(A remark made in 1823 or 1824 to Griesinger.)
90. “Thus Fate knocks at the portals!”
(Reported by Schindler as Beethoven’s explanation of the opening of the
symphony in C minor.)
[“Hofrath Kueffner told him (Krenn) that he once lived with Beethoven in Heiligenstadt, and that they were in the habit evenings of going down to Nussdorf to eat a fish supper in the Gasthaus ‘Zur Rose.’ One evening when B. was in a good humor, Kueffner began: `Tell me frankly which is your favorite among your symphonies?’ B. (in good humor) ‘Eh! Eh! The Eroica.’ K. ‘I should have guessed the C minor.’ B. ‘No; the Eroica.’” From Thayer’s notebook. See “Music and Manners in the Classical Period.” H.E.K.]
91. “The solo sonatas (op. 109-ll?) are perhaps the best, but also the last, music that I composed for the pianoforte. It is and always will be an unsatisfactory instrument. I shall hereafter follow the example of my grandmaster Handel, and every year write only an oratorio and a concerto for some string or wind instrument, provided I shall have finished my tenth symphony (C minor) and Requiem.”
(Reported by Holz. As to the tenth symphony see note to No. 95.)
92. “God knows why it is that my pianoforte music always makes the worst impression on me, especially when it is played badly.”
(June 2, 1804. A note among the sketches for the “Leonore” overture.)
93. “Never did my own music produce such an effect upon me; even now when I recall this work it still costs me a tear.”
(Reported by Holz. The reference is to the Cavatina from the quartet
in B-flat, op. 130, which Beethoven thought the crown of all quartet
movements and his favorite composition. When alone and undisturbed
he was fond of playing his favorite pianoforte Andante—that from the
sonata op. 28.)