New-York tribune., 1909-03-28


fee that is in question between them Bee
thoven makes no boast" he says. "and despses
everything which he has not exactly receives
through his art and meries-sO send back all Tho
manuscripts you have received from me.
I not and will not accept a smaller fee, only
upon the agreement made with me can YOU kea,
the manuscripts" He scorned to wrangle in the
marketpIace- Yet that. aIast was necessarily his
lot BeethOven's repeated immersion in the sor-
did details of business is a thing for tears
The cruelty of it all resided. too. in the incon-
gruity Of its malice Beethoven was made 70,
happiness. His pure spirit eagerly responded
to all that was gracious and beautiful in lie
He craved the friendship Of his fellows He
loved society and the pleasures Of good taIx
1t is easy to overlook this. for misfortune came
early to blight this man. to drive him in upon
himself. to make him seem austere and even
melancholy There was always. too. a certain
element Of hauteur in his nature. the hauteur
of Il man sOlemnIy aware Of his possession of
unique gifts. In letter written while he was
still young to his friend Nicolaus ZmeskaH he
has a curious observation The devil take
you" he exclaims. Il don't want to know any,
thing about your whole system of ethics. Pgrer
is the morality Of men who stand out from the
rest, and it is also mine Isolate this sayin.
from the context and then read it only with
reference to some such story as that threadbare
one about his refusal to remove his hat in TIE
presence Of the imperial family. and you may
quite plausibIy argue that Beethoven was a
Napoleonic type, a ruthless egoist But that Of
course would be foolish superficiality. The his
tory Of the "Eroica,' written in admiration OF
Napoleon as a force making for freedom but
violently deprived of its title page when the
cOnqUeror showed the clOven foot Of selishness.
illustrates clearly enough the composers DE-
tachment from an ideal Of mere brute dornina-
ton. However, it is idle to labor the point
In all that We know Of Beethoven, and es-
pecially in what the letters tell US there IS a
deep spiritual mOdesty- 1t is interesting to
study this trait as it comes out in his attitude
toward all matters Of art. Though. as has been
said the correspondence is not at all rich in
expressions of critical opinion. it strikes now
and then a significant note Of appreciat ton 7
thank you heartily" he writes to his publishers.
Breitkopf and HaerteI. for the beautiful things
of Sebastian Bach; will keep and study theEE :
In another letter, sent to the same address. Il
says: 1.-The good reception given to MOzaTts
Don Juan gives much pleasure as il il
were my own work" Continuing he aIludeS 10
PaisieIIO and adds: Il render more justice to
him even than his own COuntrymen have done
In one Of the most beautiful OF all his letters a
reply to a child who had made a pOcketbOOk for
him. and had sent it with naive words Of ai-
rniration. he says: do not snatch the laurel
wreaths from Handel Haydn, Mozart: they are
entitled to them as yet I am not But pe--
haps the most moving souvenirs Of Beethoveu'5
moral grandeur are those letters in which. u
bur,Iening himself to one or two OF his closest
intirnates. he speaks Of his growing deafness
and though on the verge OF despair. declares
his resolution TO go with his work
The blow is almost more than he can bear
Were my profession any other" he says Il
would not so much matter. but in my profeS-
sion It is a terrible thing; and my enemies, Of
whom there are not a few, what would they say
to this? To give you an idea Of this extraordt-
nary deafness, I tell you that when at the the
atre I an Obliged to lean forward close to t7s
orchestra in order to understand what IS bein5
said on the stage. When somewhat at til-
tance, I cannot hear the high tones OF tnStru-
ments voices. have, indeed. Often
cursed my existence. Plutarch taught me rs
ignntion. II nothing else IS possible VIII DEFY
my fate. although there VIII De moments IN III
life when I shall be Gods most vretchsd Great
ure. Resignation, What a miserable
refuge, and yet II is the only one for me
Writing again to the same friend. Dr.. Franz
waeeler, he SAYS, IT Will seize Fate by the
.b-oat. n .haII certataly never wholly overcnms