BEETHOVEN 200 YEARS AGO TODAY: Thursday, September 16, 1824

Beethoven, still in Vienna, dictates to Nephew Karl a cover letter to Andreas Streicher today, probably before going out to run errands. “Your wish is granted, my dear friend! The vocal parts for my last grand Mass with accompaniment for organ or piano may be offered to the various singing societies, for these societies to use at public, but especially religious, celebrations. They can have an extraordinary effect on the crowd, and my main intention in preparing this grand Mass was to appeal to both those singing and those listening, to awaken make persistent the resulting feelings.:

“But since the copying, as well as the constant proofreading, incurs a great deal of expense, I cannot charge less than 50 ducats hard money for it. I leave it to you to make the inquiries so that I can devote my time to the matter itself.”

“I greet you warmly. Yours respectfully, Luwig [sic] Van Beethoven.

Brandenburg Letter 1875; Anderson Letter 1307. The original is in Karl’s hand, signed and dated by Beethoven. This was apparently one of five identical copies to legitimize Andreas Streicher’s solicitations for subscriptions by the various large singing societies. The copy held by the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. (Moldenhauer Collection), was sent to Friedrich Wilhelm Riem, director of the Bremen Singakademie.

A second copy, which Streicher sent to Hans Georg Nägeli in Zurich, is catalogued as Brandenburg Letter 1876. The whereabouts of this letter are unknown, but the text is derived from Nohl’s edition of Beethoven’s letters, letter 313. The two letters are identical in all important respects, though in this copy the phrase “I greet you warmly” was apparently left out.

Karl delivers the letters to Streicher so that he can do the heavy lifting of the solicitation work. His cover letters will be discussed tomorrow.

Nephew Karl mentions that he saw Archduke Rudolph yesterday. His uncle asks him where he saw his patron. Karl says he was taking a walk in the Glacis. He encountered a religious person who had the misfortune not to notice him. He gave him a fearsome look. The gentleman of the chamber went with him. Then another Archduke, whom Karl didn’t know, came with him. He was tall with a bald head.

They look at some of the apartments on the list, including one with gardens behind it. Uncle Ludwig is not sure of the best way to get to the Tobacco Concession and Karl explains a route through the Riemerstrasse.

Ambassador from Nassau and Tuscany Carl von Odelga was not back at his offices yesterday. Uncle Ludwig tells Karl he should try again. Karl agrees, he was going to go there again just now. They expected him to return yesterday. Uncle Ludwig asks when he is to meet with Odelga, and Karl responds at 2 o’clock. They agree to meet at a place under the gate.

They look at more apartments. One is 600 florins C.M., but the landlady isn’t coming in from the country until Saturday, September 18.

At another place, the man who formerly lived there wanted a great deal for the painted wall decorations. But since no one wanted to pay him, he whitewashed the walls. Renting until Georgi [April 24] would be half, or 625 florins W.W.

They visit another apartment in the Rotgasse, which is rather dark, and costs 1200 florins W.W. for the year. The landlady offers a rent reduction to 450 florins C.M., or 1125 Florins W.W. Half the year would be 225 Florins C.M, or 50 ducats. [Editor Theodore Albrecht notes that Rotgasse is both narrow and oriented east-west, so it probably had limited light during the day in certain seasons of the year.] Some rooms are quite dark, though there is one that gets morning sun. The landlady will hold the apartment for them until Saturday, September 18. Karl thinks the apartment is quite suitable for them, and that if they get the one on the second floor [third floor American] there is none better to be found. Uncle Ludwig doesn’t like the stairs. Karl agrees no-one likes to go upstairs. They won’t have another apartment available for several more weeks. Karl thinks his uncle is too isolated.

Having looked at several apartments, they discuss the carriage ride back to Baden, which they expect will be 2 1/2 hours, and how the coachman is paid.

The housekeeper Barbara Holzmann is afraid that she will have to go back to the old people’s home. She only has a release for a month; the administrator renewed it only because it was Beethoven’s request. [Not only because he was Beethoven, but he also had been a generous contributor to the Spital of St. Marx.] Everything she has belongs to the home, and she cannot bequeath anything, since she has to turn over all of her belongings. If she has to go back there, she can stay for a month and then go on leave again. Even while she is there, she can leave in the morning and return in the evening, and thus continue to work for them.

Karl mentions that at Streicher’s they were recently saying Baroness Antonie Puthon is dead. [She was a friend of Beethoven and a former pupil of Muzio Clementi. She had died on February 14, 1824.] Perhaps they kept her death hush-hush.

The apartment in the Erdberg wouldn’t be good for Uncle Ludwig, Karl thinks. There are a lot of stairs, but once you are upstairs it’s very pleasant. A count had lived there, and he had let the painted wall decorations fall to ruin. Everything was fine, up to the pillows, which were missing pillow covers.

Karl asks what Holzmann needs to shop for. They will need some game.

Uncle Ludwig has questions about Andreas Streicher’s plan for the singing societies. Basically, Ludwig has to do nothing but compose, and Streicher will take over the marketing. Karl doesn’t think Leidesdorf’s plan that he negotiated with Brother Johann is acceptable. It’s best to ask for a round sum, deliver the music and receive the money.

Streicher also wants to write to composers Carl Czerny, Anton Halm and Franz Paul Lachner about doing the piano arrangement of the Mass. Karl is studying piano with Halm presently, and goes to him on Saturdays.

Holzmann bought some venison. Karl believes it best to be bought here rather than Baden. She knows too little about how things work at the market. The best things are hidden for the restaurants amongst the bad ones. But if someone sees the good things, they have to hand it over, or at least that’s what Frau von Streicher told him. Holzmann says one should have a cellar. The apartment building in the Salzgries had a cellar. She can’t roast game meat thoroughly, Karl believes; it’s always red. Since today is Thursday, the beef is no longer as good as it would have been earlier in the week.

Karl computes the cost of the postage, and those who receive letters also have to pay under the postal system of the time.

Despite their discussion about returning to Baden, they decide to stay in Vienna to continue apartment hunting tomorrow.

Conversation Book 75, 20v-30v.

King Louis XVIII of France, who had given Beethoven a gold medal in honor of the receipt of the score of the Missa Solemnis, dies today, having suffered for some months from gout and gangrene. He is succeeded by his younger brother, the Count of Artois, as King Charles X (1757-1836). Luigi Cherubini, one of Beethoven’s favorite composers, will compose his Coronation Mass for the occasion, and Rossini will compose the opera Il Viaggio a Reims in the new king’s honor. A devotee of the principle of absolute monarchy by divine right, Charles X will be forced to abdicate after the riots over his suspension of the constitution in 1830. He is the last of the Bourbon kings of France, spending his remaining years back in exile.