The Life of Ludwig van Beethoven, Volume III — John Shaqi
The Life of Ludwig van Beethoven, Volume IIIThayer, Alexander Wheelock
History
The Life of Ludwig van Beethoven, Volume III
Thayer, Alexander Wheelock
Beethoven, Ludwig van, 1770-1827
Though Karl was no longer a member of the Giannatasio household or
pupil of the institute, and though there were, in consequence, fewer
meetings between Beethoven and his self-sacrificing friends, their
relations remained pleasant, and early in 1819 Beethoven found occasion
to supplement his verbal protestations of gratitude with a deed. Nanni,
the younger daughter of Giannatasio, was married on February 6, 1819,
to Leopold Schmerling. When the young couple returned to the house
after the ceremony they were greeted by a wedding hymn for tenor solo,
men’s voices and pianoforte accompaniment. The performers were hidden
in a corner of the room. When they had finished they stepped forth from
their place of concealment. Beethoven was among them and he handed the
manuscript of the music which he had written to words of Prof. Stein,
who occupied a chair of philosophy at the University and was also tutor
in the imperial household,[11] to the bride.
Beethoven made a single appearance as conductor in this year. It was on
January 17 at a concert given for the benefit of the Widows and Orphans
of the Juridical Faculty of the University. The orchestra was largely
composed of amateurs and the programme began with the overture to
“Prometheus” and ended with the Seventh Symphony. Among the listeners
was P. D. A. Atterbom, the Swedish poet, who wrote a sympathetic
account of it.
In the midst of the worries occasioned by the guardianship, Beethoven
was elected Honorary Member of the Philharmonic Society of Laibach,
an institution which had been founded in 1702 and revived, after
repeated interruptions, in 1816. The project of giving him the
distinction had been broached in the councils of the society in 1808,
but Anton Schmith, a physician in Vienna, whose opinion had been
asked, had advised against it, saying: “Beethoven is as freakish as
he is unserviceable.” Eleven years later the men of Laibach had more
knowledge or better counsel, and they sent him a diploma on March
15 through von Tuscher. Acknowledging the honor on May 4, Beethoven
stated that as a mark of appreciation he was sending, also through
the magistrate, an “unpublished” composition and would hold himself
in readiness to serve the society should it ever need him. There is
no direct evidence as to what composition he had in mind; but in the
archives of the Laibach society there is a manuscript copy of the Sixth
Symphony. It is not an autograph except as to its title, Beethoven
having written “Sinfonia pastorale” on the cover in red crayon, and
corrections in lead pencil in the music.[12]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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