BEETHOVEN 200 YEARS AGO TODAY: Tuesday, November 16, 1824
Beethoven today writes from Vienna to the music publishing firm B. Schott’s Sons in Mainz. “My answer to your last letter was delayed for a long time, as I fell ill in the country, but am now fairly well again – I will therefore only inform you that the two works [the Missa Solemnis and Ninth Symphony] will be delivered to Friess [sic] and Company by the day after tomorrow, and the quartet will follow by the end of this month. I would be pleased if I could have fee for the quartet when I deliver it.”
“For today, I cannot tell you anything more except that I will write to you again in a few days, when I will make you a proposal that you may find agreeable. With respect and friendship, yours sincerely, Beethoven.”
Brandenburg Letter 1897; Albrecht Letter 384. The letter today is held by the Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies at San Jose State University (IFBms2), and can be seen here:
Probably today or tomorrow, Archduke Rudolph writes to Beethoven asking for a composition lesson, perhaps having learned that the composer was finally back in the City from Baden, and chiding him for not coming to visit. The letter does not survive, but is known from Beethoven’s response on November 18th.
Today in Vienna, there is a ceremony of consecration of the flags of the 30th Line Infantry Regiment garrisoned in Vienna. The solemn ceremony begins with a high mass, which is attended by the Emperor and Empress, the King of Bavaria, the Crown Prince, and quite a few Archdukes, including Beethoven’s patron Archduke Rudolph. From the account, it appears Rudolph, Cardinal and Archbishop of Olmütz, does not celebrate the Mass himself, since that is usually mentioned in such cases.
At 11 a.m., the first two battalions and Grenadier Division line up in the Josephsplatz to receive two new flags. The wear and tear on the two old flags made necessary their retirement, after the regiment had bravely defended them in a series of six of the bloodiest battles in Austrian history. The new flags have ribbons attached by His Majesty the King of Bavaria, and Her Majesty the Empress, tied by their own hands.
Oesterreichischer Beobachter, November 24, 1824 (Nr.329) at 1542.