Middle Period

VIENNA 1813 (Age 42 years)

FAMILY - SOCIAL ISSUES: Beethoven had visited his brother, Nikolaus Johann 1812 when he attempted to interfere with his romantic relationship, which prompted Nikolaus instead to marry the women.

A few months later, during the winter of this year, Beethoven next contended with his other brother - Caspar Carl's progressive tuberculosis exacerbation, and his mother's death. Beethoven wrote on May 27, 1813: "A number of unfortunate incidents occurring one after the other have really driven me into a state bordering on mental confusion."

Beethoven continued to provide care for his ill brother, complaining that it was causing him emotional and financial distress, and during this time, B.'s physical appearance became disheveled, his public manners declined, and his work output decreased.

CREATIVE / FINANCIAL: By June 1813, B. found the motivation to begin composing again, perhaps associated with the news of Napoleon's armies having been defeated at Vittoria, Spain by forces led by the Duke of Wellington. This news prompted his completion of the "battle symphony - Wellington's Victory," performed December 8, 1813. The performance was a success and led the public to ask for his "Fidelio" to be performed again. (Beethoven completed its third revision with performances the following year in July, 1814 (well received) as were other works that year.

A new lyrical strain emerged with a sense of inner peace; a sense similar to that of the fantasy sonatas of 1802. But, by the year's end, melancholia developed and composition slowed. A marked decrease in creative output continued over the years 1813-1815.

1814 Copper Engraving by Hofel

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 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.

During the Spring of 1811 Beethoven had developed high fever, headaches, etc, prompting his doctor to advise a stay at the Bohemian spa town of Teplitz where he remained for six weeks. Symptoms recurred in the Winter of 1812 while working on the Seventh Symphony. His doctor again advised returning to Teplitz during the following Summer months. It was during that time that Beethoven's letter to his "immortal Beloved," (most likely to Josephine) was written; it was never sent.

ROMANTIC: Beethoven held a deeply felt love for the Brunsvik's youngest daughter, Josephine. She, in turn had 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 and three years later, in 1810, she married Baron von Stackelberg.

B. became a more public figure via the concert hall and theater; may have been motivated by recent decreased income w/ the financial opportunities offered by public productions.
Countess Maria Erdody absent from Vienna from 1813-1814 [Man of His Word pg218]

Tagebuch entry #3: "To forgo what could be a great deed and to stay like this. O how different from a shiftless life, which I often pictured to myself. O terrible circumstances, which do not suppress my longing for domesticity, but [prevent] its realization. O God, God, look down upon the unhappy B., do not let it continue like this any longer." "Learn to keep silent, O friend! Speech is like silver. But to hold one's peace at the right moment is pure gold."