[129] Beethoven’s table habits were thus described by Holz to Jahn: “He was a stout eater of substantial food; he drank a great deal of wine at table, but could stand a great deal, and in merry company he sometimes became tipsy (bekneipte er sich). In the evening he drank beer or wine, generally the wine of Vöslau or red Hungarian. When he had drunk he never composed. After the meal he took a walk.”
[130] See the preface to his biography.
[131] The date is Schindler’s, but a palpable error; it may have been 1834.
[132] It was among Thayer’s papers.
[133] Notes of Jahn’s interviews with Holz were among Thayer’s papers.
[134] “Aus meinem Leben,” Berlin, 1861, Vol. II, p. 24 et seq.
[135] It was probably the performance by Böhm.
[136] Antonia Cibbini, née Koželuch, was among those who attended the performance of the Quartet. In the conversation which followed, Karl tells his uncle: “The Cibbini looked to me like a bacchante when the Quartet was played; it pleased her so greatly.”
[137] By the “Characteristic Symphony” Smart meant the Ninth, which he had directed at its first performance in London on March 21, 1825. Mr. Thayer visited Sir George in February, 1861, and received from him permission to make a transcript of all the entries in his journal touching the meetings with Beethoven, also supplementing them with oral information. The journal remained in manuscript for forty years after Sir George’s death and then was edited by H. Bertram Cox and C. L. E. Cox and published by Longmans, Green and Co. in 1907, under the title: “Leaves from the Journals of Sir George Smart.” The extracts here quoted are from the book, and show signs of having been revised after Thayer copied them.
[138] Not the composer, but a pianoforte maker of Vienna.