managed to get him in- 
 troduced to his mother's house in the capacity of 
 pianoforte teacher to the little Lenz. Madame von 
 Breuning was not slow to perceive the extraordinary 
 gifts of her son's new acquaintance ; and learning 
 incidentally, with her woman's tact, the sad state of 
 matters at home, opened her heart as well as her 
 house to the motherless boy. He soon became one 
 of the family, and used to spend the greater part of 
 the day and often the night with his new friends. 
 
 It is impossible to over-estimate the value of this 
 friendship to the young man. What a contrast to 
 his own neglected home did the well-ordered house 
 of Madame v. Breuning present ! Now for the first 
 time he was admitted to mix on equal terms with 
 people of culture ; here he first enjoyed the refining 
 
YOUTH. 33 
 
 influence of female society (did any remembrance of 
 Leonore suggest his ideal heroine ?) ; and here also 
 he first became acquainted with the literature of his 
 own and other countries. 
 
 The young Breunings were all intellectual, and in 
 the pursuit of their studies they were encouraged and 
 assisted by their uncle, the canon. Christoph wrote 
 very good verses, and Stephan also tried his hand at 
 some, which were not bad. The striving of these 
 young people would naturally lead our sensitive 
 musician to reflect on his own defective education, 
 and to endeavour so to rectify it as to render himself 
 worthy of their friendship. Beethoven's love of the 
 ancient classical writers may be traced to this period, 
 when Christoph and Stephan were studying them in 
 the original with their uncle, though it is not probable 
 that he ever learned Greek. His knowledge of Homer 
 was gained through Voss's translation, and bis well- 
 worn copy of the " Odyssey " testifies to the earnest 
 study it had received from him. French and Italian 
 he seems to have been acquainted with so far as 
 he deemed it necessary ; but his principal literary 
 studies were confined to Lessing, Burger, Wieland, 
 and Klopstock. The last especially was his favourite, 
 and his constant companion in the solitary rambles 
 among the mountains which he was fond of indulging 
 in. There, alone with the nature he venerated, the 
 sonorous lines and rolling periods of the German 
 Milton sank deeply into his mind, to be reproduced 
 years after in immortal harmonies. At a later, period 
 Klopstock was replaced in Beethoven's esteem by 
 
 D 
 
34 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 Goethe, of whose poems he was wont to say that 
 they " exercised a great sway over him, not only by 
 their meaning, but by their rhythm also. Their 
 language urged him on to composition." 
 
 But of all the blissful influences which tended to 
 make this time the happiest in his life, not one was 
 so powerful as that of Madame von Breuning herself. 
 To her everlasting honour be it said that she was the 
 first of the very few individuals who ever thoroughly 
 understood the morbid and apparently contradictory 
 character of Beethoven ; and greatly is it to the credit 
 of the latter that he merited the love of such a woman. 
 Not his abilities alone gave him a place in her heart ; 
 it was his true, noble, generous nature that won for 
 him a continuance of the favours first bestowed upon 
 the artist. Madame v. Breuning thoroughly appre- 
 ciated Beethoven ; he felt that she did. Hence the 
 tacit confidence that existed betweem them— he 
 coming to her as to a mother, and she advising him 
 as she would have done one of her own sons. 
 Beethoven used to say of her that she understood 
 how to " keep the insects from the blossoms." 
 
 Even she, however, sometimes failed in one point, 
 that, namely, of inducing him to give his lessons 
 regularly. It has been hinted before that this was 
 an unpalatable task to Beethoven. Wegeler describes 
 him as going to it ut iniquce mentis asellus, and this 
 dislike grew with every succeeding year. Even his 
 subsequent relation to his illustrious friend and pupil, 
 the Archduke Rudolphe, was in the highest degree 
 irksome to bim ; he looked upon it as a mere court 
 
YOUTH. 35 
 
 service. But while in Bonn our composer was not in 
 a position to choose his occupation. " Necessity 
 knows no law," and the higher claims of genius were 
 forced to submit to very sublunary considerations. 
 Madame v. Breuning's representations would some- 
 times succeed so far as to induce him to go to the house 
 of his pupil ; but it was generally only to say that he 
 ■'could not give his lesson at that time — he would 
 give two the next day instead." On such occasions 
 she would smile and say, " Ah ! Beethoven is in a 
 raptus again ! " an expression which the composer 
 treasured up mentally, and was fond of applying to 
 himself in after life. 
 
 About this time also Beethoven gained another 
 friend, Count Waldstein, a young nobleman, who was 
 passing the probationary time previously to being ad- 
 mitted into the Teutonic Order, at Bonn, under the 
 Grand-Master, Max Franz. Beethoven afterwards 
 expressed his obligations to him in the dedication of 
 the colossal sonata Op. 53. 
 
 He became a frequent visitor to the young organ- 
 ist's miserable room, which he soon enlivened by the 
 present of a grand pianoforte, and here the friends — 
 to outward appearance so different — doubtless passed 
 many a happy hour, for Waldstein was an excellent 
 musician, and an enthusiastic admirer of Beethoven's 
 improvisations. 
 
 These were also one of the great pleasures in the 
 Breuning circle, where Wegeler relates that Beethoven 
 would often yield to the general request, and depict 
 on the pianoforte the character of some well-known 
 
36 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 personage. On one occasion Franz Ries, who was 
 present, was asked to join, which he did — probably 
 the only instance on record of two artists improvis- 
 ing on different instruments at one and the same 
 time. 
 
 We have long lost sight of Johann v. Beethoven, 
 however, and must retrace our steps to see what has 
 become of him. By the year 1789 he had grown so 
 hopelessly incapable that it was proposed to send 
 him out of Bonn on a pension of one hundred thalers, 
 while the remaining hundred of his former salary 
 should be spent on his children. This plan was not 
 fully carried out, but the father's salary was by the 
 Elector's orders paid into Ludwig's hands, and en- 
 trusted to his management ; so that the young man 
 of nineteen was the real head of the family. 
 
 The Elector Max Franz now followed the example 
 of his predecessor, and established a national theatre. 
 Beethoven was not this time cembalist to the company ; 
 he played the viol in the orchestra, whither he was 
 often accompanied by his friend Stephan Breuning, 
 who handled the bow creditably enough. For four 
 years Beethoven occupied this post, and the solid 
 advantage it was to him is shown in his subsequent 
 orchestration. 
 
 In the autumn of the year 1791 an incident occurred 
 which broke the monotony of the court life, and gives 
 us an interesting side-glimpse of our young musician. 
 The Teutonic Order, referred to before, held a grand 
 conclave at Mergentheim, at which the Elector as 
 Grand-Master was obliged to be present. He had 
 
YOUTH. 37 
 
 passed some months there the previous year, and 
 had probably found time hang somewhat heavy on 
 his hands ; at any rate, he resolved that his private 
 musical and theatrical staff should attend him on 
 this occasion. 
 
 The announcement of this determination was 
 received with great approbation by all concerned, 
 and Lux, the first comedian of the day, was 
 unanimously chosen king of the expedition. His 
 Majesty then proceeded to appoint the various 
 officers of the household, among whom Beethoven 
 and Bernhard Romberg (afterwards the greatest 
 violoncellist of his time) figure as Scullions. Two 
 ships were chartered for the occasion, and King Lux 
 and his court floated lazily down the Rhine and the 
 Main, between the sunny vine-clad hills where the 
 peasants were hard at work getting in the best 
 harvest of the year. It was a merry time, and, as 
 Beethoven afterwards said, " a fruitful source of the 
 most beautiful images." 
 
 We can imagine the boat gliding peacefully along 
 under the calm moonlit sky — Beethoven sitting by 
 himself, enjoying the unusual do Ice far niente ; his 
 companions a little apart are chanting a favourite 
 boat-song ; the harmonious sounds rise and fall, alter- 
 nating with the gentle ripple on the water — and the 
 young maestro, pondering on his future life, tries to 
 read his destiny in the " golden writing " of the stars. 
 Is not some such scene the background to the 
 Adagio in the " Sonata quasi Fantasia," dedicated to 
 the Countess Giulietta ? 
 
38 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 At Aschaffenburg, Simrock, a leading member of 
 the company (afterwards the celebrated music-pub- 
 lisher), deemed it necessary that a deputation (which 
 included Beethoven) should pay a visit of respect to 
 the Abbe Sterkel, one of the greatest living pianists. 
 
 They were very graciously received, and the Abbe, 
 in compliance with the pressing request of his visitors, 
 sat down to the pianoforte, and played for some 
 time. Beethoven, who had never before heard the 
 instrument touched with the same elegance, listened 
 with the deepest attention, but refused to play when 
 requested to do so in his turn. It has been mentioned 
 that his style was somewhat hard and rough, and he 
 naturally feared the contrast with Sterkel's flowing 
 ease. In vain his companions, who, with true esprit 
 de corps, were proud of their young colleague, urged 
 him to the pianoforte, till the Abbe" turning the 
 conversation on a work of Beethoven's, lately pub- 
 lished, hinted, with disdain either real or assumed, 
 that he did not believe the composer could master 
 the difficulties of it himself. (The work alluded to 
 was a series of twenty-four variations on Righini's 
 Theme " Vieni Amore.") This touched Beethoven's 
 honour ; he yielded without further hesitation, and 
 not only played the published variations, but in- 
 vented others infinitely more complicated as he went 
 along, assuming the gliding, graceful style of Sterkel 
 in such a manner as utterly to bewilder the by- 
 standers, who overwhelmed him with applause. 
 
 It was perhaps after this display that he was pro- 
 moted to a higher post in King Lux's service by the 
 
YOUTH. 39 
 
 royal letters patent, and to this weighty document 
 a great seal — stamped in pitch on the lid of a little 
 box — was attached by threads made of unravelled 
 rope, which gave it quite an imposing aspect. Seven 
 years afterwards Wegeler discovered this plaisanterie 
 carefully treasured among Beethoven's possessions, 
 a proof of the enjoyment afforded him by this ex- 
 cursion. 
 
 At Mergentheim the sensation created by the 
 Elector's musicians was immense. In an old news- 
 paper exhumed by the indefatigable Thayer, the 
 following notice of Beethoven occurs. 
 
 The writer is Carl Ludwig Junker, chaplain to 
 Prince Hohenlohe, and himself a composer and 
 critic of no mean reputation. After giving a general 
 account of the whole orchestra, he goes on : — 
 
 " I have heard one of the greatest players on the 
 pianoforte, the dear, worthy Beethoven. ... I 
 believe we may safely estimate the artistic greatness 
 of this amiable man by the almost inexhaustible 
 wealth of his ideas, the expression — peculiar to 
 himself — with which he plays, and his great technical 
 skill. I should be at a loss to say what quality of 
 the great artist is still wanting to him. I have heard 
 Vogler * play on the pianoforte often, very often, and 
 for hours at a time, and have always admired his 
 great execution ; but Beethoven, in addition to his 
 finished style, is more speaking, more significant, 
 more full of expression, — in short, more for the heart ; 
 consequently as good an Adagio as an Allegro player. 
 * One of the greatest pianists of the time. 
 
40 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 Even the first-rate artists of this orchestra are his 
 admirers, and all ear when he plays. He is exces- 
 sively modest, without any pretensions whatever. 
 . . . . His playing differs so materially from the 
 ordinary mode of touching the piano, that it appears 
 as though he had intended to lay out a path for 
 himself, in order to arrive at the perfection which he 
 has now attained." 
 
 But even the pleasantest things must come to an 
 end, and the expedition to Mergentheim was no 
 exception to the rule. In a few weeks, Archbishop, 
 musicians, and actors were once more at Bonn, busily 
 engaged in preparing for Christmas. 
 
 About this time Beethoven was nominated Court 
 pianist, an appointment due partly to his friend, 
 Count Waldstein, partly also to the following circum- 
 stance, which gave the Elector a striking proof of his 
 young protigi's abilities. A new Trio by Pleyel had 
 been sent to Max Franz, and so great was his im- 
 patience to hear it that nothing would content him 
 but its immediate performance, without previous 
 rehearsal, by Beethoven, Ries, and Romberg. 
 
 To hear was to obey, and the Trio was played 
 at sight very fairly, the performers keeping well 
 together. It was then discovered that two bars in 
 the pianoforte part had been omitted, and supplied 
 by Beethoven so ingeniously that not the slightest 
 break was perceptible ! 
 
 In the same year, 1791, Beethoven wrote the music 
 for a splendid bal masqu4, organized by his friend 
 Waldstein, and attended by all the nobility for miles 
 
YOUTH. . 41 
 
 around. It was believed for long that Waldstein 
 was the author of the music. 
 
 Beethoven, meanwhile, continued his intimacy with 
 the Breuning family, where from time to time 
 another attraction offered itself in the person of 
 Fraulein Jeannette d'Honrath, a young lady of 
 Cologne, who occasionally paid a visit of a few 
 weeks to her friend Eleanore. 
 
 It has been asserted by some writers that Beet- 
 hoven was insensible to the charms of woman, and 
 that love was to him a sealed book ! For the refuta- 
 tion of this statement it is only necessary to turn to 
 his works, which breathe a very different story to such 
 as have ears to hear. For those who have not, let 
 the testimony of his friend Wegeler suffice : " Beet- 
 hoven was never without a love, and generally in the 
 highest degree enamoured." The reason why his 
 love was fated never to expand and ripen will be 
 explained in its own place. Here it is sufficient to 
 say that Beethoven, while glowing with fire and 
 tenderness, eminently calculated to love and be loved, 
 was throughout his whole life, and in every relation, 
 delicacy itself ; his nature shrunk instinctively from 
 anything like impurity. 
 
 To return : Mademoiselle Jeannette, a fascinating 
 little blonde, divided her attentions so equally 
 between Beethoven and his friend Stephan, and sang 
 so charmingly about her heart being desote when the 
 time for parting came, that each believed himself the 
 favoured one, until it transpired that the " Herzchen 
 had long since been bestowed " in its entirety on a 
 
42 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 gallant Austrian officer, whom the young lady subse- 
 quently married, and who afterwards rose to the 
 rank of general. 
 
 There does not seem to have been any attachment 
 between Beethoven and Leonore ; she was his pupil, 
 his sister,* but nothing more ; her affections were 
 already given to young Wegeler, whose wife she 
 afterwards became. 
 
 So our Beethoven was left to gnaw his fingers for 
 the loss of his pretty Jeannette, and to flutter on the 
 outside of the crowd which hovered round fair Barbara 
 Koch, the beauty of Bonn, daughter of a widow, 
 proprietress of a coffee-house or tavern. 
 
 What! exclaims the reader, is this an instance of 
 the so-called " aristocratic leanings " of Beethoven ? 
 
 We must beg him in reply not to look at things 
 through exclusively British and nineteenth century 
 spectacles. The position of worthy Frau Koch was, 
 if not distinguished, certainly respectable. 
 
 * The following birthday greeting, surrounded by a wreath of flowers 
 and accompanied by a silhouette of Eleanore, was found among Beet- 
 hoven's papers : — 
 
 " Gliick und langes Leben 
 Wiinsch' ich heute Dir, 
 Aber auch daneben 
 
 Wiinsch' ich etwas mir ! 
 Mir in Rucksicht Deiner 
 
 Wiinsch' ich Deine Huld, 
 Dir in Rucksicht meiner 
 Nachsicht und Geduld ! 
 
 "Von Ihrer Freundin und Schiilerin, 
 
 "LORCHEN V. BREUNING. 
 
 " 1790." 
 
YOUTH. 43 
 
 Lewes, in his Life of Goethe, was obliged to combat 
 with the same prejudice in his account of the poet's 
 student days at Leipzig, and we cannot do better 
 than quote his words with regard to the society to be 
 found in a German Wirthshaus of the period : — 
 
 " The table d'hdte is composed of a circle of 
 habitue's, varied by occasional visitors, who in time 
 become, perhaps, members of the circle. Even with 
 strangers conversation is freely interchanged, and in a 
 little while friendships are formed, as natural tastes 
 and likings assimilate, which are carried out into the 
 current of life." 
 
 The habitue's of Frau Koch's house were the pro- 
 fessors and students at the university, and such 
 members of the Electoral household as were engaged 
 in artistic pursuits. It was a rendezvous for them all, 
 where science, literature, art, and politics were dis- 
 cussed by able men ; and here, doubtless, Beethoven, 
 with his friends Stephan Breuning and young Reicha 
 (nephew of the director), spent many a pleasant 
 evening. The fair Babette was, as we have hinted, 
 no small attraction. She was a cultivated woman, 
 and the great friend of Eleanore y. Breuning. She 
 afterwards became governess to the children of 
 the minister ^Count Belderbusch, whom she finally 
 married. 
 
 We now come to an event which completely changed 
 the current of Beethoven's life — the return of Joseph 
 Haydn from his second visit to London. As he 
 passed through Bonn the musicians gave him a 
 public breakfast at Godesberg, on which occasion 
 
44 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 Beethoven laid before him a cantata of his composition 
 — probably that on the death of Leopold II. It met 
 with the warmest praise from Haydn, but on account 
 of the difficulty of the passages for wind instruments, 
 was never printed. 
 
 Whether the arrangements were made at this time 
 for Haydn's reception of Beethoven as his pupil, 
 or negotiated afterwards through Waldstein, is not 
 known. Certain it is that in the October of 1792 we 
 find his long-delayed hopes on the point of realization, 
 a pension from the Elector having removed all diffi- 
 culties. 
 
 Beethoven had often bemoaned in secret, and 
 specially to his friend Waldstein, the irregular, broken 
 instruction he had received, attributing Mozart's early 
 success to the systematic course of study he had 
 pursued under the guidance of his father. It is a 
 question, however, whether Beethoven — even had he 
 enjoyed the advantages of Mozart — would ever have 
 composed with the facility of the latter. Thayer 
 thinks not ; there is evidence enough in the sym- 
 phonies, &c, of our great master to prove that he 
 " earned his bread by the sweat of his brow." 
 
 The following note from Waldstein evinces the 
 deep interest he took in Beethoven, and his faith in 
 the young composer's genius : — 
 
 "Dear Beethoven, — "You are now going to 
 Vienna for the realization of your wishes, so long 
 frustrated. The Genius of Mozart still mourns and 
 laments the death of his disciple. He found refuge 
 
YOUTH. 45 
 
 with the inexhaustible Haydn, but no scope for action, 
 and through him he now wishes once more to be 
 united to some one. Receive, through unbroken 
 industry, the spirit of Mozart from the hands of 
 Haydn. 
 
 " Your true friend, 
 
 " Waldstein. 
 "Bonn, 2t)th October, 1792." 
 
 In the beginning of November, then, 1792, Beet- 
 hoven finally took leave of his boyhood's friends 
 — father and brothers, Wegeler, Franz Ries, Neefe, 
 Reicha, Waldstein, pretty Barbara Koch, and, hardest 
 of all, the Breunings. 
 
 Some of these he saw for the last time. 
 
 He was destined never again to tread the old 
 familiar streets of Bonn. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 LEHRJAHRE. 
 
 Arrival in Vienna — Studies with Haydn — Timely Assistance of Schenk 
 — Albrechtsberger — Beethoven as a Student — His Studies in Coun- 
 terpoint — Letters to Eleanore v. Breuning. 
 
 1EHOLD, then, our young musician at the 
 long-desired goal — free from all depressing, 
 pecuniary cares, with his pension secure from 
 the Elector, and a little fund of his own to boot. He 
 reached the capital about the middle of November, 
 alone and friendless ; nor is there any proof that the 
 advent of the insignificant, clumsily built provincial 
 youth made the slightest sensation, or roused the 
 interest of one individual among the many thousands 
 who thronged the busy streets. 
 
 His first care, as shown from a little pocket-book 
 still preserved, was to seek out a lodging suitable to 
 his slender purse ; his next, to procure a pianoforte. 
 The first requirement he at length met with in a 
 small room on "a sunk floor," which commended itself 
 by the low rent asked for it. Here Beethoven con- 
 
LEHRJAHRE. 47 
 
 tentedly located himself until fortune's smiles had 
 begun to beam so brightly on him that he felt entitled 
 to remove to more airy lodgings. 
 
 We may be sure that he lost no time in setting 
 about the purpose which he had most at heart, and 
 enrolling himself among Haydn's pupils, for he could 
 not have been more than eight weeks b in Vienna when 
 the master wrote to Bonn, " I must now give up all 
 great works to him [Beethoven], and soon cease com- 
 posing." 
 
 The harmony, however, which at first existed be- 
 tween Haydn and. his pupil was soon disturbed. The 
 former seems to have been always pleased with the 
 work executed by Beethoven, who, on the contrary, 
 was very much dissatisfied with the instruction given 
 by the master. He was obliged, in this instance, to 
 make the same experience that he had formerly 
 confided to Junker, at Mergentheim, regarding piano- 
 forte players, viz., that he had seldom found what he 
 believed himself entitled to expect. Distance lends 
 enchantment to the view ; and the keen, striving 
 worker soon discovered that Haydn was not the 
 profound, earnest thinker that his longing fancy had 
 painted in Bonn. 
 
 But an unexpected help was at hand. One day as 
 he was returning from his lesson at Haydn's house, 
 his portfolio under his arm, he met a friend whose 
 acquaintance he had only recently made, but with 
 whom he was already on intimate terms — Johann 
 Schenk, a thorough and scholarly musician, after- 
 wards well known as the composer of the "Dorf- 
 
48 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 barbier," and one of the most amiable of men. To 
 him Beethoven confided his troubles, bitterly la- 
 menting the slow progress his knowledge of counter- 
 point made under Haydn's guidance. Somewhat 
 astounded, Schenk examined the compositions in 
 Beethoven's portfolio, and discovered many faults 
 which had been passed over without correction. 
 
 Haydn's conduct in this instance has never been 
 explained. Generally conscientious in the discharge 
 of his duties as an instructor, this carelessness must 
 have arisen either from a pressure of wo_rk, or from 
 some undefined feeling with regard to Beethoven, 
 which prompted him to give him as little assistance 
 as possible. The latter supposition is hardly com- 
 patible with the terms in which he wrote of his pupil 
 to Bonn, but Beethoven could never shake off the 
 idea that Haydn did not mean well by him — a sus- 
 picion which was strengthened by what afterwards 
 occurred. 
 
 Excessively irritated by Schenk's discovery, Beet- 
 hoven would have gone on the impulse of the moment 
 to reproach Haydn and break off all connection with 
 him. Schenk, however, who had early perceived 
 Beethoven's worth, succeeded in calming him, pro- 
 mising him all the assistance in his power, and point- 
 ing out the folly of a course which would inevitably 
 have led to the withdrawal of the pension from Max 
 Franz, who would naturally have disbelieved any 
 complaint against the greatest master of the day, 
 and have attributed Beethoven's conduct to wrong- 
 motives. The young man had the sense to perceive' 
 
LEHRJAHRE. 49 
 
 the justice of these remarks, and continued to bring 
 his work to Haydn (Schenk always giving it a strict 
 revisal) until the latter's journey to England in 1793 
 afforded a feasible opportunity of providing himself 
 with a better teacher. 
 
 Thus, although neither cordially liked the other, a 
 tolerable appearance of friendship was maintained. 
 It was, perhaps, impossible that between two such 
 totally different natures the connection could have 
 been otherwise. Haydn was genial and affable ; 
 from his long contest with poverty rather obsequious, 
 not apt to take offence or to imagine slights ; ready 
 to reader unto Caesar his due ; in short — a courtier. 
 
 What greater contrast to all this can be imagined 
 than our proud, reserved, brusque Beethoven ? He 
 pay court to princes, or wait with " bated breath " 
 upon their whims ! He, the stormy republican, who 
 regarded all men as on the same level, and would 
 bow to nothing less than the Divine in man ! 
 
 Haydn, who had laughingly bestowed on him the 
 title of the " Great Mogul," probably felt that there 
 was no real sympathy, or possibility of such a feeling, 
 between them. Nevertheless, as we have said, they 
 continued to outward seeming friends, though Beet- 
 hoven's suspicions would not allow him to accept 
 Haydn's offer of taking him to London. He ac- 
 companied him, however, in the summer to Eisen- 
 stadt, the residence of Prince Esterhazy, Haydn's 
 patron, and on this occasion left the following note 
 lor Schenk, which shows the friendly feeling existing 
 between them : — 
 
50 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 " DEAR Schenk, — I did not know that I should 
 set off to-day for Eisenstadt. I should like much to 
 have spoken once more to you. Meanwhile, depend 
 upon my gratitude for the kindnesses you have shown 
 me. I shall endeavour, so far as is in my power, to 
 requite you. 
 
 " I hope to see you soon again, and to enjoy the 
 pleasure of your society. Farewell, and don't quite 
 forget 
 
 "Your Beethoven." 
 
 One of Beethoven's peculiarities may as well be 
 referred to here in passing. Although living in the 
 same town with many of his friends — nay, within a 
 few minutes walk of them, — years would elapse with- 
 out their coming in contact, unless they continually 
 presented themselves to his notice, and so would not 
 let themselves be forgotten. Absorbed in his crea- 
 tions, the master lived in a world of his- own ; conse- 
 quently, many little circumstances in his career, in 
 reality proceeding from this abstraction, were at the 
 time attributed to very different motives. 
 
 His connection with Schenk is an instance of this. 
 Though both inhabited Vienna, they had not met for 
 many years, when in 1824 Beethoven and his friend 
 Schindler encountered Schenk — then almost seventy 
 years of age — in the street. If his old teacher had 
 spent the intervening years in another world, and 
 suddenly alighted from the clouds, Beethoven could 
 not have been more surprised and delighted. To 
 drag him into the quietest corner of the " Jagerhorn " 
 
LEHRJAHRE. 5 1 
 
 (a tavern close at hand) was the work of a moment, 
 and there for hours the old friends mutually compared 
 notes, and reviewed the ups and downs of fortune 
 that had befallen them since the days when the Great 
 Mogul used to storm Schenk's lodgings and abuse 
 his master. When they parted it was in tears, never 
 to meet again. 
 
 The opportune departure of Haydn allowed Beet- 
 hoven to place himself under the instruction of Al- 
 brechtsberger, the cathedral organist. This man, 
 who counted among his pupils not only Beethoven, 
 but Hummel and Seyfried, was a walking treatise on 
 counterpoint ; but far from investing the science with 
 any life or brightness, it was his delight to render it, 
 if possible, more austere and stringent than he had 
 found it, and to lay down rules which to a fiery, im- 
 pulsive nature were positively unbearable. Never- 
 theless, Pegasus can go in harness if need be. Beet- 
 hoven, who, like every true genius, was essentially 
 modest in his estimate of himself, and had already 
 felt the want of a thoroughly grounded knowledge, 
 submitted to Albrechtsberger's routine for a period 
 of about eighteen months — beginning almost at the 
 elements of the science, and working out the dry-as- 
 dust themes in his master's Gradus ad Parnassum, 
 until he had solved for himself the mysteries of fugue 
 and canon. 
 
 This is not the commonly received notion of Beet- 
 hoven's student-days. Ries in his " Notices " has the 
 following : — 
 
 " I knew them all well \i. e., Haydn, Albrechts- 
 
52 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN: 
 
 berger, and Salieri, who gave Beethoven instruction 
 in writing for the voice] ; all three appreciated Beet- 
 hoven highly, but were all of one opinion regarding 
 his studies. Each said Beethoven was always so 
 obstinate and self-willed that he had afterwards much 
 to learn through his own hard experience, which he 
 would not accept in earlier days as the subject of in- 
 struction. Albrechtsberger and Salieri especially were 
 of this opinion." 
 
 But this testimony ought not to be accepted for 
 more than it is worth. Haydn, absorbed in his own 
 pursuits, and utterly unable to fathom Beethoven's 
 nature — the very reverse of his own ; Albrechts- 
 berger, the formal contrapuntist, far more concerned 
 about the outside of the cup, the form of a composi- 
 tion, than about its contents ; Salieri, the superficial 
 composer of a few trashy operas long since for- 
 gotten, — how were these men competent to pass 
 judgment on a FeuerkopfWke Beethoven ? 
 
 A few extracts,* taken at random from the mar- 
 ginal notes scribbled on the books in which Beet- 
 hoven's exercises in composition were written (pub- 
 lished after his death by the Chevalier von Seyfried), 
 will enable the reader to judge whether the master 
 was an earnest, willing student or no : — 
 
 " Continual dropping wears out a stone, not by 
 force, but by constant attrition. Knowledge can 
 only be acquired by constant diligence ; we may well 
 say, nulle dies sine lined — no day without its line ; 
 
 * From Beethoven's " Studies in Thorough-bass," published by the 
 Chevalier v. Seyfried, and translated by Henry Hugh Pierson. 
 
LEHRJAHRE. 53 
 
 every day that we spend without learning something 
 is a day lost. Man possesses nothing so costly and 
 precious as time ; therefore let us not postpone till 
 to-morrow what may be done to-day." 
 
 Tempora mutantur ! — How will a future age regard 
 and criticise the most admired works of our favourite 
 composers ! Seeing that almost everything is subject 
 to change, and, alas ! to the caprices of fashion, it is 
 clear that only works of sterling value and intrinsic 
 excellence can survive ; these alone can bid defiance 
 to mutability and false taste. Therefore let the 
 composer, the poet of Sound, disregard the passing 
 mode, and cling resolutely to the imperishable laws 
 of the Beautiful. True Art is neither the slave of 
 fashion nor of pedantry ; it soars triumphantly above 
 both ! Let us also never forget that no genius can 
 make up for superficial learning or want of diligence. 
 The artist's motto is : — Persevere ! Life is short- 
 art is long ! " 
 
 " While we acknowledge that the old masters were 
 fully justified in adhering to simplicity, we cannot 
 desire to imitate them in their blind obedience to 
 arbitrary laws, some of which are mere millstones 
 round the neck of imagination, only serving to frighten 
 the beginner and impede his progress. Time goes 
 on, and what sufficed for one age appears to the next 
 a woeful shortcoming. Let me not be supposed to 
 advocate an impertinent contempt of the great 
 principles of art, which are unchangeable; I would only 
 say that as time advances, art also advances in many 
 things. Invention and fancy must not be denied the 
 
54 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 rights and privileges of which schoolmen, theorists, 
 and barren critics would gladly deprive them. . . . 
 And yet I would advise a composer rather to be 
 commonplace than far-fetched in his ideas, or bom- 
 bastic in his expression of them." 
 
 " I determined for once to avail myself of the old 
 axiom, 'Nulla regula sine exceptione', and therefore 
 began with a sixth, i. e., wrote an imperfect chord in 
 the first bar, where, ex officio, a perfect chord should 
 stand. But I solemnly pledge myself not to commit 
 this mortal sin again (though I can't say that I 
 repent of it !) and in making a four-part composition 
 of it will not fail to write the third, A, under the 
 tenor, C, which will produce a complete quadricinium ; 
 then I shall have appeased the angry gods, I mean 
 the learned Thebans or pedants, who must then, 
 nolens volens, acquit me ! " 
 
 "Many theorists are of opinion that every piece 
 in a minor mode ought properly to conclude in the 
 same, Nego ! On the contrary, I think the major 
 third taken as the close has a much finer effect, and 
 is very soothing to the ear and mind ; joy comes 
 after grief, sunshine after storm. The close with the 
 major third gives me the same tranquillizing feelings 
 as when I gaze upon the soft light of the evening star." 
 
 " I would beg, parenthetically, to observe that I 
 have had the temerity to introduce a dissonant 
 interval here and there, sometimes leaving it abruptly, 
 sometimes striking it without preparation. I hope 
 this is no high treason, and that the judices doctissimi 
 if I ever meet them in the Elysian fields, will not 
 
LEHRJAHRE. 5 5 
 
 shake their periwigs at me. I did this to preserve the 
 vocal melody intact, and will be responsible for it 
 before any tribunal of common sense and good taste. 
 Passages that are easy to sing, and are not far-fetched 
 or difficult to hit, cannot be faulty. These severe 
 laws were only imposed upon us to hinder us from 
 writing what the human voice cannot execute ; he who 
 takes care not to do this need not fear to shake off 
 such fetters, or at least to make them less galling. 
 Too great caution is much the same as timidity. 
 Satis pro peccatis ; here is a long defence of a slight 
 misdemeanour ! " 
 
 "An antiquated rule makes it unlawful to go 
 beyond the six nearest relative keys in a strictly 
 conducted fugue ; but I am decidedly of opinion that 
 one need not scruple to infringe this rule ; if a man 
 have sharp eyes, and can walk well, he may venture 
 to go a little beyond the prescribed limits' without 
 danger." 
 
 At the end of the notes on simple counterpoint, 
 he writes : — 
 
 " Omnia ad majorem Dei gloriam ! Patience, dili- 
 gence, perseverance, and a steady determination, 
 carry one to the goal." 
 
 The sarcastic tone of some of these remarks is 
 indicative of Beethoven's inflexible determination to 
 shake off all restraints, the utility of which were not 
 recognised by his inner consciousness. Ries relates 
 that on one occasion he pointed out to him in one of 
 his earlier quartettes two perfect fifths in succession. 
 
 " What does that signify ? " asked the master, testily. 
 
56 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 " But it must be wrong," pursued the scholar, 
 astounded. 
 
 " Who says so ? " 
 
 " Kirnberger, Fuchs, Marpurg — all the theorists." 
 
 " Let them say it ! " was the rejoinder ; i. e., ' I 
 maintain it is not wrong.' 
 
 In after years, when told of any perplexity of the 
 critics, he would rub his hands together in glee, 
 saying, " Yes, yes ; they are all astonished and put 
 their heads together because they don't find it in any 
 Thorough-bass book." 
 
 On one occasion a friend had remarked, regarding 
 the second and third " Leonora " overtures, " The artist 
 must create in freedom, only giving in to the spirit of 
 his age, and be monarch over his own materials ; 
 under such conditions alone will true art-works come 
 to light." 
 
 " Granted," replied Beethoven ; " but he must not 
 give in to the spirit of his age ; otherwise it is all 
 over with originality. . . . Had I written them 
 [the two overtures] in the spirit that prevailed at 
 the time, they would certainly have been understood 
 at once, as, for example, the Storm of Kotzeluch. 
 But I cannot cut and carve out my works according 
 to the fashion, as they would fain have me do. 
 Freshness and originality create themselves, without 
 thinking about it." 
 
 But while thus probing and contesting all the 
 received theoretical axioms, while Albrechtsberger's 
 hair stood on^nd at his daring innovations, Beethoven 
 was most indefatigable in his practical investigations 
 
LEHRJAHRE. 57 
 
 into the nature and capabilities of the instruments 
 for which he wrote, and which his creative genius 
 roused to unheard-of achievements. From Herren 
 Kraft and Linke he learned the mechanism of the 
 violoncello ; Punto taught him that of the horn, and 
 Friedlowsky that of the clarionet. He often consulted 
 these artists in after life regarding the suitability of 
 certain passages for their respective instruments, 
 and allowed himself to be guided by their sug- 
 gestions. 
 
 Far otherwise was it, however, with singers ; for 
 them Beethoven composed as he liked, without 
 humouring any little predilection of the most fasci- 
 nating prima donna, or introducing a single piece for 
 display (one reason why Rossini was able for so long 
 to play the part of the successful rival). On the 
 other hand, the singers had their revenge, and sang 
 his music precisely as they listed, interpolating em- 
 bellishments and cadenze a piacere without the 
 slightest regard to his wishes. 
 
 The following letters to Eleanore van Breuning 
 belong to this epoch : — 
 
 " Vienna, Nov. 2nd, '93. 
 " Most esteemed Eleanore ! my dearest 
 FRIEND ! — A whole year of my residence in the 
 capital has nearly elapsed without your having received" 
 a letter from me, notwithstanding you have been 
 continually with me in the liveliest remembrance. I 
 have often entertained myself with the thought of 
 you and your dear family, but oftener still I have. not 
 
58 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 enjoyed the peace in doing so which I could have 
 wished* 
 
 " At such times that fatal dispute hovered before 
 me, and my conduct in the matter appeared to me 
 detestable. But it was past and gone. How much 
 would I give to be able to obliterate entirely from 
 my life the way in which I then acted ! so dis- 
 honouring to me, so opposed to my general character. 
 At the same time there were many circumstances 
 which tended to keep us apart, and I suspect that 
 what specially hindered a reconciliation was the 
 manner in which the remarks of each were repeated 
 to the other. We both believed that what we said 
 was the result of honest conviction, when in reality it 
 proceeded from anger inflamed by others, and so we 
 were both deceived. Your good and noble character, 
 my dear friend, warrants me in believing that you 
 have long since forgiven me ; but they say that the 
 truest repentance is that in which we confess our own 
 faults, and this is what I desire to do. And let us 
 now draw the curtain over the whole affair, only 
 extracting the lesson from it that when a dispute 
 happens between friends, it is always better that no 
 mediator should be employed, but that friend should 
 address himself direct to friend. 
 
 * The following remarks are eminently characteristic of Beethoven. 
 When his fiery nature had led him into saying or doing anything which 
 subsequent reflection showed him to be contrary to true friendship, his 
 remorse knew no bounds. Wegeler declares that his contrition was 
 often entirely disproportionate to the fault committed, as in the present 
 instance. 
 
LEHRJAHRE: 59 
 
 " You will receive along with this a dedication,* 
 and I can only wish that it were greater and more 
 worthy of you. They teased me here into publishing 
 this little work, and I avail myself of the opportunity 
 to give you, my esteemed Eleanore, a proof of my 
 regard and friendship for yourself, and a token of my 
 lasting remembrance of your house. Accept this 
 trifle, and think of it as coming from a devoted friend. 
 Oh ! if it only gives you pleasure, my wishes will be 
 quite satisfied. May it be a little reawakening of the 
 time when I passed so many happy hours in your 
 house ! perhaps it may keep you in remembrance of 
 me until I return again, which certainly will not 
 happen soon. Oh ! my dear friend, how we shall 
 rejoice then ! You will find your friend a more 
 cheerful man, with all the former furrows of adversity 
 chased away through time and a happier lot. 
 
 " If you should see B. Koch, I beg you to tell her 
 that it is unkind of her not to have written me 
 even once. I have written to her twice, and to Mal- 
 chus -f- three times — but no answer. Tell her that if 
 she will not write herself, she might, at least, urge 
 Malchus to do so. 
 
 "In concluding my letter, I venture one more 
 request, namely, that it would make me very happy 
 to possess an Angola vest knitted by your hands, my 
 dear friend. Forgive this not very modest demand ! 
 
 * Variations on Figaro's air, " Se vuol ballare." 
 
 t Afterwards Count Marienrode, and Minister of Finance in the 
 kingdom of Westphalia. At a later period he filled the same office 
 in Wirtemberg. 
 
60 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 It arises out of my great predilection for everything 
 made by you ; but I must tell you confidentially that 
 there is also a little vanity connected with it. I want 
 to be able to say that I possess something of one of 
 the best and most admired girls in Bonn. I have, it 
 is true, still the first which you kindly gave me in 
 Bonn, but it has become so old-fashioned that I can 
 only treasure it up in my wardrobe as something of 
 yours, very dear to me. You would delight me much 
 by favouring me soon with one of your kind letters. 
 Should mine give you any pleasure, I promise you 
 certainly, so far as lies in my power, to continue 
 them ; since everything is welcome to me whereby I 
 may prove to you how much I am, 
 "With all esteem, 
 
 " Your true Friend, 
 
 " L. v. Beethoven. 
 
 " P.S. — You will find the v. [variations] somewhat 
 difficult to play, especially the shake in the coda ; 
 but don't let this alarm you, since it is so arranged 
 that you have nothing to do but the shake ; the other 
 notes you may leave out, as they occur in the violin 
 part. I would never have written in this manner 
 had I not had occasion to remark that there are 
 several people here in V., who, after I have extempo- 
 rized of an evening, write down many of my peculiari- 
 ties next day, and pass them off as their own* As I 
 
 * Wegeler says, " Beethoven often complained to me also of this 
 sort of espionage. He particularized the Abbe Gelinek, a very fruitful 
 composer of variations, in Vienna, who always settled himself in his 
 
LEHRJAHRE. 6 1 
 
 foresaw that such things would soon be published, 
 it occurred to me to anticipate their movements. 
 Another reason was also — to perplex the pianoforte 
 teachers here. Many of them are my mortal enemies, 
 and I wished to revenge myself on them in this way ; 
 knowing that they would occasionally be asked to 
 play the variations, when these gentlemen would 
 come out in rather an unfavourable light." 
 
 The following fragment is without date : — 
 " The beautiful cravat, worked by your own hands, 
 has caused me the greatest possible surprise. Al- 
 though in itself so pleasing, it awakened within me 
 feelings of melancholy. Its effect was to recall the 
 past, and to shame me by your generous behaviour. 
 In truth, I did not think that you still considered me 
 worthy of remembrance. 
 
 "Oh! could you have been a witness of my emo- 
 tions yesterday when it arrived, you would not think 
 I exaggerate in saying that the recollection of you 
 brings the tears to my eyes, and makes me very sad. 
 However little I may deserve credit in your eyes, I 
 beg you to believe, my friend (allow me still to call 
 you so), that I have suffered and still suffer through 
 the loss of your friendship. You and your dear 
 mother I shall never forget. Your goodness to me 
 was such that the loss of you neither can nor will be 
 easily replaced. I know what I lost and what you 
 were to me, but if I attempt to fill up this blank, 
 
 neighbourhood. This may have been one of the reasons why Beethoven 
 always looked out for a lodging in as open a place as possible." 
 
62 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 I must refer to scenes which are as unpleasant for 
 you to hear as for me to describe. 
 
 " As a slight return for your kind remembrance of 
 me, I take the liberty of sending you some variations, 
 and the rondo with violin accompaniment. I have a 
 great deal to do, or I would have copied the long- 
 promised sonata for you. In my manuscript it is 
 little better than a sketch, and it would be very diffi- 
 cult for Paraquin himself,* clever as he is, to transcribe 
 it You can have the rondo copied, and then return 
 the score to me. It is the only one of all my compo- 
 sitions suitable for you, and as you are shortly going 
 to Kerpen,f I thought it might afford you some 
 pleasure. 
 
 " Farewell, my friend. It is impossible for me to 
 call you by any other name, however indifferent I 
 may be to you. Pray believe that I reverence you 
 and your mother as highly as formerly. 
 
 " If it is in my power to contribute anything to 
 your happiness, pray do not fail to let me know, since 
 it is the only means left to me of proving my grati- 
 tude for past friendship. 
 
 " May you have a pleasant journey, and bring your 
 dear mother back in perfect health ! 
 " Think sometimes of 
 
 "Your admiring Friend, 
 
 " Beethoven." 
 
 * Paraquin, conlro-basso in the electoral orchestra ; a thorough 
 musician, and universally esteemed as such. 
 
 t Kerpen, the residence of an uncle of Fraulein v. Breuning, where 
 the family usually spent some weeks in summer. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 THE VIRTUOSO. 
 
 Family Occurrences — Music in Vienna— Van Swieten — Prince Licli- 
 nowski — Beethoven's Independence, Personal Appearance, Man- 
 ners — Rasumowski Quartet —Occurrences in Lichnowski's Palace 
 —First Three Trios— Artistic Tour to Berlin— Woelfl— Beethoven 
 as an Improvisatore - Steibelt. 
 
 IMtejVJjEETHOVEN'S period of study embraced 
 m IS* 1 near 'y three years, during which many events 
 |IT«. </l| t 00 k place that produced a revolution in his 
 circumstances, and left him at their close in a very 
 different position from that in which they had found 
 him. 
 
 The first of these was the death of his father, which 
 happened about a month after his arrival in Vienna, 
 obliged the young man to take upon himself once 
 more the duties of guardian to his two brothers, and 
 necessitated the following petition to the Elector ; — 
 
 "Most Reverend and Gracious Prince, — 
 Some years ago your Highness was pleased to grant 
 a pension to my father, the court tenor Van Beethoven, 
 and graciously to decree that one hundred thalers of 
 
64 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 his salary should be placed in my hands, that I might 
 provide for the clothing, maintenance, and education 
 of my two younger brothers, and also discharge the 
 debts contracted by our father. I wished at once to 
 present this order to your Highness's treasurer; but 
 my father earnestly implored me not to do so, that it 
 might not be imagined he was incapable of superin- 
 tending his own family ; and he further added that he 
 would himself pay me quarterly the twenty-five R. 
 thalers, which up to the present time was faithfully 
 performed. 
 
 "After his death, however (in December last), when 
 I wished to avail myself of your Highness's kindness 
 and present the above-mentioned order, I was alarmed 
 by the discovery that my father had made away 
 with it. 
 
 "With all dutiful respect I therefore beg your 
 Serene Highness kindly to renew this order, and to 
 instruct your treasurer to let me have the last quarter 
 of this gracious addition to my salary (due the be- 
 ginning of February). 
 
 "Your Serene Highness's 
 
 " Most obedient and faithful Servant, 
 
 " Lud. v. Beethoven, Court Organist!' 
 
 This request was granted, and Franz Ries under- 
 took the management of the money ; but after June, 
 1793, not only this but the pension granted to Beet- 
 hoven himself was suddenly stopped. The fruits of 
 the French Revolution had made themselves apparent, 
 and the Elector was forced to fly from Bonn and take 
 
THE VIRTUOSO. 65 
 
 refuge in Mergentheim. Henceforth, Beethoven must 
 depend upon himself. 
 
 Luckily the emergency found him prepared ; he 
 was already esteemed as one of the best pianoforte 
 players of the day — nay, there were not wanting 
 those who assigned to him the very first place. The 
 recommendation of Count Waldstein, who was nearly 
 related to more than half a dozen of the best families 
 in Austria, coupled with that of the elector (uncle to 
 the reigning emperor), together with the fact that he 
 was Haydn's most promising pupil, gained for the 
 young man admission to the highest circles in the 
 capital, where his extraordinary abilities speedily 
 met with recognition, and placed him above all fear 
 of want. 
 
 In accounting for the peculiar facility with which 
 Beethoven obtained a hearing in Vienna, the state of 
 society and position of art at the period must not be 
 forgotten. 
 
 In a wide sense, and as we should understand it 
 now, music was not universally cultivated or appre- 
 ciated. The opera houses were two in number, one 
 entirely given up to Italian performances ; the other 
 plain and unattractive, struggling under great dis- 
 advantages to bring forward native composers. 
 
 Church music was at a low ebb ; the influence of 
 Albrechtsberger at the cathedral not tending to much 
 life or novelty in that branch of composition. 
 
 Public concerts, such as are now of daily occurrence, 
 happened perhaps once a year, when funds were 
 required for some charity. 
 
 F 
 
66 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 Thus, music was not then the universal pursuit of 
 all classes. The enjoyment of it was almost entirely 
 limited to the privileged few — the aristocracy — who, 
 following the example set by the reigning family, 
 professed an adoration of the art, a devotion to it, 
 which (though, of course, in many instances genuine) 
 was so general, so common, as to cast a doubt upon 
 its reality. Music was, in short, the fashionable 
 rage ; to be non-musical was to shut oneself out of 
 the pale of society — an alternative not to be thought 
 of without shuddering by the gay, pleasure-loving 
 Viennese. 
 
 Accordingly the musical enthusiasm was wonderful. 
 We find no less than ten private theatres, each with 
 its full corps of actors and actresses, at most of which 
 operettas were performed ; and an orchestral society, 
 composed exclusively of members of noble houses, 
 who gave public concerts, open only to their equals 
 in society, at the unwonted hour of six in the 
 morning. 
 
 In addition to these, every nobleman had his private 
 orchestra, or his Quartettistes, or, if his means would 
 not admit of this, at least one eminent instrumental 
 player, attached to his household. As all the great 
 families of Austria vied with each other in the splen- 
 dour and rechercM style of their musical entertain- 
 ments, it may easily be imagined how, in such a state 
 of society, Beethoven was lionized, petted, and f6ted. 
 
 Thayer gives a list of no fewer than thirty-one 
 great houses (nine of them belonging to princes) 
 which must have been open to him, as the owners 
 
THE VIRTUOSO. 67 
 
 were all recognised, worthy dilettanti in the highest 
 sense — not mere followers of the fickle goddess, 
 Fashion. Add to these the crowd that is ever ready 
 to patronize him whom the leaders of ton have taken 
 by the hand, and we see that Beethoven could not 
 have wanted either for pupils or for opportunities of 
 playing at private concerts. 
 
 It was, doubtless, the bustle and pressure of this 
 episode in his life, the contact with vulgarity in high 
 places, that gave him the dislike he afterwards mani- 
 fested to playing in public. At an earlier period in 
 Bonn, as we have seen, it was his delight to commu- 
 nicate his ideas to others, and to pour forth the 
 . inmost feelings of his soul in the presence of a little 
 circle of sympathising, cultivated listeners. But here, 
 in Vienna, to play at the command of some birth- 
 proud aristocrat, who regarded art and artists as 
 mere ministers to his pleasure — from such a task 
 Beethoven's mind revolted. Wegeler relates the 
 effect which such an occurrence would have upon 
 him : — 
 
 " An invitation to play in society robbed him of all 
 gaiety. He would come to me gloomy and down- 
 cast, complaining that he was forced to play till the 
 blood tingled to his very finger tips. By degrees we 
 would begin to talk together in a friendly way, when 
 I sought to distract his thoughts and to soothe him. 
 When this end was achieved, I let the conversation 
 drop. I placed myself at my desk, and if Beethoven 
 wished to speak to me again, he was obliged to 
 seat himself on a chair before the pianoforte. Soon, 
 
68 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 and often without turning, he would strike a few 
 undecided chords, out of which the most beautiful 
 melodies were gradually developed. I dared not 
 hazard a remark about his playing, or only allude to 
 it en passant. Beethoven would go away quite cheer- 
 ful, and always return willingly to me. The dislike, 
 however, remained, and was often the occasion of 
 a-rupture between him and his best friends." 
 
 But the halcyon days had not yet arrived when the 
 great tone-poet could devote himself entirely to his 
 life-mission. His own wants and those of his brothers 
 had to be provided for, and accordingly the round 
 of pianoforte-playing was gone through, as that of 
 teaching had been before, and with the same result, ^ 
 it paved the way to life-friendships. 
 
 Amongst the distinct leaders of the musical taste 
 of the capital was Gottfried, Baron van Swieten, the 
 son of Maria Theresa's Dutch physician, and the 
 composer of twelve symphonies (on which Haydn's 
 verdict was — " as stiff as himself.") He had formerly 
 passed some time in Berlin, where he had become 
 acquainted with Friedemann and Emanuel Bach, and 
 had heard the "Messiah," "Judas Maccabaeus," and 
 "Alexander's Feast." After his return to Vienna, he 
 acted as secretary to a musical society which met at 
 his house, where the great works of Bach, Handel, 
 and the old Italian writers (including Palestrina), were 
 devotedly studied. Mozart's co-operation in this un- 
 dertaking had been invaluable ; but Mozart was gone, 
 and Van Swieten was inconsolable for his loss until 
 he discovered Beethoven. He was a quaint type of 
 
THE VIRTUOSO. 69 
 
 a race long extinct — the genuine old kenner or 
 connoisseur. One can almost see him, when at a 
 concert an incautious whisper was heard in the back- 
 ground, rising majestically from his place, and con- 
 spicuous from his great height, taking an awful survey 
 of the room to discover the offender and wither him 
 by a glance ! In his efforts after the true in art, 
 however, no very marked line was discernible to him 
 between the sublime and the ridiculous ; hence the 
 earnestness with which he persuaded Haydn (and for 
 which the latter never forgave him) to insert the 
 croaking of the frogs in the Seasons. But take him 
 for all in all, he was a valuable friend to Beethoven, 
 and as such the latter regarded him. A carefully 
 preserved note of his is still extant : " If nothing 
 comes in the way, I should like to see you here next 
 "Wednesday, at half-past eight o'clock, with your 
 night-cap in your pocket." 
 
 The latter precaution was not unnecessary, for the 
 insatiable host (after the evening's entertainment was 
 over and the guests gone home) would not consent 
 to release his young protigt under at least half-a- 
 dozen of Bach's fugues for a " good-night," or " even- 
 ing blessing," as he was wont to call it. 
 
 Most valuable were the evenings spent in Van 
 Swieten's house to Beethoven, for here he was first 
 made fully acquainted with the majesty of Handel, 
 "that unequalled master of all masters," in Beethoven's 
 estimation, of whom he once said : " Go, and learn 
 of him how to produce, with small means, such great 
 effects ! " 
 
70 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 Another patron of the young musician, and one 
 able to benefit him more substantially, was the 
 Prince Karl Lichnowski, the accomplished pupil of 
 Mozart, who, with his amiable wife Christiane, 
 devoted every leisure hour to artistic pursuits. This 
 couple, worthy in all respects of their exalted rank, 
 at first attracted by the wonderful improvisation of 
 Haydn's pupil, soon discovered, on a more intimate 
 acquaintance, the true nobility of soul and dazzling 
 genius which lay beneath the rough exterior. 
 
 They were childless ; with the utmost delicacy it 
 was proposed to Beethoven in 1794 that he should 
 come to them ; he accepted the offer in the spirit in 
 which it was made, and for about ten years was an 
 inmate of the Lichnowski Palace, treated with more 
 than parental tenderness by the Prince and Princess. 
 The latter took the place of Madame von Breuning, 
 and Beethoven used afterwards to say laughingly, 
 " They wanted to train me there with grandmotherly 
 love ; and the Princess Christiane would have liked 
 to put a glass case over me, so that no evil might 
 come nigh me." 
 
 Not that there was never any misunderstanding 
 between Beethoven and his patron ; on the contrary, 
 the Princess had very often to mediate between them. 
 How could it be otherwise ? it was not easy for the 
 powerful, impulsive mind of Beethoven, with his pre- 
 vious training, to accommodate itself to the smooth, 
 etiquette-trammelled life of a palace. To abide by a 
 settled routine was to him impossible ; and after 
 a few ineffectual struggles the attempt to make him 
 
THE VIRTUOSO. 7 1 
 
 do so was abandoned, and the artist left free to 
 develop himself in his own way. 
 
 Wegeler relates that when he came to Vienna he 
 found Beethoven installed in the Lichnowski Palace, 
 but by no means so content with his position as one 
 would imagine. Amongst other things he complained 
 to him that the Prince's dinner-hour was fixed at four 
 o'clock. " Now," said he, " I ought to be at home by 
 half-past three to dress and trim my beard, &c. I 
 could not stand that ! " So some restaurant was 
 more frequently honoured by his presence than the 
 Lichnowski dinner-table. 
 
 It must not be thought that Beethoven forfeited 
 any of his independence by thus becoming an inmate 
 of the palace. On the contrary, he knew well, and 
 the Prince did also, that the advantage was mutual. 
 If he had a zealous and wealthy patron, the Prince 
 had in return the benefit of the constant presence of 
 the first pianist and improvisatore of the day at all 
 his Musikabende, besides the Mat attached to the fact 
 that so many of the composer's productions were first 
 performed at his house. Not that either of them 
 ever coolly balanced the one set of advantages 
 over against the other. This was in point of fact the 
 relation between them; in reality it was more like 
 that of father and son. 
 
 The critical judgment of the Prince was highly 
 esteemed by Beethoven, who often allowed himself to 
 be persuaded by him into making alterations which 
 no other influence had power to effect ; and his pro- 
 ficiency as a pianoforte-player, which enabled him to 
 
72 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 master with comparative ease the difficulties in the 
 new style inaugurated by his proUgt, confirmed 
 Beethoven in his own views, and gave him fresh 
 strength to resist those who' would have had him 
 adopt a more simple manner of writing. 
 
 Beethoven's independence of thought and action 
 was of vital importance in his development. " Help 
 thyself!"' was his motto. But we are sometimes 
 inclined to smile at the lengths to which he carried 
 his favourite doctrine. For instance, having over- 
 heard the prince (who had a peculiarly loud voice) 
 direct his Jager, that whenever Beethoven and he 
 rang at the same time, the latter should be waited on 
 first ; he took care that very day to procure a servant 
 for himself. Another time, when he had a great 
 desire to learn riding, and the Prince's stud had been 
 placed at his disposal, he would not accept the offer, 
 but bought an animal for his own special use. Any 
 one who has ever been so unlucky as to borrow a 
 friend's favourite horse, will not find Beethoven's con- 
 duct in this instance so very peculiar. 
 
 We can now imagine our master settled for a time, 
 in the possession of much that could make life enjoy- 
 able. His days were entirely at his own disposal, 
 and generally occupied by study ; his evenings were 
 passed either in his patron's salon, at Van Swieten's, 
 or at the house of some connoisseur. Wherever he 
 went, he was welcomed, in spite of his unpolished 
 manner and appearance. 
 
 We have seen how, rather than submit to the 
 necessity of an elaborate toilette, he would content 
 
THE VIRTUOSO. 73 
 
 himself with the plainest fare ; but there was that in 
 Beethoven's physique which the utmost pains could 
 never have smoothed down to the conventional 
 standard. Rather short, with a figure more indi- 
 cative of strength than elegance, hair that baffled 
 Figaro's efforts to reduce it to order, and a broad face, 
 whose one redeeming point was the lofty, expansive 
 forehead — a true throne of genius — Beethoven pre- 
 sented a tout-ensemble which at once marked him out 
 from all others, and was an index to the independent, 
 original spirit within. 
 
 His demeanour was such as might be expected in 
 one who had made his own life-path, and had con- 
 stantly encountered hostility and misunderstanding ; 
 brusque, angular, and a little defiant ; but — where he 
 was sure of his ground — gentle and loveable as a 
 woman, innocent and guileless as a child.. 
 
 Beethoven had no time for the petits-soins of life, 
 his thoughts were too deeply engrossed with higher 
 matters, but that he was the bear so often repre- 
 sented, we emphatically deny. Such accusations 
 were brought against him by those who were inca- 
 pable of appreciating either him or his works, who 
 would have had the great poet descend to the 
 common level of everyday life, fritter away precious 
 time and thought, and force his powerful mind to the 
 punctilious observance of every little social etiquette. 
 
 One condition alone was necessary for Beethoven 
 to come out in a favourable light in society, viz., he 
 must be understood. Not flattered, not admired, not 
 caressed, — simply understood in his true character as a 
 
74 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 poet, an artist, a revealer of beauty undreamt of by 
 others. The following anecdote is an illustration of 
 this :— 
 
 " When we were both still young (writes Herr von 
 Griesinger, Ambassador from the Court of Saxony 
 to Vienna), I only an attacM, and Beethoven only a 
 celebrated pianoforte player, but as yet little known 
 as a composer, we happened to be both together at 
 the house of Prince Lobkowitz. A gentleman, who 
 thought himself a great connoisseur, entered into a 
 conversation with Beethoven upon a poet's life and 
 inclinations. ' I wish,' said Beethoven, with his native 
 candour, ' that I was relieved from all the bargain and 
 sale of publication, and could meet with some one 
 who could pay me a certain income for life, for which 
 he should possess the right to publish exclusively all 
 that I wrote ; and I would not be idle in composi- 
 tion. I believe Goethe does this. with Cotta, and, if I 
 mistake not, Handel's London publisher held similar 
 terms with him.' 
 
 " ' My dear young man,' said this grave wiseacre, 
 ' you must not complain, for you are neither a Goethe 
 nor a Handel, and it is not to be expected that you 
 ever will be, for such masters will not be born 
 again.' " 
 
 " Beethoven bit his lips, gave a most contemptuous 
 glance at the speaker, and said not another word to 
 him. Afterwards, however, he expressed himself 
 pretty warmly on the subject of this flippant indi- 
 vidual. 
 
 " Prince Lobkowitz endeavoured to draw Beet- 
 
THE VIRTUOSO. ?$ 
 
 hoven into more temperate habits of thought, and 
 said in a friendly manner, when the conversation once 
 turned upon this person, 'My dear Beethoven, the 
 gentleman did not intend to wound you ; it is an 
 established maxim, which most men adhere to, that 
 the present generation cannot possibly produce such 
 mighty spirits as the dead, who have already earned 
 their fame.' 
 
 " ' So much the worse, your Highness,' replied 
 Beethoven ; ' but with men who will not believe and 
 trust in me because I am as yet unknown to universal 
 fame, I cannot hold intercourse.' 
 
 " Many then shook their heads, and called the 
 young composer arrogant and overbearing. Had 
 these gentry been able to look into the future, they 
 would have been a little ashamed of themselves." 
 
 With Beethoven's residence in the Lichnowski 
 Palace, many characteristic anecdotes are connected, 
 amongst others that already referred to of his reading 
 the complicated Bach MS. a prima vista. 
 
 But one of the most important features of his life 
 here was his connection with the Schuppanzigh Quar- 
 tette, afterwards known as the Razoumowski, which, 
 under his auspices, took so notable a place in musical 
 annals. The players were all very young (Schup- 
 panzigh, first violin, a boy of sixteen ; Sina, second 
 violin, still a very young man ; Weiss, viola, fifteen ; 
 and Kraft, violoncello, only fourteen years of age), 
 and this was probably a recommendation in the eyes 
 of the Prince, who was passionately fond of the quar- 
 tets of Haydn and Mozart, and doubtless found that 
 
76 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 he could more easily inoculate young and unformed 
 minds with his peculiar views regarding the per- 
 formance of them, than he could persuade more 
 mature artists into adopting his views. Beethoven 
 was his able coadjutor in this attempt, and the boy- 
 quartet, directed by one not much older than them- 
 selves, did honour to the discernment of their patron. 
 For many years they worked harmoniously together, 
 meeting for practice every Friday morning, and 
 probably no quartet-players, either before or since, 
 enjoyed advantages so great. For them Beethoven 
 composed his immortal productions, and his genius 
 fired and animated theirs, so that one mind and one 
 will alone seemed at work. The following note, pre- 
 served by Schindler, relative to the production of the 
 difficult E. flat major Quartet in March, 1825, shows 
 how his desire that his old companions should prove 
 equal to their reputation continued unabated to the 
 last : — 
 
 " My good Friends, — Herewith each will receive 
 his part, and must with it promise allegiance, and 
 pledge himself in all honour to do his very best to 
 distinguish himself, and to vie with the others in 
 zeal. 
 
 " Every one who wishes to take part in the affair 
 must sign this paper." 
 
 (Here follow the four signatures.) 
 
 On one occasion a new pianoforte quartet by 
 Forster, a well-known composer of the day, was in 
 progress of rehearsal. The violoncellist was suddenly 
 
THE VIRTUOSO. JJ 
 
 called out, when Beethoven, who was at the piano- 
 forte, instantly began to sing the missing part in 
 addition to going on with his own, which he read for 
 the first time. 
 
 The Prince, astonished, asked him how he could 
 sing music with which he was not acquainted. Beet- 
 hoven smiled and replied, " The bass must have been 
 so, otherwise the author could have known nothing 
 whatever of composition." On the Prince remarking 
 further, that Beethoven had taken the Presto so 
 quickly that it was impossible for him to have seen 
 the notes, he answered, " That is not at all necessary. 
 A multitude of faults in the printing do not signify. 
 If you only know the language, you don't see them 
 or pay any heed to them." 
 
 To show the good understanding between Beet- 
 hoven and the Princess Christiane, we give the follow- 
 ing anecdote here, although it properly belongs to a 
 later period. 
 
 One evening, Ries, while still Beethoven's pupil, in 
 performing a sonata before a large company, played 
 a wrong note, on which the master tapped him on the 
 head with one finger by way of reminder. Beethoven 
 next took his seat at the pianoforte, and the Princess 
 (who always felt for the weak, and had observed that 
 Ries was rather vexed by the occurrence) stationed 
 herself behind the composer. Beethoven played the 
 beginning of one of his own compositions rather care- 
 lessly, as he was often wont to do in commencing, 
 when the Princess seized her opportunity, and giving 
 him several well-directed blows, said : " When a pupil 
 
78 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 is punished with one finger for having failed in a 
 single note, the master deserves to be punished with 
 the whole hand for graver faults ! " " Everybody 
 began to laugh," adds Ries, " and Beethoven the first. 
 ., He recommenced, and played admirably." 
 
 In the year 1793, the first of that unparalleled 
 series of works which ended only in 1827 with 
 Beethoven's death — the three Trios for pianoforte, 
 violin, and Cello, Op. I., — were publicly performed ; 
 that is to say, before a large and brilliant assembly 
 in the Lichnowski Palace. The result was most gra- 
 tifying, alike to the composer and to his friends — 
 Beethoven was at once recognised as the successor 
 of Mozart. One incident alone detracted from the 
 happiness of the young author — Haydn, who was 
 present, while warmly praising the two first trios, 
 strongly recommended that the last, in C. minor, 
 should not be published. 
 
 Beethoven's suspicion, already on the alert, was 
 fairly roused by this apparently well-meaning advice. 
 Why should that particular trio be kept back ? He 
 himself thought it the best and most original of the 
 three, and as such it is now generally regarded. 
 
 It offered, however, such a contrast to his own 
 simple style of trio-writing, that Haydn was, perhaps, 
 honest in stating as his reason for advocating its non- 
 publication that he did not believe the public would 
 understand it. Beethoven, however, was strengthened 
 by this occurrence in his conviction that Haydn "did 
 not mean well by him ;" and, though he deferred to 
 the criticism at the time (probably more out of re- 
 
THE VIRTUOSO. 79 
 
 gard to Lichnowski's representations) a bitter feeling 
 towards his former master rankled in his heart. This 
 did not prevent his dedicating the three Pianoforte 
 Sonatas, Op. II., to Haydn. The dedication, how- 
 ever, was a mere mark of appreciation, not of the 
 man, but of his works, a compliment from one artist 
 to the other — not a grateful recognition of the master 
 by the pupil. In fact, when Haydn wished him to 
 inscribe on the title-page, "Pupil of Haydn," he 
 flatly refused, saying that he " had never learned 
 anything from him !" 
 
 We have said that he deferred to Haydn's criticism, 
 but he went beyond it. If the C. minor trio was not 
 to be published, neither should the other two. So 
 the unlucky works were thrust back into his port- 
 folio, where they lay for two years, during which the 
 irate composer paved the way for their proper recep- 
 tion by publishing an immense number of bagatelles, 
 especially variations on different themes, which have 
 no great value beyond that attached to them as 
 studies in the development of Beethoven's genius. 
 
 Although evincing more ingenuity and variety than 
 the themes treated by Mozart in the same way, they 
 are often found unequal to the latter in clearness* 
 Beethoven seems to have had a lingering partiality for 
 this style of writing. After having abandoned it, we 
 find it adopted again in the Thirty-two Variations. 
 S^rieuses on an original theme, which were written 
 after he had more than established his success in the 
 Sonata form ; and, so anxious was he to have them 
 
 * Marx, vol. i., p. 66. 
 
80 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 well understood and rendered, that he made Ries, 
 when studying them with him, repeat the last no 
 fewer than seventeen times before he was satisfied 
 with the effect ; " though," adds Ries rather naively, 
 " I thought I played it as well as Beethoven himself!" 
 
 The growth of the Thirty-three Variations, Op. 120, 
 we must leave to Schindler to relate : — 
 
 " In the villa of Hetzendorf, Beethoven wrote the 
 Thirty-three Variations on a Waltz by Diabelli, a 
 work which delighted him uncommonly. At first 
 there were only to be six or seven variations, for 
 which modest number Diabelli had offered him eighty 
 ducats (the price he received for almost each of his 
 later Sonatas). But when he set to work, there sprang 
 into life first ten, then twenty, then twenty-five — and 
 still he could not stop. When Diabelli heard of the 
 twenty-five variations, he was greatly concerned 
 lest the work should be too large, but was at last 
 obliged to accept for his eighty ducats, not seven, but 
 three and thirty variations!' The following story is a 
 proof of the ease with which he invented variations. 
 Being one evening in a box with a lady during a per- 
 formance of " La Molinare," she lamented to him that 
 she had once possessed a number of variations on the 
 air " Nel cor non phi mi sento." which she had lost. 
 Next morning she received " Sei variazioni perdute 
 per la — ritrovate per Luigi v. Beethoven." 
 
 The year 1795, brought with it two events ; one the 
 arrival of his brothers in Vienna : the other his first 
 appearance in public as a virtuoso. Hitherto his per- 
 formances had been confined to the Lichnowski 
 
THE VIRTUOSO. 8 1 
 
 Palace, and other private houses, and public curiosity- 
 had long been whetted by the various rumours which 
 flew about concerning him. At length it was to be 
 gratified, on the occasion of the Annual Concert for 
 the Widows and Orphans of Musicians. The direc- 
 tion of this was usually entrusted to Salieri, who held 
 the baton at the Italian Opera-house, and his pro- 
 gramme for the year 1795 consisted of an operetta, 
 composed by one of his pupils, and a Pianoforte 
 Concerto in C. major by another, Herr Louis van 
 Beethoven. 
 
 Wegeler relates that two days before the date 
 fixed for the event the Concerto was not yet finished, 
 and there did not seem much probability of its 
 being ready in time, as Beethoven was suffering 
 much from attacks of colic, to which he was often 
 subject. Wegeler, from his medical knowledge, was 
 able to render a little assistance, and so the work pro- 
 gressed, Beethoven writing as fast as he could, and 
 handing over each sheet as it was finished to four 
 copyists who were in attendance in the antechamber. 
 Next day, at the rehearsal, the pianoforte was found 
 to have been tuned half a tone lower than the other 
 instruments ; when Beethoven, to save time, played 
 the whole Concerto through in the key of C. sharp ! 
 
 Seyfried tells us that when Beethoven asked him 
 to turn over the leaves of several of his concertos for 
 him while playing in public, he found nothing but 
 a sheet of paper with here and there a bar filled in, 
 or a mass of notes unintelligible to any one but the 
 composer. Jahn describes Mozart as doing the 
 
 G 
 
82 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 same, but what a difference is there between his con- 
 certos and — say, the Emperor ! 
 
 The year 1797 was marked by a slight variation ; 
 Beethoven made a short journey to Berlin and 
 Leipzig, the only occasion, with the exception of his 
 visit to the Baths, on which he ever left Vienna or 
 its neighbourhood. In both cities he met with a 
 flattering reception. In Berlin he played his two 
 sonatas for pianoforte and 'cello, Op. 5, before 
 Frederick William II., who presented him with a 
 snuff-box filled with Friedrichs-d'or ; " not an ordi- 
 nary snuff-box," as Beethoven was wont to remark 
 with grim satisfaction, " but qne similar to those 
 given to ambassadors ! " 
 
 Here, also, he unwittingly incurred the enmity of 
 the pianist Himmel. The latter had begged Beet- 
 hoven for an improvisation, with which request our 
 musician complied, and then asked Himmel to favour 
 him in return. Nothing loath, Himmel seated him- 
 self at the pianoforte and began a succession of 
 smooth running passages and arpeggios, skilfully 
 linked together. Beethoven listened for a while in 
 silence, imagining this to be the prelude, but as it 
 seemed to '' go on for ever/' he said with some 
 impatience, " Pray do begin now ! " Himmel, how- 
 ever had already exhausted his imagination and 
 finished his (quasi) improvisation. 
 
 No better fate awaited others who opposed them- 
 selves to Beethoven as improvisatori, not excepting 
 the celebrated pianists Woelfl and Steibelt. That 
 the former could ever have been seriously regarded 
 
THE VIRTUOSO. 83 
 
 as the rival of Beethoven is scarcely credible to us. 
 Such was the case, however, and as with Gluck and 
 Picini in Paris, and Handel and Buononcini in 
 London (connected with which Swift's well-known 
 jeu-d 1 esprit will occur to every amateur), so it was with 
 Beethoven and Woelfl in Vienna. Each had his 
 allies, and party spirit ran so high that Beethoven, 
 although devoid of any feeling of rivalry, accepted 
 a challenge to improvise. The meeting took place 
 at the villa of Baron von Wetzlar, Woelfl's patron ; 
 the pianofortes were placed side by side, and the two 
 artists played and improvised by turns. 
 
 Inspired by the ardour of contest, each seemed to 
 surpass himself ; never had Woelfl's technical skill 
 seemed greater ; never had the wealth of Beethoven's 
 ideas shone out more resplendently. Some of 
 Woelfl's stoutest adherents contended that he had 
 gained the day in a technical point of view, and this 
 may, perhaps, have been the case, since his immense 
 hand, which enabled him to grasp tenths with the 
 same ease as octaves, undoubtedly gave him an 
 advantage. His sonata, " Non plus ultra," gives us 
 an idea of his execution. 
 
 Beethoven, on the other hand, never cared to make 
 a display of mere dash and brilliancy ; technicalities 
 were always subordinated by him to idea and feeling. 
 
 The gift of improvisation must have been his to 
 an extent unparalleled either before or since. His 
 wealth of idea, certainty of form, and poetry of ex- 
 pression, combined to produce an effect very different 
 from that achieved by ordinary extempore players, 
 
•84 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 who in general, as we have seen in the case of 
 Himmel, mistook the art of preluding for that of 
 improvising. Only one conversant with that lan- 
 guage of music to which Beethoven often alluded, 
 could venture, without preparation, to speak to any 
 purpose in it. 
 
 A circumstance that contributed to his success 
 was his power of abstraction, which, in common with 
 all deep thinkers, he possessed in a remarkable de- 
 gree. With the first few bars of the given Thema, 
 the scene before his eyes, the daylight, the by- 
 standers, all vanished ; and Beethoven was as fully 
 immersed in the solitude of his own* thoughts as 
 though he had been suddenly transported to some 
 desert island, with penguins and sea'-gulls for lis- 
 teners. 
 
 Ries gives a curious instance of this utter disregard 
 of all outward things, in the story of the great 
 master's commencing one day, while giving him a 
 lesson, to play with the left hand the first fugue from 
 Graun's " Tod Jesu." Gradually the right hand was 
 added, and regardless of his awkward position, the 
 fugue developed in all conceivable manners for the 
 space of half an hour, when he suddenly awoke to 
 discover that his pupil was still in his place before 
 the pianoforte. 
 
 - In 1798 a more formidable rival appeared at 
 Vienna in the person of Steibelt Having conceived 
 a great idea of his own powers from the flattery 
 of his Parisian admirers, Steibelt came to the capital 
 sure of conquest, and did not even consider it neces- 
 
THE VIRTUOSO. 85 
 
 sary to visit the opponent so far beneath him. They 
 met accidentally at the house of Count Fries, 
 " where," says Ferdinand Ries, " Beethoven played 
 for the first time his Trio in B. flat major for piano, 
 clarionet, and 'cello, Op. 11, in which there is not 
 much room for display. 
 
 " Steibelt heard it with a kind of condescension, 
 payed Beethoven several compliments, and believed 
 himself sure of victory. He played a quintet of 
 his own composition, and then improvised and pro- 
 duced a great sensation by his free use of the shake, 
 which was at that time something quite new. 
 
 "To ask Beethoven to play again was not to be 
 thought of. 
 
 " Eight days after there was again a concert at 
 Count Fries. Steibelt played another quintet with 
 great success ; he had besides, as might be easily 
 perceived, studied a brilliant improvisation, and 
 chosen for a subject the same theme on which the 
 finale of Beethoven's trio was built. This disgusted 
 the admirers of Beethoven, and displeased the latter 
 also. It was his turn to seat himself at the piano- 
 forte and to improvise. He placed himself at the 
 instrument with his ordinary air — I might say, rather 
 ill-humouredly, and as if pushed there. In passing 
 he seized the violoncello part of Steibelt's quintet, 
 placed it upside down on the desk (was this de- 
 signedly ?), and drummed out with one finger the 
 theme of the first few bars. 
 
 " Then, impelled by his insulted and excited feel- 
 ings, he improvised in such a manner that Steibelt 
 
86 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 quitted the room before Beethoven had ceased. He 
 would never meet him again, and, when invited any- 
 where, always stipulated that Beethoven should not 
 be present." 
 
 But enough of such anecdotes ! Triumphs which 
 would have been glory to others were nothing to 
 him. Let us pass on and see the master in the great 
 struggle which prefaced the real commencement of 
 life's work, and was continued without intermission 
 until the victory was won. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 CONFLICT. 
 
 Deafness and its Consequences — His Brothers' Influence — Letters to 
 Wegeler — "Mount of Olives" — Beethoven's Will — Beethoven as 
 an Instructor— a Conductor— Sinfonia Eroica— " Leonora" ("Fi- 
 delio")— "Adelaide." 
 
 jlUFFERING and genius ! apparently so far 
 apart, in reality so near ! 
 
 The bitter cry of Milton, — 
 "Dark, dark, dark, amidst the blaze of noon ! " 
 
 has gone up from many a thousand hearts to the 
 eternal throne ; but who may presume to fathom the 
 dispensations of a mysterious providence ? or to 
 question that wisdom which gives to every earthborn 
 soul the necessary discipline for immortality ? Let 
 us rather wonder and adore, and — 
 
 "Know how sublime a thing it is 
 To suffer and be strong. " 
 
 We left our young musician in the full flush of 
 success, in apparently vigorous health, caressed and 
 
88 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 flattered by princes, without a rival as a virtuoso, and 
 fast leaving all competitors behind him as a com- 
 poser, when suddenly a cloud appears, the bright- 
 ness is overcast, and darkness comes on apace. 
 Beethoven became deaf. 
 
 For three years he had had premonitory fears, 
 which were too sadly realized in the year 1800. 
 
 The loss of hearing is . d_eprivation_enough in ordi- 
 nary cases ; but to a young man of excitable artist 
 temperament, and a musician ! it seemed for a while 
 worse than the loss of life itself. Our Beethoven writes 
 thus to Wegeler : — 
 
 " If I had not read somewhere that man must not 
 of his own free will depart this life, I should long 
 ere this have been no more, and that through my 
 own act/' 
 
 From this despair he was mercifully rescued. 
 The strong, secret voice within, impelling Beethoven 
 onwards and upwards to that aim which he " felt, but 
 could not describe," spoke now in more stirring 
 accents and with more thrilling emphasis amid the 
 profound silence and desolation of his nature. 
 
 He "was not disobedient" to the heavenly call ; 
 the triumph of mind was achieved ; and from the 
 dark prison-house the noblest strains the world has 
 ever heard escaped to wake responsive echoes in the 
 hearts of all who have felt and suffered. 
 
 But this victory was not gained without leaving 
 behind it evident tokens of the struggle ; distrust, 
 suspicion, irritability, those constant attendants on 
 deafness, haunted Beethoven day and night, poison- 
 
CONFLICT. 89 
 
 ing his happiness, and casting their shadow over his 
 childlike, benevolent disposition. Stephan Breuning 
 writes thus of the alteration in his friend in a letter 
 dated the 13th of November, 1806: — "You cannot 
 realize the indescribable impression made upon Beet- 
 hoven by the loss of his hearing. Imagine, with his 
 excitable temperament, the feeling of unhappiness, 
 added to reserve, distrust of his best friends, and 
 indecision in many things. In general, intercourse 
 with him is a positive exertion, in which it is impos- 
 sible to feel entirely at one's ease ; the occasions on 
 which his old true nature shows itself are few 
 indeed." 
 
 Schindler, also his friend and biographer, describes 
 him as being " like a child, devoid of all experience, 
 suddenly cast upon this earth from some ideal world ; 
 like a ball, tossed from one hand to another ; con- 
 sequently, at the mercy of other people. And," he 
 adds, "so Beethoven remained throughout his whole 
 life!' 
 
 These evils were increased by the presence of his 
 brothers, Carl and Johann (the " evil principles " of his 
 life, as Schindler calls them), who now began to 
 exercise an almost unlimited influence over him. 
 These men seem to have been totally incapable of 
 appreciating the true character or work of Ludwig ; 
 they only saw that he was making money rapidly 
 (and, as they thought, easily), and determined to 
 take advantage of it. To this end they resolved to 
 obtain entire possession of him, and began by endea- 
 vouring to alienate as far as possible Beethoven's 
 
90 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 friends, misrepresenting to him all that occurred, 
 and fanning every little spark of anger into a 
 flame. 
 
 Their efforts partially succeeded ; our unhappy 
 composer, absorbed in his own creations, over- 
 whelmed by his misfortune, and intensely irritable, 
 was but too ready to believe all the world in league 
 against him, and would have shut the door against 
 his best friends. Prince Lichnowski alone had still 
 some weight with him, and when once persuaded that 
 he had acted unjustly, nothing could exceed Beet- 
 hoven's contrition and desire to make amends to 
 those he had wounded. 
 
 But he would never lay any blame upon his brothers, 
 and even when their duplicity and falseness had been 
 clearly pointed out to him, he would still continue 
 to defend them strenuously, refusing to look upon 
 their conduct in any but the most favourable light, 
 and adding, " After all, they are my brothers." 
 
 It may easily be believed how, with dispositions 
 such as those of Carl and Johann, this mistaken 
 lenity and brotherly feeling confirmed them in their 
 course. It was they who generally made all arrange- 
 ments with the music publishers, and through their 
 instrumentality many minor pieces were given to 
 the world which the composer had produced in 
 Bonn, and kept back from publication as unworthy 
 of his name. 
 
 Such a consideration, however, had no weight with 
 the two ; money they wanted, and were resolved to 
 get at all hazards. Once only did Beethoven come 
 
CONFLICT. 91 
 
 into collision with them regarding this, when he dis- 
 covered that Carl had, without his knowledge, sold 
 a copyright which had been promised to another 
 person. 
 
 Carl held a situation in the National Bank of 
 Austria, and Johann had been established by Beet- 
 hoven as an apothecary. In a very short time, how- 
 ever, the latter became so wealthy (how ?) as to be 
 able to exchange the pestle and mortar for the state 
 of a country gentleman. Of this he was so immo- 
 derately proud, that one New Year's day he sent in 
 to his brother a card, on which was written, — 
 
 "Johann van Beethoven, Land Proprietor." 
 
 The composer, who was at table when it was brought 
 to him, laughed heartily,_ and writing on the other 
 side, — 
 
 " Ludwig van Beethoven, Brain Proprietor," 
 
 sent it back to him. 
 
 The following letters to Wegeler display, more 
 fully than we can describe, Beethoven's condition 
 during the first few years of his calamity : — 
 
 " Vienna, 2<$th June, 1800. 
 
 " My dear good Wegeler, — How much I thank 
 you for your remembrance of me ! I have deserved 
 it, and sought to deserve it, so little ; and yet you 
 are so good, and will not allow yourself to be dis- 
 couraged even by my unpardonable neglect — you' 
 are always the same true, good, worthy friend. That 
 
92 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 I could ever forget you or yours, who were once so 
 dear and precious to me, do not believe ; there are 
 moments in which I long for you, and wish that it 
 were in my power to spend some time with you. 
 My fatherland, the lovely spot in which I first saw 
 the light, is as distinct and beautiful before my eyes 
 now as when I first left you. In short, I shall con- 
 sider it one of the happiest events of my life when I 
 am able to see you, and to greet our Father Rhine 
 again. When this will be. I cannot positively say. 
 So much I will tell you — you shall not see me again 
 until I have become really great — not as an artist 
 only, but a better and more perfect man : and if the 
 prosperity of my country be once more re-established, 
 my art shall be devoted solely to the relief of the poor. 
 Oh blissful moment ! how happy do I consider my- 
 self in being able to procure thee — to create thee ! 
 
 " You want to know something about my position ? 
 Well, after all it is not so bad. Lichnowski is still, 
 and always has been, my warmest friend, however in- 
 credible it may appear to you. (Of course there were 
 little misunderstandings between us ; but did they 
 not serve rather to cement our friendship ?) Since 
 last year he has settled on me a pension of six 
 hundred guldens, which I am to draw until I find an 
 appointment suited to me. I make a great deal by 
 my compositions ; indeed, I may say that there are 
 more demands upon me than I can execute. For 
 every one of my works I have at least six or seven 
 publishers, and could have more if I wished. They 
 do not drive bargains with me now : I demand, and 
 
CONFLICT. 93 
 
 they pay. You see this is a very good thing. If, for 
 instance, I see a friend in difficulty, and am not in 
 funds to help him immediately, I have only to sit 
 down and write, and in a short time he is relieved. 
 I am also more economical than I used to be. If I 
 remain here permanently, I shall certainly contrive 
 to reserve one day in every year for a grand concert, 
 of which I have already given several. That mali- 
 cious demon, bad health, has cast a stumblingblock 
 in my path — for the last three years my hearing has 
 gradually become weaker. The original cause of this 
 defect is the state of my digestive organs, which, as 
 you know, was formerly bad enough, but has now 
 become much worse, for I have been constantly 
 troubled with diarrhoea, which has induced extreme 
 weakness. Frank tried to restore the tone to my 
 constitution by strengthening medicines, and to my 
 hearing by oil of almonds, but prosit ! with no good 
 effect ; my hearing grew worse, and my digestion re- 
 mained in the same state. This lasted till the autumn 
 of last year, and I was often in despair. Then one 
 medical asinus recommended cold bathing for my 
 complaint ; another, a little more sensible, the ordi- 
 nary tepid Danube bath. This worked wonders ; 
 my digestion became better, but my deafness con- 
 tinued as bad as ever, or grew worse. Last winter 
 I was truly miserable, suffering so dreadfully from 
 colic that I fell completely back again into my 
 former state, in which I continued till about four 
 weeks ago, when I went to consult Vering ;* partly 
 * Surgeon-in-Chief to the army. 
 
94 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 because I think my complaint requires surgical treat- 
 ment, and partly also because I have always had 
 confidence in him. He succeeded in almost entirely 
 arresting the violent diarrhoea. He ordered me the 
 tepid Danube bath, into which I pour every time a 
 phial of some strengthening mixture ; but he gave me 
 no medicine at all, except four days ago some diges- 
 tive pills and a lotion for the ears. I must say I find 
 myself much stronger and better for this treatment, 
 but the buzzing and ringing in my ears continues day 
 and night. 
 
 "1 may say that I pass^my ..life, wretchedly^ jbr 
 nearly two years! have avoided all society, because 
 I cannot possibly say to people, 'I am deaf !' If I 
 were in any other profession it would not so much 
 signify, but for a musician it is a really frightful con- 
 dition. Besides, what would my enemies say to it ? 
 — and they are not few ! 
 
 " To give you an idea of this extraordinary deaf- 
 ness, I must tell you that in the theatre I am obliged 
 to lean forward quite close to the orchestra in order 
 to understand the actors. The high tones of the 
 instruments and voices I do not hear if I am a little 
 way off. In conversation it is surprising that there 
 are some people who do not observe it — they attri- 
 bute it to the absent fits which I often have. Many 
 a time I can with difficulty distinguish the tones, but 
 not the words, of any person who speaks in a low 
 voice ; and yet, directly any one begins to shout, it is 
 unendurable to me. What is to be the result of all 
 this, the good God alone knows. Vering says that 
 
CONFLICT. 95 
 
 my condition will certainly improve, though I may 
 not be perfectly restored. I have often already — 
 cursed my existence. Plutarch has led me to resigna- 
 tion. I am resolved, if possible, to defy my fate, 
 although there should be moments in my life 
 when I shall be the most unhappy of all God's 
 creatures. 
 
 " I beg of you not to mention my state to any one, 
 not even to Lorchen ;* I only confide it as a secret to 
 you. I should like much if you would correspond 
 some day with Vering about it. Should my affliction 
 continue, I shall come next spring to you. You shall 
 hire a house for me in some lovely spot in the 
 country, and tr^ere I shall become a peasant for 
 six months. Perhaps that might bring about a 
 change. Resignation ! what a miserable refuge ! and 
 yet the only one left to me ! 
 
 " You must forgive me for adding the burden of 
 these friendly cares to your troubles, already gloomy 
 enough. Steffen Breuning-|- is now here, and we are 
 almost every day together ; it does me so much 
 good to call up the old feelings. He has become 
 really a capital fellow, who knows something, and 
 has his heart pretty much in the right place, like 
 us all. 
 
 " I have very pleasant rooms now close to the 
 Ramparts,$ which is doubly advantageous for my 
 health. I think I shall be able to manage so that 
 Breuning may come to me. 
 
 * Eleanore von Breuning. t Stephan ron Breuning. 
 
 % Probably in the house of Baron Pasqualati. 
 
96 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 "Your Antidchus* you shall have, together with 
 plenty of music from me, — that is, if you do not fear 
 its costing you too much. Honestly, your love of 
 art rejoices me greatly. Only let me know how to set 
 about it, and I shall send you all my works, which 
 now amount to a prettynumber,and are daily added to. 
 
 " Instead of the portrait of my grandfather (which 
 I beg you to send me as soon as possible with the 
 mail), I send you that of his grandson, your ever 
 loving and affectionate Beethoven. It has been 
 brought out here by Artaria, who, as well as other 
 publishers, has often begged me for it. I shall write 
 next to Stoffelnf, and read him a lecture about 
 his peevish temper. I shall sound our old friendship 
 well in his ears, and get him to promise sacredly not 
 to annoy you again in your present sad position. 
 
 " Never have I forgotten one of you, my dear, good 
 friends, although I may not have written often to 
 you ; but writing, as you know, was never my forte ; 
 even my best friends have not heard from me for 
 years. I live only in my music ; and, no sooner is 
 one thing completed, than another is begun. In fact, 
 as at present, I am often engaged on three or four 
 compositions at one time. 
 
 " Write me now frequently ; I shall make a point 
 
 of finding time to write you occasionally. Give my 
 
 kind regards to all, especially to the good Frau 
 
 Hofrathinj, and tell her that even now I sometimes 
 
 have a ' raptus.' 
 
 * A painting by Fiiger, Director of the Vienna Academy. 
 t Christoph Breuning. J Madame von Breuning. 
 
• CONFLICT. 97 
 
 " With regard to K , I am not at all surprised 
 
 at the change. Fortune rolls on like a ball ; and 
 naturally, therefore, does not always stop at what is 
 noblest and best. One word for Ries,* to whom re- 
 member me cordially. With regard to his son, - ! - I 
 shall write you more particularly, but I believe that 
 Paris offers a better field for his exertions than 
 Vienna, which is so overstocked that even people of 
 the greatest merit find it a hard matter to maintain 
 themselves. By autumn or winter I shall see what I 
 can do for him, for then everybody will have returned 
 to town. 
 
 "Farewell, my good, faithful Wegeler. Rest as- 
 sured of the love and friendship of your 
 
 " Beethoven." 
 
 Vienna, November \6tk, 1801. 
 
 "My dear Wegeler, — For this fresh proof of 
 your solicitude about me, I must thank you the 
 more, that I deserve it so little. You want to know 
 how I am progressing, and what remedies I use ; 
 however unwilling I am in general to refer to this 
 subject, I do so with the least reluctance to you. 
 
 " For several months past, Vering has ordered me 
 to apply blisters constantly to both arms, made of 
 a certain kind of bark, which you doubtless know. 
 This is a most disagreeable remedy, inasmuch as 
 
 * Franz Ries, the violinist, 
 t Ferdinand, afterwards Beethoven's pupil. 
 H 
 
98 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 (without taking the pain into consideration) I am 
 deprived of the free use of my arms for a few days, 
 until the blisters have drawn sufficiently. It is true, 
 and I cannot deny it, that the buzzing and ringing 
 are somewhat less than formerly, especially in the 
 left ear, that in which my malady first commenced 
 — but my hearing is certainly not a whit better, 
 I dare not say positively that it has not rather grown 
 worse. 
 
 " My digestion is better, especially after using the 
 tepid baths, when I feel tolerably well for eight or 
 ten days. Tonics I very seldom take, but follow 
 your advice now with regard to the herb-plasters. 
 Plunge baths Vering will not hear of. On the whole, 
 I am not at all pleased with him ; he has far too 
 little solicitude or indulgence for a malady such as 
 mine ; if I did not go to him, and this I cannot do 
 without great difficulty, I should never see him. 
 What do you think of Schmidt ? * I am unwilling 
 to make a change, but it seems to me that Vering 
 is too much of a practitioner to gain fresh ideas by 
 reading. With regard to this, Schmidt appears 
 a very different sort of man, and might also, perhaps, 
 not be quite so negligent of my case. 
 
 "I hear wonders of galvanism — what say you to 
 it ? A medical man told me that he had known 
 a deaf and dumb child whose hearing was fully 
 restored by it (in Berlin), and also a man who, after 
 
 * Professor of Medicine at the Academie Josephine, and author of 
 several works. 
 
CONFLICT. 99 
 
 having been deaf for seven years, recovered his hear- 
 ing. They tell me that your friend Schmidt is 
 making experiments on the subject. 
 
 " I lead a somewhat more agreeable life now that 
 I mingle more with other people. You can hardly 
 realize what a miserable, desolate life mine has been 
 for the last two years. Like a ghost did my deaf- 
 ness haunt me everywhere, till I fled society, and 
 must have appeared a misanthrope— yet this is so 
 little my character. 
 
 " This change has been brought about by a lovely 
 and fascinating girl,* who loves me, and whom I 
 love. After the lapse of two years I have again 
 enjoyed some blissful moments, and now for the 
 first time I feel that marriage can bestow happiness ; 
 but, alas ! she is not in the same rank of life as 
 myself ; and at present, certainly I could not marry : 
 I must first bestir myself actively. Were it not for 
 my deafness, I would long ago have travelled half 
 round the world, and I must do it yet. For me 
 there is no greater pleasure than to follow and pro- 
 mote my art. Do not believe that I could be happy 
 with you. What would there be, indeed, to make 
 me happier ? Even your solicitude would pain me ; 
 every moment I should read sympathy on your faces, 
 and should find myself only the more wretched. 
 
 " Those lovely scenes of my Fatherland, what part 
 had I in them ? Nothing but the hope of a better 
 future, which would have been mine, were it not for 
 
 * Undoubtedly the Countess Julia Guicciardi. 
 
IOO THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 this affliction ! Oh ! once free from this, I would span 
 the world ! My youth, I feel it, is only beginning ; 
 have I not always been a sickly creature ? For some 
 time past my bodily strength has been increasing 
 more than ever, and my mental power as well. Every 
 day I approach nearer the goal which I feel, but 
 cannot describe. Only in this can your Beethoven 
 live. No rest for me ! I know of none other than 
 Sleep, and sorry enough I am to be obliged to give 
 up more time to it than formerly. Let me be only 
 half delivered from this malady, and then — a more 
 perfect, mature man — =1 shall come to you, and renew 
 the old feelings of friendship. 
 
 " You shall see mea&m^as I am destined to be 
 here below, — not vm^^^j^^^o, that I could not 
 bear. I will grasp Fate by/the throat, it shall not 
 utterly crush me. Oh ! ij/is so glorious to live one's 
 life a thousand times ! For a quiet life, I feel it, I am 
 no longer made. 
 
 " Pray do write me as soon as possible. Persuade 
 Steffen to decide upon seeking an appointment some- 
 where from the Teutonic Order.* His position here 
 is too fatiguing for his health, and besides, he leads 
 such an isolated life, that I do not see how he is ever 
 to get on. You know how things are here. I will 
 not positively say that society would lessen his de- 
 
 * The Breuning family had long been in possession of one of the 
 most honourable posts in the Teutonic Order, four members had succes- 
 sively filled the office of Chancellor, and Stephan himself was afterwards 
 appointed to the government of Mergentheim. He was generally 
 esteemed, and died a short time after Beethoven. 
 
CONFLICT. 101 
 
 pression, but we cannot persuade him to join in it at 
 all. A short time ago I had some music in my house, 
 but our friend Steffen stayed away. Advise him to 
 be more calm and composed. I have already tried 
 all my powers on him, — without this he can never 
 be either happy or in good health. Tell me in your 
 next letter if there is any objection to my sending you 
 my music, even though there should be a quantity of 
 it. What you don't require, you can sell, and thus 
 get back what you paid for carriage, — and my por- 
 trait into the bargain. 
 
 " Say all that is kind and obliging .to Lorchen, as 
 well as to her mamma and Christoph. Have you still 
 a little love for me ? Be convinced of the love as well 
 as of the friendship of 
 
 "Your 
 
 Beethoven." 
 
 The year 1800 found Beethoven already busy with 
 his " Mount of Olives/' which, however, was not pro- 
 duced till 1803. This, the master's first and last 
 attempt at oratorio writing, " is a striking instance of 
 the insufficiency of even the highest powers to accom- 
 plish that to which the special call has not been given. 
 It was impossible for Beethoven to feel himself so 
 inspired by his task as the composer of a time when 
 the mind of the people was almost exclusively occu- 
 pied by religious convictions ; the man of the revolu- 
 tionary period could not see or think out a Christ like 
 that of Bach and Handel before him. Even the pure 
 spring, out of which we Protestants of the eighteenth 
 
102 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 and nineteenth centuries draw our ideas of Christ — 
 the Bible — flowed not for him ; his Christ must first 
 be poetically made for him. And how ? The poet 
 had no other aim but that of making verses for a 
 composer ; the latter no other motive than the ordi- 
 nary creative impulse prompting him to try his powers 
 in a different and important sphere. The result on 
 both sides could not, therefore, be other than Phrases, 
 although the better of the two proceeded from the 
 composer, and that composer was Beethoven. To 
 conceal or palliate this would be derogatory to the 
 reverence which we all owe to Beethoven, — he stands 
 too high to be in need of extenuation." 
 
 So far Marx ; but in addition to the miserable 
 libretto (which imparted unreality, artificiality, to the 
 whole work, and especially gave to the part of the 
 Saviour a theatrical air which Beethoven afterwards 
 deplored) many peculiarities of the oratorio — with all 
 deference to the able critic just quoted — may be 
 traced to the period in which it was composed. The 
 very choice of subject reveals the convulsion that 
 was taking place in Beethoven's volcanic nature. 
 It is a question whether Beethoven would ever 
 have asserted his sovereignty in this branch of 
 composition ; it may be, as Marx hints, that the 
 peculiar tone of thought and feeling necessary to 
 the successful treatment of sacred subjects was 
 wanting in him ; but there can be no doubt that 
 had the master's attention been devoted to the sub- 
 ject in happier days, when his tempest-tossed nature 
 had attained to some degree of peace and serenity, 
 
CONFLICT. 103 
 
 the result would have been very different. Let him 
 who would see Beethoven as a devotional writer, turn 
 to his Gellert songs, which breathe the very depths 
 of true religious feeling. 
 
 The greater part of the oratorio, and also of 
 " Fidelio," was composed at Hetzendorf, a pretty little 
 village near the imperial summer palace of Schon- 
 brunn. Here Beethoven passed several summers in 
 the greatest retirement — wandering all day long, 
 from early dawn to nightfall, amid the leafy glades 
 of the park. His favourite seat was between two 
 immense boughs of an old oak, which branched out 
 from the parent stem about two feet from the ground. 
 This memorable tree, endeared to Beethoven as the 
 birthplace of many a thought, was afterwards visited 
 by him, in Schindler's company, in 1823. 
 
 In 1802 a gleam of hope dawned upon the suf- 
 ferer ; his deafness was for a time cured by the 
 skilful treatment of Dr. Schmidt (to whom, out of 
 gratitude, he dedicated his Septet arranged as a 
 Trio), by whose advice he went for the summer to 
 the village of Heiligenstadt, in the hope that the 
 calm, sweet influence of nature, to which he was 
 at all times most sensitive, might act beneficially 
 upon his troubled mind. 
 
 This spot — this consecrated town — must always be 
 an object of veneration to those who cherish the 
 name of Beethoven, for here it was that he wrote 
 his remarkable will, or promemoria, a document 
 which excites our warmest sympathy, revealing, as 
 it does, the depths of that great heart. 
 
104 THE LII>E 0F BEETHOVEN. 
 
 "To my Brothers, Carl and Beet- 
 hoven* — O ye who consider or represent me as 
 unfriendly, morose, and misanthropical, how unjust 
 are you to me ! you know not the secret cause of 
 what appears thus to you. 
 
 " My heart and mind have been from childhood 
 given up to the tender feeling of benevolence, and 
 I have ever been disposed to accomplish something 
 great. But only consider that for six years I have 
 been afflicted by a wretched calamity, which was 
 aggravated by unskilful physicians — deceived from 
 year to year by the hope of amendment — now forced, 
 at length, to the contemplation of a lingering disease 
 (the cure of which will, perhaps, last for years, if 
 indeed it be not an impossibility). 
 
 "Born with a passionate, lively temperament, 
 keenly susceptible to the pleasures of society, I was 
 obliged at an early age to isolate myself, and to pass 
 my life in loneliness. 
 
 " When I at times endeavoured to surmount all 
 this, oh, how rudely was I thrust back again by the 
 experience — the doubly painful experience — of my 
 defective hearing ! and yet it was impossible for me 
 to say to people, Speak louder, shout ; for I am deaf ! 
 Alas ! how could I proclaim the weakness of a sense 
 which ought to have been with me in a higher degree 
 
 * The omission of the name of Johann may be accounted for in two 
 ways,, viz., either Beethoven himself left it out purposely, through 
 irritation at his conduct ; or it was withheld by those who first pub- 
 lished the document, out of respect to Johann's feelings, he being still 
 alive. 
 
CONFLICT. 105 
 
 than with others — a sense which I once possessed in 
 the greatest perfection — and to an extent which few 
 of my profession enjoy, or ever have enjoyed ! Oh, 
 this I cannot do ! Forgive me, therefore, when you 
 see me turn away where I would gladly mingle with 
 you. My misfortune is doubly painful to me, inas- 
 much as it causes me to be misunderstood. For 
 me there can be no relaxation in human society, 
 no refined conversations, no mutual outpourings of 
 thought. Like an exile must I live. Whenever I 
 come near strangers, I am seized with a feverish 
 anxiety from my dread of being exposed to the 
 risk of betraying my condition. 
 
 " Thus it has been with me during these last six 
 months which I have spent in the country. The 
 orders of my sensible physician, to spare my hearing 
 as much as possible, were quite in accordance with 
 my present disposition ; although often, overcome by 
 my longing for society, I have been tempted into it. 
 But what humiliation, when any one by my side heard 
 from afar a flute, and I heard nothing, or when any one 
 heard the shepherd singing, and I again heard nothing ! 
 
 "Such occurrences brought me nigh to despair ; but 
 little was wanting, and I should myself have put an end 
 to my existence. Art — art alone — held me back ! 
 Ah ! it seemed impossible for me to quit the world 
 before I had done all that I felt myself destined to 
 accomplish. And so I prolonged this miserable life ; a 
 life so truly wretched that a sudden change is sufficient 
 
106 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 "Patience ! it would seem that I must now choose 
 her for my guide ! I have done so. I trust that my 
 resolve to persevere will remain firm, until it shall 
 please the inexorable Fates to cut the thread of life. 
 Perhaps I may get better ; perhaps not. I am pre- 
 pared. Compelled to be a philosopher in my twenty- 
 eighth year ! * This is not easy — for the artist harder 
 than for any one else. O God ! Thou lookest down 
 upon my heart, Thou seest that love to man and 
 beneficent feelings have their abode in it ! 
 
 " O ye who may one day read this, reflect that 
 you did me injustice, and let the unhappy be con- 
 soled by finding one like himself, who, in defiance of 
 all natural obstacles, has done all that lay in his power 
 to be received into the ranks of worthy artists and 
 •men. 
 
 "My brothers, Carl and , as soon as I am 
 
 dead, if Professor Schmidt be still alive, beg him in 
 my name to describe my disease, and then add these 
 pages to the history of my malady, that at least, so 
 far as possible, the world may be reconciled to me 
 after my death. 
 
 " I also hereby declare you both heirs of my little 
 fortune (if so it may be called). Divide it honestly, 
 bear with and help one another. What you did 
 against me I have, as you know, long since forgiven. 
 I thank you in particular, brother Carl, for the attach- 
 ment which you have shown me of late. My wish is,, 
 
 * Beethoven was at the time in his thirty-second year ; but he 
 never knew precisely his age. 
 
CONFLICT. 107 
 
 that your life may be happier, and more free from 
 care, than mine has been. Recommend Virtue to 
 your children ; it is she alone, and not money, that 
 can confer happiness. I speak from experience ; for 
 it was Virtue who raised me when in distress. I have 
 to thank her, in addition to my art, that I did not put 
 an end to my life through suicide. Farewell, and 
 love one another ! I thank all my friends, especially 
 Prince Lichnowski and Professor Schmidt. I should 
 like the instruments of Prince L. to be preserved by 
 one of you ; but let no dispute arise between you on 
 this account. As soon as you perceive that it will 
 be more to your advantage, you have only to sell 
 them. How shall I rejoice, if even in the grave I can 
 serve you ! 
 
 " Thus has it happened : — with joy I hasten to 
 meet Death. Should he come before I have had 
 opportunity to develop all my artistic powers, he will 
 have come too soon, notwithstanding my hard fate, 
 and I shall wish that he had tarried a little longer ; 
 but even then I shall be content, for he will set me 
 free from a state of endless suffering. Come when 
 thou wilt — I go courageously to meet thee ! 
 
 "Farewell, and do not quite forget me even in 
 death. I have deserved this of you, since in my life 
 I often thought of you, and wished to make you 
 happy. 
 
 " So be it ! 
 
 "Ludwig van Beethoven. 
 " Heiligenstadt, 6th October, 1802." 
 
108 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 " Heiligenstadt, loth October, 1802. 
 
 " Thus I bid farewell to thee, mournfully enough. 
 Even the dearest hope that I brought hither with me, 
 the hope of being to a certain degree restored, has 
 utterly forsaken me. As the leaves of autumn fall 
 and wither, so has my hope faded. Almost as I came 
 do I depart ; even the lofty courage which inspired 
 me during the lovely days of summer has vanished. 
 Oh, Providence ! vouchsafe to me one more day of 
 pure happiness ! The responsive echo of pure joy 
 has been so long a stranger to my heart. When, 
 ' when, O God ! shall I again feel it in the temple of 
 nature and man ? Never ? Ah ! that would be too 
 hard ! " 
 
 (On the outside.) 
 
 " For my brothers Carl and , to be read and 
 
 fulfilled after my death." 
 
 Several writers have maintained that the conse- 
 quences of Beethoven's deafness are plainly discern- 
 ible in his compositions ; that he lost all idea of 
 harmonic relations, that his later works are mere 
 incongruous, erratic fancies, devoid of form and me- 
 lody, and, in short, compared to his former produc- 
 tions, what the second part of "Faust" is to the first. 
 
 Happily, such ideas — promulgated by theorists of 
 the old school like Fetis, and dilettanti of the Mozart- 
 Italian school like Oulibicheff — have now exploded, 
 and the service rendered to Art by Beethoven's latest 
 works — especially his pianoforte sonatas — is fully re- 
 
CONFLICT. 109 
 
 cognised. It is these which have brought the piano- 
 forte to its present eminence as the most intellectual 
 and ideal of all instruments, and which, by their depth 
 of thought and loftiness of aim, have raised an in- 
 superable barrier between the dilettante who trifles 
 with music for amusement, and the artist who devotes 
 his life to its cultivation as a God-appointed means of 
 developing the divine in man. 
 
 At the same time we come upon passages here 
 and there which Beethoven would, perhaps, have 
 written otherwise, had his ear, as well as his mind, 
 been sensitive to their effect. 
 
 It is not posterity that has been the loser by Beet- 
 hoven's deafness ; we, at least, ought to appreciate 
 the "precious jewel" which his adversity carried 
 within it, and has handed down to us. His contem- 
 poraries, however, had cause to lament, for in a few 
 years it put a stop to all improvising and playing in 
 public. We read, indeed, of a plan for an artistic 
 tour with his pupil Ries, when the latter was to make 
 all arrangements for concert-giving, and to play the 
 pianoforte Concertos and other works, while Beet- 
 hoven conducted and improvised; — but the project 
 never came to maturity. It was, in fact, impossible. 
 Beethoven entirely lost the sensitiveness of touch 
 which had once distinguished his playing from, that 
 of all contemporaries ; and, in his efforts to extract 
 some nourishment for his hungering ear, used to 
 hammer the pianoforte so unmercifully as generally 
 to break several strings. Nor could it be obviated 
 by a special instrument constructed for himself, nor 
 
IIO THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 by a sound-conductor invented for him by the inge- 
 nious Graff. 
 
 A curious feature of his deafness was the gradual 
 manner in which the auricular nerve decayed ; he 
 first lost the power of catching the higher notes of 
 singers or instruments, as we have seen, while deep, 
 low sounds were long audible to him ; this may 
 account for the prevalence of those deep-lying tones 
 in almost all his later works, especially the Second 
 Mass and the Ninth Symphony. 
 
 As a natural consequence of his affliction, he soon 
 became unable to conduct his own orchestral works. 
 This, however, was no "great loss, for he had never 
 possessed either the self-possession or the experience 
 necessary to wield the baton satisfactorily. Knowing 
 thoroughly as he did what every instrument had to 
 say, he listened excitedly for each in detail — without 
 calmly attending to the effect of the whole ; at each 
 crescendo he would rise as if about to fly, gesticulating 
 so rapidly and energetically that the members of the 
 orchestra (who had enough to do to follow such new 
 and peculiar music) were often more bewildered than 
 guided by his directions. At the same time be it 
 distinctly understood that, however low the perform- 
 ance might fall beneath his "ideal," however vexatious 
 the mistakes of individual performers might be, he 
 never lost his temper, or acted in the manner related 
 by Ries in his Notices, of which the following is . a 
 specimen :— 
 
 " Beethoven was present at the first performance of 
 his Fantasia for pianoforte, orchestra, and chorus. 
 
CONFLICT. 1 1 1 
 
 The clarinettist, in a passage where the beautiful 
 subject of the finale has already entered, made by 
 mistake a repetition of eight bars. As very few 
 instruments are heard at this point, the error in the 
 execution was torturing to the ear. Beethoven rose 
 furiously, turned round, and insulted the_musicians in 
 the grossest manner, and so loudly that, it wasjieard 
 by the whole audience. Then, resuming his seat, he 
 exclaimed, " From the beginning ! " The movement 
 was recommenced, and this time all went well, and 
 the success was brilliant. But when the concert was 
 over, the artists recollected only too well the honour- 
 able titles by which Beethoven had publicly addressed 
 them ; and, as if the matter had but that moment 
 occurred, became excessively angry, and vowed never 
 to play again when Beethoven was in the orchestra, 
 &c, &c." 
 
 That the clarinettist did make a mistake is true, 
 but that Beethoven behaved in the outrageous way 
 described was most positively denied by all who were 
 present on the occasion, including the conductor, 
 Franz Clement. Where Ries got the stoiy from is 
 difficult to imagine, since he was himself in St. Peters- 
 burg at the time. On the contrary, the members of 
 the orchestra were all on excellent terms with Beet- 
 hoven, who prized their approval far more than that 
 of the general public ; and was wont, when particularly 
 pleased with a performance, to turn round, his face 
 beaming with delight, and exclaim, "Bravi, tutti !" 
 But woe betide those who dared to question the 
 effect of the new and somewhat startling combina- 
 
112 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 tions which he introduced ! Ries found this out to 
 his cost. At the unexpected entrance of the horn in 
 the Allegro of the Eroica, he — as usual, beside his 
 master in the orchestra — exclaimed, " How abomina- 
 bly wrong !" for which outburst he was nearly re- 
 warded by a box on the ear. 
 
 Pianoforte playing, improvisation, and orchestral 
 conducting were given up one after the other — not 
 suddenly, for Beethoven was resolved to defy his 
 fate as long as possible, — but henceforth it is with 
 Beethoven the composer alone that we have to do. 
 
 The autumn of 1802 saw him so far restored as 
 to be able to commence his great work ort Napoleon, 
 which, however, on account of many interruptions, 
 was not finished until the year 1804. 
 
 In 1802 he writes thus to his publisher, Hofmeister, 
 who had requested him to compose a sonata of a re- 
 volutionary tendency : — "Are you riding to the devil 
 in a body, gentlemen, that you propose to me to write 
 such a sonata ? At the time of the revolutionary fever 
 it might have done, but now, when everything is once 
 more in the beaten track, when Bonaparte has signed 
 the Concordat with the Pope — now such a sonata ! 
 If it had been a mis sa pro Sancta Maria a tre voci, or a 
 Vesper, I would immediately have taken pen in hand 
 and written in ponderous notes a Credo in unum, — but, 
 good heavens ! such a sonata in these fresh, dawn- 
 ing Christian times ! Ho ! ho ! I'll have nothing 
 to do with it !" and yet at this very time he must 
 have been busy with a work destined to the honour 
 of the great Disturber of the Peace of Europe. 
 
CONFLICT. IIJ 
 
 The idea for this emanated originally from General 
 Bernadotte, the French Ambassador at Vienna.— a 
 great admirer of the composer, — and was in reality 
 warmly entered into by Beethoven, who, with his 
 red-hot Republicanism and love for Plato, was an 
 enthusiastic supporter of the First Consul, and 
 imagined nothing less than that it was Napoleon's 
 intention to remodel France according to the Pla- 
 tonic method, and inaugurate a golden age of uni- 
 versal happiness. With the news of the empire came 
 the destruction of this elysian prospect, — Beethoven 
 in a fury tore to pieces the title-page of his sym- 
 phony on which was written simply, — 
 
 " Bonaparte. 
 
 " Luigi v. Beethoven ; " 
 
 and stamping it under foot, showered a volley of 
 imprecations on the head of the tyrant who had 
 played so false a game. 
 
 No persuasion could induce him at first to publish 
 the work, but after the lapse of some years this 
 masterpiece of ideal writing was given to the world 
 under the title of " Sinfonia Eroica per festegiare il 
 sowenire d'un grand' uomo." Great man as Na- 
 poleon had been in Beethoven's estimation, he 
 never could think of him otherwise than with detes- 
 tation, till the sudden collapse of the Napoleonic 
 idea in 1815, and the death of its promoter in 1821, 
 changed his wrath into a kind of grim commiseration, 
 which he showed by remarking that he had " seven- 
 teen years before composed the music suited to this 
 
 I 
 
114 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 catastrophe ! " meaning the Funeral March in the 
 Eroica. 
 
 This, the first great manifesto of the Sovereign of 
 the World of Sound, was a wonderful advance on the 
 first two symphonies, produced somewhere about the 
 years 1800 — 1802. In these he took up the art where 
 Haydn and Mozart had left it ; but, " though he could 
 dally and tarry awhile with them, he would not 
 remain with them ; " his greater earnestness impelled 
 him on to realms unknown to them, to conquest com- 
 pared with which theirs faded into comparative in- 
 significance. 
 
 In 1805 Ferdinand Ries left Vienna, after having 
 enjoyed Beethoven's instruction for five years. He 
 was, in fact, the only one whom Beethoven recog- 
 nised as his pupil (with the exception of the Arch- 
 duke Rudolph), and to him he entrusted the playing 
 of his concertos, &c, for the first time, when no 
 longer able to do so himself. The impressions which 
 Ries has left in his Notices, of Beethoven as an in- 
 structor, are like his other statements, somewhat 
 contradictory. In one place he declares that during 
 the lessons the master was engaged in composition 
 or some similar work at one end of the room, while 
 he was playing at the other, and that he seldom sat 
 down by him for half an hour at a time. Again, 
 he says that Beethoven took extraordinary pains 
 with him — sometimes extending the lesson over two 
 hours, and making him repeat ten times— nay, oftener 
 — any passage with which he was not quite satisfied. 
 Probably the truth lies between these two ex- 
 
CONFLICT. 1 1 5 
 
 tremes. Beethoven, who had no settled order in 
 his life, could not be expected to be systematic in 
 tuition ; hence the impression of desultoriness left 
 upon the mind of the pupil. A characteristic anec- 
 dote of this period is worth quoting. 
 
 " Beethoven," says Ries, " had given me the manu- 
 script of his third concerto, that I might appear in 
 public with it for the first time as his pupil ; Beet- 
 hoven conducted and turned over the pages for me. 
 I had begged him to compose a cadenza for me, but 
 he directed me to write one myself. He was satis- 
 fied with my composition, and altered little ; but one 
 brilliant and very difficult passage, which seemed to 
 him too hazardous, I was to change. The easier one 
 did not please me, and I could not make up my 
 mind to play it in public. The critical moment 
 arrived — Beethoven had seated himself quietly — but 
 when I boldly attacked the difficult cadence, he gave 
 his chair a violent push. The cadenza, however, 
 succeeded, and Beethoven was so delighted that he 
 exclaimed, ' Bravo ! ' which electrified the audience." 
 
 In 1805 Beethoven produced his solitary opera, 
 " Leonora " (afterwards known as " Fidelio "), amid 
 a series of annoyances and vexations such as pro- 
 bably no operatic writer, either before or since, has 
 ever had to contend against. What between troubles 
 arising out of the libretto, the overture, the singers, 
 the critics, and the theatrical cabals, our poor Beet- 
 hoven was well-nigh driven distracted. 
 
 The story on which the opera is founded (origin- 
 ally taken from the French, and so well known as to 
 
1 1 6 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN'. 
 
 require no repetition here) is almost too slight for 
 dramatic purposes, inasmuch as there is but one 
 really powerful situation — that of the grave scene — 
 in the entire piece, and the whole interest, therefore, 
 is concentrated on the one figure, Leonora. What 
 Beethoven has made out of these slender materials ; 
 how he has depicted, in all its intensity and tender- 
 ness, that love which he was doomed never to experi- 
 ence, needs no description from us. 
 
 What was Beethoven's object in choosing this 
 theme for his labours ? Was it a foreshadowing of 
 bliss that might be his ? or was it the delineation of a 
 character which, in its earnestness and purity, should 
 be the reverse of that '' Don Juan " of Mozart, of 
 which he once said, " The divine art ought never to 
 be lowered to the folly of such a scandalous 
 subject " ? 
 
 The little byplay and domestic " asides " cost our 
 soaring Beethoven infinitely more trouble than the 
 most impassioned scenas, and he was obliged to 
 write the little air of Marcelline, " O, war 1 ich schon 
 mit Dir vereint," no less than thrice before he could 
 attain the requisite lightness. 
 
 The composition of the four " Leonora " overtures 
 is without a parallel in musical annals. When Beet- 
 hoven had finished No. i, in C major, he consented 
 to its being first tried over by a small orchestra 
 at Prince Lichnowski's, in the presence of a select 
 number of critics and connoisseurs, by whom it was 
 condemned as being light and almost flimsy in struc- 
 ture, and as affording no clue to the contents of the 
 
CONFLICT. 117 
 
 opera. It was therefore withdrawn, and not pub- 
 lished till after the composer's death. 
 
 But may not the light-heartedness which distin- 
 guishes this overture have been intentional on the 
 part of Beethoven ? may he not have wished to re- 
 present his heroine before the shadow of grief had 
 fallen upon her, in the enjoyment of the highest 
 wedded bliss ? 
 
 Marx takes this view of "Leonora" No. 1, ad- 
 ducing in support of it the following extract from 
 one of the manuscript books in which Beethoven was 
 accustomed to hold intercourse with his friends : — 
 
 "Aristotle, when he speaks of tragedy, says that 
 the hero ought first to be represented as living in the 
 greatest happiness and splendour. Thus we see him 
 in ' Egmont.' When he is in the enjoyment of felicity, 
 Fate comes and throws a noose over his head from 
 which he is not able to extricate himself. Courage 
 and Defiance appear upon the scene, and boldly look 
 Destiny — aye, and death — in the face. Clarchen's 
 fate interests us, like that of Gretchen in 'Faust,' 
 because she was once so happy. A tragedy which 
 begins as well as continues gloomily, is tedious." 
 
 '' Leonora " No. 2 was condemned on account of the 
 predominance of the wind instruments, and No. 3 
 ultimately, because the stringed instruments had so 
 much to do that precision was out of the question. 
 
 When, at length, the composer was satisfied with 
 his creation ; when the singers (pacified by the 
 friendly intervention of Seyfried, had agreed to give 
 the music as it was written ; when all difficulties 
 
Il8 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 were apparently overcome, the unlucky composers 
 annoyances reached a climax in the reception ac- 
 corded to his work by the public. 
 
 With great want of judgment (purposely to annoy 
 him, as Beethoven thought) the opera was produced a 
 few days after the French troops had entered Vienna ; 
 when all his friends and patrons, including Lichnow- 
 ski, had sought refuge at their country seats till the 
 storm had blown over ; and the theatre was filled with 
 French officers and soldiers, an audience utterly in- 
 capable of appreciating the master. As might have 
 been anticipated, the work was coldly received, and, 
 after three representations, withdrawn. In 1806 it 
 met with the same fate, and not till 18 14 did this, the 
 grandest work of the German school — a work which 
 has fought its way to every stage in Europe, and has 
 been brought home to every heart by a Malibran, a 
 Schroder-Devrient, or a Tietjens, — obtain a favour- 
 able hearing. 
 
 During the time the opera was in progress, Beet- 
 hoven (like Mozart in producing his " Seraglio ") 
 suffered keenly from the jealousy of some of his 
 opponents, and his brothers took care that every barb 
 should find its way home to his sensitive mind. Even 
 his friend Stephan Breuning, in his great desire to 
 help the composer, aggravated the evil by the very 
 warmth of his partisanship, — and thus, by constant 
 dwelling upon them, many little slights assumed a 
 disproportionate magnitude, and annoyed our poor 
 Beethoven intensely. 
 
 But enough of darkness and despondency; life now 
 
CONFLICT. 119 
 
 begins, by one of those sudden and apparently inex- 
 plicable changes, to wear a rosier hue for the com- 
 poser. Reserving our inquiry into the cause of this, 
 we close this chapter with the beautiful letter to the 
 poet Matthison, whose " Adelaide " he had set to 
 music some time previously. 
 
 " Most esteemed Friend, — You will receive, to- 
 gether with this, a composition of mine which has 
 already been printed for several years, but of which, 
 to my shame, you perhaps know nothing yet. 
 
 " I may, perhaps, be able to excuse myself, and to 
 explain why I dedicated anything to you, which came 
 so warmly from my heart, and yet did not make you 
 acquainted with it, — by the plea that, at first, I did 
 not know where you resided, and then my diffidence 
 ■ led me to think that I had been somewhat hasty in 
 dedicating anything to you without knowing if it had 
 your approval. And, indeed, even now I send you 
 the 'Adelaide' with some timidity. You yourself 
 know what changes a few years produce in an artist 
 who is constantly progressing ; the more one accom- 
 plishes in art, the less is one satisfied with former 
 works. 
 
 " My most fervent wish will be realized if you are 
 not altogether dissatisfied with the music to your 
 heavenly ' Adelaide,' and if you are incited by it to 
 compose a similar poem soon, and (should my request 
 not seem too bold) to send it to me forthwith, when I 
 shall put forth all my strength to approach your lovely 
 poetry in merit. 
 
120 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 " Consider the dedication as a mark of my esteeni 
 and gratitude for the exquisite pleasure which your 
 poetry has always afforded, and will still afford me. 
 
 "When playing the 'Adelaide," remember some- 
 times 
 
 " Your sincere admirer, 
 
 " Beethoven." 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 LOVE. 
 
 The Fourth Symphony— Julia Guicciardi — Letters to her — To Bettina 
 Brentano — Beethoven's Attachments — Domestic Troubles — Frau 
 Nanette Streicher — Daily Life — Composing im Freien. 
 
 " In love with an Ideal, 
 A creature of his own imagination, 
 A child of air, and echo of his heart; 
 And like a lily on a river floating, 
 She floats upon the river of his thoughts.'' 
 
 j|HENCE comes it that after a storm of dark- 
 ness and gloom — after the disappointment 
 of his " Leonora " — the next offspring of the 
 poet's fancy should be a symphony (No. 4), the most 
 delicately finished and bright in colouring which we 
 possess ? 
 
 The mystery is not easily solved. Former bio- 
 graphers have at once come to the conclusion that 
 this was the period in which Beethoven's love for 
 Julia Guicciardi, alluded to in a letter to Wegeler, 
 had reached its climax. This hypothesis has, how- 
 
122 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 ever, been put to flight by the discovery of Alex- 
 ander Thayer that the lady was married to Count 
 Gallenberg (afterwards the Keeper of the Archives 
 of the Imperial Opera) in 1801 — that is, five years 
 before the publication of the work. 
 
 Is the B flat major Symphony, after all, as much 
 the exponent of the master passion as is, in another 
 way, the C sharp minor Sonata ? Or is it, with its 
 troubled, gloomy opening, expanding into glorious 
 warmth and sunshine, another evidence of Beet- 
 hoven's resolution to set fate at defiance, and to 
 keep at bay the monster Grief which threatened to 
 annihilate him ? Who can tell ? When the traveller, 
 suddenly emerging from some mist-hung mountain 
 gorge, steps out upon the rocky platform, he beholds 
 in the distance, beneath his delighted gaze, a land- 
 scape bathed in sunshine ; so to the poet's excited 
 fancy there must have been present some bright 
 vision, one of those " loftier spirits, who sported with 
 him and allotted to him nobler tasks," drawing a 
 veil over the troubled Past, and pointing him onwards 
 to a glorious Future. 
 
 Let the Reader take which interpretation he will. 
 
 We propose briefly to present to him the two 
 sets of letters which show us Beethoven in two dif- 
 ferent aspects as a lover — the first pur et simple, the 
 second Platonic. 
 
 But little is known of the lady, Beethoven's " im- 
 mortal beloved," whose name vibrates throughout 
 the Adagio of the Moonlight Sonata. The letters 
 to her (written in the year 1800 from some baths in 
 
LOVE. 123 
 
 Hungary, whither he had been ordered for his health) 
 breathe the very intensity of passion — a passion at 
 times too deep for words.* 
 
 " Morning, 6th jfuly. 
 
 "My Angel! my All ! my Second Self ! 
 
 "Only a few words ' to-day, written with a pencil (with 
 thine). My residence will not be definitely fixed before to- 
 morrow. What a ruinous waste of time ! — Why this deep 
 sorrow where Necessity speaks ? can our love exist otherwise 
 than by sacrifices, than by our not expecting everything? 
 Canst thou alter the fact that thou art not wholly mine, 
 that I am not wholly thine ? — Alas ! look into the beauties 
 of Nature, and calm thy mind for what must be endured. 
 Love demands all, and with perfect, right, and thus I feel 
 towards thee and thou towards me, only thou forgettest so 
 easily that I have to live for myself and for thee, — were 
 we perfectly united, thou wouldst feel this trial as little as 
 I do. 
 
 " My journey was terrible. I only arrived yesterday at 
 four o'clock in the morning, owing to the want of horses. 
 The driver chose another route, but what a fearful one ! 
 At the last station they warned me not to travel by night, 
 and tried to terrify me by a forest, but this only stimulated 
 me, though I was wrong. The carriage broke down on 
 that dreadful road, a mere rough, unmade country lane, and 
 had not my postillions been what they were, I should have 
 been obliged to remain there by the wayside. 
 
 " Esterhazy, on the usual route, had the same fate with 
 eight horses that I had with four, and yet I felt a certain 
 
 * In translating these letters we have thought it best to keep to the 
 original pronoun, — the simple thou being more suited to Beethoven's 
 ideal love than the coarser you. 
 
124 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 degree of pleasure, as I always do when I overcome any- 
 thing happily. — Now, in haste, from the outer to the inner 
 man ! We shall probably soon see each other again. I 
 cannot communicate to thee to-day the reflections I have 
 been making, during the last few. days, on my life — were 
 our hearts ever near to one another, I should make none 
 such. My heart is full of much that I have to say to thee. 
 Ah ! there are moments in which I feel that language is 
 absolutely nothing. Take courage ! continue to be my true, 
 my only treasure, my All, as I am thine. The gods must 
 send the rest — that which is ordained to be, and shall be 
 for us. 
 
 " Thy faithful 
 
 " LUDWIG." 
 
 " Monday evening, 6th July. 
 " Thou grievest — thou — the -dearest of all beings ! — I 
 have just learned that the letters must be sent off very 
 early. Mondays and Thursdays are the only days on which 
 
 the post goes to K . — Thou grievest ! Ah ! where I 
 
 am, there thou art with me — with our united efforts I shall 
 attain my object — I shall pass my life with thee — what a 
 life ! ! ! whereas now ! 1 ! without thee — persecuted at times 
 by the kindness of others, a kindness which I neither 
 deserve nor wish to deserve. Servility from man to his 
 fellow-creature pains me ; and, when I consider myself in 
 relation to the universe, what am I? what is he who is 
 called the greatest? and yet even here is displayed the 
 Divine in man ! — I weep when I think that thou wilt pro- 
 bably receive no tidings of me before Saturday. However 
 much thou mayest love me, I love thee more fervently still 
 — never hide thy feelings from me. — Good night! as a 
 patient here I must now go to rest. Ah, God ! so near !— 
 
LOVE. 125 
 
 so far apart ! is not our love a true celestial mansion, endur- 
 ing as the vault of heaven itself!" 
 
 " ith July. 
 
 " Good morning ! 
 
 " Even Before I rise my thoughts throng to thee, my im- 
 mortal beloved, at times with joy, then again mournfully, 
 waiting to hear if fate be favourable to us. I can only live 
 entirely with thee, or not at all. Yes ! I am resolved to 
 wander apart from thee until the moment shall arrive when 
 I may fly into thine arms, may feel my home in thee, and 
 send my soul encompassed by thine into the world of 
 spirits. Yes, alas ! it must be so ! Thou wilt be prepared, 
 for thou knowest my faithfulness. Never can another 
 possess my heart ; never, never. Oh God ! why must I fly 
 
 from what is so dear to me ? — and yet my life in V is, 
 
 as at present, a sorrowful one. Thy love made me at once 
 the happiest and the most miserable of men. At my age I 
 require a uniformity, an evenness of life ; and can this be 
 possible in our relations? — Angel! I have just heard that 
 the post goes out every. day; and must stop that thou 
 mayest receive this letter soon. — Be calm ; only by calmly 
 viewing our existence can we attain our aim of passing- our 
 lives together. Be calm ; love me — to-day— yesterday — 
 what longing, what tears for thee — for thee— for thee — my 
 Life ! my All ! Farewell ! Oh ! continue to love me — never 
 misjudge the faithful heart of thy lover. L. 
 
 " Ever thine, 
 
 " Ever mine, 
 
 " Ever each other's." 
 
 It was indeed the case that no other love ever did 
 " possess his heart " in the same way. Julia was, if not 
 
126 • THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 his first, at least his only real love. Such letters as 
 these Beethoven wrote to no one else ; the contrast 
 between them and the three following (addressed 
 to Bettina Brentano, afterwards Madame von Arnim) 
 will be at once apparent : — 
 
 " Vienna, August 1 1, 1810. 
 
 "Dearest Friend,— Never has there been a more 
 beautiful spring than this year ; I say so, and feel it too, 
 because in it I first made your acquaintance. You have 
 yourself seen that in society I am like a fish on the sand, 
 which writhes, and writhes, and cannot get off until some 
 benevolent Galatea throws it back into the mighty ocean. 
 I was, indeed, quite out of my element, dearest friend, and 
 was surprised by you at a time when discouragement had 
 completely mastered me — but how quickly it vanished at 
 your glance ! I knew at once that you must be from some 
 other sphere than this absurd world, in which, with the best 
 will, one cannot open one's ears. I am a miserable being, 
 and yet I complain of others ! ! — But you will forgive me 
 for this with that good heart which looks out of your eyes, 
 and that intelligence which is hidden in your ears, — at 
 least they know how to flatter by the way in which they 
 listen. 
 
 " My ears are, alas ! a partition wall through which I 
 cannot easily have any friendly intercourse with men. 
 Otherwise !— perhaps ! — I should have felt more assured 
 with you ; but I could only understand the full, intelligent 
 glance of your eyes, which has so taken hold of me, that I 
 shall never forget it. Dear friend, dearest girl ! — Art ! who 
 understands her? with whom can Y discuss this great god- 
 dess ? . . . How dear to me are the few days in which we 
 
LOVE. 127 
 
 chatted together, or, I should say, rather corresponded ! 
 I have preserved all the little notes with your witty, charm- 
 ing, most charming answers, and so I have to thank my 
 defective hearing that the best part of those hasty conversa- 
 tions is written down. Since you left I have had vexatious 
 hours,^hours of shadow in which I can do nothing. I wan- 
 dered in the Schbnbrunn Allee for about three hours after 
 you left, but no angel met me who could have taken posses- 
 sion of me as you did, my Angel. 
 
 " Pardon, dearest friend, this deviation from the original 
 key, but such intervals I must have as a relief to my heart. 
 So you have written about me to Goethe, have you not ? 
 I could bury my head in a sack, so that I might not hear or 
 see anything of all that is going on in the world, because I 
 shall not meet you again, dearest angel, but I shall receive a 
 letter from you soon. Hope- sustains me, as she does half 
 the world ; through all my life she has been my companion. 
 What would otherwise have become of me? — I send you 
 ' Kennst du das Land,' written with my own hand, as a 
 remembrance of the hour in which I first knew you. I send 
 you also another, which I have composed since I took leave 
 of you, my dearest Herz 1 " 
 
 Herz, mein Herz, was soil das geben, 
 
 Was bedranget dich so sehr ; 
 Welch ein neues, fremdes Leben, 
 
 Ich erkenne dich nicht mehr. 
 
 " Answer me at once, dearest friend ; write and tell me 
 what is to become of me since my heart has turned such a 
 rebel. Write to your most faithful friend, 
 
 " Beethoven." 
 
128 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 " Vienna, \oth February, 1811. 
 " Dear, beloved Friend, — I have already had two let- 
 ters from you, and see from those to Tonie that you still 
 remember me, and even too kindly. Your first letter 
 I carried about with me the whole summer, and it has often 
 made me very happy. Although I do not write to you 
 frequently, and you see nothing at all of me, yet in thought 
 I write you a thousand times a thousand letters. How you 
 must feel in Berlin amongst all the frivolous, worldly rabble, 
 I could imagine, even though you had not written it to me 
 yourself, — mere prating about Art without any results ! ! The 
 best description of this is to be found in Schiller's poem, 
 ' The River,' in which the Spree speaks. — You are about to 
 be married, dear friend, or are so already, and I have not 
 been able to see you even once previously. May all the 
 felicity with which marriage, blesses those who enter into 
 her bonds be poured upon you and your husband ! What 
 shall I say to you about myself? I can only exclaim with 
 Johanna, ' Compassionate my fate ! ' If I am but spared 
 for a few years longer, I will thank Him who embraces all 
 within Himself— the Most High — for this as well as for all 
 other weal and woe. — If you should mention me when 
 writing to Goethe, strive to find all those words which can 
 express to him my deepest reverence and admiration. I am 
 just about to write to him myself regarding ' Egmont,' to 
 which I have composed the music, solely out of love for his 
 poetry, which always makes me happy ; — but who can suffi- 
 ciently thank a Poet, the most precious jewel of a Nation ! 
 Now no more, my dear, good friend. I only returned this 
 morning from a Bacchanale where I laughed too heartily, 
 only to weep nearly as much to-day ; boisterous joy often 
 drives me violently back upon myself. As to Clemens, 
 many thanks for his courtesy ; with regard to the Cantata, 
 
LOVE. 129 
 
 the subject is not important enough for us, it is very different 
 in Berlin. As for my affection, the sister has so large a 
 share of it that not much is left for the brother — will he be 
 content with this ? Now farewell, dear, dear friend. I im- 
 print a sorrowful kiss upon your forehead, thus impressing, 
 as with a seal, all my thoughts upon it. Write soon, soon, 
 often, to your Brother, 
 
 " Beethoven." 
 
 " Toeplitz, i$ih August, 18 12. 
 
 " My most dear, kind Friend, — Kings and princes 
 may indeed be able to create professors and privy councillors, 
 and to bestow titles and decorations, but great men they 
 cannot make. Spirits that tower above the common herd, 
 these they cannot pretend to make, and therefore they are 
 forced to respect them. When two men like Goethe and 
 myself come together, these grandees must perceive what is 
 accounted great by such as we. 
 
 " On our way home yesterday we met the whole imperial 
 family ; we saw them coming in the distance, when Goethe 
 immediately dropped my arm to place himself on one side ; 
 and say what I would, I could not get him to advance 
 another step. I pressed my hat down upon my head, 
 buttoned up my great-coat, and made my way with folded 
 arms through the thickest of the throng. Princes and 
 courtiers formed a line, Duke Rudolph took off his hat, 
 the Empress made the first salutation. The great ones of 
 the earth know met To my infinite amusement, I saw the 
 procession file past Goethe, who stood by the side, hat in 
 hand, bending low. I took him to task for it pretty smartly, 
 gave him no quarter, and reproached him with all his sins, 
 
 K 
 
130 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN: 
 
 especially those against you, dearest friend, for we had just 
 been speaking about you. Heavens ! had I been granted 
 a time with you such as he had, I should have produced 
 many more great works ! A musician is also a poet, and 
 can feel himself transported by a pair of eyes into a more 
 beautiful world, where nobler spirits sport with him, and 
 impose great tasks upon him. What ideas rushed into my 
 mind when I first saw you -in the little observatory during 
 that glorious May shower, which proved so fertilizing to 
 me also ! The loveliest themes stole from your glances 
 into my heart, — themes which shall enchant the world when 
 Beethoven can no longer direct. If God grant me a few 
 years more, I must see you again, my dearest friend ; the 
 voice which ever upholds the right within me demands it. 
 Spirits can also love one another ; I shall ever woo yours ; 
 your applause is dearer to me than aught else in the world. 
 I told Goethe my opinion of the effect of applause upon 
 men like us — we must be heard with intelligence by our 
 peers ; emotion is very well for women (pardon me), but 
 music ought to strike fire from the souls of men. Ah ! 
 dearest child, how long is it since we were both so perfectly 
 agreed upon all points ! There is no real good but the 
 possession of a pure, good soul, which we perceive in 
 everything, and before which we have no need to dissemble. 
 We must be something if we would appear something. The 
 world must recognise us, it is not always unjust ; but this 
 is a light matter to me, for I have a loftier aim. 
 
 " In Vienna I hope for a letter from you ; write soon, 
 soon and fully ; in eight days I shall be there. The court 
 goes to-morrow ; to-day they .are to play once more. Goethe 
 has taught the Empress her role. His duke and he wished 
 me to play some of my own music, but I refused them 
 both, for they are both in love with Chinese porcelain. A 
 
LOVE. 131 
 
 little indulgence is necessary, for understanding seems to 
 have lost the upper hand; but I will not play for such 
 perverse tastes, neither do I choose to be a party to the 
 follies of princes who are for ever committing some such 
 absurdity. Adieu, adieu, dear love ; your last letter lay for 
 a whole night next to my heart, and cheered me there. 
 Musicians allow themselves everything. Heavens ! how 
 I love you ! 
 
 " Your most faithful friend and deaf brother, 
 
 " Beethoven." 
 
 These letters were first published in Bettina's 
 book, " Ilius Pamphilius und die Ambrosia," but the 
 style is so unlike Beethoven's simple mode of expres- 
 sion, that it is difficult to discover what the composer 
 really wrote to Bettina, and what has been supplied 
 by the latter's rather too vivid imagination. The 
 reiterated dear, dearest, and the write soon, soon, often, 
 are very feminine and very un-Beethovenish. This 
 strange, inexplicable little being, who fascinated 
 not only Beethoven, but every one else with whom 
 she came in contact, has also published an account 
 of her interviews with Beethoven. This is so highly 
 coloured that we may be excused for doubting the 
 perfect truth of the recital, especially as we know 
 what a gloss — nay, what falseness — she contrived to 
 give to all that related to her intercourse with Goethe. 
 She herself tells us, naively enough, that when she 
 showed Beethoven one morning her account of what 
 
132 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 he had said the previous day, he was quite surprised, 
 and exclaimed, " Did I really say that ? I must 
 have had a raptus!" 
 
 Bettina was, however, of some service to him, as it 
 was doubtless she who paved the way to his ac- 
 quaintance with Goethe, and their meeting in 1812 
 at Toeplitz ; and her family remained true, warm 
 friends of the composer long after the great minister 
 had forgotten his very existence. 
 
 Beethoven was most unfortunate in his attach- 
 ments, the objects of which were always of much 
 higher social standing than himself. Constantly 
 associating with people of rank and culture, it was 
 natural that to the sensitive nature of our poet, the 
 young girl nobly born, with all the intuitive, nameless 
 fascinations of the high-bred aristocrat, should pre- 
 sent a great contrast to the plebeian, every-day graces 
 of the bourgeoise. Beethoven used to say that he had 
 found more real appreciation of his works amongst 
 the nobility than in any other circle, and we can 
 hardly wonder at the infatuation with which he stakes 
 all his chances of happiness on a love which he knows 
 can never be gratified. 
 
 The following little scrap in his handwriting has 
 been preserved :— " Only love — yes, only that — has 
 power to give me a happier life. Oh, God ! let me 
 at length find her, the one destined to be mine, who 
 shall strengthen me in virtue ! " Schindler imagines 
 that these words have reference to a well-known 
 dilettante of great talent, Fraulein Marie Pachler, 
 whom Beethoven admired exceedingly. He never 
 
LOVE. 133 
 
 summoned up courage enough to propose to her 
 however, and she afterwards married an advocate in 
 Gratz. This lady may also be the subject of the 
 allusion in a letter to Ries, 18 16 : — "Say all that is 
 kind from me to your wife ; I, alas ! have none. I 
 found only one with whom I could have been happy, 
 and she will probably never be mine. But I am not 
 on this account a woman-hater ! " 
 
 Another love of Beethoven's was the Countess 
 Marie Erdbdy, to whom he dedicated the two splen- 
 did Trios, Op. 70, but this seems to have been 
 entirely a Platonic affection. 
 
 Who can exaggerate the immense benefit that a 
 loving, tender wife would have been to Beethoven — 
 a wife like Mozart's Constance ? The consciousness 
 of one ever by his side to whom he might safely con- 
 fide all that wounded or annoyed him, would have 
 more than neutralized the chilling, exasperating 
 effects of the calamity that had overtaken him, 
 would have been a fresh impetus to great achieve- 
 ments. But fate had willed it otherwise. 
 
 In nothing was the want of a wife so apparent 
 as in Beethoven's domestic minage, which certainly 
 was the non plus ultra of discomfort. One great 
 cause of this was his habit of frequently changing 
 his abode. He had long since left the Lichnowski 
 Palace, his infirmity rendering it desirable that he 
 should have a home of his own, but he was extremely 
 difficult to please in the choice of a residence. One 
 house he would leave because the sun did not shine 
 into his apartment ; another because the supply of 
 
134 THE LIFE OF BEE'IHOVEN. 
 
 water was deficient (a serious drawback to him, as he 
 was accustomed to lave his head and face profusely 
 while composing), and for even less cogent reasons he 
 would pack up and leave at an hour's notice, so that 
 it soon became a difficult matter to find a suitable 
 abode for him. It may easily be imagined that this 
 constant removal was not effected without consider- 
 able outlay, and so badly did he manage that at one 
 time he had no less than four houses on his hands. 
 When all other resources failed, he would take refuge 
 in the fourth story of his friend Baron Pasqualati's 
 house, which was constantly reserved for him. The 
 summer he always spent in the country, generally in 
 a hired lodging. On one occasion a suite of apart- 
 ments in the villa of Baron Pronay had been placed 
 at his disposal, and as the house stood in the midst 
 of a superb park, it was thought that Beethoven would 
 be fully satisfied. In a few days, however, the bird 
 had flown, alleging as his reason that he could not 
 endure to listen to the ceremonious salutation with 
 which his host accosted him every morning in his 
 ramble — much less to return it ! 
 
 Oulibischeff's amusing description of our com- 
 poser's surroundings is worth repeating : — 
 
 '' In his room reigned a confusion, an organized 
 chaos, such as can hardly be imagined. Books and 
 music lay on every article of furniture,, or were heaped 
 up like pyramids in the four corners. A multitude 
 of letters which he had received during the week or 
 the month covered the floor like a white carpet with 
 red spots. On the window-sill were displayed the 
 
LOVE. 135 
 
 remains of a succulent breakfast, by the side or on 
 the top of proof sheets awaiting correction. There a 
 row of bottles, partly sealed, partly empty ; further 
 on an escritoire, and on it the sketch of a quartet ; on 
 the pianoforte a flying sheet of note-paper with the 
 embryo of a symphony ; while to bring so many 
 directly opposite things into harmony, everything 
 was united by a thick layer of dust. 
 
 " It may easily be imagined that amidst such a 
 well-arranged whole, the artist had often no small 
 trouble to find what he required. He used to com- 
 plain bitterly about this, and always put the blame on 
 other people's shoulders, for he fancied that he was 
 extremely systematic in the way in which he kept 
 his things, and used to declare that in the darkest 
 night he could find even a pin belonging to him, if 
 people 'would but put things back in their proper 
 places ' ! 
 
 " On one occasion an important paper was missing 
 — neither a sketch nor a loose sheet, but a thick, 
 clearly copied score from the Mass in D. At last it 
 was found ; but where, think you ? In the kitchen, 
 where it had been used to wrap up eatables ! More 
 than one Donnerwetter ! and more than one bad egg 
 must have flown at the head of the devoted cook, 
 when this was discovered ; for Beethoven liked 
 fresh eggs too well to use them as missiles. . . . 
 Once, when he had dismissed his housekeeper, a very 
 good orderly person (and soon received into favour 
 again), he resolved to make' himself independent, 
 and to keep no more servants, since they only ' worked 
 
136 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 mischief in the house.' And why should he not 
 wait upon himself, and look after the kitchen himself? 
 Could it be more difficult to prepare a dinner than to 
 prepare a C minor symphony ? Charmed with this 
 glorious idea, Beethoven hastens to put it into 
 execution. He invites some friends to dinner, buys 
 the necessary provisions in the market, and carries 
 them home himself ; ties on the business-like white 
 apron ; adjusts the indispensable nightcap on his head ; 
 grasps the cook's knife, and sets to work. The guests 
 arrive, and find him before the fire, whose scorching 
 flame seems to act like the fire of inspiration upon 
 him. The patience of the Viennese appetites was put 
 to an unwonted trial. At length the dishes were 
 placed on the table, and the host proved that it was 
 worth while waiting for him. The soup might have 
 challenged the soupe maigre given in charity ; the 
 boiled meat, scarcely cooked, presupposed in indi- 
 viduals of the human race the digestion of an 
 ostrich ; the vegetables swam in a sea of fat and 
 water ; the roast meat, splendidly burned to a cinder, 
 looked as though it had found its way down the 
 chimney ; in short, nothing was fit to eat. And 
 nobody did eat anything except the host, who by 
 word and example encouraged his guests to fall to. 
 In vain ; Beethoven's chefs-d'oeuvre of cookery were 
 not appreciated, and the guests made their dinner 
 on bread, fruit, and sweetmeats, adding plenty of 
 wine to prevent any bad effects from their enforced 
 abstinence. This remarkable feast convinced even 
 the great Maestro that composing and cooking are 
 
LOVE. 137 
 
 two very different things, and the "unjustly deposed 
 cook was speedily re-established in her rights." 
 
 It was very fortunate for Beethoven that after some 
 years passed in this erratic way, a sensible lady- 
 friend at length came to the rescue, and by her 
 feminine tact and adroitness, succeeded in per- 
 suading him to abandon his nomadic habits to some 
 extent, and to mingle a little more in society. This 
 was Frau Nanette Streicher, the amiable wife of the 
 celebrated instrument maker, and early friend of 
 Schiller. She began by putting the wardrobe of the 
 composer to rights (as might be imagined, it was 
 in a deplorable plight), and afterwards, in conjunc- 
 tion with her husband, hired a respectable house for 
 Beethoven, furnished it suitably, and engaged a man 
 (a tailor by trade) and his wife to wait upon him. 
 In this quiet haven our tempest-tossed Beethoven 
 came to anchor for a while, and might have been 
 seen busy over his pianoforte, or among his papers, 
 while his cross-legged knight of the Goose stitched 
 away comfortably in the adjoining anteroom. 
 
 When fairly domiciled, Beethoven's mode of life 
 was very regular. His habit was to rise every 
 morning, winter and summer, at daybreak, when he 
 at once proceeded to his desk, where he wrote till 
 about two o'clock without any interruption, except 
 the necessary interval for breakfast, and — if his 
 ideas did not flow rapidly enough — an occasional 
 run of half an hour or longer into the open air. 
 Between two and three he dined, after which it was 
 his invariable custom to make the circuit of the town 
 
138 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 twice or three timts ; and no weather could keep him 
 within doors — summer heat or winter frost, thunder, 
 hail, rain, sleet, — nothing prevented this afternoon 
 ramble. It was, in fact, his time for composition ; 
 he never ventured out without his note-book to 
 preserve any fugitive thoughts that might flit across 
 his mind, and used laughingly to apply to himself 
 Johanna's words, " I dare not come without my 
 banner ! " Necessarily, therefore, he was a very 
 silent companion, but in one sense only, as the whole 
 way he continued humming (or rather growling) in 
 a manner peculiar to himself any thema on which 
 he was mentally at work. Ries relates that on one 
 occasion when they were walking together, Beet- 
 hoven suddenly exclaimed, "A theme has occurred 
 to me ! " They hurried onwards in silence, and on 
 arriving at home the master went at once to the 
 pianoforte (without even removing his hat), where 
 he thundered like an inspired giant for more than 
 an hour, during which the beautiful finale to the 
 Sonata Op. 57 (Appassionata) struggled into existence. 
 Beethoven generally returned from his promenade 
 only when warned by the shadows that evening was 
 coming on ; then alone in the darkening twilight 
 he loved to breathe to his best, his only friend, his 
 elavier,* the thoughts which met with no response 
 in human sympathy. During the evening he very 
 seldom worked, but would smoke his pipe, and play 
 occasionally on his viola or violin, both of which 
 
 * Beethoven could not endure the foreign word pianoforte. 
 
LOVE. 139 
 
 must- always be placed ready for him on the piano- 
 forte. 
 
 Our poor deaf Beethoven had, too, his little coterie 
 of sincere and attached friends, among whom his 
 real nature could show itself without restraint or 
 distrust, and who clung to him through life in spite 
 of the unceasing efforts of the two brothers to dis- 
 lodge them. These were — naturally Prince Lich- 
 nowski and his brother Count Moritz, who cherished 
 a love and admiration for Beethoven which the latter 
 warmly reciprocated, dedicating to the Count his 
 Variations, Op. 35, and the beautiful Idyl, Op. 90. 
 To these must be added the comical little Baron von 
 Zmeskall, a Hungarian State Secretary, to whom the 
 composer addressed many a humorous epistle ; his 
 old friend Stephan Breuning ; the Baron von Gleich- 
 enstein ; his secretary Schindler ; and last, but not 
 least, Franz, Count von Brunswick, to whom he dedi- 
 cated the Sonata Appassionata, and who had more 
 influence over him than anybody else. 
 
 One proceeding Beethoven never omitted, viz., 
 the reading of the evening paper. In these stirring 
 times the newspaper was an absolute necessity, and 
 our musician would never retire to rest without pre- 
 viously ascertaining the state of the political hori- 
 zon. He used to frequent a coffee-house which boasted 
 another means of exit besides' the general one, and 
 taking up his position in the background, he would 
 steadily peruse the Gazette (not a very long task in 
 those days, when " our own " correspondents were as 
 yet undreamt of), and as soon as the last word of 
 
I40 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 the last page had been scanned, beat a hasty retreat 
 through the private door, and wend his solitary way 
 homewards. Ten o'clock rarely found him out of 
 bed. Such was his simple, innocent day ! It was 
 no-mere phrase, that declaration of his, " / live only 
 in my art" — it was indeed the one connecting link 
 between him and others. 
 
 What he produced in suffering and loneliness 
 stirred, like a mighty wind among the forest branches, 
 the noblest feelings of a thousand hearts, bidding 
 them grapple with Destiny as he had done, and prove 
 themselves men and heroes ! 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 VICTORY AND SHADOW. 
 
 Period of Greatest Intellectual Activity — Hummel — The Battle of 
 Vittoria — Congress of Vienna — Maelzel — Pecuniary Difficulties — 
 Adoption of Nephew — The Philharmonic Society— The Classical 
 and Romantic Schools— The Ninth Symphony— His Nephew's 
 Conduct — Last Illness. 
 
 HE period between the years 1805 and 18 14 
 maybe considered that of Beethoven's greatest 
 creative energy. It is almost impossible to 
 keep pace with the stream of colossal works which 
 flowed without intermission from his pen. To this 
 period belong the G major and E flat pianoforte 
 concertos, without exception the most poetical and 
 the noblest compositions of the kind which we 
 possess ; the fantasia for pianoforte, orchestra, and 
 chorus ; the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth 
 symphonies ; the " Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage " 
 on Goethe's short but suggestive poem, " Tiefe Stilk 
 herrscht im Wasser ; ohm Regung ruht das Meer ; " 
 the First Mass ; the music to " Egmont ;" the over- 
 
142 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 tures to Collin's tragedy of " Coriolanus," and to 
 " King Stephen," and the " Ruins of Athens," — each of 
 which, from its intellectual grasp of subject, wonderful 
 ideality, and highly finished detail, would merit a 
 volume to itself. Nor do these Titanic orchestral 
 productions occupy the whole of his attention. They 
 are accompanied by a mass of works for the piano- 
 forte, which, if in one sense slighter than those we 
 have named, yet, in another, stand equally high ; the 
 soliloquies and dialogues (if we may be allowed the 
 expression) contained in the pianoforte sonatas 
 breathe thoughts as noble and as deep as those 
 expressed by the more varied dramatis persona of 
 the orchestra or the quartets. Truly, a perfect 
 acquaintance with Beethoven would claim the devo- 
 tion of the highest powers, and the study of a life- 
 time. Any attempt, however, to depict these great 
 works briefly in words would be futile, and we there- 
 fore pass on to the consideration of the poet's outer 
 life. This was almost monotonous — certainly not 
 varied. Beethoven, as we have seen, lived wholly 
 in his art, and the changes which occurred, most 
 momentous to him, were not those of outward cir- 
 cumstance, but of inner, intellectual development. 
 
 In the year 1809 he was offered the post of 
 Kapellmeister to the King of Westphalia, with a 
 salary of six hundred ducats ; and this, his great 
 desire of possessing a fixed income made him ready 
 to accept ; although he would certainly have been 
 miserable in such a position, as Jerome was not the 
 man to understand either him or his works. Happily, 
 
VICTORY AND SHADOW. 143 
 
 this ordeal was spared him. It was thought deroga- 
 tory to the dignity of Austria that her greatest com- 
 poser, the one of whom she had . most reason to be 
 proud, should be allowed through pecuniary con- 
 siderations to quit her bounds ; and as the Emperor 
 would do nothing for Beethoven (his abhorrence of 
 etiquette and well-known republican sentiments 
 having prevented his ever getting into favour at 
 Court), an agreement was ultimately entered into by 
 the Archduke Rudolph (Beethoven's pupil, after- 
 wards Archbishop of Olmiitz) and the Princes Lob- 
 kowitz and Kinsky, to pay the composer annually 
 the sum of four thousand guldens, on condition 
 of his continuing to reside in Vienna. In two years' 
 time this was reduced one-fifth, owing to changes in 
 the Austrian Finance, and subsequently it dwindled 
 down to a mere nothing, from the death and bank- 
 ruptcy of two of the contracting parties — but Beet- 
 hoven could get no redress, although he religiously 
 fulfilled his part of the compact. 
 
 In drawing the money from the executors of 
 Prince Kinsky he was obliged always to send in 
 a proof that he was still in existence. This annoyed 
 him excessively, and he generally had the affair 
 transacted for him by a friend, which on one occa- 
 sion produced the following laconic voucher to 
 Schindler : — 
 
 " Certificate of Life. — The Fish lives ! vidi 
 Pastor Romualdus," — an allusion to his eccentric use 
 of water when composing. 
 
 In this year also occurred the bombardment of 
 
144 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 Vienna, out of which Ries has contrived to bring 
 forward an implied accusation of cowardice against 
 the composer, in his statement that Beethoven hid 
 himself in a cellar, burying his head among cushions 
 that he might not hear the firing. 
 
 The explanation of this lies on the surface ; if he 
 did take refuge underground it was only what every 
 other inhabitant of the city, whose duty did not call 
 him elsewhere, was doing ; and as for the cushions — 
 the vibration of the cannonade heard in that vault 
 must have been agony to his diseased nerve. Had 
 Beethoven really been alarmed he might easily have 
 quitted Vienna. Cowardice in any form is the last 
 vice that could be attributed to him ; resolute and 
 firm, he feared no danger. 
 
 In 1810 the Mass in C was performed for the first 
 time at Eisenstadt, the residence of Prince Esterhazy, 
 the grandson of Haydn's patron, in whose service 
 Hummel was at the time as Kapellmeister. Ester- 
 hazy, accustomed only to the simple services and 
 masses of the Haydn-Mozart school, did not know 
 what to make of a production so totally different. 
 Accordingly, at the dijeuner afterwards given in the 
 palace to the artists and dilettanti who had assembled 
 for the occasion, he said, with a smile, to our com- 
 poser, " Now, dear Beethoven, what is this that you 
 have been about again ? " The susceptible musician, 
 not a little irritated at hearing his work so lightly 
 spoken of, glanced towards Hummel, who happened 
 to be standing by the Prince's side, wearing a pecu- 
 liar smile, which seemed to Beethoven full of mali- 
 
VICTORY AND SHADOW, 145 
 
 cious pleasure. This was too much — the opinion of 
 a fashionable worldling like Esterhazy was nothing 
 to Beethoven, but that a brother in art should so 
 misunderstand him — should rejoice at an -apparent 
 failure ! — he rose abruptly, and quitted the palace. 
 
 Such is the correct account of the rupture between 
 Beethoven and Hummel, which lasted until a few 
 days before the death of the former, when Hummel, 
 hearing of his precarious state, hastened to Vienna to 
 effect a reconciliation before it was too late.* Another 
 version of the story is that the two composers were 
 rivals for the hand of the same lady, and that 
 Hummel, owing to Beethoven's deafness and his own 
 better position as Kapellmeister, was the favoured 
 suitor ! The practice of tracing every event in our 
 composer's life to a love affair is just as ridiculous as 
 the opposite extreme of denying his capability for the 
 tender passion. 
 
 A more interesting incident in connection with the 
 First Mass is that related by Schindler of the effect 
 produced upon Beethoven by the reading of the 
 German text composed for it by some poet, who, 
 though unknown to fame, seems to have translated 
 the master's thoughts from the language of Tones 
 into that of Words, with power and truth. When 
 
 * While this little volume was going through the press, Dr. Fer- 
 dinand Hiller kindly offered to send us for insertion an account of those 
 last interviews between the two great composers, of which lie was him- 
 self an eye-witness, being at the time a pupil of Hummel, whom he 
 accompanied to Beethoven's residence. Unfortunately, the offer arrived 
 too late. 
 
 L 
 
146 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 Beethoven came to the " Qui tollis" his eyes over- 
 flowed with tears (the first and last time that he was 
 ever seen so affected) as he exclaimed, " Thus I felt 
 while composing this ! " 
 
 The tide of Beethoven's earthly renown and glory, 
 which had been slowly rising for years, reached its 
 height in 1813-14. 
 
 In the former year took place the two celebrated 
 concerts on behalf of the Austrian and Bavarian 
 soldiers wounded in the battle of Hanau, when the 
 Seventh Symphony, 1 "afiM "Wellington's Victory, or 
 the Battle of Vittoria," were performed for the first 
 time. We can easily imagine, from the sensation ex- 
 cited even now by the latter work, how intense must 
 have been the enthusiasm which greeted its perform- 
 ance at a time when popular feeling was strung up to 
 the highest pitch. Beethoven himself directed, regu- 
 lating the movements of his b&ton by those of Schupr 
 panzigh's bow. In a notice of the concert written by 
 himself he says : " It was an unprecedented assembly 
 of distinguished artists, every one of whom was in- 
 spired by the desire of accomplishing something by 
 his art for the benefit of the Fatherland ; and all 
 worked together unanimously, accepting of subordi- 
 nate places without regard to precedence, that a 
 splendid ensemble might be attained. . . . My 
 part was the direction of the whole, but only because 
 the music happened to be of my composition. Had 
 it been otherwise, I would have stationed myself as 
 readily at the great drum, like Herr Hummel ; for 
 our only motives were Love to the Fatherland, and 
 
VICTORY AND SHADOW. 14; 
 
 the joyful devotion of our powers to serve those whc 
 had sacrificed so much for us." 
 
 In 1814 occurred the great Congress, when Vienna 
 was for a season the abode of kings, princes, and 
 delegates from every Court in Europe, and the glit- 
 tering capital was well-nigh intoxicated by its own 
 magnificence. The magistrates of the city invited 
 Beethoven to compose a Cantata for the occasion, 
 which produced the "Glorreiche Augenblick," per- 
 haps the composer's most neglected work, and de- 
 servedly so, as it is not worthy of him. It won for 
 him, however, the presentation of the freedom of the 
 city, the only distinction which Beethoven valued. 
 Nor was this his only triumph. His genius began to 
 be universally recognised ; he was created an hono- 
 rary member of Academies and .Societies in London, 
 Paris, Stockholm, and Amsterdam ; and the Phil- 
 harmonic Society in London presented him with a 
 superb grand pianoforte of Broadwood's manufacture. 
 In short, from every nation in Europe, and even from 
 America, he received striking proofs of the love and 
 admiration in which he was held. ' Stimulated by 
 these manifestations, excited by the splendour around 
 him, and the stirring, momentous events which were 
 taking place, Beethoven was induced to depart 
 for the time from his usual solitary habits, and to 
 mingle for a few weeks in society. In the apartments 
 of Prince Rasoumowski, the well-known Russian 
 dilettante, he was introduced to many of the illus- 
 trious visitors, and long retained a lively recollection, 
 half comical, half gratified, of the manner in which 
 
148 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN: 
 
 he had been idolized ; — how the grand seigneurs had 
 paid court to him, and how admirably he had played 
 his part in receiving their homage ! He was most 
 deeply affected by his interview with the gentle 
 Empress Elizabeth of Russia, with whom he con- 
 versed in his customary frank, open way, completely 
 setting aside all etiquette ; while she, on her part, 
 expressed the highest veneration for the composer, 
 and at her departure left him a gift of two hundred 
 ducats, which he acknowledged after his own fashion 
 by dedicating to her his brilliant Polonaise, Op. 89. 
 This was the only substantial result to our poverty- 
 stricken Beethoven of the attachment professed by 
 the whole of the gay throng ! 
 
 The bright episode of the Congress, with its fetes 
 and triumphs, soon flitted past, bringing out in sterner 
 and darker contrast the days which followed. 
 
 Beethoven had dedicated his "Battle of Vittoria" 
 to the Prince Regent of England (George IV.), but 
 to his great chagrin, no notice was taken of it. He 
 alludes to this in a letter to Ries, and referring to 
 the Prince's well-known character, of gourmand, says, 
 "He might at least have sent me a butcher's knife or 
 a turtle ! " 
 
 Another vexation in connection with the symphony, 
 causing him infinite annoyance, arose out of the des- 
 picable conduct of Maelzel, afterwards the inventor 
 of the metronome. In the year 1812 he had made 
 the acquaintance of the latter, who had promised to 
 construct for him a sound-conductor, in return for 
 which Beethoven composed a kind of warlike piece 
 
VICTORY AND SHADOW. 1 49 
 
 for the mechanician's new instrument, the panhar- 
 monica, which he was on the point of taking to Eng- 
 land for exhibition. The effect of Beethoven's work 
 was so marvellous, that Maelzel urged him to arrange 
 it for the orchestra, and the result was — the " Battle 
 of Vittoria." Maelzel meanwhile went on con- 
 structing four machines, only one of which was found 
 available, and Beethoven, without the slightest sus- 
 picion of any underhand dealing, allowed him to 
 take the entire management of the concerts for the 
 relief of the wounded. In his hermit life he did not 
 hear much of what was going on around him, and his 
 consternation may therefore be imagined when in- 
 formed that his false friend was announcing the 
 symphony everywhere as his own property, stating 
 that it had been given to him by Beethoven in return 
 for his machine, and the sum of four hundred guldens 
 which he professed to have lent him ! He had 
 actually contrived to have many of the orchestral 
 parts copied out, and those that were wanting sup- 
 plied by some low musician, and with this mutilated 
 work he was on his way to England. The matter was 
 at once placed in the hands of the law ; but it was long 
 before Beethoven recovered from the effects of this 
 fraud ; it made him, in fact, suspicious ever after 
 towards copyists. The loan of four hundred guldens 
 proved to have been fifty, which Beethoven accepted 
 from him at a time when, as he states in his instruc- 
 tions to his lawyers, he was "in dire necessity', 
 deserted by every one in Vienna!' 
 
 This Maelzel had the impudence subsequently to 
 
150 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 write to Beethoven, requesting his patronage for the 
 metronome, and pretending that he was busily engaged 
 in preparing a sound-conductor which would enable 
 the master to direct in the orchestra. The latter 
 never made its appearance, but Beethoven, who at 
 first approved of the metronome, did all in his power 
 to have it introduced. Afterwards, when he saw the 
 confusion of tempo which it had occasioned, he used 
 to say, " Don't let us have any metronome ! He 
 that has true feeling will not require it, and for him 
 who has none, it will not be of any use." 
 
 This affair with Maelzel gives us a glimpse into 
 the pecuniary difficulties which harassed Beethoven 
 throughout his life, assuming greater prominence 
 towards the end. He was always in want of money, 
 and yet (according to the notions of the times) he was 
 handsomely paid for his compositions. What, then, 
 was the cause of it ? Were his means swallowed up 
 by his frequent removals ? Did the perplexity arise 
 simply from his unbusiness-like habits ? To these 
 questions we must add a third, which may, perhaps, 
 afford a clue to the mystery, — What became of the 
 valuable presents, the watches, rings, breast-pins, 
 snuff-boxes, &c, &c, of which Beethoven had received 
 so many ? When asked where such a gift was, he 
 would look bewildered, and say after a moment's re- 
 flection, " I really don't know ! " The matter would 
 then pass entirely from his thoughts ; but there were 
 those about him who were not equally indifferent ! 
 
 In 1815 the cloud which for two years had been 
 threatening, burst upon him in those troubles and 
 
VICTORY AND SHADOW. 151 
 
 sorrows which encompassed him until the end. He 
 lost his old friend and staunch supporter, Prince Lich- 
 nowski, and, a few months, after his brother Carl, who 
 in dying bequeathed to him as a legacy the care 
 of his only child. It seemed as if the annoyance 
 which this man had caused our Beethoven in his life 
 were to be perpetuated and continually renewed in 
 the person of his son. Not so, however, did the 
 master regard the fresh call upon him. After having 
 done all that kindness could suggest, or money pro- 
 cure, to relieve his brother's sufferings and cheer his 
 last days, he took home the orphan child to his heart 
 with a love and tenderness that could not have been 
 greater had the boy baen his own. 
 
 His first step was to remove him from the care of 
 his mother, a woman of lax morals and low habits- 
 In this Beethoven was actuated by the purest and 
 best motives ; but, unfortunately, his zeal went too 
 far. He forgot that the fact of his sister-in-law's 
 having been a bad wife did not necessarily imply 
 that she had lost a mother's heart ; and in insisting 
 upon the total separation between the two, he roused 
 all the bitterest feelings of a woman's nature, and 
 prepared much sorrow for himself. The "Queen of 
 Night," as he nicknamed her, sought redress through 
 the law, and for four years a suit for the possession 
 of the lad was pending. In his appeal Beethoven 
 thus nobly expresses the sentiments which dictated 
 his conduct : — " My wishes and efforts have no other 
 aim than that of giving the best possible education 
 to the boy, his talents justifying the greatest expec- 
 
152 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 tations ; and of fulfilling the trust reposed in my 
 brotherly love by his father. The stem is now pli- 
 able ; but if it be for a time neglected, it will become 
 crooked, and outgrow the gardener's training hand ; 
 and upright bearing, knowledge, and character will 
 be irretrievably lost, I know of no duty more sacred 
 than that of the training and education of a child. 
 The duty of a guardian can only consist in the appre- 
 ciation of what is good, and the adoption of a right 
 course ; and only then does he consult the welfare of 
 his ward ; whereas in obstructing the good he neglects 
 his duty." 
 
 Misled by the prefix van, his advocate unfortunately 
 carried the case' to the Aristocratic Court ; and, as it 
 went on, Beethoven was called upon to show his right 
 to this proceeding. Pointing with eloquent emphasis 
 to his head and heart, the composer declared that in 
 these lay his nobility ; but, however true in the. 
 abstract, the law could not admit this plea, and after 
 a decision had been given in his favour, the case had 
 to be re-tried before the ordinary Civil Court. This 
 occurrence wounded Beethoven more than can be 
 described ; he felt his honour tarnished as a man and 
 as an artist, and for several months no persuasion 
 could induce him to show himself in public. In 
 addition to this, the evidence necessarily brought 
 forward to strengthen his plea revealed only too 
 plainly the loose life of his sister-in-law, and such an 
 exposi of one so nearly related to himself was, for his 
 pure and reserved nature, the height of misery. 
 
 The Civil Court reversed the decision of. the Aris- 
 
' VICTORY AMD SHADOW. 1 53 
 
 tocratic, and the boy was given over to his mother ; 
 while Beethoven, determined to gain his end, brought 
 the case before the High Court of Appeal, where he 
 was finally successful. Let the reader imagine the 
 effect of all this painful publicity, following upon the 
 annoyances with Maelzel, to a mind constituted like 
 Beethoven's. No Stylites on his pillar could have 
 suffered more than did our composer in his loneliness 
 until the cause was gained. And what return did he 
 meet with from the object of his solicitude ? — The 
 basest ingratitude. 
 
 About this time he began seriously to think of 
 visiting London ; the Philharmonic Society made 
 him the most handsome offers ; and his own inclina- 
 tions prompted him to quit Vienna. He had at all 
 times cherished the greatest love and admiration for 
 England and the English nation, our free institutions 
 harmonizing with his political views ; and a com- 
 mission coming from this quarter was always welcome 
 to him, not only on account of the unwonted hono- 
 raire which usually accompanied it, but also because 
 of the high esteem in which he held the English as 
 artists and appreciators of art. During the latter 
 years of his life, therefore, this visit to London was 
 his favourite scheme, and he intended en route to 
 pass through the Rhine provinces, that he might 
 once more see the home and the friends of his boy- 
 hood ; — but it was destined never to take place. 
 
 The four years of the lawsuit were almost. barren 
 of creative result, .but in the winter of 1819-20 he 
 began his Mass in D. This colossal work, written. 
 
T54 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN, 
 
 more for future generations than for us, was originally 
 intended for the installation of the Archduke Rudolph 
 as Archbishop of Olmiitz ; but as the work went on, 
 our composer grew more and more in love with his 
 task, which gradually assumed such proportions that 
 it was not completed till 1823 — two years after the 
 event it was meant to celebrate ! A copy of the 
 Mass, which Beethoven regarded as his most success- 
 ful effort, was offered to every court in Europe for the 
 sum of fifty ducats. It was, however, accepted only 
 by France, Prussia, Saxony, Russia, and by Prince 
 Radziwill, Governor of Posen, and a musical society 
 in Frankfort. The King of Prussia sent to inquire, 
 through his Ambassador, if the master would not 
 prefer a decoration to the fifty ducats. Beethoven's 
 answer was prompt — "Fifty ducats!" If his work 
 were worthy of a decoration, why not have given it in 
 addition to the paltry sum asked for it ? Louis XVIII. 
 acted differently ; he sent the composer a valuable gold 
 medal, on one side of which was his bust, and on the 
 reverse the inscription, " Donn6, par le roi, a M. 
 Beethoven." An application of Beethoven's to Goethe 
 requesting him to draw the attention of Karl August 
 to the Mass met with no answer, although Goethe 
 might have been able, at very trifling inconvenience 
 to himself, to render material assistance to the master. 
 His self-love had probably not recovered from the 
 shock it had received during a walk with Beethoven 
 on the Bastei at Vienna, when, struck by the profound 
 respect and deference manifested by every one whom 
 they encountered, Goethe exclaimed, " I really had 
 
VICTOR} AND SHADOW. 155 
 
 no idea that I was so well .known here!" "Oh!" 
 replies our brusque composer, "the people are bowing 
 to me, not to you !" This was in reality the case, for 
 the circumstance occurred in Beethoven's palmy 
 days, when he was, as Marx observes, a " universally 
 beloved and popular character, a part of Vienna 
 itself." 
 
 The circumstance which more than any other casts 
 a gloom over the master's last days is, that he was 
 doomed (apparently) to outlive his fame, and to have 
 the inexpressible mortification of witnessing that 
 rupture in the musical world which has lasted down 
 to our days, and will probably never be healed, viz., 
 the separation of the classical from the so-called 
 romantic school. Hitherto, the followers of Art had 
 been united ; naturally, individual tastes and pre- 
 dilections had occasionally predominated — some ad- 
 miring one master* and some another, — but on the 
 whole, the lovers of music had been unanimous in 
 their adherence to the pure and good. With the 
 appearance of Rossini (that clever scene-painter, as 
 Beethoven called him), this state of affairs underwent 
 a complete revolution. His gay, light-hearted melo- 
 dies, extravagant roulades, and inexhaustible vivacity 
 took the public by storm — Beethoven and his im- 
 mortal masterpieces were forgotten. And yet, per- 
 haps, this is only what might have been expected, — 
 the divine in Art is not for all, nor are all for the 
 divine. Beethoven might have known, like Goethe, 
 that he was too profound ever to be popular in a 
 wide sense. The mass of mankind look upon Art 
 
156 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 simply as a means of relaxation. So, indeed, it 
 ought to be to all ; but never should it stop 
 there. Art, in its highest and best forms, has power 
 not only to provide the weary and careworn with 
 temporary self-forgetfulness, and to dissipate grief, 
 but — and herein lies its true, its God-given strength 
 — to renew the energies and brace the mind for 
 higher and nobler efforts in the future. Whenever 
 it stops short of this, satisfied with fulfilling its first 
 and lower function, there is developed a tendency to 
 abdicate its real position, and to degenerate into the 
 mere panderer to man's follies, to his vices. Who 
 could have felt this more keenly than Beethoven ? 
 Not the mere loss of his own popularity was it that 
 made him turn away so deeply wounded from 
 grand displays in which snatches of his own works 
 were performed, along with meaningless arias, and 
 shallow, noisy overtures of the new Italian school. 
 So deeply did he take the change to heart, that he 
 resolved to have his Mass in D and the Ninth Sym- 
 phony performed for the first time in Berlin. The 
 announcement of this intention produced a warm 
 remonstrance (in the form of an Address) from his 
 attached little circle of friends ; and the master, 
 touched by the feeling which called out this mani- 
 festation, was induced to forego his determination, 
 and to consent to the two works being brought out 
 in Vienna, provided a hall suitable for the purpose 
 could be obtained. 
 
 This was no easy matter, and the difficulties in 
 connection with it gave rise to a half-comical little 
 
VICTORY AND SHADOW. 157 
 
 incident. His enemies were in power, and demanded 
 an absurd sum for the use of the building, to which 
 Beethoven could not be induced to agree. As 
 neither party would yield, the project seemed on 
 the point of shipwreck, when the faithful Schindler, 
 alarmed for the success of the enterprise on which 
 he had set his heart, persuaded Count Moritz Lieh- 
 nowski and the violinist Schuppanzigh to meet him 
 as if by accident at Beethoven's house, and press 
 the latter to yield to what was inevitable. The plan 
 succeeded, and the necessary papers were signed ; 
 but the composer's suspicions were roused, and the 
 three devoted friends received for their pains the 
 following autocratic mandates : — 
 
 "To Count Moritz Lichnowski, — 
 " Duplicity I despise. Visit me no more. There will 
 be no concert. " Beethoven." 
 
 "To Herr Schuppanzigh, — 
 " Come no more to see me. I shall give no concert. 
 
 " Beethoven." 
 
 "To Herr Schindler, — 
 
 " Do not come to me until I send for you. No concert. 
 
 " Beethoven." 
 
 This did not in the least deter them, however, 
 from doing what they believed necessary for his 
 benefit : the concert took place, and was the scene 
 of a triumph such as few have experienced. The 
 glorious Jupiter Symphony seemed to act upon the 
 
158 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 immense mass of human beings that thronged the 
 building in every part, like ambrosial nectar ; they 
 became intoxicated with delight, and when the re- 
 frain was caught up by the choir, " Seid umschlungen 
 Millionen!" a shout of exuberant joy rent the air, 
 completely drowning the singers and instruments. 
 But there stood the master in the midst, his face 
 turned towards the orchestra, absorbed and sunk 
 within himself as usual, — he heard nothing, saw 
 nothing. Fraulein Unger, the soprano, turned him 
 gently round, and then what a sight met his aston- 
 ished gaze, — a multitude transported with joy ! Al- 
 most all were standing, and the greater number 
 melted to tears, now for the first time realizing 
 fully the extent of Beethoven's calamity. — Probably 
 in all that great assembly the master himself was 
 the most unmoved. Simply bowing in response to 
 the ovation, he left the theatre gloomy and de- 
 spondent, and took his homeward way in silence. 
 
 Verily, he, like a Greater, knew what was in man. 
 In eight days from this eventful epoch he was com- 
 pletely forgotten ; a second concert proved an utter 
 failure, and Rossini's star was again in the ascendant. 
 Nor did the flighty Viennese public cast another 
 thought upon our Beethoven until the news of his 
 death came upon them like the shock of an earth- 
 quake, and they hastened, when it was too late, to 
 repair the past 
 
 But if it was painful to meet with ingratitude from 
 the public, how much harder must it have been for 
 the master to endure the same from one nearly related 
 to him ! We have said that he adopted his brother's 
 
VICTORY AND SHADOW. 159 
 
 orphan child. This nephew, also a Carl Beethoven, 
 was at his father's death about eight years of age, and 
 a boy of great talent and promise. The four succeed- 
 ing years, during which the lawsuit dragged its weary 
 length, were extremely detrimental to him, as he 
 seems to have been tossed about from one person to 
 another — now with his mother, and again with his 
 uncle — in a manner very prejudicial to any good 
 moral development. Events showed him only too 
 plainly the character of his mother, but nature — 
 stronger still — urged him to take her part in the 
 contest so far as he dared ; and, incited by her evil 
 counsels, he soon began secretly to despise his uncle's 
 authority, and openly to follow a path he had laid 
 down for himself, — the path of self-will and sensual 
 indulgence. Expelled from the University where he 
 was attending the Philosophical Course, his more 
 than father received the repentant prodigal with open 
 arms, and placed him in the Polytechnic School to 
 study for a mercantile career, that he might be under 
 the supervision of Herr Reisser, Vice-President of the 
 Institute, and co-guardian with himself over Carl. 
 In the summer of 1825 the composer wrote no fewer 
 than twenty-nine letters to his erring nephew, every 
 one of which exhibits his character in the most beau- 
 tiful light. They breathe the cry of a David, " Oh ! 
 Absalom ! my son ! my son ! " — but it is a living 
 Absalom who has to be lamented, and the most 
 energetic appeals, the most loving remonstrances are 
 invoked to move that stony heart. In vain, — Carl 
 went from bad to worse, and in 1826 the master was 
 compelled to give up the habit which had been his 
 
1 66 THE' LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 only solace for years — that of spending the summer 
 in the country — and to remain in Vienna to watch 
 over the young man. Matters soon came to a crisis, 
 — Carl, urged to pass an examination which he had 
 long neglected, attempted, in a fit of despair, to put 
 an end to his own life. Here the law stepped in, and 
 after he had been treated in an asylum where his 
 spiritual as well as his bodily condition was cared for, 
 the miserable youth was restored to his no less 
 wretched uncle, with orders to quit Vienna within 
 four-and-twenty hours. Beethoven's old friend, Ste- 
 phan Breuning, exerted himself to procure a cadetship 
 for the lad, and he was at length permitted to join 
 the regiment of the Baron von Stutterheim, to whom 
 the composer gratefully dedicated one of his last 
 quartets. Pending this arrangement the unhappy 
 uncle and nephew took refuge at Gneixendorf, the 
 estate of Johann v. Beethoven, who had offered 
 them a temporary asylum. A few days here, how- 
 ever, were enough for the composer ; irritated by the 
 unjust reproaches and low taunts of his brother, he 
 determined at once to return to Vienna, taking his 
 nephew with him. It was a raw, cold, miserable day 
 in December ; Johann refused to lend his close car- 
 riage to him to whom he owed all his prosperity, and 
 Beethoven was obliged to perform a long journey in 
 an open conveyance, with no shelter from the keen 
 wind and pitiless rain. His health, which had long 
 been failing, sank under this exposure, and he arrived 
 in Vienna with a severe attack of inflammation of the 
 lungs, which ultimately caused his death. ' 
 
VICTORY AND SHADOW. l6l 
 
 As soon as they arrived at home, Carl was charged 
 instantly to procure a physician for his uncle, one 
 Dr. Wawruch ; but this loving nephew's whole 
 thoughts were for his old companions and his old 
 haunts. He went to play billiards, entrusting his 
 commission to the tender mercies of a servant of the 
 establishment, who, in his turn, let the affair pass 
 entirely from his memory until two days after, when 
 he happened to be taken ill himself, and to be 
 carried by chance, to the same hospital in which the 
 doctor practised. At the sight of the physician his 
 instructions flashed upon his memory, and he be- 
 sought him to go at once to the great Beethoven. 
 Horror-struck, Dr. Wawruch, who was an enthusiastic 
 admirer of the composer, hastened to his house and 
 found him lying in the most precarious state, com- 
 " pletely alone and neglected. His unwearied efforts 
 so far succeeded that Beethoven rallied for a time, 
 and his first act was — to appoint his worthless nephew 
 sole heir to all his effects ! Soon symptoms of 
 dropsy showed themselves, he had to be tapped four 
 times, and it became evident that the master spirit 
 would soon leave its earthly tabernacle for a better 
 and more enduring habitation. He was always 
 resigned and patient, remarking, with a smile, when 
 a painful operation was being performed, " Better 
 water from my body than from my pen ! " 
 
 The Philharmonic Society sent him a magnificent 
 edition of Handel, and the greatest pleasure of his 
 last days consisted in going through the works of his 
 favourite composer. 
 
 M 
 
,l62 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 His illness, however, lasted some time ; in the 
 meanwhile he was making nothing, and his small 
 resources began to fail him. The money he had 
 recently made by his works he had added to the 
 fund which he sacredly kept for his nephew, and 
 which no persuasion could induce him to touch ; he 
 had been disappointed in a sum owing to him by the 
 Russian dilettante, Prince Galitzin ; and in great 
 distress the question arose, what was he to do ? to 
 whom could he turn ? He bethought him of the 
 offer made by the Philharmonic Society in London 
 to give a concert for his benefit, and, after much 
 hesitation, finally applied to them, through Moscheles 
 and Sir George Smart, for the fulfilment of the 
 promise. His countrymen have never been able to 
 forgive Beethoven for this step, especially as it was 
 found after his death that he had left about ^1,200; 
 but this, as we said before, he looked upon as his 
 nephew's property, and would not appropriate any 
 of it to his own use — therefore, what was he to do? 
 Forsaken by the whole world in Vienna, was he to 
 starve ? The society rejoiced in the opportunity of 
 showing the gratitude of England to him who has 
 placed the whole human race under an eternal -obli- 
 gation, and immediately despatched £100 to Vienna, 
 with the intimation that if this were not sufficient 
 more would be forthcoming. 
 
 Alas ! more was not required ; a few days after 
 the gift arrived the great musician breathed his last. 
 We leave the description of the closing scene to 
 Schindler : — 
 
VICTORY AND SHADOW. 1 63 
 
 " Whdn I went to him on the morning of the 24th 
 of March, 1827, I found him with distorted face, and 
 so weak that only by the greatest effort could he 
 utter a few words. In a short time the physician 
 entered, and, after looking at him in silence, whis- 
 pered to me that Beethoven was advancing with rapid 
 steps towards dissolution. As we had fortunately 
 provided for the signing of the will some days pre- 
 viously, there remained to us but one ardent wish — 
 that of proving to the world that he died as a true 
 Christian. The physician, therefore, wrote a few 
 lines, begging him in the name of all his friends to 
 allow the holy sacrament to be administered to 
 him, upon which he answered calmly and collectedly, 
 'I will.' The physician then left, that I might 
 arrange for this ; and Beethoven said to me, ' I beg' 
 you to write to Schott, and send him the- document, 
 he will require it ; write to him in my name, I am too. 
 weak ; and tell him that I beg him earnestly to send 
 the wine he promised. If you have time to-day,, 
 write also to England.' The pastor came about 
 twelve o'clock, and the holy office was performed 
 with the greatest solemnity. 
 
 "Beethoven himself now began to believe in his 
 approaching end ; for hardly had the clergyman 
 gone than he exclaimed, ' Plaudite amid, comedia 
 finita est ; have I not always said that it would come 
 thus ?' He then begged me again not to forget 
 Schott, and to thank the Philharmonic Society once 
 more for their gift, adding that the society had 
 cheered his last days, and that even on the verge of 
 
164 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 the grave he thanked them and the whole English 
 nation. At this moment the servant of Herr von 
 Breuning entered with the little case of wine sent by 
 Schott. I placed two bottles of Rudesheimer on the 
 table by his side ; he looked at them and said, ' What 
 a pity ! — too late !' These were his last words. In a 
 few moments he fell into an agony so intense that he 
 could no longer articulate. Towards evening he lost 
 consciousness, and became delirious. This lasted till 
 the evening of the 25th, when visible signs of death 
 already showed themselves. Notwithstanding, he 
 lingered till the evening of the 26th, when his spirit 
 took flight, while without a violent storm of thunder 
 and lightning seemed to reflect his death struggle in 
 Nature herself — his best friend." 
 
 The last agonies of the master were soothed by but 
 one friendly touch, that of Anselm Hiittenbrenner 
 from Gratz, who had hurried into Vienna to press the 
 loved hand once more. He was borne to his last 
 resting-place by an immense concourse, exceeding 
 twenty thousand ; composers, poets, authors, artists, 
 surrounded his coffin with lighted torches, while the 
 choristers sang to one of his own melodies the words 
 of Grillparzer : — 
 
 ' ' Du, dem nie im Leben, 
 Ruhestatt ward, und Heerd und Haus, 
 Ruhe nun im stillen 
 Grabe, nun im Tode aus," — 
 
 Thou, who ne'er in life hadst resting-place, nor hearth, 
 nor home— rest thee now in the quiet grave — in 
 death. Amen. 
 
THE PIANOFORTE SONATAS.* 
 
 From Domenico Scarlatti down to Frederic Chopin a 
 succession of cembalists, clavecinists, and pianists rich in 
 talent, art, and genius, have created a series of select 
 works, the counterpart of which, in number, variety, and 
 lasting fame, can probably be displayed by no other branch 
 of musical literature. Two collections, however, take 
 precedence of all this wealth of tone-poetry ; these are the 
 Fugues and Preludes (the " Wohl-temperirte Clavier") of 
 Johann Sebastian Bach, and the Sonatas of Ludwig van 
 Beethoven. Both works have been so much discussed, 
 have been analyzed in so many different ways, have had 
 such multifarious constructions put upon them, have been 
 praised and extolled from so many different standpoints, 
 that the conviction must be impressed upon every observer 
 — they are inexhaustible. This is really the case — they are 
 an ever-flowing spring of study for the composer and the 
 pianist, and of enjoyment for the educated hearer. At 
 present, however, we have only to do with the Sonatas of 
 Beethoven, and must therefore direct our attention to them. 
 
 Most of the German composers have become great at 
 the pianoforte. They learned to command the technicalities 
 
 * From an edition of the Sonatas published in Breslau. 
 
1 66 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 of this compendium of sound, song, harmony, and poly- 
 phony, and it became to them a voice, a second tongue, 
 a part of themselves. Upon it they could express every 
 whispering musical emotion, and lend words, we may even 
 say, to every passing mood which stirred their sensitive 
 souls ; the utterances which Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven 
 confided to their pianoforte in lonely hours may have 
 surpassed in beauty (if not in perfection of form) what 
 they committed to writing. In no other master, however, 
 does this familiar intercourse between the tone-poet and 
 his instrument present itself to our minds with such won- 
 drous clearness as in Beethoven. In his mighty symphonies 
 he speaks to the crowd like an ideal world's orator, raising 
 them to the highest emotions of purified humanity ; in his 
 quartets he strives to impart to each instrument an almost 
 dramatic individuality; but in his Pianoforte Sonatas he 
 speaks to himself, or, if you will, to the instrument, as to 
 his dearest friend. He relates his most secret joys and 
 sorrows, his longing and his love, his hope and his despair. 
 An entire, full, real, inner human life is revealed to us — 
 sound, energetic {kernig), manly. Whether he gives him- 
 self up to passionate outpourings or to melancholy laments, 
 whether he jests, plays, dreams, laughs, or weeps, he con- 
 tinues always simple and true. We find no straining after 
 effect, no oddity, no coquettishness, no sentimentality; 
 the greatest depth of thought appears unadorned and 
 unpretentious. There are a few great men who can express 
 the noblest sentiments without a wish that they should be 
 heard, and who yet have no cause to dread listeners for 
 the most trifling thing that they have uttered ; and such is 
 Beethoven in his Pianoforte Sonatas. 
 
 We frequently encounter the impression that Beethoven, 
 in contradistinction to the other loftiest tone-poets, is 
 
THE PIANOFORTE SONATAS. 1 67 
 
 specially the singer of melancholy and sorrow— of the most 
 intense, passionate soul-suffering. Nothing can be less 
 true. Certainly he depicted the night side of the human 
 mind as no one had done before him. But when we view 
 his compositions as a whole, there speaks to us out of them 
 all — even the last, so deeply furrowed — a predominating 
 vigorous cheerfulness, a sympathetic joy, a loving medita- 
 tiveness, an earnest, resolute, fresh life. How often he 
 sinks into blissful dreams, or gives himself up to childlike 
 merriment ! A mature man, yet seized at times by the 
 extravagance of youth, while the battle of life makes him 
 earnest, sometimes gloomy, but never faint-hearted or 
 misanthropic (weltsch?nerzlicK). " He was a man, take him 
 for all in all ;" we have not looked upon his like. 
 
 The special application of what has been said to the 
 separate Sonatas would lead to nothing. Although it is 
 indisputable that the emotions and frames of mind por- 
 trayed in them are almost infinite in compass, yet it would 
 be proportionally difficult to express the same with regard 
 to each single piece »in words, the very definiteness of 
 which would conclusively prove their inadequacy to the 
 task. It is no empty phrase, however often it may have 
 been repeated, that Music begins where Language ends, — 
 of course with the proviso that the former content herself 
 with the sovereignty in the domain assigned to her. How 
 many tone-poems should we be compelled to characterize 
 by words not only analogous to each other, but having the 
 very same purport, even though a Goethe's wealth of 
 language were at our command ! and what a dissimilarity 
 in the tone-forms would notwithstanding be apparent even 
 to the most uninitiated listener ! 
 
 Far more important than the invention of characteristic 
 expressions is it, for those who would devote themselves to 
 
1 68 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 the study of Beethoven's pianoforte sonatas, to get a clear 
 idea of them in outline as well as in detail. The comprehen- 
 sion of them is facilitated by this, with the natural result of 
 a higher intellectual enjoyment. Is it not elevating to see 
 how the most daring fancy, after having been, nourished by 
 deep thought, becomes the willing, submissive subject of 
 the all-regulating mind ? Beethoven never lost the reins, 
 even in what seem the wildest flights of his genius : his 
 Pegasus may spring up into highest space — he is able to 
 direct and guide it. 
 
 No earnest, conscientious teacher should neglect to ex- 
 plain to those entrusted to him the essential nature of the 
 laws which for centuries, by a kind of natural necessity, 
 have developed themselves in the forms of instrumental 
 music. They are so simple that their principal features may 
 be made clear to the most childish comprehension, and 
 every step in advance will bring with it a deeper insight. 
 That Beethoven, in the closest relation to his great prede- 
 cessors, submitted to these laws, makes his appearance 
 doubly great : he did not come to destroy, but to fulfil 
 the law. 
 
 O that our art, the most spiritual of all, were not bound 
 by so many and such rigorous ties to matter! O that 
 Beethoven's sonatas were within the reach of all educated 
 minds, like the lyrics of our great poets ! But not this 
 alone does Nature deny to our art ; she withholds from the 
 greater number of those even who are striving as musicians 
 and as pianists the full enjoyment of these lofty works, at 
 least in their totality. They make demands upon the' 
 executants which are not easily met. Here and there we 
 find the necessary talent. Were it but accompanied by the 
 indispensable earnestness and diligence ! 
 
 Beethoven's pianoforte music demands (apart from the 
 
THE PIANOFORTE SONATAS. 1 69 
 
 consideration of the extraordinarily difficult works) sound 
 and solid execution. The first conditions of this are also 
 the rarest, viz , a powerful and yet gentle touch, with the 
 greatest possible independence of finger. Beethoven never 
 writes difficulties merely to win laurels for those executants 
 who shall overcome them, but neither is he deterred by any 
 technical inconvenience, if it be necessary to give firm and 
 clear expression to an idea. Thus we meet, in works 
 reckoned amongst the easiest, with passages which pre- 
 suppose a pretty high degree of technical skill : and since a 
 pure style properly demands that there shall be at least the 
 appearance of ease on the part of the performer, — with 
 compositions of the intellectual depth of Beethoven's this 
 is an indispensable qualification. Therefore it is not 
 advisable to take or place the sonatas of our master in hands 
 which are not educated for their reception. When that 
 degree of progress has been attained which will insure the 
 mastery of the technical difficulties, the enjoyment and 
 advantage to be derived from their thorough study will be 
 doubled, and the effort to grasp them intellectually un- 
 hindered. 
 
 The most essential figures which Beethoven employs are 
 built upon the scale and the arpeggio. They belong, there- 
 fore, to that style which is specially designated the Clementi- 
 Cramer school. The studies of these noble representatives 
 of pure pianoforte playing will always be the best foundation 
 for the performance of Beethoven's works, and the practice 
 of them ought to accompany without intermission the study 
 of the master. Happily, the rich productions of Beethoven's 
 imagination offer fruits for every epoch of life and of — 
 pianoforte-playing. We can reward the diligence of the 
 studious child by allowing him to play the two sonatinas 
 published after the master's death, which sound to us rather 
 
lyo THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN; 
 
 as if they had been written for than by a beginner. But we 
 should carefully guard against giving to immature young 
 minds pieces which, though easy in a technical point of 
 view (and this, after all, is sometimes only apparent), require 
 a power of conception and of performance far beyond the 
 demands made upon the fingers. Who, for example, with 
 any experience in musical life, does not remember having 
 heard the Sonata Pathetique played with a naivete of style 
 which might prove the narrowness of the boundary line 
 between the sublime and the ridiculous ? And similar mis- 
 conceptions are met with every day. 
 
 We give below a list of the sonatas in the order in which 
 they ought to be studied, arranged with a view to the 
 demands made upon the heart and mind, as well as upon 
 the hand and finger of the performer. It is evident, how- 
 ever, that this cannot be done with mathematical precision ) 
 and that individual views and capability must, after all, 
 decide ; since difficulty and ease are but relative terms, and 
 depend in each case upon other and pre-existing conditions. 
 If, however, our attempt succeed so far as to render the 
 selection easier to the student, and prevent his making any 
 great mistakes, we shall not consider our trouble thrown 
 away. 
 
 May Beethoven speedily find a home in every house — in 
 every heart ! 
 
 «£©,. 
 
THE PIANOFORTE SONATAS. 17 1 
 
 CLASSIFICATION OF BEETHOVEN'S PIANO- 
 FORTE SONATAS. 
 
 i. Op. 49, No. 2, in G major. 
 
 2. Op. 49, No. i, in G minor. 
 
 3. Op. 14, No. 2, in G major. 
 
 4. Op. 14, No. 1, in E major. 
 
 5. Op. 79, in G major. 
 
 6. Op. 2, No. 1, in F minor. 
 
 7. Op. 10, No. 1, in C minor. 
 
 8. Op. 10, No. 2, in F major. 
 
 9. Op. 10, No. 3, in D major. 
 
 10. Op. 13, in C minor {Pathttique). 
 
 11. Op. 22, in B flat major. 
 
 12. Op. 28, in D major {Pastorale). 
 
 13. Op. 2, No. 2, in A major. 1 
 
 14. Op. 2, No. 3, in C major. 
 
 15. Op. 78, in F sharp major. 
 
 16. Op. 7, in E flat major. 
 
 17. Op. 26, in A flat major. 
 
 18. Op. 31, No. 3, in E flat major. 
 
 19. Op. 31, No. 1, in G major. 
 
 20. Op. 90, in E minor. 
 
 21. Op. 54, in F major. 
 
 22. Op. 27, No. 2, in C sharp minor {Moonlight). 
 
 23. Op. 31, No. 2, in D minor. 
 
 24. Op. S3, in C major. 
 
 25. Op. 27, No. 1, in E flat major. 
 
 26. Op. 81, in E flat major {Les Adieux). 
 
 27. Op, 57, in F minor {Appassionato.). 
 
 28. Op. no, in A flat major. 
 
 29. Op. 109, in E major. 
 
 30. Op. 101, in A major. 
 
 31. Op. in, in C minor. 
 
 32. Op. 106, in B flat major {The Giant). 
 
LIST OF BEETHOVEN'S WORKS. 
 Compiled from Marx and Thayer. 
 
 I. — Compositions designated as Opus. 
 
 i. Three Trios iot pianoforte, violin, and violoncello, in E 
 flat, G major, and C minor ; ded. to Prince Lichnowski ; 
 composed 1791-92. 
 
 2. Three Sonatos for piano, in F minor, A major, and C 
 major; ded. to Joseph. Haydn; pub. 1796. 
 
 3. Trio for violin, viola, and violoncello, in E flat ; com- 
 posed in Bonn before 1792. 
 
 4. Quintet for two violins, two violas, and violoncello) in 
 E flat (from the octet for wind instruments, Op. 103) ; pub. 
 
 1795- 
 
 5. Two Sonatas for piano and violoncello, in F major and 
 G minor; ded. to Frederic William II. of Prussia; com- 
 posed in Berlin in 1796. 
 
 6. Sonata for piano, for four hands, in D major ; pub. 
 1796-97. 
 
 7. Sonata for piano, in E flat; ded. to the Countess Ba- 
 bette von Keglevics ; pub. 1797. 
 
 8. Serenade for violin, viola, and violoncello, in D major ; 
 pub. 1797. 
 
 9. Three Trios for violin, viola, and violoncello, in G 
 major, D major, and C minor ; ded. to the Count von 
 Browne; pub. 1798. 
 
 10. Three Sonatas for piano, in C minor, F major, and D 
 major; ded. to the Countess von Browne ; pub. 1798. 
 
 it. Trio for piano, clarionet (or ¥.), and violoncello, in 
 B flat ; ded. to the Countess von Thun ; pub. 1798. 
 
 12. Three Sonatas for piano and violin, in D major, A 
 major, and E flat major; ded. to F. A. Salieri; pub. 
 1798-99. 
 
LIST OF BEETHOVEN'S WORKS. 173 
 
 13. Sonata Pathetique for piano, in C minor; ded. to 
 Prince Lichnowski ; pub. 1799. 
 
 14. Two Sonatas for piano, in E major and G major ; 
 ded. to the Baroness Braun; pub. 1799. 
 
 15. First Concerto for piano and orchestra, in C major; 
 ded. to the Princess Odescalchi, nee Countess von Kegle- 
 vics; composed 1795. 
 
 16. Quintet for piano, clarionet, oboe, bassoon, and horn, 
 in E flat major; ded. to the Prince von Schwarzenberg ; 
 performed 1798. 
 
 17. Sonata for piano and horn in F major; ded. to the 
 Baroness Braun; composed i860. 
 
 18. Six Quartets for two violins, viola, and violoncello, in 
 F major, G major, D major, C minor, A major, and B flat 
 major; ded. to Prince Lobkowitz; pub. 1800-1801. 
 
 19. Second Concerto for piano and orchestra, in B flat 
 major; ded. to M. von Nickelsberg; composed 1798. 
 
 20. Grand Septet for violin, viola, violoncello, horn, 
 clarionet, bassoon, and double-bass, in E flat; performed 1800. 
 
 21. First Symphony for orchestra, in C major; ded. to 
 the Baron van Swieten; performed 1800. 
 
 22. Grand Sonata for piano, in B flat ; ded. to the Count 
 von Browne; composed 1800. 
 
 23. Sonata for piano and violin, in A minor; ded. to 
 Count Moritz von Fries; pub. 1801. 
 
 24. Sonata for piano and violin, in F major; ded. to 
 Count Moritz von Fries; pub. 1801 (originally together 
 with Op. 23). 
 
 25. Serenade for flute, violin, and viola, in D major ; pub. 
 1802. 
 
 26. Sonata for piano, in A flat; ded. to Prince Lich- 
 nowski ; composed 1801. 
 
 27. Two Sonatas, quasi Fantasia, for piano, No. 1 in E 
 flat major ; ded. to the Princess Liechtenstein ; No. 2 in 
 C sharp minor; ded. to the Countess Julia Guicciardi; 
 composed 1801 (?). 
 
 28. Sonato for piano, in D major ; ded. to M. von Son- 
 nenfels; composed 180 1. 
 
 29. Quintet for two violins, two violas, and violoncello, in 
 C major; ded. to Count von Fries; composed 1801. 
 
174 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 30. Three Sonatas for piano and violin, in A major, C 
 minor, and G major ; ded. to the Emperor Alexander I. of 
 Russia; composed 1802. 
 
 31. Three Sonatas for piano, in G major, D minor, and E 
 flat major; composed 1802 (?). 
 
 32. "To Hope" words from the " Urania" of Tiedge ; 
 pub. 1805 (first setting, see Op. 94). 
 
 33. Bagatelles for piano ; composed 1782. 
 
 34. Six Variations for piano, in F major, on an original 
 theme ; ded. to the -Princess Odescalchi ; composed in 
 1802 (?). 
 
 35. Fifteen Variations, with a Fugue; for piano, on a 
 theme from " Prometheus" ded. to Count Moritz Lich- 
 nowski ; composed 1802. 
 
 36. Second Symphony for orchestra, in D major ; ded. to 
 Prince Lichnowski ; composed 1802. 
 
 37. Third Concerto for piano and orchestra, in C minor; 
 ded. to Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia j composed 
 1800. 
 
 38. Trio for piano, clarionet (or V.), and violoncello (from 
 the Septet, Op. 20); published 1805. 
 
 39. Two Preludes through all the major and minor keys, 
 for piano or organ ; composed 1789. 
 
 40. Romance for violin and orchestra, in G major ; com- 
 posed [802 (?). 
 
 41. Serenade for piano and flute (or V.), in D major (from 
 Op. 25) ; pub. 1803. 
 
 42' Notlurno for piano and violoncello, in D major (from 
 Op. 8); pub. 1804. 
 
 43. Ballet : " The Men of Prometheus; 11 composed 
 1800. 
 
 44. Fourteen Variations for piano, violin, and violoncello, 
 on an original theme; composed 1802 (?). 
 
 45. Three Marches for piano, .for four hands, in C major, 
 E flat major, and D major; ded. to the Princess Esterhazy ; 
 composed 1802 (? 1801). 
 
 46. Adelaide; words by Matthison; composed 1796. 
 
 47. Sonata for piano and violin, in A major; ded. to the 
 violinist Rudolph Kreutzer; composed 1803. 
 
 48. Six Spiritual Songs, by Gellert; pub. 1803. 
 
LIST OF BEETHOVEN'S WORKS. 175 
 
 49. Two Easy Sonatas for piano, in G minor and G 
 major; composed 1802 (?). 
 
 50. Romance for violin and orchestra, in F major ; com- 
 posed in 1802 (?). 
 
 51. Two Rondos for piano: No. 1 in C major; pub. 
 1798 (?) ; No. 2 in G major : ded. to the Countess Hen- 
 riette von Lichnowski ; pub. 1802. 
 
 52. Eight Songs ; words by Claudius, Sophie von Mereau, 
 Burger, Goethe, and Lessing ; partly composed in Bonn be- 
 fore 1792. 
 
 53. Grand Sonata for piano, in C major; ded. to Count 
 Waldstein; composed in 1803 (?). 
 
 54. Sonata for piano, in F major; composed 1803 (?). 
 
 55. Third Symphony (Eroica) for orchestra, in E flat ; 
 ded. to Prince Lobkowitz; composed 1803-4. 
 
 56. Triple Concerto for piano, violin, and violoncello, with 
 orchestra, in C major ; composed 1804-5. 
 
 57. Grand Sonata for piano, in F minor; ded. to the 
 Count von Brunswick ; composed 1804. 
 
 58. Fourth Conceyto for piano and orchestra, in G major; 
 ded. to the Archduke Rudolph ; composed 1806 (?). 
 
 59. Three Quartets for two violins, viola, and violoncello, 
 in F major, E minor, and C major ; ded. to Prince Rasou- 
 mowski ; composed 1806. 
 
 60. Fourth Symphony for orchestra, in B flat ; ded. to 
 Count Oppersdorf ; composed 1806. 
 
 61. Concerto for violin and orchestra, in D major; ded. 
 to Stephan von Breuning ; composed 1806. 
 
 62. Overture: " Coriolanus," in C minor ; ded. to the 
 dramatist Heinrich von Collin ; composed 1807. 
 
 63. Sonata for piano, violin, and violoncello (from the 
 Octet, Op. 103) ; pub. 1807. 
 
 64. Sonata for piano, violin, and violoncello (from the 
 Trio, Op. 3); pub. 1807. 
 
 65. Scena and Aria: " Ah, perfido /" for soprano voice 
 and orchestra ; ded. to the Countess Clari ; composed 
 
 J 79 6 - 
 
 66. Twelve Variations for piano and violoncello, in F 
 
 major, on the theme, " Ein Madchen oder Weibchen" from 
 Mozart's " Zauberftote ;" pub. 1798. 
 
176 THE LIFE OF BEE-THOVEN. 
 
 67. Fifth Symphony for orchestra, in C minor; ded. to 
 Prince Lobkowitz and Count Rasoumowski ; composed 
 1808 (?). 
 
 68. Sixth Symphony (Pastorale) for orchestra, in F major; 
 ded. to Prince Lobkowitz and Count Rasoumowski ; com- 
 posed 1808 (?). 
 
 69. Sonata for piano and violoncello, in A major; ded. 
 to Baron von Gleichenstein ; pub. 1809. 
 
 70. Two Trios for piano, violin, and violoncello, in D 
 major and E flat major ; ded. to the Countess Marie Er- 
 dody ; composed 1808. 
 
 7 1. Sextet for two clarionets, two flutes, and two bassoons ; 
 performed 1804-5. 
 
 72. "Fidelia." ("Zeonora"), opera in two acts; composed 
 1804-5. 
 
 73. Fifth Concerto for piano and orchestra, in E flat ; ded. 
 to the Archduke Rudolph; composed 1809. 
 
 74. Quartet (tenth) for two violins, viola, and violoncello, 
 in E flat; ded. to Prince Lobkowitz; composed 1809. 
 
 75. Six Songs: words by Goethe and Reissig; ded. to 
 the Princess Kinsky; composed 1810. 
 
 76. Variations for piano, in D major, on an original (?) 
 theme, afterwards employed as the " Turkish March " in 
 the "Ruins of Athens;'" ded. to his friend Oliva; pub. 
 1810. 
 
 77. Fantasia for piano, in G minor; ded. to the Count 
 von Brunswick; composed 1809. 
 
 78. Sonata for piano, in F sharp major; ded. to the 
 Countess von Brunswick; composed 1809. 
 
 79. Sonatina for piano, in G major ; pub. 1810. 
 
 80. Fantasia for piano, orchestra, and chorus, in C minor; 
 words — ' ' Schmeichelnd hold und lieblich klingen " — by Kuffner ; 
 ded. to Joseph Maximilian, of Bavaria; performed 1808. 
 
 • 8 la. Sonata for piano — " Les Adieux" — in E flat; ded. 
 to the Archduke Rudolph; composed 1809. 
 
 8 1 b. Sextet for two violins, viola, violoncello, and two 
 horns (obbligato), in E flat; pub. 18 10. 
 
 82. Four Ariettas and a Duet, with pianoforte accom- 
 paniment; words of Nos. 2, 3, and 5 by Mestastasio; pub. 
 1811. 
 
LIST OF BEETHOVEN'S WORKS. 1 77 
 
 83. 7%ra? Songs; words by Goethe; ded. to the Princess 
 Kinsky; composed 1810. 
 
 84. Overture and incidental Music to " Egmont; " com- 
 posed 1809-10. 
 
 85. " The Mount of Olives" an oratorio ; text by Franz 
 Xaver Huber; composed 1800 (?). 
 
 86. First Mass, for four voices and orchestra, in C major ; 
 ded. to Prince Esterhazy; composed 1807. 
 
 87. Trio for wind instruments, in C major; performed 
 1797. 
 
 88. " Das Glwck der Ereundschaft," for voice and piano ; 
 pub. 1803. 
 
 89. Polonaise for piano, in C major; ded. to the Empress 
 Elisabetha Alexiewna, of Russia ; composed 1814. 
 
 90. Sonata for piano, in E minor ; ded. to Count Moritz 
 Lichnowski; composed 18 14. 
 
 91. " The Battle of Vittoria," for orchestra; ded. to the 
 Prince Regent of England; composed 1813. 
 
 92. Seventh Symphony for orchestra, in A major ; ded. to 
 Count Fries; composed 181 2. 
 
 93. Eighth Symphony for orchestra, in F major; com- 
 posed 18 1 2.' 
 
 94. " To Hope;" words from the " Urania" of Tiegde 
 (second setting, see Op. 32); composed 1816. 
 
 ' 95. Quartet for two violins, viola, and violoncello, in F 
 minor; ded. to Secretary Zmeskall ; composed 1810. 
 
 96. Sonata for piano and violin, in G major; ded. to the 
 Archduke Rudolph ; composed 18 10. 
 
 97. Trio for piano, violin, and violoncello, in B flat ; ded. 
 to the Archduke Rudolph; composed 181 1. 
 
 98. "An die feme Geliebte" a Liederkreis ; words by 
 Jeitteles; ded. to Prince Lobkowitz; composed 18 16. 
 
 99. " Der Mann von Wort" for voice and piano ; words 
 by Kleinschmid ; pub. 1815. 
 
 100. " Merkenstein" for one or two voices and piano; 
 words by Rupprecht; composed 18 14. 
 
 1 01. Sonata for piano, in A major; ded. to the Baroness 
 Erdmann ; composed 181 5. 
 
 102. Two Sonatas for piano and violoncello, in C major 
 and D major ; ded. to the Countess Erdbdy ; composed 1815. 
 
 N 
 
178 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 103. Octet for wind instruments, in E flat major; com- 
 posed in Bonn before 1792. 
 
 104. Quintet for two violins, two violas, and violoncello, 
 in C minor (from the Trio No. 3 of Op. 1) ; pub. 1819. 
 
 105. Six Themes varies for piano, with violin ad libitum ; 
 composed for George Thompson, 1 818-19. 
 
 106. Sonata for piano, in B flat; ded. to the Archduke 
 Rudolph; composed 1818. 
 
 107. Ten Thhmes varies russes, ecossais, tyroliens, for piano, 
 with violin ad libitum ; composed for George Thompson, 
 1818-20. 
 
 108. Twenty-Jive Scotch Melodies for one or two voices and 
 chorus (obbligato) ; pub. 1825. 
 
 109. So.nata for piano, in E major; ded. to Fraulein 
 Brentano; composed 182 1 (?). 
 
 no. Sonata for piano, in A flat major ; composed 182 1. 
 in. Sonata for piano, in C minor; ded. to the Archduke 
 Rudolph; composed 1822. 
 
 112. " Meeresstille und gluckliche Fahrt? for four voices 
 and orchestra ; ded. to " the Author of the Poem, the im- 
 mortal Goethe ;" composed 181 5. 
 
 113. Overture: "The Ruins of Athens]' composed 
 1811-12. 
 
 114. Marches and Choruses from " The Ruins of 
 Athens" 
 
 115. Overture: " Na/nensfeier,'' in C major; ded. to 
 Prince Radziwill ; composed 1814. 
 
 116. Terzetto for soprano, tenor, and bass, with orchestral 
 accompaniment; composed 1801. 
 
 117. Overture and Choruses : " King Stephen ;" performed 
 1812. 
 
 118. Elegy in memory of the Baroness Pasqualati : "Sahft 
 wie du lebtest hast duvollendet ,•" ded. to the Baron Pasqualati; 
 composed 18 14. 
 
 119. Twelve Bagatelles for piano ; composed 1820-22. 
 
 120. Thirty-three Variations on a waltz by Diabelli ; ded. 
 to Madame Brentano; composed 1823. 
 
 121a. Adagio, Variations, and Rondo, for piano, violin, and 
 violoncello, in G major ; theme, " Teh bin der Schneider 
 Kakadu;" pub. 1824. 
 
LIST OF BEETHOVEN'S WORKS. 1 79 
 
 121*. "Opferlied" for solo, chorus, and orchestra ; words 
 by Matthison; composed 1822. 
 
 122. " In alien guten Stunden," for solo and chorus, with 
 two clarionets, two horns, and two bassoons, words by 
 Goethe ; composed 1822. 
 
 123. Missa Solemnis for four voices, chorus, and orchestra, 
 in D major; ded. to the Archduke Rudolph; composed 
 1818— 1822. 
 
 124. Overture: " Weihe des Ifauses" in C major; ded. 
 to Prince Galitzin; composed 1822. 
 
 125. Ninth Symphony (Jupiter), with final chorus on 
 Schiller's " Ode to Joy? for orchestra, four voices, and 
 chorus, in D minor; ded. to Frederick William III. of 
 Prussia; composed 1822-3. 
 
 126. Six Bagatelles for piano ; composed about 1821. 
 
 127. Quartet for two violins, viola, and violoncello, in 
 E flat ; ded. to Prince Galitzin ; composed 1824. 
 
 128. " The Kiss/" Arietta for voice and piano ; composed 
 1822. 
 
 129. Rondo capriccioso in G major. 
 
 130. Quartet for two violins, viola, and violoncello, in 
 B flat; ded. to Prince Galitzin; composed 1825. 
 
 131. Quartet tor two violins, viola, and violoncello, in C 
 sharp minor ; ded. to the Baron von Stutterheim ; com- 
 posed 1826. 
 
 132. Quartet for two violins, viola, and violoncello, in A 
 minor; ded. to Prince Galitzin ; composed 1825. 
 
 133. Grand Fugue for two violins, viola, and violoncello, 
 in B flat; ded. to the Cardinal Archduke Rudolph; com- 
 posed 1825. 
 
 134. Grand Fugue (Op. 133 arranged for piano for 
 four hands). 
 
 135. Quartet (the sixteenth) for two violins, viola, and 
 'cello, in F major; ded. to Herrn Wolfmeier; composed 
 1826. 
 
 136. " Der Glorreiche Augenblick" cantata for four voices 
 and orchestra ; text by Dr. Weissenbach ; ded. to Franz I., 
 Emperor of Austria, Nicholas I., Emperor of Russia, and 
 Frederick William III., King of Prussia; composed 
 1814. 
 
180 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 137. Fugue for two violins, two violas, and 'cello, in D 
 major; composed 1817. 
 
 138. Ouverture caracteristique : "Leonora" No. 1, in C 
 major. 
 
 II. Compositions designated simply by Numbers. 
 
 No. 1 a. Twelve Variations for piano and violin, in F major; 
 Theme: " Se vuol ballare" from Mozart's "Figaro;" ded. 
 to Eleanore von Breuning; pub. 1793. 
 
 lb. Thirteen Variations for piano, in A major; Theme: 
 " Es war einmal ein alter Mann ;" pub. 1794. 
 
 2. Nine Variations for piano, in A major; Theme: 
 " Quant e piu hello;" pub. 1797. 
 
 3#. Six Variations for piano; Theme: " Nel cor pi\L non 
 mi sento ;" composed 1795. 
 
 2,b. Two Minuets for piano, for four hands. 
 
 4. Twelve Variations for piano, in C major ; Theme : 
 " Menuet a la Vigano ;" pub. 1796. 
 
 50. Twelve Variations for piano, in A major; Theme 
 from the ballet of the " Waldmddchen ;" pub. 1797. 
 
 5#. Twelve Variations for piano and violoncello, in G 
 major; Theme : " See, the Conquering Hero comes /" pub. 1804. 
 
 6. Twelve Variations for piano and violoncello, in F 
 major. {See Op. 66.) 
 
 7. Fight Variations for piano in C major ; Theme from 
 Gre'try' 's " Richard Cceur de Lion ;" pub. 1798. 
 
 8. Ten Variations for piano in B flat major ; Theme : 
 " La stessa, la stessissima ;" pub. 1799. 
 
 9. Seven Variations for piano, in F major; Theme: 
 " Kind willst du ruhig schlafen;" pub. 1799. 
 
 ioffl. Eight Variations for piano, in F major; Theme: 
 " Tandeln and Scherzen ;" composed 1799. 
 
 io£. Sez'en Variations for piano and violoncello, in E 
 flat; Theme from the "Magic Flute;" composed 1801 (?). 
 
 11. Six very easy Variations on an original Theme; 
 composed 1801. 
 
 12. Six easy Variations for piano or harp, in F major; 
 Theme : " Air Suisse;" pub. 1799 (?). 
 
 13. Twenty-four Variations for piano, in D major, on a 
 Theme by Righini; composed about 1790. 
 
LIST OF BEETHOVEN'S WORKS. l8l 
 
 14 — 23. Wanting. 
 
 24. " Der Wachtelschlag" for voice and piano ; words by 
 Sauter; pub. 1804. 
 
 25. Seven Variations for piano, in C major; Theme: 
 " God save the King; " pub. 1804. 
 
 26. Five Variations (favourite) for piano, in D major ; 
 Theme : " Rule, Britannia; " pub. 1804. 
 
 27. Six Variations for piano, for four hands, in D major, 
 on an original Theme ; composed 1 800. 
 
 28. Minuet for piano. 
 
 29. Prelude for piano, in F minor; pub. 1805. 
 
 30. 31. Wanting. 
 
 32. " To Hope," by Tiedge (see Op. 94). 
 
 33. 34- Wanting. 
 
 35. Andante for piano in F major (originally in the So- 
 nata, Op. 53), composed 1803 (?). 
 
 36. Thirty-two Variations for piano, in C minor, on an 
 original Theme; pub. 1807. 
 
 37. Wanting. 
 
 38. " Die Sehnsucht .■" four Melodies for voice and piano; 
 text by Goethe; pub. 18 10. 
 
 III. Compositions designated by Letters. 
 
 A. INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC. 
 
 a. Trio for piano, violin, and violoncello (in one move- 
 ment), in B flat ; ded. to "my little friend, Maximiliana 
 Brentano, for her encouragement in pianoforte playing ;" 
 composed 18 12. 
 
 b. Rondo for piano and violin, in G major ; pub. 1800. 
 
 c. Andante for piano, in G. 
 
 d. Sonata for piano, in C major {incomplete) ; composed 
 
 e. Two easy Sonatinas for piano, in G major and F major; 
 composed in Bonn. 
 
 / Three Sonatas for piano, in E flat major, F minor, and 
 D major ; ded. to the Elector Max. Friedrich ; composed 
 at the age of ten. 
 
 g. Rondo for piano, in A major; pub. 1784. 
 
1 82 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 h. Andante on the text : " Oh Hoffnung, du stdhht die 
 Herzen" (Ex. for the Archduke Rudolph). 
 
 i. Favourite March of the Emperor Alexander. 
 
 k. Eight Variations for piano in B flat;- Theme: " Ich 
 habe ein kleines Huttchen nur." 
 
 I. Variations for piano, on a March by Dressier ; com- 
 posed at the age of ten. 
 
 m. Variations for piano, for four hands, on an original 
 theme. 
 
 n. Variations for piano, for four hands, in A major. 
 
 o. Triumphal March for orchestra, in C major; performed 
 1813. 
 
 p. Second and Third Overtures to " Leonora " (" Fidelio "), 
 in C major. 
 
 q. Overture to " Fidelio" (" Leonora" No. 4), in E flat. 
 
 r. Triumphal March for orchestra, in G major. 
 
 s. Three Duos for clarionet and bassoon, in C major, 
 F major, and B flat ; composed about 1800. 
 
 t. Minuet for piano (from the Septet, Op. 20). 
 
 u. Quintet (MS.), for two violins, two violas, and violon- 
 cello, in F major. 
 
 B. DANCE MUSIC. 
 
 Twelve Contre danses. 
 Twelve Minuets for orchestra. 
 Six Minuets for piano. 
 
 Twelve Danses Allemandes for two violins and bass. 
 Seven Country Dances for piano. 
 Six Country Dances for piano. 
 Twelve Ecossaises for piano. 
 Six Allemandes for piano and violin. 
 Twelve Waltzes w,ith Trios for orchestra. 
 Six Waltzes for two violins and bass. 
 Two Minuets for piano, for four hands. 
 Six Country Dances for piano. 
 
 Two Favourite Waltzes for piano, in B flat major and F 
 minor. 
 
 C. VOCAL MUSIC. 
 
 a. Six Songs from Reissig's " Blumchen der Einsamkeit .■" — 
 1. " Sehnsucht," in E major. 
 
LIST OF BEETHOVEA's WORKS. 183 
 
 2. " Krieger's Abschied" in E flat. 
 
 3. " Der Jungling in der Fremde" in B flat. 
 
 4. " An den fernen Geliebten," in G major. 
 
 5. " Der Zufriedene," in A major. 
 
 6. " Der Liebende" in D major. 
 
 b. Three Songs : — 
 
 1. " An die Geliebte," in B flat. 
 
 2. " Das Geheimniss" in G major. 
 
 3. "So oder so! Nord oder Sud." 
 
 c. Italian and German Songs : — 
 
 1. " La Partenza " (" ecco quel fiore "). 
 
 2. " Trinkliedr 
 
 3. " Liedchen von der Ruhe." 
 
 4. " An die Hoffnung" 
 
 5. " Ich liebe dich, so wie du nick." 
 
 6. " Molly's Abschied." 
 
 7. " Ohne Liebe." 
 
 8. " Wachtelgesang." 
 
 9. " Marmotte" 
 10. " Maigesang." 
 n. " Feuerfarbe." 
 
 12. " Ecco quel fiori istanti." 
 
 d. Songs, for one or more voices, from Shakspere, Byron, 
 and Moore. 
 
 e. " Der Glorreiche Augenblick" for four voices and or- 
 chestra. 
 
 f. " Lied aus der Feme." 
 
 g. Three Songs from Tiedge. 
 h. Three Songs. 
 
 i. Thr.e Songs. 
 
 k. " Oh I dass ich dir vom stillefi Auge" 
 
 I. " Sehnsucht nach dem Rhein." 
 
 m. "DieKlage." 
 
 n. Three Andantes. 
 
 0. " Ruf vom £erge." 
 
 p. " Der Bardengeist" 
 
 q. " Als die Geliebte sick trennen ■wollte.'' 
 
 r. Elegy on the death of a Poodle. 
 
 s. Arietta in A flat major. 
 
 t. Canon in E flat major. 
 
1 84 THE LIFE OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 u. " Zartliche Liebe" 
 
 v. " Resignation" " Lisch' aus," in E major. 
 
 w. Canon for six voices. 
 
 x. Canon for four voices. 
 
 y. Canon for three voices. 
 
 z. Canon written in the album of Director Neide. 
 
 tz. Song of the Monks, from Schiller's " Wilhelm Tell'' 
 
 a 2 . " Song of the Nightingale." 
 
 Ifl. "Germania's Wiedergeburt" for four voices and or- 
 chestra. 
 
 <?. "Abschiedsgesang an Wien's Burger." 
 
 e". Final songs from (i) " Die Ehrenpforte" in D major; 
 (2) " Die gute Nachricht" 
 
 f 2 . "Andenleen von Matthison " — allegretto. 
 
 g . Three-part Song. 
 
 IV. Compositions which appeared after Beethoven's 
 Death, without being designated as Op. or No. 
 
 a. " Beethoven's Ifeimgang,'' for voice and piano. 
 
 b. "An Sie," Song, in A flat major. 
 
 Two Songs: — 
 
 1. " Seufzer eines Ungeliebten." 
 
 2. " Die laute Klage." 
 
 d. " Die Ehre Gottes in der Natur," for four voices and 
 orchestra, in C major. 
 
 e. Cantata .; " Europa steht." 
 
 f. Song, "Gedenke mein." 
 
 g. Empfindungen bei Lydia's Uh/reu,'' in E flat. 
 h. " Equali" two pieces for four trombones. 
 
 i. Allegretto for orchestra. 
 
 k. Three Quartets. 
 
 I. Rondo for piano and orchestra. 
 
 m. Octet for wind instruments. 
 
 «. Rondino for eight-part harmony. 
 
 0. Two Trios for piano, violin, and 'cello. 
 
 p. Military March for piano. 
 
 q. " Lament at Beethoven's Grave" 
 
 r. " The East Musical Thought" 
 
 J. AND W. RIDEK, PRINTERS, LONDON.