Beethoven's Letters 1790-1826 Volume I Part 25

Vienna, March 3, 1815.

[Music: Treble clef, F Major, 3/4 time.

Kurz, kurz, kurz, kurz ist der Schmerz, der Schmerz, e-wig, e-wig ist die Freu-de, ist die Freu-de, ja die Freu-de, e-wig ist die Freu-de.

Kurz, kurz, kurz, kurz ist der Schmerz, der Schmerz, der Schmerz, e-wig, e-wig ist die Freu-de, ist die Freu-de, e-wig ist die Freude, e-wig, e-wig ist die Freu-de.

Kurz, kurz, kurz, kurz ist der Schmerz, der Schmerz, der Schmerz, e-wig, e-wig ist die Freude, e-wig ist die Freu-de.]

Whenever, dear Spohr, you chance to find true art and true artists, may you kindly remember

Your friend,

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN.

[Footnote 1: From the fac-simile in Spohr's _Autobiography_, Vol. I.]

148.

TO HERR KAUKA.

Vienna, April 8, 1815.

It seems scarcely admissible to be on the friendly terms on which I consider myself with you, and yet to be on such unfriendly ones that we should live close to each other and never meet!!!!![1] You write "_tout a vous_." Oh! you humbug! said I. No! no! it is really too bad. I should like to thank you 9000 times for all your efforts on my behalf, and to reproach you 20,000 that you came and went as you did. So all is a delusion!

friends.h.i.+p, kingdom, empire; all is only a vapor which every breeze wafts into a different form!! Perhaps I may go to Toplitz, but it is not certain.

I might take advantage of that opportunity to let the people of Prague hear something--what think you? if _indeed you still think of me at all_! As the affair with Lobkowitz is now also come to a close, we may write _Finis_, though it far from _fine is_ for me.

Baron Pasqualati will no doubt soon call on you again; he also has taken much trouble on my account. Yes, indeed! it is easy to talk of _justice_, but to obtain it from others is _no easy matter_. In what way can I be of service to you in my own art? Say whether you prefer my celebrating the monologue of a fugitive king, or the perjury of a usurper--or the true friends, who, though near neighbors, never saw each other? In the hope of soon hearing from you--for being now so far asunder it is easier to hold intercourse than when nearer!--I remain, with highest esteem,

Your ever-devoted friend,

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN.

[Footnote 1: Kauka evidently had been recently in Vienna without visiting Beethoven.]

149.

TO HERR KAUKA.

1815.

MY DEAR AND WORTHY K.,--

I have just received from the Syndic Baier in R. the good news that you told him yourself about Prince F.K. As for the rest, you shall be perfectly satisfied.

I take the liberty to ask you again to look after my interests with the Kinsky family, and I subjoin the necessary receipt for this purpose [see No. 144]. Perhaps some other way may be found, though it does not as yet occur to me, by means of which I need not importune you in future. On the 15th October [1815] I was attacked by an inflammatory cold, from the consequences of which I still suffer, and my art likewise; but it is to be hoped that I shall now gradually recover, and at all events be able once more to display the riches of my little realm of sweet sounds. Yet I am very poor in all else--owing to the times? to poverty of spirit? or what???? Farewell! Everything around disposes us to _profound silence_; but this shall not be the case as to the bond of friends.h.i.+p and soul that unites us. I loudly proclaim myself, now as ever,

Your loving friend and admirer,

BEETHOVEN.

150.

TO HERR KAUKA.

1815.

MY MOST WORTHY FRIEND,--

My second letter follows that of yesterday, May 2d. Pasqualati tells me to-day, after the lapse of a month and six days, that the house of Ballabene is too _high and mighty_ to a.s.sist me in this matter. I must therefore appeal to your _insignificance_ (as I myself do not hesitate to be so mean as to serve other people). My house-rent amounts to 550 florins, and must be paid out of the sum in question.

As soon as the newly engraved pianoforte pieces appear, you shall receive copies, and also of the "Battle," &c., &c. Forgive me, forgive me, my generous friend; some other means must be found to forward this affair with due prompt.i.tude.

In haste, your friend and admirer,

BEETHOVEN.

151.

TO MR. SALOMON,--LONDON.[1]

Vienna, June 1, 1815.

MY GOOD FELLOW-COUNTRYMAN,--

I always hoped to meet you one day in London, but many obstacles have intervened to prevent the fulfilment of this wish, and as there seems now no chance of such a thing, I hope you will not refuse a request of mine, which is that you will be so obliging as to apply to some London publisher, and offer him the following works of mine. Grand Trio for piano, violin, and violoncello [Op. 97], 80 ducats. Pianoforte Sonata, with violin accompaniment [Op. 96], 60 ducats. Grand Symphony in A (one of my very best); a short Symphony in F [the 8th]; Quartet for two violins, viola, and violoncello in F minor [Op. 95]; Grand Opera in score, 30 ducats. Cantata with Choruses and Solos ["The Glorious Moment"], 30 ducats. Score of the "Battle of Vittoria" and "Wellington's Victory," 80 ducats; also the pianoforte arrangement of the same, if not already published, which, I am told here, is the case. I have named the prices of some of these works, on a scale which I hold to be suitable for England, but I leave it to you to say what sum should be asked both for these and the others. I hear, indeed, that Cramer [John, whose pianoforte-playing was highly estimated by Beethoven] is also a publisher, but my scholar Ries lately wrote to me that Cramer not long since _publicly expressed his disapproval of my works_: I trust from no motive but that of _being of service to art_, and if so I have no right to object to his doing this. If, however, Cramer should wish to possess any of my _pernicious_ works, I shall be as well satisfied with him as with any other publisher; but I reserve the right to give these works to be published here, so that they may appear at the same moment in London and Vienna.

Perhaps you may also be able to point out to me in what way I can recover from the Prince Regent [afterwards George IV.] the expenses of transcribing the "Battle Symphony" on Wellington's victory at Vittoria, to be dedicated to him, for I have long ago given up all hope of receiving anything from that quarter. I have not even been deemed worthy of an answer, whether I am to be authorized to dedicate the work to the Prince Regent; and when at last I propose to publish it here, I am informed that it has already appeared in London. What a fatality for an author!!! While the English and German papers are filled with accounts of the success of the work, as performed at Drury Lane, and that theatre drawing great receipts from it, the author has not one friendly line to show, not even payment for the cost of copying the work, and is thus deprived of all profit.[2] For if it be true that the pianoforte arrangement is soon to be published by a German publisher, copied from the London one, then I lose both my fame and my _honorarium_. The well-known generosity of your character leads me to hope that you will take some interest in the matter, and actively exert yourself on my behalf.

The inferior paper-money of this country is now reduced to one fifth of its value, and I am paid according to this scale. After many struggles and considerable loss, I at length succeeded in obtaining the full value; but at this moment the old paper-money has again risen far beyond the fifth part, so that it is evident my salary becomes for the second time almost _nil_, and there is no hope of any compensation. My whole income is derived from my works. If I could rely on a good sale in England, it would doubtless be very beneficial to me. Pray be a.s.sured of my boundless grat.i.tude. I hope soon, very soon, to hear from you.

I am, with esteem, your sincere friend,

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN.

[Footnote 1: J.P. Salomon was likewise a native of Bonn, and one of the most distinguished violin-players of his time. He had been Kapellmeister to Prince Heinrich of Prussia, and then went to London, where he was very active in the introduction of German music. It was through his agency that Beethoven's connection with Birchall, the music publisher, first commenced, to whom a number of his letters are addressed.]

[Footnote 2: Undoubtedly the true reading of these last words, which in the copy before me are marked as "difficult to decipher."]

152.

TO THE ARCHDUKE RUDOLPH.

1815.

Pray forgive my asking Y.R.H. to send me the two Sonatas with violin _obbligato_[1] which I caused to be transcribed for Y.R.H. I require them only for a few days, when I will immediately return them.