Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 02.djvu/786

BEETHOVEN. by Archduke Rudolph, Prince Lobkowitz, and Count Kinsky. The allegation that the Viennese neglected Beethoven as they did Mozart and Schubert appears to be erroneous. Although his genius may not have been fully appreciated, he was far from being overlooked. He found frequent opportunity to bring his works forward at private and public concerts, and his renown as a pianist was such ("his grand style of playing," "giant among players" — Tomaschek) that, in spite of his deafness, he was practically forced to appear in concerts as a solo-player until 1813. Nor, perhaps, would he have retired then save for an untoward incident described by Spohr in his autobiography. Beethoven was playing one of his own concertos, but at the first tutti forgot that he was not conducting, sprang from his seat, and began directing. At a sforzando mark he threw out his arms so far that he knocked the lights from the pianoforte. Enraged, he made the orchestra begin over again. Seyfried, fearing a repetition of the incident, detailed two boys to hold the lights, with the result that one of them, who stood too near, received, with Beethoven's next violent gesture, a blow on the mouth which caused him to drop the light, while the other boy, who had watched Beethoven closely, dodged the blow by stooping suddenly in such a comical way that the audience was convulsed with amusement. His last public piano playing was the accompaniment to Adelaïde in April, 1816, for Franz Wild. As a pianist in private houses, especially those of his noble patrons, Beethoven was in frequent demand. Occasionally, however, he refused to comply with their requests to play, and at Count Browne's he stopped a duet with Ries, and declined to continue or to allow his pupil to play again, because he had been annoyed by two persons starting a conversation. After his retirement as a pianist, in 1813, he still appeared occasionally as a conductor. As late as 1822 he attempted to conduct Fidelio, but was obliged to leave the orchestra.

The years 1812 and 1813 saw the composition of two works which are curiosities among Beethoven's productions. These are the so-called Battle Symphony (the Battle of Vittoria), written to commemorate Wellington's victory in Spain, and introducing Rule Britannia, God Save the King, and Malbrook; and The Glorious Moment, a cantata celebrating the Congress of Sovereigns at Vienna. The year 1817 is important, because of the beginning of the Ninth Symphony. In the following year he took up the great B flat Sonata, Opus 106, and the Mass in D, the latter dedicated to his patron. Archduke Rudolph. The symphony was not finished until 1823.

In addition to his deafness, a family matter had greatly afflicted Beethoven since 1815. He was scrupulous in his duty to other members of his family. His brother Karl had been more or less dependent upon him for support, and when, in 1815, Karl died, he charged the composer with the care of his son, also named Karl. The widow, whom Beethoven considered unfit for such a charge, desired to keep the child, and a four-years' expensive litigation followed, resulting in Beethoven's favor. The nephew proved a scapegrace, and ill requited Beethoven for the care the composer lavished upon him, denying himself necessaries in order to provide for the boy's education and future. He placed him at the University, only to see him expelled. This reckless nephew was also discharged in disgrace from the army, and ordered to leave Vienna. An unsuccessful attempt at suicide further added to the troubles brought upon his uncle. In fact, he was indirectly the cause of the composer's death.

Through all these worries, with attacks of illness added to them and to his deafness, Beethoven labored on. The Ninth Symphony was finished in 1823. The idea of setting music to Schiller's Ode to Joy had occurred to him as far back as 1793, when he was 23 years old. Even after such a long lapse of time his method of introducing its choral setting in the finale was an inspiration of the moment. "I have it, I have it!" he cried one day to Schindler, and holding out his sketch-book, showed him the recitative phrase which he just then had devised: "Let us sing the immortal Schiller's song — the Ode to Joy."

The symphony was performed after but two rehearsals at the Kärntnerthor Theatre, Vienna, May 4, 1824, under Beethoven's direction. At the conclusion, the ovation was so great that the police were called in to quell it, for fear it might lead to public disturbance. Amid it all stood the deaf master, unconscious of the impression the work had made, until some one touched his hand and caused him to turn around; when the audience, realizing the pathos of the scene, broke into a new demonstration, in which tears mingled with the acclaim. The Last Quartets were composed between 1824 and his death. The finale of the B flat Quartet, Opus 130, finished in November, 1826, is Beethoven's last composition.

In the late autumn of 1826 Beethoven set out for Krems to consult his brother Johann, a man of considerable means, concerning Karl's future. Relations between the two brothers had been strained, owing to Johann's marriage with a woman of loose character, and to his arrogant demeanor. The visit failed of its purpose, and early in December Beethoven was forced by his brother's refusal to provide a closed conveyance, to make the return journey of two days in an open wagon. The exposure aggravated a stomach trouble from which he was a chronic sufferer; and inflammation of the lungs, and subsequently dropsy, set in. Almost to the last he displayed interest in his art. He looked over Schubert's songs, which were new to him, and praised them, and studied a forty-volume edition of Handel, whom he admired greatly. Friends sought to minister to his wants. Schubert called upon him, and Hummel and his wife, Stephan von Breuning, and Schindler were among those at his bedside. He died during a terrible thunderstorm. Almost his last utterance was, "Plaudite, amici, comædia est finita;" and his last words were, "I shall hear in Heaven." Although he had applied to the London Philharmonic for financial assistance on the plea of his illness and impoverished condition — an appeal to which the Society nobly responded with £100 — he was found to have been possessed of several thousand florins in bonds, which readily could have been converted into money. It is believed that he had laid them aside for his nephew, and scrupled to use them even in his own dire necessity.

Beethoven stands for the highest achievements in the classical symphonic, or, strictly speaking,