BEETHOVEN 200 YEARS AGO TODAY: Sunday, January 23, 1825

Conversation Book 82 starts being used today. It is quite short, with only 16 leaves, all of which have writing. Schindler dated this book to Winter 1826 but he is clearly off by a year.

Brother Johann and Nephew Karl go to the Schuppanzigh Quartet concert today at 4:30, with piano maker Johann Baptist Streicher. Afterwards, probably around 7 p.m., they come back to Uncle Ludwig’s apartment, where Streicher fills them in on some of the random things he learned about England while he was there. They make 1,500 pianos annually, and there are 300 journeymen. On the doors they have printed rules of conduct for men. There were 5,000 buildings under construction when he was there.

Johann talks wistfully once again about his estate in Gneixendorf. There is a courtyard and garden. Once a year, he has his linens sun-bleached out in the country, on the lawn. Karl laughs that in this time of year, when there is fog, it won’t make his linens beautiful! Johann insists that linens need to be done outside the house. It’s not good for them to be done inside all the time. “At my place, the washing is done like our blessed mother did; I have initiated it being done that way. Come to my estate in the Spring and your linens will be as white as snow and will remain clean for several years.”

Karl gives a rundown of the concert they just attended. The Double Quartet by Louis Spohr pleased generally. The first movement less so, but the second movement and the third were good. “Then came your second Quintet [in C, op.29], which completely devoured the Double-Quartet. There was overwhelming applause.” Uncle Ludwig is interested in learning more about the reception of the Spohr work. Karl says, “People said that it was well-constructed, but there was no genius in it.” [The Beethoven Quintet was a hasty substitution for the new quartet op.127, which was not yet available for them to perform even though Schuppanzigh had over-optimistically advertised that it would be part of the concert.]

The Quintet op.29 is here played by the Armida Quartet, with Tabea Zimmermann on additional viola:

A copyist, probably Ferdinand Wolanek, comes to the door. He will make a complete copy of the Missa Solemnis, including all the collated items, but he wants 60 florins for it. It costs 30 kreutzers per sheet of paper, including the cost of the paper; if Beethoven supplies the paper, then it would cost 24 kreutzers each. At that price, he assures that the work will be error-free. [Wolanek has already copied the Mass several times, so he should have a good understanding of the requirements by now. Beethoven sold the subscription copies for 50 ducats, or 225 florins, so these copying charges are eating significantly into his profits.]

Talk returns to the England trip after Wolanek’s departure. Surely Ludwig can earn far more there than just the 300 guineas that they promised him; that was merely the offer of the Philharmonic Society. Streicher says he has gotten some old maps, and in a couple days he will send Beethoven his recommended route to Calais, where he can cross the English Channel. He insists it can be done with little vexation and few expenses.

Johann mentions he left Gneixendorf at 6:30 in the morning. Out on his estate, he spends almost the whole day out in the fields.

There is more talk about the Schuppanzigh concert. Karl says it was very full. Publisher Sigmund A. Steiner nodded to Abbé Stadler that he approved of the Double Quartet, but Stadler just replied by shrugging his shoulders. Johann makes a wry comment that by the end of the concert, Schuppanzigh was soaking wet.

The soldier who shot his corporal comes up again, as he is to be hanged tomorrow. He didn’t want any clergy to attend on him.

The housekeeper gives a rundown of the menu for tomorrow:

Fritatten noodle soup.
Meat with sauce.
Spinach with fried bacon.
Cold roast veal for the mid-day dinner.
In the evening, pullet hen.

There is some talk of where the maid can sleep; Johann suggests that a straw sack made of cornstraw would suffice. As he is leaving, Johann says he intends to have a splendid dish brought tomorrow for them.

Conversation Book 82, 1r-4v.

Today at the Landständischen Saal in Vienna, thirteen-year-old pianist Antonie Oster gives a concert, which features the newest piano concerto, Nr.7, the “Farewell to England” concerto in A minor, op.132, by Beethoven’s pupil Ferdinand Ries, as well as other works. The concert opens with an unspecified Overture by Beethoven. “The young artist provides beautiful evidence of her significant progress, and she also demonstrates her ability through the solid performance of interesting recent compositions.” Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung Nr.9, March 2, 1825, at 147.