BEETHOVEN 200 YEARS AGO TODAY: Tuesday, June 14, 1825

Beethoven writes a letter to Nephew Karl early today about the tailor, dated “Early Tuesday” (not specifying a month or year), but from context and the contents of a letter dated tomorrow, this letter clearly is written today. From the tone, Uncle Ludwig has put aside his paranoia about Karl’s conduct for the moment. “Dear son! 21 florins, more or less, seems best to me. The master of the house [Matthias Schlemmer, Karl’s landlord] can perhaps advise better.”

“Trousers 58”
” 4 1/2″

“You will receive here 62 florins W.W. 30 kreutzers; give me a receipt for the exact amount. It was hard-earned by the way. It is not worth the effort not to take the best fabric, since it is one florin per ell. Choose and let them choose the best of the two at the price of 21 florins.”

“With the trousers, also the best [cloth] — By the way, don’t wear your clothes any differently than you ordinarily would in the house, no matter who comes. You don’t have to be dressed up in the house; as soon as you get home, take off your coat and make yourself comfortable in the clothes intended for that.”

“Farewell in the meantime. Your faithful father.”

“Postscript.”
“The kitchen wench left yesterday and hasn’t come back. You’ll see soon how this all turns out. The old beast [housekeeper Barbara Holzmann] was keen for her to leave, since, like a wild animal without purpose or understanding, she has no rest. God have mercy on me. It started already yesterday with the cookery.”

Brandenburg Letter 1996; Anderson 1390. The original is in the Biblioteka Jagiellonska in Krakow (Mus. ep. autogr. Beethoven 26). Apparently the kitchen maid went to Vienna to redeem her overcoat, and then vanished after having promised she would continue working for Beethoven, since he offered to pay for her carriage.