BEETHOVEN 200 YEARS AGO TODAY: Saturday, September 2, 1826

By now, Beethoven has completed the arrangement of the Grosse Fuge for four-hands piano, which will eventually become his opus 134. Beethoven sends the score to unpaid assistant Karl Holz probably today, for delivery to publisher Mathias Artaria. On an additional copy of the last page of the autograph, bearing the last 17 bars of the fugue, Beethoven writes a letter to Artaria with his requirements:

“1. Penalty. Consisting of 2 Clementi piano methods, and 3 select prints of the portrait of L. van Beethoven.” [The piano methods were intended as a gift for Gerhard von Breuning; Beethoven had shown them the lithograph of the Stieler portrait with the Missa Solemnis a few days ago, and may have also wanted to get one to present to the von Breuning family, and two more to have on hand for visitors.]
“2. A fine for this and that and other matters.”
“3. An honorarium will be paid to the author of the M.S. of this piano arrangement, or it will be returned to him.”

Brandenburg Letter 2192, Albrecht Letter 436. Why Beethoven copied out these bars separately is unknown, but they are identical with the corresponding bars on the autograph. Perhaps Beethoven felt the corrections made the score on this leaf unclear and he replaced it with a cleaner copy.

This leaf is held by the Bonn Beethovenhaus, H.C. Bodmer Collection Mh 25, and can be seen here:

https://www.beethoven.de/de/media/view/5192273532813312/scan/1

Beethoven sends the score to Holz, along with a cover letter:

“Best Wood [Holz] of Christ!”

“Here is the piano reduction for 4 hands — for Herr Mathias, may God grant it first [complex wordplay on the German proverb “Mathiäi am letzten” (Mathias at the last), meaning a person who has nothing left — i.e., Beethoven hopes that Mathias still has something left to pay him] — he will understand that I cannot possibly waste so much time for nothing, and it has now become my own work. Regardless of this, I demand no more than 12 ducats in gold. If one were to assume that I had immediately agreed to make the piano reduction myself, then one could have offered me no less than an honorarium of 25 to 30 ducats, but considering that A.[rtaria] also lost the 100 florins W.W. [actually 40 florins W.W., to Anton Halm for his first arrangement of the Fugue], I content myself with the sum stated above; you know that I do not gain here, but rather lose. The penalty already agreed upon could still be reasonably paid off, since our dear Herr Mathias has indeed grossly offended me with regard to the quartet [op.131] that he intended to take, but did not take.”

“Incidentally, Herr Mathias already knows that we will gladly assist him more often without payment. However the current service I have rendered to him with the K.A. [piano arrangement] is too servile for me not to insist on some compensation. Appointing you as the executor in this matter, I beg you, worthy sir, to take care of everything.”

“Yours, Beethoven.”

On the letter, Beethoven writes the canon WoO 197, Da ist das Werk. The lyrics are “Here is the work, take care of the money. One two three four five six seven eight nine ten eleven twelve ducats, ducats, ducats, ducats, ducats.” Presumably Beethoven wrote out another copy for Artaria, to be delivered with the score. Beethoven loved making jokes about Holz’s name, often referring to him as a chip off the True Cross, as he does in the salutation to this letter.

Brandenburg Letter 2193; Anderson Letter 1500. The original is held in Baltimore at the Peabody Institute Library (ML 95 B 415 182609) and (ML 96 B 415) for the canon.

The canon WoO 197 is heard here performed by Accentus:

https://youtu.be/QahY5JGNem8?si=V9t7amypSXjFd2b0

The Grosse Fuge for four-hands piano is here performed in 2020 by the Kota Duo:

https://youtu.be/c_Uuowin9bI?si=8rO01MKhthgMzU0_

Conversation Book 120 begins to be used about today. This is a book of 52 leaves. 51v and 52r are blank and were crossed out by Anton Schindler with a red crayon. The German editors note that the last leaf, 52, probably belongs at the beginning of the book and is treated likewise here. Schindler’s inscription on the first page writes, “Conversation between Beethoven and his nephew after the catastrophe, with the latter in the General Hospital, while the nephew was there in police custody….Conversation concerning the publication of the complete works with Herr Schlesinger (father) and Holz.” From the handful of internal references, this conversation book was used over the first half of the month of September.

An unidentified person [possibly one of Nephew Karl’s teachers at Blöchlinger’s Institute, the University, or the Polytechnic Institute, since he is educated and seems to know Karl well] visits Beethoven and asks whether he has visited the Armbraser Collection of armors, art and other curiosities founded in the 16th century by Archduke Ferdinand (1529-1595) in Ambras Castle. It was moved to Vienna in 1806. He says there are many interesting things to be seen there. The Emperor did not buy it but it was taken; basically it will all remain property of the nation.

The visitor makes some remarks that may relate to Nephew Karl: “He was a deceiver who had been deceived himself. He was seduced by his imagination.”

The visitor finds censorship extremely damaging to the theater.

The visitor has not seen Nephew Karl yet. He asks whether Karl would like to join the military academy. That would be very expensive. “Where does he have to stay if he does not improve? On whose order will the priest come? At whose expense will Karl be kept in the hospital? If the priest is not a very sensible man, he will have no impact on his mind. The best would probably be for him to get away from here. Do you not think he has to expect a punishment from the police after all? This disgrace will stick to him forever.” Beethoven probably tells him that all these things are up in the air, but that Karl is blaming him for his suicide attempt. “If it comes to that, I’ll testify before the police how fatherly you have treated him,” the visitor adds.

Beethoven invites the guest to dinner, along with unpaid assistant Karl Holz, who has joined them. The visitor says the beef is excellent. He repeats a dark joke from Holz: “Karl could become a good soldier, for he does not fear the bullets.” The visitor will go see Karl later this afternoon. Holz comments that the life of an artist is not compatible with such guardianships.

The visitor asks about the rumor that Rossini wanted to visit Beethoven in 1822 when he was in Vienna, and whether it was true that Beethoven refused to see him. [Unfortunately, Beethoven’s response is not recorded, but Rossini himself claimed that he saw Beethoven at least once, and he is probably telling the truth as we discussed in the columns around that time.]

Does Beethoven know of Joseph Dessauer (1798-1876), from Prague? He is said to be one of the best pianists, he composes, and has a fortune of 200,000 florins C.M. Dessauer would like very much to get to know Beethoven personally. He is presently staying with his sister Anna in Meidling. [Dessauer will buy one of Beethoven’s desk sketchbooks at his estate auction, covering the period March through September of 1814. He will donate it later to the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde, in whose collection it languishes unpublished and hidden away.] “He is so educated that he does not look for anything but Beethoven in Beethoven.”

Crown Prince Ferdinand (1793-1875) is discussed. He is said to be very kind-hearted, but he is 33 years old and has not done anything yet. Commenting on the royal family, Holz adds that Emperor Franz is very unhappily married; he is henpecked [by Carolina Augusta, Princess of Bavaria (1792-1873)].

The visitor tells Beethoven, “Your way of thinking is honorable, where personality and humanity collide.” He adds that “All of Vienna’s churches are in front of you; you must become God-fearing.” The visitor gives Beethoven his address, then takes his leave to go and visit Karl for a short while.

Holz appears to go to visit Karl in the hospital and run some errands. While he is gone, Beethoven does some financial accounting, and copies an advertisement from Rudolph Sammer’s bookshop in Vienna in today’s Intelligenzblatt supplement to the Wiener Zeitung, relating to a new edition of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey with 10 copperplate engravings, bound in vellum paper. He also makes note of shops selling elastic and concave razor strops.

Beethoven also makes a shopping list:

• Mirror
• razor 2 8 florins
• haircutter
• handkerchief
• Voss metrics [Johann Heinrich Voss, Metrics of the German language, 1802. Karl had mentioned this book so the list may mostly be items to be purchased for Karl.]
• 2 ear trumpets
  [the next two entries are added later]
  Chocolate and machine
  Tooth powder 3

Holz returns from his errands. He talked to publisher Mathias Artaria and delivered the piano arrangement of the Grosse Fuge [which will later be given opus number 134], and Artaria will bring Beethoven the 12 gold ducats for it personally on Wednesday morning.

Holz spoke to the nurse at the hospital, and was told that Karl has not had any chocolate for 8 days [hence the later addition to the shopping list above.] What has Karl been eating, Ludwig asks. His mother has been bringing him soup with eggs. Holz asks whether she gave an accounting for the chocolate for the entire period. It’s so much the worse that he accepted it from her, in Holz’s opinion.

Karl admitted to having sold several books. Holz also told him about the confrontation with the tutor, Klaps. “He said that did happen, now it is over.” Karl justifies the embezzlement by asking what else should he have lived on. He says he preferred Schlemmer’s food to Uncle Ludwig’s. Ludwig wants to give his nephew a piece of his mind, but Holz cautions that would not be fruitful. “He thinks you cannot tell him anything that he does not know already.”

Holz changes the subject: They have been cordially invited to Rannersdorf by his friend Gross, administrator of the paper factory. Holz asks whether Beethoven would like to accompany him tomorrow. “He is one of your admirers, and just as good a person as Wolfmayer. We will be completely alone.”

Despite his jocular comments written on the score of the Fugue, Beethoven has become concerned about Artaria being trusted to make payment as he says. Holz tells him that if Artaria doesn’t come Wednesday, then he’ll take the score back from him. Beethoven is insistent that he is likely to be cheated and Artaria will publish it without paying for it. Holz tries to reassure him, “He won’t do that; he is too honest. It would also be very unwise to copy it and publish it without your knowing it, since he would have to expect a scandal in the public papers. And in the end, he has to do what you want, otherwise he won’t get anything anymore.”

Holz drops one final parting shot at Karl’s mother Johanna as he leaves: “She is the bad principle.”

Conversation Book 120, 52v, 1r-7r.

Today in Berlin, the royal actors give a declamatory/musical/dramatic performance. After an overture and a well-received declamation of Schiller’s Lied von der Glocke and a Trio from Pucita’s opera La Caccia d’Enrico IV, there follows Beethoven’s incidental music to Goethe’s Egmont, with the broad and prosaic declamatory accompaniments of Friedrich Mosengeil, spoken by Herr Krüger. The correspondent to the Leipzig Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung lamented, “Why weren’t some scenes from Egmont itself, which has disappeared from the stage here, performed.” AMZ of October 18, 1826 (Nr.42) at 683-684.