The Life of Ludwig van Beethoven, Volume III

by Alexander Wheelock Thayer

Prince Galitzin and His Quartets

With the Quartet in B-flat, Beethoven had completed the three works of its kind which he had been commissioned to compose by Prince Nicolas Galitzin. He had taken three years to perform the task, but in the end the patience of his patron had been nobly rewarded—rewarded, indeed, in a manner which insured him as large a share of immortality as falls to the lot of a man—and meanwhile he had been privileged to shine in the musical circles of St. Petersburg as one who stood peculiarly close to the greatest of living composers. During the delay Prince Galitzin’s conduct was in the highest degree honorable. In his letters he was most generous in his offers of assistance, practically giving Beethoven carte blanche to draw on his bankers in case of need. He organized a performance of the Missa solemnis (the first given of the work or any portion of it), and presented his copy of the written score to the Philharmonic Society of St. Petersburg. He was so proud of his collection of Beethoven’s music that he applied to the composer himself to help him make it complete. Too eager to wait for the publishers, he commissioned Beethoven to have copies made of new works, like the Ninth Symphony and the overture to “The Consecration of the House,” at his expense. He entertained the idea of repeating in St. Petersburg the concert which Beethoven had given in Vienna, at which the Symphony had received its first performance. For a while he contemplated a repetition of the Mass. Beethoven had dedicated the overture to him and he had written that he would requite the act with a gift of 25 ducats. All this before he received the Quartets. Then a strange and unaccountable change came over his attitude towards the composer. Beethoven sent the first Quartet to him in January, 1825; the second and third sometime in February, 1826. He had followed up his commission in 1823 with an order to his bankers, Henikstein and Co. in Vienna, to pay Beethoven 50 ducats, the fee agreed upon, for each Quartet. The money was paid over in October, 1823, but with his express consent, at Beethoven’s request, was applied to the payment of his subscription for the Mass. If there could be any doubt on this point it would be dissipated by the letter in which Henikstein and Co., forwarded Beethoven’s receipt. This letter was written on October 15, 1823, and stated that the sum had been paid comme honoraire de la messe que nous expediée par l’entremise de la haute chancellerie de l’État. On December 5, 1824, let us say six weeks or two months before he received the first Quartet, he sent another 50 ducats, which it is fair to assume was the fee for that work and took the place of the sum diverted to the payment for the Mass. These facts must be carefully noted and borne in mind, for the question of Galitzin’s indebtedness to Beethoven became the subject of a scandalous controversy a long time after the composer’s death; it endured down to 1838 and might be opened again were there a disposition in any quarter to do so. For the present the story of the Quartets during Beethoven’s lifetime may be pursued as it is disclosed by records in the Conversation Books and so much of the correspondence as has been preserved.

In February, 1826, one of the Quartets, perhaps both of them, had been sent to St. Petersburg by special courier. (“Everything written by Beethoven ought to be sent to its destination by special courier,” is one of Schuppanzigh’s magnificent remarks when the question of sending the Quartet to the Prince is under discussion.) The money did not come and Beethoven grew impatient and anxious. Karl tried to reassure him. The Prince had written Je vais, he remarks in the Conversation Book, plainly referring to a letter dated January 14, 1826, in which Prince Galitzin had said: “Je vais faire remettre à M. Stieglitz (his banker) la valeur de 75 ducats pour vous être remis par M. Fries; 50 pour le quatuor et 25 pour l’ouverture qui est magnifique et que je vous remercie beaucoup de m’avoir dédiée.” Still the money did not come. In the middle of May Holz reports to Beethoven that a letter had been received from the courier, whose name was Lipscher. He had called on Prince Galitzin, who had begged to be excused; “he had not time—call another day.” He had repeated the visit five or six times, but each time was denied an audience on one pretext or another. Finally, he had bribed a domestic with five florins and found his way to the Prince, who seemed greatly embarrassed, fumbled amongst his scores for a time and then asked him to come again before his departure and he would give him the money. The courier had added that he considered it a “Russian trick” but that he was not to be disposed of so easily. Lipscher would be back in Vienna in four or five days, Holz added, and advised Beethoven to await his coming before writing to him. Schindler, a short time after, gives his views in a style characteristic of his attitude toward Beethoven during the period of Holz’s factotumship: “The matter of the Prince Galitzin is getting critical and I wish you a happy outcome. If you had obeyed me he would have had only one quartet and with that basta. You never permitted yourself to be deceived by flattery as you have by this princely braggart.” Again: “Voila, the letter to Count Lebzeltern (Russian Ambassador) and the banker Stieglitz. They can go to-day as it is great postday. What more is there to be considered? Wait, and wait—and no results. Breuning is agreed. If Prince Galitzin could act in such contradiction to his letters nothing good is to be expected of him.” At a later date there came another letter from the courier. He had tried seven times to see the Prince, but all in vain. Later (it was now July) he had gone again; the Prince had been polite, but denied him admittance. Still later in the same month Karl tells his uncle that he wants to write to Stieglitz, the Prince’s banker, upon whom Beethoven had been told to draw in case he needed money. Karl does not use general terms as to the sum involved, but specifically says “the 125 ducats.” On August 2 Beethoven wrote to Stieglitz and Co., from whom he received a letter dated August 13 saying that the Prince was absent, but his attention should be directed to the matter. Evidently the bankers kept their word, for on November 10-22, Prince Galitzin wrote to Beethoven saying that he had received the two Quartets but had been the victim of great losses and other misfortunes; he was now obliged to go to the wars in Persia, but before going would pay the “125 ducats” which he owed, thus admitting the debt in specific terms. On January 10, 1827, Beethoven, already on his deathbed, dictated a letter of inquiry to Stieglitz and Co., and the bankers again answered promptly: they were still waiting for an answer from the Prince. Five days before his death Beethoven made his last appeal to Stieglitz and Co., reviewing the recent correspondence and Galitzin’s promise and asking the bankers, if the money had been received, to forward it to Arnstein and Eskeles, as he was greatly in need of it because of his protracted sickness. Beethoven dictated the letter, but signed it himself and endorsed the draft: “To Prince Galitzin, concerning 125 ducats, March 21, 1827.” He died on March 26.

Did Galitzin Pay for the Quartets?

Thus stands the record at the time of Beethoven’s death. Prince Galitzin was back from the wars, but sent no money. On March 20, 1829, Hotschevar as guardian of Karl van Beethoven appealed to the Imperial Chancellary to ask the Embassy at St. Petersburg to collect the debt of 125 ducats from the Prince. Galitzin demanded an explanation, but after repeated requests from Karl agreed to pay 50 ducats in two installments of 20 and 30 ducats each. The sums were paid, the latter, as Karl’s receipt shows, on November 9, 1832. Karl continued to make representations to the Prince touching a balance of 75 ducats still due and on June 2-14, 1835, Galitzin promised to pay the sum, not as a balance due on his business transactions with Beethoven, but as a memorial pour honorer sa mémoire, que m’est chère. Even now the money was not paid, but after a controversy had broken out between Schindler and the Prince over the former’s charge that Beethoven had never been paid for the Quartets, Galitzin sent the 75 ducats, and Karl complaisantly acquiesced in the Prince’s request and signed a receipt for the money, not as in payment of the debt, but as a voluntary tribute to the dead composer.[149]

Dedication of the Ninth Symphony

Schott was ready with the Ninth Symphony in July, 1826, but Beethoven asked him to delay the despatch of the printed score to the King of Prussia, to whom it was dedicated, until he had had an opportunity to send the monarch a manuscript copy, which, he said, would have no value after the publication. The reward which he was looking forward to in return was a decoration. The Conversation Books have considerable to say about the dedication, but if the London Philharmonic Society ever entered Beethoven’s mind in connection with it, the record has been lost. He wanted an Order, and had he received one in time for the concert, its insignia would, in great likelihood, have graced his breast on that occasion. He had repeatedly expressed contempt for the outward signs of royal condescension, but the medal sent by the King of France had evidently caused a change of heart in this regard. He was eager to see a description and illustration of the medallion in the newspapers; and that he thought of hanging it about his neck, appears from a remark to him made by Karl before the concert, telling him that it was too heavy to wear and would pull down his collar. Visitors called to see it and he permitted his intimate friends to show it about, until Holz cautioned him to do so no more, as it was showing marks of damage from a fall. In one conversation, Johann suggests that the Symphony be dedicated to the Czar of Russia and from a remark in one of Prince Galitzin’s letters telling him that, by a recent decree, all foreigners who wished to dedicate works of art to the Czar would have to obtain permission to do so from the Minister of Foreign Affairs, it would appear that Johann’s suggestion, or approval, had also received his sanction. Ferdinand Ries was also a candidate for the distinction (Beethoven had promised him the dedication in a letter), his claim being put forward, without particular urgency, by Franz Christian Kirchhoffer, a bookkeeper with whom Beethoven was acquainted and through whom Ries carried on his correspondence with the composer. On April 8, 1824, Karl wrote in a Conversation Book: “As soon as the Symphony has been sent to England it must be copied again handsomely on vellum paper and sent with an inscription to the King of France.” On the same day, apparently, Schindler asks: “Who has the preference in the matter of the dedication of the Symphony—Ries or the King of Prussia?—It ought to be offered as a proof of your gratitude, in these words.—There could be no better opportunity than just now for this purpose.” It is obvious that Schindler favors the King of France, for a day or two later he writes: “Schwaebl sends his compliments and is highly delighted that you are pleased with the gift. As regards the you-know-what he wants you to write to the Duke de la Chârtre [d’Âchats] yourself, but for the present nothing about the dedication—leave the reference till later.” The advice is repeated and the subject concluded with: “Good, then you will stick to France.”

These facts belong chronologically to the history of 1824, but they have been made pertinent by the discussion of the dedication and presentation of the Ninth Symphony to the King of Prussia, which took place in 1826. They are also valuable to correct a misapprehension which has prevailed ever since the publication of Hogarth’s history of the London Philharmonic Society and was no doubt current before then. Hogarth says that the directors of the society resolved to offer Beethoven £50 for a manuscript symphony on November 10, 1822, and adds, “the money was immediately advanced.” In a note to his translation of one of Beethoven’s letters (Kalischer-Shedlock, Vol. II, p. 448) Mr. Shedlock calls attention to the fact that there is a document in the British Museum, acknowledging receipt of £50 for a symphony composed for the society, dated April 27, 1824. This document proves the date on which Beethoven received the remuneration for the Symphony to have been that indicated in the receipt beyond peradventure. On April 26 or 27 Karl writes, in the Conversation Book from which we have been quoting:

He [presumably Johann van Beethoven] is not at home at noon. He will himself come soon after 7. He says you owe him 500 florins which is squared by the payment for the Symphony. Moreover Ries begs you to dedicate the Symphony to him.—Shares—You must not refuse bluntly, but give him an evasive answer, until you have the shares. Is the Symphony ready to be taken away?—Then you can go out and the brother will come here. The Symphony must not be published for a year.[150] Did you dedicate the overture to him? You might dedicate it to him.