The Life of Ludwig van Beethoven, Volume IIThayer, Alexander Wheelock
History
The Life of Ludwig van Beethoven, Volume II
Thayer, Alexander Wheelock
Beethoven, Ludwig van, 1770-1827
[5] In a Conversation Book from the year 1825, Holz writes that till
then “Christus am Ölberg” had always drawn full houses, but that the
court official in charge of musical affairs (~Hofmusikgraf~) had not
allowed further performances to be given.
[6] Anton Kraft was 14-1/2 years old at the time.
[7] The following observation on the sonata by Czerny is also
interesting: “In the Sonata written for Bridgetower and dedicated to
Kreutzer, Op. 47 (of which the first movement was composed in four
days and the other two [?] added from a sonata already completed), the
concluding passage
[Illustration]
is said to be borrowed from a piece of Kreutzer’s already in print. I
had this assurance immediately after the publication of the Beethoven
Sonata from a French musician (1805). It would be worth while to
investigate the matter. Perhaps therein lies the reason of its
dedication.” And further: “Bridgetower was a mulatto and played very
extravagantly; when he played the sonata with Beethoven it was laughed
at.”
[8] Letters and other documents, some of which were placed in Mr.
Thayer’s hands by Samuel Appleby, Esq., relative to Bridgetower, are
printed in an appendix to Vol. II of the first German edition of
this biography and as foot-notes and otherwise in Vol. III. What is
essential in the memoranda and documents can be put into a much smaller
compass. The subscription for the concert amounted to 1140 florins and
the list was headed by the English envoy. Bridgetower’s father was
known in England as the “Abyssinian Prince,” and Mr. Thayer speculates
whether the title was genuine or but a sobriquet given to him suggested
by Dr. Johnson’s “Rasselas”; but it will appear presently that he was
called an “African Prince,” not an Abyssinian; how his father got to
Biala in Poland, where Bridgetower was born, or whether his mother was
a German or a Pole, remains a mystery which has not yet been cleared
up. The first memorandum of information in Mr. Thayer’s collection was
in the shape of an excerpt from a communication from London written by
Abt Vogler and printed in Bossler’s “Musikalische Correspondenz” on
July 7, 1790. Abt Vogler’s letter bears date London, June 6, 1790; in
it he said:
“Last Wednesday, June 2nd, I attended a concert here in Hanover Square
where two young heroes contested with each other on the violin and
all music-lovers and cognoscenti found most agreeable entertainment
for three hours. The two played concertos alternately and both won
the warmest applause. The quartet, however, which was played by young
virtuosi whose combined ages did not reach 40 years, by virtue of a
fine, cheerful, witty and yet harmonious performance exceeded all the
expectations that experienced players could gratify. The first violin
was played by Clement of Vienna, eight and one-half, the second by
Bridgetower of Africa, ten years of age.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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