BEETHOVEN 200 YEARS AGO TODAY: Thursday, June 5, 1823 (approximately)

Beethoven writes an undated letter to Schindler in early June, asking for an update on whether Prince Nikolaus II Esterházy has agreed to subscribe to the Missa Solemnis. Nothing has been heard from Dresden either, so far as he knows. [This probably refers to the expected 40 ducats to be paid for the performances of Fidelio there beginning in late April.] Beethoven promises to invite Schindler to dinner in a few days, but he is still suffering from his eyes. They are somewhat better today, but he needs to hardly use them at all.

Brandenburg Letter 1663, Anderson Letter 1183. The original is held by the Berlin Staatsbibliothek (aut. 36,8).

According to an entry in Carl Maria von Weber’s diary, he writes a letter to Beethoven today. That letter is now lost, but it presumably was recounting the successes of Beethoven’s opera Fidelio, which played to packed houses in Dresden over the last few weeks. It is also likely that this letter, the last in the series from Weber at this time, informs Beethoven the requested 40 ducats are or soon will be on their way for the score sent in April, though Beethoven does not acknowledge the receipt of the funds until July 17th. Thayer/Forbes 863.