BEETHOVEN 200 YEARS AGO TODAY: Sunday, May 5, 1822 (approximately)

Once again ill and seriously depressed, Beethoven writes an undated letter this morning to his youngest brother Johann van Beethoven. From internal evidence it can be placed to the beginning part of May. Beethoven’s health is poor once again, and Dr. Jakob Staudenheim insists he must continue to take medicine and not move around too much. Beethoven pleads that Johann come today to visit with his wife and daughter, rather than going out for a drive. [This solicitude was unusual for Ludwig; Johann had married Therese Obermayer in 1812 over his objections and Ludwig never got along with her very well. Her daughter Amalie had been born out of wedlock in January, 1807, so Ludwig called Therese a whore on more than one occasion.]

The two brothers have apparently discussed Johann serving as Ludwig’s assistant in business affairs, living together or at least nearby, with Johann essentially taking the place of Franz Oliva. Beethoven says he has made inquiries about apartments they could take, and there are many suitable ones. He would take considerable pleasure in having Johann close by, and they could save money in the process. Despite their past, Beethoven insists, “I have nothing against your wife. I only wish that they could see how much can be gained by your dwelling with me, and that all the miserable trifles of life will not cause any disturbances between us.”

Beethoven includes a pitiful postscript about as long as the letter itself. “Peace, let there be peace between us. God should not let the most natural bond between brothers be unnaturally torn apart again. Anyway, my life won’t likely last much longer. I’ll say again that I have nothing against your wife, although her conduct has caught my attention a couple of times now. Anyway, because I have been ill for 3 1/2 months now, I am very, yes, extremely sensitive and irritable. So, away with everything that cannot promote my purpose, that I and my good Karl could come into the more appropriate life that I most particularly need. Look at my apartment here [these would be the same rooms that so shocked Rossini on his visit at the end of March, when he described them as a filthy hovel] and you will see what happens when I am ill and left to the mercy of strangers! I won’t talk about other things, which we have already discussed anyway. If you come today, you could pick up Karl; I am therefore attaching this open letter to H. v. Blöchlinger; which you can forward to him.”

Anderson Letter 1078; Brandenburg Letter 1461. The original is held by the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna, catalogued as manuscript A 84/7. The attachment to Blöchlinger appears to be lost. The tentative date is based on the fact Beethoven here says he has been ill 3 and 1/2 months; in a letter dated May 19, Beethoven will say he has been ill for 4 months at that point. The presumed availability of Karl suggests the day in question is likely a Sunday. Since Dr. Staudenheim has confined him to bed, the letter appears to have been written at least a couple days after the 1st of the month, when Beethoven stated he was then in good health.

The “other matters” that they had previously discussed remain a mystery. Did Johann comply with Ludwig’s pleading? The absence of the attached letter to Blöchlinger suggests that he may indeed have done so, and retrieved Karl as requested.