[24] The whole tenor of this will, or rather memorandum addressed to his brothers, attests the state of deep melancholy into which Beethoven had fallen on account of his deafness—a state which, owing to the same cause, was of frequent recurrence. That throughout this paper Beethoven should not have mentioned the name of his second brother, Johann, and only marked it with dots, is singularly striking; since this brother, as we have just seen, had recently come to Vienna, and had scarcely begun to take any part in the occupations and other concerns of the great composer.
[25] The noble-minded Count Moritz Lichnowsky, whose devotedness to the interests of Beethoven the latter acknowledged by the dedication of two works,—the Variations Op. 35, and the Sonata Op. 90 (E minor), died in December, 1838, in Vienna. He was the last of that set so remarkable in the history of the art, which used to assemble at the house of his brother, the Prince.
[26] Such is the account given by Count Moritz Lichnowsky, who, with Ferdinand Ries, witnessed the circumstance.
[27] Is not this meant to be—"Per festeggiare la memoria d'un grand' uomo?"—ED.
[28] The originally French libretto was translated into German by Joseph Sonnleithner.
[29] In the third period I shall have something more to say about it in the proper place.
[30] Refer to Breuning's letter to Dr. and Mad. Wegeler. Supplement No. II., Vol. II.
The circumstance which occurred at the house of Prince Lichnowsky, on occasion of the alteration made in this Opera in 1807, which M. Röckel,{*} then engaged as tenor singer at the Theater an der Wien (with whom I am myself well acquainted), afterwards related to M. Ries in London, and which the latter communicates in his "Notizen über Beethoven," (p. 105), is interesting and authentic. Not less worthy of notice is Breuning's letter of the 20th of June, 1806, to Dr. Wegeler (p. 62) on the fortunes of the opera of "Fidelio" at its first representation. Count Moritz Lichnowsky was one of the company, in which Beethoven opposed with might and main the omission of a single bar, and gave all present a great deal of trouble.
{*} The following note from Wegeler's Notizen is, I think, not misplaced here:—
"Dear Röckel,—Try and do your best with Milder" [Ma dame Milder, for whom the part of Fidelio was written—ED.], "and pray tell her you ask her to-day in my name, that this early invitation may prevent her singing anywhere else. To-morrow I mean to come myself 'to kiss the hem of her garment.' Do not forget Marconi"