The year 1817 was rough for Beethoven. On 19 June 1817 he wrote from Heiligenstadt to Countess Erdödy about his woes:
“Of late I have been tossed about far too much and overwhelmed with far too many cares. Then after feeling constantly unwell since October 6, 1816 I developed on October 15th a violent feverish cold, so that I had to stay in bed for a very long time; and only after several months was I allowed to go out even for a short while. Until now the after effects of this illness could not be dispelled. I changed doctors, because my own doctor, a wily Italian [Malfatti], had powerful secondary motives where I was concerned and lacked both honesty and intelligence. That was in April, 1817. Well, from April 15th until May 4th I had to take six powders daily and six bowls of tea. That treatment lasted until May 4th. After that I had to take another kind of powder, also six times daily; and I had to rub myself three times a day with a volatile ointment. Then I had to come here where I am taking baths. Since yesterday I have been taking another medicine, namely, a tincture, of which I had to swallow 12 spoonfuls daily — Every day I hope to see the end of this distressing condition. Although my health has improved a little, yet it will be a long time apparently before I am completely cured. You can imagine how all this must affect the rest of my existence. My hearing has become worse; and as I have never been able to look after myself and my needs, I am even less able to do so now; and my cares have been increased still further by the responsibility of my brother’s child.” (Emily Anderson, Letters of Beethoven, No. 783)
On 7 July 1817, Beethoven wrote to Frau Nanette Streicher, the wife of the piano maker: “Now I have a great favor to ask of Streicher. Request him on my behalf to be so kind as to adjust one of your pianos for me to suit my impaired hearing. It should be as loud as possible.”
Nanette Streicher is the subject of a recent article in the New York Times, “The Woman Who Built Beethoven’s Pianos”.
In June and July 1817, Beethoven corresponded with his London friend Ferdinand Ries about a possible concert trip there in January 1818. Beethoven promised to compose two grand symphonies for the occasion. This trip never took place, mostly due to Beethoven’s poor health.
Even considering Beethoven’s medical problems and the custody battle with his sister-in-law over his nephew, it’s still surprising that his major composition of 1817 was not a new work, but an arrangement of the 22-year-old Opus 1, No. 3 Piano Trio (Day 43) for string quintet.
The Opus 104 String Quintet originated with an arrangement of the Opus 1, No. 3 Piano Trio by a Herr Kaufmann, about whom nothing is known. He apparently brought his arrangement to Beethoven, who was dissatisfied with it and proceeded to improve it. The result is a mix of the original arrangement and Beethoven’s fixes. (Alan Tyson does a deep dive in “The Authors of the Op. 104 String Quintet” in the book Beethoven Studies, W. W. Norton, 1973.)
After Beethoven got the score of the String Quintet back from the copyist, he crossed out the word “Quintet” on the title page, and wrote:
“Trio arranged as a 3-part quintet by Mr. Goodwill, and from a semblance of 5 parts brought to the light of day as 5 genuine parts, and at the same time raised from the most abject misery to some degree of respectability, by Mr. Wellwisher, August 14, 1817. NB: the original 3-part quintet has been ceremonially sacrificed as a burnt offering to the gods of the underworld.” (Tyson, ibid, p. 159)
#Beethoven250 Day 304
String Quintet in C Minor Arrangement of Opus 1, No. 3 (Opus 104), 1817
A performance in Zaragoza Spain as part of the Musethica (@musethicaorg) music-education program.
Beethoven afterwards took sole credit for the Opus 104 arrangement, writing to his publisher Steiner in August:
“Herr Kaufmann must not be told anything about it, because the day after tomorrow I will write him a letter which will put an end to the whole affair. For Herr K only provided me with the occasion to undertake this complete revision” (Beethoven Letters No. 801)
The next month, he wrote to Frau Streicher that “I shall be rehearsing a quintet which I have arranged from a sonata.” (No. 822) And when the arrangement was published in London, Beethoven cared enough about it to send 33 corrections of the engraved proofs. (No. 938)