BEETHOVEN 200 YEARS AGO TODAY: Monday: September 27, 1824 (very approximately)

Probably sometime about now, Beethoven writes an undated letter from Baden to his former pupil Carl Czerny. “At this moment I find out that you are in a situation that I really never suspected. If you would trust me and just show me how things can perhaps be better for you (without looking for any common protection from my side), I will speak to her as soon as I can catch my breath again. Please be assured that I value you and am ready to prove this to you at any moment through action.”

“With true respect, your friend Beethoven.”

Brandenburg Letter 1886; Anderson Letter 910. The original is held by the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna (A 84/22). The paper has a watermark of a kind used primarily in 1824/1825. As Brandenburg notes, Beethoven had been brought into contact about this time with Czerny again through the efforts of Johann Andreas Streicher, who was trying to convince Czerny to arrange the Ninth Symphony or Missa Solemnis for piano, so Streicher may have told Beethoven something about Czerny’s circumstances, though exactly what those might be is unclear from the letter. A passage in Beethoven’s letter to Czerny of October 8, 1824 may relate to the same situation. [“I have already contacted you some time ago about the desire to be able to serve you, so if such a case occurs, please do not ignore me as I am always ready to show you my love, gratitude and respect.”] If so, then this letter must predate October 8, 1824, and by more than a few days.