Chapter VIII (2)

Dear good Gleichenstein! It is impossible for me to refrain from
letting you know of my anxiety for Breuning’s convulsive and
feverish condition, and to beg of you that you strive to form a
closer attachment to him or rather to bind him closer to you; the
condition of my affairs allows me much too little opportunity to
perform the high duties of friendship, I beg of you, I adjure you
in the name of the good and noble sentiments which you surely
feel to take from me upon yourself this truly tormenting care, it
will be particularly beneficial if you can ask him to go here and
there with you, and (no matter how much he may seek to goad you to
diligence) restrain him from his immoderate, and what seems to me
unnecessary, labors. You would not believe in what an overwrought
state I have occasionally found him--you probably know of his worry
of yesterday. All results of the fearful irritability, which, if he
does not overcome it, will certainly be his ruin.

I therefore place upon you, my dear Gleichenstein, the care of one
of my best and most proved friends, the more since your occupation
already creates a sort of bond between you, and this you will
strengthen by frequently showing concern for his welfare, which you
can easily do inasmuch as he is well disposed towards you--but your
noble heart, which I know right well, surely needs no injunctions
in respect of this; act for me and for your good Breuning. I
embrace you with all my heart.

It was upon finding himself in the Walfischgasse without a servant that Beethoven seems first to have thought of trying the experiment of living independently of hotels and eating-houses, and dining at home. It was therefore of importance to him, if possible, to obtain the joint service of some man and wife, and such a couple now offered themselves as servant and housekeeper. This, with the remark that the rehearsal mentioned was of the Lobkowitz Quartet, Op. 74, is sufficient introduction to the following excerpts from the Zmeskall correspondence:

To-day comes Herzog, who wishes to become my servant for 30 fl.,
you may negotiate with him with his wife ~obligato~--wood, candles,
no livery--I must have somebody to cook, as long as the present
wretched food continues I shall remain ill--to-day I eat at home,
because of the better wine, if you will order what you want, I
should be glad to have you come to me also, you will get the wine
gratis and better than that at the beastly Swan.

Here comes Herzog with his wife--listen to their condescension--she
will cook when I want her to--also mend, etc., for this is a
highly important matter--I will come to you afterward in order to
hear the result--perhaps it would be best to ask what service they
are going to perform for me?

Shakespeare’s clowns in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” have enriched theatrical speech with “lamentable comedy” and “very tragical mirth”; phrases not inappropriate to the domestic dramas in which Beethoven and his servants were the actors, and which he made the subjects of numberless Jeremiads both in conversation and in letters to his friends--especially to Zmeskall and Mme. Streicher. As one example--and surely one is enough--take the case of the Herzogs. They were engaged and were still in Beethoven’s employ when the departure of Napoleon and his armies enabled those belonging to the public service to return and resume their duties in the Capital--Zmeskall among them. As in the spring he had to accommodate himself to “peace negotiations” between Beethoven and his servant, so now he must again officiate in this “glorious office” between him and the Herzogs. The imagination can readily form a lively and correct picture of Beethoven’s troubles, partly serious, partly tragi-comic, with these people, during that wretched summer, shut up in the city, all the necessaries of life at famine prices, and they on his hands to be provided for. The situation certainly was not one fitted to sweeten the temper of either party; no doubt both had good cause of complaint. We have, however, only the master’s side of the question and not the whole of that. One who invariably has trouble with his servants must sometimes himself be in fault; so, perhaps, the Herzogs were not such “very bad people” after all.

* * * * *

His friend Clement of the Theater-an-der-Wien gave Beethoven a pleasing compliment by reproducing in his annual concert (December 24) the “Christus am Ölberg.” On the same evening, by the way, Dobenz’s oratorio, “Die Sündfluth,” with music by Kauer, was sung at the Leopoldstadt Theatre, as it would seem, from the sarcastic notice in the “Allg. Mus. Zeit.,” with appropriate scenery! If Beethoven heard it, which is doubtful unless at rehearsal, he found he had little reason to mourn his non-acceptance of that text.

[Sidenote: ARRANGEMENTS OF WELSH AND IRISH SONGS]

Negotiations had been resumed about this time between George Thomson of Edinburgh and Beethoven, touching the arrangement of national melodies. In a letter dated September 25, 1809, Thomson sent Beethoven 43 Welsh and Irish melodies with the request to provide them as soon as possible with ritornellos and accompaniments for pianoforte or pedal harp, and violin or violoncello, and held out the promise of 100 ducats, Vienna standard, or even more as payment. Besides this, Thomson had requested him to write three quintets, two for two violins, viola, flute and violoncello, one without flute but two violas instead (with bassoon or double-bass ~ad lib.~), and also three sonatas for pianoforte and violin. For these works he offered him 120 ducats Vienna standard. “I make you this offer,” said Thomson, “more to show you my taste and predilection for your music than in the hope to profit by the publication.”[75] To this proposition Beethoven replied as follows--in French and his own wretched hand, under date of November 23, 1809:

I will compose the ritornellos to the 43 little songs, but I ask
10 pounds or 20 ducats ~de Vienne~ more than you offer, that is
instead of 50 pounds Sterling, or 100 ducats V. S. I ask 60 pounds
Sterling or 120 ducats V. S. This work, moreover, is of a kind that
gives a composer but little pleasure, but I shall nevertheless
always be ready to oblige you since I know that you can do a good
business with it. As regards the quintets and the three sonatas,
I find the honorarium too little for me--I ask of you for them
the sum of 120, i. e., one hundred and twenty pounds Sterling
or two hundred and forty ducats V. S., you offered me 60 pounds
Sterling and it is impossible for me to gratify you for such an
honorarium--we are living here in a time when a frightful price is
asked for everything, we are paying almost three times as much as
formerly--but if you are agreed with the sums that I ask I will
serve you with pleasure. So far as the publication of the works
here in Germany is concerned, I think that I would bind myself
not to publish them sooner than after seven or eight months if
you think this time long enough for your purposes. As regards the
double-bass or bassoon I wish that you would give me a free hand,
I may, perhaps find something that will be even more agreeable to
you--also we might use a bassoon or other wind-instrument with the
flute and write only the third quintet for two violins, two violas
and violoncello, since in this way the style would be purer. In
short, rest assured that you are dealing with a true artist who,
indeed, likes to be decently paid, but who loves fame and also the
fame of art more--and who is never satisfied with himself and is
always striving to make greater progress in his art.

As regards the songs I have already begun them and will deliver
them in about a week to Fries--therefore please send me an answer
soon, my dear sir.

Next time please send me the words of the songs along with them
as it is very necessary for me to have them in order to get the
correct expression--they will be translated for me.

September came and still no payment from Clementi and Co. for the works bought by them in April, 1807. Clementi was in Rome and thither, it would seem, Beethoven sent several letters asking for payment. Clementi now came to Vienna and sent a letter to his London partner, Collard, which, though dateless as to year and day, was, no doubt, the result of Beethoven’s importunities. In it he complains of having written five or six letters to them for money with which to meet Beethoven’s demands, the composer having “plagued” him with several letters--but in vain. At last a firm of Viennese bankers informs him that a credit for £400 has been sent him, but no letter. He concludes that of this sum £100 are meant for Beethoven and £300 for himself, and that they had received but half of Beethoven’s manuscripts. “A most shabby figure you have made me cut in this affair!--and that with one of the first composers of the day! You certainly might have found means in the course of two years and a half to have satisfied his demands. Don’t lose a moment and send me word ~what~ you have received from him, that I may settle with him.”

Towards the end of the year Beethoven took ill, as he informs Breitkopf and Härtel in a letter which was dated December 4 (but from which the figure was stricken; the letter may have been delayed or Beethoven become doubtful, as usual, about the day of the month). In this he writes: “A fever which shook me up thoroughly, prevented me from sending these tardily found ~errata~ [in the two Trios] at once.” On January 2, 1810, he writes another letter which begins: “Scarcely recovered--my illness threw me back again for two weeks--is it a wonder--we have not even eatable bread,” concluding with: “I am too weak to-day to answer your kind letter more fully, but in a few days touching everything else in your letter.”

Beethoven had now entered his fortieth year, a year which forms a marked and striking era in his life, but of which the most important event is veiled in all the obscurity with which the care and efforts of the parties concerned could envelop it. In the hope of a solution, at least ~probable~, of the mystery which it presents, many minutiæ of the years 1807-09 have been reserved to be presented consecutively, since only thus can their relations to and their bearings upon the problem before us be well understood. The next chapter must, therefore, be but an introduction to the history of the year 1810.

[Sidenote: BEETHOVEN IN FINANCIAL STRAITS]

The compositions and publications of this year remain to be enumerated--a task of some difficulty, requiring a preliminary remark or two. The great cost of living and the various extraordinary demands upon his purse this year, deranged Beethoven’s pecuniary affairs seriously; from the same cause the Vienna publishers were not in a condition to pay him adequately and in advance for his manuscripts. The dilatoriness of the London publishers has just been mentioned. Happily his relations with Breitkopf and Härtel were such, that they were ready to remunerate him handsomely for whatever new compositions he might send them; and there seems to have been an arrangement made, under which divers new works of this period were published simultaneously by them in Leipsic and by Artaria in Vienna. Nevertheless, Beethoven was pressed for money, not only from the causes above stated, but from the need of an extra supply, in case the project of marriage, now in his mind, should be effected. Of course he counted with certainty upon the regular payment of his annuity, now that the war was over, and a lasting peace apparently secured by the rumored union between Napoleon and Archduchess Marie Louise. But a semi-annual payment of this annuity was far from sufficient to meet the expenses of establishing himself as a married man. Now that his concert was abandoned, no immediate profit could arise from the completion of the new symphonies; nor was there any immediate need of his beginning the “Egmont” music. It is obvious, therefore, that his labors, during the “several weeks in succession” when he worked “so that it seemed rather for death than immortality,” were, as before said, the completion and correction for the press of various more or less important works existing in the sketchbooks, and the composition of divers smaller pieces, such as would meet with a ready sale, and hence be promptly and liberally paid for by publishers. It is not at all surprising to find among them a number of songs the texts of which were apt expressions of his feelings at this juncture. Such considerations render it extremely probable, perhaps certain, that a larger number of minor productions belong by date of completion to this year, than they, who have endeavored to ascertain the chronology of Beethoven’s works, have heretofore suspected. But the following list contains only works of which the date is certain--or probable almost to certainty.

[Sidenote: THE COMPOSER’S WORK IN 1809]

Compositions of 1809:

1. Concerto for Pianoforte, E-flat major, Op. 73.

2. “Quartetto per due Violini, Viola e Violoncello, da Luigi van
Beethoven, 1809,” Op. 74, E-flat major.

3. Sonata for Pianoforte: “Das Lebewohl, Wien am 4ten Mai 1809,”
etc.; “Die Abwesenheit. Die Ankunft des ... Erzh. Rudolph, den 30.
Jänner 1810,” Op. 81a, E-flat. We suppose the sonata to have been
completed in 1809, and ready for presentation to the Archduke
upon his return; but as this was delayed until January 30th, “Die
Ankunft,” of course, took this date.

4. March in F major for Military Band. “For the Bohemian Landwehr,
1809”; also inscribed by Beethoven: “For His Royal Highness, the
Archduke Anton, 1809.”

5. Variations for the Pianoforte, D major, Op. 76.

6. Fantasia for Pianoforte, G major, Op. 77.

7. Sonata for Pianoforte, F-sharp major. Op. 78.

8. Sonatina for Pianoforte, G major, Op. 79.

9. Songs from “Blümchen der Einsamkeit” by C. L. Reissig:

(a) “An den fernen Geliebten.” A copy bears the words in
Beethoven’s hand: “Fifth song,” “1809,” and corrections in the song
itself, Op. 75, No. 5.

(b) “Der Zufriedene,” Op. 75, No. 6.

(c) “Lied aus der Ferne,” “1809.”

(d) “Der Liebende.”

(e) “Der Jüngling in der Fremde.”

10. Other Songs:

(a) “Gretel’s Warnung.” A copy bears the words in Beethoven’s hand:
“Fourth song,” “1809,” and corrections in the song itself.

(b) “Andenken,” by Matthison.

(c) “Die laute Klage,” by Herder.

(d) “L’amante impaziente,” “1809”; and probably all the numbers of

(e) “Four Ariettas and a Duet,” Op. 82.

* * * * *

The first sketches for the Fifth Pianoforte Concerto, E-flat, Op. 73, dedicated to Archduke Rudolph, are found in the so-called Grasnick sketchbook after the sketches for the Choral Fantasia as it was performed for the first time on December 22, 1808, and the pianoforte introduction to the same which, as we have seen, is of a later date (“Zweite Beethoveniana,” p. 495 ~et seq.~). It is mentioned by Beethoven in the correspondence with his publishers for the first time on February 4, 1810. It was in their hands on August 21 of that year, when Beethoven prescribed the dedication to his distinguished pupil, and was published in February, 1811. The Concerto had then already been played in public by Johann Schneider with brilliant success toward the close of 1810, and, as the “Allg. Mus. Zeit.” reported, put a numerous audience into such “a state of enthusiasm that it could hardly content itself with the ordinary expressions of recognition and enjoyment.”

The E-flat Quartet, Op. 74 (the so-called “Harp Quartet”), dedicated to Prince Lobkowitz, was written simultaneously with the Concerto and Pianoforte Sonata in the same key. Beethoven was evidently hard at work on them when he wrote to Breitkopf and Härtel on “Weinmonath [October] 1908”: “Next time about the quartet which I am writing--I do not like to occupy myself with solo sonatas for the pianoforte, but I promise you a few.” Nottebohm says (“Zweite Beethoveniana,” p. 91), that the four movements of the Quartet were begun and finished in the order in which they appeared in print. According to a note by Archduke Rudolph, the Fantasia, Op. 77, was composed in October. The three Pianoforte Sonatas, Op. 78, 79 and 81a, are closely connected in time, notwithstanding their diversity of sentiment. Sketches for Op. 78 have not been found, but those for the other two are in the sketchbook of Carl Meinert (“Zweite Beethoveniana,” p. 255), which ends with the sketches for the Fantasia, Op. 77, composed for Count Franz von Brunswick; and it is likely that the Sonata, Op. 78, dedicated to Countess Therese von Brunswick, was conceived and written immediately after the Fantasia (in October). The three sonatas were doubtless in the mind of Beethoven when he promised Breitkopf and Härtel “a few” on October 19. On February 4, 1810, he offers to the publishers “three pianoforte solo sonatas--N.B., of which the third is composed of three movements, Parting, Absence and Return, and would have to be published alone.” On August 21, 1810, Beethoven wrote about the dedication: “The sonata in F-sharp major--~À Madame la Comtesse Therese de Brunswick~; the fantasia for pianoforte solo--~À mon ami Monsieur le comte François de Brunswick~--as regards the two sonatas publish them separately, or, if you want to publish them together, inscribe the one in G major ~Sonata facile~ or sonatina, which you might also do in case you [do not] publish them together.” Breitkopf and Härtel published the sonatas separately and Op. 79 therefore received no dedication. The notion, once current, that Op. 79 (sometimes called the “Cuckoo Sonata”) was an older work, is disproved by the sketches of 1809 (Nottebohm, “Zweit. Beeth.,” p. 269). The E-flat Sonata, Op. 81a, seems to have been completely sketched before October and held in readiness against the return of the Archduke, as has been said. Breitkopf and Härtel published it in the fall of 1811, without either dates or dedication and with the French title: “Les Adieux, l’Absence et le Retour,” much to Beethoven’s dissatisfaction. The Variations in D, dedicated “to his friend” Oliva, anticipate by two years the use of the same theme as a Turkish march in the incidental music which Beethoven wrote for Kotzebue’s “Ruins of Athens.” Nottebohm (“Zweit. Beeth.” p. 272, foot-note) says of it: “Tradition has it that the theme is a Russian melody. This is improbable and incapable of proof. The theme is not to be found in any collection of Russian melodies known to us. Had Beethoven borrowed the theme he would, as he always did, have mentioned the fact in connection with the Variations and the ‘Ruins of Athens’ (a singular idea to use a Russian melody for a Turkish march!). It may be that a Russian folktune which was popular in Vienna between 1810 and 1820, which bears some resemblance to this melody and on which, besides Gelinek and others, Beethoven too made Variations (Op. 107, No. 3), gave rise to the confounding of the two.” The Military March in F was designed for Archduke Anton and was chosen for a “carrousel” at the court at Laxenburg. It is the “horse music” of Beethoven’s correspondence with Archduke Rudolph. The year also saw the beginning of the arrangements of the Irish melodies for Thomson.

The publications of the year 1809 were:

1. The Fourth Symphony, in B-flat, Op. 60. “~Dediée à Monsieur
le Comte Oppersdorff~”; published in March by the Kunst- und
Industrie-Comptoir.

2. Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, D major, Op. 61. ~Dediée à
son ami Monsieur de Breuning, Sécrétaire aulique, etc.~ Vienna,
Kunst- und Industrie-Comptoir, in March.

3. Sonata for Pianoforte and Violoncello. A major, Op. 69. ~Dediée
à Monsieur de Gleichenstein.~ Leipsic, Breitkopf and Härtel, in
April.

4. Two Trios for Pianoforte, Violin and Violoncello, D major,
E-flat, Op. 70. ~Dediés à Madame la Comtesse Marie d’Erdödy née
Comtesse Niszky.~ Breitkopf and Härtel, No. 1 in April, No. 2 in
August.

5. Fifth Symphony, in C minor, Op. 67. ~Dediée à son Altesse
Sérénissime Monseigneur le Prince régnant de Lobkowitz, Duc de
Raudnitz, et à son Excellence Monsieur le Comte de Rasoumoffsky.~
Breitkopf and Härtel, in April.

6. Sixth Symphony (~Sinfonia pastorale~), F major, Op. 68. The same
dedication as the Fifth Symphony. Breitkopf and Härtel, in May.

7. Song: “Als die Geliebte sich trennen wollte.” Supplement No. II,
to the “Allg. Mus. Zeit.,” November 22. Breitkopf and Härtel.

FOOTNOTES:

[64] The agreement between this memorial and the letters written on the subject (apparently to Gleichenstein--though Thayer was not willing to commit himself on this point) make it most probable that he was the author of the document. Even the sentimental suggestion that the contributors might look upon themselves as co-authors of the great works to come, went out from Beethoven in one of the notes probably sent to Gleichenstein.

[65] On this letter Dr. Riemann comments as follows: “This letter proves conclusively that in the spring of 1809, Beethoven was not yet thinking of a union with Therese Malfatti and that all letters to Gleichenstein containing hints of that nature are of later date. But it may safely be assumed that the settlement of a fixed income upon him together with the receipts from his compositions set Beethoven seriously to thinking of marriage. Although Dr. Malfatti, uncle of the sisters Therese and Anna, had been Beethoven’s house physician since the death of Dr. Schmidt (February 13, 1808), it was not until some time in the course of the year 1809, that Beethoven’s inclination towards Therese gradually developed until it led to a formal proposal of marriage in the spring of 1810.”

[66] “One of these sisters,” writes Thayer, “was sent to him (in 1807-8?), she then being but some twelve years of age. He gave her a good education, and brought her out as a singer, when Hummel fell in love with her, married her and withdrew her from the stage. I asked Röckel if she could by any possibility have been the person with whom Beethoven in 1809-10 had a marriage project? He proved to me that she was not. So that story is put at rest.”

[67] The letter is incorrectly dated “1811” in the Kalischer Collection.

[68] If the estrangement between Beethoven and his brother was of earlier date than this, it would appear as if the siege of Vienna had brought them together again.

[69] In view of the many indications, especially in the letters to Breitkopf and Härtel, that Beethoven did not work with any continuity from the beginning of May to the end of July, this memorandum assumes a different aspect and might serve to prove that the resumption of work on the first movement of the E-flat Concerto was not made till June or July, and that the entire Meinert sketchbook belongs to the period from July to October.

[70] Nor is this longer to be maintained, since Beethoven reports these errors to Breitkopf and Härtel on July 26, 1809, “having had attention drawn to them by a good friend.”

[71] Nottebohm, “Zweite Beethoveniana,” p. 188 ~et seq.~, contends that the pages in the so-called “Pettersches Skizzenbuch” containing the sketches for “Macbeth” and the D major Trio were not originally part of the book and that it dates from 1812. Neverthless, Thayer, who was familiar with the views divergent from his, is entitled to have his argument set forth as he wrote it.

[72] Czerny’s statements must be corrected in a few respects in view of Beethoven’s own statements in a letter to Breitkopf and Härtel, dated August 21, 1810, as will appear later.

[73] “The statement in the first edition, that Beethoven perhaps spent some time with the Brunswicks in Hungary in the summer of 1809, lacks all evidence” (says Dr. Riemann).

[74] In their efforts in later years to sustain this theatre in brilliant style, “the Counts Raday and Brunswick were ruined.”

[75] See the entire correspondence between Beethoven and Thomson in the appendix to the original edition of this biography.