BEETHOVEN 200 YEARS AGO TODAY: Wednesday, April 26, 1826
Beethoven dictates to Nephew Karl a sort of letter of conciliation, if not exactly apology, dated today to unpaid assistant Karl Holz, once he has calmed down.
“Dear friend!”
“You can be assured that I no longer think about the recent incident at all, and that this will never change my grateful feelings towards you. I therefore ask you not to express anything of the sort in your conduct; you will always be welcome.”
“I hope you will not disdain my table next Sunday. I have too much to do this week, and I have no rest until everything is finished; but then, in such cases, the time for lunch at my table is impossible to determine, as I have always been accustomed to eating very late lunch since I was 13. I was further encouraged in this by respected businessmen here, and it is now difficult to give up this habit entirely. Please do not take this ironically; bear in mind that I depend on the Muse, and you will certainly not disagree with me then; I have long considered a way to express my gratitude to you, which I will put into action as soon as possible. If you have time to visit me this week, it will be a pleasure, if you wish to visit me. You will find me unchanged as usual. I will most certainly expect you on Sunday.”
“As always, your friend Beethoven.”
Brandenburg Letter 2150; Anderson Letter 1482. The original is held in the New York Pierpont Morgan Library (Mary Flagler Cary Music Collection). A draft of the letter in Beethoven’s hand also survives at the Bonn Beethovenhaus, H.C. Bodmer Collection Br 288, which was discussed in the column for Monday, April 24, 1826.
Violinist Ignaz Schuppanzigh writes to Beethoven today:
“Most mighty Beethoven,”
“I thank you for yesterday’s reply concerning the Pater Noster Gässchen. Little Tobias only has one copy of this March with Chorus. If I could have duplicates of both this chorus and the Overture, namely the one in C major [the Name Day Overture, op.115, which Haslinger was also about to publish], from you, most noble sir, I most earnestly beg you for them.”
“Your Primo Violino, Schuppanzigh mp” [by his own hand.]
Brandenburg Letter 2151; Albrecht Letter 432. The original of this letter is held by the Berlin Staatsbibliothek (aut.35,62). Schuppanzigh had to present Beethoven’s permission to Haslinger in order to obtain from him the unpublished performance materials for his planned concert in the Augarten on May 11, 1826. The review of the concert in the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung Nr.28 at 427 mentions the “newest overture by Beethoven (in C)” was performed. Although Consecration of the House was actually newer, Name Day had not yet been published and was not performed many times at all.
The report from Salzburg at 288 of today’s Leipzig Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung (Nr.17) indicates that the expanded choir is having much success in beautiful church music. “The compositions of Mozart, Jos. and Mich. Hayden, Hummel, Beethoven, and others, are performed with great acclaim. At high performances, the orchestra is accompanied by the very good band of the Imperial Regiment of the Grand Duke of Baden, which also performs in the museum and in the theater.”
The Berliner allgemeine musikalische Zeitung of May 10, 1826 (Nr.19) at 148 includes a report on the sixth subscription concert given today in Herr Jagor’s hall in Berlin by the Bliesener brothers [violinist Jean Emanuel Bliesener (1765-1842), hornist Ernst Bliesener Jr. (c.1770-1842), and clarinetist Friedrich August Bliesener (c.1780-1841)]. The concert opens with Beethoven’s Eroica symphony, “which was received with great applause.” The second part of the concert began with a grand Overture in C major by Beethoven “(performed here for the first time)” [probably also the Name Day Overture, op.115, since the other Beethoven overtures in C had previously been performed in Berlin.] Credit is given to the concert organizers for including this novelty, about which the correspondent “cannot express an opinion after hearing it only once.”