BEEETHOVEN 200 YEARS AGO TODAY: Friday, May 27, 1825

Beethoven writes a short jocular note today to his friend music publisher Tobias Haslinger asking for special blank music paper. “P.[ater]N.[oster]G.[äßler, a reference to the short street where the Steiner music shop was located.] Be of goodness (not kindness) and show me the great (not large) kindness and take your hand-rastrum (not your Rostrum victoriatum) and kindly draw me [16 is crossed out] 22 note lines, approximately as I have indicated here, also on such fine paper. Whatever you have to include in the invoice, send it to Karl, if possible, by tomorrow evening. [Karl would be expected in Baden on Sunday.] I need it — this may perhaps be followed by some indulgence. From Baden on May 27, 1824.”

First page of letter from Beethoven to Haslinger, asking for a special music paper. Written in German.

Second page of letter from Beethoven, showing the spacing he wants of 8 staves of 5 lines of music. — Brandenburg Letter 1979, pages 1-2, showing the line spacing Beethoven desires. Courtesy Berlin Staatsbibliothek (Mus. ep. autogr. Beethoven 5)

Brandenburg Letter 1979; Anderson Letter 1293. The 1824 date on the letter is obviously a mistake, since Beethoven was not in Baden in May of 1824; he was still in Vienna in early June, and even then he moved to Penzing, not Baden. However, in 1825 he has been in Baden since May 7. The letter is replete with in-jokes that are entirely obscure today. On the remaining 3 pages of the letter, Beethoven has sketched the beginnings of staves, and numbered them from 1 to 22. It is unclear what Beethoven wanted this special paper for. The original is in the Berlin Staatsbibliothek (Mus. ep. autogr. Beethoven 5). The letter and the first page of Beethoven’s penciled staff marking requests are reproduced here, courtesy of the Berlin Staatsbibliothek.

Sauer & Leidesdorf advertises today 3 Grand Allegros for pianoforte, op.75, by Beethoven’s former pupil Carl Czerny. Wiener Zeitung (Nr.119) at 520. These Allegros have as best as we can tell never been recorded, but here is a recent synthesized version of the first of the three: