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118-640: The Immortal Beloved (German " Unsterbliche Geliebte ") is the addressee of a love letter which composer Ludwig van Beethoven wrote on 6 or 7 July 1812 in Teplitz (then in the Austrian Empire , now in the Czech Republic ). The unsent letter is written in pencil on 10 small pages. It was found in the composer's estate following his death and is now in the Berlin State Library . Beethoven did not specify

236-570: A child prodigy , claiming that Beethoven was six (he was seven) on the posters for his first public performance in March 1778. In 1780 or 1781, Beethoven began his studies with his most important teacher in Bonn, Christian Gottlob Neefe . Neefe taught him composition; in March 1783, Beethoven's first published work appeared, a set of keyboard variations ( WoO 63). Beethoven soon began working with Neefe as assistant organist, at first unpaid (1782), and then as

354-593: A ballet, The Creatures of Prometheus (op. 43). The work received numerous performances in 1801 and 1802 and he rushed to publish a piano arrangement to capitalise on its early popularity. Beethoven completed his Second Symphony in 1802, intended for performance at a concert that was cancelled. The symphony received its premiere one year later, at a subscription concert in April 1803 at the Theater an der Wien , where Beethoven had been appointed composer in residence. In addition to

472-413: A certain dear one, marriage to whom was precluded, not by psychological inhibitions of the inner man, but by prohibitive heart-breaking externals? … Where is any evidence whatsoever of true romantic love for even such dear ones as Marie Erdödy or Dorothea von Ertmann, Therese Malfatti or Antonie Brentano? Although all have been advanced as Beethoven's unknown Immortal Beloved, the assessment is unsupported by

590-476: A close relationship with the upper-class von Breuning family, and gave piano lessons to some of the children. The widowed Helene von Breuning became a "second mother" to Beethoven, taught him more refined manners and nurtured his passion for literature and poetry. The warmth and closeness of the von Breuning family offered the young Beethoven a retreat from his unhappy home life, dominated by his father's decline due to alcoholism. Beethoven also met Franz Wegeler ,

708-427: A coffeehouse poet." Solomon (1972, p. 572) declares that Beethoven's separation from his "Only Beloved" Josephine two years before (due to her second marriage) does not rule out that she could have been the "Immortal Beloved": "There is no certainty that the affair was not momentarily rekindled a half-decade later. ... There is still room for a reasonable doubt." (Solomon 1998, p. 461, n. 48.) Solomon's hypothesis

826-498: A composer and later wrote about their encounters. The young Carl Czerny , who later became a renowned pianist and music teacher himself, studied with Beethoven from 1801 to 1803. He described his teacher in 1801: Beethoven was dressed in a jacket of shaggy dark grey material and matching trousers, and he reminded me immediately of Campe 's Robinson Crusoe , whose book I was reading just then. His jet-black hair bristled shaggily around his head. His beard, unshaven for several days, made

944-474: A composer, flutist, and violinist of about his own age who was a nephew of the court orchestra's conductor, Josef Reicha . From 1790 to 1792, Beethoven composed several works, none of which were published at the time; they showed a growing range and maturity. Musicologists have identified a theme similar to those of his Third Symphony in a set of variations written in 1791. It was perhaps on Neefe's recommendation that Beethoven received his first commissions;

1062-551: A composer. This may be attributed to the varied response his initial publications attracted, and also to ongoing issues in his family. While passing through Augsburg , Beethoven visited with composer Anna von Schaden and her husband, who gave him money to return to Bonn to be with his ailing mother. Beethoven's mother died in July 1787, shortly after his return from Vienna, where he stayed for around two weeks and possibly met Mozart. In 1789, due to his chronic alcoholism, Beethoven's father

1180-547: A consultant to RCA and the Reader's Digest Record Club. He died at the age of 84 at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center in New York City; he was survived by his wife and their son, and two brothers, Carl and Frederick, both of Manhattan, and a sister, Anneliese Fish, of White Plains . Some of his books have been translated into other languages. Marek also wrote magazine articles, e.g. for Harper's Bazaar , and liner notes ; he

1298-401: A cure at the spa of Teplitz (now Teplice in the Czech Republic ), where he wrote two more overtures and sets of incidental music for dramas, this time by August von Kotzebue – King Stephen Op. 117 and The Ruins of Athens Op. 113. Advised again to visit Teplitz in 1812, he met there with Goethe, who wrote: "His talent amazed me; unfortunately he is an utterly untamed personality, who

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1416-449: A decade, and one in C ;major composed for the most part during 1795. Viewing the latter as the more substantive work, he chose to designate it his first piano concerto , publishing it in March 1801 as Opus 15, before publishing the former as Opus 19 the following December. He wrote new cadenzas for both in 1809. Shortly after his public debut, Beethoven arranged for the publication of

1534-607: A distinctly Mozartian flavour. Beethoven did not immediately set out to establish himself as a composer but rather devoted himself to study and performance. Working under Haydn's direction, he sought to master counterpoint . He also studied violin under Ignaz Schuppanzigh . Early in this period, he also began receiving occasional instruction from Antonio Salieri , primarily in Italian vocal composition style; this relationship persisted until at least 1802, and possibly as late as 1809. With Haydn's departure for England in 1794, Beethoven

1652-669: A few minor pieces, and began but abandoned a sixth piano concerto. Between 1815 and 1819, Beethoven's output dropped again to a level unique in his mature life. He attributed part of this to a lengthy illness that he called an inflammatory fever that he had for more than a year starting in October 1816. Solomon suggests it is also doubtless a consequence of the ongoing legal problems concerning his nephew Karl, and of Beethoven finding himself increasingly at odds with current musical trends. Unsympathetic to developments in German romanticism that featured

1770-532: A later letter by Beethoven to Rahel Varnhagen , which suggests he must have met his "Immortal Beloved" on 3 July 1812: "I am sorry, dear V., that I could not spend the last evening in Prague with you, and I myself found it impolite, but a circumstance I could not foresee prevented me." La Mara (1920), after discovering more letters and notes in the Brunsvik estates, was now convinced "that ... Josephine widowed Countess Deym

1888-610: A long time was seriously regarded as the recipient of the famous love letter. But curiously enough, it is precisely the same documents which shed a definitive light, in the negative sense, on Therese which bear witness to Beethoven's passionate love for her sister Josephine." Riezler (1962, p. 46), still very much a "standard" German biography of Beethoven, followed Kaznelson regarding Josephine being his "only love", likewise Dahlhaus (1991, p. 247) who concluded that "internal evidence" points to Josephine. The French authors Jean and Brigitte Massin (1955) identified Josephine as

2006-505: A long time", was not without difficulties; among the criticisms was that "the players did not bother to pay any attention to the soloist". By the end of 1800, Beethoven and his music were already much in demand from patrons and publishers. In May 1799, Beethoven taught piano to the daughters of Hungarian Countess Anna Brunsvik. During this time, he fell in love with the younger daughter, Josephine . Among his other students, from 1801 to 1805, he tutored Ferdinand Ries , who went on to become

2124-648: A mutual acquaintance, Bettina Brentano (who also wrote to Goethe at this time about Beethoven). Other works of this period in a similar vein were the F minor String Quartet Op. 95 , to which Beethoven gave the subtitle Quartetto serioso , and the Op. 97 Piano Trio in B-flat major known, from its dedication to his patron Rudolph, as the Archduke Trio . In the spring of 1811, Beethoven became seriously ill, with headaches and high fever. His doctor Johann Malfatti recommended he take

2242-658: A new way." An early major work employing this new style was the Third Symphony in E-flat, Op. 55, known as the Eroica , written in 1803–04. The idea of creating a symphony based on the career of Napoleon may have been suggested to Beethoven by General Bernadotte in 1798. Sympathetic to the ideal of the heroic revolutionary leader, Beethoven originally gave the symphony the title "Bonaparte", but disillusioned by Napoleon declaring himself Emperor in 1804 , he scratched Napoleon's name from

2360-522: A paid employee (1784) of the court chapel. His first three piano sonatas , WoO 47, sometimes known as Kurfürst (Elector) for their dedication to Elector Maximilian Friedrich , were published in 1783. In the same year, the first printed reference to Beethoven appeared in the Magazin der Musik – "Louis van Beethoven [sic] ... a boy of 11 years and most promising talent. He plays the piano very skilfully and with power, reads at sight very well ...

2478-526: A pension of 4000 florins a year. In the event, Rudolf paid his share of the pension on the agreed date. Kinsky, immediately called to military duty, did not contribute and died in November 1812 after falling from his horse. The Austrian currency destabilized and Lobkowitz went bankrupt in 1811 so that to benefit from the agreement Beethoven eventually had recourse to the law, which in 1815 brought him some recompense. The imminence of war reaching Vienna itself

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2596-557: A performance of one of his own piano concertos on 29 March at the Burgtheater and ending with a Mozart concerto on 31 March, probably the D minor concerto , for which he had written a cadenza soon after his arrival in Vienna. By this year he had two piano concertos available for performance, one in B-flat ;major he had begun composing before moving to Vienna and had worked on for over

2714-548: A piano sonata for the first time in five years, his Sonata in E minor, Opus 90 . He was also one of many composers who produced music in a patriotic vein to entertain the many heads of state and diplomats who came to the Congress of Vienna that began in November 1814, with the cantata Der glorreiche Augenblick (The Glorious Moment) (Op. 136) and similar choral works which, in the words of Maynard Solomon, "broadened Beethoven's popularity, [but] did little to enhance his reputation as

2832-405: A preeminent musician in Bonn. The portrait he commissioned of himself toward the end of his life remained displayed in his grandson's rooms as a talisman of his musical heritage. Ludwig had two sons, the younger of whom, Johann , worked as a tenor in the same musical establishment and gave keyboard and violin lessons to supplement his income. Johann married Maria Magdalena Keverich in 1767; she

2950-551: A reputation as a performer and improviser in the salons of the Viennese nobility. His friend Nikolaus Simrock began publishing his compositions, starting with a set of keyboard variations on a theme of Dittersdorf (WoO 66). By 1793, he had established a reputation in Vienna as a piano virtuoso, but he apparently withheld works from publication so that their eventual appearance would have greater impact. In 1795, Beethoven made his public debut in Vienna over three days, beginning with

3068-721: A reputation as a virtuoso pianist, and was soon patronised by Karl Alois, Prince Lichnowsky for compositions, which resulted in his three Opus 1 piano trios (the earliest works to which he accorded an opus number ) in 1795. His first major orchestral work, the First Symphony , premiered in 1800, and his first set of string quartets was published in 1801. Despite his advancing deafness during this period, he continued to conduct, premiering his Third and Fifth Symphonies in 1804 and 1808, respectively. His Violin Concerto appeared in 1806. His last piano concerto (No. 5, Op. 73, known as

3186-416: A revival of Fidelio , which, in its third revised version, was also well received at its July opening in Vienna, and was frequently staged there during the following years. Beethoven's publisher, Artaria , commissioned the 20-year-old Moscheles to prepare a piano score of the opera, which he inscribed "Finished, with God's help!"—to which Beethoven added "O Man, help thyself." That summer Beethoven composed

3304-505: A serious composer". In April and May 1814, playing in his Archduke Trio, Beethoven made his last public appearances as a soloist. The composer Louis Spohr noted: "the piano was badly out of tune, which Beethoven minded little, since he did not hear it ... there was scarcely anything left of the virtuosity of the artist ... I was deeply saddened." From 1814 onward Beethoven used for conversation ear-trumpets designed by Johann Nepomuk Maelzel (a number of these are on display at

3422-409: A work which was extremely popular during Beethoven's lifetime. With premieres of his First and Second Symphonies in 1800 and 1803, Beethoven became regarded as one of the most important of a generation of young composers following Haydn and Mozart. But his melodies, musical development, use of modulation and texture, and characterisation of emotion all set him apart from his influences, and heightened

3540-636: A year or a location. In the 1950s an analysis of the paper's watermark yielded the year, and by extension the place of the letter. Scholars disagree about the intended recipient of the letter. Two people favored by most contemporary scholars are Antonie Brentano and Josephine Brunsvik . (Other possibilities include Johanna van Beethoven , Julie ("Giulietta") Guicciardi , Therese Brunsvik , Amalie Sebald , Dorothea von Ertmann , Therese Malfatti , Anna Maria Erdődy , and Bettina von Arnim .) After Schmidt-Görg (1957) published 13 then-unknown love letters by Beethoven to Josephine Brunsvik , it became clear that

3658-489: A young age. He was initially taught intensively by his father, Johann van Beethoven , and later by Christian Gottlob Neefe . Under Neefe's tutelage in 1783, he published his first work, a set of keyboard variations. He found relief from a dysfunctional home life with the family of Helene von Breuning , whose children he loved, befriended, and taught piano. At age 21, he moved to Vienna , which subsequently became his base, and studied composition with Haydn. Beethoven then gained

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3776-464: A young medical student, who became a lifelong friend and married one of the von Breuning daughters. Another frequenter of the von Breunings was Count Ferdinand von Waldstein , who became a friend and financial supporter of Beethoven during this period. In 1791, Waldstein commissioned Beethoven's first work for the stage, the ballet Musik zu einem Ritterballett (WoO 1). The period of 1785 to 1790 includes virtually no record of Beethoven's activity as

3894-458: Is clear from his correspondence of the period and, later, from the conversation books, that he occasionally had sex with prostitutes. In early 1813, Beethoven apparently went through a difficult emotional period, and his compositional output dropped. His personal appearance degraded—it had generally been neat—as did his manners in public, notably when dining. Family issues may have played a part in this. Beethoven had visited his brother Johann at

4012-431: Is like a dream, that he was the friend, the confidant of our house—a beautiful mind! Why did not my sister Josephine, as widow Deym, take him as her husband? Josephine's soul-mate! They were born for each other. She would have been happier with him than with Stackelberg. Maternal affection made her forgo her own happiness." She could not contemplate marrying Beethoven, a commoner, for the simple reason that she would have lost

4130-482: Is not altogether wrong in holding the world to be detestable, but surely does not make it any more enjoyable ... by his attitude." Beethoven wrote to his publishers Breitkopf and Härtel , "Goethe delights far too much in the court atmosphere, far more than is becoming in a poet." But following their meeting he began a setting for choir and orchestra of Goethe's Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt (Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage) , Op. 112, completed in 1815. After it

4248-541: Is unknown. In the autumn of 1808, after having been rejected for a position at the Royal Theatre, Beethoven received an offer from Napoleon's brother Jérôme Bonaparte , then king of Westphalia , for a well-paid position as Kapellmeister at the court in Cassel . To persuade him to stay in Vienna, Archduke Rudolf, Prince Kinsky and Prince Lobkowitz, after receiving representations from Beethoven's friends, pledged to pay him

4366-668: The Emperor ), dedicated to his frequent patron Archduke Rudolf of Austria , premiered in 1811, without Beethoven as soloist. He was almost completely deaf by 1815, and he then gave up performing and appearing in public. He described his problems with health and his unfulfilled personal life in two letters, his Heiligenstadt Testament (1802) to his brothers and his unsent love letter to an unknown " Immortal Beloved " (1812). After 1810, increasingly less socially involved as his hearing loss worsened, Beethoven composed many of his most admired works, including later symphonies, mature chamber music and

4484-780: The French occupation of the city . In addition to being a financial failure, this version of Fidelio was also a critical failure, and Beethoven began revising it. Despite this failure, Beethoven continued to attract recognition. In 1807 the musician and publisher Muzio Clementi secured the rights to publish his works in England, and Haydn's former patron Prince Esterházy commissioned the Mass in C , Op. 86, for his wife's name-day. But he could not count on such recognition alone. A colossal benefit concert he organized in December 1808, widely advertised, included

4602-471: The Josephine hypothesis : "Without conclusive proofs of the opposite one should no longer want to part prematurely with the increasingly justified assumption that the 'Immortal Beloved' could hardly be anyone else but the 'Only Beloved'." Josephine's candidacy as the "Immortal Beloved" was contested by Solomon (1988), mainly in response to Massin (1955, 1970), Goldschmidt (1980) and Tellenbach (1983). In 1955

4720-574: The Vienna State Opera ; after his arrival in New York City, he became a devoted standee at the old Metropolitan Opera House . Marek was the music editor of Good Housekeeping from 1941 until 1957 and a co-founder of the Reader's Digest Record Club. He was for many years a panel member on the radio broadcasts of the Metropolitan Opera Quiz . Marek introduced some pronounced changes in

4838-554: The late piano sonatas . His only opera , Fidelio , first performed in 1805, was revised to its final version in 1814. He composed Missa solemnis between 1819 and 1823 and his final Symphony, No. 9 , the first major example of a choral symphony , between 1822 and 1824. Written in his last years, his late string quartets , including the Grosse Fuge , of 1825–1826 are among his final achievements. After several months of illness, which left him bedridden, he died on 26 March 1827 at

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4956-515: The period from 1804 to 1809/10 when she was a widow after the early death of her first husband Count Deym. Schmidt-Görg dismissed Kaznelson's discoveries as "sensationalist". Goldschmidt (1980) explains why the German Beethoven scholarship was so reluctant to accept Kaznelson's theory (already published before these "13 letters"): "The fact that, as a result of this meeting, they had to take a natural daughter into account, appeared so venturesome to

5074-456: The "Immortal Beloved" was Marie Erdödy was shown to be "impossible" by Cooper (1996). Lund (1988) made a claim that Antonie's son Karl, born exactly eight months after the alleged encounter with Beethoven, should have been his son; even Solomon did not endorse this, as he thought "it was 'sensationalistic'." (Meredith 2011, p. x) Beahrs (1993, p. 183 f.) supported Josephine : "Was there for him in fact … one deep and lasting passion for

5192-560: The "Immortal Beloved", mainly based on comparisons of the "Letter to the Immortal Beloved" with the earlier 14 (15) love letters: "The letter to the 'Immortal Beloved'... not only uses similar wording, but also emphasizes his long-time faithfulness to his one and only Beloved." In addition, with regard to traces in Beethoven's compositions, the "Massins argue that... the presence of Josephine in Beethoven's life left traces in his music... From

5310-410: The "Immortal Beloved". Steichen (1959) identified Marie Erdödy to have been a lifelong beloved of Beethoven, and thus she could also be the "Immortal Beloved". Marek (1969) argued the case for Dorothea Ertmann. Schmidt-Görg (1957) published 13 heretofore unknown love letters by Beethoven to Josephine Brunsvik (and a draft letter by him that survived as a copy by Josephine), that could be dated to

5428-498: The "Immortal Beloved". But research by Tellenbach (1983) indicated that her cousin Franz von Brunsvik may have suggested Giulietta to Schindler, to distract any suspicion away from his sister Josephine Brunsvik , with whom Beethoven had been hopelessly in love from 1799 to ca. 1809/1810. La Mara (1909) published Teréz Brunszvik 's memoirs, which show her full of admiration and adoration of Beethoven. This, together with interviews of some of

5546-475: The 'Immortal Beloved'. She was a happily married wife and mother... her candidacy, which includes the improbable scenario of a 'ménage à trois' in Karlsbad, makes no psychological sense." (Steblin 2007, p. 148) Walden (2011, p. 5) suggests that Bettina Brentano was Beethoven's "Immortal Beloved", based on the assumption that one of the two spurious letters by Beethoven to her is true: "If that letter to Bettina

5664-480: The Antonia-Hypothesis with its inherent factual contradictions once and forever, it is necessary to falsify the other hypotheses that have been offered." Altman (1996) "demonstrates, as indeed Tellenbach has done, that much of the basis for the claims of Antonie's supporters consists of distortions, suppositions, opinions, and even plain inaccuracies." (Cooper 1996, p. 18) However, Altman's suggestion that

5782-519: The Beethoven-Haus in Bonn). His 1815 compositions include an expressive second setting of the poem An die Hoffnung (Op. 94) in 1815. Compared to its first setting in 1805 (a gift for Josephine Brunsvik), it was "far more dramatic ... The entire spirit is that of an operatic scena." But his energy seemed to be dropping: apart from these works, he wrote the two cello sonatas Op. 102 nos. 1 and 2 , and

5900-616: The Beloved] WoO 140, an autograph of which contains in Antonie's handwriting the remark: "Requested by me from the author on 2 March 1812." The background to this: "In November 1811, we see Beethoven writing a newly composed song with the heading 'An die Geliebte' [To the Beloved] into the album of the Bavarian Court singer Regina Lang. ... Dilettante verses ... by a clumsy author, a real dilettante,

6018-474: The Brunsvik descendants, led her to the conclusion that Therese must have been the "Immortal Beloved". At first most researchers, including Alexander Wheelock Thayer , also thought Therese was the "Immortal Beloved". Thayer thought the letter must have been written around 1806–07. Thomas-San-Galli (1909, 1910) checked out the official listings of guests in Bohemia , and at first (in 1909) concluded that Amalie Sebald

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6136-451: The French scholars Jean and Brigitte Massin noted that Antonie Brentano was present in Prague and Karlsbad at the time and proposed her as a possible candidate for the "Immortal Beloved": "The assumption that it could have been Antonie Brentano, is both tantalizing and absurd." They then argue: Tantalizing is the assumption, because Absurd, they argue, is the assumption because of There

6254-480: The Immortal Beloved is Beethoven's sister-in-law Johanna Reiss , with whom he had a long and frustrating legal battle over the custody of his nephew Karl van Beethoven. Canadian composer James K. Wright has written a song cycle for baritone (or mezzo-soprano) and piano trio titled Briefe an die unsterbliche Geliebte/Letters to the Immortal Beloved (2012). The cycle sets excerpts from Beethoven's letter of 6–7 July 1812. The Juno award-winning Gryphon Trio has recorded

6372-548: The Literary Society in Bonn commissioned a cantata to mark the recent death of Joseph II (WoO 87), and a further cantata, to celebrate the subsequent accession of Leopold II as Holy Roman Emperor (WoO 88), may have been commissioned by the Elector. These two Emperor Cantatas were not performed during Beethoven's lifetime and became lost until the 1880s, when Johannes Brahms called them "Beethoven through and through" and of

6490-1057: The Second Symphony, the concert also featured the First Symphony, the Third Piano Concerto , and the oratorio Christ on the Mount of Olives . Reviews of the concert were mixed, but it was a financial success; Beethoven was able to charge three times the cost of a typical concert ticket. In 1802, Beethoven's brother Kaspar began to assist the composer in handling his affairs, particularly his business dealings with music publishers. In addition to successfully negotiating higher payments for Beethoven's latest works, Kaspar also began selling several of Beethoven's earlier unpublished compositions and encouraged his brother (against Beethoven's preference) to make arrangements and transcriptions of his more popular works for other instruments and combinations. Beethoven decided to accede to these requests, as he

6608-528: The age of 56. Beethoven was the grandson of Ludwig van Beethoven , a musician from the town of Mechelen in the Austrian Duchy of Brabant in what is now the Flemish region of Belgium , who moved to Bonn at the age of 21. Ludwig was employed as a bass singer at the court of Clemens August , Archbishop-Elector of Cologne , eventually rising to become, in 1761, Kapellmeister (music director) and hence

6726-673: The capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire , the son of dentist Martin Marek and Emily Weisberger. From 1918, Marek studied at the University of Vienna until he emigrated to the United States in 1920, where he became a citizen in 1925. He married Muriel Heppner the following year; the couple had one son, editor, publisher, and author Richard Marek . Marek's first job in the US was as a stock boy in

6844-426: The chief piece he plays is Das wohltemperierte Klavier of Sebastian Bach , which Herr Neefe puts into his hands". Maximilian Friedrich's successor as Elector of Bonn was Maximilian Franz . He gave some support to Beethoven, appointing him Court Organist and assisting financially with Beethoven's move to Vienna in 1792. During this time, Beethoven met several people who became important in his life. He developed

6962-444: The custom in the region at the time was to carry out baptism within 24 hours of birth. There is a consensus (with which Beethoven himself agreed) that his birth date was 16 December, but no documentary proof of this. Of the seven children born to Johann van Beethoven, only Ludwig, the second-born, and two younger brothers survived infancy. Kaspar Anton Karl (generally known as Karl) was born on 8 April 1774, and Nikolaus Johann , who

7080-460: The difficulties they caused in both professional and social settings (although it is likely some of his close friends were already aware of the issues). The cause was probably otosclerosis , possibly accompanied by degeneration of the auditory nerve . On his doctor's advice, Beethoven moved to the small Austrian town of Heiligenstadt , just outside Vienna, from April to October 1802 in an attempt to come to terms with his condition. There he wrote

7198-580: The document now known as the Heiligenstadt Testament , a letter to his brothers that records his thoughts of suicide due to his growing deafness and his resolution to continue living for and through his art. The letter was never sent and was discovered in his papers after his death. The letters to Wegeler and Amenda were not so despairing; in them Beethoven commented also on his ongoing professional and financial success at this period, and his determination, as he expressed it to Wegeler, to "seize Fate by

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7316-451: The elderly Count Joseph Deym, who died in 1804. Beethoven began to visit her and commenced a passionate correspondence. Initially, he accepted that Josephine could not love him, but he continued to address himself to her even after she had moved to Budapest, finally demonstrating that he had got the message in his last letter to her of 1807: "I thank you for wishing still to appear as if I were not altogether banished from your memory". Malfatti

7434-491: The end of October 1812. He wished to end Johann's cohabitation with Therese Obermayer, a woman who already had an illegitimate child. He was unable to convince Johann to end the relationship and appealed to the local civic and religious authorities, but Johann and Therese married on 8 November. The illness and eventual death of his brother Kaspar from tuberculosis became an increasing concern. Kaspar had been ill for some time; in 1813 Beethoven lent him 1500 florins , to procure

7552-570: The event for his mechanical instrument the Panharmonicon . This Beethoven also transcribed for orchestra as Wellington's Victory (Op. 91, also known as the Battle Symphony ). It was first performed on 8 December, along with his Seventh Symphony , Op. 92, at a charity concert for victims of the war, a concert whose success led to its repeat on 12 December. The orchestra included several leading and rising musicians who happened to be in Vienna at

7670-457: The family. It would seem that Antonie and Beethoven had an affair during 1811–1812. Antonie left Vienna with her husband in late 1812 and never met with (or apparently corresponded with) Beethoven again, although in her later years, she wrote and spoke fondly of him. Some speculate that Beethoven was the father of Antonie's son Karl Josef, though the two never met. After 1812 there are no reports of any romantic liaisons of Beethoven's; however, it

7788-465: The few major works he completed include the 1818 Hammerklavier Sonata (Sonata No. 29 in B-flat major, Op. 106) and his settings of poems by Alois Jeitteles , An die ferne Geliebte Op. 98 (1816), which introduced the song cycle into classical repertoire. In 1818 he began musical sketches that eventually formed part of his Ninth Symphony. George Richard Marek Marek was born in Vienna , then

7906-550: The final movement, Das Wiedersehen (The Return), is dated in the manuscript with the date of Rudolf's homecoming of 30 January 1810. During the French bombardment of Vienna in May, Beethoven took refuge in the cellar of his brother Kaspar's house. The subsequent occupation of Vienna and disruptions to cultural life and to Beethoven's publishers, together with Beethoven's poor health at the end of 1809, explain his significantly reduced output during this period, although other notable works of

8024-420: The first of his compositions to which he assigned an opus number , the three piano trios, Opus 1 . These works were dedicated to his patron Prince Lichnowsky, and were a financial success; Beethoven's profits were nearly sufficient to cover his living expenses for a year. In 1799, Beethoven participated in (and won) a notorious piano 'duel' at the home of Baron Raimund Wetzlar (a former patron of Mozart) against

8142-606: The guardianship of her aristocratic children. Again Therese on Beethoven: "How unhappy, with such intellectual talent. At the same time Josephine was unhappy! Le mieux est l'ennemi du bien —both together they would have been happy (perhaps). What he needed was a wife, that's for sure." "I was so lucky to have been acquainted with Beethoven, intimately and intellectually, for so many years! Josephine's intimate friend, her soul mate! They were born for each other, and if both were still alive, they would be united." Goldschmidt's evaluation of

8260-424: The help of assiduous labour you shall receive Mozart's spirit from Haydn's hands." Beethoven left Bonn for Vienna in November 1792 amid rumours of war spilling out of France . Shortly after departing, Beethoven learned that his father had died. Over the next few years, he responded to the widespread feeling that he was a successor to the recently deceased Mozart by studying Mozart's work and writing works with

8378-998: The history of the debate so far, deplores the fact that French and German authors (like Massin & Massin and – until then – Goldschmidt) were never translated into English, thus depriving especially the US-based Beethoven scholarship of the most valuable resources in this field of study: "Unfortunately, several of the most important and controversial studies about the Immortal Beloved have never appeared in English translation, which has substantially restricted their impact." (p. xv) "Tellenbach ... too has unfortunately never appeared in English translation." (p. xvii) Significant new discoveries in European archives were made and published by Steblin (2002, 2007, 2009, 2009a) and Skwara/Steblin (2007). These can be summarized into two important items: "A new way of looking at old evidence confirms that Josephine

8496-544: The impact some of his early works made when they were first published. For the premiere of his First Symphony, he hired the Burgtheater on 2 April 1800, and staged an extensive programme, including works by Haydn and Mozart, as well as his Septet, the Symphony, and one of his piano concertos (the latter three works all then unpublished). The concert, which the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung called "the most interesting concert in

8614-485: The lower part of his swarthy face still darker. In late 1801, Beethoven met a young countess, Julie Guicciardi , through the Brunsvik family; he mentions his love for Julie in a November 1801 letter to a friend, but class difference prevented any consideration of pursuing it. He dedicated his 1802 Sonata Op. 27 No. 2 , now commonly known as the Moonlight Sonata , to her. In the spring of 1801, Beethoven completed

8732-430: The manuscript's title page, and the symphony was published in 1806 with its present title and the subtitle "to celebrate the memory of a great man". The Eroica was longer and larger in scope than any previous symphony. When it premiered in early 1805 it received a mixed reception. Some listeners objected to its length or disliked its structure, while others viewed it as a masterpiece. Other middle-period works extend in

8850-467: The marketing of classical music at RCA Victor. Record jackets became more colorful and classical records were sold in drugstores and supermarkets. He was responsible for the best selling album Classical Music for People Who Hate Classical Music in 1953. Marek was instrumental in promoting the recordings of pianists Gary Graffman and Arthur Rubinstein and conductors Pierre Monteux , Fritz Reiner , and Arturo Toscanini . Marek continued in retirement as

8968-804: The most performed of the classical music repertoire and span the transition from the Classical period to the Romantic era in classical music. His early period, during which he forged his craft, is typically considered to have lasted until 1802. From 1802 to around 1812, his middle period showed an individual development from the styles of Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , and is sometimes characterized as heroic. During this time, Beethoven began to grow increasingly deaf . In his late period, from 1812 to 1827, he extended his innovations in musical form and expression. Born in Bonn , Beethoven displayed his musical talent at

9086-652: The musicologist Maynard Solomon has argued that the intended recipient was Antonie Brentano ; other candidates included Julie Guicciardi, Therese Malfatti and Josephine Brunsvik. All of these had been regarded by Beethoven as possible soulmates during his first decade in Vienna. Guicciardi, although she flirted with Beethoven, never had any serious interest in him and married Wenzel Robert von Gallenberg in November 1803. (Beethoven insisted to his later secretary and biographer, Anton Schindler , that Guicciardi had "sought me out, crying, but I scorned her".) Josephine had, since Beethoven's initial infatuation with her, married

9204-521: The older literature can be found in Forbes (1967, pp. 1088–1092). There was also a forged Beethoven letter by Paul Bekker in Die Musik . But it was already shown to be a hoax by Newman (1911)—a last-ditch effort to salvage the discredited Guicciardi hypothesis. The date of the "Immortal Beloved" letter—6/7 July 1812—has meanwhile been firmly established, not only by watermarks and references, but also by

9322-483: The one to the "Immortal Beloved" was not the only love letter authored by him. That Josephine could have been the unknown woman was subsequently suggested by analyses of similarities in wordings and phrases between earlier letters (from 1804 to 1809) and this mysterious one from 1812, mainly in the monographs by Massin (1955, 1970), Goldschmidt (1980) and Tellenbach (1983, p. 103 f.): In his biography of Beethoven, Schindler (1840) named Julie ("Giulietta") Guicciardi as

9440-577: The ostrich-feather department of a milliner , but he soon became involved in advertising. From 1930 until 1950, he was vice president of the J. D. Tarcher Agency. In 1950 Marek unsuccessfully attempted to gain RCA Victor 's advertising account for Tarcher; instead, he was offered the position of manager of artists and repertory at RCA Victor . Seven years later he became vice president and general manager of RCA Victor; he remained in that position until 1972. When he grew up in Vienna, Marek had regularly visited

9558-465: The possibility of a love relationship with Beethoven, there is only a letter by Antonie to her brother-in-law Clemens, where she expressed her "admiration" of Beethoven: "At what point this worship was transformed into love is not yet known. My estimate is ... in the fall of 1811. … The love affair was under way by late 1811." Solomon (1998, p. 229) quotes as supporting his case the Song "An die Geliebte" [To

9676-734: The premieres of the Fifth and Sixth ( Pastoral ) symphonies, the Fourth Piano Concerto , extracts from the Mass in C, the scena and aria Ah! perfido Op. 65 and the Choral Fantasy op. 80 . There was a large audience (including Czerny and the young Ignaz Moscheles ), but it was under-rehearsed, involved many stops and starts, and during the Fantasia Beethoven was noted shouting at the musicians "badly played, wrong, again!" The financial outcome

9794-639: The professional world that the resistance to the Josephine hypothesis stiffened noticeably." Schmidt-Görg (1957, p. 31) believed that with the last letter (which he still thought to have been written in 1807—not 1809) and with Josephine's marriage to Baron Stackelberg (in 1810) the love relationship was terminated. Ley (1957, p. 78) saw it differently: "Only on the negative side has one been able to arrive at certain conclusions: neither Giulietta Guicciardi, nor Amalie Sebald, nor Bettina Brentano can be considered any longer, and not even Therese Brunsvik , who for

9912-451: The record or by any known correspondence. Intimate friends of Beethoven, true, one and all; but loves? There is one, however, and only one, to whom Beethoven did pour his heart out in impassioned declarations of undying love remarkably similar to the phraseology of the anguished letter to his Immortal Beloved… That one is his 'BELOVED AND ONLY J' – Josephine." Pulkert's (2000) claim about one Almerie Esterházy, whom Beethoven did not even know,

10030-454: The repayment of which he was ultimately led to complex legal measures. After Kaspar died on 15 November 1815, Beethoven immediately became embroiled in a protracted legal dispute with Kaspar's widow Johanna over custody of their son Karl , then nine years old. Beethoven had successfully applied to Kaspar to have himself named the sole guardian of the boy. A late codicil to Kaspar's will gave him and Johanna joint guardianship. While Beethoven

10148-623: The same dramatic manner the musical language Beethoven had inherited. The Rasumovsky string quartets and the Waldstein and Appassionata piano sonatas share the Third Symphony's heroic spirit. Other works of this period include the Fourth through Eighth Symphonies, the oratorio Christ on the Mount of Olives , the opera Fidelio , and the Violin Concerto . Beethoven was hailed in 1810 by

10266-420: The standpoint of music theory, the connections make eminent sense." After Massin & Massin (1955) and Goldschmidt (1980), Tellenbach (1983, 1987, 1988, 1999) argued extensively the case for Josephine, based on many newly discovered documents, like Therese's later diary notes, e.g., on the discovery of the "Three letters by Beethoven… they must have been to Josephine whom he loved passionately." "Beethoven! It

10384-710: The style that marked Beethoven's music distinct from the classical tradition. Beethoven probably was first introduced to Joseph Haydn in late 1790, when Haydn was travelling to London and made a brief stop in Bonn around Christmastime. In July 1792, they met again in Bonn on Haydn's return trip from London to Vienna, when Beethoven played in the orchestra at the Redoute in Godesberg . Arrangements were likely made at that time for Beethoven to study with Haydn. Waldstein wrote to Beethoven before his departure: "You are going to Vienna in fulfilment of your long-frustrated wishes ... With

10502-503: The supernatural (as in operas by Spohr, Heinrich Marschner and Carl Maria von Weber ), he also "resisted the impending Romantic fragmentation of the ... cyclic forms of the Classical era into small forms and lyric mood pieces" and turned towards study of Bach, Handel and Palestrina . An old connection was renewed in 1817 when Maelzel sought, and obtained, Beethoven's endorsement for his newly developed metronome . During these years

10620-559: The throat; it shall certainly not crush me completely". In 1806, Beethoven noted on one of his musical sketches: "Let your deafness no longer be a secret—even in art." Beethoven's hearing loss did not prevent him from composing music, but it made playing at concerts—an important source of income at this phase of his life—increasingly difficult. It also contributed substantially to his social withdrawal. Czerny remarked that Beethoven could still hear speech and music normally until 1812. Beethoven never became totally deaf; in his final years, he

10738-449: The time, including Giacomo Meyerbeer and Domenico Dragonetti . The work received repeat performances at concerts staged by Beethoven in January and February 1814. These concerts brought Beethoven more profit than any others in his career, and enabled him to buy the bank shares that were the most valuable assets in his estate at his death. Beethoven's renewed popularity led to demands for

10856-473: The violin. His tuition began in his fifth year. The regime was harsh and intensive, often reducing him to tears. With the involvement of Pfeiffer, who was an insomniac , there were irregular late-night sessions with the young Beethoven dragged from his bed to the keyboard. Beethoven's musical talent became obvious at a young age. Aware of Leopold Mozart 's successes in this area with his son Wolfgang and daughter Nannerl , Johann attempted to promote his son as

10974-693: The virtuoso Joseph Wölfl ; and the next year he similarly triumphed against Daniel Steibelt at the salon of Count Moritz von Fries . Beethoven's eighth piano sonata, the Pathétique (Op. 13, published in 1799), is described by the musicologist Barry Cooper as "surpass[ing] any of his previous compositions, in strength of character, depth of emotion, level of originality, and ingenuity of motivic and tonal manipulation". Between 1798 and 1800, Beethoven composed his first six string quartets (Op. 18) (commissioned by, and dedicated to, Prince Lobkowitz), published in 1801. He also completed his Septet (Op. 20) in 1799,

11092-399: The work with both Canadian mezzo-soprano Julie Nesrallah (New York: Naxos, 2015) and Luxembourg baritone David John Pike (Montreal: Analekta, 2019).[ [1] ] Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 1770 – 26 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among

11210-846: The writer and composer E. T. A. Hoffmann , in an influential review in the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung , as the greatest of (what he considered) the three Romantic composers (that is, ahead of Haydn and Mozart); in Beethoven's Fifth Symphony his music, wrote Hoffmann, "sets in motion terror, fear, horror, pain, and awakens the infinite yearning that is the essence of romanticism". During this time, Beethoven's income came from publishing his works, from performances of them, and from his patrons, for whom he gave private performances and copies of works they commissioned for an exclusive period before their publication. Some of his early patrons, including Lobkowitz and Lichnowsky, gave him annual stipends in addition to commissioning works and purchasing published works. Perhaps his most important aristocratic patron

11328-711: The year include his String Quartet No. 10 in E-flat major, Op. 74 ( The Harp ) and the Piano Sonata No. 24 in F-sharp major, Op. 78, dedicated to Josephine's sister Therese Brunsvik . At the end of 1809, Beethoven was commissioned to write incidental music for Goethe 's play Egmont . The result (an overture, and nine additional entractes and vocal pieces, Op. 84), which appeared in 1810, fit well with Beethoven's heroic style and he became interested in Goethe, setting three of his poems as songs (Op. 83) and learning about him from

11446-550: The years that followed, Beethoven frequently interfered in his nephew's life in what Karl perceived as an overbearing manner. Beethoven was finally motivated to begin significant composition again in June 1813 when news arrived of the French defeat at the Battle of Vitoria by a coalition led by the Duke of Wellington . The inventor Johann Nepomuk Maelzel persuaded him to write a work commemorating

11564-506: Was Archduke Rudolf of Austria , the youngest son of Emperor Leopold II , who in 1803 or 1804 began to study piano and composition with him. They became friends, and their meetings continued until 1824. Beethoven dedicated 14 compositions to Rudolf, including such major works as the Archduke Trio Op. 97 (1811) and Missa solemnis Op. 123 (1823). His position at the Theater an der Wien

11682-413: Was Beethoven's 'Immortal Beloved'". Czeke (1938), for the first time, published Therese's diary notes ending in 1813; some were known already to Rolland (1928). and concluded that Beethoven was in love with Josephine, but nonetheless he tended towards Therese as the "Immortal Beloved". Kaznelson (1954) evaluated more of the documents in the Brunsvik estates, and even though he thought that Rahel Varnhagen

11800-427: Was Beethoven's one and only 'Immortal Beloved'. ... All of the puzzling aspects about Beethoven's affair with the 'Immortal Beloved', including his various cryptic comments, can be explained in terms of his one known beloved – Josephine. Why do we doubt his word that there was only one woman who had captured his heart?" (Steblin 2007, p. 180). In the film Immortal Beloved , written and directed by Bernard Rose ,

11918-555: Was behind the "Distant Beloved" he concluded that the "Immortal Beloved" must have been Josephine mainly because her daughter Minona was born exactly nine months after the encounter with Beethoven and her husband Baron Stackelberg was away. Kaznelson arrived at his conclusion even though H C Bodmer in Zürich , owner of the "13 Letters" after World War II (see following), would not allow him access to them. Editha and Richard Sterba (1954), using psychoanalysis, argued for Beethoven's nephew Karl as

12036-401: Was contested by Goldschmidt (1980), Tellenbach (1983, 1987, 1988, 1993/1994, 1998), Beahrs (1972, 1986, 1988, 1993), Dahlhaus (1991), Pichler (1994), Altman (1996), Meredith (2000), Steblin (2007), Walden (2011), Caeyers (2012), and Swafford (2014). Goldschmidt (1980) summarizes: "The Antonia hypothesis… is not so fully convincing that it excludes all others." and: "In order to possibly verify

12154-679: Was expected by the Elector to return home to Bonn. He chose instead to remain in Vienna, continuing his instruction in counterpoint with Johann Albrechtsberger and other teachers. In any case, by this time it must have seemed clear to his employer that Bonn would fall to the French, as it did in October 1794, effectively leaving Beethoven without a stipend or the necessity to return. But several Viennese noblemen had already recognised his ability and offered him financial support, among them Prince Joseph Franz Lobkowitz , Prince Karl Lichnowsky , and Baron Gottfried van Swieten . Assisted by his connections with Haydn and Waldstein, Beethoven began to develop

12272-561: Was felt in early 1809. In April, Beethoven completed writing his Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73, which the musicologist Alfred Einstein has called "the apotheosis of the military concept" in Beethoven's music. Rudolf left the capital with the Imperial family in early May, prompting Beethoven's piano sonata Les Adieux (Sonata No. 26, Op. 81a), actually titled by Beethoven in German Das Lebewohl (The Farewell), of which

12390-515: Was forced to retire from the service of the Court and it was ordered that half of his father's pension be paid directly to Ludwig for support of the family. Ludwig contributed further to the family's income by teaching (to which Wegeler said he had "an extraordinary aversion" ) and by playing viola in the court orchestra. This familiarised him with a variety of operas, including works by Mozart, Gluck and Paisiello . There he also befriended Anton Reicha ,

12508-531: Was four years later also a claim by a Japanese author (Aoki 1959, 1968) who had "discovered" Antonie. However, this had not been noticed outside Japan. She also published her findings again in a recent book in German (Aoki 2008). Once again and more detailed Solomon (1972, 1998) suggested Antonie Brentano to have been the "Immortal Beloved". His hypothesis was founded on two major assumptions (or prerequisites): ad 1: Antonie arrived in Prague on 3 July 1812 after an arduous journey with husband, child and servant (and

12626-447: Was generally known as Johann, the youngest, was born on 2 October 1776. Beethoven's first music teacher was his father. He later had other local teachers, including the court organist Gilles van den Eeden (d. 1782), Tobias Friedrich Pfeiffer, a family friend, who provided keyboard tuition, Franz Rovantini, a relative who instructed him in playing the violin and viola, and court concertmaster Franz Anton Ries , who instructed Beethoven on

12744-425: Was genuine, it would prove conclusively that Bettina was the Immortal Beloved, but the original has not survived, and the authenticity is strongly doubted today. ... her reliability and truthfulness are today under a cloud." Meredith (2011, p. xxii), in his Introduction , has reviewed the debate over the major candidates and he believes that "Walden's proposal merits unbiased consideration". Meredith (2011), reviewing

12862-428: Was powerless to prevent publishers from hiring others to do similar arrangements of his works. Beethoven told the English pianist Charles Neate (in 1815) that his hearing loss began in 1798, during a heated quarrel with a singer. During its gradual decline, his hearing was further impeded by a severe form of tinnitus . As early as 1801, he wrote to Wegeler and another friend, Karl Amenda, describing his symptoms and

12980-426: Was published in 1822 with a dedication to the poet, Beethoven wrote to him: "The admiration, the love and esteem which already in my youth I cherished for the one and only immortal Goethe have persisted." While Beethoven was at Teplitz in 1812, he wrote a ten-page love letter to his " Immortal Beloved ", which he never sent to its addressee. The identity of the intended recipient was long a subject of debate, although

13098-469: Was refuted by Steblin (2001). Meredith (2000, p. 47) summarily comments: "… we lack evidence of a connection between Almerie and Beethoven... I must reiterate that we have no such evidence of a passionate love relationship between Antonie and Beethoven either, just of a close friendship; for Josephine, … we know he was indeed passionately in love with her in 1805–1807 at least." Finally, Kopitz' (2001) "valiant effort… show[ed] that Antonie cannot have been

13216-695: Was registered there); she left at dawn the following morning: "Where did she have time that night for a tryst with Beethoven?" (Steblin 2007, p. 148) Solomon (1972, p. 577) admits: "There is no proof that Beethoven and Antonie met in Prague." And regarding Karlsbad: "It is possible that the letter arose from a ... meeting with a woman who informed Beethoven that she was going to Karlsbad and then failed to carry out her declared intention." (Solomon 1998, p. 219 f.) Goldschmidt showed that "for short stays, residents [as opposed to foreigners] were exempt from reporting requirements". ad 2: There are no love letters from or to Antonie, and no other documents supporting

13334-417: Was still able to distinguish low tones and sudden loud sounds. Beethoven's return to Vienna from Heiligenstadt was marked by a change in musical style, and is now often designated as the start of his middle or "heroic" period, characterised by many original works composed on a grand scale. According to Czerny, Beethoven said: "I am not satisfied with the work I have done so far. From now on I intend to take

13452-580: Was successful at having his nephew removed from her custody in January 1816, and had him removed to a private school, in 1818 he was again preoccupied with the legal processes around Karl. While giving evidence to the court for the nobility , the Landrechte , Beethoven was unable to prove that he was of noble birth and as a consequence, on 18 December 1818 the case was transferred to the civil magistrate of Vienna, where he lost sole guardianship. He regained custody after intensive legal struggles in 1820. During

13570-489: Was terminated when the theatre changed management in early 1804, and he was forced to move temporarily to the suburbs of Vienna with his friend Stephan von Breuning. This slowed work on Leonore (his original title for his opera), his largest work to date, for a time. It was delayed again by the Austrian censor and finally premiered, under its present title of Fidelio , in November 1805 to houses that were nearly empty because of

13688-496: Was the "Immortal Beloved". Sebald was definitely not in Prague at the beginning of July 1812, and Cooper (2000, p. 416) consequently ruled her out as a candidate. Thomas-San-Galli then speculated (in 1910) that it might instead have been Teréz Brunszvik, who he thought could have secretly traveled to Prague. Doubts were raised by de Hevesy (1910), who ruled out Teréz Brunszvik, and by Unger (1910) against Amalie Sebald. A summary of

13806-537: Was the daughter of Heinrich Keverich (1701–1751), who was head chef at the court of Johann IX Philipp von Walderdorff , Archbishop of Trier . Beethoven was born of this marriage in Bonn, at what is now the Beethoven House Museum, Bonngasse 20. There is no authentic record of the date of his birth; but the registry of his baptism , in the Catholic Parish of St. Remigius on 17 December 1770, survives, and

13924-422: Was the niece of Beethoven's doctor, and he had proposed to her in 1810. He was 40, and she was 19. The proposal was rejected. She is now remembered as the possible recipient of the piano bagatelle known as Für Elise . Antonie (Toni) Brentano (née von Birkenstock), ten years younger than Beethoven, was the wife of Franz Brentano, the half-brother of Bettina Brentano , who provided Beethoven's introduction to

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