BEETHOVEN 200 YEARS AGO TODAY: Wednesday, February 19, 1823

Prince Nikolai Galitzin today writes in French to Beethoven from St. Petersburg. He received Beethoven’s letter of January 25 only yesterday. “It filled me with joy in making me hope I will soon be able to enjoy a new production of your sublime genius. I have ordered my banker Mr. Stieglitz to send Mr. Henikstein [Beethoven’s specified agent to receive the money] the sum of 50 ducats for the first quartet. I will promptly forward another 100 for two more quartets.”

Galitzin continues, “In my impatience to taste of your masterpieces, I take the liberty of begging you to send me the 1st Quartet as soon as it is completed, before it is delivered to the press. As part of this engagement, I agree not to communicate it to anyone else, so that you will have all the possible advantages of selling to a publisher, and so that I am not an obstacle to you receiving the best price.”

Galitzin suggests that the regular methods of communication are sometimes slow, so the score should be delivered either to the Russian Legation in Vienna, or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to be sent to the Austrian Legation in St. Petersburg. These diplomatic channels are far more efficient. If Beethoven wishes to have Mr. Heniksten make the arrangements, that is fine as well.

Brandenburg Letter 1574, Albrecht Letter 310. The original letter is held by the Vienna Beethoven Society. Although Beethoven promised the first quartet would be sent by the end of March, he as usual over-promised.

Sometime about now, Beethoven writes an undated note to Tobias Haslinger at Steiner’s asking for a copy of a score and piano arrangement. This appears to be related to the forthcoming publication of The Ruins of Athens, op.113, which will be announced in the Wiener Zeitung of February 28, in both full score and piano arrangement. The letter is also full of references to the imaginary musical military force of which they are members, with Beethoven promoted [possibly a reference to the invitation to the Royal Swedish Academy of Music], and Haslinger as his Adjutant, calling him a war hero and war weapon of yore. Brandenburg Letter 1594, Anderson Letter 1117. The original is held by the Vienna City and State Library, (I.N. 5779). The dating is conjectural based on a reference to selling works in England as mentioned today’s Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung.

According to the Leipzig Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung of March 26, 1823, Nr.13, at col. 209, this evening a private concert is held in the Musikverein Hall in Vienna, with Georg Hellmesberger and members of the court orchestra and adjutant professors of violin. Among the seven works performed at this concert was the second movement from Beethoven’s Symphony Nr. 2.

The Vienna AMZ of March 5, 1823 (Nr.19) at col.152 badly panned this performance of the Beethoven movement, say‌ing that, “If popular tunes, like this one, are not played with precision, and are performed with a lack of atmosphere, it would be better not to play them at all.”

Paavo Järvi and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen here perform that movement:

It was common practice at this time in Vienna to perform isolated movements of symphonies, which Beethoven intensely disliked.