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THOUGHTS OF A VISIT TO ENGLAND

219

date February 29, 1812, chiefly devoted to business matters, yet contains some expressions which are characteristic of Beethoven's views and predilections.

Haydn himself assured me, that he also got 4 ducats in gold for each song, yet he wrote only for violin and pianoforte without ritornellos or violoncello. As regards Herr Koželuch, who delivers each song to you for 2 ducats, I congratulate you and the English and Scotch publishers on a taste which approves him. In this field I esteem myself a little higher than Herr Koželuch (Miserabilis), and I hope and believe that you have sufficient discrimination to do me justice.

He repeats his request that the texts be sent with the Scottish songs, asks if violin and violoncello are to be treated obbligato or if the pianoforte might compose an ensemble in itself, and closes, after having again demanded 9 ducats in gold, with: "we need the gold here, for our country is at present only a paper fountain, and I in particular, for I shall probably leave this country and go to England and then to Edinburgh in Scotland, and rejoice in the prospect of there making your personal acquaintaince."

The letter to Brunswick which follows, has been printed with the date 1809; but in that year Beethoven was not in the Pasqualati house; he was then on the most cordial terms with Oliva (barring the disagreement at Teplitz in 1811); and his satisfaction with the "honorable decree"-the annuity contract-which retained him in Vienna, was at the flood. The date, 1812, renders every point in the letter, except who is meant by "R," perfectly intelligible." "T" is the manuscript Trio, Op. 97; "S," the printed sonata, "Les Adieux, etc.," Op. 81a; "the quartet" is Op. 95, also in manuscript; "nothing decisive" refers to the nonreceipt of the desired written instructions from Kinsky and Lobkowitz to their cashiers respecting the notes of redemption, and the "unhappy war" was that movement by Napoleon which proved to be the fatal invasion of Russia.

The letter reads:

Dear friend! Brother!

I ought to have written you earlier; I did so 1000 times in my heart. You ought to have received the T. and S. much earlier; I cannot understand how R. could have detained these so long from you. To the best of my recollection I told you that I would send both sonata and trio, do as

1Here Beethoven was mistaken. Haydn composed accompaniments for a volume of Scottish songs for Napier, a London publisher, without ritornellos or violoncello; he wrote as Beethoven wrote for Thomson-with violoncello part as well as ritornellos. In a later letter (of February 19) the same error is repeated.

'Laub and Jahn read “R”; Köchel, "M." The former might be the publisher Rizzi, the latter Mollo.

you feel inclined, keep the sonata or send it to Forray1 as you please, the quartet was designed for you long ago, my disorderliness alone is to blame that you receive it only now. And speaking of disorder I am unfortunately compelled to tell you that it still persecutes me on every hand, nothing decisive has been done in my affairs; the unhappy war may delay the final settlement still more or make the matter worse. At one time I resolve upon one thing, at another time upon a different one, unfortunately I must remain in the neighborhood until the matter is settled. O unhappy decree, seductive as a siren, against which I should have stopped my ears with wax and had myself bound so that I could not sign, like Ulysses. If the billows of war roll nearer here I shall come to Hungary; perhaps in any event, if I must care for my miserable self I shall no doubt beat my way through-away, nobler, loftier plans! Infinite are our strivings, the vulgar puts an end to all!

Farewell dear brother, be such to me, I have no one to whom I can give the name, do as much good around you as the evil times will permit. In the future put the following directions on the coverings of letters to me.

"To H. B. v. Pasqualati.”

The rascal Oliva (no noble r-s-l however) is going to Hungary, do not have too much to do with him; I am glad that this connection which was brought about by sheer necessity, will by this be entirely broken off.— More by word of mouth-I am now in Baden, now here-to be inquired for in Baden at the Sauerhof.

The cause of the estrangement between Beethoven and Oliva is hinted at in two letters from Oliva to Varnhagen. On March 25, Oliva writes: "I should like to write you a great deal about the things that sadden me, about Stoll, and Beethoven still more, but I must postpone it-I was ill lately and it moves me greatly to write about things which are so painful"; and in a letter of June 3, after asking Varnhagen in behalf of Beethoven to deliver a letter to Prince Kinsky and seek to persuade the Prince to come to a decision in the matter of paying the annuity contract in notes of redemption, he adds: "Concerning my unfortunate affairs I can only say that Of." [Offenheimer, the Vienna banker, Oliva's employer, is meant] "has treated me very shabbily and I am compelled to seek another engagement, perhaps I shall accept Beethoven's renewed offer and go with him to England. Stoll cheated me in a very miserable manner and even sought to bring about a rupture with Beethoven, in which he was almost successful; I am completely separated from him." Beethoven's wrath, to which he gave expression in his letter to Brunswick, seems to have been assuaged and their friendship continued as before until the departure of Oliva for Russia in 1820.

"Andreas Baron von Forray, husband of Countess Julie Brunswick, a cousin of Count Franz Brunswick, was a good pianoforte player and great music lover," says Köchel.

NOTABLE GATHERING at TEPLITZ

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There is a little Trio in one movement, which bears the superscription in Beethoven's hand: "Vienna, June 2, 1812. For my little friend Max. Brentano to encourage her in pianoforte playing." On one of his visits to the Brentanos, soon after, "the little maiden, whom he occasionally teased, in a fit of childish petulance unexpectedly poured a bottle of ice-cold water over his head when he was overheated."1

This was the year in which Beethoven allowed a mask to be taken, at the desire of Streicher, who wished to add his bust to those which already adorned his pianoforte warerooms. The bust was executed by Professor Klein, a pupil of the famous sculptor Fischer, and still adorns the hall for which it was designed. The effigy is the one which has been so often copied and is generally attributed to Dannhauser. That artist was born in 1805, and must have been indeed remarkably precocious, if Beethoven consented to have him, at the age of seven years, plaster his face with gypsum! In May, the son of the Corsican advocate Bonaparte held court at Dresden and received his father-in-law, Emperor Franz, Frederick William of Prussia, the princes of the Rheinbund, etc., etc. Before the end of June, he had crossed the Niemen with his half million of men on his fatal march to Moscow. As if from a presentiment and in the hope of the disastrous failure of the foolhardy invasion of Russia, Teplitz (that neutral ground, but central point of plot and agitation against the parvenu Emperor) became the scene of a virtual congress of imperial personages, or their representatives, accompanied by families, ministers and retinues. Ostensibly they met for health, recreation, social diversion; but views and opinions were exchanged and arrangements made for such concerted action as the result in Russia might render politic. Herr Aug. Rob. Hiekel, Magisterial Adjunct in Teplitz, has kindly communicated copious excerpts from the lists of arrivals that summer, from which these are selected, through the friendly mediation of Dr. Schebek of Prague, which is gratefully acknowledged:

May 29. Emperor Franz, with a large retinue-Wrbna, Althaer, Kinsky, Zichy, etc., etc.

June 4. Marie Louise, Empress of France and retinue; the Grand Duke of Würzburg and retinue.

July 2. The Empress of Austria and household; the Duke Anton

of Saxony, with wife and household.

July 7. The Duke of Saxe-Weimar.

July 14. The King of Saxony with wife and royal household.

'Related by Court Councillor Wittescheck and confirmed by Schindler, who had "this fact" from Maximiliane-then Frau von Plittersdorf.

hold.

July 25. Prince Maximilian of Saxony with wife and royal house

August 11, 15. Prince Wittgenstein, Baron von Humboldt, and the Prince of Curland, in Prussian service, etc., etc.

Passing from the royal and diplomatic circles, we note:

April 19. Baroness von der Recke, with Demoiselle Meissner and Herr Tiedge.

July 7. Herr Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer, of Vienna, lives in the Eiche, No. 62.1

July 8. Herr Carl, Prince von Lichnowsky.

July 15. Hr. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Grand Ducal Privy Councillor of Weimar, etc., etc., in the Gold. Schiff, No. 116.

July 24. Herr Ludwig Baron von Arnim, landowner, with wife, then his sister-in-law, Frau v. Savigny, of Berlin.

August 5. Hr. Joachim, Baron v. Muench-Bellinghausen. August 7. Hr. Clemens Brentano, Partikulier of Prague. August 9. Frau Wilhelmine Sebald, wife of the Royal Prussian Commissioner of Justice, with sister Madame Sommer, of Berlin.

August 18. Hr. Fried. Karl von Savigny, Professor, etc., of Berlin. August 19. Hr. Varnhagen von Ense, R. I. Lieutenant v. Vogelsang, of Prague.

No hint anywhere appears that Beethoven renewed his intercourse with Tiedge and Countess von der Recke-they had, no doubt, departed before his arrival—nor that a meeting took place between him and any one of those persons who arrived on and between the 1st of August and the 19th of the same month. With Varnhagen,2 too, the meetings during the sojourn at Teplitz this year seem to have been few and fleeting. On June 9, Varnhagen had reported to Oliva in Vienna concerning the success of his visit to Prince Kinsky. On July 5 Beethoven arrived in Prague in company with Oliva's friend Willisen. Varnhagen writes to Rahel on July 2: "I am writing after the arrival of Beethoven and Willisen." As appears from a letter from Beethoven to Princess Kinsky dated December 20, 1812, Beethoven called upon the Prince and received 60 ducats on account. Unfortunately he delayed the definitive settlement of the annuity matter; had he

1Dr. Riemann, who believes that Beethoven's "Immortal Beloved" was Countess Therese Brunswick but places the love-letter, or letters, in the year 1812, accounts for this date on the hypothesis that Beethoven reached Teplitz (whence he assumes, of course, that the letters were sent) on the fifth of the month but was registered on the seventh, on which day he was reported from his lodgings.

"The following information about Beethoven's association with Varnhagen in the summer of 1812, and much that is new about Beethoven's meetings with Goethe, is Dr. Riemann's contribution to Thayer's biography. It is based on the correspondence between Varnhagen and Rahel Levin, a study: "Beethoven, Goethe und Varnhagen von Ense mit ungedruckten Briefen an Beethoven, Oliva, Varnhagen, etc.," by Dr. Emil Jacobs, published in the second December installment of "Die Musik," 1904, and the Weimar Collection of Goethe's letters.

BEETHOVEN MEETS GOETHE

223

attended to it at once he would have been spared the negotiations which followed the sudden death of the Prince.

On July 14th, Beethoven wrote a letter to Varnhagen from Teplitz in which he said: "There is not much to be said about Teplitz, few people and among the few nothing extraordinary, wherefore I live alone! alone! alone!" Three days later Beethoven wrote to Breitkopf and Härtel, promising some corrections in the Mass in C with the words: "We say to you only that we have been here since the 5th of July, how are we?-on that point much cannot yet be said, on the whole there are not such interesting people here as were last year and are few-the multitude seems fewer than few."

On July 19, Goethe enters Beethoven's name for the first time among his "visits"-no doubt those made by him. On the same day he writes to his wife, who had gone on to Karlsbad for a cure:

Say to His Serene Highness Prince Friedrich, that I can never be with Beethoven without wishing that it were in the goldenen Strauss. A more self-contained, energetic, sincere artist I never saw. I can understand right well how singular must be his attitude towards the world.

Already on the next day Beethoven made a pleasure trip with Goethe to Bilin, and on the 21st and 23rd Goethe spent the evening with Beethoven. Hence the note on the 21st, "He played delightfully." As Arnim and Bettina are mentioned in the list of arrivals, it is easily possible that this was the evening concerning which Bettina reported to Pückler-Muskau. On the 27th of July, Beethoven went to Karlsbad on the advice of his physician, Dr. Staudenheimer, and he did not return to Teplitz till after September 8th, Goethe having already journeyed to Karlsbad on August 11th. That there was no estrangement between them is proved by the letter of Goethe to Christiane advising him to give Beethoven a letter addressed to him; he therefore expected Beethoven to return, which he did not do, because Staudenheimer sent him further on to Franzensbrunn. Goethe's letter says: "Herr van Beethoven went from here to Karlsbad a few days ago; if you can find him, he would bring me a letter in the shortest time." On August 2nd, Beethoven is still looked upon as the possible courier: "If I receive the consignment through Beethoven I will write again, then nothing more will be necessary" (because Goethe himself went to Karlsbad). In Karlsbad Goethe and Beethoven may have met each other only between September 8 and 11. On September 12, Goethe departed; but on the 8th he had written in his journal: "Beethoven's arrival."

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