The Life of Ludwig van Beethoven, Volume III

by Alexander Wheelock Thayer

No invitation was sent to the English court, probably because Beethoven cherished a grudge in that quarter; but subscriptions were asked of two large singing societies—the Singakademie of Berlin and the Cäcilien-Verein of Frankfort. Zelter was director of the Singakademie, and to him Beethoven wrote on February 8 as follows, after the introductory compliments and reflections:

I wrote a Grand Mass, which might also be performed as an oratorio (for the benefit of the poor, as is the good custom that has been introduced) but did not want to publish it in print in the ordinary way, but to give it to the principal courts only. The fee amounts to 50 ducats. Except the copies subscribed for, none will be issued, so that the Mass is practically only a manuscript.

He informs Zelter that an appeal has been sent to the King of Prussia and that he has asked the intercession in its behalf of Prince Radziwill. He then continues:

I ask of you that you do what you can in the matter. A work of this kind might also be of service to the Singakademie, for there is little wanting to make it practicable for voices alone; but the more doubled and multiplied the latter in combination with the instruments, the more effective it would be. It might also be in place as an oratorio, such as is in demand for the Societies for Poverty. More or less ill for several years and therefore not in the most brilliant situation, I had recourse to this means. I have written much but accumulated almost 0. Disposed to send my glances aloft—but man is compelled for his own and for others’ sake to direct them downwards; but this too is a part of man’s destiny.

Zelter and the Solemn Mass

The letter will be seen, on comparison with that written on the same day to Goethe, to be either a draft for the latter in part or an echo of it. There is the same pun on “geschrieben” and “erschrieben,” the same lament about having to keep his eyes on the ground while desirous to keep them fixed on higher things, the same reference to the value of the Mass for concert purposes in behalf of charity. As this last point is one which would naturally occur to the writer in addressing a musician and not at all naturally in an appeal to a poet, it is safe to say that the Zelter letter was written first. It is an unpleasant duty to call attention to a very significant difference between this letter and the invitation issued to the courts as well as the letter to Goethe. In the latter he distinctly says that the Mass will not be published in the ordinary way “for the present,” thus reserving the privilege of printing it at a future time. To Zelter, and presumably to the Frankfort society, he plainly intimates that there is to be no publication in the ordinary way at all. It is not a violent presumption that Zelter may have observed this discrepancy, which was of vital moment to his society, and that this may have caused the termination of the negotiations, which began auspiciously enough in a letter written by Zelter on February 22 in reply to Beethoven’s. In this letter he said he was ready to purchase the Mass for the Singakademie at his own risk, provided Beethoven would adapt it to the use of the society—that is, arrange it for performance practically without instruments—a proceeding, he explained, which would make it practicable for all similar concert institutions. To this letter Beethoven replied on March 25:

I have carefully considered your suggestion for the Singakademie. If it should ever appear in print I will send you a copy without pay. It is true that it might almost be performed a la capella, but to this end the whole would have to be arranged. Perhaps you have the patience to do this. Besides, there is already a movement in it which is entirely a la capella and I am inclined to call this style the only true church style. I thank you for your readiness. From such an artist as you are, with honor, I would never accept anything. I honor you and desire only an opportunity to prove this to you in deed.

There the matter ended, so far as is known. The negotiations with the Frankfort society were more successful. On May 19, 1823, J. N. Schelble, director, wrote saying:

The hope of receiving a new composition from you, great master, inspires all the members and reinvigorates their musical zeal. I therefore request you as soon as it is convenient to you to forward a copy of your Mass to me.

There were, therefore, as appears from this account and the list of names sent in November, 1825, to the publishers of the Mass, ten subscribers, namely: the Czar of Russia, the Kings of Prussia, Saxony, France and Denmark, the Grand Dukes of Tuscany and Hesse-Darmstadt, Princes Galitzin and Radziwill and the Cäcilia Society of Frankfort. Beethoven’s receipts, 500 ducats (£250 or about $1200), were very materially reduced, how much we can not say, by the costs of copying. In this work his principal helper was a professional copyist named Schlemmer, who could best decipher his manuscript. But Schlemmer was sickly and died before the year was over; his successor was named Rampel, and seems to have caused Beethoven a great deal of annoyance; he probably was made to bear a great deal of the blame for the tardiness of the work, for which, also, the composer’s frequent alterations were in part responsible. One of the numerous letters to Schindler from this period throws a little light on this subject: