[58], Lund (1988) made a claim that Antonie's son Karl, born exactly eight months after the alleged encounter with Beethoven, should have been his son; even Solomon did not endorse this, as he thought "it was 'sensationalistic'." Written in pencil, it is addressed to an unknown woman with whom Beethoven was apparently in a love relationship and to whom he refers at one point as his "Immortal Beloved." Article excerpt. And I think this name, Minona, as the daughter of a musician is of significance. Can you imagine receiving a letter like this? So! "[56], Altman (1996) "demonstrates, as indeed Tellenbach has done, that much of the basis for the claims of Antonie's supporters consists of distortions, suppositions, opinions, and even plain inaccuracies." And I had heard that the grave site was up for sale. Beethoven was celebrated as the greatest composer alive. I mean, because her solution was never taken seriously. The letter was discovered after Beethoven's death and, naturally, sparked intense curiosity about what woman inspired such passion. I mean, I can't afford to pay to have her bones, her remains exhumed. And so what did she have to do but try to fix her marriage and, I think from the memoirs of her son, Fritz, you see what efforts she went to to be the loving wife. Please click the button below to reload the page. I must reiterate that we have no such evidence of a passionate love relationship between Antonie and Beethoven either, just of a close friendship; for Josephine, … we know he was indeed passionately in love with her in 1805-1807 at least. A blind composer lost in the darkness, agonising over the mistakes he has made and all he has lost, yearning for a connection but feeling he no longer has enough to offer, needing so badly to love and be loved… aching for his own Immortal Beloved. I like to look at old problems from a new angle as I said, well… ‘Auf diese Art mit 'A' geht alles zu Grunde.” Why, why should the letter 'A' refer to the woman? 1. the woman must have been in Prague and Karlsbad around the time in question (like Beethoven); 2. she must have been closely acquainted (at least on very friendly terms) with Beethoven, at the time immediately before this event. Well, that question has kept scholars busy for a good number of years. (Goldschmidt 1980, p. 138 f.) Goldschmidt's judgement about Stoll (1777-1815) is far too negative however. In: The Beethoven Newsletter 5/2, p. 29. My guest is Dr. Rita Steblin, a musicologist whose archival work combines music history, iconography, and genealogical research. Antonie Brentano left Vienna at the end of year. ], Tellenbach, Marie-Elisabeth (1993/1994): "Psychoanalysis and the Historiocritical Method: On Maynard Solomon's Image of Beethoven. She was the dedicatee of the Moonlight Sonata. Therefore, a total of 10 pages make up the Immortal Beloved letter. There was four years later also a claim by a Japanese author (Aoki 1959, 1968) who had "discovered" Antonie. (Josephine to Beethoven, Winter 1806/7, in Schmidt-Görg 1957, p. And, in fact, you give evidence that Josephine gave birth to Beethoven's child. Another Schindler Forgery?". What a life! Czeke (1938), for the first time, published Therese's diary notes ending in 1813; some were known already to Rolland (1928). And what I've been doing recently is watching all these YouTube stories. On one of their outings, they went to the wax museum of Count Deym, Joseph Deym. Regardless of her identity, it appears that Beethoven loved her passionately, though recognizing the infeasibility of defying convention. Angel, I just hear that the post goes out every day — and must close therefore, so that you get the L. at once. There was one exception, though (that we know of, at least). Is it not a real building of heaven, our Love — but as firm, too, as the citadel of heaven. Well, it is a fact that Beethoven left Teplitz on July 25 for…Karlsbad. [Ich müßte heilige Bande verletzen, gäbe ich Ihrem Verlangen Gehör – Glauben Sie – daß ich, durch Erfüllung meiner Pflichten, am meisten leide – und daß gewiß, edle Beweggründe meine Handlungen leiteten.] My bosom is full, to tell you much — there are moments when I find that speech is nothing at all. So that's where you get Antonie Brentano or Almérie Esterházy or Amalie Sebald, and so on. 296. 166.). I mean, maybe he thought there'd be this scandal about the paternity or he wanted to undertake a Große Handlung or something. Brighten up — remain my true and only treasure, my all, as I to you. so far! They want to feel like they're a part of it. In his biography of Beethoven, American psychologist Maynard Solomon argued that arts patron and collector Antonie Brentano was the Immortal Beloved, and the two were lovers around the time that the letter was written. However, this had not been noticed outside Japan. STEBLIN: Exactly. MALTZ: The famously temperamental Beethoven never married, but, between July 6th and 7th in 1812, Beethoven wrote a three-part letter. Besides clearly stating that there was not a happy ending to this affair, many researchers also said that if the Immortal Beloved were Josephine, that the diary entry would have to read, “In this manner with J, everything goes to ruin.” In fact, there's been a lot of confusion surrounding this initial A. STEBLIN: Beethoven wrote this entry in a diary that he started in the fall of 1812. "[51] Solomon (1998, p. 229) quotes as supporting his case the Song "An die Geliebte" [To the Beloved] WoO 140, an autograph of which contains in Antonie's handwriting the remark: "Requested by me from the author on 2 March 1812. This is where Thayer has made an oversight, because while Beethoven did not get definite housing until July 7, he arrived on July 5. [21] A summary of the older literature can be found in Forbes (1967, pp. There, it was. They'd be gone forever. The problem person would be her husband, that he's the one that's causing all the problems for Beethoven. - Editor. for (i = 0; i < document.links.length;i++) { Sie wäre glücklicher gewesen als mit St[ackelberg]. I should say, had been hiding under an assumed name, Meiersfeld, but it was a hyphenated Deym-Meiersfeld. Oh, God, look into beautiful Nature and compose your mind to the inevitable. Canst thou change it, that thou are not entirely mine, I not entirely thine? What abominable waste of time in such things – why this deep grief, where necessity speaks? ", Tellenbach, Marie-Elisabeth (1998): "Psychoanalyse und historisch-philologische Methode. The entire letter is written on 10 small pages, in Beethoven's rather inconsistent handwriting. (Steblin 2007, p. 180). Be calm — love me — today — yesterday. Thomas-San-Galli then speculated (in 1910) that it might instead have been Teréz Brunszvik, who he thought could have (secretly) traveled to Prague. window.onload=init; The Beethoven Immortal Beloved letter was found after Beethoven's death at the same time as "Heiligenstadt's Testament" is made up of two double pages, written on both sides, (8 pages), of about 200 x 238 mm and on a single sheet of about 201 x 119 mm both sides. I just recently discovered another letter by Therese to Josephine with the proof that they were hiding Maria Laura for about three years.
