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AGE 31 - 32 [1802]

Compiled by Gary D. Evans

Last Updated: March 25, 2019 7:05 PM


THE EARLY PERIOD - VIENNA 1802 (Age 31 years)

Severe and Progressive Hearing Loss / Nearing the End of High Classic Style.

MEDICAL: Beethoven continued to seek medical advise and treatment for his severe ailments including his now marked hearing loss associated with tinnitus. He was thereby not able to keep up with conversations, especially in noisy environments, causing him to withdraw from those settings. In addition, he found that he could not adequately perform, which led him increasingly toward composition as a means of income rather than performance.

On the advice of his doctor, Beethoven moved to Heiligenstadt, a small Austrian town outside of Vienna, from April to October 1802. There he wrote, but never sent, his Heiligenstadt Testament (part 1 / Part 2) - a letter to his brothers reflecting his despair and suggesting suicide.

CREATIVE / FINANCIAL: Despite his suffering, Beethoven's compositions continued to advance his fame and standing. He continued to teach a few students, including Ferdinand Ries, and Carl Czerny (who later offered the premier performance of Beethoven's 5th piano concerto "the Emperor" on February 11, 1812).

Beethoven's brother Carl began helping his brother in handling the business end of things, enabling Beethoven to receive greater financial return for his work.

Archduke Rudolph, the youngest son of Emperor Leopold II studied piano and composition with Beethoven beginning in ~1803. The Archduke offered significant financial support to Beethoven and the two became lifelong friends. Fourteen of Beethoven's works were dedicated to Rudolph, including the Archduke Trio (1811), the Missa solemnis (1823), etc.

image from 1801

ROMANTIC: Beethoven's attraction to Countess Julie "Giulietta" Guicciardi, to whom he dedicated his Piano Sonata No. 14, the "Moonlight," could not proceed to a fuller relationship owing in part to their differences in class.

Sometime within either this, or the following year, he fell deeply in love with the Brunsvik's youngest daughter, Josephine. She, in turn returned his affection, but - in the end she later married Count Josef Deym, a happy marriage but one that lasted only a short time with his sudden death in 1804. Many love letters were written to her over the years 1804-1805 and beyond (see Anderson's Letters from those years), but by 1807 - under pressure from her family and with the knowledge that her ongoing relationship with Beethoven could result in the loss of her children, she withdrew from him. Three years later, 1810, she married Baron von Stackelberg.

MUSIC: Beethoven's music was influenced by French heroic style during these years. A four note motto was often used, e.g.: Harp quartet, 4th piano conc., Appassionata, 5th symph. Key of c was now used to express the heroic rather than pathos (eg 5th sym). The 4 notes are never twice used in the same way however.

POLITICAL CLIMATE: A police state existed at this time and Love for the Kaiser was mixed with dread of the secret police. There was a sense of fear and uncertainly following the Hapsburg submission to Napoleon (following the defeats of 1797-1809) along with a sense of national impotence since the death of Joseph II; with his death there was a diminished hope for the enlightened despotism he had espoused.

In this era of failed political nerve and a decrease in outward concern for the human condition, music became an expression of these uncensorable statements. The High Classic style was not trivial but expressed a Utopian ideal. Womanhood was Idealized and a commercialized view of sex and marriage obtained. The greater works of Mozart, Haydn and early Beethoven contradicted Viennese life where gaiety disguised a sense of loss, courtly grace was penetrated by brusque and dissonant elements. Fantasy was mixed with profound expression. Bonaparte's image actually replaced Christ's in many homes in Europe. Beethoven rejected hierarchical orthodoxy in liturgical and in secular life and so had conflicts with Bonaparte in terms of his image as a hero and the reality of his brutality and repression.


WORKS CREATED

op 30#1: Violin Sonata #6 in A Kreutzer finale orig. to be op30#1 finale (Completed Mar-May)
op 30#2: Violin Sonata #7 in c completed March-May
op 30#3: Violin Sonata #8 in G completed March-May
op31#1: Piano Sonata in G (June - Sept) [Note: The Heiligenstadt Testament was written just after this composition]
op31#2: Piano Sonata #17 in d "Tempest" (New virtuoso style; magnificent)(June - Sept)
op31#3 Piano Sonata #18 in Eb (June - Sept)
op 33: Bagatelles  
op 34 Piano vars on orig. theme in F (New style)(begun ~May, compl. by Oct)
op.35 15 Piano "Eroica" vars in Eb New style) (begun ~ May, compl.by Oct [Note: see WoO14 - 1800 & op 43 - 1801 when the same theme was used
op 36: 2nd symp. in D (completed Feb.) (B. paid 1800 Guilden) (Ded: Lichnowsky) hoven working heavily on Christus am Oelberge
Op 40a: Romance for Violin and Orchestra Accomp. in G  
op 41: Serenade for piano & flute/viola (based on op 25)
op 42: Nocturne for piano & viola (based on op 8)
Op 48: 8 songs  
Op 50: Romance for Violin and Orchestra Accomp. in F,  
op 51#2: Rondo in G  
op 85: Oratorio, Cristus om Oelberge (begun, completed 1803)
op 116: Trio for soprano, tenor & base w/ orchestra "Tremate" (~ March) (Under Salieri's teaching)
WoO 15: 6 Landler in D, D, D, d, D, D  
WoO 16: Spurious 12 ecossaise S SPURIOUS - not Beethoven's
WoO 17:Spurious Modling dances SPURIOUS - not Beethoven's (referred to by Schindler)
WoO 54: "Lustig-Traurig" in C  
WoO 92a: No, non Turbati (early 1802) (Under Salieri's teaching)
WoO 93: Duet, "Nei giorni tuoi felici" for soprano & tenor w/ orchestra Under Salieri's teaching)
WoO 99: Italian Partsong  
WoO 101: "Graf, graf, liebster Schaf" (musical joke)
WoO 120: Song, "Pour Madame Weissenthurn"  
WoO 126 Song, "Opferlied" Initially 1794-5 rev. 1801-2) [Friedrich von Matthisson]
Hess 21: Septet op20 arranged for military band - 1st variation of 4th movement & finale  
Hess 34: String Quartet in F, (Arranged from Piano Sonata in E, op. 14 #1)  
Hes 38: String quartet arrangement of Bach's Fugue in bb from Book 1 of the '48' (Unheard Beethoven - mp3 link here)
   
   
   
   
Not classified: Triple concerto in D Not completed

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES

DATE
Early
Anton Reicha, an old Bonn friend arrived from Paris; friendship was immediately reestablished..
Feb
Second Symphony completed.
Mar 3
Publication announcement for Piano Sonatas op26 and op27
Mar
Piano Sonata op22 published.
Mar
Serenade op25 published.
Mar
Tremate op116 composed
Mar 23
First Viennese performance of Cherubini's Lodoiska. Very successful.
Mar 28
Wegeler & Eleonore married in Bonn.
Mar-May
Violin Sonatas op30 composed
Apr - Early
Unsuccessful attempt to have concert @ court theater; blocked by theater director Baron Braun. Also w/o court appointment Re: op35: B. wrote, "The introduction to these grand variations...begins w/ the bass of the theme and eventually develops into 2,3 or 4 parts; and not till then does the theme appear which again, cannot be called a theme." [To the listener, the bass melody can be heard as the theme or the harmony of the theme.]
?
Close relations w/ Brunsvik's - lessons to Josephine and Therese & to cousin - Giulietta Guicciardi.
Apr 8
Wrote to Franz Anton Hoffmeister in Leipzig (Anderson#57), stating in no uncertain terms that a request offered to their publishing house that Beethoven write a revolutionary sonata honoring Napoleon - after he concluded "his Concordat with the Pope" would never happen.
Apr 8
Close to Zmeskall. Expressed anger in letter "There are rascals in the Imperial city as there are at the Imperial Court." [dangerous statement]
Apr
Ferdinand Ries moved to Vienna after studying in Munich. Sent w/ letter of intro. from his father, Franz Ries who had taught B. violin in Bonn. B. accepted intro. w/ joy; Ries became his student.
Apr
Moved to 13 Herrengasse until Oct'02 (now Probusgasse 6), Ferdinand Ries - son of Bonn neighbor visited, found deafness & mood swings ??? 1800 ???
Apr - Late
Sent brief letter to publisher, Breitkopf & Hartel in Leipzig (Anderson#58), "A good deal of business and also a great many worries - have rendered me for a time quite useless for some things."
May
Piano Variations op34 and op35 begun
May
Dr. Schmidt recommended seclusion in the country for rehabilitation and rest.
June-Sept
Piano Sonatas op31 composed.
Summer
Wrote to Ferdinand Ries in Vienna (Anderson#61) from Heiligenstadt asking whether Count Browne "has already given the two marches [Opus 45] to be engraved", indicating that he needed an immediate answer.
June-late
Septet op20 published with the publication announcement July 24th.
July 13
Wrote to publisher Breitkopf & Hartel in Leipzig (Anderson#59)that the "mania" to have pianoforte compositions arranged for stringed instruments was problematic as only the composer or someone of equal ability could perform that task.
July 14
Wrote to Breitkopf & Hartel again (Anderson#60) indicating that he didn't like the division of his Septet (Opus 20) into two parts, etc.
Aug 13
First Viennese performance of Cherubini's 'Les Deux Fournees' (Der Wassertrager)
Aug 14
Publication announcement for Piano Sonata op28
Autumn
Wrote lightheartedly to Zmeskall (Anderson#65) requesting they get together at "Walter's today..."
?
Wrote to Zmeskall (Anderson#68) requesting his company at "the Schwan."
Oct - Apr1803
Moved to Heiligenstadt (Probusgasse 6 [per Dane pt2] vs. St. Peterplatz 649 (3rd or 4th floor) (now Petersplatz 11) in 'Zum Silbernen Vogel' also Jeneweingasse 17 w/ countess Erdody [per Anne-Louise Coldicott]
Dane references Rudolf Klein's book "Beethoven-Statten in Osterreich" that it is uncertain if B. actually lived in this house.
Oct 6
Heiligenstadt testament: Written to 2 brothers telling of deafness, failure w/ romantic relationships, explaining his outlook and how he is misperceived, his. public withdrawal. (Every time Johann's name referred to, it is represented by a blank space.
Oct 10
Heiligenstadt testament: 2nd portion. The postscript read: "As the leaves of autumn wither and fall, so has my own life become barren: almost as I came, so I go hence. Even that high courage that inspired me in the fair days of summer has now vanished."
Oct
Moved back to Vienna: St-Peter-Platz 649 zum silbernen Vogel (now Petersplatz 11) (3rd ? 4th fl) till Apr'03 (6 mo), [also 58 Augasse, Jedelsec (now Jeneweingasse 17) with Countess Erdody.
Oct 18
Wrote to Breitkopf and Harte in Leipzig (Anderson#62) offering his Piano Variations Opus 34 and Opus 35 for publication, stating that they had been written in "quite a new manner."
Nov 9
Conflict w/ Arteria re: Quintet (Opus 29) - gave private copy to C.Fries. Fries passed his copy to Arteria after B. had already sold it to Breithopf & Hartel (See Anderson#63) below.
Nov 12
Beethoven and Arteria reached an agreement that they wouldn't publish op29 until 14 days after Breitkopf and Hartel had circulated their edition in Vienna.
Nov 13
Beethoven obtained proof that Arteria had obtained a copy of the quintet (Opus 29) from Count Fries fraudulently. Beethoven then wrote to Breitkopf & Hartel (Anderson#63) explaining what had happened (including the anecdote that his brother Carl, in attempting to help out ended up losing his favorite dog).
Nov 13
Wrote to Zmeskall (Anderson#64) changing their planned location for a rehearsal the next day (Nov. 14) to Zmeskall's home with a performance to follow three hours later at Beethoven's. He also quipped relative to the Arteria affair, "The villains have been imprisoned..."
Nov
Wrote to Zmeskall (Anderson#66) inviting him to a "stag party" dinner and asking him to pass along Beethoven's offer to Reicha (pianoforte manufacturer) that he would agree to purchase a piano from him for 30 ducats (...but not more than 30 ducats) and that it must be made of mahogany and that it "shall have the tension with one string..." Further that if those requirements were not agreeable, Beethoven would receive a pianoforte from another manufacturer - likely for free.
Dec
Quintet op29 published by Breitkopf and Hartel followed by Artaria's publication thereafter per the agreement made in November.
Dec 18
Wrote to Breitkopf & Hartel (Anderson#67) about his set of variations to be published stating that he wished to have an introductory statement be published along with them - that they were "distinctly different from my earlier ones."
Dec ????
Brother Carl offered 2nd sym. and 3rd piano concerto to publisher Andre stating Beethoven was now only composing oratoria, opera, etc.