London, November 8, 1816.
Sir:
In answer to yours of the 1st October, I am desired by Mr. Birchall to inform you, he is glad to find you are now satisfied respecting his promise of paying you £5 ... in addition to what you before received according to agreement; but he did not think you would have delayed sending the receipt signed after the receipt of the 130 ducats merely because you had not received the £5 ..., which latter sum was not included in the receipt. Till it comes Mr. Birchall cannot, at any rate, enter into any fresh arrangement, as his first care will be to secure those pieces he has already paid you for, and see how they answer his purpose as a Music Seller and without the receipt he cannot prevent any other Music Seller from publishing them. In regard to the airs with variations, the price of £30, which is supposed you mean for each, is considerably more than he could afford to give, ever to have any hopes of seeing them repay him—if that should be your lowest price—Mr. Birchall will give up his idea of them altogether. The Symphony in A will be quite ready for publication in a week; Mr. Ries (who has kindly undertaken the inspection of your works) has it now looking over—but it will not come out till the day comes you may appoint.
Mr. Birchall fears the Sonata in G and the Trio in B-flat have been published in Vienna before his—he will be obliged to you to inform him of the day, when you write, that they were published. I am sorry to say, that Mr. Birchall’s health has been very bad for two or three years back, which prevents him from attending to business and as there are, I fear, but little hopes of his being much better, he is less anxious respecting making any additions to his catalogue than he otherwise would have been; he is much obliged to you for the offer of the Sonata and the Trio, but he begs to decline it for the reasons before mentioned.
Hoping to hear soon respecting the paper sent for your signature,
I am Sir, for Mr. Birchall, etc.
C. Lonsdale.
P. S. The Sonata in G is published and the Trio will be in a few days. Is Mr. Beethoven’s opera of Fidelio published? Where and by whom?
End of the English Connection
To this letter Beethoven sent an answer addressed to Mr. Birchall dated December 14, 1816, as follows:
Vienna, December 14, 1816.—1055 Sailerstätte.