BEETHOVEN 200 YEARS AGO TODAY: Friday, August 11, 1826 (approximately)

Unpaid assistant Karl Holz comes to visit Beethoven, around this afternoon. He reports that violinist Ignaz Schuppanzigh is pleased that Beethoven has accepted his invitation to dinner. He has also invited the cloth merchant Johann Wolfmayer, who is an enthusiastic supporter of Beethoven. Wolfmayer will be very happy to be able to see Beethoven again. Schuppanzigh asks though that the invitation be not for Sunday [August 13] but for Monday [August 14.] Wolfmayer cannot join them on Sunday. He will bring the drinks.

Ludwig still cannot visit Nephew Karl at the hospital. [Most likely Karl refuses to see him, rather than the doctors barring him, since Holz is able to talk with Karl.] They know [at the hospital] how to treat him gently; they are good psychologists. As far as the magistrate’s office, Holz says, “I know from a reliable source that the emperor is very upset about the magistrate office; he has learned a lot about their pranks. Recently, the magistrate office, on their own authority, appointed a guardian to a 16-year-old orphan girl, and he then procured the girl out. Now the story is spreading.” The civil servants working there are known to be the biggest rascals. But they are the lowest authority, and only deal with minor cases. They are under the jurisdiction of the mayor. The political and the criminal branches are not in any more contact with each other than is common for a public authority.

Beethoven inquires about the police investigation. Holz had to give them Beethoven’s address, but they have finished their questioning. No doubt the magistrate will wait until Karl has recovered before taking any action. There needs to be proof that Karl will be compliant; “He is not to be trusted until after he has improved after guidance from the priest.”

Holz remembers that he was supposed to go see Reisser, the vice-director of the Polytechnic Institute. This reminds Beethoven that it was while Holz was talking to Reisser that Karl escaped and was able to get another set of pistols. In his defense, Holz says “At that time, I was so confused myself that I did not know where I was.” At least you told me, Beethoven concedes. Holz tells him, “Silence would have been an offense towards your duties as a guardian.”

Ludwig still does not understand why Karl would try to kill himself. “Who knows what’s behind this,” Holz responds. “He will admit it, when his conscience is being investigated.” What kind of priest will Karl have? “He will get a Liguorian; they are like leeches.”

The incident with Karl has upset the proofreading of the quartet op.130. Holz asks Beethoven what he should tell Mathias Artaria. Holz doesn’t think it will be a great deal of trouble any more; he has marked the latest errors, and this is already the sixth proof.

Ludwig brings up the question of the piano version of the quartet. Holz asks if he may tell former pupil Carl Czerny to come see Beethoven. “Artaria said that as soon as Czerny had spoken with you, he could come to him about the fee.” Artaria plans to publish every movement separately. Beethoven comments that he liked Artaria’s edition of another work; Holz agrees that it is very beautiful and also so easy to play.

Paul Pulay (born 1777), Karl’s teacher of Latin and Greek at Blöchlinger’s Institute, comes to pay a call on Beethoven. “I can imagine your pain. Please be so kind as to give your Karl my greetings; I wanted to visit him, but there is no admission after 5 o’clock.” Beethoven asks whether Pulay still has a dispute with Blöchlinger. “Herr v. Beethoven, we are reconciled.” Pulay doesn’t want to disturb Karl, as he needs rest in his recovery. Beethoven has been paying the nurse extra to ensure the best care for Karl. “You spoil the nurse by giving her so much; such people are selfish.”

Pulay gets sentimental but also sees an opportunity. “I have loved you like a brother, Herr v. Beethoven. I would like to become your Karl’s tutor for room and board. I have never said anything derogatory about you. Who could do such a thing without shaming himself? I admire your spirit and honor your heart.”

Beethoven suspects Karl’s friend Joseph Niemetz [whom he has never liked] is a corrupting influence. Pulay tries to set him straight. “As far as I know, Niemetz is an uncorrupted young man; they have been friends since their days at the Institute.” Pulay takes his leave. Beethoven asks Holz what his name was again. Holz writes phonetically “Buley.”

[The translation of Pulay’s visit is primarily by the late Prof. Theodore Albrecht, as edited by Birthe Kibsgaard.] Holz takes his leave as well.

Beethoven writes two short undated notes. One is a cover letter to publisher Tobias Haslinger, asking him to take a letter to Nephew Karl, since there is no postal service at the general hospital: “Pater Noster – Gässel, Please be so kind as to send the letter to Karl prestissimo. I do not know if the postmen deliver letters there. Vale [Farewell].

Brandenburg Letter 2183; Albrecht Letter 390. The original is held in the Bonn City Archives (I i 98/529).

The other letter is presumably the enclosure for Karl. This letter may well be connected to the notation in the conversation book that appears here: “If you have a hidden sorrow, reveal it to me through your Mother.” Brandenburg Letter 2184, Conversation Book 117, 21r. This letter does not survive.

Beethoven goes to a coffee house, probably this same afternoon. There, he meets former unpaid assistant Anton Schindler, who stops to chat with Beethoven about Karl. “If one examines this case psychologically, provided one knows exactly this man’s relationship with you, then it is an exceptional case. The reasons for it are insignificant, but the consequences will be bitter. However, if you just act like a consequent man here, though not like a second Brutus, then it will at least not be harmful to you.”

Beethoven is still worried about what punishment Karl may receive. Schindler believes “The punishment will only be a strict religious instruction, which I do not think will cure him, unless they give him a truly Christian-thinking man. If they send him a common priest, perhaps even a Liguorian, he will confuse him even more, because by rights one has to make sure that he [Karl] is a sensible person, who does not let himself be led on a leash by outward signs.”

Beethoven also worries about the gossip. Schindler confesses, “This case is an astonishing sensation in the city, and the general question is whether it has affected you heavily. However, the truth is that this really deep sympathy only appertains to you. Karl already has a bad reputation as a dissolute person. — One now hears a lot of things that are astonishing.” Beethoven is unhappy to hear this, and demands Schindler tell him what he knows. Schindler retreats significantly, perhaps realizing he overstepped his bounds: “I swear to God I only knew the very least, but now after this incident, people are talking openly about it.”

“It is incredible that a person with so much sense and knowledge as he has already had in his life can do so much wrong to a man like you, even if you had been a stranger to him [let alone his uncle.]

Schindler mentions that he has heard Beethoven is writing a quintet. Yes, Diabelli has commissioned one, which will be his next project after he finishes the string quartet [op.135] he is currently working on.

Beethoven is worried about Nephew Karl’s future. Schindler suggests that he not remain in Vienna: “If he is to be safe, there is no other way than for him to get away from Vienna, under safe protection and care, as is needed by an intelligent, but misguided, person.” Where should Karl go, then, Beethoven asks. “No matter under what circumstances, only away from Vienna, for nowhere will he find so many opportunities to get out of control as here, and nowhere is there the meanness to which he likes to associate himself so nasty as it is here.”

The royal family is discussed a bit. Schindler suggests that Emperor Franz I patronizes the nobility too much, and because of this the other citizens become heavily oppressed. What about crown prince Ferdinand, Beethoven asks. “The son is a music enthusiast, for he is always at the opera, even when operas that have not been performed for 10 years are scheduled.” [That is, he is not only interested in attending the fashionable operas.]

Schindler is still ill. “For 2 days now, I have had small attacks of dizziness again, which come from the stomach. I have to live on a strict diet.” Beethoven comments that the illness is lingering on. Schindler notes, “They are the last remains of the illness, which mean nothing any more. However, I have to pay attention to them.”

Beethoven finally invites Schindler to join him in a cup of coffee. Schindler declines. “I do apologize for not keeping you company, but I am not yet allowed to drink coffee. I have tried, but it gave me terrible congestion. — What a miserable man I am! In 4 weeks, I will be able to add something again.”

Returning to the emperor, the thing that annoys Schindler most is that His Majesty does not have to pay to go to the theater. Any common peddler woman has to pay, but he pays nothing. By comparison, the King of France endows 5 theaters, the smallest of them with 15,000 francs. “Even George in England endows 2, and that very royally.” Does not the emperor support the Kärtnertor Theater, where Schindler plays? No, the government pays from its own funds, not out of his own purse.

Beethoven inquires as to how things are at the Kärntnertor Theater. The manager, Louis Antoine Duport, risks nothing by bringing in the French Theater Company vaudeville and opera troupe. “He was smart and clever as always; he made a contract for joint profit with the company, and thereby secured himself. But it is somewhat execrables — this so-called French opera, which is not actually an opera. It is unbearable even for someone who understands the language. For my part, I see it as Limbo.”

Are they not rehearsing a production of Fidelio, as Beethoven has been told repeatedly? Yes, Fidelio is waiting for the better part of the season. Meanwhile the romantic opera Le solitaire [The Hermit] by Michele Carafa will be performed in a German-language version.

Schindler asks how much Diabelli is paying for the commissioned string quintet. 100 ducats, Beethoven tells him. “100 would not be too much,” Schindler observes. “He would certainly gladly give that, if he only had it already. He always cried out, ‘if I only had it already.'”

Beethoven is pleased that German opera is being performed and treated seriously. Schindler concedes this point. “In this very short time, our opera has distinguished itself very much, and we certainly can expect something magnificent, if the administration is serious about letting the German [operas] prevail. The chorus is great and excellent. This administration is a reliable payer, but it is still wavering as to whether the German opera is going to be cherished by the audience, and this already seems to be the case. It is said that the Italian opera is going to stay here only for 3-4 months. But there is no doubt that if they do not bring with them outstanding works, then they will be under pressure from the German opera, so they will certainly not bring someone like Schechner with them. And from where are the good new operas to come, from Rossini’s followers?”

Beethoven mentions that he recently wrote to William Ehlers (1774-1845) regarding a new version of The Ruins of Athens, op.113. Schindler asks where Ehlers is now. Berlin, at the Königstadt Theater, where he is director, Beethoven tells him. Schindler wishes that Ehlers had a permanent position.

At the Kärntnertor Theater, Duport has totally banished all cabal and intrigue from the theater. “One does not know these words at all in this house anymore; you will hear this from anyone who knows the details.” He is his own advisor in all matters; no one else controls things. Schindler alone goes through the scores with Duport. “Actually, he is a very unusual man in his capacity as director; he almost makes the impossible possible, if it is to his advantage.”

Beethoven expresses his worry for Karl’s punishment. Schindler supposes that it will fall under the serious police offenses, but not be considered an actual crime. Schindler, always eager to cause trouble with Beethoven’s relatives, urges, “Be careful that the mother [Johanna] does not use this opportunity to stir things up with you, which later on might be harmful. I do not think that her son’s accident affects her motherly sensitivity very much. Where would such feeling come from,” he sneers disdainfully.

Schindler urges Beethoven to try to take Karl away from Vienna for a while. “That is better and more beneficial than police supervision, for that will embitter him once again. I ask you to discuss my advice with others, one has to ask, sub qua forma [in what manner] he should leave Vienna.”

Schindler departs: “Now my great master, thank you very much, I now must go home, [I] am very tired.”

Conversation Book 117, 15r-29v.

At the spa at Bad Reinerz, sixteen-year-old Frederic Chopin gives a benefit concert for a patient there who died, leaving behind orphaned children. This is the first time that Chopin performs outside of his native Poland. The August 22, 1826 Warsaw Courier writes about the concert, “This young man has often been heard on the piano in Warsaw, where his talent is always obvious.” Alan Walker, Fryderyk Chopin at 100.