to another. He did not send him again to a public school, but engaged a private tutor under whose care he continued his studies in an institute conducted by Joseph Kudlich, of whom he spoke in great praise. Besides the ordinary subjects, he received instruction in French, drawing and music; his religious training was entrusted to a priest. This state of affairs lasted till the end of March, when he announced a desire to resign the guardianshippersuaded to take this step, it is fair to presume, by the magistrates who, in the end, would have been obliged to remove him. Karl was living with his mother at the time. According to the court records, Beethoven left the matter of education "entirely to Kudlich," with whom (if a passage in one of the Conversation Books is read correctly) he seems also to have lived temporarily, and it was given to him to propose the name of a guardian, either in place of himself or as an associate. He consulted earnestly with his friends as to what was to be done with the boy and who should be his guardian, and those friends were sorely tried by his constitutional indecision. In these consultations, the project of sending the boy away from Vienna, and the name of Sailer, were mooted.1 "What must be done," Bernard says, "is to select as guardian a man who has your entire confidence both as respects morality and pedagogical skill, and with whom you may always remain on friendly terms concerning the affair. Since Kudlich has more influence on Karl than Giannatasio, it is my opinion that you seek no further for someone who would meet every requirement.—It would merely be very troublesome for you.' Beethoven seems to be in doubt; he had a preference for his friend the magisterial Councillor Tuscher, and the project of sending him to Sailer in Landshut appealed to him. Bernard says again: "If you want peace of mind I think it wise that you name a guardian as you were willing to do yesterday. But if it is possible to send the boy to Sailer at Landshut, it would, of course, be better still, since then you could feel assured that he was in the best of hands. Even if you have Tuscher as co-guardian, your case will not be bettered, inasmuch as all cares will still rest on you. Perhaps Tuscher and Kudlich might jointly assume the guardianship-this might be very advantageous. All the same, everything will remain as heretofore, even if you send him away he will remain with Kudlich until a change has been made. So long as you are guardian and Karl remains here, you will not only have all the cares as heretofore, but also be compelled to fight 2 'These citations are from the Conversation Books. 2Landshut University. It was afterward removed to Munich. A NEW GUARDIAN FOR KARL APPOINTED 5 the mother and all her intrigues. Have Karl sent for the present again to Kudlich, meanwhile the matter may be straightened out.' "1 Beethoven seems to have expressed a doubt as to Tuscher's willingness to serve as guardian. Bernard continues: "Perhaps he might be more easily persuaded if a co-guardian like Kudlich were appointed. It is not necessary to settle everything by tomorrow. If we go to Omeyer to-morrow morning, then to Tuscher and Kudlich, we can come to an understanding as to what will be the best thing to do." Tuscher, if we are correct in recognizing his handwriting, permitted himself to be persuaded, though a bit under protest; he foresaw difficulties. The Magistracy at the suggestion of Beethoven thereupon appointed the Magisterial Councillor Matthias von Tuscher guardian of the boy on March 26. He was commanded to place his ward, then "living with his mother, Johanna van Beethoven," in another place for bringing up and education under proper care, and submit his opinion touching the proposition of the mother and Hotschevar that he be entered in a public institute of learning before the expiration of the second school semester, that Beethoven contribute to the cost and that the share of the mother's pension and the interest on the money deposited for the boy be applied to this end. Tuscher was decidedly of the opinion that the boy must be sent away for a time and was agreed with the plan of placing him with Prof. Sailer in Landshut after it had been broached to him. For this the consent of the Magistracy and the police authorities and a passport were necessary. In the opinion of one of Beethoven's advisers (Bach) Tuscher was to be informed of the plan only after the passport had been obtained, but before the mother, who had already found "a channel," could take steps to communicate with Tuscher. Beethoven applied to the city authorities for a passport for two years for his ward. On April 23, the authorities asked of the Magistracy if there were any objections to the proposed step. The Magistracy objected to the boy's being sent into a foreign country, but asked Tuscher if he were not willing to withdraw his application and name an institute in Austria. Tuscher declined and set forth the great hopes which he placed in the training to be had of a man like Sailer, who, "because of his reverence for the talents of the composer, Beethoven, was especially bound to him," and hence would bestow upon his charge 1As a matter of fact the boy was with Kudlich after this and remained there until Beethoven went to Mödling. At the time of this consultation he was with his mother. Kudlich was instructed not to permit any communication between him and his mother. the strictest oversight and care, which was of great importance in the case of a boy who was "extremely cunning and an adept in every sort of craftiness." In replying to the municipal authorities the Magistracy (on May 7) conceded the necessity of withdrawing the boy from his mother's influence, but thought it unnecessary to send him out of the country on this account, against which the mother had protested and the curator of the ward, Dr. Schönauer, had declared himself. The passport was therefore refused. Beethoven had taken a step which seems to have been made to prevent the widow from securing help for her plans from a source higher than any that had yet been invoked and to enlist that higher power in his own behalf. He appealed to Archduke Rudolph to use his influence with Archduke Ludwig, the youngest brother of Emperor Franz I, to aid him in his project of sending his nephew far away from the mother's influence. In the letter written to the Archduke1 he states that it had been his intention to petition Archduke Ludwig in the premises, but there had thitherto appeared to be no occasion for so doing for the reason that all the authorities who had jurisdiction in the matter were convinced of the advisability of the step, viz.: the Police, the Supervisory Guardianship Court and the guardian. He had heard, however, that the mother intended to seek an audience of Archduke Ludwig to prevent the execution of his plan. Convinced that she would stop at nothing in the way of calumination, he expressed the hope that his reputation for morality would suffice as a refutation of her slanders, and that Archduke Rudolph would bear testimony in his behalf. The plan to send the nephew out of the country had been frustrated and had to be abandoned. His mind being filled with artistic projects of the greatest magnitude, Beethoven was desirous to pass the summer months again in Mödling, and after the experiences of the preceding year nothing could be hoped for his nephew in that quarter. He came to a realization of the advantages which Giannatasio's institute had offered and in a letter to Giannatasio asked him again to take the lad till other arrangements had been made. The Giannatasio family were fearful lest such a proceeding might work harm to their institution, and on June 17 visited Beethoven at Mödling to tell him that his wishes. could not be complied with. "Grievously as it pained us," Fanny writes in her diary, "to refuse Beethoven anything, I am yet so convinced of the necessity of the step and that it could do 'It is undated, but to judge by its contents and the sequence of events was written in May. See Kalischer-Shedlock, Vol. II, p. 134. TUSCHER RELIEVED OF THE GUARDIANSHIP 7 us no good, but on the contrary harm, that I prefer to have it so." Thereupon the lad was sent to the institute of Joseph Blöchlinger. Claudius Artaria, who was one of the teachers there (1821-1824), recalled in later years that Karl was one of the older scholars, "naturally talented, but somewhat conceited because he was the nephew of Beethoven." He also saw the mother there a few times, but remembered nothing in particular in connection with her visits. The lad appears to have prospered during the early part of his stay at this school. In December, 1819, an unknown hand writes in a Conversation Book: A great deal has been gained in that the boy has again become orderly in his public studies. Plöchlinger [sic] moreover, though not exactly brilliant, seems to be good-the public school system acts as a restraint on him.-Your nephew looks well; handsome eyes-charm, a speaking physiognomy, and excellent bearing. I would continue his education for only two years more. He is always present, and thus she can do him no harm. But he is agreed that she spoils the boy.-When you have acquired the sole guardianship, then do you decide and he will obey.-Your views are admirable but not always reconcilable with this wretched world.-Would that everybody might understand and appreciate your love for your nephew. Tuscher, a member of the Magistracy, was compelled to recognize that his colleagues were wholly under the influence of Madame van Beethoven and Hotschevar, and that he could do no service to his friend or his friend's ward; on July 5, he applied to be relieved of the guardianship which, he said, had become "in every respect burdensome and vexatious," on the ground that "the multiplicity of official duties as well as various other considerations would not permit him longer to administer the office." Beethoven took this action in very bad part, and Tuscher shared the fate of many others of being for a space an object of the composer's critical ill will. Beethoven now served notice on the Magistracy that he would resume the guardianship under the testamentary appointment and that he had placed his ward in Blöchlinger's institution. On July 15 he writes to Archduke Rudolph, lamenting that confusion still reigns in his domestic affairs, no hope or comfort is in sight, all his structures are blown away, as if by the wind. "The present proprietor of the institute in which I have placed my nephew, a pupil of Pestalozzi, is of the opinion that it will be difficult to achieve a desirable outcome in the boy's training and also that there could be nothing more profitable to my nephew than absence from the country." In a letter of September 14 to Blöchlinger he writes: "Only the following individuals have free access to my nephew, Mr. v. Bernard, Mr. v. Oliva, Mr. v. Piuk, Recording Secretary. . . . My nephew is not to go out of the house without my written permission-from which it is plain what course is to be followed toward the mother-I insist that in this respect strict obedience be given to what the authorities and I have ordained." It is not known whether the Magistracy was immediately informed of the new steps which Beethoven had taken, or whether Madame van Beethoven made a presentment of some sort on the subject. Be that as it may, as chief guardian it determined if possible to put an end to the continual friction and undertook an investigation of all the educational experiments which had been made, arriving at the conclusion that the boy had been "subject to the whims of Beethoven and had been tossed back and forth like a ball from one educational institution to another." For this reason it decreed, on September 17, that Tuscher's request be granted, but that the guardianship should not again be entrusted to Beethoven but to the mother, the natural guardian under the law, with a capable and honest man as co-guardian. To this office Leopold Nussböck, municipal Sequestrator, was appointed. Beethoven protested against the action in a letter which the Magistracy received on October 31. Having been absent from the city at the time, "on a matter of business," he had made no objection to the appointment of Herr Nussböck as guardian of his nephew, but returning with the intention of remaining in Vienna he wished to resume the guardianship, as this was essential to the welfare of the boy, the mother having neither the will nor the strength to look after his training. He was the more insistent on a resumption of this duty since he had learned that owing to lack of money the boy was to be removed from the institution which he had selected for him, and he charged that the mother wished to take her son to her home so that she might be able to expend his income, including the half of her pension which she was obliged to devote to his education, upon herself. He asked that the intermediary guardianship be taken from Nussböck and be restored to him without delay. About the same time (October 23) he wrote at great length to Dr. Bach, who had now become his lawyer. From this it appears that Madame van Beethoven had addressed another communication to the Magistrates' Court, in which she apparently said or intimated that Beethoven would, in consequence of the elevation of the Archduke Kalischer-Shedlock, Vol. II, p. 149. |