Long may he reign!
May he defend our laws,
And ever give us cause
To sing with heart and voice:
God save the king!
The one-sided conversation proceeds:
Smart.—You understand English writing?—Extremement bien.——Winter me dit que on l’intention de donner Fidelio a music.
Karl.—He would like to know the tempi of the finale of the last symphony. Haven’t you it here?—
How long you worked on the symphony?—How long does it last?—1 hour and 3 minutes—¾ hour—We are now going to take a walk.
According to Smart’s journal, Beethoven now ordered dinner “with his funny old cook,” told his nephew to look after the wine, and the party of five took a walk in the course of which Schuppanzigh told Smart that it was while sketching in the open air that Beethoven caught his deafness. “He was writing in a garden and was so absorbed that he was not sensible of a pouring rain, till his music paper was so wet that he could no longer write.” The story is inconsequential unless Schuppanzigh had it from Beethoven who, as we have seen in an earlier volume (Vol. I, p. 263 et seq.), gave an entirely different account of the origin of his deafness to Neate. Holz talks to Beethoven now about Schlesinger, telling him that it was the publisher’s purpose to print the quartets in succession, which would postpone the appearance of the thirteenth for two years, and advises Beethoven hereafter to make immediate publication a condition of purchase. He suggests that if he were to threaten not to compose the quintets under the circumstances it might help.
Smart.—Elle est morte.—Kalkbrenner est à Paris.—Broadwood, Stodart, Tomkinson, Clementi and Co.—Les meilleurs Pièces à vendre à Londres sont les Duettos pour le Piano Forte.—Mais je dis pour nous de composer à présent.—Cramer, Moscheles, Neate, Potter.... J’ai voyagé par le Rhine et par la Donau.—Je suis Protestant; le premier chose est d’être honnête homme.... Esterhazy.—Le nom de Capitaine, ou comme tous les autres.—On faites de badinage contre moi en Allemagne—contre lui—moi je suis Garçon.
Karl.—He asked why you had not come before now; he said the 300 pounds of the Philhar. Society were not be to looked upon as the principal thing. For that you needed only to appear 2 or 3 times in the orchestra and make money with your own concerts.—He said that in a short time you could make at least 1000 pounds and carry it away with you.—10,000 florins, Vienna money.—If you would only go. The 1,000 pounds would be easily earned and more.—You can do better business with the publishers there than here.—And you’ll find 1,000 friends, Smarth [sic] says, who will do everything to help you.—The sea fish.—In the Thames.... We’ll wait till the year is over before going to England.... You’ll not leave London so quickly if we are once there.—Others are living there too, like Cramer, etc.—In two years at least 50,000 florins net. Concerts.—I am convinced that if you were to want to go away from here they would do everything to keep you here.
We shall let Smart conclude the story of the meeting: