BEETHOVEN 200 YEARS AGO TODAY: Thursday, October 30, 1823

Beethoven and Nephew Karl are looking at fish for the meatless Friday and the holiday weekend for All Souls Day. Karl observes that tomorrow is Friday, allowing these entries to be specifically dated. The pike costs 45 kr., the carp 42 kr, or 1 fl. 27 kr. for the pair, though the carp is a little larger. They opt for the carp. Beethoven makes a note that they need three pots, coffee and a large bag of sugar. Karl does some computing to demonstrate the costs of all the things they need.

The pair also stop by the home of Josepha Schlemmer, who is contracting out the copying of the remaining subscription copies of the Missa Solemnis. She observes that she still needs the missing last sheet of the Gloria, which Beethoven had retained along with the first page to prevent distribution of unauthorized copies. They can give it to her, and Mathias Wunderl will include it in the copies he is making. [Wunderl had been an assistant to both Wenzel Schlemmer and Wenzel Rampl in 1822, and after Schlemmer’s death his widow had retained Wunderl to help make these copies for Beethoven.]

Conversation Book 44, 4r-

It seems that Beethoven, his friend Tobias Haslinger and others frequenting Steiner’s music shop developed a little secret language of their own based on Weber’s opera Euryanthe in the days after its premiere. Sometime probably about today, Beethoven writes a short undated note to Haslinger that is fairly impenetrable: “Be from the farm – Send me my shoes and my sword – you can have the Eglantine for six days, for which you have to issue a lapel.” [Eglantine in the opera is Euryanthe’s friend turned enemy.] Sieghard Brandenburg suggests that this apparent nonsense may relate to the proofs for the Kakadu Variations for piano trio, op.121a.

Brandenburg Letter 1750, Anderson 1340. The original is held by the Berlin Staatsbibliothek, Mus. ep. autogr. Beethoven 7. Anderson assigns it an 1824 date, but given the reference to Euryanthe it seems more likely to be around the time of the opera’s premiere when it was fresh in everyone’s mind.