BEETHOVEN 200 YEARS AGO TODAY: Tuesday, July 12, 1825
Beethoven and housekeeper Barbara Holzmann take a carriage early in the morning to Vienna, arriving around 10 a.m. Beethoven likely sends Holzmann off with the letter to Dr. Braunhofer, possibly with Nephew Karl. Holzmann returns with the news (related by Karl) that Braunhofer will see Ludwig at 11 a.m. He will completely forbid Ludwig from going bathing. Holzmann goes off to run errands and shop, telling them that she will be back at 5. Ludwig wants her to meet them at the doctor’s instead, and she agrees to do so, at around a quarter to noon.
In the meantime, Karl asks his uncle where he would like to eat. At a restaurant or more likely a coffee house since it is still quite early, Beethoven makes the following errand and shopping list before going to visit the doctor:
- Rubber bands.
- for trousers.
- Copyist. [Beethoven sent Holzmann to visit the copyist, though it is unclear exactly what is being copied at this time, and likewise which of several copyists is meant. This might be in connection with making a score or set of parts to the quartet in A minor, op.132, which is nearing completion.]
- Pension. [The annuity payment due on the pension for Karl from his father’s civil service.]
- 10-line music paper. [This likely is for the fair copy of the full score to quartet op.132, the autograph of which, held at the Berlin Staatsbibliothek, Beethoven Mend.-Stif. 11, is written on 10-staff music paper. That autograph can be seen here: https://digital.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/werkansicht/?PPN=PPN749587156 That score is 138 pages long, so Beethoven might have run low on this paper, if he is not just beginning work on this fair copy now.]
- Tailor.
- Shoemaker. [Magnus Senn, referenced in Beethoven’s letter to Karl tomorrow.]
Karl goes to the parish priest to get the necessary affirmation that he is still alive so his pension can be collected. Meanwhile, Beethoven stops at a book store on the way to Dr. Braunhofer. He buys five books, one at 2 florins 40 kreutzers and four at 5 and one-half florins each, to be delivered. [The four expensive books may be installments of the subscription series to the Complete Works of Schiller or the set of Shakespeare he is also acquiring.]
Beethoven then visits Dr. Braunhofer at his home office in the Bauernmarkt, Nr.588. As expected, the doctor tells Beethoven not to waste his time going to the baths in Baden. “For you, the baths in Baden are absolutely worthless, except for the air bath, and a cleansing bath with normal water once a week. One must not do anything to excess; sleep is also part of an appropriate diet. Sulphur baths irritate you too much, and you are susceptible to that anyway.”
Beethoven asks whether he might not at least take the occasional bath. “For the time being, stay away from the baths entirely, and even the cleansing bath may never be used for more than 1/2 hour.”
Braunhofer continues, “Believe me, diet is the most important thing for your maintenance. Along with avoiding all irritating substances in your food and drink, is the elimination of too many medicines, which also includes the baths and excessive physical exercise.” What about coffee and wine, Beethoven asks? “Only nourishing foods give strength to the body, but absolutely no stimulating drinks. You can drink wine with water in small portions, but not a great deal.”
“Your spirit is a sufficiently stimulating power; if spiritous drinks are added to it, then your body will soon be exhausted and defeated.”
Beethoven asks how long he must stay on this regimen. “Write to me again after 12 days; then I shall give you further instructions.” [If Beethoven does so, the letter does not survive.] The composer asks whether there is anything that can be done for his hearing. “There is presently nothing to do concerning your hearing, since a selective diet is needed along with it; also, for this purpose, I’ll refer you to another doctor for consultation.” Beethoven meets up with Holzmann, and they proceed to the tailor shop in the Kärntnerstrasse, likely around noon. The tailor indicates how much fabric will be needed for various items of clothing:
Cloth (pantaloons) 1 1/2 ells
Cashmere 3 1/2 ells
Dress coat 2 1/2 ells
Satin cloth 3 1/2 ells
They catch up with Karl and have mid-day dinner early in the afternoon. Ludwig complains about being prohibited from the baths, one of the attractions that makes Baden so expensive for his summer stay. Karl asks how the doctor behaved otherwise, and Ludwig fills him in about the dietary restrictions.
Ludwig asks how things went with the priest and the annuity. “The priest was charming. He spoke a great deal about you.” Ludwig asks when they can order their food and drink, and Karl tells him he has already taken care of it. The priest signed his name as necessary. Karl suggests that his uncle countersign the document, which would give it more weight, even if it isn’t necessary.
Holzmann tells a story about how she has been living in the Spital [home for the aged poor] for two years already. But she found out they only just now got around to approving the paperwork for her to be admitted, two years after she applied.
Holzmann stopped at the copyist’s, as Beethoven had requested, but found that he has gone to Salzburg, so that errand was futile. She has more errands to run yet today, so she gets ready to depart. Ludwig would like her to meet them at 4 o’clock. She cannot do it by 4, since she has to go to two offices, and she has to wait everywhere. She should be able to meet them at 4:30, though.
[Former unpaid assistant Anton Schindler here found two blank pages near the end of this conversation book, and filled them in with his usual deceptive entries after Beethoven’s death.]
Conversation Book 90, 36r-40r. Beethoven and Holzmann return to Baden, probably taking the 5 p.m. public coach rather than the carriage, since Beethoven was so insistent that she be finished running her errands before then.
Before he departs Vienna, Beethoven visits the shoemaker, Magnus Senn. Perhaps to avoid having Senn see his other conversations, including those with Braunhofer, Conversation Book 91 begins being used about now. This booklet of 48 pages is probably complete, and all pages bear writing. Schindler correctly identified this as being used in Baden during 1825; A.W. Thayer was able to narrow it down to August. From the internal references, it covers about a month in time, from roughly today, July 14, to around August 13, 1825.
Beethoven is apparently unhappy with a pair of boots that don’t fit properly. The shoemaker tells him that if he wears them twice, they will be better. Senn then lists his prices for a variety of items or services, none of which are specifically listed. Beethoven commissions Senn to do something for him (possibly stretching out the boots); in a letter sent on Wednesday he will have Karl pick up the results.
Conversation Book 91, 1r-1v.
On the way back to Baden, when he stops at Neudorf, Beethoven runs into violinists Franz Clement, Karl Holz and Franz Pechatschek, as well as cellist Joseph Linke. They had all gone out to Baden to visit him, while Beethoven was in the city, and were now returning. They would like to have the quartet op.127 again. The others go back to Vienna, but Holz drives to Baden with Beethoven where they share the evening meal. Beethoven gives him the quartet to take back to Vienna. We know about this from the letter Ludwig writes to Karl, probably tomorrow, relating the story. However, there are no entries in the conversation book that reflect this discussion or Holz’s dinner with Beethoven, so there must have been a now-lost group of papers that were used to communicate. Holz will start making regular appearances in the conversation books in less than a week.
Beethoven, not trusting his housekeeper and other servants, now requires that they keep financial records of monies received and accounting for all of their expenditures. Beethoven then carefully reviews them, makes corrections as necessary, and then once he was satisfied as to the examination, crosses them out.
The Ira F. Brilliant Beethoven Center at San Jose State University holds one of these leaves, IFBms6, covering July 12-13 and August 8-9, 1825. [Although the tentative dating of this leaf by the Ira F. Brilliant Beethoven Center is 1823, Ludwig Schiedermair determined that the dates for tailor expenses shown here comport with those reflected in the conversation books with visits by the tailor that occurred in 1825.]
https://archives.calstate.edu/concern/archives/tx31qs88n
