BEETHOVEN 200 YEARS AGO TODAY: Monday, July 4, 1825

Beethoven and housekeeper Barbara Holzmann make a day trip into Vienna today, hiring a carriage, and running a long list of errands. On this list are engaging a copyist and getting a hat, but it is unclear whether he does either of those things. At some point today, they meet up with Nephew Karl, who gives an accounting of his expenditures, with 5 florins received and then an additional 2 florins, making 7. He paid a 15 kreutzer tip to the coachman on the trip back to the City yesterday. The piano tuner had to come twice to tune the clavichord, which was another 2 florins. Baths were 1 florin 45 kreutzers. The carriage was 2 florins, and the breakfast in Neudorf was 15 kreutzers. Taking into account the 15 kreutzers left over from his last accounting, that left 1 florin for his small expenses.

Beethoven and Holzmann return to Baden this evening. Beethoven makes a note about the copyist and the new hat, and then adds up several columns of numbers of monies coming in. The 360 florins [or 40 louis d’or] coming from Ries is one item. Also on the list are the 225 florins (50 ducats) due from Prince Galitzin for each of the three quartets he commissioned [opp. 127, 132 and 130].

Conversation Book 90, 28r-28v.

Today’s Wiener Zeitung (Nr.149) includes a repeat at 640 of the advertisement by publisher Sauer & Leidesdorf for Beethoven’s “Variations favorites pour le Pianoforte à 4 mains.” Again, this is an unauthorized arrangement of the third movement Allegretto con Variazioni from Beethoven’s Violin Sonata op.30/1 for piano duet.