BEETHOVEN 200 YEARS AGO TODAY: Sunday, September 4, 1825

Conversation Book 94 begins being used today. This book consists of 48 leaves; all but one of the pages (29v) has writing on it; 29v is crossed out with Beethoven’s red crayon he used for proofreading. Schindler misidentified the year of its use as 1826, but the contents indicate it must be from early September of 1825. It covers about a week of time. Almost the first half of the book is devoted to a visit today by Parisian publisher Maurice Schlesinger, who must have taken up most of Beethoven’s day.

Nephew Karl arrives at Uncle Ludwig’s apartment mid-morning, along with Schlesinger and unpaid assistant Karl Holz, likely in a private carriage. Holz and Schlesinger book rooms at one of the Baden hotels. Karl indicates that Friedrich Kuhlau may come again tomorrow along with piano maker Conrad Graf. He drove out to Baden again yesterday with several other friends.

Schlesinger thinks it’s a pity that Beethoven hasn’t written any songs for so long, especially spiritual ones, which are so edifying. Schlesinger mentions he saw Carl Maria von Weber at the spa at Bad Ems [where he was getting treatment for his tuberculosis.] Weber continues to suffer greatly from hoarseness. Schlesinger thinks that the nature here in Baden is “infinitely beautiful.”

Holz asks Beethoven where he would like to eat as their guest. They dine outside in the fresh air, and drink a toast to Karl’s name day [actually, today is his nineteenth birthday, not his name day.] After the meal, the three visitors go for a walk while Beethoven stays behind and reads the newspapers. He makes a note about Lorenz Stofliz, an authorized paper rastrator [person who writes music staves on paper.] He sells his handiwork for 21 1/2 florins per ream. The City of London restaurant also serves French cooking from 9 until 11 at night, and from 12 to 5 during the day.

Schlesinger says he spoke to Kuhlau, who told him Beethoven had written him a very beautiful canon [Kühl nicht lau, WoO 191] on the notes spelling out BACH [B-flat, A, C and B natural in German notation.] Kuhlau thought it most interesting. He will send his own B-A-C-H canon, and if Beethoven permits, he would like to have them both printed in the Berliner Musikalische Zeitung [published by Maurice’s father Adolph Schlesinger.] They had a most pleasant day. Kuhlau told him, “I don’t know how I got home and into bed.” Kuhlau told Schlesinger that Beethoven gave him excellent wine.

Schlesinger offers Beethoven a miniature portrait of his former fiancée. “But everything in this world is transitory; similarly, all things earthly evaporate into nothingness, and unfortunately the external shell is often so deceptive! An angel on the outside; the devil within; women are too often like that. After that time, I spent very unhappy hours until I could forget her.” [If Beethoven accepts the portrait, this may be one of the several miniature portraits of unidentified women found after his death.] “She was a beautiful girl, who sang quite charmingly. Too frivolous.”

Schlesinger asks whether Beethoven has read the Meditations of Alphonse de Lamartine (1790-1869). He also inquires about the status of the third quartet [op.130. Beethoven probably assures him, as he does most people, that it will be finished in about two weeks, which is highly overoptimistic.]

Holz appears to leave the group about this time. Schlesinger reaches an agreement with Beethoven for publishing the quartets op.132 and 130 [which is presently assigned opus number 134] for 80 ducats each. “Please deliver to me the copy [of op.132], for which I shall give you the sum immediately.” Joseph Böhm, Merk, etc. would like to perform it on Tuesday September 6 or Wednesday September 7, if Beethoven will permit it. Linke, Böhm, Merk etc. merely want to rehearse the quartet in Schlesinger’s rooms, and he is happy to hear it away from the public. There are double windows so no one will hear it.

As far as the second quartet [op.130] is concerned, when the score of that quartet is ready, it can be delivered to Biedermann’s, next to the Kärntnertor Theater. [Joseph Biedermann was coincidentally the employer of Franz Oliva, who served as Beethoven’s unpaid assistant for many years and has now been living in St. Petersburg for more than four years.] Biedermann will be traveling to Paris on October 15, and he can bring it with him. Schlesinger will authorize him to pay, and they can deal this way in the future.

Schlesinger would also like to hear the quartet op.127 that was sent to Schott. Böhm said he would also play that for Schlesinger, if Beethoven would be willing to give it to him for that purpose. Karl offers to take the quartet [probably op.132] and that way he could speak with everyone and they could study it for themselves so all goes well on September 7. Since Herr von Schlesinger is staying in Baden till tomorrow evening, there would be an entire day wasted if he takes it with him.

Schlesinger mentions that all works by foreign composers have to be legalized by the French embassy. Schlesinger would like to get the agreement regarding the two quartets put into writing today, so he can take it to the embassy on Tuesday, September 6 and get that approval in order. Schlesinger knows the King’s First Gentleman [i.e., High Chamberlain] very well. Beethoven asks when Schlesinger is returning to Paris, and he replies the end of the month. Schlesinger offers to draft something in French. Beethoven asks whether the French King would like a dedication, and Schlesinger assures him it would meet with a favorable reception. But if Beethoven is looking for financial recompense, his best bet is with the Russian Czar. “He gives multiple brilliant rings and snuffboxes.”

Nephew Karl reminds his uncle that he was going to write something for the Berliner allgemeine musikalische Zeitung about the biography of Tobias Haslinger he sent to Schott. Karl thinks it needs to be written in Ludwig’s name, and not by some third party. Schlesinger questions the wisdom of doing so; it won’t do Haslinger any good, and it will only draw attention to the fact Beethoven actually wrote something about him. [Schlesinger seems to have understood well what is now known as the Streisand Effect.]

Schlesinger thinks it would be a better use of Beethoven’s time to write an article for the Berlin newspaper on what should a Symphony be, and what should an Overture be. He could make reference to Rossini’s habit of transferring overtures from one opera to another, “as if a head was suitable for any rump.”

Schlesinger lets Beethoven know that his Fidelio is to be given in French. [A projected performance at the Odeon was planned but fails to come about.] “I reckon that it will totally fail; it is too good for the common folk and the singers; they will not embrace its elevated spirit; the voices would not be able to carry it.”

Schlesinger is baffled at the positive reception that Weber’s operas have received. [An unauthorized French translation of Der Freischütz had been given in December of 1824 to acclaim.] “I believe that it has more to do with the bizarre subject and the novelty of the libretto.” Weber is now writing the opera Oberon for England. “I do not know, though, whether Weber will be able to incorporate into it the cozy Lied that is his primary specialty. The English language can only be set with difficulty. Schlesinger is shocked that there is currently no opera in Vienna at all [Barbaja’s lease for producing opera at the Kärntnertor Theater had expired in March of 1825, and no one had taken it over after he returned to Italy.]

Schlesinger turns to a topic near and dear to Beethoven’s heart: A Complete Edition of Beethoven’s works. Schlesinger would like to begin with chamber music, the Trios, Quartets and Quintets. He would like assurance that Beethoven still intends to write another quartet [He in fact completes two more after op.130] and three quintets [Beethoven started work on the first of these. in the key of C major, WoO 62. Beethoven died before he completed much more than the Introduction, though there are significant sketches for four movements.] Schlesinger would like to begin advertising them.

Nephew Karl asks what opus numbers the latest quartets are to have. Uncle Ludwig tells him op.132 and 134.

Schlesinger had wanted to go from here to Milan, and then take a ship from Geneva to Marseille. But he has to go to Berlin instead. He dislikes traveling, but one meets such a variety of people in every city.

Wise literature is forbidden. Hoffmann’s spiritually rich Phantasiestücke may not even be read in Vienna, let alone published. [It was originally printed in 1814-1815, with a second edition in 1819.] Schlesinger mentions Merkenstein, a ruined castle south of Baden. [Beethoven had made two settings of Johann Baptist Rupprecht’s poem about the castle, as a vocal solo (WoO 144) and a duet (op.100).]

Nephew Karl mentions to Schlesinger that Uncle Ludwig had been invited to go to England, and that he considered it, but decided it was too expensive. Schlesinger thinks it would be very useful to him. “I tell you again, that if you go to London for 3 months, I can assure you that the expenses of your journey will be covered, and 25,000 [florins] W.W. will certainly remain for you, if you just give 2 concerts and perform something new in them.” Beethoven objects that because of his deafness he would need a traveling companion. “[Beethoven’s former pupil Ferdinand] Ries would be excellent for that; he loves you boundlessly and knows the country very well. The English are proud enough to consider themselves fortunate, if a Beethoven were to be satisfied there.”

Beethoven appears to suggest that he could have his still-unpublished Ninth Symphony performed there. [He clearly has not learned about the disastrous London premiere of the Symphony.] Schlesinger asks whether it is not yet printed there, and learns it is not. “Then get it all together; I mean this sincerely: one must seize the moment.”

Schlesinger mentions that Beethoven is often discussed in Paris. He asks for a greeting to the composers of Paris, including Luigi Cherubini and Anton Reicha, both of whom Beethoven knew. Pianist Friedrich Kalkbrenner and Giacomo Meyerbeer are both living in Paris as well. “Then doesn’t your great genius lay everything low? It appears that way to everyone with whom I have discussed Beethoven, they express the greatest admiration. There are not many great composers here now.” Cherubini has fallen out of favor with the world. “He worries too much that his creations are not acknowledged according to their merit. He has a very beautiful daughter, an ideal example of beauty. He has an annual income of 16,000-18,000 francs, which he also spends, because he lives in a splendid fashion.”

They stop at a restaurant for a late dinner; Beethoven has soup. Schlesinger comments that Beethoven would miss that in England because there are no soups there. But they have good meat. Ignaz Moscheles is in London with his wife. “He has a very lovely, well-educated and economical wife, the daughter of a Hamburg merchant.” Beethoven asks how Schlesinger likes the soup. He finds it excellent, the likes of which he has not yet eaten in Vienna. Schlesinger reminds Beethoven of the time he visited the composer in Mödling in 1819, and the restaurant was out of veal, making Beethoven furious. Schlesinger drove into Vienna, got him a plate of roast veal, and had it taken to him by messenger all the way back to Mödling.

The discussion turns again to Kuhlau. He is able to tolerate his liquor, so if he was drunk he must have drunk very, very much. Schlesinger thinks he is a man of talent. Beethoven remarks that he has only one eye. “A cyclops,” answers Schlesinger. And his remaining eye turns in towards his nose.

Schlesinger mentions to Karl that his uncle is Cherubini’s idol. “He has often told his students that the greatest musical spirits who ever lived and will live are Beethoven and Mozart.” Beethoven answers that he also regards Cherubini well.

Schlesinger asks whether Beethoven has ever been to Berlin. Yes, many years ago, he answers. Schlesinger wonders, if Beethoven were to write an opera for Berlin, whether he would come there for the performance.

Talk turns to the metronome and its inventor, Johann Nepomuk Mälzel. He is angry at Beethoven because he thinks the composer is no longer designating metronome markings. Beethoven objects that he certainly does, and has promised markings to Schott’s for the Missa Solemnis and the Ninth Symphony. Schlesinger says that the poor man lives off it, and for that reason it matters to him that the foremost men use it. Weber gave metronome markings for Der Freischütz.

Schlesinger is curious about the profits from the May 1825 Akademie concerts. Karl explains the disappointing results, especially from the second concert, which was delayed until after many people had departed Vienna for the summer. He would have thought that the emperor or the archdukes would have contributed, but they did not. “That reminds me of what Moscheles wrote me after the concert [in London]; he said: ‘In order to give you proof of how noble the nobility are, I’ll tell you that the Duke of Cumberland sent me 5 guineas, while the banker Goldschmidt sent me 25.” Only intrigues and poor behavior make any impression on the Great Ones.

Schlesinger hopes that Beethoven will be able to visit him in Vienna this week, since he cannot depart before Saturday, September 10. He tells proud Uncle Ludwig that Karl “is a charming, polite young man.” Schlesinger will try to come visit again on next Sunday, the 11th. Schlesinger asks for a lock of Beethoven’s hair as a souvenir. [Beethoven probably granted this request.]

Karl takes the public coach back to Vienna about 4 p.m. Schlesinger and Beethoven go to have a drink, and Schlesinger proposes a toast to Goethe. He mentions that Goethe is 10-12 years older than Beethoven. [He is in fact 21 years older.]

They talk about Karl’s future, studying business, which was not what Uncle Ludwig had in mind for his nephew. He could be a musician as well. “Those who have the fewest means often have the greatest happiness; I am not rich, but I have my bread and I do not want for more. I feel exceedingly happy particularly today, when an infinitely happy day has been granted to me like none other I have ever experienced before.”

Schlesinger asks how old Beethoven was when he wrote his first work. [Beethoven’s first published work was the Dressler Variations, WoO 63, composed when Beethoven was 11. Because he thought he was two years younger than he really was, Beethoven likely tells Schlesinger he was 9.] Talk returns to the idea of the collected edition of Beethoven’s works. He would like to get a copy of the list [compiled by Haslinger] of all his works, and they can reach an agreement on what additional works will be composed for it and when. He would like to promise the subscribers for the Trios, Quartets and Quintets with certainty that Beethoven will compose another quartet and 3 quintets for him. “We should do that as early as possible.” Schlesinger will start with that in the first year, and then in the second year take on the piano works, and all the rest after that. “It is a large-scale project that requires time.”

“However, every one of your Quartets is just as fine a masterpiece as an oratorio. One will live as long as the other. If you write quartets and quintets, you will earn more money for your nephew than with all the other large-scale works. Therefore you may indeed work on these quartets for that reason as well. Whoever lives with the wolves must howl with the wolves, and these days the world is indeed a den of wolves.”

Schlesinger makes another toast, this time to Luigi Cherubini. He has received the title of Baron from the government, along with the Order of the Legion of Honor. “It is evidence of the acknowledgement of his talent—which he did not seek—because Napoleon, who valued him greatly, once found fault with one of his compositions, and he told him, ‘Your Majesty does not understand any more about composition than I do about a battle.’ Napoleon behaved in a petty way toward Cherubini; he took all of the previously assured positions away from him, and Cherubini had almost nothing on which to live. And yet, he used the popular culture extensively—through the long wars, he had enlightened the people.”

[Beethoven appears to express his extreme disappointment over Napoleon making himself Emperor.] Schlesinger agrees, “If Napoleon had remained 1st Consul rather than World Conqueror, he would have been one of the greatest men who ever lived.” Where did he go wrong, Beethoven asks. “Ambition,” is the answer. No one likes the Bourbons. Everyone puts their hopes in Little Napoleon [his son, the Duke of Reichstadt (1811-1832)]. The Emperor here is at least good, but the other one is only interesting.”

The pair make their way back to Beethoven’s apartment for some coffee. Schlesinger notes that in France they believe that coffee made with steam loses its taste if it is not drunk after the smoke rises in the air. Schlesinger expresses some surprise that Beethoven makes his own coffee himself; Schlesinger does as well. He has a good housekeeper who rules the house. Beethoven asks how old she is, and he says 45. Beethoven questions whether that does not give rise to scandalous talk, and Schlesinger dismisses that, “There is no danger.”

Schlesinger admires the portrait of Beethoven’s beloved grandfather Ludwig. He asks whether Beethoven is of Dutch ancestry. [The name Beethoven is derived from the Dutch meaning “Beet farm.”] Schlesinger asks what portrait Beethoven considers to be the best likeness. His answer is probably the lithograph of the Stephan Decker portrait, which he commonly hands out to friends and admirers, including Kuhlau.

A rather drunk Schlesinger starts maligning royalty. “I thought that Rudolph was the richest of the Austrian princes. But it appears not to be so.” He adds “But the Emperor is a stupid ox. He says, ‘I don’t need any intellectuals; I want good citizens.’ And unfortunately the clergy are springing up far too much in all the countries, stupidity is gaining the upper hand.” He wonders whether the people in America will remain free for very long. “I hope for it and want it with all my heart. Posterity will experience greater things than we have.”

Schlesinger says that in order to avoid piracy, he will also make arrangements for the two quartets he is buying to be published in Vienna. This will need to be done quietly.

It’s getting late, so Schlesinger will return to his hotel. But if Beethoven will permit it, he would like to visit again tomorrow, and asks when the best time is to arrive. [Since Beethoven works in the mornings, he probably suggests after mid-day dinner.] Late in the evening, Schlesinger departs and Beethoven goes to bed.

Conversation Book 94, 1r-23r.

Sir George Smart arrives in Vienna today from London. According to his diaries, after dinner at his hotel, he takes a walk and visits St. Stephen’s church, and then attends a performance of the musical farce Jacob in Wein at 7 p.m. at the Theater in der Leopoldstadt, which left him “convulsed with laughter….The theatre is small and dirty as was the scenery. The orchestra was large but the music [by Wenzel Müller] gave no opportunity for the display of skill if they had any to display. The pitch was rather above mine. The conductor sat at a queer-toned pianoforte and beat time with a roll.” Cox and Cox, Leaves from the Journal of Sir George Smart (London, 1907), pp.98-99.

Today is the third and final day of the Music Festival of the Countries on the Elbe River, held in Magdeburg. Leipzig Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung Nr.40, October 4, 1825 at 665-666. The grand concert concluded with Beethoven’s Symphony Nr.2 in D major, “a work that needs no praise, and was performed very well, and the strong orchestra (62 violins and 12 double basses) made an extraordinary effect.”