Schindler places the incident which gave the incentive to the creation of the last of Beethoven’s characteristic works for the pianoforte, the “Variations on a Waltz by Diabelli,” Op. 120, in the winter of 1822-’23. In this, as will appear presently, he was in error, as he was also touching the date of the completion of the composition, but otherwise his story is no doubt correct. Anton Diabelli, head of the music-publishing house of Diabelli and Co., having composed a waltz, conceived the idea of having variations written on its melody by a large group of the popular composers of the day. Beethoven was among those who received the invitation, but, mindful of his experiences in 1808, when he contributed a setting of “In questa tomba” to a similar conglomeration, he declared that he would never do so again. Moreover, so Schindler says, he did not like the tune, which he called a Schusterfleck.[93] He declined Diabelli’s request, but not long afterward asked Schindler to inquire of Diabelli if he were disposed to take from him a set of variations on the waltz, and if so, what he would pay. Diabelli received the proposition with delight and offered 80 ducats, requiring not more than six or seven variations. The contract was formally closed and Beethoven remarked to Schindler: “Good; he shall have variations on his cobble!” This the story as told by Schindler. Lenz, who claimed to have the authority of Holz for his version, says that after receiving thirty-two variations from other composers, Diabelli went to Beethoven and asked him for the one which he had promised. Beethoven inquired how many variations he already had and when Diabelli replied “Thirty-two” he said: “Well, go and publish them and I alone will write you thirty-three.” This story, however, lacks probability. Lenz himself says that Diabelli told him that Beethoven had not agreed to write for him; hence he could not have asked for the “promised” variation. But Schindler is also wrong in saying that the variations were the first work taken up by Beethoven after his removal to Hetzendorf in the summer of 1823 and that they were published in July. They were advertised as published by Diabelli in the “Wiener Zeitung” on June 16, 1823, and there are other dates to corroborate the evidence that they were finished when Beethoven removed to Hetzendorf on May 17. On May 7 Beethoven offered them for publication to Lissner in St. Petersburg; on April 25 he wrote to Ries: “You will also receive in a few weeks 33 variations on a theme, dedicated to your wife,” and on July 16: “By this time the variations must be with you.” The date of Diabelli’s conception of the plan was probably a whole year, even two years earlier than the date given by Schindler. In a letter dated June 5, 1822, Beethoven offered to Peters “Variations on a Waltz for pianoforte solo (there are many)” for 30 ducats; they must therefore have been far advanced in composition and fully planned at that time. Nottebohm says that Schubert’s contribution to the collection of variations bears on the autograph the date “March, 1821.” The Variations appeared from the press of Diabelli and Co. in June, with a dedication to Mme. Antonia von Brentano; not, it will be observed, to the wife of Ries. Had there been an English edition there would have been such a dedication, but it is another case in which an English publisher was disappointed in the conduct of the composer. Ries had complied with Beethoven’s solicitations and secured a publisher. He closed an agreement with Boosey; but when the manuscript reached London, Boosey was already in possession of a copy of the Vienna edition and the work had also been printed in Paris. The copy made for London bore a dedication written in large letters by Beethoven to Madame Ries; but the printed copies were inscribed to Madame Brentano. Beethoven attempted an explanation and defence in a letter to Ries dated Baden September 5:
You say that I ought to look about me for somebody to look after my affairs. This was the case with the Variat. which were cared for by my friends and Schindler. The Variat. were not to appear here until after they had been published in London. The dedication to B—— (not clear) was intended only for Germany, as I was under obligations to her and could publish nothing else at the time; besides only Diabelli, the publisher here, got them from me. Everything was done by Schindler; a bigger wretch I never got acquainted with on God’s earth—an arch-scoundrel whom I have sent about his business. I can dedicate another work to your wife in place of it.
How much blame in this affair really attached to Schindler is not known; it seems pretty apparent that though Beethoven was also fuming against him at the time at home, he was doing duty in London as a whipping-boy. Beethoven went right on calling in the help of the “biggest wretch on earth and arch-scoundrel.”
Troubled by His Eyes at Hetzendorf
After the labors and vexations of town life in the winter, the call of the country in the summer was more than usually imperative, because the work which had long occupied Beethoven’s mind—the Ninth Symphony—was demanding completion. His brother Johann had invited him to visit him on his estate near Gneixendorf, but he had declined. His choice for the summer sojourn fell upon Hetzendorf, a village not far from Vienna, where he hit upon a villa, surrounded by a beautiful park, which belonged to Baron Müller-Pronay. There was some haggling about the rent and some questioning about the post service—an important matter in view of the many negotiations with publishers, in all of which Schindler was depended on—but eventually all was arranged. Ill health marred the Hetzendorf sojourn. Beethoven’s other ailments were augmented by a painful affection of the eyes which called for medical treatment, retarded his work and caused him no small amount of anxiety. Complaints on this score began in April and were continued through July, on the 15th of which month he writes to the Archduke, “My eyes are better, but improvement is slow. It would be more rapid if I were not obliged to use glasses; it is an unfortunate circumstance which delays me in everything”; and later, when on a short visit to Vienna: “I have just heard here that Y. I. H. is coming to-morrow. If I cannot obey the wishes of my heart, please ascribe it to my eyes. They are much better, but I must not breathe the town air for many more days, for it would have ill effects on my eyes.” In August, very shortly before his departure for Baden: “I am feeling really badly, not my eyes alone. I purpose to drag myself to Baden to-morrow to take lodgings and in a few days will have to go there to stay. The town air has an injurious effect on my entire organization and I hurt myself by going twice to my physicians in the city.” From Baden on the 22nd he complains of a catarrhal affection, the misery in his bowels and the trouble with his eyes, but adds: “Thank God, the eyes are so much improved that I can again use them considerably in the daytime. Things are going better also with my other ailments; more could not be asked in this short time.”
Among the cheering incidents of the summer were the reports which reached him of the production of “Fidelio” under the direction of Weber in Dresden. Weber opened a correspondence on January 28 and continued it with letters dated February 18, April 7 and June 5; Beethoven’s answers were dated February 16, April 10 and June 9. Most unfortunately all these letters have disappeared, and the only hints we have as to their contents are from the draft for Weber’s first communication discovered among the papers of the writer:
“Fidelio.” To Beethoven. The performance in Prague under my direction of this mighty work, which bears testimony to German grandeur and depth of feeling, gave me an intimacy, as inspiring as it was instructive, with the essence through which I hope to present it to the public in its complete effectiveness here, where I have all possible means at my command. Every representation will be a festival day on which I shall be privileged to offer to your exalted mind the homage which lives in my heart, where reverence and love for you struggle with each other.
Weber had received the score of the opera on April 10 from Beethoven, who had to borrow it from the Kärnthnerthor Theatre, whose musical archives were in the care of Count Gallenberg. Through Schindler, Gallenberg sent word to Beethoven that he would send the score, provided two copies were on hand; if not, he would have a copy made. Schindler, reporting the message to Beethoven, adds that Gallenberg had said he thought Beethoven himself had the score: “But when I assured him that you did not have it he said that its loss was a consequence of your irregularity and many changes of lodgings.”[94] Nevertheless, Weber got the score and after fourteen rehearsals the representation took place with great success. Von Könneritz, Director-General of the Royal Chapel, reported the triumph to Beethoven and sent Beethoven a fee of 40 ducats. Beethoven in acknowledging receipt on July 17 is emboldened “by the account which my dear friend Maria Weber gives me of the admirable and noble motives of Your Excellency” to ask his intercession with the Saxon court in behalf of the Mass in D, as has already been recorded in this chapter.
A number of incidents may now hurriedly be marshalled. In 1822 the Royal Academy of Music of Sweden had elected Beethoven to foreign membership. The consent of the Austrian government was necessary to his acceptance of the honor and this seems to have been deferred an unconscionably long time; at least Beethoven’s letters to the Academy and to King Charles XIV (whom as General Bernadotte, then French ambassador at Vienna, he had known 25 years before) are dated March 1, 1823. When permission came he wrote notes to the editors of the newspapers “Beobachter” and “Wiener Zeitschrift,” asking them to announce the fact of his election—a circumstance which shows that he was not always as indifferent to distinctions of all kinds as he professed occasionally. Franz Schoberlechner, a young pianist, appealed to him for letters of recommendation to be used on a concert-tour. The letter reached Beethoven through Schindler, to whom he returned it with the curt indorsement: “A capable fellow has no need of recommendation other than from one good house to another.” Schindler importuned him again, and Beethoven wrote to him somewhat testily: “It must be plain to you that I do not want to have anything to do with this matter. As for ‘being noble’ I think I have shown you sufficiently that I am that on principle; I even think that you must have observed that I have never been otherwise. Sapienti sat.” That ended the matter; but when Chapelmaster Dreschler of the Josephstadt Theatre became a candidate for the post of second court organist, Beethoven recommended him enthusiastically to Archduke Rudolph, whom in a second letter he urged to remain firm notwithstanding that Abbé Stadler had presented another candidate. Archduke Rudolph spoke to the emperor and Count Dietrichstein in favor of Drechsler, but in vain. In his letters Beethoven referred to a canon, “Grossen Dank,” which he said he had written for the Archduke and which he intended to hand him in person. Sketches for it have been found among those for the third movement of the Ninth Symphony, but nothing has yet been heard of the completed work.
Troubles with a Country Landlord