The happiness of knowing he could create sublime masterpieces was greater than the unhappiness of being deaf and misunderstood. He was not solitary, for the divine genius of art always was his companion. Beethoven was really happy because he was greater than his misfortunes. Upon his heroic brow rests a more splendid ornament than the crown of any king,—the laurel-wreath of everlasting fame, the radiant diadem of immortality.
Footnotes
[1]Johann
or Jean van Beethoven, father of the composer, was a tenor singer in
the chapel of the Elector of Cologne at Bonn.
[2]Max Franz was brother of the Emperor Joseph II.
[3]The
Graus Haus, where Beethoven was born, is No. 515 in the Bonn Gasse
(Bonn Street), and is now marked by a tablet, placed there in 1870.
[4]Beethoven’s
mother, Marie Magdelena Laym, was the daughter of the chief
cook at Ehrenbreitstein.
[5]There is a question whether Beethoven was born on the 16th or 17th of
December, 1770. Probably he was born on the 16th.
[6]Beethoven’s
grandfather was Ludwig van Beethoven, chapelmaster for the
Elector of Cologne. He died in 1773, when his grandson was three years of age.
[7]Pfeiffer was a tenor singer in the opera at Bonn.
[8]Van den Eeden was organist at the Court Chapel and an old friend of
Beethoven’s grandfather.
[9]Neefe succeeded Van den Eeden as organist, and when he in turn gave up
the position, he left Beethoven in charge of the organ.
[10]Seven Mountains.
[11]A castle on the Rhine, twenty-two miles from Cologne.
[12]Königswinter
is seven miles from Bonn, and is the favorite resort of tourists to
the “Sieben Gebirge,” a mountainous region famous for its picturesque beauty.
[13]Dr. Wegeler
was a physician of Bonn, who subsequently married Eleonora
von Breuning, a daughter in the Breuning family, Beethoven’s devoted friends.
[14]Beethoven
had four brothers, viz.: Ludwig Maria, born April 1, 1769;
Caspar Anton Carl, April 7, 1774; Nikolaus Johann, Oct. 1, 1776; August
Franz Georg, Jan. 16, 1781; and two sisters, the elder of whom, born Feb. 23,
1779, lived only four days, and Maria Margaretha Josepha, born May 4, 1786.
[15]Reader.
[16]“Auf
wiedersehen,” or, “till we see each other again,” equivalent to the
French “Au revoir.”
[17]Frau
von Breuning was the widow of the electoral counsellor von Breuning.
The family consisted of three sons and a daughter, Eleonora, who for some time was
a pupil of Beethoven, and eventually married Dr. Wegeler. Beethoven dedicated
his first variations for the piano to her.
[18]Franz
Anton Ries, violinist, was born at Bonn, Nov. 10, 1755, and was a
teacher and friend of Beethoven. His son Ferdinand was a pupil of Beethoven.
[19]The Count von Waldstein
was a patron of the arts and a connoisseur in
music. He was of special service to Beethoven, who dedicated to him his great
Sonata (op. 53).
[20]Beethoven
was appointed organist to the electoral chapel in 1785, being then
in his fifteenth year.
[21]Dr. Heinrich Doring, in his
“Life and Characteristics of Beethoven,” says:
“He preferred the English writers to the French. Thompson is his favorite poet,
but particularly great is his admiration for Shakespeare.”
[22]A bass singer in the electoral chapel.
[23]Prince
Karl Lichnowski was a highly cultivated nobleman, and a pupil of Mozart.
His consort, Princess Christiane, born Countess of Thun, was also refined,
scholarly, and devoted to music.
[24]Mozart was at this time thirty-one, and Beethoven seventeen years of age.
[25]Gluck was born in 1714, and Haydn in 1732, so at this time (1788) Gluck
was seventy-four and Haydn fifty-six years of age. Both these composers made Vienna
their home, and both died there.
[26]Haydn was at this time
returning from his visit to England.
[27]Beethoven was now in the twenty-second year of his age.
[28]Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia, nephew of Frederick the Great, was born
Nov. 18, 1772, and died on the battlefield at Saalfeld, Oct. 10, 1806. He was
an excellent pianist and composer, and so fond of music that he kept musicians with
him in the army.
[29]Archduke Rudolph, son of Leopold of Tuscany and Marie Louise of Spain,
was born at Florence, Jan. 8, 1788, and died at Vienna, July 24, 1831. He was a
pupil of Beethoven, but eventually gave up music and went into the Church, and
was appointed cardinal.
[30]Ferdinand Ries, pianist and composer,
and the pupil of Beethoven, was born
at Bonn, Nov. 28, 1784, and died at Frankfurt, Jan. 13, 1838. He was considered
one of the best pianists of his time.
[31]Buda is that part of
Budapest lying on the west bank of the Danube.
[32]These gardens
were attached to the imperial palace of Schönbrunn.
[33]Baron
Gottfried van Swieten was a distinguished musical amateur and a
patron of Beethoven and Haydn. Beethoven dedicated his first symphony to him.
[34]In the original text the will ends at this point. The remaining portion
directs Doctor Schmidt to describe his disease, makes his two brothers his heirs, and
expresses his joy that when death comes, it will release him from constant suffering.
The will is dated Oct. 6, 1802.
Appendix
The following is a chronological statement of the principal events in the life of Ludwig van Beethoven, which was mostly spent in Vienna, and mainly devoted to composition:
| 1770 | Born at Bonn, Prussia, Dec. 16. |
| 1783 | First composition, “Variations on a March.” |
| 1785 | Appointed Court Organist. |
| 1787 | Sent to Vienna by Elector of Cologne to study with Mozart. |
| 1792 | Second visit to Vienna to study with Haydn. |
| 1795 | Composed three trios in Vienna, marked Opus 1, indicating that he regarded all he had previously produced as of no consequence. |
| 1796 | Made an artistic tour in North Germany. |
| 1797 | First Symphony. |
| 1798 | Deafness began, and continually increased during the remainder of his life. |
| 1802 | Second Symphony. |
| 1803 | Oratorio of “Mount of Olives” performed in Vienna. |
| 1804 | Third Symphony (“Eroica”). |
| 1805 | Composed “Fidelio,” his only opera. |
| 1806 | Fourth Symphony. |
| 1808 | Fifth Symphony. |
| 1808 | Sixth Symphony (“Pastoral”). |
| 1812 | Seventh Symphony. |
| 1812 | Eighth Symphony (“The Little”). |
| 1822 | Mass in D. |
| 1823 | Ninth Symphony (“Choral”). |
| 1827 | Died in Vienna, Dec. 26. |
LIFE STORIES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
AN ATTRACTIVE SERIES FOR CHILDREN
TITLES
HISTORICAL
- BARBAROSSA
- WILLIAM OF ORANGE
- MARIA THERESA
- THE MAID OF ORLEANS
- FREDERICK THE GREAT
- THE LITTLE DAUPHIN
- HERMANN AND THUSNELDA
- THE SWISS HEROES
- EMPEROR WILLIAM I
- LOUISE, QUEEN OF PRUSSIA
- THE YOUTH OF THE GREAT ELECTOR
- ELIZABETH, EMPRESS OF AUSTRIA AND QUEEN OF HUNGARY
- MARIE ANTOINETTE’S YOUTH
- THE DUKE OF BRITTANY
MUSICAL BIOGRAPHY
- BEETHOVEN
- MOZART
- JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
- JOSEPH HAYDN
LEGENDARY
- FRITHJOF SAGA
- GUDRUN
- THE NIBELUNGS
- WILLIAM TELL
- ARNOLD OF WINKELRIED
- UNDINE
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LIFE STORIES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
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