BEETHOVEN 200 YEARS AGO TODAY: Friday, April 23, 1824

The proofreading of the Ninth Symphony and Missa Solemnis parts continues, slowly.

Brother Johann visits Ludwig in the late afternoon or early evening, having run into Franz Clement, concertmaster at the Theater an der Wien. Apparently anxious to be in Ludwig’s good graces, and believing that the Theater an der Wien could still host the Akademie concert, he says Ludwig should not be angry with him, and Clement is prepared to do everything for him. Since he knows his orchestra very well, Clement believes Ludwig should put Schuppanzigh down as concertmaster, and he will put himself down as section violin.

Ludwig is not persuaded, and has pretty well convinced himself that the concert should be held at the Kärntnertor Theater.

Conversation Book 62, 1r. This conversation book is comprised of 31 leaves (again suggesting one leaf has probably been torn out) and covers about a week of time. It is, unsurprisingly, largely devoted to the plans for the Akademie concert, the date of which has still not been established even tentatively.

Beethoven writes a short undated note to a copyist, probably Peter Gläser, sometime between April 19 and the end of April. In it, Beethoven complains about the duplicated parts to the Ninth Symphony. They still need to be proofread, because he has found a number of errors. In addition, the second E-flat horn part for the Adagio is missing completely.

Brandenburg Letter 1822; Albrecht Letter 193. The original is held in St. Petersburg at the Research Institute for Theater, Music and Film (F.2, op.2, ed. chr.18).

Regular readers of our column will be familiar with Professor Theodore Albrecht, whose ongoing series of the English language editions of the conversation books are the framework that this feature is built upon, with his kind permission and assistance. Prof. Albrecht has a new book on the premiere of the Ninth Symphony from Boydell & Brewer press, and there’s no better way to celebrate the bicentennial of this event than to read the detailed accounts that reconstruct and clarify the historic events leading up to these epochal concerts.

Prof. Albrecht has arranged for a coupon code that will allow our readers to purchase his book at a greatly reduced price, from $105 US to $49.95 (individuals only; the coupon cannot be used by institutions). The coupon code is:

BB245

and the book may be ordered here:

https://boydellandbrewer.com/9781837651054/beethovens-ninth-symphony