BEETHOVEN 200 YEARS AGO TODAY: Sunday, February 12, 1826

Unpaid assistant Karl Holz comes by Beethoven’s for mid-day dinner. Nephew Karl may come with him, or may already be present.

Holz says he paid the maid 5 florins upon discharging her. It was too little for her, and she wanted more. But Holz refused, telling her that if he added up the expense of what she had broken, she would owe him 5 florins. “With that, she left.”

Although cloth dealer Johann Nepomuk Wolfmayer (1768-1841) is a major supporter of Beethoven, Holz believes that there are dealers where one can buy far better than from him.

Nephew Karl repeats a rumor that he heard that the St. Marx Spital for the aged is to be turned into a military barracks. The people that are already there will be allowed to die out. Housekeeper Barbara Holzmann (the “old woman”) is one of them, and she is aged 70. [According to Wikipedia, it did not close until 1861.]

Holz mentions that there is another rehearsal for Mayseder’s quartet today at Dembscher’s.

The veal roast for dinner came to 6 1/2 pounds. But it’s not white enough, and too coarse.

There is mention of cellist Leopold Böhm (born 1806). Beethoven recalls having dinner with him when he played the quartet op.127. Karl corrects him, No, that was a different Böhm, Joseph Böhm. Leopold Böhm is the cellist at the Theater an der Wien. [A potpourri composed by Leopold Böhm will be performed at the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde concert on Sunday, February 16, which is probably why he came up.]

Holz jokes that since Tobias Haslinger is a representative of the Musik-Verein, one may not break wind without the Committee’s hearing about it.

Beethoven frets about the expense of his housekeepers taking care of him while he’s ill. Holz suggests that a single bath would be more beneficial to his health than the expensive upkeep of his housekeepers.

Holz is ready to leave for today’s Schuppanzigh Quartet concert, at 4:30 p.m. Nephew Karl usually attends, so it’s likely that he goes with Holz. Holz, before he leaves, mentions that they will be doing Beethoven’s Quartet in D major [op.18/3] and he asks whether it is true that this was the first quartet he wrote. [Gustav Nottebohm believed that to be the case. Zweite Beethoveniana, at 494. Unfortunately, Beethoven’s answer is not recorded.]

The Quartet concert is held at the Musik-Verein. The works performed today are Haydn’s Quartet Nr.67 in F, op.77/2, Hob. III/82 (Lobkowitz No. II); a Quartet in E-flat by Mozart (most likely K.428); and a Quartet in D by Beethoven [described in the AMZ as “No.IV” but from Holz’s comments clearly meaning op.18/3 in D. However, it should be noted that Beethoven’s 4th Trio, op.9/1, is indeed in D.] Leipzig Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung Nr.13, March 29, 1824, at 218.

After the concert, Holz returns to Beethoven’s apartment for a few minutes. He delivered a letter to Brother Johann. [No such letter is known to survive.] The quartet went very well, he thought. Holz observes that Nephew Karl left early again during the third quartet. [Although Beethoven has his suspicions, Karl had earlier mentioned that he met with his tutor twice a day.]

Holz urges Beethoven to come with him to Dembscher’s for the rehearsal by the Mayseder Quartet of the Quartet in A minor, op.132. They are left entirely to themselves there; no one is present except the quartet players. The Dembschers are a charming family.

Beethoven urges Holz to check in on Karl to see whether he is at home. Holz would go there, but Beethoven needs to send the letter at 6:30. Beethoven suggests he go in the morning then. Holz says he cannot, because the early classes at the Polytechnic begin at different times. [Holz may not know when Karl’s first class is held.]

Beethoven is thinking about the bath that Holz recommended. He asks Holz to talk to the building superintendent’s wife about it. Holz refuses. “I don’t want to have anything to do with the Hausmeisterin; I recently had an argument with her.” The bath will be beneficial, though; Beethoven should take it but not have it too hot.

Holz remembers that violinist Ignaz Schuppanzigh intends to visit Beethoven tomorrow. [Schuppanzigh usually did so on Mondays.] Beethoven is somewhat annoyed that Schuppanzigh keeps talking about holding Akademie concerts, but doesn’t do anything to make them happen, calling him lazy. Holz responds, “Not for that reason alone; he always does it that way if he wants to achieve a purpose, and he fails to do something through his laziness, so in that way he can cast the blame onto someone else.” But it is still possible to hold the concerts.

Speaking of benefit concerts, Adalbert Gyrowetz (1763-1850), one of the conductors at the Kärntnertor Theater, is holding one for himself in the small Redoutensaal this afternoon at 12:30. The theater has been closed for a year or so, so he is giving it out of need and misery. He receives no money from the Theater, and His Majesty has chosen a Bohemian as the Vice-Hofkapellmeister! [Jan August Vitásek (1770-1839) had been named Court Vice-Kapellmeister on January 8th, but he refused the appointment, a point which seems to have escaped Holz.]

Conversation Book 103, 29r-31v. This concludes Conversation Book 103. The next book, 104, picks up tomorrow, so there are probably no books missing in between.

Beethoven does have his bath later on.

Today, a musical-declamatory Akademie concert for the benefit of, and performed by, the students at the Imperial Institute for the Blind is held in the magnificent hall of the Palais Auersperg in Vienna, the site of the premieres of Mozart’s Idomeneo and Haydn’s Seven Last Words on the Cross. This concert opens with the Creatures of Prometheus Overture by Ludwig van Beethoven. “When nature deprives one of a sense, she graciously makes up for this loss by an incredible sharpening of the others. To convince yourself of this, you only need to listen to these unfortunate blind people in their achievements. You must then admire their extraordinary precision in playing from memory alone and bless the institution that makes them adept at the occupations of civil life. The spirit of charity, a national trait of all the inhabitants of our imperial city, which is handed down from generation to generation, was on full display today. It was not enough that the noble princely widow [Leopoldine (1761-1846), widow of Prince Wilhelm I of Auersperg (1749-1822)] dedicated her majestic location to this worthy purpose, but also compassionate souls from all walks of life competed to offer their charitable gifts. Truly! The fifty-eighth birthday of the beloved father of the country could not possibly have been celebrated in a more touching way.” [Emperor Franz I was born February 12, 1768.] Leipzig Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung Nr.13, March 29, 1824, at 217.

The praise of the local Vienna press was likewise effusive. “The opening Overture from ‘Prometheus’ by Beethoven went so excellently that the orchestra in Vienna demonstrated its well-known high quality under the direction of Herr [Franz] Clement.” Wiener Theater-Zeitung of March 4, 1826 (Nr.27) at 107. The overture was “performed by the orchestra with the enthusiasm that the works of the highly acclaimed composer inspire, and received just as enthusiastically by the audience.” The concert raised approximately 1400 florins for the Institute. Der Sammler of March 9, 1826 (Nr.29) at 115-116.