That was a period at Vienna fruitful in short sacred cantatas. On certain days in the spring and late autumn no theatrical performances were allowed and the principal composers embraced the opportunity to exhibit their skill and invention in this branch of their art; sometimes in concerts for their own benefit, more commonly in those for public charities. Haydn, Salieri, Winter, Süssmayr, Paër, are names that will occur in this connection to every student of Vienna’s musical annals. Beethoven, ever ready to compete with the greatest talent in at least one work, and desirous of producing at his next concert the novelty of an extensive vocal composition by himself, determined to compose a work of this class. The subject chosen was “Christus am Ölberg.”[105] Its composition was the grand labor of this summer. “The text was written by me in collaboration with the poet within 14 days,” writes Beethoven in one of his letters, “but the poet was musical and had already written many things for music; I was able to consult with him at any moment.” This poet was Franz Xaver Huber, fertile writer in general literature and a popular author for the Vienna stage, who occupied so high a place in public esteem, that his consent to prepare the text of the “Christus” is another indication of the high reputation of Beethoven. The merits and demerits of the poem need not be expatiated upon; Beethoven’s own words show that he was in part responsible for them. Schindler says: Beethoven also lived in Hetzendorf in 1805 and composed his “Fidelio.” A coincidence touching the two works, one that remained in the lively memory of Beethoven for many years, was that he composed both of them in the thicket of the forest in the Schönbrunner Hofgarten, sitting on the hill between two oaks which branched out from the trunk about two feet from the ground. This oak, which always remained remarkable in his eyes (it is to the left of the Gloriet), I found again with Beethoven as late as 1823, and it awakened in him interesting memories of the early period. * * * * * So far as has been determined, the compositions completed in 1801 were the Sonatas for Pianoforte and Violin, Op. 23 and 24; the Pianoforte Sonatas in A-flat, Op. 26, E-flat, Op. 27, No. 1, and C-sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 2, and D major, Op. 28; and the Quintet in C major, Op. 29. “The Andante in D minor of the Sonata, Op. 28,” says Czerny, “was long his favorite and he played it often for his own pleasure.” The twelve Contradances and six Rustic Dances (_Ländler_) are sketched in part on the first staves of the Kessler sketchbook. If we are justified in assuming that they were composed for the balls of the succeeding winter and were played from manuscript, it would follow that they also are to be counted among the compositions completed in this year. PUBLICATIONS OF THE YEAR 1801