that I shall always be deeply grateful for your compliance. Awaiting your favorable and speedy answer, I subscribe myself

Vienna, January 28, 1812.

Your admirer

Ludwig van Beethoven.

As the date of this letter plainly shows, it was sent to Breitkopf and Härtel together with one to Goethe, with the request that the two be forwarded to their destinations.

Vienna, January 28, 1812.

As a punishment for your absolute silence I charge you with the immediate delivery of these two letters; a windbag of a Livonian promised to look after a letter to K. for me, but probably, the Livonians like the Russians being windbags and braggarts, he did nothing of the sort, although he gave himself out to be a great friend of his. . . . If the 3 songs by Goethe are not yet printed hurry with them; I should like soon to present them to Princess Kynsky, one of the handsomest, stoutest women in Vienna-and the songs from Egmont, why are they not yet out, in fact why not out, out, out with the whole of E?-do you perhaps want a close tacked on to an entreacte here and there, that might be, but have it done by a Leipsic Corrector of the Music. Zeitung, that kind of thing they understand like a slap in the face. Please charge the postage to me it seems to me, I hear a whisper, that you are looking out for a new wife, to this I ascribe all the confusion mentioned above. I wish you a Xantippe like the wife of the holy Greek Socrates, so that I might see a German Verleger, which is saying a great deal, verlegen, ja recht in Verlegenheit.1

Among the sufferers by the Finanz-Patent were the Ursuline nuns at Graz, whose institution, since 1802, had at no time less than 50 wards and always more than 350 pupils. At this juncture they were excessively poor and in debt. In the hope of gaining them some substantial aid Beethoven's new friend, Varena, now wrote to him offering to pay him properly for the use of some of his compositions in a concert for their benefit to be given on Easter Sunday, March 29. Beethoven at once presented two of his new compositions to the Art Society of Graz for gratuitous use at charity concerts. At the concert on Easter Sunday there were eight numbers, Beethoven being represented by the overture to "King Stephen," the march with chorus from "The Ruins of Athens," the overture to "Egmont," and the Septet. The nuns gained on the occasion the handsome sum of 1836 fl. 24k. Vienna Standard.

Walter Scott somewhere remarks: "It is seldom that the same circle of personages, who have surrounded an individual at his first outset in life, continue to have an interest in his career till his

'An untranslatable pun.

PASSING OF OLD FRIENDS, COMING OF NEW 215

fate comes to a crisis. On the contrary, and more especially if the events of his life be of a varied character and worth communicating to others, or to the world, the hero's later connections are usually totally separated from those with whom he began the voyage, but whom the individual has outsailed, or who have drifted astray, or foundered on the passage."

A few years more and this will begin to be very true of Beethoven. The old familiar names will rapidly disappear and new ones take their places; some half a dozen perhaps will remain to the end. But this is not yet. The old friends, Lichnowsky, Rasoumowsky, Erdödy and that class, Streicher, Zizius, Breuning and their class, are his friends still. We see less of them, because Beethoven is no longer the great pianist performing in the saloons of the nobles, or playing his new compositions in the lodgings of his untitled admirers. His astonishing playing in the concert of December, 1808-which completed full thirty years since his appearance in Cologne as a prodigy-proved to be, as it happened, the splendid close of his career as a virtuoso. He had surely earned the right to retire and leave that field to his pupils, of whom Baroness Ertmann and Carl Czerny were preeminent as performers of his music. In the more private concerts he had already long given place to the Baroness; and now Czerny began to take it before the public, even to the extent of introducing his last new composition for pianoforte and orchestra. Theodor Körner, lately arrived in Vienna, writes home under date February 15:

On Wednesday, for the benefit of the Society of Noble Ladies for Charity, a concert and tableaux, representing three pictures by Raphael, Poussin and Troyes as described by Goethe in his "Elective Affinities,' were given. The pictures offered a glorious treat, a new pianoforte concerto by Beethoven failed.

Castelli's "Thalia" gives the reason, why this noble work on this, its first public performance in Vienna, was so coldly received:

If this composition, which formed the concert which had been announced, failed to receive the applause which it deserved, the reason is to be sought partly in the subjective character of the work, partly in the objective nature of the listeners. Beethoven, full of proud confidence in himself, never writes for the multitude; he demands understanding and feeling, and because of the intentional difficulties, he can receive these only at the hands of the knowing, a majority of whom is not to be found on such occasions, etc.

That was precisely the truth. The work was out of place The warblings of Fräulein Sessi and Herr Siboni, and Mayseder's

variations on the march in "Aline," were suited to the occasion and the audience. Instead of Beethoven's majestic work, Chapelmaster Himmel, who had recently been in Vienna, should have been engaged to remain and exhibit his brilliant finger gymnastics. The new symphony, to which there are allusions in this correspondence, was the Seventh, which he took up and completed this spring (May 13), with the hope of producing it in a concert about the time of Pentecost-but the project fell through.1

Explanatory of the Zmeskall correspondence, it is to be noted, that with the approach of the inclement season, Beethoven ceased to cross the wind-swept Glacis to dine with Breuning; that the “greatest thanks" of one of the notes is merely for keeping his pens in order; and that Zmeskall had been making experiments to determine whether the oscillations of a simple weight and string (without lever) might not answer as a practicable and convenient metrometer.

The works of Beethoven publicly performed in Vienna during this half year, so far as has been learned, were the Pianoforte Concerto as above stated; on March 22nd, march with chorus from "The Ruins of Athens," in Clement's concert; on April 16th, the "Coriolan" Overture in Streicher's Pianoforte Warerooms, conducted by Schuppanzigh-the first piece in the concert, which opened the way for the great performance of Handel's "Timotheus" in November, which in turn led to the foundation of the Society of the Friends of Music; on April 24th, the "Egmont" Overture in the Concert for the Theatrical Poor Fund; and on May 5th, the overture to "Prometheus,” and the C minor Symphony in Schuppanzigh's first Augarten Morning Concert of the season. His (Schuppanzigh's) quartet productions were on Thursdays, at noon; "As it is nearly 12 o'clock and I am going to Schuppanzigh's," says Beethoven in a note to Zmeskall, on Thursday, February 20-unfortunately only as an auditor. No record of the programmes during the season has been discovered.

'Under date of London, 14th February, 1875, Mr. E. Speyer writes: "My father .... on a visit to Vienna in 1832, made the acquaintance of the Abbé Stadler, who communicated to him the following curious fact in relation to Beethoven's Seventh Symphony, viz: That the theme of the Trio

etc.

was nothing more nor less than a Lower-Austrian Pilgrimage Hymn (Wallfahrtgesang), which the Abbé himself had frequently heard sung.' This correspondent's father was the W. Speyer, or Speier, whose name so often appears in old volumes of the "Allg. Mus. Zeit.'

REJECTS IMPUTATIONS ON HIS CONDUCT

217

And now turn we to the selection from the Zmeskall correspondence:

(To Zmeskall)

January 19 (extract): Unfortunately I am always too much at liberty and you never.

February 2: The enclosed billet is at least 8 days old.

Not extra-ordinary but very ordinary quill-cutter, whose virtuosity assuredly shows a falling off in this specimen, these need a few new quill-repairs.

When will you throw off your chains, when?

You are thinking again of me-accursed be for me the life in this Austrian Barbary-I shall now go mostly to the Swan, as I cannot escape too much attention in the other inns.

Farewell, as well as I wish that you may without me.

Most Extraordinary one we beg that your servant find some one to clean out the rooms, as he knows the quarters he can at once fix the price— but soon.

Carnival Ragamuffin! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

February 8: Most Extraordinary, foremost Oscillator of the world and that without lever! ! ! !

We are indebted to you for the greatest thanks for having endowed us with a portion of your oscillatory power, we wish to thank you for the same in person, and therefore invite you to come to the Swan to-morrow,

an inn whose name bears evidence that it was made for the occasion when the talk is about such things.

(February 19.) Dear Z: Only yesterday did I receive written notice that the Archduke will pay his share in notes of redemption-I beg you now to note down for me approximately what you said on Saturday so that I may send it to the other 2. They want to give me a certificate that the Archduke pays in N. R., but I think this is unnecessary, the more since these courtiers in spite of their apparent friendship for me say that my demands are not just ! ! !!! O heaven help me to bear this; I am no Hercules who can help Atlas bear up the world or do it in his stead. It was only yesterday that I heard in detail how beautifully Herr Baron Kraft had spoken about me at Zizius's, had judged me-never mind dear Z. it will not be for much longer that I shall continue the shameful manner in which I am living here. Art, the persecuted one, finds everywhere an asylum, did not Dædalus, shut up in the labyrinth invent the wings which carried him upwards into the air, and I, too, will find them, these wings.

The correspondence with the Archduke, of course including the notes to his "spiritual adviser," Baumeister, and his "chamberlain," Schweiger, in the very profuseness of its expressions of devotion, awakens some mistrust of its writer's sincerity. There is too much of profession. True zeal in and a hearty performance of one's duty need few verbal attestations.

P. P.

(To Baumeister)

March 12, 1812.

Please send me the overture to the epilogue Ungarn's Wohlthäter, it must be hurriedly copied in order to be sent to Gratz for use there in a concert for the poor. I count myself altogether too happy when my art is enlisted for such charitable purposes. You need, therefore, only tell H. I. High. our gracious lord, about it and he will certainly be glad to have it delivered to you, the more gladly since you know that all the property of my small intellectual faculties is the sole property of H. I. Highness as soon as the overture is copied I will immediately return it to H. Imp. Highness.

In a note to the Archduke he excuses his absence the two previous days because he was "unexpectedly” ill, “at just the time when he was about to go" to him. In another he has "oftener than usual" waited upon him "in the evening hour, but no one was to be found." In another "certain unexpected circumstances prevent" his attendance "to-day, but," he says, "I shall make use of the gracious privilege of waiting upon you to-morrow evening." In still another:

I have suffered much during the last few days, twofold I may say because I could not follow my sincerest desire to devote a great deal of time to you; but I hope I shall be through with it (I mean my illness) this spring and summer.

The last of these selections affords another illustration of the usefulness of the Archduke's library to the composer. Its date has also some importance in the discussion of the famous loveletter; and it is the final notice of Beethoven before his departure from Vienna for the summer.

(To Baumeister)

Sunday, June 28, 1812.

I beg of you most politely that you lend me the two trios for pianoforte, violin and violoncello of my composition for to-day. The first is in D major, the 2nd in E-flat, if I am not mistaken, H. Imp. Highness has written copies of them in his library. Also the sonata in A major with pianoforte and violoncello-separately printed-also the sonata in A minor with pianoforte and violin, is also only printed separately. You will receive everything back again to-morrow morning.

A very interesting series of letters to Varena, and one very creditable to Beethoven, began at the end of January this year and ended, so far as is known, in 1815. Could the space be spared they would all be printed here; but they may be read in the published collections of Beethoven's letters.

The arrangements of the Irish and Scottish songs for Thomson were continued in this year. A French letter to Thomson under