The Life of Ludwig van Beethoven (complete - volume I, II & III)

The Contest for the Guardianship of Nephew Karl—The Conversation Books—A Wedding Song—In Travail with the Mass—The Year 1819.

The key-note for much that must occupy us in a survey of the year 1819 is sounded by A New Year’s Greeting to Archduke Rudolph. Beethoven invokes all manner of blessings on the head of his pupil and patron and, begging a continuance of gracious benevolences for himself, sets forth a picture of his unhappy plight.

A terrible occurrence has recently taken place in my family affairs which for a time robbed me of all my reasoning powers; and to this must be charged the circumstance that I have not called upon Y. R. H. in person nor made mention of the masterly Variations of my highly honored and exalted pupil, the favorite of the Muses. I do not dare to express either by word of mouth or in writing my thanks for the surprise and favor with which I have been honored, inasmuch as I occupy much too humble a position, nor dare I, much as I would like and ardently as I long to do so, requite like with like.

A little boy of eleven years runs away from his uncle to his indulgent mother whom he, for months at a time, has not been allowed to see, although both live within the same city limits. What else could be expected than that this should now and then occur? What should be thought of the child’s heart if it did not? And when it did, who but Beethoven would have felt more than a passing disturbance of his equanimity at an offense so natural under the circumstances? But to him it was a “terrible occurrence” which for a space robbed him of his reason. No one of ordinary sensibilities can read the story without strong feelings of compassion for him—not that the boy’s freak was in any sense in itself a grievous misfortune, but because the uncle’s sufferings occasioned by it were so real and intense.

CONTENTS

Chapter I. The Year 1819 — Guardianship of Beethoven’s Nephew Karl — Mother and Uncle in a Legal Struggle — The Lad’s Education — Conversation Books — A Wedding Song — In Travail with the Mass in D — The Commission for an Oratorio from the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde — Visits from Zelter and Friedrich Schneider — Creative Work of the Year

Chapter II. End of the Litigation over the Guardianship of the Nephew — A Costly Victory — E. T. A. Hoffmann — An Analytical Programme — Beethoven’s Financial Troubles — Adagios and English Hymn-Tunes — Stieler’s Portrait — Arrested as a Vagrant — Negotiations for the Mass in D begun with Simrock — The Last Pianoforte Sonatas — Compositions of the Years 1820 and 1821

Chapter III. The Year 1822 — The Mass in D — Beethoven and His Publishers — Simrock — Schlesinger — C. F. Peters — Phantom Masses — Johann van Beethoven: His Appearance and Character — Becomes His Brother’s Agent — Meetings with Rochlitz and Rossini — Franz Schubert — “The Consecration of the House” — Revival of “Fidelio” — Madame Schroeder-Devrient — The Bagatelles — A Commission from America

Chapter IV. The Year 1823 — The Roman Ritual and the Mass in D — Subscriptions Asked from Royal Courts — Incidents of the Appeal — Goethe and Cherubini Enlisted as Agents — A Medal from the King of France — Further Negotiations with Publishers and Societies — Operatic Projects — Consideration of Grillparzer’s “Melusine” — The Diabelli Variations — Summer Visitors — An Englishman’s Story — Weber and Julius Benedict — Ries and the Ninth Symphony — Franz Liszt and Beethoven’s Kiss

Chapter V.