BEETHOVEN 200 YEARS AGO TODAY: Sunday, September 5, 1824

Ludwig and Nephew Karl go into Vienna today to visit the Streichers and their piano shop. They meet the son, Johann Baptist Streicher, who shows them his new patent pianos. His parents, Nannette and Johan Andreas Streicher are also present. For the most part Karl writes on behalf of all of them.

Johann Baptist points out one piano as his first attempt; the others have 6 octaves. There are 10 already finished. The way the hammers strike the strings is controlled by means of a pedal. 4 were sent on August 8th. The hammers are coated with cotton, which presses into the strings. It is a louder instrument than usual. He likes to keep the instrument as simple as possible, as did his grandfather [piano maker Johann Andreas Stein; Nannette’s brother was Matthäus Stein, who frequently worked on Beethoven’s pianos]. The bass strings are not as loud, because of the length, but the tone is greater and the sounds are otherwise louder.

Nannette Streicher, Beethoven’s longtime friend and Johann Baptist’s mother, says she is glad that Beethoven saw the instruments her father made when Ludwig was 14 years old, and that now he can see her son’s. The Streichers will be returning to Vienna from their summer stay in Baden in September. The children are going to Mödling for the summer. Nannette says that Beethoven is too good with people. Beethoven complains about the inability to get good game in Baden. The Streichers suggest that when Beethoven returns to Baden that he should send to the casino for game and other things to eat, an option that seems not to have occurred to him.

The issue of the piano arrangements for the Ninth Symphony and Missa Solemnis comes up. Johann Andreas Streicher, Nannette’s husband and also a piano maker, knows 3 good people who can make such piano arrangements: Franz Lachner (1703-1890), organist at the Lutheran church in Vienna; composer and piano teacher Anton Halm (1789-1872); and Beethoven’s former pupil, Carl Czerny. [In the end, Czerny will make the two-hand and four-hand piano arrangements of the symphony. Lachner will do the same for the Missa Solemnis.] Streicher believes Lachner to be a talented young composer.

Andreas says he will make a note for Beethoven of a number of suggestions that he has for future Akademie concerts, and will send it by tomorrow or the day after. Everyone will submit to your judgment, but the only expense is to look over things to make sure they are done right. Beethoven says he is too busy to do such work, and Streicher tells him that it is therefore important to deflect all the other business away again. For instance, if he were to give a third Akademie benefit concert, he should not drown in the details, but merely appear at the rehearsals and the performance.

Ludwig and Karl return to the apartment in the Ungargasse. Later today, Andreas Streicher writes Beethoven a lengthy letter with his recommendations. He addresses it to Beethoven in Baden. “I have often thought about your situation, and especially about how and in what way you can better take advantage of your extraordinary talents.” He asks Beethoven to give careful consideration to his suggestions.

The first of these is to give a series of six subscription concerts this winter, in which not only Beethoven’s latest works, but also his older ones, are performed to the greatest possible perfection. These could be held at the Landständischer Hall or at the University Hall, both of which could be had at no cost. If there are 600 subscribers, and a 2 florin C.M. charge per person, that would be 1,200 florins per concert, or 7,200 florins C.M. for the series. If the copying costs are about 400 florins per concert, there would still be 4800 florins left. That can be pure profit and all that matters is how many pieces it would take to fill out these concerts. It doesn’t need to be symphonies or vocal works, but he has his choice of instrumental pieces. [Streicher fails to take into account the substantial cost of the performers, lights, scaffolding, stagehands, and other expenses that ate so badly into Beethoven’s profits for the first Akademie of 1824.]

If Beethoven agrees to the concept, the whole plan would be presented to him at the end of October. The main appeal would be that Beethoven wouldn’t have to do a single thing, beyond hand out the music pieces and determine when and what order they should appear in, and then appear at the main rehearsal and at every performance in person.

The second suggestion would bring in 10,000 florins C.M. or 25,000 florins W.W. That would be publication of Beethoven’s complete works, such as has been arranged for Mozart, Haydn and Clementi. That could be announced six months in advance throughout Europe, against subscription or prenumeration. Once the subscriptions are arranged, then a contract would be concluded with the publisher who offered the most advantageous terms. The piano pieces written before there were pianos of 5 and one-half or 6 octaves [that is, those written in Bonn and the early years in Vienna] could be arranged according to the ability of current instruments. If Beethoven wanted to add some new, unpublished piano pieces, that edition could then be seen as a completely fresh work, and would need to be purchased by everyone who already owns his earlier works. Streicher believes that this cannot possibly cause Beethoven much trouble. “You owe this to yourself, to your nephew, for whom you can then do something more easily, and to posterity.”

Streicher believes both of his suggestions are possible to achieve, and must bring advantage to Beethoven. The latter seems the easiest and most useful, and is well worth examining. The advice is offered in the spirit of a man who has been Beethoven’s friend for a full 36 years, and who would be happier to see the composer out of financial trouble.

Brandenburg Letter 1870; Albrecht Letter 381. The original letter is held in the Berlin Staatbibliothek (aut.35,46a.) Editor Sieghard Brandenburg notes that Breitkopf & Härtel’s editions of the complete works of Mozart, Haydn and Clementi all opened with the piano works. Andreas means well, but Beethoven’s bitter experience with the Akademie concerts this May probably makes him skeptical about such a proposition. However, the idea of his Complete Works being published has come up repeatedly, most recently with Maximilian J. Leidesdorf of the publishing firm Sauer & Leidesdorf. The monetary figures are similar to what had already been discussed with Leidesdorf, so Streicher was well informed. This complete works edition will continue to be a topic of discussion later this month.