Beethoven's Letters 1790-1826, Volume 1

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by Lady Wallace

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Title: Beethoven's Letters 1790-1826, Volume 1 of 2

Author: Lady Wallace

Release Date: July 31, 2004 [EBook #13065]

Language: English

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BEETHOVEN'S LETTERS 1790-1826 ***

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BEETHOVEN'S LETTERS.

(1790--1826.)

FROM THE COLLECTION OF DR. LUDWIG NOHL.

ALSO HIS

LETTERS TO THE ARCHDUKE RUDOLPH, CARDINAL-ARCHBISHOP

OF OLMÜTZ, K.W., FROM THE COLLECTION OF DR.

LUDWIG RITTER VON KÖCHEL.

TRANSLATED BY

LADY WALLACE.

WITH A PORTRAIT AND FAC-SIMILE.

IN TWO VOLUMES.

VOL. I.

BOSTON:

OLIVER DITSON & CO., 277 WASHINGTON STREET.

NEW YORK: C.H. DITSON & CO.

TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.

Since undertaking the translation of Dr. Ludwig Nohl's valuable edition of Beethoven's Letters, an additional collection has been published by Dr. Ludwig Ritter von Köchel, consisting of many interesting letters addressed by Beethoven to his illustrious pupil, H.R.H. the Archduke Rudolph, Cardinal-Archbishop of Olmütz. These I have inserted in chronological order, and marked with the letter K., in order to distinguish them from the correspondence edited by Dr. Nohl. I have only omitted a few brief notes, consisting merely of apologies for non-attendance on the Archduke.

The artistic value of these newly discovered treasures will no doubt be as highly appreciated in this country as in the great maestro's Father-land.

I must also express my gratitude to Dr. Th.G. v. Karajan, for permitting an engraving to be made expressly for this work, from an original Beethoven portrait in his possession, now for the first time given to the public. The grand and thoughtful countenance forms a fitting introduction to letters so truly depicting the brilliant, fitful genius of the sublime master, as well as the touching sadness and gloom pervading his life, which his devotion to Art alone brightened, through many bitter trials and harassing cares.

The love of Beethoven's music is now become so universal in England, that I make no doubt his Letters will receive a hearty welcome from all those whose spirits have been elevated and soothed by the genius of this illustrious man.

GRACE WALLACE.

AINDERBY HALL, March 28, 1866.

PREFACE

BY DR. LUDWIG NOHL

TO THE

LETTERS OF LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN.

In accompanying the present edition of the Letters of Ludwig van Beethoven with a few introductory remarks, I at once acknowledge that the compilation of these letters has cost me no slight sacrifices. I must also, however, mention that an unexpected Christmas donation, generously bestowed on me with a view to further my efforts to promote the science of music, enabled me to undertake one of the journeys necessary for my purpose, and also to complete the revision of the Letters and of the press, in the milder air and repose of a country residence, long since recommended to me for the restoration of my health, undermined by overwork.

That, in spite of every effort, I have not succeeded in seeing the original of each letter, or even discovering the place where it exists, may well be excused, taking into consideration the slender capabilities of an individual, and the astonishing manner in which Beethoven's Letters are dispersed all over the world. At the same time, I must state that not only have the hitherto inaccessible treasures of Anton Schindler's Beethoven's Nachlass been placed at my disposal, but also other letters from private sources, owing to various happy chances, and the kindness and complaisance of collectors of autographs. I know better, however, than most people--being in a position to do so--that in the present work there can be no pretension to any thing approaching to a complete collection of Beethoven's Letters. The master, so fond of writing, though he often rather amusingly accuses himself of being a lazy correspondent, may very probably have sent forth at least double the amount of the letters here given, and there is no doubt whatever that a much larger number are still extant in the originals. The only thing that can be done at this moment, however, is to make the attempt to bring to light, at all events, the letters that could be discovered in Germany. The mass of those which I gradually accumulated, and now offer to the public (with the exception of some insignificant notes), appeared to me sufficiently numerous and important to interest the world, and also to form a substantial nucleus for any letters that may hereafter be discovered. On the other hand, as many of Beethoven's Letters slumber in foreign lands, especially in the unapproachable cabinets of curiosities belonging to various close-fisted English collectors, an entire edition of the correspondence could only be effected by a most disproportionate outlay of time and expense.

When revising the text of the Letters, it seemed to me needless perpetually to impair the pleasure of the reader by retaining the mistakes in orthography; but enough of the style of writing of that day is adhered to, to prevent its peculiar charm being entirely destroyed. Distorted and incorrect as Beethoven's mode of expression sometimes is, I have not presumed to alter his grammar, or rather syntax, in the smallest degree: who would presume to do so with an individuality which, even amid startling clumsiness of style, displays those inherent intellectual powers that often did violence to language as well as to his fellow-men? Cyclopean masses of rock are here hurled with Cyclopean force; but hard and massive as they are, the man is not to be envied whose heart is not touched by these glowing fragments, flung apparently at random right and left, like meteors, by a mighty intellectual being, however perverse the treatment language may have received from him.

The great peculiarity, however, in this strange mode of expression is, that even such incongruous language faithfully reflects the mind of the man whose nature was of prophetic depth and heroic force; and who that knows anything of the creative genius of a Beethoven can deny him these attributes?

The antique dignity pervading the whole man, the ethical contemplation of life forming the basis of his nature, prevented even a momentary wish on my part to efface a single word of the oft-recurring expressions so painfully harsh, bordering on the unaesthetic, and even on the repulsive, provoked by his wrath against the meanness of men. In the last part of these genuine documents, we learn with a feeling of sadness, and with almost a tragic sensation, how low was the standard of moral worth, or rather how great was the positive unworthiness, of the intimate society surrounding the master, and with what difficulty he could maintain the purity of the nobler part of his being in such an atmosphere. The manner, indeed, in which he strives to do so, fluctuating between explosions of harshness and almost weak yieldingness, while striving to master the base thoughts and conduct of these men, though never entirely succeeding in doing so, is often more a diverting than an offensive spectacle. In my opinion, nevertheless, even this less pleasing aspect of the Letters ought not to be in the slightest degree softened (which it has hitherto been, owing to false views of propriety and morality), for it is no moral deformity here displayed. Indeed, even when the irritable master has recourse to expressions repugnant to our sense of conventionality, and which may well be called harsh and rough, still the wrath that seizes on our hero is a just and righteous wrath, and we disregard it, just as in Nature, whose grandeur constantly elevates us above the inevitable stains of an earthly soil. The coarseness and ill-breeding, which would claim toleration because this great man now and then showed such feelings, must beware of doing so, being certain to make shipwreck when coming in contact with the massive rock of true morality on which, with all his faults and deficiencies, Beethoven's being was surely grounded. Often, indeed, when absorbed in the unsophisticated and genuine utterances of this great man, it seems as if these peculiarities and strange asperities were the results of some mysterious law of Nature, so that we are inclined to adopt the paradox by which a wit once described the singular groundwork of our nature,--The faults of man are the night in which he rests from his virtues.

Indeed, I think that the lofty morality of such natures is not fully evident until we are obliged to confess with regret, that even the great ones of the earth must pay their tribute to humanity, and really do pay it (which is the distinction between them and base and petty characters), without being ever entirely hurled from their pedestal of dignity and virtue. The soul of that man cannot fail to be elevated, who can seize the real spirit of the scattered pages that a happy chance has preserved for us. If not fettered by petty feelings, he will quickly surmount the casual obstacles and stumbling-blocks which the first perusal of these Letters may seem to present, and quickly feel himself transported at a single stride into a stream, where a strange roaring and rushing is heard, but above which loftier tones resound with magic and exciting power. For a peculiar life breathes in these lines; an under-current runs through their apparently unconnected import, uniting them as with an electric chain, and with firmer links than any mere coherence of subjects could have effected. I experienced this myself, to the most remarkable degree, when I first made the attempt to arrange, in accordance with their period and substance, the hundreds of individual pages bearing neither date nor address, and I was soon convinced that a connecting text (such as Mozart's Letters have, and ought to have) would be here entirely superfluous, as even the best biographical commentary would be very dry work, interrupting the electric current of the whole, and thus destroying its peculiar effect.

And now, what is this spirit which, for an intelligent mind, binds together these scattered fragments into a whole, and what is its actual power? I cannot tell; but I feel to this day just as I felt to the innermost depths of my heart in the days of my youth when I first heard a symphony of Beethoven's,--that a spirit breathes from it bearing us aloft with giant power out of the oppressive atmosphere of sense, stirring to its inmost recesses the heart of man, bringing him to the full consciousness of his loftier being, and of the undying within him. And even more distinctly than when a new world was thus disclosed to his youthful feelings is the man fully conscious that not only was this a new world to him, but a new world of feeling in itself, revealing to the spirit phases of its own, which, till Beethoven appeared, had never before been fathomed. Call it by what name you will, when one of the great works of the sublime master is heard, whether indicative of proud self-consciousness, freedom, spring, love, storm, or battle, it grasps the soul with singular force, and enlarges the laboring breast. Whether a man understands music or not, every one who has a heart beating within his breast will feel with enchantment that here is concentrated the utmost promised to us by the most imaginative of our poets, in bright visions of happiness and freedom. Even the only great hero of action, who in those memorable days is worthy to stand beside the great master of harmony, having diffused among mankind new and priceless earthly treasures, sinks in the scale when we compare these with the celestial treasures of a purified and deeper feeling, and a more free, enlarged, and sublime view of the world, struggling gradually and distinctly upwards out of the mere frivolity of an art devoid of words to express itself, and impressing its stamp on the spirit of the age. They convey, too, the knowledge of this brightest victory of genuine German intellect to those for whom the sweet Muse of Music is as a book with seven seals, and reveal, likewise, a more profound sense of Beethoven's being to many who already, through the sweet tones they have imbibed, enjoy some dawning conviction of the master's grandeur, and who now more and more eagerly lend a listening ear to the intellectual clearly worded strains so skilfully interwoven, thus soon to arrive at the full and blissful comprehension of those grand outpourings of the spirit, and finally to add another bright delight to the enjoyment of those who already know and love Beethoven. All these may be regarded as the objects I had in view when I undertook to edit his Letters, which have also bestowed on myself the best recompense of my labors, in the humble conviction that by this means I may have vividly reawakened in the remembrance of many the mighty mission which our age is called on to perform for the development of our race, even in the realm of harmony,--more especially in our Father-land.

LUDWIG NOHL.

LA TOUR DE PERLZ--LAKE OF GENEVA, March, 1865.

CONTENTS OF VOLUME I.

FIRST PART.

LIFE'S JOYS AND SORROWS

1783-1816.

To the Elector of Cologne, Frederick Maximilian.

To Dr. Schade, Augsburg

To the Elector Maximilian Francis

To Eleonore von Breuning, Bonn

To the Same

To Herr Schenk

To Dr. Wegeler, Vienna

To the Same

Lines written in the Album of L. von Breuning

To Baron Zmeskall von Domanowecz

Ukase to Zmeskall, Schuppanzigh, and Lichnowsky

To Pastor Amenda, Courland

To the Same

To Wegeler

To Countess Giulietta Guicciardi

To Matthisson

To Frau Frank, Vienna

To Wegeler

To Kapellmeister Hofmeister, Leipzig

To the Same

To the Same

To the Same

Dedication to Dr. Schmidt

To Ferdinand Ries

To Herr Hofmeister, Leipzig

To Carl and Johann Beethoven

Notice

To Ferdinand Ries

To Herr Hofmeister, Leipzig

Caution

To Ries

To the Same

To the Same

To the Same

To the Composer Leidesdorf, Vienna

To Ries

To the Same

To the Same

To Messrs. Artaria & Co.

To Princess Liechtenstein

To Herr Meyer

Testimonial for C. Czerny

To Herr Röckel

To Herr Collin, Court Secretary and Poet

To Herr Gleichenstein

To the Directors of the Court Theatre

To Count Franz von Oppersdorf

Notice of a Memorial to the Archduke Rudolph, Prince Kinsky, and Prince Lobkowitz

Memorial to the Same

To Zmeskall

To Ferdinand Ries

To Zmeskall

To the Same

To the Same

To the Same

To the Same

To the Same

To the Same

To Freiherr von Hammer-Purgstall

To the Same

To Baroness von Drossdick

To Mdlle. de Gerardi

To Zmeskall

To Wegeler

To Zmeskall

To Bettina Brentano

To the Same

To Zmeskall

To the Same

To the Archduke Rudolph

To a Dear Friend

To the Dramatic Poet Treitschke

To Zmeskall

To the Same

To the Same

To the Same

To the Same

To the Same

To the Same

To Kammerprocurator Varenna, Gratz

To Zmeskall

To the Same

To Varenna, Gratz

To Zmeskall

To Varenna

To Archduke Rudolph

To the Same

To Varenna, Gratz

To Joseph Freiherr von Schweiger

To Varenna, Gratz

Lines written in the Album of Mdme. Auguste Sebald

To Archduke Rudolph

To Bettina von Arnim

To Princess Kinsky

To Archduke Rudolph

To the Same

To the Same

To Princess Kinsky

To the Same

To Zmeskall

To Herr Joseph Varenna, Gratz

To the Same

To Zmeskall

To the Same

To the Same

To the Same

To the Same

To the Same

To the Same

To Archduke Rudolph

To the Same

To the Same

To Freiherr Josef von Schweiger

To Herr von Baumeister

To Zmeskall

Letter of Thanks

To the Archduke Rudolph

To the Same

To the Same

To Treitschke

To the Same

To the Same

To Count Lichnowsky.

To the Same

To the Archduke Rudolph

To the Same

Deposition

To Dr. Kauka, Prague.

Address and Appeal to London Artists

To Dr. Kauka

To Count Moritz Lichnowsky

To the Archduke Rudolph

To the Same

To the Same

To the Same

To the Same

To the Same

To the Same

To the Same

To Dr. Kauka

To the Same

To the Same

To the Members of the Landrecht

To Baron von Pasqualati

To Dr. Kauka

To the Archduke Rudolph

SECOND PART.

LIFE'S MISSION.

1815-1822.

Music written in Spohr's Album

To Dr. Kauka

To the Same

To the Same

To Mr. Salomon, London

To the Archduke Rudolph

To the Same

To the Same

To the Same

To the Same

To the Same

To Mr. Birchall, Music Publisher, London

To Zmeskall

To the Archduke Rudolph

To Messrs. Birchall, London

To Herr Ries

To Zmeskall

To Mdlle. Milder-Hauptmann

To Ries

To Mr. Birchall, London

To Czerny

To the Same

To Ries, London

To Giannatasio del Rio, Vienna

To the Same

To the Same

To the Same

To Ferdinand Ries, London

To the Same

Power of Attorney

To Ferdinand Ries

To Giannatasio del Rio

To the Same

To the Archduke Rudolph

To Mr. Birchall London

To the Same

To Giannatasio del Rio

To the Same

To Zmeskall

To Dr. Kauka

Query

To Giannatasio del Rio

To the Same

To Wegeler

To Mr. Birchall, London

To Zmeskall

To the Archduke Rudolph

To Freiherr von Schweiger

To Giannatasio del Rio

To the Same

To the Same

To the Same

To Herr Tschischka

To Mr. Birchall

To Zmeskall

To Frau von Streicher

To the Same

To the Same

To the Same

To the Same

To the Archduke Rudolph

To Giannatasio del Rio

To the Same

To the Same

To Hofrath von Mosel

To S.A. Steiner, Music Publisher, Vienna

To the Same

To the Same

To Zmeskall

FIRST PART.

LIFE'S JOYS AND SORROWS.

1783 TO 1815.

1.

TO THE ELECTOR OF COLOGNE, FREDERICK MAXIMILIAN.[1]

ILLUSTRIOUS PRINCE,--

Music from my fourth year has ever been my favorite pursuit. Thus early introduced to the sweet Muse, who attuned my soul to pure harmony, I loved her, and sometimes ventured to think that I was beloved by her in return. I have now attained my eleventh year, and my Muse often whispered to me in hours of inspiration,--Try to write down