BEETHOVEN 200 YEARS AGO TODAY: Sunday, February 5, 1826
Unpaid assistant Karl Holz arrives in the late morning or early afternoon, still groggy. He got home from a ball at 6:30 a.m. and just got out of bed. Beethoven asks him where the ball was. Holz says at the home of Franz von Bogner, Stock and Exchange Broker. [Holz will marry one of Bogner’s daughters next year.] Beethoven asks whether Nephew Karl went with him, but Holz says Karl didn’t want to go. [That’s probably for the best, since Uncle Ludwig definitely would not have approved of his nephew staying out all night.] Beethoven asks whether there will be dancing again on Tuesday night, and Holz tells him no. [Tuesday night is Shrove Tuesday, the last night of Carneval, and the day after is the holy day Ash Wednesday.] Besides, Holz has a lot to do on Wednesday, and if he were to stay out late dancing he’d not be worth much.
Beethoven says he needs to write to Abbé Stadler, in support of the response Stadler is preparing to the scurrilous articles questioning the authorship of Mozart’s Requiem. Holz says Stadler agrees, Beethoven should write something of that sort soon.
There will be no Schuppanzigh Quartet concert today. “It occurred to Mylord [Schuppanzigh] not to give a Quartet concert today because it is the last Sunday in Carnival.
Holz promises Beethoven that he will be done proofreading the engraving by Artaria’s shop of the Quartet op.130 by Wednesday [February 8].
Nephew Karl arrives while Holz is still there, probably lounging about. The cook told Karl that Uncle Ludwig wanted marrow in the soup. Karl says he ran into Brother Johann on the Graben; he mentioned the Decembrist Revolt in Russia, and its bloody repression. Karl also spoke with Stadler. “He asked whether you were satisfied with the essay against [Gottfried] Weber. He said that he wrote it in a very simple style so everyone could understand it.”
Holz changes the subject and asks whether the meat that Barbara Holzmann bought yesterday was good. Holz is having gastric trouble. [It is unclear whether that is related to the meat, or another cause.]
Holz tells Beethoven that poet Ignaz Castelli will always concern himself warmly whenever it comes to doing Ludwig a favor. But he suggests that Beethoven should write to Prince Franz von Hatzfeld (1756-1827), the Prussian ambassador in Vienna, directly probably to discuss the dedication of the Ninth Symphony to King of Prussia Friedrich Wilhelm III, rather than rely on Castelli to act as go-between.
Karl chimes in that the Prince’s secretary said he was angry that he had to wait so long for his subscription copy of the Missa Solemnis. But he doesn’t doubt that His Excellency would consider the matter if Beethoven were to write to him about it.
Beethoven starts to dictate a letter to Hatzfeld to Karl. Karl makes several corrections to his Uncle’s grammar on the fly; he should use “Euer,” in addressing the letter “Euer Durchlaucht,” [Your Highness] since “Ihre” is valid only for women. The draft is not completed now, however [Holz will comment in the next conversation book that it still needs to be written], and they will later make another attempt, likely in late February or the first part of March.
They have dinner together, with rabbit. Holz makes a joke that this is the rabbit killed in Haydn’s The Seasons. The Recitative Nr.25 is “Hier treibt ein dichter Kreis die Hasen aus dem Lager auf.” [Here, a tight circle drives the rabbits out of the camp.”] But The Creation is a more sublime subject. Beethoven asks Holz what he considers particularly sublime in that work by Haydn. Holz says, “The bassoon in the Trio.” The rabbit is well roasted, but it smells. Perhaps it would have lost that gamy smell if it had not been cooked so soon. Karl says he really likes rabbit. Uncle Ludwig asks what they are having for dessert, and Karl tells him applesauce, though it still has to cool. The housekeeper excused herself that the platter is so hot, and the apples were smoking.
Uncle Ludwig mentions that he broke a platter yesterday. The Krapfen [donuts made with lard, to use it up before Lent] are coming. Holz has water with his donuts, and points out it is from the well.
After dinner, Uncle Ludwig is in a jovial mood, and improvises a number of waltzes at the piano. Karl observes that if they were written down, they would sell for at least a ducat each.
Holz says he will arrange for a locksmith to come. Beethoven would like a fresh shirt; Holz says he will warm one up for him.
Beethoven talks about taking a carriage to Baden in the summer. Holz, having read about a new invention called Speedy-Shoes [primitive roller skates] in the newspaper, says they no longer need a carriage. With the Speedy-Shoes, they can cover one hour’s distance in a quarter of an hour! [This is not the last time Holz will joke about the Speedy-Shoes.]
Holz has a cough, so he is not drinking much today. Beethoven needs some flannel. Holz says his sister Anna can also shop for it, and they can all visit a merchant who sells flannel together. She probably knows what is good flannel and what is not.
There is some discussion about playing cards to pass the time. Holz says he used to play cards often, but he still regrets it. He does not like the social group that he used to play with any more.
Tomorrow is the final concert at Dembscher’s. The quartet will be played at the beginning.
The beans [Holz probably means coffee beans] are not yet roasted; Holz told the housekeeper, Frau Lindner, that already before dinner. Holz says he has to go.
Tobias Haslinger comes up; Holz calls him a court jester, though on second thought he would not be witty enough to serve as one. Castelli intends to visit Beethoven this coming week. Holz again promises to bring the proofread score of the quartet op.130 with him when he visits Beethoven on the Wednesday holiday.
Conversation Book 103, 7r-11v.