BEETHOVEN 200 YEARS AGO TODAY: Thursday, May 4, 1826

Today is the Ascension Day holiday in Austria. Beethoven writes a letter dated “Thursday, the 4th of May” to unpaid assistant Karl Holz. “Most urgently and with all haste: As recently as the day before yesterday, I did not believe you would arrive so early; moreover, I was detained somewhere along the way—hence my late arrival. I ask that you bring the pension form with you today, as the pension was already requested [by Johanna?] yesterday.
vale et fave [Farewell and be well],
—and do not forget to go to the tailor today.”
“B—n”

Brandenburg Letter 2152; Anderson Letter 1483. No year is on the letter, but May 4 fell on a Thursday during the time that Karl Holz was working as an unpaid assistant for Beethoven only in 1826. The pension forms in question would be to collect the half of the widow’s pension of Karl’s mother for his upbringing, which Beethoven was entitled to as Karl’s guardian. However, he had waived that requirement since about November 1823, but he still had to collect the funds himself using pension vouchers, and then would turn them over to Johanna each month.