Beethoven's Letters 1790-1826, Volume 2 by Ludwig van Beethoven
page 30 of 297 (10%)
page 30 of 297 (10%)
|
life will soon be spun out.
In haste, your BEETHOVEN. N.B. I wish you to buy me a quarter of a yard of green wax-cloth, green on both sides. It seems incredible that I have not been able to get anything of the kind from these _green_ people here. It is far.... [illegible]. [X. brought the Trio in C minor (Op. 1, No. 3) to show to Beethoven, having arranged it as a quintet for stringed instruments (published by Artaria as Op. 104). Beethoven evidently discovered a good many faults in the work; still, the undertaking had sufficient attractions to induce him to correct it himself, and to make many changes in it. A very different score was thus of course produced from that of X., on the cover of whose work the genial master, in a fit of good humor, inscribed with his own hand the following title:-- A Terzet arranged as a Quintet, by _Mr. Well-meaning_, translated from the semblance into the reality of five parts, and exalted from the depths of wretchedness to a certain degree of excellence, by _Mr. Goodwill_. Vienna, Aug. 14, 1817. N.B. The original three-part score of the Quintet has been sacrificed as a |
|