BEETHOVEN 200 YEARS AGO TODAY: Monday, October 24, 1825 (approximately)

Roughly about now, Beethoven is solicited for contributions to two new publications that disabled actor Carl Friedrich Müller intends to release in order to raise funds for his treatments. These are planned as two sets of dances by various composers; the first is another set of waltzes; Beethoven had contributed his Waltz WoO 84 to last year’s edition, and the Waltz WoO 85 will be written for this year’s. The other volume is a set of miscellaneous dances, and Beethoven will contribute the Ecossaise for piano WoO 86 to that book. It was about this time last year that Müller made the request for the WoO 84 Waltz, so presumably he makes his request roughly about now for this year’s volumes. Beethoven will work on these little pieces over the next three weeks.