BEETHOVEN 200 YEARS AGO TODAY: Tuesday, February 22, 1825

In Frankfurt am Main today, a grand vocal and instrumental concert is given by Herr and Mad. Hoffmann. Hr. Hoffman is one of the most outstanding members of the orchestra there, and Mad. Hoffmann, who has received widespread applause in the opera, said farewell to the local audience, following an advantageous summons to Munich. He was recognized as a tasteful and thoughtful, perhaps a little too cold, violinist, and she as a singer who had been educated at a good school. “The conclusion of today’s performance was Beethoven’s wonderful music for Egmont, with the soulful Mosengeil’s rendition of the excellent poetry, which has the great merit of helping this meaningful composition to achieve a beautiful independence. Certainly Hr. Mosengeil would like to thank all true music lovers for this successful undertaking.” Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung (Nr.17) of April 27, 1825 at 278.

Poet Friedrich Mosengeil (1773-1839), who also invented German shorthand, wrote his declamatory accompaniment to Beethoven’s music for Egmont in 1821 to help disseminate the music without a full performance of the play, and awaken memories of the main scenes of the play in the listeners. A period portrait of Mosengeil is attached.

Today’s Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung Nr.8 at 125 contains a report of the concerts held in Leipzig between October 28, 1824 and the first of the year. In the subscription concert series there, Beethoven’s Symphony Nr.7 in A was heard during that period, as well as Symphony nr.4 in B-flat, the Pastoral Symphony, and the Coriolan Overture, op.62.

The same report briefly mentions that other concerts in Leipzig have featured Beethoven’s Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt, op.112, on the poems by Goethe.

Today’s Wiener Theaterzeitung (Nr.23) at 92, in its rundown of recent opera performances, states, “Beethoven’s ‘Fidelio‘ was recently performed for the first time at the Royal Theater in Hanover, and was received with much success.”