Nephew Karl stops by Uncle Ludwig’s apartment this morning very briefly. He helps his uncle go through the mail. Uncle Ludwig believes one bill to be from the tailor, but Karl tells him it is not.

Karl gives his uncle the letter he drafted to Stieglitz & Co. in St. Petersburg regarding the money due from Prince Galitzin, asking why he is delaying payment for the third quartet, op.130. Brandenburg Letter 2179. This letter does not survive, but its date is known from Stieglitz’s answer on August 13, 1826. Uncle Ludwig notes that the letter is quite short. Karl tells him, “With merchants you have to be concise; if that does not work, then you take the last resort.”

Uncle Ludwig asks Karl something, to which Karl responds before he leaves, “The end of August.” [His school term is up at Michaelmas, September 29th, so unless he misspeaks here, Karl must mean something else. Karl gives no hints that he intends to commit suicide in the very near future and has purchased two pistols for this purpose. However, we do note that his comments in the conversation books of late are rather businesslike. He no longer doodles in the margins or engages in calligraphy, and the jokes and puns are gone. Uncle Ludwig does not appear to have noticed this change in Karl’s demeanor, or at least seems not to mention it to Karl.]

Sometime after Karl departs, former unpaid assistant Anton Schindler pays a call on Beethoven. Much of the time is spent with Schindler complaining about his own health. He is only going out for the third time today. Everything should be fine, “only my head just won’t get better; it is like a revolutionary.” He is going out to the country today, at least to Schönbrunn. Beethoven offers Schindler a beer. “I am not allowed to take one, also not to drink any wine.” He must avoid anything that heats him up. “I had a very skillful doctor, or else it would have been the end of me.” It is Professor Johann Baptist Wisgrill (c.1795-1851) from the medical faculty at the University of Vienna.

The planned performance of Fidelio is in danger. “The tenor [who is to sing Florestan] has fallen ill and won’t be singing it. What is worse is that Radicchi would have taken over the part, for he cannot sing a tone that can be heard. He sings like a 60-year-old woman, and when he offers to sing, it is a terrible presumption.” Joseph Eichberger (1808-1862) will sing the role instead. He sang the tenor part in François Adrien Boieldieu’s opera The White Lady [which was performed in a new German version at the Kärntnertor Theater last month.] “He is the best high tenor we have, and a man who tries much harder than anyone else.” Schindler also notes that yesterday he heard Nanette Schechner, who has been engaged at the Kärntnertor this summer, is saving Fidelio for her benefit concert, which will probably not take place until September or October, which will be for the best for the opera since people will be back in the City.

Beethoven mentions that Schindler promised to bring Schechner to visit him, but they never appeared. Schindler assures him that they will suddenly surprise him, once he is well again and can arrange everything.

Schindler asks whether Beethoven has talked to Baroness Reigersfeld from London. She is in Vienna [arrived July 28th] with her two daughters. She is married to the ship captain who had written to Beethoven several times. Beethoven asks how he knows all this; Schindler responds that he read it in the newspaper. [It was in the Arrivals column of the Wiener Zeitung of July 31, Nr.173.]

Schindler complains that it is hard to live in the countryside, because everything is bad, though the wines are excellent.

“Now, my great master, farewell, and when I am free again, I will with your kind permission come to talk with you again.” Beethoven appears not to object to Schindler’s proposal to come back.

The composer starts a shopping list after Schindler’s departure:

• library cabinet Karl
• Metrick etc. [most likely a reference to Heinrich Voss’s Meter in the German Language, which was the topic of discussion with Karl, who wanted a copy, on Sunday, July 30.]

Conversation Book 116, 21v-25r.

Publisher B. Schott’s Sons in Mainz writes to Beethoven today to inquire about the quartet op.131 that they purchased. In particular, they ask whether the copy has been delivered yet, and whether it is an original composition. Brandenburg Letter 2180. Although the letter is today lost, its date and contents can be deduced from Beethoven’s letter offering the quartet, and his response dated August 19, 1826 in response. The quartet as of today has not yet been delivered to Franck & Co., and is probably being copied presently, though it is of course original.

Today’s Berliner allgemeine musikalische Zeitung (Nr.31) at 245-246 continues its review of Charinomos: Contributions to the General Theory and History of the Fine Arts, by Karl Seidel (Magdeburg, 1825, vol.1). The author demonstrates the importance of rhythm, and then launches into an exhaustive overview of rhythmic formations.

But the reviewer takes issue with the author’s simplistic treatment of rhythm, using an example from Beethoven. “The author has not demonstrated any aesthetic or other law that would make further rhythmic formation, e.g., five- and seven-part, inadmissible. Even experience speaks against it; in the first movement of Beethoven’s sonata op.54, for example, we find the five-part rhythm (in quintuplets) in extensive use. The opinion that such rhythms are useless has only spread because for a while people enjoyed forcing and artificially creating five-part rhythms (in order to be new in one respect at least), which then of course were considered forced and artificial and unpleasant to be perceived.”

The August 2, 1825 Leipzig Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung (Nr.31) opens with a letter from a traveler about Vienna’s art treasures. In it, he discusses the collections of major patrons of the arts. At 499, the traveler recounts that Herr Tobias Haslinger of the S.A. Steiner art and music shop, has sold the theoretical portion of his select collection to Beethoven’s patron, Archduke Rudolph, including “the famous scores of all Beethoven’s compositions, in some sixty folio volumes, all by one hand, entirely flawless on English drawing paper, written with calligraphic elegance.” The writer notes that it “will most likely remain unique of it kind, because, due to its cost and the time involved, it could hardly be undertaken a second time.”

The concert report from Cassel at page 508 of today’s AMZ mentions that the third concert of the season, held at the opera house, opened with Beethoven’s Overture to Egmont.

Nephew Karl joins his uncle briefly this afternoon. He does some financial computations for the household, trying to account for an additional 30 kreutzers, which have been the previous topic of conversation.

Uncle Ludwig wants to write to Prince Galitzin about the payment for the third quartet, op.130, which is now long overdue. Karl tells his uncle that he should give him the general concept for the letter to Galitzin, and then Karl will write it at home this evening. Karl helps his uncle go through his mail.

Uncle Ludwig asks about the conversation Karl had with Tobias Haslinger yesterday. Karl responds, “I went to Haslinger myself and said that I would show you this title [page for the piano reduction of the Terzet Tremate, empi tremate, op.116], but did not think you would be happy with it.” Uncle Ludwig says that it needs to have the name of the arranger, since otherwise people would think he had done the arrangement of the piece. Karl answers, “He said that it did not matter who made the piano reductions, if only the name of the composer was there.” In any event, the title page needs to be changed completely, because it says “per il Cembalo” [rather than clearly indicating that it is an arrangement of the orchestral original; the title page as published says “Estratto per il cembalo.”] Uncle Ludwig questions whether he could just add something to indicate that it is a reduction, but Karl insists Haslinger needs to change it.

Karl suggests that he write to the banker Stieglitz, telling him that Prince Galitzin owes Uncle Ludwig the amount of 125 ducats for the quartets, and has not given a satisfactory answer in spite of repeated requests, and that the money did not come. “That is why you write to them, because you can understand from the business connection between the prince and them that they will be able to do something for you in this matter, etc.”

The housekeeper claims that one of the vegetables [possibly asparagus] is woody and therefore not easy to cook.

Uncle Ludwig has questions about how the letter will be written. Karl assures him, “I will write the letter according to the correct form. It is commercial [which Karl has been studying at the Polytechnic Institute] therefore it will not be difficult to deal with.”

Uncle Ludwig would like venison; Karl tells him that the housekeeper will arrange for some to come tomorrow. [Once again, Karl’s answers are brief and businesslike. However, he gives his uncle no indication that he is planning to commit suicide, nor does he mention his reconnaissance trip to Baden yesterday.]

Conversation Book 116, 19v-21v.

Probably after Karl leaves, Beethoven writes a letter to Wilhelm Ehlers in Mannheim, director of the Ducal Court Theater there and professor of singing. Ehlers had apparently written to Beethoven a letter that does not survive, requesting permission to adapt Beethoven’s music for The Ruins of Athens in its latest version for an opera on the biblical story of Samson. “My dear Ehlers! Overwhelmed with work — comes my reply, but late — I agree with everything you are proposing with regard to The Ruins of Athens, only you should not forget to restore the truth, which suffered greatly through the Meissner adaptation [Beethoven means Carl Meisl], which of course is only to be found in Kotzebue’s original text. — Can you do something so that you can deal better with the Berliners? I approve of all this, only they should see that it’s all genuine, for there was another overture to The Ruins of Athens, in G minor, for the Meissner adaptation [op.113]; and yet another for the Josephstadt version of the Meissner adaptation, which Schott in Mainz engraved [Consecration of the House, op.124]. So it depends on the sense in which the latest arrangement is meant; if they need the latter, that is in C major. I would instruct Schott to provide it, as soon as I have your letter, because the Kapellmeister of the Königsberg Theater [Carl Wilhelm Henning] has arranged a shameful piano reduction of the Overture in C. It can be assumed that he also wronged the score. He probably believed that he was in Königsberg and thus could apply Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason to it.”

“I gladly leave to you the benefit that you may derive from your efforts with this work; I will accept nothing from you but a small gift as a memento. I will write to Schott that they also send you the Opferlied in a solo version, since the original and true concept of it was only discovered later. — If you would only give me news of this matter soon it would please me.”

“I warmly embrace you, your friend Beethoven.”

Brandenburg Letter 2178; Anderson Letter 1496. The location of the original is unknown; the text is derived from the facsimile published in Beethoven by Fritz Volbach (Mainz, 1905), Supplement Nr.2. Ehlers would submit his version of Samson to Schott’s for publication in 1827. The Opferlied had been written for Ehlers originally, in a version for three voices.

The August, 1826 issue of The Harmonicon (Nr.XLIV) in its Foreign Musical Report column, at 171 indicates that in Vienna over the last season, there was one Mass by Beethoven performed, with two by Cherubini, six by Haydn, and five by Mozart, among others.

The musical supplement to this issue of The Harmonicon includes an “Air from Prometheus for Piano-forte,” which is the Pastorale, Nr.10, from the ballet The Creatures of Prometheus, op.43.

Unbeknownst to either Beethoven or Holz, Nephew Karl goes to Baden today, possibly to select a place to commit suicide when the time comes. Going on Monday would allow him to vanish from his rooms without any question, purporting to be at his classes; he would have too easily been missed on the weekend. But while he is in Baden, he is seen speaking to two officers, though what they discuss is unknown. In light of later remarks, he may be interested in what the life of a soldier is like. He returns to Vienna most likely this evening or possibly early tomorrow morning. [Conversation Book 116, 52v.]

Beethoven’s patron Archduke Rudolph arrives in the lake valley of St. Gilgen on what is now Lake Wolfgang, just west of the baths at Ischl where he has been enjoying the spas for close to three weeks. According to the report from Salzburg in the Wiener Zeitung of Tuesday, August 8 (Nr.180) at 755, also quoted in the Brünner Zeitung of August 11, 1826 (Nr.219) at 933, “His Royal Highness arrived in the lakeside village of Strobel at 3:30 p.m. from the spas of Ischl, boarded a ship that had already been prepared and decorated, and sailed to the neighboring market and pilgrimage site of St. Wolfgang [c.934-994]. From there, his Highness authorized them to continue further across the lake to the steeply rising rock face, on whose wooded heights the old holy Bishop of Regensburg once settled, living a miracle-working life. His Royal Highness allowed himself to be guided there, repeatedly sounding the echo of gunfire, trumpet, and shots, and then returned, bestowing blessings, via Strobel to Ischl. The clearest sky, accompanied by the wild gusts of the sea, favored the journey of His Imperial Highness, and elevated the sheer enjoyment of the landscape of Austrian Switzerland.” [Wolfgang, Bishop of Regensburg, had lived in the area as a hermit for the last 18 years of his life, apparently as a result of a political dispute between Duke Henry II of Bavaria and Emperor Otto II. After he was found by a hunter, he was brought back and died, with many miracles reported at his grave. Wolfgang was canonized in 1052.]

Holz has come with a letter from Mathias Artaria [which does not survive, but apparently relates to the Grosse Fuge, still the final movement of the quartet op.130.] Holz told him that Beethoven has started another quartet [op.135.] Holz asks Beethoven how much he can tell Artaria about it. Beethoven responds that the material he has so far is in F major. Holz suggests then that it might be in the relative minor, D minor. Artaria brought Holz the letter; it was too hot for Artaria to come all the way to the Schwarzspanierhaus.

Holz tells Beethoven that he will get the new copy of the proof of op.130 on the day after tomorrow [Wednesday, August 2.] “The bars are correct.” But in the copied part, there was yet another error. An F-sharp in the fugue should be a G. Joseph Linke at bar 489 and 490 had written in pencil a way that would make it easier to play. “Did you agree with that?” Beethoven accepts Linke’s change, and Holz confirms that it should be altered in that way. [The bar in the final score is as Linke suggested. See attached detail of Conversation Book 116, 11r.]

Holz had made arrangements to meet Nephew Karl on Friday, July 28 to visit Tobias Haslinger about the title page dispute, but he says Karl did not show up. [Karl had said he went to Holz’s apartment and Holz was still asleep. Which version is true is unclear.] Holz then went to Haslinger’s by himself, and Haslinger told Holz that Karl had already been there about the matter. The new quintet that Beethoven has promised to Anton Diabelli will create new jealousy for Haslinger. “He sees how the other art dealers here leave him behind.” Holz notes that Haslinger is now publishing a deluxe edition of Johann Baptist Cramer’s Etudes. [The advertisement had appeared in the Wiener Zeitung Nr.167 dated July 24, 1826.]

They turn back to the forthcoming quartet, op.135. Beethoven believes it will be rather short, at least compared to his recent quartets. Holz tells him that it may certainly be short, but it won’t be shabby. “The Jew [Schlesinger] does not deserve anything else. I even think that if he should dare to publish these quartets without your consent, you should make public that you did not at all lend him a hand in that. If our journals do not have any other value, then they deserve some acknowledgement after all, because through them one can light a fire of fear in such persons.” Holz suspects he may have already published the quartet op.130, expecting Beethoven’s approval. Holz also thinks Maurice Schlesinger’s love story, with a planned marriage in the fall of 1825, was strange. “He had barely seen her for 3 days, then he went to her father and asked for her hand in marriage. But the father knew Herr Schlesinger better, and said: No.”

At some point during the conversation, they move the conversation to an inn where they have dinner. One of the staff advises that only the jellied food is rewarmed; the rest is freshly cooked. “The innkeeper often likes to hire waiters who persuade you to take this or that dish,” Holz observes.

Violinist Ignaz Schuppanzigh would like them to be his guests at dinner tomorrow; Nephew Karl begged off, saying he did not have any time this week.

Prince Rasoumouvsky gives splendid banquets every day, Holz notes. “He is a scoundrel; he proved that when his orchestra retired. He promised to make them all happy. Now Mylord [Schuppanzigh] and [violist Franz] Weiss have 400 florins annually, and [cellist Joseph] Linke has nothing at all. Linke received the pension only for the first 5 years; but when, after that period, he applied for an extension, it was rejected.”

Beethoven gives the canon “Es muss sein,” WoO 196, and a cover letter to Holz, for delivery to Ignaz Dembscher. Holz promises to take it afterwards. Despite Dembscher’s greediness, Holz was confident that he would pay Schuppanzigh the 50 florins that Beethoven instructed him to give as penance for not subscribing to the Schuppanzigh Quartet concerts. Dembscher had pleaded with Holz to try to reconcile Beethoven with him, on account of the matter of the tickets; “but I told him right away that this would only happen if he gave Schuppanzigh 50 florins. At least he showed himself to be obedient. Mylord does him the favor to play at his place when [Joseph] Mayseder cannot come; he has not received anything yet. He has often said that he would pay 50 florins all at once, if someone would invent an instrument which could make you hear again.”

Holz will be going to Baden bei Wien on Sunday [August 6] and he asks whether Beethoven would like him to look for apartments. [Events transpire that prevent Holz from going to Baden this weekend.]

Talk turns to now-deceased composer Carl Maria von Weber. Holz says he started composing too late. “Mylord remembers that many years ago, he [Weber] was called to Breslau as Kapellmeister, and Schuppanzigh was astonished that a man without any talent for music could obtain such a position. By that time, Mylord thought Weber was incredibly stupid. He did not start studying until later in Prague. His advantage was his acquaintance with many poets and learned people, who brought him on the path to thinking. He did think, but the genius of the Freischütz [libretto] cannot be ruined even by a mediocre composer. The first time I had a low opinion of him was when we were at [poet Ignaz] Castelli’s to celebrate his departure; one of your quartets was performed there. It was the one in E-flat major {Lobkowitz} [op.74]. After the Adagio, he said it was very beautiful, however it was too long; we just laughed in his face.”

“Since then, Linke rails terribly against him [probably meaning Rasoumovsky]. He cannot forgive him for that. [Unlike Schuppanzigh, Linke only got a temporary annuity from Rasoumovsky, not a permanent one.] At that time, he did not want to go on playing.”

Holz comments that reflection fails in art without poetry. “I just want to say that he [probably meaning Weber] wanted to present nature artificially, but art never because nature to him.”

Holz assures Beethoven that the funds will be paid to Schuppanzigh right away, in gold.

“Perhaps Bach could write his fugues more easily,” Holz says, possibly in response to the difficulties Beethoven had with the Grosse Fuge. Holz recommends that Beethoven work to finish the new quartet in F. Beethoven says he also needs to work on the oratorio on Saul that Kuffner is writing for him. Holz notes that the Musikverein had voted unanimously to offer Beethoven all the income of the performance of that oratorio at the Reitschule, which held up to 5,000 people, as a bonus. [The German editors note that Kuffner had apparently suggested this offer.]

Conversation Book 116, 10v-19v.

“I hasten to inform you of the proper receipt of your bill of exchange under cover of your letter dated the 19th of this month.”

“At the same time, I inform you that in a few days I will deliver the quartet [op.131], as well as your letter, to Herr Frank [sic, of the banking house Franck & Co.]. This would already have been done were it not for my endeavor to send you the work completely correct for engraving, which compelled me to review it once more in the most precise manner.” [In fact, although the quartet is probably finished, it is still in the process of being copied. Beethoven possibly has begun proofreading the first part of the copy by this point, so he may be partially telling the truth.]

“I thank you most sincerely for forwarding your bill of exchange and repeatedly request that you do not consider this request from my side as a sign of distrust towards your esteemed house. You will receive the metronome markings shortly.”

“As much as I now wish to write you about a matter of equal importance to both you and me, I am so overwhelmed with business that it is impossible for me today. I therefore postpone the explicit declaration until the next postal day, and am, Your most devoted Beethoven.”

Brandenburg Letter 2173; Anderson Letter 1494. The letter is postmarked WIEN. The “matter of equal importance” is presumably hinting at the planned complete edition of Beethoven’s works, which he has dangled before Leidesdorf, Haslinger and Maurice Schlesinger, and now intends to offer to Schott’s, whom he has found easy to work with.

The original of this letter is held in the Mainz City Library (Ms.III 71 Nr.21a), and can be seen here:

https://www.dilibri.de/dilibri_kalliope/content/titleinfo/2115417

Beethoven, Nephew Karl and unpaid assistant Karl Holz meet violinist Ignaz Schuppanzigh today for dinner at a restaurant. Ignaz Dembscher received Beethoven’s letter and has written to Schuppanzigh informing him that he will pay the 50 florins as Beethoven directed, so that he can use the parts to the op.130 quartet for a private concert. Now that he has made the proper acknowledgement, Holz tells Beethoven he can send Dembscher the canon, Es muss sein [It must be], WoO 196. Holz jokes that the payment is a gift for Mylord’s [Schuppanzigh’s] name day [July 31].

Nephew Karl notes that Prince Rasoumovsky has come to Vienna [he arrived July 27] but without the money from Prince Nikolai Galitzin. [Karl seems unaware that Rasoumovsky returned from Paris, not St. Petersburg.]

Karl notes that since Matthias Artaria will soon be publishing the quartet in B-flat major [op.130], Uncle Ludwig should let Dembscher have the parts soon. Dembscher also would like to see Ludwig at his place some time.

Nephew Karl reports that Tobias Haslinger has already made a new title page for the two works that had so upset Uncle Ludwig, the March and Chorus op.114, and the Terzet Tremate, empi trempate op.116, which had suggested that the piano reductions were the original versions. On the piano reductions, the word “original” has been left out on the new ones. Holz thinks this will suffice with a small alteration. Holz adds, “That will be easy to obtain; it will come to him like a bolt of lightning out of the blue.”

Karl tells his uncle that he is really short on money. [Given that he just sold his textbooks surreptitiously, either he used the money from that to buy the pistols he has hidden in his rooms, or he is paying off gambling debts, or some combination of the two. In any event, Uncle Ludwig would not approve if he knew the truth.]

Beethoven in turn complains that he still has not received the 50 ducats from Russian Prince Nikolai Galitzin for the third quartet he commissioned, op.130. Schuppanzigh believes that Galitzin is willing to pay, but he probably has no money now, which is often the case. Schuppanzigh knows him well. Beethoven misunderstands and thinks they are talking about Prince Rasoumovsky, and Holz corrects him, that they mean Galitzin. Karl interjects that this Galitzin comes from a poorer family line. Holz comments on the treatment of Russian serfs, “The whip has not yet been abolished.” [Serfdom would not be abolished in Russia until 1861 by Czar Alexander II.]

Karl complains about the fish; there is no liver. It was a milter [a male fish in breeding condition] but there was nothing good in it. “Everything is unsatisfactory.” [These oddly overreacting comments are unusual for Karl and may be indicative of depression.]

Schuppanzigh, lightening the conversation, jokes that Holz [in German, Holz means wood] is not a precious wood; however, he is suitable for burning. Holz agrees, “That is how it is.”

Karl continues complaining about the food; they are out of oil, and the next course is not ready. But they would be just as happy if it does not come. He also mentions that he smokes.

Holz takes a more positive tone about the food today: “The pastry is good; I said that recently we had pies which could have withstood the grinding stone.”

Karl acknowledges that Mylord is very satisfied. Schuppanzigh begins telling a scandalous story about an unidentified woman. “She is nothing but a w[hore]. She had a lot of misfortune with her children. The daughter had sold herself to Prince Kaunitz and she declared her mother to be the procuress, who for more than a year was involved in a criminal process until she was found innocent; her son was working at a cash office, where he committed a theft, for which he is still having to pay by lying in prison. The respect!”

Karl sarcastically adds, “Fratello [Brother Johann] would not have done that.” [Ludwig frequently called Johann’s wife Therese a whore.] After dinner, Holz and Nephew Karl accompany Beethoven to his apartment in the Schwarzspanierhaus.

Holz asks where the canon for Dembscher, Es muss sein WoO 196, is. [He will later make a copy of the canon.]

The housekeeper, Marie Stiegel, wants to go to the theater again today, Karl says. Why does she want to do that? Uncle Ludwig asks. Is the maid going out too? “She is always at home. The other one [the maid] stays here; she won’t go out.” Holz says that the work is too strenuous for Stiegel. She objects, and tells Karl that in order to keep her position, she will do as much spraying as she can. [She had previously earned Beethoven’s wrath by not wanting to do the spraying of the dust outside, since it made her cough.] Uncle Ludwig thought she was refusing, but Karl tells him that she does do it anyway. Holz adds, “Nevertheless, how long can it still last? Then you will be moving to the countryside anyway.” [At this point, Beethoven has vague plans to go to the baths at Ischl, but he does not do so.]

Holz says that the proofreading of the quartet op.130 is finished. Next week they’ll print a new version at Artaria’s. “You will receive the next copy.” Holz also mentions that “the matter with Diabelli has been arranged.” [This may relate to either the sonata for piano duet or a string quintet, both of which Beethoven has promised to Anton Diabelli.]

Ludwig asks where they visited the Bogners last Sunday. Holz tells him it was in Döbling.

Uncle Ludwig asks Karl whether he can now visit him more often with his written examinations finished. Karl is evasive: “It will be more difficult now for me to get off.”

Karl asks for a book, Metrik der Deutschen [probably Heinrich Voss’s book on meter in German poetry]. “In passing, I’ll ask how much it costs; I could eat with you tomorrow; Holz could easily buy it.” [Karl does not in fact come tomorrow, but does meet with his uncle on the next day, Tuesday, August 1.]

Conversation Book 116, 5r-10r.

A new set of pedagogical materials by Beethoven’s former pupil Carl Czerny is advertised in today’s Wiener Zeitung (Nr.172) at 726 by Anton Diabelli & Co., Mnemosyne musicale for Youth: A selection of easy, brilliant, and instructive compositions for the pianoforte, with and without accompaniment, in 8 volumes thus far, with the promise of more to come. The first five of these volumes include Czerny’s previously published Two Easy and Brilliant Sonatinas op.49; Two Easy and Brilliant Sonatinas for piano four hands op.50; Two Easy and Brilliant Sonatinas for piano and violin op.51; Easy Concertino for piano with obbligato string quartet accompaniment, and ad lib flute and two horns, op.78; and Six Rondeaux mignons for piano duet op.90. The three next volumes listed were not previously advertised and appear to be newly published: Three Easy and Brilliant Sonatinas for solo piano, or with ad lib accompaniment of violin and violoncello, op.104; Sonate militaire et brillante for piano duet with ad lib accompaniment of violin and violoncello op.119; and the Sonata sentimentale for piano duet with ad lib accompaniment for the same instruments, op.120.

The publisher writes (probably Czerny’s own words): “For those piano players who have already outgrown the usual supplementary pieces, but cannot yet venture into the study of the difficult works of the great masters, there has always been a palpable lack of compositions specifically designed for each age and level of ability, combining ease of performance with all the effects that the high level of brilliant playing of our time, the current refined taste, and the brilliant perfection that the present Viennese fortepiano players demand and make possible. The author of this collection, whose primary occupation is giving instruction, has endeavored to contribute to this end through its publication, and the publisher may add that all the compositions included here are equally suitable for production and practice, even for small children’s hands, and a correct score makes them equally agreeable to teachers and students.”

Uncle Ludwig relates the story of demanding that Ignaz Dembscher pay Ignaz Schuppanzigh 50 florins for the privilege of being loaned the parts to the op.130 quartet, and his question “Must it be?” Karl expects that hit hard, since Dembscher is said to be stingy. He will likely delay it, like Brother Johann did with the 50 florins he promised Karl’s mother.

The acting housekeeper, Marie Stiegel, says that one has to go to the market at 6 a.m. in order to get good meat. Karl asked her how she liked her trip to the theater last Sunday. While Uncle Ludwig grumbles a bit about her, Karl points out that there is much less annoyance with her than earlier with the housekeeper [probably meaning Elisabeth Passy.]

Their respective ages is the subject of discussion. Karl says that he thinks his uncle is 57 [he is actually 55.] Karl is 19 years old.

Ludwig and Karl both do some financial computations on the conversation book page, probably relating to the pay due to Stiegel since there is mention of earnest money.

Uncle Ludwig wants to write a letter to B. Schott’s Sons in Mainz. Karl asks Uncle Ludwig to tell him what he wants to write, and then he will take care of the draft tomorrow morning and bring it to him. Uncle Ludwig asks at what time Karl will come. He says at 8:30 a.m.

Conversation Book 115, 35r-36v. This concludes Conversation Book 115, and Conversation Book 116 probably begins being used almost immediately. This is a book of 60 leaves. The first page and the last three pages are blank. Page 1v has an apparently stray notation from someone (possibly Holz), “From early morning until 9:15.” The book covers a period of around ten days.

Ludwig has given notice to Marie Stiegel, who started as a maid and got promoted to housekeeper, and she is very upset as a result. Karl, trying to change his uncle’s mind, tells him, “She is very sad because she has to leave; she says she never shied away from work and only had declined spraying because it was too strenuous for her. Moreover, she was always very content here, and therefore she is very sorry because you fired her, the more so because she feared the slander from the people in the house, because she held the position for such a short time. [She actually has lasted far longer than most, who seldom work for Beethoven more than a month.] She says she would happily have done the spraying, but she was afraid of harming herself because she does not have a strong chest and is coughing.”

Among Beethoven’s complaints about Stiegel are that she did not buy enough blotting paper, and she bought cherries, but failed to buy something else that she was supposed to purchase. Karl doesn’t know why she did these things, so he checks with Stiegel for an answer. He reports back, “She says you asked for large cherries back then, and they cost 15 kreutzers; the money was in the basket, so she thought she had bought everything, and then only later found something more. — They cheated her with the blotting paper, because she was trying to get back here as soon as possible. She is going back to fetch the rest.”

There is some discussion of the Schuppanzigh Quartet. Karl is surprised that one of the members (possibly Karl Holz) has not suggested that Beethoven write quartets for beginners. Uncle Ludwig mentions that Holz was alarmed that he was considering letting the new quartet be premiered in Berlin. “It is only boasting and conceit when they think only they can play your works. They are being played abroad also, and perhaps even better than here.” Also, cellist Joseph Linke (1783-1837) has a terrible frenzy to criticize and correct. The viola player, Franz Weiss is the most humble one of the group. Karl is especially annoyed by such remarks coming from Holz, a dilettante, rather than a professional musician. Karl doesn’t think it is good that Holz knows about Uncle Ludwig’s plans.

Back to the housekeeper. Frau von Passy probably expects to be called back into Ludwig’s service, Karl jokes. Stiegel would like to stay, the maid tells Karl. “She talked about the fish woman [Therese Jonas] and that she is always glad when she comes.” Uncle Ludwig wants Karl to figure out what is owed to Stiegel. Karl asks whether she has already been paid something, which would need to be deducted from the amount due to Stiegel. Uncle Ludwig continues to raise complaints about her. Karl loses his temper with his impossible-to-please uncle: “What does that mean compared to the perpetual change!” This is the first that Ludwig has heard that she had a cough and that was why she didn’t want to do the spraying. Karl tells him, “She was afraid that if she told you this reason, you would have thought she was too weak for the rest of the work. — She begged me to ask you in her name to let her stay.” [Uncle Ludwig’s response is not recorded, but the topic is immediately changed. In any event, there is no talk over the next few weeks of a replacement housekeeper, so it appears likely that Stiegel succeeds in staying on, at least for now.]

Karl mentions that there is something Uncle Ludwig wanted along with the beef for dinner today.

Uncle Ludwig asks about Karl’s examinations. Karl tells him that his first oral examination is next Wednesday [August 9. Karl does not mention that he has no intention of taking his exams.]

Uncle Ludwig jots down a short errand list while Karl is still there, perhaps over dinner since Karl is not being talkative:

• coupons [the interest on the bonds held on behalf of Nephew Karl by the magistrate, paid in semiannual installments of 22 1/2 florins C.M.]
• mirror
• with enthusiasm and vigor [an idea for the performance indication for the canon WoO 196, Es muss sein. The final version is “Quick, with enthusiasm.”]

Uncle Ludwig also begins drafting a letter to Ignaz Dembscher, whose remark to Holz, “Muss es sein?” [Must it be?] inspired the canon [It must be.] “and hope that through this, you will consider your ideas of patronage…the consequences of the opposite are dubious, and must be considered…” He then writes another idea for the canon’s tempo marking, “quick and with enthusiasm.” This draft is catalogued as Brandenburg Letter 2174. The actual letter to Demsbscher does not survive, nor does Beethoven’s manuscript of the canon. This humorous little four-voice canon is known only from a copy made a few days later by Holz.

“Es muss sein, ja ja ja ja ja” [It must be, yes yes yes yes yes] is here performed by Accentus:

Nephew Karl writes, and then crosses out: Fuga. a poco andante. He then leaves for the day, possibly with the letter for Dembscher, but Beethoven does not send the canon just yet.

Conversation Book 116, 2r-4v.

Karl does not mention his examinations (which he is not taking), letting Ludwig think that he is continuing to study for them, though he is not, having secretly sold his textbooks yesterday. He also does not mention that he bought two pistols, intending to commit suicide.

Tobias Haslinger (who for a few days has been advertising his music shop under his own name, formerly S.A. Steiner & Company) today advertises in the Wiener Zeitung (Nr.171) at 721 six pieces by Beethoven’s former pupil Carl Czerny, two of them being advertised for the first time. The first of these is the Variations brillantes for piano four hands, on popular themes from the opera Il Crociato by Meyerbeer, op.125. The second is an Impromptu brilliant in A major for piano four hands, op.116.

Holz continues, “He also secretly told me, so that Karl could not hear it, that he did not want to accept the money [the half of the pension for Karl’s mother Johanna] back then, only because for certain reasons he does not want to have anything to do with this woman. In any other cases, and in whatever commissions, it will be an honor for him to serve you.”

Ludwig will be glad when Karl’s studies are finally finished. Holz notes that it will be only 2 more months now. [The term would conclude around Michaelmas, September 29.]

Holz says that he delivered the note to Ignaz Dembscher, instructing him as penance to pay Ignaz Schuppanzigh 50 florins, if he wants to have the score for the op.130 quartet for a private concert. “I gave the note to Dembscher; he laughed, and asked “Must it be?” I answered: That is the only requirement for forgiving everything.” [This exchange will inspire Beethoven to respond with the canon WoO 196 “Es muss sein (It must be.)] Beethoven asks whether Schuppanzigh went with him; Holz says “Mylord was not there.”

Beethoven gives Holz the corrected proofs for several of the works that Haslinger is printing. Holz says he will deliver them to Tobias tomorrow [July 28.] Holz thinks he will agree to the revised titles. Beethoven brings up his proposed announcement that Haslinger is no long authorized to accept mail for him; perhaps that will no longer be necessary. Holz agrees. “He will be careful now, as he can see that such an ad would harm him very much if he behaves like that again. He said that you had wiped your feet on him.”

Beethoven asks Holz to bring something that cannot be identified; Holz says he will do that the day after tomorrow [July 29.] If he can help here in the house, he will gladly do that.

Conversation Book 115, 33r-35r.

Meanwhile, today Nephew Karl takes a strange step. His landlord Matthias Schlemmer observes Karl have his textbooks [which are actually the property of Uncle Ludwig] taken down the stairs by Schlemmer’s maid and put into a carriage, and has the coachman take them to the university. There is an antiquarian bookseller, Michael Zehetmayr, near there (Holz later remarks that some of these books could bring 50 or 60 florins). Frau Schlemmer also observes Karl packing up his things, as if he is preparing to leave. [From Schlemmer’s and Holz’s statements in Conversation Book 118, 44r-44v.] Although Schlemmer makes note of these odd happenings (all the more odd since as Holz just noted, Karl still has two more months of studies), he does not mention it to Holz or to Beethoven. The Schlemmers believe that Karl is preparing to move out.

Most likely using the proceeds of the sale of his books, Karl not long afterwards purchases two pistols and hides them in a chest in his rooms. He does not take the examinations that he is supposed to take this week, but mentions nothing about that when he meets with his uncle tomorrow.

Sixteen-year-old Frederic Chopin is today accepted to the Warsaw High School for Music. To celebrate, this evening Chopin attends a performance of Rossini’s La gazza ladra at the Polish National Theatre. Alan Walker, Fryderyk Chopin at 98.

Ludwig brings up Thekla Kneisel (1802-1832), who sang the part of Marzelline in Fidelio in 1822. Holz tells him that she is at the Theater an der Wien currently. Her husband, Franz Kneisel is a stable master.

Holz has a number of questions regarding the score to the quartet op.130, which Mathias Artaria is trying to get into print. In the Adagio Cavatina, there is a spot in the cello part [at bar 4] that cannot be reached with the fingers, with a double stop on B-flat, one a quarter note and the other a half note. Holz quotes this and suggests what he believes is a more playable version, making them both quarter notes. “1 b-flat on the G — the same also on the C.” Beethoven responds with the E, followed by the A from the fourth movement of the quartet, which it echoes. Beethoven does not accept the suggestion [which may actually be the suggestion of cellist Joseph Linke]. Holz says he thought it might have been different in the full score.

Also, in the first movement of the quartet he found something. In the 2nd violin part there is one unclear note, and he could not tell if it was supposed to be a G or G-flat from the part. He didn’t have any other parts to be able to compare. “I must have played it but even while playing, one overlooks such key signatures.” [That comment cannot have pleased Beethoven.]

Beethoven brings up the parcel from Schlesinger that went through the Tendler book shop. Haslinger was not happy about being cut out of association with Beethoven. Holz reports that Tendler simply said the whole matter was not Haslinger’s concern. Beethoven asks why Haslinger should think it’s any of his business. “Because of the handover of the parcel and the money. He thought it ought to be his concern, since after all, he is a music dealer.”

Beethoven asks about the French opera and vaudeville that is currently running at the Kärntnertor Theater. “The voices of the French singers are so bad that they can only sing accompanied by a very small orchestra.”

Holz asks Beethoven the name of the painter who painted the portrait of Beethoven that was in the Vienna Art Academy. Nephew Karl apparently comes up with the name, [Joseph Karl] Stieler. [This is the famous portrait of Beethoven holding the score of the Missa Solemnis.]

The Leopoldstädt Theater is a good theater, as popular theaters go, but Holz says there are many disreputable girls there, like at a market. “It is a Viennese entertainment.” Beethoven asks about the ongoing disputes between actor/bassoonist Ignaz Schuster (1778-1835) and Ferdinand Raimund (1790-1836) at the theater, with them quarreling violently. Schuster is no longer popular, Holz indicates. Raimund is better liked. Schuster also has a brother who is an actor at that theater.

Ludwig is interested in publishing the notice that his mail should no longer be sent to Haslinger, but rather directly to him. Karl says he should publish the notice with the changes that Holz made. Holz points out that the announcement was addressed to all of Beethoven’s correspondents. “It goes without saying that it is also addressed to those who have something to send to you.”

Beethoven is displeased that he has not yet received his copy of the quartet in E-flat major [op.127] that was recently published by Schott. Holz is unsure: “Perhaps there is an obstacle that we cannot know of. Haslinger sent by mail for the few copies of the quartet that have appeared in Vienna thus far; there have been many requests for this quartet, and Haslinger did not have any copies left. Then he sent for a significant supplement 2 months ago. However, he did not yet receive anything. So everyone else has to wait for the quartet. Beethoven asks how Holz knows this, and Holz offers to name his source who was there. He assures Beethoven that Haslinger was quite upset about it.

Uncle Ludwig dictates a letter to Schott’s, which Karl writes out under today’s date: “From the postscript of your esteemed letter of the 8th of this month, I understand that you intend to send two copies of the [Ninth] symphony to the King of Prussia. I request this be postponed for the time being, as I intend to send the King a hand-written copy of this work from here by courier, which can also be accomplished in this manner without any risk. I only request that you delay publication until I inform you that the King is in possession of the copy; you understand that with the publication of a work, the value of a copy ceases. For the copies intended for the King, I request that you procure exceptionally fine paper.”

“In my last letter of the 12th of this month, which you will undoubtedly have received, I wrote to you that, due to my failing health, I have to undertake a short journey [presumably Beethoven has decided to go to the baths at Ischl]; I am only awaiting your remittance instructions to Herr Frank [bankers Franck & Co.] here, so that upon receipt of them I may carry out my intention without delay.”

“I therefore request your kind expedited reply. With highest respect, your most devoted Beethoven.”

“Postscript. The now Tobias primus, formerly secundus, complains that many inquiries have been made about the quartet in E-flat, and he already wrote you for a supplemental shipment some two months ago, but despite this, he has not received it — This also applies to the volumes that belong here at the Schwarzspanierhaus, which soon will be published. —”

Brandenburg Letter 2172; Anderson Letter 1492. The reference to “Tobias primus, formerly secundus” is yet another reference to Beethoven’s private joke comparing Sigmund Anton Steiner and Tobias Haslinger to the two Tobiases in the apocryphal book of Tobit; Haslinger recently took over sole operation of the firm upon Steiner’s retirement.

The original of this letter is in Nephew Karl’s hand and is held in the Mainz City Library (Hs III 71, Nr.21) and can be seen here:

https://www.dilibri.de/dilibri_kalliope/content/titleinfo/2115413

Karl mentions that the acting housekeeper, Marie Stiegel, wants to go to the theater today. One of her relatives is in Vienna. The only cooking that needs to be done is making soup for supper, and she can tell the maid what to do for that. Beethoven consents to letting Stiegel go to the theater.

Holz reports that Conrad Graf sends his regards and assures Ludwig that he is working on the Broadwood piano.

Holz writes out his suggested language for the notice: “I hereby request that all my local and foreign correspondents, with whom I have previously maintained written communication through the firm Steiner & Comp., now Tobias Haslinger, henceforth address their matters directly to me. L. Beethoven — Schwarzspanier Haus etc.” [The announcement is apparently never published at all. This proposed announcement is Brandenburg Letter 2171.]

Beethoven wants Haslinger to make various concessions before he can publish the forthcoming works. [March and Chorus op.114, Tremate, empi tremate op.116, and King Stephan Overture, op.117.] Holz says that Beethoven should list them out for Haslinger.

The courier to St. Petersburg, Augustin Lipscher, thinks it would be best to have the Stieglitz bankers act as go-between with Prince Nikolai Galitzin. “They should be able to achieve something more easily than the embassy.”

Nephew Karl cannot stay long. He will not be able to visit his uncle tomorrow since he will not be finished with his work. He has to get up at 5 o’clock as it is. “This week I still have 4 written exams, for which I have to prepare. Anyway, it is almost 5 o’clock now.”

Holz says he has some interesting things he can provide for Karl, though it’s too late for this semester [probably sample commercial transactions from Halle and Jena, which might be instructive for Karl’s studies in business.]

The spraying to keep down dust continues, but the City is not spraying tomorrow. Holz wonders who will do it.

Karl repeats, as if assuring his uncle, that he is working assiduously, “The first [oral] exam is already coming up in a few weeks; therefore it is high time that I use every hour. There is also a lot of homework to be done, so that my time is very limited.” But he will go with Holz to see Haslinger tomorrow about Uncle Ludwig’s demands.

[Karl appears to depart now. His repeated mentions of his upcoming examinations in hindsight is an attempt to make his uncle and Holz believe that he intends to take his exams and pass them, even though he has no intention of doing so. More on this tomorrow.]

Court war agent Ignaz Dembscher and his desire to have the op.130 quartet performed comes up. Does Schuppanzigh play for Dembscher, Beethoven asks. Only if violinist Joseph Mayseder is unable to come. He does not have concerts as often during the summer as he does in winter. Beethoven asks Holz to remind Dembscher that if he wants the quartet, he needs to pay Schuppanzigh 50 florins as penance for not subscribing to the Schuppanzigh Quartet concerts, where he could have heard it. Beethoven writes Dembscher a letter to that effect, and has Holz deliver it.

As they part, Holz assures Beethoven that he will finish the proofreading of the quartet by the day after tomorrow [Friday, July 28.] Then he will go on with the corrections of the dedication copy of the Ninth Symphony, as mentioned in the letter to Schott’s. “There are many errors in it.”

Conversation Book 26r-33r.

Today is the second and final day of the Eighteenth Yorkshire Amateur Musicians Meeting at York. The concert begins at noon again today, opening with Beethoven’s Grand Symphony (Eroica) op.55. The second half of the concert opens with Mozart’s Symphony Nr.40 in G minor, and is followed by an Overture in C by Beethoven [either Consecration of the House, op.124 or the Name Day Overture, op.115, both in the key of C major and both first published within the last year, though the latter is about nine years older in terms of composition even though it was published more recently, in April], the Overture to Der Freischütz, and other works.

“These splendid selections were performed, especially that of the second day, with a degree of spirit and precision which reflected the highest credit on the band, and on its skillful leader Dr. Camidge, who was, as usual, supported by one of the most efficient of the amateurs; and this accuracy of performance is more remarkable, when it is considered that the component parts of the band were not so regularly drilled as if they resided all in one place, and that they had had but one general rehearsal of six hours on the Monday morning….Mozart’s delicious Symphony in G minor [Nr.40] was charmingly executed, as was Beethoven’s new Overture in C. That to Der Freischütz was not better performed at the Festival, and would have been encored but for the lateness of the hour.” The Harmonicon for September 1826 (Nr.XLV) at 185.

The London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Albert Coates, here performs the Eroica in a recording made about a century later than this concert, in September and October of 1926:

The next meeting of the society is scheduled to take place at Sheffield, unless Hull is admitted to the group in the meantime.

In today’s Wiener Zeitung (Nr.169), at 714, Cappi & Czerny repeats its advertisement for three overtures by Ludwig van Beethoven, arranged for piano four hands by Joseph Czerny, namely the overtures from the ballet Prometheus, the tragedy Egmont, and the tragedy Coriolan. These same overtures are also available for pianoforte solo.

The Intelligenzblatt supplement (Nr.XI) to today’s Leipzig Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung (Nr.30) advertises new compositions offered by Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig. At 51, there is reference to their publication of Beethoven’s Terzet, Tremate, empi, tremate, op.116, for soprano, tenor and bass, with accompaniment of full orchestra, or with cembalo accompaniment.

• Carl wallet. —
• wax candles
• mirror
• to the tailor
• two barber razors

Later in the day, he goes to visit Nephew Karl at his rooms rented from Matthias and Rosalia Schlemmer. The housekeeper, Marie Stiegel, likely doing shopping, either accompanies Ludwig or meets him there. Karl reports that the tailor did more with the overcoats than he was instructed to do; “I only wanted him to mend the torn lining, and he gave it to the cloth cutter. I went to him today and told him to fetch it and have it changed because he did not do it well. He is going to change it.”

The spraying in front of the house is apparently not enough to keep dust down; Karl suggests getting a watering can, which would not be so expensive, and have the maid do the spraying.

There is discussion about the problematic title pages to the March and Chorus, op.114, and Tremate, empi tremate, op.116. Tobias Haslinger said himself that he would not print them in this form. Uncle Ludwig thinks he will go see Haslinger. Karl reminds him that Haslinger’s shop is in a different building now; his shop has moved.

Ludwig suggests that since Karl is near the end of his studies, he can dispense with the tutor. Karl says that it not possible now. Everyone learns in the way that seems the easiest for him.

Stiegel couldn’t get any more cucumbers for dinner, so she is forced to chop up the ones she had in a way to make them look more plentiful. Ludwig mentions Holz coming to dinner; Karl petulantly asks why his uncle invites him so often.

Talk returns to Haslinger. Why would he not accept what Uncle Ludwig is requiring of him? Karl doesn’t want to get involved. “I cannot help it — I do not care whether you are on good terms with him or not — however, I think that most of these things take place through intermediaries, and that is why he is so agitated. And I do not think that he said everything about what has been imposed on him; his former behavior was certainly, so far as I could see, full of awe regarding you, not only when dealing with you personally, but also towards strangers, as he proved when you were in Baden.” Karl thinks he could straighten it all out if he went there personally.

The spraying issue is affecting the Schlemmers as well. She says that the soldiers could also spray, but one cannot expect them to do that. The cost at the Schwarzspanierhaus for use of the watering equipment is about 4 florins. There is also a similar assessment for the lighting of the building, but only a few tenants actually pay, and the building superintendent has no leverage to make them pay. They tell him, We do not mind if the stairs are dark. [A lighting bill for the Schwarzspanierhaus from September, 1826 is shown nearby.]

Uncle Ludwig starts to insist that Karl come visit him more often, and then that Karl stay home and spend more time on his studies with his examinations coming up. This annoys Karl: “You are switching from one extreme to the other; it is not possible for me to spend the evening here, if I do not want to end up in a tight spot; however, it is not necessary that I do not come at mid-day either; I do have to eat, and I cannot study the entire day through.” It doesn’t help whether he comes at mid-day or not. Uncle Ludwig suggests that Karl have evening supper with him. “I do have to eat, but in the evening I cannot come. — It is not necessary to make so much fuss about the bathing, and spend so much time. I can do it over there in half an hour. —” Uncle Ludwig does not trust Karl with the money for the baths. Fine, then, “Holz must buy a ticket at the bath and give it to me, then this matter will be solved as well. And I do not care. I am already used to it.” Uncle Ludwig wants the receipt for the 80 florins rent paid to the Schlemmers. Karl assures him that he will get it.

Landlady Rosalia Schlemmer intervenes between the quarreling nephew and uncle. She is sympathetic to Karl’s desire to study with another one of his classmates. “I think he wants to study much with someone, that is what I think when he stays away.” She backhandedly compliments Karl, saying everyone is afraid to play games with him because he is so clever. [This may also be Schlemmer’s way of hinting that Karl cheats at games.]

Frau Schlemmer lets Ludwig know that they are moving into the City. [As a result Karl will need to leave, though since he is near the end of his studies that should not be an issue.]

Conversation Book 115, 22r-25v.

Today is the first day of the Eighteenth Yorkshire Amateur Musicians Meeting held at York, England, having been postponed from the usual time in June because of the elections. “The public attention was considerably directed towards it, on account of its being held for the first time in the Festival Concert Room, which was graced by a splendid display of beauty and fashion; above 1000 persons being present on the first day, and 1100 on the second day. Although the postponement deprived the meeting of some of its most constant attendants, the band nevertheless was numerous and complete, consisting of thirty-six violins and basses, and twenty-six wind and other instruments. The choruses were supported by upwards of forty voices; but unfortunately the reverberation of sound proved sufficiently great to impair the effect, although it was not perceptible in the glees, and scarcely so in the instrumental pieces. Nothing will probably correct this but lengthening the room, of which we are sorry to learn that there is no immediate prospect; and we are also grieved to find that an entrance to it through the great Assembly-room has been denied, contrary to the wishes of some of its proprietors, and those too of high rank, on the plea that it would be degraded by being used as a passage; at the same time that it is let to itinerant jugglers—’admission, back seats, one shilling’!”

The first day’s concert began at twelve o’clock noon, opening with Beethoven’s Grand Symphony in F, op.93 [the Eighth]. The meeting of amateur musicians will continue tomorrow. The Harmonicon for September, 1826 (Nr.XLV) at 184 was unimpressed by the performance of the Eighth Symphony. “Beethoven in F. was not very effective.”

In Russia, five officers who were leaders of the Decembrist revolt are scheduled to be executed by hanging at 3 AM. The revolt had been the subject of several discussions between Beethoven and Brother Johann earlier this year, and it had a profound effect on composer Mikhail Glinka, who observed the Czar’s loyal troops firing into the crowded square in St. Petersburg. Czar Nicholas personally selected the five condemned to serve as an example for the rest. They are led out into the glacis of the Peter-Paul Fortress, and placed on the scaffolds with signs on their chests reading “Criminals—Regicides!” Their epaulets are torn off their uniforms and burned. After they receive the last rites, the command is given and the supports pulled away. Three of the five fall out of their nooses to the ground. One of them, named Muravey, shouts as he awaits the noose to be replaced, “My God! In this hopeless country they cannot even hang people properly!” Historian Jean Henri-Schnitzler, quoted in Y.M. Gordin, Mutiny of the Reformers: 14th December 1825-4th August 1830, Pushkin Foundation, St. Petersburg 2016.

Klingenbrunner suggests that Beethoven might be content with the wonderful crabs that are available, if the fish that he wants are not available. Jonas doesn’t always know herself what fish she will have available from day to day. Beethoven thinks that rather disorganized of her. Holz jokes that her whole household is thrown into disarray anyway, whenever a letter arrives from Beethoven.

Holz notes that it looks like they will have another thunderstorm.

Beethoven mentions that the wallpaper hanger visited him. [He was supposed to come today or Wednesday.] Holz says that he thanked him for the honor of being allowed to work for a Beethoven. He promised that he would do the work as inexpensively as possible.

Beethoven is fairly pleased with the current housekeeper, Marie Stiegel. Holz notes that she is content there, and knows how to adapt herself to Beethoven’s needs.

The spraying of the city streets continues, in front of the house twice a day. The residents are being asked by the building superintendent to contribute; he’s requesting 5 florins monthly from as many residents as possible. [Beethoven does not pay this fee, but has the housekeeper do the spraying, which Marie Stiegel is reluctant to do for health reasons.]

Holz asks Beethoven when he wants to go to the spa at Ischl. It has been unbearably hot the last few days in Vienna; Holz says he is feeling better now, but when he was walking through the Schottentor Gate it was like walking through Hell. [According to the Wiener Zeitung, on July 24 at 3 p.m. it is 22.5 Reaumur, or roughly 83 degrees Fahrenheit. It will get even hotter during the first week of August.]

Beethoven asks about the status of copying of parts for the quartet, op.131. Holz says he has the music paper for it ready at home to begin work.

Conversation Book 114, 31r-32v. This concludes Conversation Book 114. About a third of the pages in Conversation Book 115 remain empty at this point, so that book will be used tomorrow when Nephew Karl comes to visit.