About the beginning of November, Beethoven returned again to Vienna, where he took up a new residence—probably at No. 969 Johannesgasse, a house owned by a family named Kletschka. He did not remain there long, however, as the other tenants complained of his pianoforte playing and the disturbance caused by his quarrels with his nephew and the housekeeper. He received notice to quit and removed, presumably, to apartments in the second storey of a house in the Krügerstrasse, now known as No. 13.
An English Visit Again Contemplated
Thoughts of a visit to England had been revived early in the year by a letter from Neate and, while the plans of the concert were making, it had been determined, so far as it was possible to do so, that the visit should be undertaken in the fall and that Schindler should accompany him. This is the key to Schindler’s forceful observation after the financial fiasco of the concert. A second letter bearing on the subject was written by Neate on December 20. Consideration of it belongs in the next chapter.
Chapter VII
The Year 1825—The London Philharmonic Society again—Karl Holz—The Early Biographies—Visits of Rellstab, Kuhlau, Smart and Others—Stephan von Breuning—The A Minor Quartet, Op. 132.
The letter from Neate referred to at the conclusion of the last chapter brought with it an invitation from the Philharmonic Society of London which kept the thought of an English visit alive in Beethoven’s irresolute mind for a considerable space longer. Neate wrote in an extremely cordial vein. He had long wished to see Beethoven in England, he said, where he believed that his genius was appreciated more than in any other country; and now he had received the pleasant charge from the Philharmonic Society to invite him to come. He made no doubt but that in a short time he would earn enough money richly to compensate him for all the inconveniences of the journey. The Philharmonic Society was disposed to give him 300 guineas for conducting at least one of his works at each of the Society’s concerts in the coming season, and composing a new symphony which was to be produced during his visit but to remain the composer’s property. As an additional pecuniary inducement he held out that Beethoven could give a concert of his own at which he would make at least £500, besides which there were many other avenues of profit open to him. If he were to bring along the quartets of which he had written, they would yield him £100 more, and he might therefore be sure of carrying back a large sum of money, enough, indeed, to make all the remainder of his life much pleasanter than the past had been. He told Beethoven that the new Symphony had arrived and the first rehearsal of it set for January 17. He hoped that Beethoven would be on hand to direct it at the first concert of the Society and trusted that a report that a copy of it was in Paris was not true.
Plans for the Trip to London
Beethoven replied: He was delighted with the terms which the Society offered, but would like to have 100 guineas more to pay for the expenses of the trip, it being necessary that he buy a carriage for the journey, and take a companion with him. He would bring a new quartet. The rumor that there was a copy of the Symphony was not true; it would, indeed, be published in Germany, but not before the year was past during which it was to remain the society’s property.[121] He urged that separate string rehearsals be held and the choruses be thoroughly studied above all, and directions for the reprise in the second movement, the marks for which had been forgotten in the copy. An early reply was asked, as he had been requested to write a large work upon which he did not wish to begin before receiving an answer, for while he did not write in the hope of gaining a fortune it was necessary that he have assurance that he would earn a living. To this letter Neate replied on February 1. He had conveyed the contents of Beethoven’s letter to the directors of the Philharmonic Society and had now regretfully to report that they had declined to make any change in their offer. He was personally willing to give the advance asked, but the individual directors were not masters of their conduct in all things; they had to abide by the laws of the Society. He hoped that under the circumstances Beethoven would come; he was sure the trip would pay him, and the directors would impatiently await his presence at the second concert, it being already too late for the first. There was to be another rehearsal of the Symphony that evening.
Again Beethoven had to struggle with the question as to whether or not he should make the journey to London. He was strongly urged to go by his desire to earn a large sum of money. His friends pressed him with arguments in favor of the trip. Karl admonished him to make up his mind without giving heed to his insatiably sordid brother, but reminded him that Neate had assured him he would make enough money to be free of care for the rest of his life. Johann did not talk of the financial advantage alone but said that he would benefit physically, travel being good for the health. Apparently answering an objection of Beethoven’s on the score of his age, Karl reminded him that Haydn also went to London when he was fifty years old and he was “not so famous.” Schuppanzigh bursts out with his brusque third person singular: “I wish he would pluck up enough courage to make the trip; he would not regret it.” Who should accompany him? Schindler had been recommended by Neate, but his name does not occur in these conversations; instead, there is talk of Schuppanzigh and young Streicher. But as it turned out, no one was to accompany him, nobody alight with him either at the house of Stumpff or the Hotel de la Sablonière in Leicester Square which Neate had recommended as a French house much visited by foreigners. His doubts, suspicions, fears for his health, anxiety about his nephew, his fatal indecision, prevailed;—he would make the visit some other time—perhaps in the fall, as he wrote to Neate. Meanwhile would Neate aid him in the matter of the quartets? He had finished one and was at work on a second, which would be completed soon. Then he wrote again—on May 25; he was satisfied with the offer of £100 for the three quartets, was Neate agreed to his plan of sending them to a banker to be delivered on payment of the fee? If so he would send the first quartet at once and the fee might be paid after he had given notice of the completion of the other two.