New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1911-08-27
The Love Affairs of
Beethoven, the Comnoser

Va vienna on April q 1879 t,a,,aa,.
.uShed TO the attack. again ,,sira ..rr,.
Neue Berliner Musikzeitunrn nj. a..,.,ao
appearing on June 10 and % and 1,,I,, =.
'he same year. Instead OF tra,,ors,,,..
III 'he case. as Thayer had doro
Naischer proposed and followed tho .ir
NiuVe method thus: Beethoven conf, -.
! nave INDUCED in such transnorts a.
ua'e as 1906 or 1897. They were Tho o.
pourlhss or sentmentalist. one ~ tho
"V"o sort. Beethoven had said in Tho
'"dt ne could only live wholly With
"S ioNe OF not at all. an expression not
" oe thought OF I'm connection v,i,h a
illus VINO mad created the "Eroca" SYM
p"ony' Fldeiio.' the sonatas in u minor
anu + minor (Op. 80. the pianoforte CON
Oe''os IN minor and major tho Omar
80 Up oS' mad finished the fourth SYM
pnV"S ana sketched the c minor and tho
"S'oraI could such a genius believe
LOT moment that he could not live with
Ou' ue OBJECT OF his love. etc? The
"hoie argument was mere rbetori, and
/ pSEchologically speculative.
IN a criticism OF Thayer's third volume
WIitteh for Der Clavierlehrer'' IN 1So-
N"l'Scher TOOK UP the subject OF Therese
ID uhs"lck' and. pursuing his old stvle Of
Instrumentation. urged that the Immortal
heioVed was Giulietta and not Tberego
because. forsooth. Beethoven had dedicated
the C-sharp minor sonata TO the former
ana nothing better than the sonat, &, !.
sharp major Op. IS. composed i'm 1900 70
the latter. Kahscher saw no forcc in tho
TACT that the sketches for the so-csl1ed
MoonHSht sonata antedated the dedica
uon by considerable period. the essential
'hlngs IN his mind were the dedication
ana that Lenz thought highly Of the G.
sharp minor and little Of the Fantasia for
pianoforte Op. II, dedicated bv Beethoven
TO His Friend" Brunswick. and stul less
Of the F-sharp sonata. dedicated ~ can
o'her member Of the house Of Brunswick.
and that while Marx had Described tho r.
sharp minor sonata as the low hymn of
/ loves renunciation" he did not consider
/ the F-sharp major sonata worthy even OF
mention
These essays. together with another n
which Or. Kallscher performed with ,roa,
| energy the work OF dsposing Of the ro-
! mantle vaporings Of a writer who called
/ hersef Marian Tenger. and who published
DOCK C'Beethoven's Unsterbliche Geiebte.
mach pers6nlche Errincrungen'0 at Bonn
Z prove
Ihayer had set down as merely a proba-
| oility. This writer Cwho had most OBJ
viously taken her clew from Tbaver
| though she protested that she had not read
his biography when she wrote her book
professed to have had the tale from the
/ lips of the Countess Brunswick herself
that Beethoven. while visiting at Marion
vasar the country seat Of the Brunswicks
I L.
TO the Countess. no one else knowing the
fact except Beethoven's friend. Count
Franz Won Brunswick. Dr. Kalischer found
little difficulty in demolishing a large por-
ton Of the fantastic fabric reared by
Marian Tenger. especially that portion
which prOfessed 10 rest upon the alleged
testimony Of a Baron Spaun." who was
plainly a creation Of the romancer's
though a veritable Spaun did figure large
~ and creditably IN the life history Of
| Schubert Not content with this. the critic
, went further and. reviewing the senti-
mental career OF Beethoven from 1906 10
1910 Tin which latter year it is supposed the
relations between him and the Countess
Brunswick came, 70 an end). he protested
! that I'm 1907 Beethoven was in love with
| Therese Malfatti then a girl Of fourteen
years
That question had already been discussed
/ by Thayer. as we have seen. So also had
the identity Of Baron Spaun by Marie
Iipsius. known I'm musical literature by
her pen name. Ia Mara. who called atten-
ton to inaccuracies I'm the Tenger story In
the first Of a collection or essays entitled
/ "CIassisches und Romantisches aus der
Tonwelt," published in Lepsic in 1871. Tho
same author. who in all her writings on
the subject has stoutlv maintained the cor
RICHNESS of Thaver's theory. made the most
valuable contribution yet offered 10 the
! controversy by her book. "Beethoven's
I-nsterbliche Geliebte-Das Geheimniss der
Grain Brunsvik ind hire Memoiren.' pub
lished by Breitkopf & Hartel in 1909 To
this book II is necessary 10 pay rather eX-
/ tended attention. but before its contents
I are passed in review it deserves 10 he
/ noted that Thayer who followed the null
titude Of arguments for and against his
| hypothesis with the greatest interest and
/ with A characteristically open mind, went
down 10 his grave with his strong cOnvic-
J ton mistaken that in greatest probable
| itv'' the Countess Therese was the I'm
mortal Beloved" In the correspondence
| between him and the present writer, which
| extended through the latter years OF MS
| life the subject was never preached; but
/ ~ la Mara he sent letter which. through
| the courtesy OF the lady to whom it was
/ addressed, IS now given in its original
wording:
Trieste. January o. 1892.
! Dear and honOred lady ] nave 10 thanK
Won heartily for the article on hahscher'
/ for the generous praise you bestow IN II on
my labors and FOR the eneIseIc utIeI0 ~ va
| wears after the suspicion against the cue,
ciardi romance was aroused before FOUND
/ IL pOssIble to DTOCC what IN the mean uHle
had become full conVlcuohi nuI Wien
b did announce my opinion. and give my rea-
sons YOU know how generally IL was ADOPT
/ ed and how few there were not also con-
WINGED. -. ..,.,
not write YOU a long letter, but small
/ Srsce is sufficient for what is essential
/ That Mr. Kalischer has adopted LudWls
| NohVs strange notion of Beethoven IN
! fatIIgfion for Therese Malfatu girl or
/ fourteen vedTS. surprises me; IS also mat
! he seems 20 consider the ois mon SONIA ~, 10
/ b.. a musical love poem addressed 10 Julia
3 Guicciardi. He ought certainly 70 know
that the subject Of that sonata WaS-or
rather that IL was suggested Dy-Seume
/ little poem Die Beterin.
/ / pIav YOU 10 stop here ana read Deiore
/ proceeding the first part OF the "Llebes-
! brief" Note well that II was written from
a Badc0rt SO far away from vienna mar ne
. fCurneyed thitner in coacn WIN 1ouI
/ horses and Esterhazy with eight And now
, 10 the essential points.
| BUrinc the summer Of 1901 we know that
/ Beethoven lodged IN HetZendort-Where eA-
/ Kurfiirst Franz resided ana dled JUN -,
Z that year-and composed MS 'IhFlsluS an
Oelberge' in great part IN me near Stlo ~,
/ LriInn garden. We know that he wrote on
/ T,ne % a very full account OF his increas-