Here the relevant correspondence from the Henle-Gesamtausgabe:

Beethoven to Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig

                                                                             Vienna on the 8th of June [1808][1]

Esteemed Sir!

    It is the fault of the teacher of the young Count Schönfeld[2] in that he reassures me that you want to have works from me again, that I am writing to you--although, due to several break-offs of negotiations[3] I am almost convinced that also this new attempt of mine at establishing contact with you will remain fruitless, again,  at this time, I am offering you the following works-- 

    2 symphoniesn[4], a mass[5] and <a sonata with> a sonata for the piano and violoncello[6] -- + NB for all of it, I am asking for 900 fl.+ -- <for each symphony I am asking for [3]00 fl. for the mass [two]hundred fl., for the sonatas 100 fl.> -- + My haste may excuse my messiness --+[7] however, this sum of 900 fl. must be paid out in Viennese currency in convention money, for which the drafts would have to be issued-- For various reasons, with respect to the 2 symphonies I have to stipulate that they, counted from June 1st on, may only be published in six months--Towards winter, I will probably go on a journey and therefore, I would wish that they would not become known during this summer, yet, at least--I could also leave the same works here to the Industrie-Komtoir if I wanted since last year, they have also taken 7 large works[8] from me, which, by now, almost all have appeared in print--and since they, in general, like to take everything from me-- However, I would prefer your firm above all if you would only negotiate with me with more determination, I am convinced that you and I would gain from this, in many instances, you will find me anything but profit hungry, but rather accommodating and foregoing any kind of advantage; moreover, from such a connection, not only I but also art as such will profit--let me know of your decision as soon as possible, so that I can still come to terms with the I.[dustrie] K.[omptoir] in time, arrange that the two of us will come together and stay together--for my part, I will certainly do everything--you will always find me open and without any [other] reservations, also in this respect-- in short, all this should show you how much I would like to come to terms with you--

                                                                             your most devoted Lv Beethowen

One is, once again, asking for a quick reply

    About my mass and, in general, I do not like to say something about myself, however, I believe that I have treated the text in a manner in which it has not been treated much, before; it was also performed in various places, amongst others also at Prince Esterhazy's, for the Name Day of the Princes, with much applause, at Eisenstadt,[9]-- I am convinced that the score and even the piano reduction will certainly be profitable for you--

To Breitkopf and Härtel in Leipzig.

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 327, p. 14 - 15]

[Original:  Bonn, Beethoven-Haus, Bodmer Collection; to [1]: refers to the fact that the year can be determined from the registration note by the publisher; to [2]: refers to Georg August Griesinger, the Saxon Emissary in Vienna, who was also the private teacher of Count Johann Hilmar Adolph von Schönfeld and who had already acted as a mediator between the publisher and Beethoven in 1802/03; to [3]: refers to the fact that the 1805 and 1806 negotiations had failed; to [4]: refers to Op. 67 and Op. 68; to [5]: refers to Op. 86; to [6]: refers to Op. 69; to [7]: refers to the fact that Beethoven apologizes for the messy crossing-out of the last sentence; to [8]: refers to Op. 56 - Op. 62; to [9]: refers to the fact that to "in Eisenstadt" a hyphen was added and that the Mass was composed for and performed on the occasion of the Name Day of Princess Maria Esterhazy (Sept. 8, 1807), under Beethoven's direction, on September 13, 1807, at Eisenstadt; details taken from p. 15.]

 Breitkopf & Härtel to Beethoven

                                                                                          [Leipzig, June 18, Juni 1808]

[According to the GA, the publisher expressed interest in the works offered to him in Letter No. 327, namely Op. 67, Op. 68 and Op. 68, while they rejected the Mass, Op. 86, since the demand for sacred works was not great enough. Moreover, the publisher tried to negotiate for a lower price.]

[Source: Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 328, p. 16]

[Original: not known, content of letter, according to the GA, derived from the registration note on Letters No. 327 and No. 329; detail taken from p. 16.]

Beethoven to Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig

                                                                                [Heiligenstadt, around the 10th of July, 1808][1]

Esteemed Sir!

   here my decision in reply to your valued letter[2]--From which you will certainly see my willingness to accommodate you as much as possible-- first, schematically and then the what and why--I will give you the Mass[3], the 2 Smphonies[4], the + Violoncello Piano Sonata with+[5], and still two other sonatas <or> for the piano or, instead of them, perhaps one more Symphony[6] for 700 fl. (Seven Hundred fl. in convention money[)]--you see that I give more and take less--however, that is the utmost; --you must take the Mass, otherwise, I can not give you the other works --since I am concerned with that which is reputable and not alone with that which is useful, "one is not asking for sacred music, you say", you are right, if you only look at the thoroughbass, however, have the Mass performed in a concert in Leipzig and you will see that it will find admirers, right away, who want to have it; if you like, publish it as a piano reduction with German Text, and, in any event, I guarantee you success-- perhaps also by Subscription; from here, I dare to acquire for you two dozen subscribers, as well--however, that will certainly not be necessary--

    you will receive, as soon as you, as I do not doubt, will accept my offer, right away, the 2 symphonies, the Sonata with violoncello, the Mass--the other two piano sonatas or perhaps, instead, a Symphony within a period of <6>4 weeks thereafter, at the most--however, I ask you to immediately arrange to send to me, upon receipt of the first 4 works, my fee, I will also schematically enter the Symphony or the 2 sonatas instead, into the schematic listing of the works that you are to receive from me, and, so that you do not have to mistrust me, I will obligate myself to send you the sonatas or the Symphony in four weeks--the 700 fl. I ask you to either make out to me in form of a draft for 700 fl. in convention money or in form of bank drafts according to the exchange rate at the date of deposit in Vienna--moreover, I am obligating myself to make you a present with an Offertorium and graduale [7] to the Mass, in some time, however, at this moment, both are not at my disposal-- however, I ask you to let me know, as soon as possible, of your decision, I can not entertain any other modifications, this is the utmost that I can do, and I am convinced that you will not regret this matter--

with esteem your most devoted

                                                                                                         Ludwig van Beethowen

[Source: Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 329, p. 16 - 17]

[Original: Bonn, Beethoven-Haus, Bodmer Collection; to [1]: refers to the fact that the letter arrived in Leipzig on July 16, 1808, which can be seen from the registration note; to [2]: refers to Letter No. 328 of June 18, 1808, which has not been preserved; to [3]: refers to Op. 86; to [4]: refers to Op. 67 and op. 68; to [5}: refers to Op. 69; to [6]: according to the GA, this refers to projects that were not carried out; to [7]: refers to the fact that Beethoven did not follow through with this; details taken from p. 17.]

Breitkopf & Härtel to Beethoven

                                                                                 [Leipzig, July 20, 1808]

[According to the GA, the publisher repeatedly expressed that they were not interested in acquiring Op. 86.]

[Source: Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 330, p. 17]

[Original: not known, existence of letter derived from the registration notes to Letters No. 329 and No. 331; detail taken from p. 17.]

Beethoven to Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig

                                                                            [Heiligenstadt, at the end of July, 1808][1]

Esteemed Sir!

    Following up on your repeated offer through Wagener[2] I advise you that I am willing to completely free you from having to print the Mass[3]--rather, I am offering it to you as a present, you shall not even have to pay for any writing costs, [while I am] firmly convinced that, once you will have had it performed at one of your winter concerts in Leipzig, you will certainly publish it with a German text--Whatever may happen to it, it will belong to you, as soon as we will have come to an agreement, I will send you the score of it with the other works and I will also enter it into the schematic listing as if you had bought it--the reason why I wanted to obligate you to publish the mass is since, firstly, it is dear to my heart, in spite of all coldness of our age towards such things, and secondly since you, with your "printed" note types, will have an easier time of printing it than other German publishers, most of whom know nothing of scores.--

    now to the remainder: since the Mass falls off, you will now receive two symphonies[4], a sonata with obbligato violoncello[5], two Trios for piano, violin and violoncello[6] [since there is a lack of those] or, instead of the last two T.[rios] a symphony for 600 fl. in convention money according to the exchange rate that I have referred to in my first two letters[7]--

as soon as you will agree to this, which I do not doubt, you can render payment in two installments, namely, as soon I will have delivered the 2 symphonies and the sonata with obbligato violoncello to your agent in Vienna, I will receive from you a draft for 400 fl.--in a few weeks after that, I will deliver the 2 trios or, if you prefer, the symphony, and you can let me have another draft for the remaining 200 fl--this way, all matters have been clarified--As soon as I will receive a reply, the score of the Mass will be copied and certainly sent to you with the second shipment--  

    I would have to be very wrong if you still find anything to complain about, now, and you certainly see that I do everything to come to an agreement with you--by the way, you can be convinced that here, I receive at least as much for compositions and even more, however, a precarious circumstance is that local publishers here do not always pay, right away, but rather very slowly--here you have the reason, but I hope that you are noble enough not to take advantage of my openness--moreover, if I see that you will come to decent terms with me, you will certainly often see altruism in me, I love my art too much that I would only be guided by [financial] interest, alone; for the last two years, I have experienced many an incident, and here in V.[ienna]--but no more of it--  

    Answer right away, please, since on your account, I have held back all this time, if you believe that I could not have the same here, then you are wrong, there is no other reason than the one I mentioned to you--  

with esteem your most devoted

                                                                                                         Ludwig van Beethowen

    In order to avoid all confusion, kindly address your reply to Wagener, he knows how to deliver the letter to me, since I am in the country side[8]-- 

[Breitkopf]* and Härtel in Leipzig

[Source: Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 331, p. 18 - 19]

[Original: Bonn, Beethoven-Haus, Bodmer Collection; to [1]: refers to the fact that this letter is a reply to Letter No. 330 of July 20, 1808; to [2]: refers to the fact that "Wagener" can not be identified; to [3]: refers to Op. 86; to *: refers to loss of text due to the cutting of the page; to [4]: refers to Op. 67 and Op. 68; to [5]: refers to Op. 69; to [6]: refers to Op. 70; to [7]: refers to Letter No. 327 and Letter No. 329; to [8]: refers to the fact that from the end of June until into the fall of 1808, Beethoven stayed at Heiligenstadt; details taken from p. 19.] 

Beethoven to Gottfried Christoph Härtel[1]

                                                                       [Heiligenstadt, shortly after September 14, 1808][2]

    I am quite angry with myself that I have missed you, yesterday--Perhaps, if it can be arranged, we could see each other in the city--only write to me until when you will be going away, today--here the symphony, my servant will bring the other one [3] to you towards eleven, eleven-thirty--The copyist is just correcting the mistakes that I have noted in it--many thanks for your present-- 

                                                                                                               entirely your Beethowen

[Source: Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 335, p. 23]

[Original: Bonn, Beethovenhaus, Bodmer Collection; to [1]: refers to the fact that the letter has been addressed to Härtel, personally, who was staying in Vienna at that time; to [2]: refers to the fact that in August, 1808, Härtel had travelled to Vienna; to [3]: refers to Op. 67 and Op. 68; details taken from p. 23.]

Beethoven to Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig

                                                                                                     Vienna on the 7th of January, 1809

    You will say that is this one and that one and that one and this one--it is true, there is hardly a more rare letter writer--you will, I hope, have received the trios[1]--One, as you know, was already completed at the time of your departure[2], however, I wanted to send it with the second one, that has also already bee completed for a couple of months without my having thought of it to send it to you--finally, W[3] has run into me--You will show me a great favor and I sincerely ask you for it, namely not to publish all things you have from me before Easter, since I will surely arrive at Leipzig during Lent, also, do not let any symphonies[4] be heard in public until that time--for, when I come to Leipzig, it shall be a true festival to perform them together with the Leipzig musicians who are known to me for their steadfastness and willingness--I will also make the corrections there--  

    Finally, due to intrigues, schemes and underhandedness of all kind I am forced to leave the only remaining German fatherland, I am going to Westphalia on the invitation of his Royal Majesty of Westphalia, as Kapellmeister, with an annual salary of 600 gold ducats[5]--today, I have mailed them my letter that I will come and am only awaiting my decree[6] so that, after its receipt, I can get ready for my journey which will lead me through Leipzig--therefore, in order for the journey to be all the more brilliant, and if it is not too much of a disadvantage to you, [I ask you] not to publish or make known anything before Easter--with respect to the Sonata[7], which is dedicated to  Baron Gleichenstein please leave off the "k.k. Koncipist"[8] which he does not like at all.--Perhaps, from here, lampoons will reach the Musikalische Zeiting about my last musical academy[9],  I do not wish that everything should be suppressed that is against me, but one should only convince oneself that no one has more personal enemies here than I, and this is all the more understandable, the worse the situation of music is becoming here--we have conductors who know so little how to conduct that they can hardly read a score, themselves--at the Wieden [10] it is, of course, the worst--there, I had to hold my academy concert, whereby I was impeded from all sides--The widows' concert [11], out of hatred against me, had played me the abominable prank, in which Herr Salieri[12] was the first, that every musician who played for me and who was part of their Society, was threatened with expulsion--regardless of the fact that various mistakes occurred for which I was not to blame, the audience received everything with enthusiasm--in spite of this, scribblers here will not refrain from sending wretched stuff against me to the Musikalische Zeitung--mainly, the musicians are reportedly upset on account of the fact that I, after they blundered with respect to the simplest thing in the world, I made everything stop and loudly yelled "once again"--something like that they have never experienced; with this, the audience showed its pleasure[13]--However, it is getting worse, every day, the day before my academy concert, in the theatre in the city, in the easy opera Milton[14], the orchestra had fallen apart so much that the conductor and director literally were shipwrecked--since the conductor, instead of proposing, was terminating, and only then, the director sets in--answer me, right away,   

with Esteem your most devoted servant

                                                                                                                 Beethowen

    I ask you not to publicly announce anything about my engagement in Westphalia until I will have received my decree-  -

    Farewell and write to me, soon--of new works we will speak in Leipzig--a few hints about my leaving here could be given in the Musikalische Zeitung--and some jabs, since here, nothing good was ever to be done for me-- 

To Breitkopf and Hertel in Leipzig

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 350, p. 37-39]

[Original: Bonn, Beehtoven-Haus, Bodmer Collection; to [1]: refers to the two Piano Trios, Op. 70; to [2]: refers to Gottfried Härtel's visit to Vienna in September, 1808; to [3]: refers to the agent Wagener who was already mentioned in Letter No. 331; to [4]: refers to Op. 67 and Op. 68; to [5]: refers to the fact that Napoleon's brother Jerome Bonaparte had offered Beethoven the position of Kapellmeister at his court in Kassel, in the fall of 1808, see Letter No. 339; to [6]: refers to the fact that neither Beethoven's letter nor the decree regarding the appointment have been preserved; to [7]: refers to Op. 69; to [8]: refers to the fact that since November 1801, Ignaz von Gleichenstein held the position of a Royal and Imperial government official in Vienna; to [9]: refers to the fact that on January 25, 1809, the AMZ reported about Beethoven's December 22, 1808, academy concert as follows: "Was hingegen die Exekutirung dieser Akademie betrifft, so war sie in jedem Betracht mangelhaft zu nennen. [...] Am auffallendsten war das Versehen, welches in der letzten Fantaisie [Op. 80] vorfiel.  Die Blas-Instrumente variirten das Thema, welches Beethoven vorher auf dem Pianoforte vorgetragen hatte.  Jetzt war die Reihe an den Oboen.  Die Klarinetten -- wenn nicht irre! -- verzählen sich, und fallen zugleich ein.  Ein kurioses Gemisch von Tönen entsteht:  B. springt auf, sucht die Klarinetten zum Schweigen zu bringen: allein das gelingt ihm nicht eher, bis er ganz laut und ziemlich unmuthig, dem ganzen Orchester zuruft: Still still, das geht nicht!  Noch einmal -- noch einmal! und das gepriesene Orchester muß sich bequemen, die verunglückte Fantaisie noch einmal von vorn anzufangen" ["However, as far as the execution of this academy is concerned, it had to be called lacking in every respect. [...]  The most obvious was the oversight that occurred in the last Fantasy [Op. 80].  The brass instrument varied the theme that Beethoven had played on the piano, before.  Now, it was the oboes' turn.  The clarinets--if I am not mistaken!--miscounted, and set in at the same time.  A curious mixture of tones erupted: B. jumped up, tried to silence the clarinets, alone, that does not happen until he, quite loudly and angrily, shouted at the entire orchestra: Silence, silence, that will not do!  Once more, once more! and the praised orchestra had to concede to play the entire Fantasy from the beginning, again"], see AMZ 11 (1809), Column. 268; to [10]: refers to the Theater-an-der-Wien; to [11]: refers to the fact that on the day of Beethoven's academy concert, the 22nd of December and on December 23rd, in the Burgtheater, two concerts for the Fund of the Widows and Orphans of the Tone Artists' Society took place; to [12]: refers to the fact that Antonio Salieri was Vice President of the Tone Artists' Society; to [13]: with respect to this, the GA refers to the description by Johann Friedrich Reichardt, Vetraute Briefe, geschrieben auf einer Reise nach Wien und den österreichischen Staaten zu Ende des Jahres 1808 und zu Anfang 1809, Amsterdam 1810, Vol. 1, p. 258; to [14]: refers to the opera Milton by Gasparo Luigi Pacifico Spontini that was performed on December 27, 1808, thus not the "day before" at the Kärntnerthortheather; details taken from p. 38-39.]

Breitkopf & Härtel to Beethoven

                                                                                                                   [Leipzig, January 21, 1809]

[Content not known, according to the GA[1].]

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 351, p. 39]

[Original:  not known, derived from the registration note on Letter No. 350; to [1]: according to the GA, the publisher might have enquired about the Opus numbers and the dedicatees of the works that were acquired in September, 1808; details taken from p. 39.]

Beethoven to Breitkopf & Härtel in[1] in Leipzig

                                                                                       Vienna, on the 4th of March, 1809

Highly Esteemed Sir!

    From the attached you see how matters have changed here, and I am staying[2]--although I might still be inclined to go on a small journey, if the threatening thunderstorm clouds will not move closer together[3];--In any event, you will be advised, in time--here the opus etc of the 3 works--<So>Sonata for Piano and Violoncello dedicated to Herr Baron von Gleichenstein Op. 59[4] Both symphonies to both gentlemen at the same time, namely: To H[is] Excellency Count Rasoumowsky and his Highness Prince Lobkowitz--<op> Symphony in c minor Op. 60[5], Symphony in F Op. 61[6]--tomorrow, you will receive a list of minor corrections[7] that I made during the performance of the symphonies[8]--when I gave them to you I had not heard either one of them, yet[9]--and one must not want to be so divine as [not] to improve something in one's creations, here or there--Hr. Stein is offering you to transcribe the symphonies into piano reductions for two pianos[10], write to me if you want that, and if you want to pay for it?-- --  

I send my best greetings and am, in haste, 

your most devoted

                                                                                                 friend LvBthwn

    The Trios will be dedicated A[11] Madame la Comtesse Marie d'Erdödy née Comtesse Niczky Dame de la Croix Op. 62[12]

[Source: Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe Vol. 2, Letter No. 359; p. 45-47]

[Original:  Bonn, Beethoven-Haus; to [1]: refers to the fact that the recipient can be derived from the content of the letter; to [2]: refers to the possibility of Beethoven's having enclosed a copy of the pension contract; with respect to this, the GA quotes the AMZ 11 (1809) report, column 395f: "Der geistreiche, genialische, tiefsinnige  B e e t h o v e n privatisirte bisher in Wien und  die mancherley offenbaren oder versteckten Gegenparteyen, die er, vornämlich unter Musikern von Profession, daselbst fand, mochten ihm die Verhältnisse dieses seines Privatlebens nicht selten erschweren.  Vor kurzem erhielt er nun vom westphälischen Hofe durch Hr. Kapellm. Reichard, welcher sich jetzt in Wien aufhält, einen vorteilhaften Ruf, und glaubte ihm folgen zu müssen.  Da traten einige der edelsten Schützer und Freunde der Tonkunst in Wien zusammen, erwägend, dass eben Beethovens Genius im Hauptsitz deutscher Instrumentalmusik, in Wien, verweilen, und ohne zu entscheidende fremde Einflüsse seinen selbstgebrochenen Pfad weiter wandeln müsse.  Sie, die es gewiss empfanden, dass es den Grossen und Vielvermögenden nicht nur ziere, dass es nicht nur ihm die Herzen gewinne, sondern auch ein wahres Verdientst um die Mit- und Nachwelt sey, wenn er ausgezeichneten Geistern von irgend einer Art Raum und freye Thätigkeit verschafft -- sie, der  E r z h e r z o g   R u d o l p h, der  F ü r s t    L o b k o w i t z, und der F ü r s t   K i n s k y, fertigten dem Künstler, unter den ehrenvollesten und zugleich schonendsten Aeusserungen, ein Dokument aus, worin sie ihm -- blos, damit er sorgenfrey seiner Kunst leben, und auch ohne Abhängigkeit vom Geschmack der gemeinern Menge, grosse, erhabene, vielumfassende Werke liefern könne -- die jährliche Rente von  v i e r t a u s e n d  G u l d e n zusichern; und zwar soll Beethoven diese Rente beziehen, bis er zu einer Anstellung gelangt, welche ihm wenigstens eben so viel einträgt, und im Fall, dass er durch Umstände irgend einer Art solch eine Anstellung zu finden verhindert würde, auf Lebenszeit.  Der Künstler hingegen hat sich dafür zu nichts verbindlich zu machen, als dass er Wien oder einen anderen Ort der österreichischen Erbstaaten zu seinem Aufenthalt wähle, und wenn er diese Staaten ja auf gewisse Zeit, etwa zum Vortheile seiner Kunst und andern Angelegenheiten zu verlassen geneigt sey, dies nur auf Fristen und im Einverständnis mit diesen seinen Gönnern geschehe"; ["the gifted, ingenious, profound  B e e t h o v e n, up to this time, led a private life in Vienna and the many obvious or hidden rivals that he found there, predominantly amongst professional musicians, not seldom might have made his private life difficult.  Recently, he received the offer of a favorable position at the Westfalian court, through Herr Kapellmeister Reichard, who is in Vienna at present, and believed that he had to follow it.  Then, some of the most noble protectors and friends of music in Vienna convened, pondering that Beethoven's genius should remain in the capital of German instrumental music, in Vienna, without his having to pursue his self-chosen path without too many decisive outside influences.  They, who certainly felt that the great and wealthy would not only be honored, that their hearts would not only gain, but that they would do a great service to their contemporaries and descendants if they were to provide room and freedom for excellent minds and their activities--they, A r c h d u k e   R u d o l p h, P r i n c e  L o b k o w i t z , and P r i n c e   K i n s k y, drafted a document for the artist, under the most honorable and, at the same time, also most conciliatory, statements, in which they offer him--merely so that he can live for his art free of sorrows, and so that he could also, without any consideration for the taste of the common crowds, create great, sublime, comprehensive works--the annual pension of  f o u r   t h o u s a n d   f l o r i n s; Beethoven is to receive this pension until he will attain a position that results in an at least equal remuneration, and in the event that, due to circumstances of any kind, he would be prevented from finding such a position, for his lifetime.  In return, the artist does not have to obligate himself to anything other than choosing Vienna or one of the Austrian states as his place of residence, and if he wants to leave these states for a certain time, for example, for the advantage of his art, and for other reasons, this should only occur with the permission of these, his patrons"]; to [3]: probably refers to the political and military actions on the eve of the Fifth Coalition War (April 9, 1809, declaration of war by Austria to France); to [4]: refers to the fact that Beethoven obviously did not realize that these and the following opus numbers had already been assigned to works of his that had been published in 1808 by the Kunst- und Industrie-Comptoir; to [5]: refers to the fact that, still before its publication, this work was changed into Op. 67; to  [6]: refers to the fact that, still before its publication, this work was changed into Op. 68; to [7]: probably refers to the corrections that were only sent off with Letter No. 370 of March 28, 1809; to [8]: refers to the fact that both symphonies had been performed at the Academy Concert at the Theater-an-der-Wien on December 22, 1808; to [9]: refers to the fact that in September, 1808, Beethoven had given the scores to the three mentioned works to Härtel; to [10]: probably refers to the pianist Friedrich Stein, the youngest son of the piano maker Johann Andreas Stein; to [11]: refers to the fact that the text of the following dedication was written by an another hand, but the Opus number by Beethoven; to [12]: refers to the fact that still before its publication, this work was changed into Op. 70; details taken from p. 46-47.]

Breitkopf & Härtel to Beethoven

                                                                                                                      [Leipzig, March 11, 1809]

[According to the GA, the publisher points out an error to Beethoven in the score of the Fifth Symphony and asks him to provide the correct version.[1]]

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 365a, S. 50]

[Original: not known, derived from the registration note on Letter No. 359 as well as from Letter No. 370 of March 28, 1809 and from Letter No. 465 of August 21, 1810; details taken from p. 50.]

Beethoven to Breitkopf and Härtel in Leipzig

                                                                                                                        [Vienna, March 28, 1809]

Highly Esteemed Sir!

    Here you receive the minor corrections to the symphonies[1]--have them corrected in the plates, immediately--the title of the symphony in F is: Pastoral Symphony or Reminiscences of Country Life, more Expression of Feeling than Painting[2]--in the Andante of the same symph. it should still be noted that in the bass part, right at the beginning:  due Violoncello <1mo> Solo 1mo e 2do con Sordino <2do> gli Violoncelli tutti coi Bassi

    you indicated that you still have found an error in the third piece of the symphony in c minor[3]--I do not recall any detail--it is always best to send me the correction with the score that you have received, and you will receive it back in a few days--with the Trios[4] and the Violoncello Sonata[5], I would prefer if this was done in the very same manner--with respect to the Violoncello Sonata, if the title has not been printed, yet, it should still say, to my friend Baron etc[6]--as far as I know, I have only sent two trios, there must be some mistake, should Wagner[7] perhaps have played a prank?--in order to avoid any confusion, I am listing the themes of the pieces here--  

1st Trio in D

                             Allegro         [Note Sample]

                             1st piece

                            adagio          [Note Sample]

                            2nd  ---------

                            third             [Note Sample]

2nd Trio in Es

                                                Adagio

                            1st piece     [Note Sample]

                                                Allegretto

                            2nd piece      [Note Sample]

                            3rd piece       [Note Sample]

                            4th piece      [Note Sample]

    In my next letter, I will reply to the rest of your letter, and send you my best recommendations-- 

in haste entirely your

                                                                                                          Beethowen

Vienna on the 28th of March

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 370, p. 53 - 54]

[Original: Bonn, Beethoven-Haus, Bodmer Collection; to [1]: refers to Op. 67 and Op. 68; to [2]: refers to the fact that the addition "Mehr Ausdruck ..." [more expression]  was also written in the program of the Academy Concert of December 22, 1808; to [3]: refers to the fact that in Letter No. 365a of March 11, 1809, that has not been preserved, the publisher probably pointed out to Beethoven the redundant primo measure 238a/239a of the left-off Scherzo repetition in the score of the third movement of Op. 67; to [4]: refers to Op. 70; to [5]: refers to Op. 69; to [6]: refers to the fact that Op. 69 was dedicated to Ignaz von Gleichenstein; to [7]: refers to Wag[e]ner, an agent of the publisher in Vienna; details taken from p. 54.]

Beethoven to Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig

                                                                                                 Vienna, on the 5th of April [1809]

Most highly esteemed Sir!

    With pleasure I have received your letter[1]--I thank you for the report in the M.[usikalische] Z.[eitung[2]], however, I wish that you, as far as Reichardt is concerned, on occasion, would correct that I was not recruited by him, at all, to the contrary, the highest chamberlain of His Majesty the King of Westfalia+Count  Truchseß-Waldburg[3] had this offer dispatched to me, namely that for the position of first Kapellmeister[4], from His Majesty of Westfalia; this offer was made to me even before Reichardt was in Vienna,[5] and he was surprised about it, himself, that he, as he said, had not heard anything about it--R. took great pains to dissuade me from going there--since I, in general, have many reasons to doubt the character of Herr R., and since he, perhaps, might also have told you something about political reasons, I believe that I deserve to be believed more, in any event, and that you, at the next opportunity+it does not have to be a recantation in grand style, but the truth should come out+that can easily be found so that it can be published according to the facts--since it is important for my honor[6]--with the next mail I will send you all three works, the oratorio, opera, mass[7]--and am not asking more for them than 250 fl. in convention money--I do not believe that you will complain about that--  at the moment, I can not find the letter in which Simrock wanted to give me 100 fl. in convention money for the Mass,[8] here, too, I could get this much and more from the chemical print shop[9] for it;--I am not exaggerating, as you know--however, I am sending you all three works since I am convinced that you will not let me suffer for it--prepare the titles quite as you wish in French-- 

    next time you will receive a few lines about the other matters--today, it is not possible-- 

your most devoted friend and servant

                                                                                                 Beethowen

Do not forget the first Kapellmeister, I laugh about such things, however, there are Miserabiles, who know how to serve something like that gourmet style

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 375, p. 58-59]

[Original:  Bonn, Beethoven-Haus, Bodmer Collection; to [1]: refers to the fact that this letter has not been preserved; to [2]: refers to the message of March 22, 1809, AMZ 11 [1809], column 395; to [3]: refers to Count Truchseß-Waldburg, the highest Chamberlain of the House of Westfalia; to [4]: refers to triple underlining here and at the end; to [5]: refers to the fact that Johann Friedrich Reichard had arrived in Vienna on November 24, 1808;  to [6]: refers to the fact that in No. 31 of May 3, 1809, the following correction appeared in the AMZ 11 [1809], column 492:  "In der Nachricht, Beethovens fortwährenden Aufenthalt in Wien betreffend, [No. 25, s.Z.] ist die Stelle zu berichtigen, dass diesem Künstler der Ruf nach Kassel durch Hrn. Reichardt zugekommen sey; B. erhielt denselben vielmehr durch den könig. westphäl. obersten Kammerherrn, Hrn. Grafen Truchsess-Waldburg, und zwar zum Amte des  e r s t e n   K a p e l l m e i s t e r s. Dass Hr. Reichart nicht mehr in königl. westphäl. Diensten sey, berichten wenigstens mehrere öffentliche Blätter, und unwidersprochen" ["In the report regarding Beethoven's remaining in Vienna [No. 25], the passage has to be corrected that the invitation from Kassel reached Beethoven through Herr Reichardt; rather, Beethoven received it through the Royal Westfalian highest Chamberlain, Count Truchsess-Walburg, for an appointment as  f i r s t   K a p e l l m e i s t e r .  That Herr Reichart is no longer in Royal Westfalian services has been reported by several papers, and unrefuted; to [7]: refers to Christus am Ölberge, Op. 85, Fidelio, Op. 72 and the Mass, Op. 86; to [8]: possibly refers to a letter by Simrock to Ferdinand Ries of March 12, 1809, in which the former accepted a fee of 100 florins for Op. 86; to [9]: refers to a smaller Viennese publishing firm, founded by Alois Senefelder and later taken over by Sigmund Anton Steiner; details taken from p. 58-59.]

Beethoven to Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig

                                                                                                              Vienna, the 20th of April, 1809][1]

My very esteemed Sir!

    The fatal moment that is approaching[2] only allows me to quickly write a few lines to you--the uncertainty of the mail service does not allow me to send anything to you, for the time being--here only what still occurred to me with respect to the Trios[3]; first, if the title has not been completed, yet, make out the dedication to Archduke Rudolf, for which you can copy the title of the concerto in g[4], which has been published by the Industrie-Komptoir here, several times I have noticed that when I dedicate something to others and he loves the work, he is slightly disappointed, he has come to love these Trios, very much, therefore, it would hurt him again if they were dedicated to someone else, however, if it has already been done, then nothing can be changed[5] -- with respect to the Trio in E-flat I ask you still whether in the last Allegro after the 102nd measure in the second part, this passage is featured in the violoncello and violin: 

                            as here 6                                        or as here

                            No. 1                                              No. 2

Violin                   [-------------------- Note Sample -----------------------------------------------]

Violoncel              [-------------------- Note Sample -----------------------------------------------]

                             in 8 va --------------------                       in 8 va -----------------

                           [------------------- Note Sample -----------------------------------------------]

Piano                   [------------------- Note Sample -----------------------------------------------]

should this passage appear in the score as in No 1, then it would have to be changed, namely as in No 2--I found this passage like this in the written-out parts, and this led me to the hunch that perhaps the copyist made the same mistake in the score, as well--if not, all the better--should somewhere a  ritardando occur in several passages in this very piece, then cancel them, may you find them, wherever there should not be one in the entire piece--It would not be bad too if the following passages in this very piece were be supplied with the fingering:[7]

    Left Hand

[------------------------------------------------------- Note Sample ---------------------------------------] etc

[-----------Note Sample ----------] etc  [--------- Note Sample-----------------------------------] etc

    Left Hand

[---------- Note Sample ---------] etc

    Left Hand

[----------- Note Sample --------------------] 

         Left Hand

[----------------- Note Sample --------------]

You will find these passages easily without any indication of a measure-- 

    the constant distraction in which I have lived for some time did not allow me to notice this, right away--however, soon I will be entirely myself--and then, something like this will not happen, again--heaven only allow that I will not be disturbed by a terrible event+in another manner--+--however, who can be concerned with the fate of so many missions, at the same time?--farewell, write to me soon, until then, at least, mail service will still be open  

                                                                                                            in haste Beethowen

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No..380, p. 61-63]

[Original:  Bonn, Beethoven-Haus, Bodmer Collection; to [1]: refers to the fact that three letters of the indication of the month have been blurred; according to the GA, the two first should definitely read "ap"; to [2]: refers to the defeat of the Austrian Army near Regensburg and to the fast approach by the French Army, which made the occupation of Vienna very likely; to [3]: refers to Op. 70; to [4]: refers to Op. 58; to [5]: refers to the fact that this work remained dedicated to Countess; to [6]: refers to Op. 70, No. 2, 4th movement, measure 205, correctly printed in the first edition; to [7]: refers to Op. 70, No. 2, 4th movement, measures 139-152, 159-160, 260-262; the GA further points out that the fingering was printed in the original edition, with minor changes; the GA also points out that, in the Landsberg 5 sketchbook (Berlin, Staatsbibliothek), on p. 59, drafts to the following letter have been inserted: "Leipzig ich erinnere mich nicht daß ich den [Symbol] wollte sondern 3" ["Leipzig I do not remember that I wanted [symbol] but rather 3"] which concerns the first movement of Op. 70, No. 2, and "nach dem 2 Hundertsten Takt muß im Violonc[e]ll <oder> und Violin so heißen wie hier [folgt Notenbeispiel zu Takt 102 vom Finale von Op. 70, Nr. 2] nicht aber wie hier [folgt Notenbeispiel] wenn es so wie hier stände wäre es nicht recht sondern x" ["after the 200th measure, in the violoncello <or> and violin it should read as here [a note sample of measure 102 of the finale of Op. 70, No. follows], but not as here [a note sample follows], if it was written as here it would not be right but rather x"], whereby the first symbol refers to the previous note sample, and "Ich erinnere mich nicht <es> ob sich dieser Fehler nicht in der Partitur die sie haben eingeschlichen hat wenigstens war er in den abgeschriebenen stimmen" ["I do not recall <it> if this error has not crept into the score that you have, at least it was in the copied parts'], and "sollte sich ein ritardando befinden solches gleich ausstreichen" ["should there be a ritardando, it should be crossed out, right away"], followed by a further note sample to the fingering in the finale of Op. 70, No. 2; with respect to this, the GA refers to Clemens Brenneis, Ludwig van Beethoven.  Ein Skizzenbuch aus dem Jahre 1809 (Landsberg 5), Bonn 1993, Part I, p. 49 and Part II, p. 99; details taken from p. 63.]

Breitkopf & Härtel to Beethoven

                                                                                                                            [Leipzig, May 3, 1809]

[According to the GA, the content is not known.]

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No.386, p. 67]

[Original: not known, existence derived from registration note on Letter No. 375; information taken from p. 67.]

Breitkopf & Härtel to Beethoven

                                                                                                                          [Leipzig, June 16, 1809]

[According to the GA, the content is not known.]

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 389, p. 68]

[Original: not known, existence derived from the registration note on Letter No. 380 of April 20, 1809; information taken from p.]

Beethoven to Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig

                                                                                                                           [Vienna, July 26, 1809]

My dear Sir, you are mistaken if you believed me to be that well, during this period we have experienced some concentrated misery, when I tell you that I, since May 4th, have produced little coherent material, almost only a fragment here or there--the entire course of matters affected my body and my soul, and I can not yet enjoy country life that is so essential to me-- 

    my existence that has been barely carved out recently[2] is on shaky ground--during this brief period I have not yet seen the promises made to me realized--from Prince Kinsky one of my patrons I have not yet received a penny[3]--and that now at a time at which one would need it the most--heaven knows how matters will progress--a change of location should also be in store for me, now--the contributions start as of today[4]--what a destructive, desolate life around me, nothing but drums canons human misery of all kind--my present situation requires of me that I have to be niggardly again with you, and therefore I believe that you could well send me 250 fl in convention money for the 3 larger works[5], I do not believe in the slightest that this is a considerable sum, and now I need it--since everything that has been promised to me in my decree can not be counted on at the moment-- 

    therefore, write to me that you will accept this proposal, I could have the Mass honored with 100 fl in convention money, alone[6]--you know that I am always open with you in such matters--  

     Here a good deal of printing errors that, since, for the life of it, I don not concern myself with what I have already composed, a friend has pointed out to me [namely in the Violoncello Sonata] here, I am having a list written up or printed,[7] and I will have it announced in the newspaper that all whose who have already bought it, can have it from me--This brings me back to the confirmation of the experience I made that things that are printed based on my own handwritten originals are printed most correctly--probably in the copy that you have there can be found many an error, however, when reviewing it, even the author overlooks the errors--at the next opportunity, you will receive the Lied "ich denke dein"[8] which was supposed to be featured in the folded  Prometheus[9], and of which I would have forgotten entirely, without being reminded by you--accept it as a small present--now I thank you for the really beautifully translated tragedies by Euripides,[10] among the poetry from Kalliroe that is meant for me[11] I have made selections of what I mean to set to music--only, I wish I could find out the name of the writer or translator of this tragedy--at Traeg[12] I have taken the Messiah for myself as a  privilegium, which you already, with some activity, provided to me during your stay here[13], of course, due to this, I have extended it further, at one time I had begun to hold weekly musical singing events at my house--alone the wretched war put a stop to all of this--for this purpose and in any event I would like very much for you to successively send me most of the scores that you have, for example Mozart's requiem etc Haydn's Masses, in any event, all scores by  Haydn Mozart Bach Johann Sebastian bach emanuel etc--Of Emanuel Bach's piano works I have only a few, and yet, to a true artist, they certainly will not only serve as a true enjoyment, but also for study, and my greatest pleasure is to play works that I have never seen or seen seldom at the houses of true art lovers--I will certainly see to some compensation for you, in a way that you should be satisfied--I hear that the first Trio is here,[14] I have not received a copy, and I ask you for it,  I would also like for you to send me the other works for correction that are still to be published, in future you will receive all scores by my own hand, unless I send you the written-out parts from which one plays--should I change my location, I will advise you, immediately--however, if you will write to me, right away, your reply will certainly reach me here, right away--perhaps heaven wants that I can not cease to consider Vienna my permanent place of residence, yet 

    Farewell, I wish, as much as our troubled times, permit, that you will remember your 

most devoted servant and friend

                                                                                                                                           Beethowen

Vienna on the 26th of July, 1809

To Breitkopf and Härtel in Leipzig

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 392; p. 71-73]

[Original:  Bonn, Beethoven-Haus, Bodmer Collection; to [1]: refers to the fact that on May 4, 1809, the Imperial family had fled to Ofen, into safety from the approaching Napoleonic army and to the fact that, after two days of being besieged, Vienna capitulated on May 12th; to [2]: refers to the pension agreement of March 1, 1809; to  [3]: refers to the fact that Beethoven had, indeed, not yet received any payment from Prince Ferdinand Kinsky, one of the signatories of the pension agreement and that only on June 20, 1810, the Prince issued a direction with respect to it; to [4]: refers to the fact that on July 26, 1809, a new contribution request had been issued to the City of Vienna, of which Beethoven was also affected through compulsory loans; to [5]: refers to Op. 72, Op. 85 and Op. 86 and to the fact that on April 5, 1809, Beethoven had already asked for the same fee; to [6]: refers to Letter No. 387 by Nikolaus Simrock; to [7]: refers to the fact that obviously, a few days later, Beethoven sent off a handwritten list with respect to the original edition of Op. 69, see Letter No. 393, and to the fact that a print is not known; to [8]: refers to WoO 136, which was published by Breitkopf & Härtel in March, 1810; to [9]: refers to the periodical Prometheus which was launched by Leo von Seckendorf und Joseph Ludwig Stoll in Vienna, in 1808, in the third edition of which Beethoven's lied Sehnsucht (Goethe) in the first of its four versions of WoO134 appeared; to [10]: probably refers to the translation of the works of Euripides by Friedrich Heinrich Bothe that was published in five volumes in Berlin and at Stettin, from 1800-1803; to [11]: refers to Kallihoe, tragedy by Johann August Apel [1771-1816], published in Leipzig in 1806; to [12]: refers to Johann Traeg (son), the Viennese sales agent of Breitkopf & Härtel; to [13]: refers to the fact that in September 1808,  Gottfried Christoph Härtel had visited Beethoven in Vienna; to [14]: refers to the Piano Trio in D-Major, Op. 70, No. 1, that was published in June, 1809; details taken from p. 72-23.]

Beethoven to Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig

                                                                                                     [Vienna, shortly after July 26, 1809][1]

    Here the printing errors of the VioloncelloSonata[2]--Traeg has corrected them in the copies that he still had [3]--with the next mail the promised Lied[4] and perhaps a few more, with which you can deal as you please-- 

                                                                                               in haste Beethowen

    Errors in the piano part first Allegro in the 7th measure [note sample] the E marked with an x has to be c, namely [note sample] eleventh measure, two trills are missing on [note sample] 12th measure on the second A a natural, namely: [note sample] in the 22nd measure of the second part of the first Allegro, on the first note, the ffmo (fortissimo) is missing in the 151st measure in the bass instead of [note sample] the notes marked with x it should read thus [note sample] as here where the sign x is--2nd piece Scherzo Allo-molto right in the first measure the ff has to be crossed off--There where the key signature of [note sample] is dissolved again it is the same case and, in addition to the fact that the ff has to be crossed off, right away on the first note piano has to be set, the second time when the key signature is dissolved again[7], the ff is to be crossed off, again and right away, on the first note has to be set p. --

    Adagio Cantabile Piano part in the 17th measure, instead as here [note sample], it should read as here [note sample], with respect to the notes marked with x [note sample] namely the [arc symbol] arc of the second E has to be crossed off, and above, in the discant [arc symbol] and below [arc symbol] in the bass, it has to be noted as indicated here --in the 18th measure of the same piece the  arpeggio sign has been left off which has to be there, namely thus: [note sample] 

    Last Allgro vivace in the piano part+(Nb:) in the second part --+3rd measure[8] two slurs have been left off that have been marked with [two "x" above each other] [note sample] 

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Errors in the Violoncello part--first All.o in the 27th measure there is a "." after the half-note A that has to be crossed off--in the 64th measure, there is a # left off, namely: [note sample] before D.  Between the 77th and the 78th measures, a slur has to e inserted that has been left out, namely [note sample] here, it is marked with x 

(Nb:) in the second part. --

   in the 72nd measure[9] there is a # instead of a natural, and it should read thus: [note sample] in the 125th measure[10] instead of E, 

C should be set, namely [note sample].

    in the Adagio Cantabile in the 5th measure, the arc has been left out above the two staccato symbols, namely: [note sample] where the x is here -- 

    in the 17th measure, in this manner, a note, namely D, which is marked with an x here, has been left out [note sample]  

    in the A.llo vivace, in the 4th measure [note sample],  from the "X" on, an arc has been drawn over 5 notes--in the 56th measure, Dolce has been left out which has to be added--

    in the second part of the same piece, in the 9th measure[11], instead of F-sharp it should read G-sharp, namely here at the "x": [note sample] in the 58th measure[12] of the same piece, cres. has been forgotten--in the 116th [one hundred and sixteenth] measure, the arc and ' ' staccato symbols have been left out, namely: [note sample]. 

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 393, p. 73 - 76]

[Original: Bonn, Beethoven-Haus, Bodmer Collection; to [1]: refers to the fact that the above list of printing errors has already been announced in Letter No. 392 of July 26, 1809 and that it, however, was only sent off a few days later; to [2]: refers to Op. 69; to [3]: refers to the fact that the above corrections were only applied to the second edition of the work; to [4]: refers to Letter No. 392; to [5]: refers to measure no. 244; to [6]: refers to measure no. 197; to [7]: refers to measure no. 393; to[8]: refers to the third movement, measure no. 76; to [9]: refers to measure no. 165; to [10]: refers to measure no. 218; to [11]: refers to the third movement, measure no. 82; to [12]: refers to the third movement, measure no. 189; details taken from p. 75-76.]

Beethoven to Breifkopf & Härtel in Leipzig

                                                                                                         Vienna on the 3rd of August, 1809

    laugh about my author-like fear, imagine, yesterday I found that, when correcting the errors of the Violoncello Sonata, I have made mistakes again, myself[1]--therefore:  in the Scherzo allegro molto the ff remains+namely as it was written in the beginning, it is correct+right at the beginning, as had been indicated, and also in the other places, only, in the 9th measure, before the first note, piano has to be written and also in the other two instances, in the 9th measure[2], where the [3 symbols] are dissolving into [3 further symbols]--this is how it is--from this you can see that I am really in such a state in which it is said,  "Herr in deine Hände befehle ich meinen Geist"["Lord into Thy hands I recommend my spirit"][3] --

    with the next mail coach you will receive yet one or another Lied[4] and a Sextett for Wind Instruments[5] as a future compensation for the opera benevolentie, that I impose on you--

    Do not forget the name of the poet who has rendered Euripides so beautifully[6]-- 

    I am hurrying since letters have to be posted at 5 o'clock, already--and it is already four thirty and I live "in the Klepperstall in the Teinfaltstrasse on the 3rd floor, with the advocate Gostischa" --

farewell

                                                                                                  entirely your Beethowen

To Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig

[Source: Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 394, p. 76-77]

[Original: Bonn, Beethoven-Haus, Bodmer Collection; to [1]: refers to the fact that in Letter No. 393 Beethoven had sent to the publisher an extensive list of errors to the Sonata, Op. 69; to [2]: refers to the second movement, measures no. 205 and no. 401; to [3]: refers to Luke 23, Verse 46; to [4]: probably refers to Andenken WoO 136, published by Breitkopf & Härtel in March 1810; to [5]: refers to Op. 71, published by Breitkopf & Härtel in April 1810; to [6]: refers to Friedrich Heinrich Bothe; details taken from p. 76-77.]

Beethoven to Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig

                                                                                                             Vienna on the 8th of August, 1809

    At Hr. Kunz and Compagnie I have left a Sextett for 2 Clarinetti <e> 2 fagotti 2 Horns,[1] 2 German Lieder or Songs[2] so that they will be dispatched to you as soon as possible--they are intended as compensation for all the things that I have requested of you--I had also forgotten the Musik.Zeitung, therefore, I remind you of it, in friendship--perhaps you could have sent to me an edition of Goethe's and Schiller's complete works[3]--Of your literary wealth, if something like that [4] comes in, and I will send you, in turn, many things, also something that goes out into the world--The two poets are my favorite poets, as well as Ossian, Homer, the latter of which I can, unfortunately, only read in translations--since you only have to take the same+Goethe and Schiller+out of your literary treasure trove, you give me the greatest joy+Nb. if you send them to me, soon+so that, all the more, since I hope to spend the rest of the summer in some happier part of the country[5]-- 

    the Sextett is one of my early pieces and, on top of it, it has been written in one night[6]--one can really not say anything else about it than that it has been written by an author who has, at least, brought forth a few better works--however, for some people, such works are the best-- 

farewell and let me know something about yourself, soon, [write] to your most devoted 

                                                                                                       Beethowen

    Of the Violoncello Sonata[7] I would wish to have a few copies, in general, I ask you to send me half a dozen copies--I never sell any--however, here or there, there are poor musicians whom one can not refuse such things--  

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 395, p. 77-78]

[Original:  Bonn, Beethoven-Haus, Bodmer Collection; to [1]: refers to Op. 71; to [2]: refers to WoO 136 and probably to WoO 137; to [3]: refers to the fact that the last complete edition of Schiller's works was printed from 1802 to 1804 in various places, in 12 volumes, but not completely, and that it had been published by Anton Pichler in Vienna; to [4]: refers to the original word sequence "was geht" and the reversal by means of numbering; to [5]: refers to the fact that Beethoven stayed at Baden for some time, see Letter No. 399; to [6]: refers to the fact that Op. 71 was written about 1796 or earlier; to [7]: refers to Op. 69; details taken from p.  77-78.]

Breitkopf & Härtel to Beethoven

                                                                                                                [Leipzig, August 21, 1809]

[According to the GA, the publisher asked if he could pay the fee of 250 florins for Op.72, Op. 85 and Op. 86, instead of in convention money, partly also by means of "Bankozettel" of Viennese currency.  He is also reported as having provided to Beethoven the name of the translator of the works of Euripides, Friedrich  Heinrich Bothe[1], as well as details on the Schiller and Goethe editions that were available at the time[2].]

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 398, p. 79]

[Original: not known, derived from Letters No. 393, No. 394, No. 395 and No. 400; to [1]: refers to Letter No. 392; note 10; to  [2]: refers to Beethoven's enquiries in Letter No. 395 and Letter No. 450; details taken from p. 79.] 

Beethoven to Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig:

                                                                             Vienna, on the 19th wine month [=September]1809[1]

In reply to your letter of August 21[2] I reply that I am well satisfied, if you will pay me out some items in Viennese currency,[3] however not many--the 3 works have already been sent off, now, of course, I would wish that you would dispatch the fee for these 3 works[4] earlier than they will arrive in Leipzig, well, if you were to dispatch it to here, right away, I would appreciate it very much--we are in financial need,[5] then, we need twice as much as usual--cursed war--to the lied in D set the tempo Allegretto[6]--otherwise, one will sing it too slow-- kindly write to me what editions of Schiller, Goethe[7] cost in convention money, also the edition in the very small format by Wieland[8]--if I am to buy them, I prefer them from there, since here, all editions are botched and expensive-- 

at the next opportunity, more about quartets that I am writing,[9]--I do not like to occupy myself with Solo sonatas for piano, however, I am promising you a few[10]-- do you know that I have become a member of the Society of Fine Arts and Sciences?[11]--thus, a title, after all--ha ha, that makes me laugh--

farewell, I do not have more time than to tell you that I am calling myself your most devoted 

                                                                                                                                   Beethowen


Nb: do not forget my request with respect to the money-- 

To Breitkopf and Härtel in Leipzig

[Source: Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 400, p. 81-82]

[Original: Bonn, Beethoven-Haus, Bodmer Collection; to [1]: according to the GA, this refers to the fact that "Weinmonat" [wine month] was the usual German name for October, although Beethoven also used it for September; to [2]: refers to Letter No. 398; to [3]: refers to the payout of the fee in convention money, stable silver currency; Viennese "Bankozettel" were subject to inflation; to [4]: refers to Op. 72, Op. 85, and Op. 86, for which Beethoven had asked for 250 ducats, see Letters No. 375 and No. 392; to [5]: refers to the financial troubles in Vienna that was caused by inflation, Napoleon and his demands for contributions--that were calculated on the basis of the amount of housing rent, thus independent from a person's income; to [6]: refers to WoO 136; to [7]: refers to the fact that in Letter No. 395 Beethoven had requested the sending of Schiller's and Goethe's "Complete works"; to [8]: refers to the edition of Wieland's complete works published by Göschen in Leipzig, in 30 volumes, as well as t supplementary volumes; to [9]: according to the GA, this refers to the fact that, as can be seen from the so-called sketchbook Landsberg 6 that Beethoven, immediately after the completion of Op. 74, wanted to write a further string quartet; with respect to this, the GA relies on:  Clemens Brenneis (Hrsg.] Ludwig van Beethoven. Ein Skizzenbuch aus dem Jahre 1809 (Landsberg 5), Bonn 1993, Part II, p. 48; to [10]: refers to the fact that, according to the GA, Beethoven fulfilled his promise and, in 1809/10, left to this publisher his three sonatas, Op. 78, Op. 79 and Op. 81a; to [11]: refers to the fact that in August 1809, Beethoven was named a corresponding member of the fourth class of the "Koninklijk Nederlandsch Instituut van Wetenschappen, Letterkunde en Schoone Kunsten", see Letter No. 396; details taken from p.  81-82.]

Breitkopf & Härtel to Beethoven

                                                                                                                 [Leipzig, October 25, 1809]

[According to the GA, the content of this letter is not known.]

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 406, p. 87]

[Original: not known, existence derived form registration note on Letter No.400; information taken from p.  87.]

Beethoven to Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig

                                                 [Vienna,] Wednesdays on the 22nd winter month [=November] 1809[1]

    Finally, I am writing to you--after the wild destruction some calm[2] after all that unthinkable hardship--For several weeks I worked in such a way that it seemed more for death than for immortality--and thus I received your parcel and did not look at it, right away--only a few days ago did I pick it up, and I have to complain vigorously, why, this very beautiful edition, not without errors???? why not, at first, one copy for review, as I have often requested, into every copy, errors creep in that a skilled reviewer can correct, however, although I am almost certain that there were few or none in the copy that I sent you, <anyway> It is impossible to always send a copy, however, I have looked so thoroughly through the Trios[3], the symphonies [4], so that, with a very correct review, there could only be few, unimportant errors--I am a bit angry on account of this--here the list[5], do you have poets and writers, due to their living away from the place of publication, also provide you with a printed list of errors, then do it, likewise--I will look after it, here--I have no confirmation as to whether you have received my 3 works{6]? they should have been with you by now, for quite some time--I was not able to write anything yet with respect to Dr. Apel[7], in the meantime, convey my respect as one who appreciates him--one more thing:  There is no treatise that would be too learned for me, without my, in the least, making any claims to real learnedness; after all, from childhood on, I have strived to comprehend the meaning and spirit of the better and wiser ones of every age, shame on an artist who does not consider it his obligation to at least get that far-- 

    What do you say to this dead peace?[8]--in this age, I do not expect anything steady, anymore, only in blind coincidence one has certainty--farewell my honored friend, let me know how you live and whether you have received the works-- 

your most devoted friend 

                                                                                                                    Beethowen

    <the>the one copy of the symphony in c minor is not complete, and therefore I ask you to send me of it as well as of the Pastorale some copies-- 

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 408, p. 88 - 90]

[Orignal: Bonn, Beethoven-Haus, Bodmer Collection; to [1]: refers to the fact that in earlier editions, also in the registration note, the date was erroneously stated as November 2, 18109, which was caused by the overwriting of the number of the day with the lower part of the "h" of "Mittewoche"; to [2]: refers to the fact that, in the Peace Treaty of October 14, 18109, Napoleon had made the tearing-down of the Viennese fortifications a condition, so that, already two days after the ratification of the peace treaty, the "tearing down" of the fortification was begun in form of detonations; to [3]: refrrs to Op. 70; to [4]: refers to Op. 67 and Op. 68; to [5]: refers to the fact that, perhaps, the substitute list was meant that Beethoven sent to the publisher at the end of November; to [6]: refers to Op. 72, Op. 85 and Op. 86; to [7]: refers to Dr. jur. Johann Apel, the advocate at the Leipzig Law Courts who was interested in philosophy, sciences and music and who, among other things, wrote the text to Friedrich Schneider's oratorio Das Weltgericht; to [8]: refers to the fact that, in spite of the peace treaty, the French troops remained in Vienna; details taken from p.  90.]

Breitkopf & Härtel to Beethoven

                                                                                                           [Leipzig, November 28, 1809]

    [According to the GA, the publisher confirms the receipt of the scores to Op. 72, Op. 85 and Op. 86 and sends a draft for 500 florins of Viennese "Bankozettel" as fee.]  

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 410, p. 93]

[Original: not known, according to the GA, derived from the registration note on letter No. 408 and from Letter No. 419.]  

Beethoven to Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig

                                                                                  [Vienna, at the beginning of December 1809][1]

2nd Trio in E-flat Allegretto in C major piano part in the

bass, instead of [note sample] it should read [note sample]

Page 17, 8th line, 7th measure, namely, after the four time pauses instead of [note sample] it should read [note sample]  

Violoncello 1st Trio in D 1st Allegro 2nd part 60th measure, the crotchet [am: quarter note] rest has been left out [note sample] at the 64h measure, it is the same [note sample]

    A fever that shook me vigorously prevented me from sending the subsequently found errors, right away,[5] in future, have everything there tried out with some instruments, right away, so that such things can be found right away and corrected, however, as said so often, and once more, proof sheets are always the best and most secure-- 

    Reply to me soon, also with respect to the three works, since you, in all likelihood, should already have received them, a long time ago[6] --

in haste your

                                                                                                                  Beethowen 

To Breitkopf and Härtel in Leipzig

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No.415, p. 96-97]

[Original: Bonn, Beethoven-Haus, Bodmer Collection; to [1]: refers to the fact that the within corrections had already been announced on November 22, 1809; to [2]: refers to Op. 70, No. 2, second movement, 51st measure; to [3]: refers to Op. 70, No. 2, third movement, 77th measure; to [4]: refers to Op. 70, No. 1, first movement, 133rd and 137th measures; to [5]: refers to Letter No.408; to [6]: probably refers to the autographs to Op. 72, Op. 85 and Op. 86, that Beethoven had sent to Leipzig before September 19, 1809; details taken from p. 97.]

Beethoven to Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig

                                                                                                         Vienna, on the 2nd of January, 1810

    Barely recovered--I was thrown into bed by another illness for two weeks[1]--is its a miracle--we don't even have good, edible bread, anymore--the attached shows the exchange rate of Saturday, since I have received your letter,[3] the sum of 250 (two hundred and fifty fl.)+ in convention money+[4]has been promised to somebody as a deposited sum, so that I am no longer its owner, so that I would not know how to obtain this money in silver coins in whatever way, my brother [5] is not here, he might have been able to help with this in order to exchange the draft into silver coins, today, I told this case to one of my friends who is a money changer,[6]  and he said that nothing else can be done but to send your draft back to you, since the exchange rate might change, any moment and that it could be expected that silver would gain in value, even more, and since one could almost not determine an exchange rate at the moment[7]--Therefore, I ask you to, as previously agreed upon, pay me the 250 fl. in convention money, for example in twenties, here at Hr. Kunz and   Kompa[n]ie, since I have made out this sum to someone, a long time ago and since I am obliged to render payment in silver coins--I would prefer if you could do this very soon, since the other party has been waiting for this, for a long time, since I have always believed that the works would arrive faster--for today, I am too weak to answer to your pleasant letter in more detail, but in a few days more about everything else in your letter-- 

keep in favor your most devoted

                                                                                                                        Beethowen

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 419, p. 101-102]

[Original:  Bonn, Beethoven-Haus, Bodmer Collection; to [1]: refers to the fact that, already in Letter No. 415 of the beginning of December 1809, Beethoven had reported of a fever; to [2]: refers to the fact that the enclosure has not been preserved and that on Saturday, the 30th of December, 1809, the exchange rate between convention money and Viennese "Bankozettel" was 100 florins Augsburg currency to 445 - 465 florins "Bankozettel"; in this respect, the GA refers to the Wiener Zeitung No. 1 of January 3, 1810, p. 19; to [3]: probably refers to Letter No. 410 of November 28, 1809, which has not been preserved and with which the publisher had sent a draft for 500 fl. "Bankozettel" as fee for the publication rights to  Op. 72, Op. 85 and Op. 86; to [5]: refers to Kaspar Karl van Beethoven; to [6]: probably refers to Franz Oliva, who, at that time, worked as clerk for the wholesale company Offenheimer & Herz and who advised Beethoven in business matters; to [7]: refers to the fact that on September 19, 1809 Beethoven had agreed that part of the fee could be paid out to him in Viennese Courant ("Bankozettel") and that, subsequently, the publisher had sent the entire fee in "Bankozettel"; however, as the GA states, the exchange rate of the "Bankozettel" changed daily and deteriorated to such an extent that the exchange rate could not even be calculated for short time periods; as the GA further reports, on January 7, 1810, the lowest exchange rate was noted with approximately 500 florins in "Bankozettel" against 100 florins convention money; according to the GA, at this time, at the exchange of the draft, instead of the agreed-upon fee of 250 florins in convention money, Beethoven would only have received the equivalent of 100 florins convention money; details taken from p. 102.]

Breitkopf & Härtel to Beethoven

                                                                                                                [Leipzig, January 10, 1810]

[According to the GA, the publisher sent a draft for 250 fl. in convention money as a replacement for the returned draft for 500 fl. Viennese "Bankozettel" and enclosed a receipt that Beethoven was to sign and return for the receipt of the payment of the fee for Op. 72, Op. 85 and Op. 86; as the GA further reports, the publisher enquired with respect to new works and asked for the text books to Op. 72 and Op. 85.]

[Source: Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 420, p. 109]

[Original: not known, existence of letter derived from registration note on Letter No. 419 and from Letter No. 423; details taken from p. 103.]

Kaspar Karl van Beethoven to Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig

                                                                                              [Vienna, around the 30th of January 1810][1]

                                                      PP

     My brother asks that you have this Lied [2] printed right away, and he conveys that he will write to you at the next opportunity with respect to more details.  

Your most devoted

                                                                                                 K.v. Beethoven

From Vienna

To Herrn Hr Härtel in Leipzig via Prague

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 422, p. 104]

[Original: Bonn, Beethoven-Haus, Bodmer Collection; to [1]: refers to the arrival of the letter on February 5, 1810, according to the registration note and to the calculation of the transport time and final determination of the date of "around January 30, 1810"; to v[2]: refers to WoO 137, as, according to the GA, can be seen from Letter No. 423; details taken from p. 104.]  

Beethoven to Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig

                                                                                                            Vienna on the 4th of February, 1810

    I hope that you will have received back the draft of 500 fl. that you had sent me,[1] and ask you to reply to me with respect to it--with respect to my health, matters are not certain, yet, however, it has improved--With the next letter you will receive the book to the opera and to the oratorio[2]--should it not be possible to find a German text to the Mass, however, with out the Latin one[3]--I will send you the organ part to the Mass, separately[4] otherwise, if you have not printed it, yet, you might wish to publish it in another way than thus far, with the Mass, however, if it has already been printed, one will have to leave it at it is--  

Here of new works:

A Fantasy for the piano a fantasy for the piano alone[5]

--------- -------- and also for the piano, with entire orchestra and choirs,[6]Nb. the very one on account of which you had written*

   3 Solo pieces for piano [7] NB of which the third consists of three pieces, farewell, absence, return,[8] which one would have to publish by itself-- 

Variations for the piano alone[9]

   12 Songs with accompaniment by the piano, partly German, partly Italian text 

<Several> almost all through-composed[10]

   Concerto for Piano and entire Orchestra[11]

Quartet for 2 Violins, Viola and Violoncello.[12] --

   Since I am aware that I might also be able to, perhaps, send the same works to London,[13] you can dispatch them to any place outside of England, however, the publication, due to the above-noted reason, may not occur before the 1st of September of this year, 1810-- 

   I do not believe that I am making extreme demands when I am asking for a fee of 1450 fl. <for these works> in convention money, to be paid in the same manner as for the oratorio opera and Mass; --<...?>[14]--you could pay me this sum in two parts, you could dispatch the first of it when you will have received the first half of the works, and, likewise, with the second half of the works, the second half--  

    With respect to the oratorio I ask you to check whether the 3 trombones and trumpets, in the case of the three pieces noted here, are also to be found in my score that I sent you[15]?--

Alto                            in the Aria No 2 "o heil euch" with tenor trombone chorus, as they, in Alla breve time,

                                 bass allo molto all three have to set in

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Trumpets                   set in right away in the (Symbol) all'o molto of the kettle drums No 2 and are in E-flat 

                                 -- the kettle drums only in the 48th measure in the Allo molto (Symbol) and are in A --

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alto                           in theRecit. No 3 "Verkündet Seraph"

tenor trombones

Bass

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Trumpets in D         in the chorus in C "wir haben ihn gesehn" --

Kettle drums  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alt                           last chorus in C "Welten Singen"

tenor trombone         -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bass                       -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Trumpets                -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kettle drums

    in the event that the above-noted parts are missing,[16] I will have them written up small and will send them to you--the Song in der ferne[17], that my brother sent you, recently,[18] is by a dilletante[19] as you will have noticed, anyway, who urgently asked me to set it to music, however, he also takes the liberty of having this  A.[ria] printed, therefore, I immediately thought to give you proof of my friendly disposition towards you; in telling you that, I hope that you will dispatch it for printing when you will receive it, right away,[20] then, you can send it here or wherever, if you really hurry, I only have written the Aria as a favor, and thus I also give it to you--however, for it I am asking for something [21], namely the follpwing book"<Bech oder>Bechstein's Naturgeschichte der Vögel in zwei grossen Bänden mit farbigen Kupfern"[22] with which I <could?> want to give great pleasure to a good friend--Of the scores granted to me that you have lying with Traeg and Industrie,[23] I have not made any use, yet; with respect to this, I ask you to send me something in writing, so that I can show it to them--I have received your draft and also had it exchanged, already,[24] I am sorry if I have contravened something, but I do not understand anything about such matters--my health is not steady, yet, we are provided with bad food and have to pay incredible amounts for it--with respect to my appointment[25] things are not quite in order, from Kinsky I have not received one Heller, yet[26 --I am afraid or almost hope that I will have to seek better pastures, perhaps even for the sake of my health, itself, it might take long until better conditions than the present ones will arise for me, of previous conditions, one should never think--  

entirely your most devoted friend

                                                                                                     Beethowen

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 423, p. 104 - 107]

[Original:  Bonn, Beethoven-Haus, Bodmer Collection; to [1]: refers to the fact that Beethoven had returned the publisher's draft with his Letter No. 419 of February 2, 1810; to [2]: with respect to this, the GA refers to Letter No. 424; to [3]: refers to the fact that the publisher had commissioned from the theologian Dr. Christian Schreiber a German text that was published, together with the Latin text, in the original edition of Op. 86; to [4]: refers to the fact that, in spite of several announcements, this did not happen; to [5]: refers to auf Op. 77; to [6]: refers to Op. 80; to [7]: refers to Op. 78, Op. 79 and Op. 81a; to [8]: refers to Op. 81a; to [9]: refers to Op. 76; to [10]: probably refers to Op. 75 and Op. 82; to [11]: refers to Op. 73; to [12]: refers to Op. 74; to [13]: refers to the fact that Beethoven also underwent negotiations with Clementi who, according to the GA, had stayed in Vienna from 1808 on and acquired works for his partner Collard in London, see Letter No. 451 of July 2, 1810; to  [14]: according to the GA, this refers to five and a half crossed out lines that are illegible; to [15]:  refers to the score given to Breitkopf & Härtel, a copy that was prepared by a copyist that, today, is in the British Library in London; to [16]: refers to the fact that, at the bottom of the page, the publisher noted: "Im letzten Chor (Welten singen) fehlen die posaunen No. 2 fehlen Trompett und Pauken" ["In the last chorus {Welten singen], the trombones are missing No. 2 trumpets and kettledrums are missing"]; to [17]: refers to WoO137; to [18]: refers to Letter No. 422 of the end of January, 1810; to [19]: refers to Christian Ludwig Reissig; to [20]: refers to the fact that the Lied was published in February, 1810, in a single edition, by Breitkopf & Härtel; to [21]: refers to three crossed-out words to [22]: probably refers to the second and third volume of  Bechstein's three-volume "Naturgeschichte: Johannn Matthäus Bechstein, Zweyter Band, welcher die Einleitung in die Naturgeschichte der Vögel überhaupt, und die Geschichte der Raubvögel, spechtartigen und krähenartigen Vögel Deutschlands enthält, Leipzig 1805, sowie Dritter Band, welcher die sperlingsartigen, sing- und schwalbenartigen Vögel, die Tauben und hühnerartigen Vögel Deutschlands enthält", Leipzig 1807; to [23]: refers to the fact that the publisher, as a compensation for their low fees, had offered to Beethoven that he could take out musical items from the publisher's stock that were in store in Vienna with Johann Traeg and the Kunst - und Industrie-Comptoir in Vienna; to [24]: refers to the replacement for the returned draft, in the currency requested by Beethoven, of 250 florins in convention money; to [25]: refers to the Decree of March 1, 1809; to [26]: refers to the payment by Kinsky who,  due to his military obligations, gave payout orders only as late as June 26, 1810, for the payment of the entire amount owing up to then, of  2,250 florins; details taken from p. 106-107.]

Beethoven to Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig

                                                                                                       [Vienna, soon after February 4, 1810][1]

    The books to the opera[2] and the oratorio[3] will be dispatched by post on next Tuesday.[4] Of the Musikzeitung, I have received nothing, yet[5]--recently, from Leipzig, one has sent me a poem, "die Höllenfahrt des Erlösers"["the descent to Hell of the Redeemer"][6] which could serve as a sequel to Christus am Oelberg [Christ on the Mount of Olives], it appears that the writer must have seen or heard something of the oratorio--it has been written with intellect.

    At the next opportunity, about Dr. Appel[7]--I only wish I would already have overcome winter with its heavy pressure, so that I can come alive again, the fatal summer we lived through, and a certain sad reverberation of the only remaining German country that went asunder, yet not without guilt, continues to pursue me--what do you say to the scribbling in Reichardt's letters?[8] of which I, however, have only seen some fragments.-- 

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 424, p. 107-108]

[Original:  not known, text pursuant to Nohl II, No. 54, whereby Nohl was relying on the autograph that was in the possession of W. Künzel in Leipzig; to [1]: refers to the fact that the letter was probably written shortly after the letter of February 4, 1810; to [2]: refers to auf Fidelio, Op. 72; to [3]: refers to Christus am Ölberge, Op. 85; to [4]: refers to the possibility that here, Tuesday the 13th of February, 1810, was meant; to [5]: refers to the fact that, in August 1809, Beethoven had asked that the Leipzig Allgemeine Musilaische Zeitung be sent to him; to  [6]: probably refers to the libretto by Heinrich Seidel, on which Friedrich Schneider based his 1810 oratorio Die Höllenfahrt des Messias; to [7]: refers to Johann August Apel, the author of the tragedy Kallirhoe, that the publisher had sent to Beethoven; to [8]: refers to Johann Friedrich Reichardt, Vertraute Briefe geschrieben auf einer Reise nach Wien und den österreichischen Staaten zu Ende 1808 und Anfang 1809, Amsterdam 1810, 2 volumes, of which the first, according to the GA, had already been published in December, 1809; details taken from p. 108.] 

Breitkopf & Härtel to Beethoven

                                                                                                                 [Leipzig, February 21, 1810]

[According to the GA, the publisher rejected Beethoven's offer of February 4, 1810, and asked for a reduction of the fee.  The question as to the missing parts in the autography of Op. 85, was briefly replied with:  "with respect to the remaining No of the Oratorio, the trombones are here, but they are missing for the chorus, as well as the trumpets and kettledrums".]

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No.  427, p. 110]

[Original:  not known, existence of letter derived from Letters No. 423, 447 and from the quote in Letter No. 465.] 

Beethoven to Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig

                                                                                                   Vienna, June 6, 1810][1]

                                                       P.S.

    Much to do, also some living, all of a sudden very busy, and, at times, also not able to refrain from leisure, lets me only reply now[2]--you can still have everything that I had offered you,[3] now, I even add the music to Goethe's Egmont,[4] which consists of 10 pieces, overture, entr'acte etc and am asking for the sum of Fourteen Hundred florins in silver money or+convention foot+at the same foot as the oratorio and its 250 fl.[5]--I can not do otherwise, without losing, I have held back because of you, although you, since your behavior is often so unexpected, that one has to have such a high opinion of you as I do, in order to continue negotiating with you--I, myself, wish that my dealing with you continue in some way--however, I can not lose in doing so--I ask you, when you write, to send the list of works that I have offered to you, again, so that no confusion arises--however, reply right away, so that I will not be held up any longer, all the more since Egmont will be staged in a few days,[6] and since I will be asked for the music--by the way, dearth [inflation] here has even increased more, and it is terrible what one needs here, and insofar, as in general, the fee has not been set too high--  

my 4000 fl. with which I can not make ends meet, at this time, and since, on top of it, Kinsky has not paid a farthing, yet,[7] although it is secure, does not even amount to 1000 fl. in convention money--hurry with your reply.  

                                                                                                     Ludwig v Beethowen

   Nb: among the lieder that I have offered you, are several by Goethe,[8] also "Kennst du das Land?" which impresses people much--you can publish them, right away--  

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 446, p. 126-127]

[Original:  Bonn, Beethoven-Haus, Bodmer Collection; to [1]: refers to the fact that the year can be derived from the content; to [2]: according to the GA, Beethoven probably refers to the publisher's letter of February 21, 1810, Letter No. 427; to [3]: refers to the fact that on February 4, 1810, Beethoven had offered the publisher (Letter No. 423), Op. 73-80, Op. 81a and op. 82 for 1450 florin convention money, and that, apparently, the publisher had rejected this offer; to [4]: refers to Op. 84; to [5]: refers to the fee that Beethoven had received for Op. 72, Op. 85 and Op. 86 and to the fact that initially, the publisher had tried to pay with Viennese "Bankozettel", while Beethoven, on account of the heavy decline of the exchange rate, had insisted on payment in stable silver money; to [6]: refers to Beethoven's music to Egmont and to the fact that it was first performed in the performance of Goethe's play at the Burgtheater on June 15, 1810; to [7]: refers to the fact that, as late as June 20, 1810, Prince Kinsky ordered his payout office in Vienna to pay Beethoven the salary that had been outstanding since March 1, 1809, an amount of 2250 florins; to [8]: refers to Op. 85, No. 1-3: "Kennst du das Land", "Neue Liebe, neues Leben", "Es war einmal ein König" (Flohlied); details taken from p. 126-127.]

Breitkopf & Härtel to Beethoven

                                                                                 Leipzig, June 20, 1810.

L. v. Beethoven.

    A statement in your last letter[1] wounded me too deeply and [appears to me too] undeserved in order for me not to begin [this letter] with a rebuttal, before I move on to replying to the remainder of this letter.  

   You say: "I have not deserved it for your sake (that you held back the works that are being negotiated between us, on my account), since my behavior towards you is often so unexpected etc."  

   I am certain and convinced that I never knowingly committed any transgression with respect to my dealing with you, particularly with respect to my possibly hurting the most tender feelings of decency or righteousness among men in a [business] relationship of our kind and that could have negated my respect for you or my wish to preserve this relationship.  Therefore, your statement is as highly surprising to me as it is inexplicable. It can only be based on a misunderstanding that I, however, am trying to guess in vain, since nowhere in your letter do I find a reason for it.  Therefore, I ask you to let me know the reason of your dissatisfaction, so that I can defend myself.   

   It is impossible that your dissatisfaction stems from the fact that I could not accept your earlier proposal with respect to your works.[2] After all, it is owing to our times and to the public and not to me that the lawless state of the German music publishing business and the state of my own business that has been handicapped and disrupted for the last, disastrous 4 - 5 years, does not allow me, even with the best of my intentions, to offer to excellent artists for their works equally excellent advantages that they, rightfully, desire.  For me, it would be more fortunate, as well, if circumstances were more fortunate . . .

   Hardly do I want to dare to, in reply to your proposal, submit to you my [counter] proposal, since it remains behind yours, as the present remains behind a better, former time.  The works which you had the kindness to offer to me were the following:  

    Fantasy for Pianoforte alone,[4]
    Fantasy for Pianoforte with Orchestra and Chorus,[5]
    3 Pianoforte Sonatas,[6]
    Variations for Pianoforte,[7]
    German and Italian, mostly through-composed Lieder with Pianoforte,[8]
   1 Quartet for V. A & B[10] and
   the music to Egmont.[11]

In your earlier letter you had added the condition that these things may not be published before September 1st, since you also want to sell them to London.[12]  Therefore, they will be published in London, at that time--and, what undeniably will follow from it--soon after that, following the London edition, they will also be published by all German publishers who will refrain from offering you an appropriate fee, since they are used to paying no fee, at all.  The advantage to the German publisher will only lie in a few weeks, months, at the most, which, however, is far less advantageous than the advantage that other publishers will have by offering the works at lower prices.   In this way, of Haydn's last quartet[13], as rightful publisher, as I can prove any time, to this date, I have not sold more than approximately 250 copies, while, of cheaper [pirate] editions, perhaps 2 to 3 times as many copies have been sold.    For that reason I am not certain that no German publisher outside of Vienna can and will make you the offer that I want to make you and that you, even if it is not agreeable to you, will still consider as proof that I gladly do what I possibly can in order to preserve our relationship for happier times.  Therefore, for all above-noted works, I offer you a net fee of 200{Two Hundred] gold ducats[14] with the following accompanying conditions, namely that:   

   1. these works shall not be published sooner than by me in London or that I shall receive the ready-for-print manuscripts in such a timely fashion that I can publish them at the same time as they will be published in London; 2. that I shall receive from you a bill of sale in which sole ownership rights to these works, with the exception of England, shall be guaranteed to me. 

   In the event that I should receive all works right away, I would, upon their delivery, immediately pay the full amount of 200#, which could be dispatched by mail to your correspondent by his confirmation of the delivery of the works to him.  In the event that the works would be delivered successively, I would also pay the fee in installments, and, upon receipt of the last work, the last 50#.  

   Upon receipt of your reply, I shall, if you accept my proposal, request that an agent [in Vienna] that is also to your liking, completely handles this matter with you.  Should I suffer less from pirate prints of these works and should I find that I would be more successful with them as I can foresee at the moment, this would delight me all the more, for your sake, and our next negotiations shall convince you even more how much I like to do whatever I am able to and to thereby prove to you my high esteem of you, as well as to secure your satisfaction.  A friend of mine, a good poet, also a good judge of character, upon my request, is writing the text for an oratorio, of which I can expect much good.  It will not be exclusively sacred; however, it would provide the composer with an opportunity to write religiously moving passages.  As soon as it will be in my hands, I would, if you wish, convey it to you. NB.  In the event that you want to accept my offer, I would prefer--for a greater correctness of the edition--to receive your original manuscripts.  In that event, it would be my pleasure, if ownership of various scores and works from my publishing house would be to your liking, to dispatch to H. Träg 60 - 80# in silver money[15], according to the sale price[s], from whom you cold then obtain what you like.  

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 447, p. 127-129]

[Original:  not known; text, according to the GA, pursuant to  Wilhelm Hitzg, Die Briefe Gottfried Christoph Härtels an Beethoven, in: ZfWw 9 (1926/27), S. 331ff, for which the copy books of the publisher served as sources; to [1]: refers to Letter No. 446 of June 6, 1810; to [2]: refers to Letter No. Nr. 427 of February 21,.1810; to [4]: refers to Op. 77; to [5]: refers to Op. 80; to [6]: refers to Op. 78, Op. 79 and Op. 81a; to [7]: refers to Op. 76; to [8]: refers to Op. 75 and Op. 82; to [9]: refers to Op. 73; to [10]: refers to Op. 74; to [11]: refers to Op. 84; to [12]: refers to Letter No. 423 of February 4, 1810; to [13]: refers to the last, not completed string quartet by Haydn, that is known as Op. 103 (Hob.III, 83), that was published by Breitkopf & Härtel in December 1806 and that, subsequently, was re-printed by various German and foreign publishers; to [14]: refers to the fact that, on June 6, 1810 (Letter No. 446), for the above-noted works, Beethoven had asked for a fee of 1400 florins in silver money, i.e. convention money, which, according to the GA, would have been 310 ducats; to [15]: obviously refers to Taler and not to ducats, although the sign # was usually used for ducats; details taken from p. 129.] 

Beethoven to Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig

                                                                                            Vienna, the 2nd of July, 1810.

   Since you are such a big friend of round sums, I will leave you the noted works for a fee of 250# in gold,[1] whereby I, however, cannot grant any more reductions, since here, through my brother[2], I could have more, heaven may only grant that I would not always have to negotiate so much before I receive anything from you.  Here you receive the first shipment which should be published by September 1st, 1810, and it consists of a Violin Quartet in E-flat[3], of a Fantasy for the Piano[4], 2 Sonatas for the Piano[5], 5 Variations for the Piano[6], 6 Ariettas[7].

   The second shipment consists of a Concerto in E-flat[8], the Fantasy with entire Orchestra and Choruses[9]--of 3 Ariettas[10], all of which should be published by November 1, 1810.  

   The third [shipment] consists of the characteristic Sonata The Farewell, Absence and Return[11]--then of 5 Italian Ariettas[12], then of the score to Egmont[13] that is not being published <in Vienna rather than> in England, and you can publish it, as you like it. 

   These can be published by the 11th [14th] of February, 1811.  

   You will receive these two shipments within 14 days, so that you already can--since I will leave the 2 last shipments with Hr. Kunz and Company--dispatch payment to here. --

in haste

                                                                                                       Beethoven.

                                                 Notes.

   Egmont is entirely your property.

   I immediately delivered the works belonging to the first shipment to Kunz and Company so that you will receive them without delay, moreover, due to various circumstances I am convinced that it is not possible that the works noted for the first shipment will be published in London at that time,[15] even less that a copy of them will reach Germany--and also of the others. However, for the best advantage of your business, it is certainly necessary that they will be published by you on September 1st, that means, the works of the first shipment.    You will find manuscripts and copies[16], as I saw best fit--time is too short to write about everything that still occurs to me, more next time.  Farewell and reply soon  

your devoted servant

                                                                                                       Beethoven.

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 451, p. 132-134]

[Original: not known; text, according to the GA, pursuant to a copy made by the publisher; to [1]: refers tot he fact that the publisher had only offered 200 ducats in gold, see Letter No. 447; to [2]:  probably refers to Kaspar Karl van Beethoven and that it is not certain whether Beethoven's statement is accurate; to [3]: refers to Op. 74; to [4]: refers to Op. 77; to [5]: refers to Op. 78 and Op. 79; to [6]: refers to Op. 76; to [7]: refers to Op. 75; to [8]: refers to Op. 73; to [9]: refers to Op. 80; to [10]: refers to Op. 83; to [11]: refers to Op. 81a; to [12]: refers to Op. 82; to [13]: refers to Op. 84; to [14]: probably refers to the fact that "1st" might be meant; to [15]: refers to the fact that Härtel did not believe in Beethoven's reassurances and, on July 20, 1810, entrusted a business friend living in London, the bookseller Fulnek, with enquiries:  

   "Es liegt uns nämlich sehr viel daran, genau zu wissen, wenn, womöglichst, in welcher Woche diese Beethovenschen Sachen und 3 neuere Sonaten von Clementi in London herauskommen werden; denn daß sie dort herauskommen werden, das weiß ich schon mit Gewißheit, Ihnen wird es nicht an musikalischen Bekannten in London fehlen.  Sie würden mich daher ungemein verbinden, wenn Sie die Güte haben wollten, einem Bekannten in London aufzutragen, daß er darauf acht habe, uns, was von diesen Sachen, und sobald es uns herauskommt, zu überschicken.  Wahrscheinlich erscheinen auch die Beethovenschen Werke bei Clementi & Co., doch wissen wir dies nicht gewiß.  (Wir haben uns gegen H. Clementi und H. Beethoven zu einem bedeutenden Honorar engagiert in der Versicherung, daß dort jene Werke nicht früher als bey uns erschienen, und es liegt uns der Zukunft wegen daran, von einem so zuverlässigen Manne, als Sie sind, zu erfahren, wie es damit gegangen ist." ("We very much would like to know precisely if and if possibly in what week these Beethoven works and 3 newer sonatas by Clementi will be published in London; for, that they will be published there, I already know with certainty; you will not have a lack in musical acquaintances in London;  I would be very much obliged if you would have the kindness to entrust an acquaintance in London with the task of sending you something of these things as soon as they will be published.  Very likely, also Beethoven's works will be published by Clementi & Co., however, we are not certain of that.  (With respect to H. Clementi and H. Beethoven, we have agreed to substantial fees with the reassurance that those works will not be published there sooner than by us, and, for future considerations, we are very keen on learning from such a reliable man as you are how things occurred with respect to this matter."--GA-Source: Max Unger, Muzio Clementis Leben, Langensalza 1914, p. 189f.  As the GA reports, the works were indeed published sooner by Clementi than by Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig, Op. 77-79 and Op. 75, No. 1-5 were registered at Stationers Hall on August 31, 1810, and Op. 76 already on August 18, 1810; with respect to this, the GA relies on:  Alan Tyson, The Authentic English Editions of Beethoven, London 1963, p. 59-68; to [16]: refers to the fact that the publisher had requested "original manuscripts", meaning in Beethoven's own handwriting, since in the copies they suspected too many errors to occur, see Letter No. 447; according to the GA, prior to this, Beethoven voiced similar opinions, see Letter No. 408; details taken from p. 133-134.]

Beethoven to Kunz & Comp.[1]

                                                                                      Vienna, shortly before July 3, 1809 [1810][2]

                                              P.T.

   I ask you to kindly transport the following musical items for Breitkopf and Härtel in Leipzig as soon as possible:  

   No.  1  a fantasy for the piano alone.[3]
   No.  2  a Sonata in F Major for the Piano[4]
   No.  3  a Sonata in G Major for the Piano[5]
   No.  4  Variations for the Piano, in D Major.[6]
  No.   5  Violin Quartet in E-flat.[7]
  No.   6  German Ariettas[8}
                1st Kennst du das Land.
                2nd Herz mein Herz
                3rd Es war einmal ein König
                4th Mit LiebesBlick und spil und sang
                5th Einst wohnten süße Ruh. etc.
                6th Zwar schuf das Glück hienieden

With High Esteem, your most devoted

                                                                                              Ludwig van Beethowen

Nb: At the same time I ask you for something in writing with respect to the receipt of these musical items.  

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No.  452, p. 134-135]

[Original:  not known, Text of the 1st page pursuant to a copy by Emerich Kastner; Bonn, Beethoven-Haus   [Frimmel Estate]; to [1]: the GA points out that the shipping firm Kunz & Comp. was managed by Gottfried Heinrich Kunz and Gotthold Kunz and that their business premises were located at the Hohenmarkt No. 582; to [2]: the GA points out that Kastner noted: "od. 1809?", and that, in the catalogue of the American Art Association the date was noted as "July 3, 1809", and that the noted works mostly belong to the second half of 1809; to [3]: refers to Op. 77; to [4]: refers to Op. 78 in F-sharp Major; to [5]: refers to Op. 79; to [6]: refers to  Op. 76; to [7]: refers to Op. 74; to [8]: refers to Op. 75; details taken from p. 134-135.]

Breitkopf & Härtel to Beethoven

                                                                                                                         Leipzig, July 11, 1810.

Beethoven in Vienna.

   Your latest letter[1] confirms that the 1st shipment of your new works will be published in London on September 1st, the latest, from which follows that, already by mid-September, they could be in Leipzig or in the hands of other German publishers that pay attention to new publications and that will produce pirate copies.  Nevertheless, and since it will hardly be possible to publish this first shipment here by September 1st, since it is not in my hands, yet, I remain at my offer for all works of 200#[2] with the condition that the first shipment, in the event that it has not been sent off to me, yet, will be dispatched to me with the next post, the 2nd shipment before the end of August, and the third before the end of September.   If I were already assured of your agreement, I would already have sent the 200# to Vienna, today, however, since one can send cash money into Austria, but not get any back out of it,[3] I have to wait for your agreement to my proposal.  To agree to a higher fee is something that my circumstances do not allow.  Who would not want to grant you, the excellent artist, every advantage that you can draw from your creations, or think badly of you for doing so by selling your works simultaneously in London, Paris, and also in Germany!  I, however [who can not, as a Prince can, value these works by their inner value, but rather by their marketability, since I do not have the advantages of a Princely art patron but rather those of a sensible and righteous businessman] would act irresponsibly if I were to pay 250# for works to have them 4 weeks earlier than all others can have 4 weeks later for a lower price when they have been printed in pirate editions as they are also done by the English and French.  If you consider this important point and the present, sad conditions of the German music trade, you will certainly be far removed from considering my offer a miserly one but rather proof of my respect for you and for my wish to do everything that circumstances allow me in order to keep our relationship alive.  And also in future, I will always do so gladly and honestly.  However, I wish that you would be satisfied with me as Haydn, Zumsteeg[4] and other artists whose works I have published, were, at any time and without exception.  Indicate to me the opus number and dedication[2] for the works that you want to send to me, so that the titles can be printed well and in a timely manner.  Moreover, I count on those works not being published in London or Paris earlier than indicated and ask you to let me know, with your next letter, if I can count on that. 

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 456, p. 139-140]

[Original:  not known, text, according to the GA, pursuant to Wilhelm Hitzig, Die Briefe Gottfried Christoph Härtels an Beethoven, in ZfM w9 (1926/27), p. 333f; according to the GA, Hitzig relied on the copy books of the publisher; to [1]: refers to Letter No.  451 of July  2, 1810; to [2]: refers to the fact that originally, for Op. 73-83, Beethoven had asked for a fee of 1450 florins in convention money [Letter No. 423 of  February 4, 1810) and that, on June 6, 1810 (Letter No. 446) he added Op. 84 to his offer, and that he had lowered the price to 1400 florins in convention money, about 310 ducats, and that, on July 2, 1810 (Letter No. 451) he once more lowered the price to 250 ducats.    According to the GA, Härtel's steadfast insistence on his lower fee could have been influenced by information provided to him by Griesinger from Vienna, according to which Beethoven did not need money: "Thomson in Edinburg [...] bezahlt ihn reichlich, doch weiss ich dass Beethoven eine Anweisung von Thomson die seit Monaten bey einem hiesigen Banquier liegt noch nicht erhalten hat und vielleicht spannt er seine Forderungen gegen Sie höher, weil er kein Geld braucht." ["Thomson in Edinburg [ . . . ] pays him well, but I know that for several months, money dispatched to him by Thomson has been lying untouched with Thomson's Viennese banker and perhaps, he is increasing his demands towards you since he does not need money."  With respect to this, the GA refers to  Griesinger, p. 261; to [3]: refers to the fact that, according to the GA, in 1810, the export of silver money from Austria was very much restricted by law in order to prevent the further devaluation of the Viennese currency, the "Bankozettel", which was caused by the heavy loss in silver money due to the high costs of the 1809 war; with respect to this, the GA refers to the Oestereichische Staatswörterbuch, edited by Ernst Mischler und Josef Ulbrich, Vienna, 1895, p. 647; to [4]: refers to Johann Rudolf Zumsteeg (1760 - 1802), an important ballad composer who was active at the Württemberg court in various capacities and of whose works a great majority was published by Breitkopf & Härtel; details taken from p. 140.]

Breitkopf & Härtel to Beethoven

                                                                                    [Leipzig, 1. August 1810]

[According to the GA, the publisher advises Beethoven that the owner, Gottfried Christoph Härtel, was not in Leipzig at this time.]

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 463, p. 146]

[Original: not known, existence derived from its being mentioned in Letter No. 468 of September 23, 1810; details taken from p. 146.]  

Beethoven to Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig

                                                                                     [Baden, at the beginning of August, 1810][1]

                                                           P.P.

    From the confirmation that the first shipment of my works[2] is supposed to be published by September 1st of this year in London, (which, however, is still very doubtful), there does, by no means follow that some copies of them will be on the continent by the middle of the same month.[3]  I am in contact with England myself and know of the difficulties of all import and export transactions with respect to musical items, particularly in light of the new, general blockade of all business traffic,[4]  and how time consuming such transactions are, let alone the enormous costs at which no German publisher can find any profit.--Therefore, the London edition, as far as the continent is concerned, is as good as non-existent and this reason for your refusal to pay me 250# for the offered works instead of 200#--does not hold.  You are also wrong in assuming that I have sent the works to France, as well, in which case you would, rightfully, have reason to believe that your edition would be hindered by that.  However, I assure you that of these works, nothing has been sold to France.   You are the sole continental owner of them and it will depend on you to get in touch with a French art dealer and to deposit a copy of these works in the Bibliotheque nationale, after which, according to the law, nobody in the French state is allowed to produce a pirate copy.  Moreover, with these works, you also receive the newly composed music to the tragedy  Egmont[5] that I have not even sold to England and for which alone I could ask the sum for which I have increased the price and that I would also receive elsewhere, however, I prefer your business above all other German publishers and expect that you will no longer refuse to agree to my demand.    In order to convince you even more of my keeping your interests in mind and of my preferring you over others, I want to convey some ideas of a big speculation that I want to embark on, in the near future,--For I am inclined to have published an edition of all of my works that is authenticated by me, and if we will come to an agreement with respect to this, to have it published by your main company.   I already declined some proposals that have been made to me by several parties, since I have always been satisfied with you and since I also hope to be so in the mentioned case.--  

    In order for this edition to be general and of greater use, in my opinion, it would be very good if you were to undertake this project with the cooperation of a local [Viennese] company and with a Paris company. If this were to happen, one could easily obtain a privilegium for the Austrian states, which I would particularly endeavor to obtain and which we can rest assure to receive; if this were to happen, you would be protected against any pirate editions and sure of a great use.  This edition would have to be etched rather than printed with types.--I would carefully review each sheet, for which we could arrive at a fee, and I would apply changes here and there, in short, I would do everything that I can in order to arrive at a good, correct and permanent edition; for the same fee I would also submit to you those compositions that I will publish in future, some time thereafter.--  

    Kindly let me know your opinion about this plan, of which I have only outlined some basic ideas, with your return mail; I do not doubt that we will come to an understanding with respect to this project.-- 

    The second shipment[6] of the above-noted works will be sent to you at the next opportunity; the music to Egmont will be amongst it. 

    Nb. is by a good friend[7] of mine to you, however, it has been written some time ago.  

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 464, p. 146-148]

[Original:  by the hand of Franz Oliva, post script by Beethoven; Bonn, Beethoven-Haus, Bodmer Collection; to [1]: with respect to this, the GA refers to the fact that the letter probably is a reply to Härtel's letter of July 11, 1810 (Letter No. 456), which might have arrived in Vienna towards the end of July; to [2]: refers to Op. 74-79, see Letter No. 451; to [3]: with respect to this, the GA refers to Letter No. 456; to [4]: with respect to this, the GA points out that on August 5th and on September 12th, Napoleon had decreed stricter conditions with respect to the continental blockade that he had initially introduced against England in 1806;  to [5]: refers to Op. 84; to [6]: refers to the second shipment, that was to contain the manuscripts and scores to Op. 73, Op. 80 and Op. 83, see Letter No. 451 of July 2, 1810; to [7]: refers to Franz Oliva; details taken from p. 147-148.]

Beethoven to Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig

                                                                            Baden, on the 21st summer month [=August] 1810

    The attached letter[1] has been drafted by one of my friends[2] to you, and I attach it with my own comments--with Paris or France, I have not engaged in agreements with respect to all of these works, at all, as the confirmation will show you in writing,[3] as soon as you will have received everything from me and I will have received everything from you--there is no possibility of a copy reaching the continent, I hardly believe that these works will have arrived in London, by now, since the blockade is stronger than ever,[4] and the English have to pay inordinate fees for letters to Germany, and heavy parcels will even be more expensive--in short, I am convinced that in September, not one note of the works that I have sent you will have been published--by the way, would you kindly determine what you will pay me for a concerto, a quartet etc, and then you will certainly realize that 250# are a low fee, at times at which the "Bankozettel" was only somewhat lower in value than silver or gold, I have received one hundred # for three sonatas,  Nb. you, yourself,  have paid me 50# for a quintett[5]--Am I to go backwards instead of forward, since I do hope that one can not say that of my art--no matter how much the # will be in florins here, it is still no gain, at this time, we pay 30 fl. for a pair of boots, 60 or 70 fl. for a suit etc the devil may take economic-musical matters into his hands--last year, before the French came, my 4000 fl. were something, this year, they are not even 1000 fl. in convention money[6]--my ultimate goal is not, as you believe, to become a musical profiteer who only writes in order to get rich, beware, yet I love an independent life, and I can not attain it without a small fortune, and then, the fee itself must contribute to  an artist's honor, as everything that he does,  I should and could not tell anyone that Breitkopf and Härtel gave me 200# for these works--you as a more human and far more educated mind than all other musical publishers should also have the ultimate purpose of not merely paying the artist a bare minimum, but rather to also guiding him along the path of his being able to bring forth everything that is in him and that is expected from him, from the outside.--I am not boasting when I tell you that I give you preference over every other publisher; even from Leipzig, I have been approached often enough, and here by others who have been authorized to do so, from there, and recently, in person, in which case one wanted to give me what I asked for, however, I have refused all offers in order to show you that I prefer to  deal with you, on account of your mind (I know nothing of your heart), and that I even want to lose something in order to keep this relationship alive--from the 250#, however, I can not back off, and I would lose too much, which you could not ask, thus it remains so-- 

    Now something about the works that are to be published:  with respect to dedications, it was not possible for me to write to you sooner:  it would be the following, the Violin Quartet[7] to Prince Lobkowitz, with respect to which you can look up his non-musical titles in another work--the Sonata in F-sharp Major[8] A Madame la Comtesse Thérése Brunswick, the Fantasy for the Piano alone[9] A <Monsieur> mon ami Monsieur le Comte <de B> Francois de Brunswick the 6 Ariettas[10] to Princess Kyisky nee Countess Kerpen[11]

    as far as the two Sonatas are concerned, publish each separately, <the>or if you want to publish them together, then describe the one in G major as Sonate facile or Sonatine[12], which you can also do in case that you want to publish them together--with respect to the Violin Quartet I remind you to arrange for the turning of the pages in an easy manner, and to the title of the second piece you should still add: adagio ma non troppo-- with respect to the third piece in C-Major in 3/4 time, after the Major <pre> piu presto quasi prestissimo where, afterwards, Minor sets in again[13]: the first time, the first part will be played twice, as it is also indicated, contrary to which there is written, that the second part should be repeated, this repeat sign shall be erased so that one plays the second part only once-- 

    the "Lied Vom Floh from Faust,[14] should it not have been clear enough to you what I had noted here, you  only have to check in Goethe's Faust, <where>or send me a copy of the melody so that I can look through it--The last number of the last works[15] which have been published by you may serve you as a guide to number these works properly.  

    the quartet is earlier than the others--the concerto is even earlier than the quartet, if you want to arrange the numbers in chronological order, since both are from one year, then it is not necessary--with respect to the quartet it should still be noted that, with respect to the third piece in C Minor, where the piu presto quasi prestissimo begins,[16] an NB: should still be set, namely as follows:  Nb: Si ha s'immaginar la battuta di 6/8--moreover, since I know it, the manuscript might be as correct as it wants to be, there will still be misinterpretations, I would wish to see the copies before so that your beautiful editions would also gain with respect to this--at the same time, I also wish to receive 4 copies of each work for myself, here my word of honour that I will never sell one, however, here and there, there is a poor musician whom I wish to oblige, they are meant for that--when will the Mass, the oratorio, the opera[17] see the light of day?-- 

    kindly write to me the titles of the songs that you have already received, since I can not remember which ones I have already sent to you, perhaps you will receive some that will not be published in London-- 

    soon, you will have received everything that belongs to the second shipment,[18] except the 3 songs, with which I am still waiting until you have sent me the song titles of those songs that you already have--in a few days, everything of yours will be shipped--the concerto is dedicated to the Archduke Rudolph and has no other title than "grand Concerto dedicated to His Imperial Highness Archduke Rudolph by etc."  Egmont is also to be dedicated to the same,[20] as soon as you will have received the score to it, you will best see for yourself what use you can make of it and how you will alert the public to it--I have only written it on account of my love for the poet, and, in order to show this, have not asked for any fee from the Theatre Management that has accepted it, and which, as a reward, as always, treats my music with neglect, there is nothing smaller than our great ones, however, our Archdukes shall be exempted from this--tell me your opinion what you think of an edition of all of my works, it appears to me that the main difficulty might be that, that with respect to entirely new works that I bring forth constantly, with respect to their being added, I would have to suffer--what my friend writes with respect to copies to be submitted to the National Library in Paris is true, since a French publisher has written to me, himself, that in this way, Pleyel's law suit came about, since he had forgotten to submit a copy to the National Library, now, however, this is clearly and surely determined[21] --

    for Vienna, you should still find another arrangement, perhaps I can arrange that my works that are printed abroad, no one here shall print a pirate copy-- 

    With respect to Egmont you might wish to make other arrangements, perhaps where other instruments enter <be> end, also there where the violin accompanies the music, as, for example in the funeral music after Klärchen's death where the kettle drum sets in [22][note sample] etc this is necessary in a century in which there are no longer any conservatories and since, due to this, a director is no longer trained, as all others are not, since everything is left up to chance, and in its place we have money for a man without testicles, whereby art does not gain anything, but where the taste palates of our appetite-less, graceless, so-called Greats are tickled.--  

    With respect to the Fantasy with choruses[23] you could, perhaps, also have the Voice parts printed into the piano part, and you might, perhaps, also add another text, since both text and music were the work of a <night> very short time, so that I was not even able to write a score, however, in the event that another text should be used, the word Kraft would have to be retained or another, very similar one would have to be chosen[24]-- satis est--you have received a good portion, keep of it what is necessary, since I am glad that everything is there, since I do not like to write much about such things--I hope to receive something of your intelligent writing, very soon--and remain with esteem 

your most devoted friend and servant

                                                                                                                    Beethowen

Letters to me, as always, to Vienna

P.S.

    Since I am just coming across your letter from some time ago, I find a passage in which you write "with respect to the remaining no of the oratorio, the trombones are there, however, with respect to the chorus, they are missing, as well as trumpets and kettle drums"[25], however, you do not mention with respect to what chorus, I would very much like it if you could let me know this right away, in the event that you can not find it, I would certainly have to search for it, again, in order to find it--kindly also let me know right away which of the three works you will publish first--at that time, I wanted to send you another organ part,[26] in the meantime, being approached by so many other sides, it was impossible, if there was still time, I would send it to you-- I still have found the following mistakes in the c-Minor Symphony[27] namely in the 3rd piece in 3/4 time where after the Major  # # #  Minor sets in again, it is written thus: I am taking the bass part, namely [note sample], the two measures, above which the X is, are too many, and they have to be crossed out, of course, also in all other parts that are pausing-- 

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 465, p. 148-152]

[Original:  Bonn, Beethoven-Haus, Bodmer Collection; to [1]: refers to Letter No. 464; to [2]: refers to Franz Oliva; to [3]: refers to the fact that an ownership confirmation had not been issued to the publisher, yet; to [4]: refers to the continental blockade decreed by Napoleon, see Letter No. 464, note 4; to [5]: refers to the fact that the publisher had bought the Quintet Op. 29 for a price of 38 ducats; to [6]: refers to the fact that Beethoven's pension was paid out in Viennese "Bankozettel" that had been strongly decreasing in their value in comparison to convention money; to [7]: refers to Op. 74; to [8]: refers to Op. 78; to [9]: refers to Op. 77, to [10]: refers to Op. 75; to [11]: refers to Princess Maria Charlotte (Caroline) Kinsky née Freiin von Kerpen (1782-1841), the wife of Prince Ferdinand Kinsky; to [12]: refers to Op.79; to [13]: refers to Op. 74, the third movement, measures  169-177; to [14]: refers to Op. 75, Nr. 3; to [15]: refers to the fact that the last work by Beethoven that had been published by Breitkopf & Härtel was the Wind Sextet Op. 71 in April 1810 and to the fact that in August of this year, the piano reduction of the second version of  Fidelio (Leonore) was published, whereby, however, in both editions, the opus number was missing; to [16]: refers to measure 78 in the third movement of Op. 74; to [17]: refers to the fact that the piano reduction of  Op. 72 had just been published and to the fact that the scores to  Op. 85 and Op. 86 were published in October 1811 respectively in October 1812; to [18]: refers to the fact that Op. 73, Op. 80 and the three Goethe-Lieder Op. 83 were intended to be part of the second shipment, see Letter No. 451 of July 2, 1810; to [19]: refers to the fact that Op. 81a, Op. 82 und Op. 84 were to belong to the third shipment and that, probably, as Beethoven announced, Op. 84 was sent with the second shipment, so that Op. 83 was held back, see Letter No. 451; to [20]: refers to the fact that Op. 84 was published without a dedication; to [21]: refers to the 1805 AMZ note on Pleyel's law suit:  "Hr. Pleyel hat seinen langen und wichtigen Prozess gegen Sivers, über sein Eigenthumsrecht an einem gewissen Verlagswerke, nun verloren, und die Sache ist auch für Ausländer wichtig, indem das Gesetz auf diese Veranlassung dahin bestimmt ist, dass keinem Künstler, der nicht eingebohrner oder naturalisirter franz. Bürger ist, selbst wenn er in Paris lebte, das Eigenthumrecht ferner durch die Verfassung garantirt wird.  So gehet es also nur Komponisten, die franz. Bürger sind, in Zukunft hier besser, in Absicht auf die Sicherheit an ihre Werke, als in Deutschland" ["Hr. Pleyel has now lost his long and important law suit against Sivers with respect to his ownership rights to a certain published work; now, this matter is also important for foreigners, since due to this, the law has been determined to read that to no artist who is not a native or naturalized citizen of France, even if he lives in Paris, ownership rights to works will be guaranteed.  Therefore, in future, only composers who are French citizens will fare better than in Germany, with respect to the security of their works"]; with respect to this, the GA refers to AMZ 7 (1805), column 252; to [22]: refers to the 7th measure in Op. 84, no. 7; to [23]: refers to Op. 80; to [24]: according to the GA, this refers to the passage, "Wenn sich Lieb und Kraft vermählen . . . " and particularly to the music to the word "Kraft", 48 measures before the end; to  25]: refers to Letter No.  427 of February 21, 1810, which has not been preserved; to [26]: refers to the fact that on February 4, 1820, in Letter No. 432, Beethoven had announced a separate organ part for the Mass Op. 86; to [27]: refers to measures 238a/239a in the third movement of Op. 67; details taken from p. 151-152.]

Beethoven to Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig

                                                                         <Vienna> Baden on the 23rd of September [1810]

    for a long time, I have been waiting for a letter from you, but in vain, from August 1st I have a letter in your name,[1] in which one reports to me that you are not present, since I have written a terribly long letter[2] to you, and I have no reply yet, yet I need it-- 

    I have not yet been able to send you the songs of the second shipment[3], since, due to the hurry, I do not know which I have already sent you; of the third shipment, nothing but the great characteristic sonata[4], and the Italian songs[5] are still remaining and ready to be shipped from here, the other material you must all have received--therefore, I am urgently awaiting an answer that is satisfactory to me--since our postal services are in the same shape as everything else, I ask you, in addition to my address, to prepare another envelope, namely:   to Herr Von Oliva[6] to be delivered to Ofenheim and Herz at the BauernMarkt--since I, during the summer and fall, am seldom in Vienna,[7] that is the most secure way--I hope to receive some lines from you, the soonest-- 

your most devoted

                                                                                                           Beethowen

An Breitkopf and Härtel in Leipzig

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 468, p. 154-155]

[Original:  Bonn, Beethoven-Haus, Bodmer Collection; to [1]: refers to Letter No. 451; to [2]: refers to the letters that were sent off at the same time, Letters No. 464 and No. 465; to [3]: refers to Op. 83; to [4]: refers to Op. 81a; to [5]: refers to Op. 82; to [6]: refers to Franz Seraficus Oliva (1786 - 1848), who, from 1808 on, was correspondent and travelling agent of the company Offenheimer & Herz in Vienna and Beethoven's assistant in the years 1810 - 1813 as well as in 1819/20; to [7]: refers to the fact that from July to the beginning of October, 1810, Beethoven stayed in Baden; details taken from p. 155.]

Breitkopf & Härtel to Beethoven

                                                                                    Leipzig, the 24th of September, 1810.

Beethoven in Vienna.

    For the information contained in your letter[1] I thank you and reply as follows.  In your letter, you have said many things that, from your viewpoint, are certainly correct, and you have said these things with the help of another, well-versed writer who is your friend[2], in order to appeal to the businessman in me.   However, believe my reassurance that, in order for our relationship to be useful, it will certainly never require the help of a third party, since I am certainly not lacking any good will to maintain our relationship to your best advantage and since I will certainly always gladly oblige you whenever I can.   Moreover, believe me that, towards you, I am certainly not less than a just business man; for, as such, I should not publish any new work the printing costs of which would surpass my revenue; rather, I should engage in publishing such works that satisfy the general taste.  Of course you, who live in Vienna which is full of life and art, can not imagine how stifled northern Germany will remain as long as merchant shipping will be handicapped,[3] and you can also not image the effect of this situation on music.  What else your friend writes with respect to the difficulties of your works reaching Germany from London so that pirate editions of them could be printed, and of the possibility of my coming to an understanding with a French publisher, in order to prevent French pirate editions, may well be his opinion, but it is, nonetheless, not correct.   The first [matter], you can easily recognize as incorrect on account of the low increase in the prices of and in the abundance of English merchandise.  As far as the second [matter] is concerned, only too often, futile attempts have taught me that it is impossible to prevent pirate editions of German original works in France or to arrange for a French publisher to become the co-owner and co-editor of such a work, since, according to the law, no-one, not even a French publisher, can acquire the exclusive right to a work and defend it whose author is not a French citizen.   Even of B. Romberg[4], Steibelt[5] and others, who, otherwise, were French citizens, but who no longer are in France, no French publisher will buy a work.  As far as the music to Egmont[6] is concerned,  it will, if presented well in the theatre, provide great pleasure.  For a piano reduction, it will hardly be suitable, and the score, printed, would only be useful to theatres and bought by  directors.  Therefore, do not consider it miserly, which is a way of acting that lies outside of my capabilities and with respect to which I, with respect to you, will be the least guilty of, if I can not go beyond the fee of 200# that I offered you, since the dismal situation of the German music business ties my hands, at present; rest assured, however that, as soon as these restrictions will no longer apply (which will begin with the first day of free merchant shipping), I will make sure to prove my good will towards you in a better fashion.  I now move on to replying to your other information.  I will add the indicated dedications to the titles of the works.  I will number them in the following manner, provided that you do not indicate otherwise in one of your next letters:    

            Op.   72.  Leonore                           Op.  80.  Fantasy with Chorus

                    73.  Piano Concerto                        81.  Sonata

                    74.  V. Quartet                              82.  5 Ital. Songs

                    75.  6 Lieder by. Goethe                 83.  3 German

                    76.  Var. for the Pianoforte              84.  Egmont

                    77.  Fantasy                                  85.  Oratorio

                    78.  Sonata in F-sharp Major           86.  Mass

                    79.  ----     in  G Major

Op. 81-83 have probably already been sent off to me.  With respect to them, as well as with respect to the Variations and the Sonatina, I do not know of any dedication, yet.[7]   With respect to the printing of the Quartet, the Oratorio and the music to Egmont, I will take into consideration the corrections[8] provided by you. Of the Quartet, some printing has already begun, so that in some copies, I will have to make changes or hold the sheets back.  

The titles of the Lieder by Goethe are as follows: [9]

    I would very much like to receive the corrected original part[10] and the trombone parts to the Oratorio[11] very soon, so that I can start printing, since for this work, this winter will be lost.  Since this is the first great vocal work that is being published by you, I wish that it will not lack anything in correctness and completeness.  That I will gladly provide you with a number of copies on good paper is a matter of course.  In the event that you would also like to obtain other works from my publishing firm, I will take the liberty of dispatching to H. Träg a draft for 50# for music,[12] who can give them to you from my stock. 

    And now, allow me to add something with respect to your proposal of a new edition of your works[13]:

     I have, as you will know, published most of the important piano compositions by Haydn, Mozart, Clementi[14], Dussek[15], Cramer[16] and Steibelt and would already, myself, have suggested an edition of your complete works to you, if the following considerations would not have held me back from doing so:  namely, for the first part, the ownership rights of various publishers, i.e. the  Industrie-Comptoir in Vienna, Kühnel, Simrock.  In any event, I would be very obliged if you could note on a list that I want to send you to which publisher you have given each work.  With respect to the edition of the Mozart collection and other collections, this difficulty did not exist.   The previously published works by Mozart and Haydn had almost all been published by Artaria, Mollo and such Viennese publishers who, before that, had prepared pirate editions of my publications and, by doing so, had given me the right to retaliate.  This difficulty did exist even less in the case of the publication of the works by Clementi and by that of earlier German piano compositions,  of which the first editions had been published in France or in England.  Your works, to the contrary, have become the property of various publishers, which would consider a new edition as an infringement on their earlier rights in the event that these works would not be published with considerable changes to them. Moreover, before I embarked on the editions that I published, no complete editions of those works had been published, yet; a great deal of Mozart's and Haydn's piano pieces had been little-known in the north, and many works by Clementi and Dussek not at all, yet; however, a great deal of their compositions, since music publishing has, in the meantime, taken on another form, has been published; not alone have they been printed and pirate-printed separately in France, England,  Offenbach, Bonn, Mainz, Augsburg, Berlin, Amsterdam, Hamburg, Munich and even Leipzig, itself, but there have already also been published several complete editions by Zulehner in Mainz[17], by Simrock[18] and also in France[19] and England[20].  What prospects do, therefore, exist for a new edition of the same?  To this is added that the success of my remaining editions was mainly based on their very low prices, that I was able to maintain due to the fact that, with respect to the Mozart and Haydn collections, I only  had to pay nominal fees, and in the case of Clementi's edition no fee at all, since Clementi refused to accept the fee that I had offered him when he lived in my house for some time.   Other conditions would have to prevail in the case of the publication of a new edition since you would rightfully, for your revision of those works and for your assistance with this edition, request a fee, which would, in turn, increase the price of your works on account of the many and probably also cheap pirate editions, while the pirate printers would soon add the revisions in their publications.    

    Due to all of this it is highly likely that such a new edition of your works that should, moreover, be beautifully rendered by the publisher, according to your wishes, will be more expensive already on account of this and which will, in turn, only be bought by a few keen and wealthy friends of your art, while the rest will be satisfied with the cheap editions that they already own or that they can still buy, for saving money is a necessity that, in our dire financial times, will have to be adopted by many.   

    Moreover, each new edition of the works of even the most respected artist can, as experience only shows to clearly, hope for less success for the very reason that the friends of his music already have several of such editions and, with them, own a wealth of music.  Our edition of Haydn's work has not had half of the success that the edition of Mozart's works had, Clementi's later edition has found eminently less success than Haydn's edition, and it is the same with the even later editions of Dussek's, Cramer's and Steibelt's works, so that we will hardly be able to complete these later editions.   To avoid subsequent editions of revised editions in France, England and Germany is, at the present conditions, as good as impossible; the previous, rightful owners would consider themselves forced to make them and would not hesitate to do so, since they already have the printing plates and would only require changes to them here and there, and they would certainly not fail to do what they can to counteract a new, revised edition by offering their new versions at reasonable prices and by distributing them widely.  I believe that I had to describe to you these important and undeniable difficulties.  Nevertheless, I wish that they could be removed and that I could also publish a complete edition of your works through my company.  Therefore, I ask you to consider this matter carefully and, on occasion, to let me know what you think of it, with respect to your future works.  However, with respect to your future works for this edition, an agreement would have to be arrived at, and even if it was only to secure the publisher the right to include every newer work into this edition after a certain time period, since otherwise, he would not even be at the same level as the pirate publishers, let alone have any advantages on account of the complete edition. 

    However, I would try your patience too much with the length of my letter, of which I should be ashamed. Nevertheless, I ask you to answer soon, if not to everything at the same time.  At the same time, by mail, I am dispatching to you the second installment of the fee.  I hope to receive the remainder of the works, soon[21] and will then hurry to completely meet my financial obligations.  Let your answer and our relationship be that of friendship; I certainly hope that I can continue to ensure that this relationship will be as pleasant for you as possible, the longer it continues in uninterrupted fashion and the more works of yours I will own and the more experience I will make with respect to their commercial success, since I still own little of your works and can, on account of this, not judge their success properly.

[Source  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 469, p. 155-160]

[Original:  not known; text, according to the GA, pursuant to Wilhelm Hitzig, Die Briefe Gottfried Christoph Härtels an Beethoven, in: ZfMw 9 (1926/27), p. 334-338; to [1]: refers to the letters that were sent out together, Letters No. 463 and No. 465; to [2]: refers to the fact that Letter No. 464 had been written by Franz Oliva; to [3]: refers to the Continental Blockade; to [4]: refers to Bernhard Heinrich Romberg (1767-1841),  the Bonn cellist and composer who, in 1801/02, after a concert tour to Spain, had been employed by the Paris Conservatory for a brief time period but who left France already in 1802 and went to Berlin; to  [5]: refers to Daniel Gottlieb Steibelt (1765-1823), the pianist and composer who, from 1790-1796, from 1800-18-2 and from 1805-1808 lived in Paris; to [6]: refers to Op. 84; to [7]: refers to the fact that the dedications to Op. 81a (to Archduke Rudolph) and to Op. 82 and Op. 83 (to Princess Kinsky) had been reported by Beethoven in his Letter No. 492 of April 12, 1811; to [8]: refers to the fact that, in Letter No. 465, Beethoven had still indicated some corrections and print indications with respect to Op. 74 and Op. 84; to [9]: refers to the fact that in Hitzig, this information is missing; to  [10]: refers to a possible misreading by Hitzig; to [11]: refers to Letter No. 423; to [12]: refers to the fact that here, taler (silver money) and not ducats (gold) were meant; to [13]: refers to the fact that Härtel refers to Letter No. 464; to [14]: refers to the "Oeuvres complettes" by Haydn (from 1799 on), Mozart (from 1798 on) and by  Clementi (from 1803 on), that the publisher had started with the piano works, in each case; to [15]: refers to Johann Ladislaus Dussek, the Czech composer and pianist; to [16]: refers to Johann Baptist Cramer, pianist, composer and publisher; to [17]: refers to Carl Zulehner  who, in spite of the protests of the composer, had started a complete edition of Beethoven's piano works; to [18]:  refers to the fact that, in time, Nikolaus Simrock had published nearly all works by Beethoven, but that he had not published a complete edition of them; to [19]: refers to the fact that in France, particularly Ignaz Pleyel had made Beethoven's works known through his publications of them; to [20]: refers to the fact that in England, several publishers were engaged in the publication of Beethoven's works; before 1806 predominantly by copy-printing continental editions; to [21]: refers to Op. 81a, Op. 82 and Op. 83;  details taken from p. 159-160.]

Breitkopf & Härtel to Beethoven

                                                                                           [Leipzig, 6th of October 1810]

[According to the GA, the content is not known.]

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 471, p. 160]

[Original: not known, existence derived from the registration note on Letter No. 468 of September 23, 1810.] 

Beethoven to Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig

                                                                         Baden on the 6th fall month [= October] 1810

                                                      P.S.

    Since I see that one might, perhaps, not come to an understanding with respect to the small abberation[1] that I have mentioned in my last long letter, I will send you the piece by mail[2], written small on fine paper, namely, the violin part only, so that no confusion will arise and so that things will not be held up--with respect to the remainder of the works it might be best, in order to get them right, if you were to at least send me copies + with my manuscript + if errors should be found, I would indicate them, and they would be corrected immediately--  

    about everything else I can not write more, today, since the time is too short.-- 

    Tomorrow or the day after you will receive the copied piece with the rest that I still have to provide you answers for-- 

Farewell, indeed, your most devoted friend 

                                                                                                                     Beethowen

To Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig.

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No.  472, p. 161]

[Original:  Bonn, Beethoven-Haus, Bodmer Collection; to [1]: refers to the fact that Beethoven refers to the additional comments and corrections to the third movement of the Quartet, Op. 74, that he had provided in his Letter No. 465 of August 21, 1810; to [2]: refers to Letter No. 474 of 15.10.1810; details taken from p. 161.]

Beethoven to Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig

                                                                                       Vienna on the 15th fall month [=Oktober] 1810

Very Esteemed Sir!

    Here, as far as the matter of the Quartet[1] is concerned, you see that it is only a minor matter since the minore is being repeated the first time right after the maggiore and that the first part of the minore should be played twice and the second part only once, that is, without a repetition[2]--it is difficult to be of service to you with respect to the Lied from Faust[3], since I do not have a copy of it--first of all, all verses would have to be written out, not with abbreviations as I have done, it would be best if you were to send me a small sheet of paper on which the upper system of the piano and the system of the vocal part is written, as you would print it, and I would then check if it is correct 

    with respect to the 2nd adagio + of the quartet + <in A-sharp> I had noted something with respect to the  tempo, [4] has this been adhered to--take care and do as I have often asked you, send me a proof sheet, but also the manuscripts, one complains about the incorrectness of the print, and I have noted that even the clearest handwriting can be misinterpreted--recently, we have gone through the 4-part songs and others by Haydn that have been printed by you and we have also found incredible errors in them--has, what I have indicated to you with respect to the symphony, been changed in the third piece, two measures too many,[6] I darkly remember that you have asked me with respect to it,[7], however, I might have forgotten to reply right away, and so they will have remained there-- 

    the reason why I want the manuscripts with a proof sheets is, since I hardly have any and since a good friend has asked me for it, for example, the score of the concerto[8] is with the Archduke and he does not return it--I ask you, although I am convinced that this time, the manuscripts are as correct as humanly possible, not to rely on that again as you did with the Trios[9] and other things; it is also unpleasant for the author not to know his work as having been rendered correctly--Nb: should the last piece of Egmont not feature the title "SiegesSymphonie", then have it printed above it[10]--hurry with that and kindly indicate to me if and when you do not need the original score, anymore, since then I will ask you to send it to Goethe from Leipzig, to whom I have already announced it,[1]] I hope that you have no objections since you are probably as big an admirer of his as I am--I would have sent him a copy from here, however, since I do not have such an educated composer[12] on whom I can rely completely, and since the pain for me of overseeing this work would be certain, I consider it better and less time consuming for myself-- 

   As far as the Variations[13] are concerned, the title: Variations dedicated to his friend Oliva by etc in a few days, you will receive the organ part to the Mass[14] and the trombones to the oratorio[15] it should be possible to add a musically correct German text to the Mass[16] --

    the opera Leonore, <dedicated> to my friend Herr Steffan von Breuning Imperial Royal Court Secretary of the Court War Council dedicated by the author Ludwig etc[17]

    the Mass dedicated to Herr von Zmeskall[16] Nb: here, a few Hungarianized additions have to follow that I can not think of, at the moment--the Lieder[19] to <countess> <Princess Von Kiynsky> Her Exalted Princess  Kinsky née Freyin von Kerpen.--

    you should add the "ich denke dein" to this collection,[20] I have seen it printed alone thus, and also somewhere here, a false mordent has been added, since I do not have it, I can not remember where[21]--another matter:  you should publish the  "den Gesang aus der Ferne["][22] that I had sent you, some time, right away, it it has not been done, yet, the poetry is by that scoundrel Reißig, at that time, it had not been published, yet, and it almost took half a year, until that scoundrel, "as he said", had it printed only for his friends by Artaria--I sent it to you by mail, and instead of thanks I received stink  

    the 50#[23] can <well> have arrived, however, I had not been here yet, and the post man did not want to entrust them to anyone else--I will make enquires, right away--with the next mail, all other compositions that have to be sent, will be sent to you,[24] therefore, you can also send the remaining 100# and 30 thaler in convention money to me, since, with your first letter you had offered me 80 thaler[25] in form of scores, and subsequently, you, yourself, have lowered this to 50 according to the draft to Traeg, thus, I will take scores for 50 thaler, but the 30 I ask to dispatch to me in money--in addition, since I have given many a small piece to you for free, for which you have offered me the Musik.Zeitung and some scores already then, you can finally send me the Musik.Zeitung that, according to your indications in writing, had already been on its way to me several times, moreover, I would like to have all works by  Karl Philip Emanuel Bach, that have, after all, been published by you--in addition, by J. Sebastian Bach a Missa wherein there is said to be the following Crucifixus with a Basso ostinato, that is supposed to be like you, namely:[26]: 

[ ------------------------------------------------------------- Note sample --------------------------------------------------------- ]

moreover, you are supposed to have the best copy of Bach's temperirtes Klavier I also ask you to send the same to me-- 

    Here you have the ultimatum from which I will not move, I shall then let you have written proof of [your] ownership--moreover, it may not become known what [fee] I have received --with respect to the edition of all of my works[27] this matter will have to be considered more thoroughly, and I will then let you know of my dedicated opinion--satis est I hope, note all circumstances that I have described and about which I have written-- farewell and delight me with your lines, soon 

your most devoted servant and friend

                                                                                                         Beethowen

[Post scriptum][28]

    It is a detestable lie that Herr Rittmeister Reißig has ever paid me anything for my compositions[29] I have composed them out of friendship, since at that time, he was handicapped and since I felt sorry for him--by writing this I declare Hr. Breitkopf and Härtel to be the sole owner of those songs that I have sent to him and of which the poetry is by Rittmeister Reißig[30] --

Vienna on the 15th hay month 1810

                                                                                                          Ludwig van Beethowen +

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 474, p. 162-165]

[Original:  Bonn, Beethoven-Haus, Bodmer Collection; to [1]: according to the GA, Beethoven refers to the third movement of Op. 74, in which, contrary to his original intention, measures 178-245 were not t o be repeated, see also Letters No. 465 and No. 472; to [2]: refers to the fact that the entire passage has been underlined twice; to  [3]: refers to the Flohlied of Op. 73, No. 3; to [4]: refers to the fact that in Letter No.465 of August 21, 1810, Beethoven had indicated that the tempo indication of Adagio in the second movement of Op. 74 should be extended to read  "Adagio ma non troppo"; according to the GA, the same indication can be found in the autograph of the movement; to [5]: according to the GA, by this, it is probably referred to the three-and four part songs that Breitkopf & Härtel had published in 1803 in their collection Oevres de J. Haydn as volumes 8 and 9 and, on the request of Haydn, also in a separate edition, see Hob. XXVb Nr. 1-4, Drey- und vierstimmige / Gesänge / mit Begleitung des Pianoforte / von Joseph Haydn Bey Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig; to [6]: refers to the fact that in the post script to Letter No. 465, Beethoven had requested the removal of the superfluous  measures 238a/239a; to [7]: according to the GA, this refers to the letter from the year 1809 that has not been preserved, see Beethoven's Letter No. 370 of March 28, 1809; to [8]: refers to Op. 73, of which Archduke Rudolph had a copy; to [9]: refers to Op. 70; to [10]: refers to the fact that, according to the GA, in the copy of the score that had been given to the publisher, at the appropriate place, it had been noted by another hand,  "Überschrift/Siegs-Sinfonie" ["Title: Victory Symphony"]; to [11]: refers to the fact that the existence of such a letter to Goethe can not be proven; to [12]: "Recte" according to the GA: "copyists"; to [13]: refers to Op. 76; to [14]: refers to the fact that Beethoven had already promised them in his letter of February 4, 1810, thus, in Letter No.  423; to [15]: refers to the fact that Beethoven had also announced the trombone parts for a long time; with respect to this, the GA refers to Letter No. 423 of February 4, 1810; while the shipment had been delayed several times; to  [16]: refers to the fact that the original edition of Op. 86 actually contained a German text by the theologian Christian Schreiber, that was based on the Latin original; to [17]: refers to the fact that the piano reduction of the second version of the opera Fidelio, Op. 72 had already been published in August 1810; to [18]: refers to the fact that the Mass was ultimately dedicated to Prince Ferdinand Kinsky; to [19]: refers to Op. 75; to [20]: refers to the fact that the Lied Andenken WoO 136 had already been published separately by Breitkopf & Härtel in March 1810; to [21]: here, the GA points out that the "false mordent" was contained in the original edition (Breitkopf & Härtel PN 1526) in T. 49, with respect to which Tyson declared the superfluous turn to be a misinterpretation of the text word "o" as in "o denke mein" that, in the autograph, looks like the superfluous turn; to [22]: refers to the fact that WoO 137 had already been published separately by this publisher in February, 1810, and that, in July 1810, it was published again as part of the collection of songs to texts by Christian Ludwig Reissig by Artaria; to [23]: refers to the fact that on September 24, 1810, the publisher (Letter No. 469) had announced payment of 50 talers in silver money that could be picked up at the premises of his Viennese agent Traeg; to [24]: refers to Op. 81a, Op. 82 and Op. 83; to [25]: refers to the fact that on June 20, 1810 (Letter No. 447), the publisher had offered musical items in the value of "60 to 80 taler"; to [26]: refers to the  Hohe Messe in B Minor, BWV 232, No. 5, Crucifixus; to [27]: refers to Letters No. 464 of August 21, 180 and to No. 469 of September 24, 1810; to [28]: refers to the fact that in all earlier editions, the post script has been considered to be a separate letter with the date of September respectively October 11, 1810; to [29]: refers to the fact that, according to the GA, it is doubtful whether Beethoven's representation is correct; according to the GA, the etching for print by Artaria of WoO 137 contains this note in an unknown handwriting: "Dieße Abschrift hat Bethoven mit/eigenen Bemerkungen an Reisig verkauft/und Reisig -- hat an uns wieder verkauft" ["Beethoven has sold this copy to Reisig with his own remarks, and Reisig has sold it to us"]; to [30]: refers to  WoO 137, Op. 75, No. 5 and Op. 75, No. 6; details taken from p. 164-165.]

Breitkopf & Härtel to Beethoven

                                                                                     [Leipzig, the 27th of Oktober 1810]

[According to the GA, the content is not known.]

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 166]

[Original: not preserved; existence, according to the GA, derived from the registration note of letter no. 472 of October 6, 1810]

Breitkopf & Härtel to Beethoven

                                                                                     Leipzig, the 11th of Novbr. 1810. [191-]

L.v. Beethoven in Vienna.

    With the last mail I send [=sent] you a copy of the already completed works,[1] several copies will be dispatched to you with the next mail.  Since I can not completely apply postage to the sent copies, I will reimburse you for the postage as soon as I know how much it is.  However, on every mail day I had hoped to receive from you what is still missing with respect to the Oratorio and the Mass,[2] as well as also the Sonate charact.[3] and the remaining song collection[4].  I admit to you that it is very inconvenient to me that I have to wait for these things for so long, sine in this way, not only this winter, and thus an entire year will be lost for these works, but since, moreover, the final completion of all of our arrangement will be prolonged.  According to our earlier agreement, all piano pieces pp. were to be published by September 1st,[5] and today, eight weeks later, I am still waiting for the manuscript of the Sonata pp.  How long have not the Oratorio and the Mass already been in my hands and are still incomplete, so that I can not do anything with them.  I ask you most particularly to ensure that we will finally straighten out all of our matters and so that you will be spared the trouble of longer correspondence with respect to them and that I will be spared from waiting in vain. 

    I am not certain, yet, what I will do with the music to Egmont[6], I have not decided, yet.  To publish its score would be in vain, since that would only be useful to theaters on which, however, can not be counted. However, I will publish the score of the Overture.  The printing of complete scores for the entreacts and songs is faced with the difficulty that these entreacts, as they are, are useless outside of theatre performances, since they particularly relate to the drama  (Egmont) and since some of them do not even have their own particular endings and since they, due to this, are useless outside of the theatre.  It would be best if you were to write to the particular entreacts, which do not represent a well-rounded whole in order for them to be given separately, for this purpose, particular endings, with respect to which should be noted how these entreacts relate to the performance of Egmont and how they, on top of this, should be completed.   

    In any event, Egmont is only performed on a few stages, and on these also seldom.  With respect to the edition of this music, one can not count on the theatres, at all.  What they would buy of this work would not make up for the cost of the corrections.  However, if you were to fulfill my above request, the entreacts could also be printed and published separately.  In that case, in an enclosed note, I would point out these more specific situations to which the entreacts relate, so that this more specific relationship would also be understood in the case of an execution outside of the theatre.  I ask you to let me know of your opinion with respect to this, very soon[7] and remain with the usual respect.

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 477, p. 166-168]

[Original:  not known; text, according to the GA, pursuant to Wilhelm Hitzig, Die Briefe Gottfried Christoph Härtels an Beethoven, in ZfMw 9 (1926/27), p. 338 f.; according to the GA, Hitzig relied on the copy books of the publisher; to [1]: refers to the fact that up to the beginning of November, 1810, by this publisher, WoO 136, WoO 137, Op. 71, Op. 75, the parts to the third Leonore-Overture and the piano reduction of  Op. 72 (second version) had appeared in print that that Op. 74, Op. 77, Op. 78 and Op. 79 were published in November of this year, whereby, however, it is not known whether they had already been prepared for printing prior to November 11th; to [2]: refers to the fact that, according to the GA, the publisher probably meant to organ part to Op. 86 that was mentioned in Letter No. 474 and to the trombone part to Op. 86; to [3]: refers to Op. 81a; to [4]: refers to Op. 82 and Op. 83; to [5]: refers to the fact that on July 2, 1810 (Letter No. 451), Beethoven had announced the shipment of the works in three parts, whereby Op. 81a was to belong to the third shipment and not to the first one; to [6]: refers to Op. 84; to [7]: refers to the fact that Beethoven only complied with the request by the publisher on January 28, 1812; with respect to this, the GA refers to Letter No. 544; details taken from p. 167-168.]

Beethoven to Kunz & Comp.

                                                                                                  [Vienna, first half of January, 1811][1]

Messrs. Kunz and Compagnie are most kindly asked to ship the enclosed three songs by Goethe to Breitkopf and Hertel to Leipzig--the faster, the better; --

Their most devoted servant

                                                                                               Ludwig van Beethowen

To Messrs. Kunz and Compagnie

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No.  482, p. 175]

[Original: Bonn, Beethoven-Haus; to[1]: refers to the fact that on January 16, 1811 (Letter No. 484), Beethoven reported that the three songs referred to here (Op. 83) were on their way to Leipzig, which allows for the conclusion that this not was written in the first half of the month; details taken from p. 175.]

Beethoven to Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig

                                                                                 Vienna on the 16th of January, 1811

Highly Esteemed Sir!

    Scream, swear about B. who is not writing.-- 

    In God's name, publish the Mass as it is, without waiting for the organ part.[1]  It is better if it is there, than if it is held back for an unimportant reason.--However, I hope in score--the translation [2] of the Gloria appears to be very suitable, to me, but not of the Kyrie although the beginning "tief im Staub anbeten wir" ["deeply in the dust be pray to Thee"] fits very well, while some expressions such as <ewge>ew'gen Weltenherrscher" ["]Allgewaltigen"  ["eternal ruler of the world" "all-powerful"] appear more suitable for the Gloria; the general character (in the case of such a translation, it appears to me that only the general character of every piece should be indicated) in the Kyrie there is innermost devotion, therefore the innermost expression of religious feelings <the character> "Gott erbarme dich unser" ["God have mercy on us"] without, however, being sad, the basis of everything is softness, in this context, the expression "Allgewaltiger" (all-powerful] does not appear to suit the overall character, although  "eleison erbarme dich unser [have mercy on us]"--yet, there is some serenity in the whole. On Sunday, the Catholic enters church in a festively-serene mood, the Kyrie Eleison is also the introduction to the entire Mass, and with such strong expressions (in it), there would remain few strong expressions for occasions where they really have to be strong--the missing three songs are on their way--whether I will still send you a Canzonetta to the Italian 5,  I can not promise, it will do as is, with 4 ariettas and a duet[4]--however, I do also not deny you that-- 

    I will send you the written ownership confirmation[5] as soon as I will have received everything, however, I hope that you do not mistrust me on account of this, or should the scoundrel of a Rittmeister[6] have been able to accomplish this, in a few days, Hr. Kühnel will receive a letter from me,[7] which he has instructions of to also show to you--with respect to this story--recently, Hr. Riotte[8] visited me and told me that you had enquired with him as to what he thought of my works and also whether you could take them?--to this, I gave my my reply in kind and must still ask you if you have really told him that?  In the works, there can still be found several errors, that are certainly nowhere in the manuscript, therefore, still more caution with respect to this, I still believe that it would be best if you were to send me the first copies that I promise to have played and sung through, right away, and that I would send you the passages with the mistakes that I would find, right away, so that you could then send the rest of the copies after the arrival of the correction--I am not well and have been so for some time, otherwise I would have sent you a package with the errors-- 

    with respect to your suggestion of a <new> an idea to a new work[9] at the next opportunity as well as with respect to my works--farewell on German soil!!!!!! Kyrie eleison

                                                                                    wholly your Beethowen

Nb: I thank you for the Musik.Zeitung; however, I wish that you would continue, with respect to it, I will make arrangements.  

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 484, p. 176-177]

[Original:  Washington, Library of Congress; to [1]: refers to the fact that Beethoven had promised a completed organ part to op. 86 to the publisher, several times, but that he did not deliver it; to [2]: refers to the German text of the Protestant theologian Dr. Christian Schreiber; to [3]: refers to Op. 83; to [4]: refers to the fact that Beethoven had originally offered Op. 75 and Op. 82 together, along with a number of twelve German and Italian songs, see Letter No. 423 of February 4, 1810; to  [5]: refers to the written ownership confirmation of July 25, 1810; to [6]: refers to Christian Ludwig Reissig, the writer of the texts to Op. 75, No. 5 and 6 as well as to WoO 137; to [7]: refers to the fact that this letter is not known; to [8]:refers to Philipp Jakob Riotte, a composer who had lived in Vienna since 1808 und who first was engaged at music director at the Kärtnertortheater and, from 1818 on, as music director at the am Theater-an-der-Wien; to [9]: probably refers to the letter by the publisher from the end of 1810 or the beginning of 1811 noted in [2] and [4] that has not been preserved; details taken from p. 177.]

Beethoven to Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig

                                                                                                                      [Vienna, February 19, 1811]

                                                                  P.P.

   If you insist, then I will still send you the organ part[1]--answer, right away, you did not write whether you will publish the score of the Mass and of the oratorio and when?[2] --

here the requested confirmation[3] --

    I will gladly thank Dr. Schreiber for his translations[4]--that you will send the Fantasy[5] for correction and that you want to do so in general, is finally right, however, send the 2nd or 3rd correction; as quickly as an arrow, it will be back in your hands-- 

    I am expecting the Mus. Zeitung, and with respect to it, it will write out a confirmation that you have made me a present with it!!!!! the rest of Riotte[6] the devil may take, it is not important--the question with respect to all of the numbers of 40 etc etc[7] can not be answered that quickly, since I, with the exception of the works that you have recently sent me, do not have a note of my already published works-- 

    if the <poetry> poems that you want to send to me, in addition to their being musical, are also poetic, I would surely agree to set them to music-- 

    At the beginning of winter, I wanted to go to Italy,[8] however, my doctor[9] did not want to allow it--in any event, I want to get away form here, for once--my present situation is not entirely unrestricted and without any detrtimental loss of time--I ask you to keep me in your memory; --  

entirely your most devoted servant

                                                                                                           Beethowen

Vienna on the 19th of February, 1811

To Breitkopf and Hertel in leipzig

Beethoven lives at the MölkerBastey in the Pasqualati House.

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 486, p. 179-181]

[Original:  Bonn, Beethoven-Haus; to [1]: refers to Op. 86 and Letter No. 484 of January 16, 1811; to [2]: refers to the fact that the score to the Oratorio, Op. 85 was published in October, 1811, and that of the Mass, Op. 86 only a year later, in October, 1812; to [3]: refers to the written proof of ownership of all works that Breitkopf & Härtel had acquired from Beethoven since 1808 (Op. 67-Op. 86 as well as WoO16 and WoO137), with respect to which the GA noted that the text had been drafted by the publisher on July 25, 1810 and had been sent to Beethoven for signature; to [4]: refers to the German texts to the Mass, Op. 86 and to the Italian Songs, Op. 82; to [5]: refers to Op. 80; to [6]: refers to the fact that apparently, Härtel had asked Riotte for an evaluation of Beethoven's newer compositions, see Letter No. 484 of January 16, 1811; to [7]: refers to the fact that this question, according to the GA, possibly pertains to a number of early works and arrangements, that had been published by Hoffmeister and Kühnel in winter 1803/1804; to [8]: according to the GA, Beethoven refers to a notice in the AMZ 13 (no. 5 of January 30, 1811), column 88: "Wie man sagt, dürfte Hr. van Beethoven künftiges Frühjahr eine Reise nach Italien unternehmen, um seine Gesundheit, welche seit einigen Jahren sehr angegriffen war, unter dem südlichen Himmel wieder herzustellen.  Wer wünscht nicht mit uns aus ganzer Seele, dass durch diese Reise der Zweck erreicht werden möge" ["As is said, next spring, Beethoven might be travelling to Italy in order to restore his health that had been deteriorating.  Who would not, with us, wish him sincerely that through this journey, this purpose might be reached."] ; as the GA notes to this, in the summer of 1811, Beethoven went to Bohemia, instead; to [9]: probably refers to Dr. Johan Malfatti; details taken from p. 180-181.]

Breitkopf & Härtel to Beethoven

                                                                                            [Leipzig, February 27, 1811]

[According to the GA, the content is not known..]

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 487, p. 181]

[Original: not known, existence derived from the registration note on Letter no. 486]  

Beethoven to Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig

                                                                                            Vienna, the 12th[1] of April 1811

                                                         P.P.

    My friend Oliva is bringing these lines, I hope that you will also let him feel our friendly relationship and that you let him enjoy the pleasure of your company--for the moment I have only given my friend orders to offer you a new Trio for piano violin and violoncello[2], he has my proxy to negotiate with you with respect to it-- 

    Yesterday I received your package, as everything, our mail got even more expensive, and in turn, our "Bankozettel" are worth even less than before,[3] what do you say to our financial managers??? A deus ex machina would have to come--otherwise, nothing will happen-- 

in haste your

                                                                                                                Beethowen

The 3 Lieder[4] as also the Italian ones[5]--to Princess Kinsky--The Farewell the Return[6] can not be dedicated to anyone else but Archduke Rudolph

To Breitkopf and Härtel in Leipzig

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 492, p. 184]

[Original: Ithaca (N.Y.), Cornell University Library; to [1]: refers to the fact that the number "12" had been written illegibly, however, as the GA points out, Letter No. 493 of April 12, to Goethe, in which Oliva's pending journey is also mentioned, shows that both letter had been written on the same day; to [2]: refers to Op. 97; to [3]: refers to the "Finance Patent" (proclaimed on February 20, 1811, come into force on March 15, 1811), according to which the Viennese "Bankozettel" were replaced by new paper money, the "Einlösungsscheine" at a rate of 5:1; to  [4]: refers to Op. 83; to [5]: refers to Op. 82; here, the GA notes that the original edition of July 1811 did not bear a dedication; to [6]: refers to Op. 81a; details taken from p. 184.]

Breitkopf & Härtel to Beethoven

                                                                                                         [Leipzig, April 30, 1811]

[According to the GA, Härtel asked for the corrections to Op. 80 and Op. 81a.]

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 494, p. 186]

[Original: not known, existence derived from the registration note on Letter No.492 of April 12, 1811 and from Letter No. 496 of May 6, 1811; details taken from p. 186.]

Beethoven to Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig

                                                                                    [Vienna, before the 3rd of May, 1811][1]

                                                   P.P.

    That you are already sending the concerto[2] to the Industrie Komtoir and God knows where before you have received the correction, is not to my liking at all, why do you not want to publish a work without errors, already the day before yesterday, the corrections were sent off from here,[3] +  now, when the Industrie-Komtoir will receive the concerto, I will have to [correct] the errors[4] Nb; there are enough errors in the concerto + next Saturday, the correction of the Fantasy[5] will also be sent off with my score, which I, however, ask to receive back, right away-- 

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 495, p. 186]

[Original:  Bonn, Beethoven-Haus; to [1]: refers to the fact that the Letter stems from the time after the publication of the original edition of Op. 73, before the sending of the corrections to the publisher. The GA notes that according to the printing books of the publisher, Op. 73 was published in February, 1811 and that the corrections were apparently sent to Leipzig on a Saturday before May 6, 1811 (Letter No. 496), that is, on May 4, 1811, so that this letter must have been written in the week of April 28, 1811 to May 3, 1811; to [2]:refers to  Op. 73; to [3]: refers to the fact that the original edition shows various stages of correction; according to the GA, here, an early copy is meant that Beethoven looked through; to [4]: refers to the following possible addition:  "in einem gedruckten Verzeichnis bekannt machen" ["to announce in a printed list"]; to [5]: refers to Op. 80; details taken from p. 186.]

Beethoven to Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig

                                                                                              Vienna on the 6th of May [1811][1]

                                                P.P.

    Errors--errors--you, yourself are a one and only error--there I have to send my copyist, there I have to go myself, if I want that my works do not appear as mere errors--as it appears, the music tribunal in Leipzig does not bring forth one decent reviewer, while they still, even before they hare received the corrections, send the works off--at least in the case of larger works, one should count the measures and compare them with those of other parts--however, one can see how that happens with the Fantasy[2] etc--look at the piano reduction of Egmont's Overture, an entire measure is missing[3]--here the list of errors (erata) my sincere thanks that you get me moving for such an interesting matter-- 

    Farewell, I hope for improvement--the Fantasy has already been sent, also the Sonata will be sent off from here, tomorrow[4]--Err as much as you like, have as many errors made as you like--in spite of it, you are highly esteemed by me, since it is the custom of humans that one values them for not making greater mistakes-- 

your most devoted servant                                                                        Beethowen

Nb:  watch out that, with respect to my correction of the concerto[5] in the 1st violin part in the 1st Allo page 5, line 1, 1st measure [note sample] the piano will be set under the notes [note sample] but not in the reverse-- 

                                                                                 Overture

Page 5.            [Note sampe] the C off

5th  line           [ ----------------- ] only c alone

6th measure     [ ----------------- ] with the Clarin

Page 6.           [ --------------- Note sample --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ]

                                        the ligature lines 9 symbols) between the 3rd <4th> and 4th, 5th and 6th, 7th and 8th measure.

last line          [ --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ]

                     [ -------------- Note sample ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ]

                                       the ligature (symbols) between the 7th and 8th, 9th and 10th measures.

Page 7

3rd line          [ --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ]

Page 8           [ -------------- Note sample  -------------------------------]

3rd line                                                                                    1st note must be (symbol)

1st measure   [ ------------------------------------------------------------------]

Page 11.       [ ------------- Note sample ------------------------------- ]

last line                                                                                  x repeat sign

2nd measure [ ------------------------------------------------------------------ ]

                                                                                           4 Ariettas[6]

Page 3          [ -- Note sample -----]

last line

1st measure  [ -----------------------------] must read (symbols) instead of (symbols)

Page 6, 1st parts                  [----Note sample -----] a period must be there. after f-sharp

3rd measure in the voice       [ -----------------------------]

Page 9, 2nd line                   [ ----Note sample -----]

in the voice part                                                            must read g g instead of e e 

2nd measure                       [ ---------------------------- ]

The 3 German Ariettas are again dedicated to Prince Kinksy--[7]

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 496; p. 187-190]

[Original:  Bonn, Beethoven-Haus, Bodmer Collection; to [1]: according to the GA, this refers to the fact that the year has been noted according to the registration note by the publisher; to [2]: refers to Op. 80; to [3]: refers to Op. 84; to [4]: refers to the corrections of Op. 80 and Op. 81a; to [5]: refers to  Op. 73; to [6]: refers to the heading in Beethoven's handwriting; to [7]: refers to the addition by Beethoven; details taken from p. 188-190.]

Breitkopf & Härtel to Beethoven

                                                                                       [Leipzig, May 13, 1811]

[Gottfried Christoph Härtel advises Beethoven of the death of his wife.  He asks Beethoven for time to consider his offer of the Trio Op. 97 and suggests the composition of an opera, for which he wants to supply him with a libretto writer.]   

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtasugabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 497, p. 190]

[Original: not known, according to the GA, derived from the registration note on Letter No. 496 of May 6, 1811 and from Letter No. 499 of May 20, 1811, which obviously represents a reply; details taken from p. 190.]

Beethoven to Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig

                                                                                                          Vienna the 20th of May [1811]

    I most warmly sympathize with your justified pain about the death of your wife[1], I think that on account of this kind of separation that almost every spouse has to face, one should be prevented from entering the state of matrimony--your sonata is on its way with the Fantasy[2], prepare the title as I have written it down, in French and German, but not in French alone[3]--and thus the remaining titles-- 

    <should a dedication the the Archduke apply[4], then see to it that a better correction will occur, one also complains about awkwardness with respect to the turning of pages-- 

    the nonsense of pirate prints shall at least find a halt in Vienna, since I want to acquire a privilegium--, that my works may not be copy-printed in Austria, and, of course, as long as the stock market dominates with its course, it has to be understood for a low price, here--your corrections that you sent me recently shall be dispatched as soon as possible, as soon I have them-- 

    as far as the Trio[5] is concerned, there is still time--what you say of an opera, would certainly be desirable, the direction would also pay well for it, of course, circumstances are difficult, at this time, however, if you write to me, I will enquire with respect to what the writer wants, I have written for books to Paris with respect to well-done melodramas, comedies etc, (for I do not trust a local writer to write an original opera), which I will then have worked on, right away[6]--o poverty of the mind--of the purse-- 

                                                                                                           your Beethowen

To Breitkopf and Hertel in leipzig

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 499, p. 191-192]

[Original: Bonn, Beethoven-Haus,  Bodmer Collection; to [1]: refers to Gottfried Christoph Härtel's wife Caroline Amalie, née. Klötzer, who died at the age of 30 after a brief illness on March 30, 1811; to [2]: refers to the corrected proofs of Op. 81a and Op. 80, in which context the GA refers to Letter No. 496 of May 6, 1811 and to Letter No. 498 of May 18, 1811; to [3]: refers to the fact that the original edition of Op. 81a was published in two versions, namely a) with a French and b) with a German title page; to [4]: refers to Archduke Rudolph to whom Op. 81a was dedicated; to [5]: refers to Beethoven's offer of Op. 97 in Letter No. 492 of April 12, 1811; to [6]:  refers to Letters No.  501 and No. 503 to Georg Friedrich Treitschke; details taken from p. 191-192.]

Breitkopf & Härtel to Beethoven

                                                                                                         [Leipzig, August 2, 1811]

    [According to the GA, the publisher requests the return of the proof sheets to Op. 83 and Op. 85 and reports of the excellent reception that Mozart's opera Don Giovanni had found in Italy.]

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No.  517, p. 209]

[Original: not known, derived from Letter No. 519 of August 23, 1811; detail taken from p. 209.]

Beethoven to Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig

                                                                                              Teplitz on the 23rd of  August. 1811

    while, for the last three weeks, trying to find healing here[1], I received your letter of the 2nd of Aug? it might have been left behind in Vienna, for some time, I have just completed the revision of the oratorio and of the lieder,[3] and you will receive both in a few days--here and there, the text[4] has to remain as it originally was, I know the text is extremely bad, however, one has conceived a whole out of a bad text, and after that it is difficult to avoid, by means of a few changes, that this whole may not be disturbed, and if there is a word that has a particular meaning and is of a particular importance, then it has to remain, and it is an author who knows how to make the best of a bad text, and if this is the case, the few changes will not make the entire thing better--some, I have left, since they are really improvements.-- 

    Farewell and let me hear something of you, soon,  Oliva is here, and he should write to you-- 

    the good reception of Mozart's Don Juan[5] delights me as much as if it was my own work, although I know enough open-minded Italians who will do justice to the German artist, thus it might lie in the backward state and in the laissez-faire attitude of the Italian musicians, if that nation is behind even in this area; however, I have met enough Italian music lovers who preferred our music over their Paisiello[6] + I did him more justice than his own countrymen.+ -- 

your most devoted servant 

                                                                                                 Ludwig van Beethowen

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 519, p. 209-211]

[Original:  Bonn, Beethoven-Haus, Bodmer Collection; to [1]: refers to the fact that, according to the "Anzeigs-Protocoll" of the town, Beethoven had arrived at Teplitz on August 4, 1811; to [2]: refers to Letter No.  517; to [3]: according to the GA, this probably refers to the corrections of Op. 85 and Op. 83; to [4]: with respect to this the GA writes: "In der in London [British Library, Ms. Egerton 2727] befindlichen Kopistenabschrift [verschiedene Kopisten und autographe Eintragungen] des Oratoriums Op. 85 ist unter dem mit einer dunklen Tinte geschriebenen Originaltex die neue Fassung in einer rötlichen Tinte eingetragen.  Tyson vermutet, daß diese Eintragungen vom Verfasser der neuen Textversion selbst stammen, s. Alan Tyson, The 1803 Version of Beethoven's Christus am Ölberge, in: Musical Quarterly 56 (1970), S. 551-587, sowie Sieghard Brandenburg, Beethovens Oratorium Christus am Ölberg.  Ein unbequemes Werk, in: Beiträge zur Geschichte des Oratoriums seit Händel, Festschrift Günther Massenkeil zum 60. Geburtstag, hrsg. v. Rainer Cadenbach und Helmut Loos, Bonn 1986, S. 203-220" [the GA expresses here that the copy that is stored in the Londong British Library of Op. 85, under the original text that has been written with dark ink, the new version has been entered with a reddish ink and that, with respect to this, Tyson wonders if these entries have been made by the writer of the new text version, himself, with the above references to Tyson and Brandenburg.]; to [5]: refers to the fact that Beethoven probably refers to a lengthy report in the AMZ 13 [1811], column 521-526 about a performance of Don Giovanni in Rome; to [6]: refers to Giovanni Paisiello (1740-1816); details taken from p.  211.]

Breitkopf & Härtel to Beethoven in Teplitz

                                                                                               [Leipzig, 28th of August, 1811]

[The publisher invited Beethoven to visit Leipzig and enquired by whom the Oratorio, Op. 85 is supposed to be reviewed in the AMZ.]

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 520, p. 212]

[Original:  not known, derived from the registration note on Letter No. 519 of August 23, 1811 as well as from Letter No. 523 of October 10, 1811; details taken from p.212.]

Beethoven to Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig

                                                                                 Vienna, on the 9th of8ber [=October] 1811.

    From here, a thousand apologies and a thousand thanks for your pleasant invitation to Leipzig, how much it hurt that I could not follow my inner inclination to go there and visit it as well as its environs, since at this time, confusion reigned in all nooks and crannies, the Hungarian Parliament,[1], they already talked about it, before, that the Archduke was supposed to become Primas of Hungary, and that he was supposed to leave the Diocese of  Olmütz behind,[2] I, myself, am offering myself to His Imperial Highness who, as Primas of Hungary, would have an income of not less than 3 millions, to spend one million clear, myself (it is understood for all good musical spirits that I would raise on my behalf); in Teplitz I am not receiving any further news since one did not know anything about my plans to move on from here,   therefore, I believe that, with respect to the journey that I want to make, with my loyalty that I have for him, at last, although I, not without some ill will on account of the latter, all the more, that in the event of festivities, one would need me, so that I, weighing the pro and contra, chose to quickly return to Vienna,[3] and the first word of thunder that I heard was that His Grace had lost all inclination towards the priesthood and the priestly lifestyle, so that nothing will come of the entire matter.-- 

    General is what he is supposed to become, which one certainly understands (as you know), and I the General's aide, quartermaster in the battle, that I, however, do not want to lose--what do you say to that?--  

   another event were the Hungarians for me, when I alighted my coach to travel to Teplitz I received a parcel from Ofen, with a request to write something for the Pesth <Theatre> Opening of the New Theater, [4] after I had stayed at Teplitz for 3 weeks and felt rather well there, in spite of my doctor's orders, I sat down in order to help the mustachios whom I am very dear to, sent my parcel off to them on September 13th, [5] in the opinion that the event was to take place on October 1st, meanwhile, the matter would still drag on for another month, [6] the letter in which this is supposed to be indicated to me, I only received here, due to a misunderstanding, [7] and yet, also this theatre event caused me to return to Vienna -- Meanwhile, postponed is not cancelled, I have enjoyed traveling and it did me a great deal of good, now, I would already want to get away from here --I just received the Lebe wohl etc I see that you also [?] other pieces with French titles [8] why, lebe wohl [fare well] is something quite different from les adieux the first one says to one alone, from the heart, the other to an entire assembly, to entire cities [9] -- since you have them review me so horribly, you shall also suffer for it, you would also have used fewer plates, and the turning-over that has now become so difficult would have been made easier by it, enough of it -- however, for heaven's sake, how did I end up with a dedication of my Fantasy with orchestra to the King of Bavaria?  [10] provide me with an answer to this, right away, if you wanted to surprise me with an honorable gift, then I want to thank you for it, otherwise, something like this is not to my liking, at all, did you, perhaps, dedicate it yourself, how did this come about; without requesting permission, one can not even dedicate anything to kings -- the Lebewohl was also not dedicated to the Archduke, [11] why [?] not print the year, day and date, as I had written, in future, you will confirm to me in writing to keep unchanged all titles as I have written them -- the oratorio,  have it and, in any event, everything, reviewed by whom you want, I am sorry to even mention a word about the wretched R[eview], [13] Who would want to ask for such R[eviews] when he sees how the most wretched scribblers are praised into high heaven by such equally wretched R[eviewers], and how they, in any event, deal most gingerly with works of art for which they do not immediately have the right measuring stick, as the tailor needs for measuring -- if one should consider something with respect to the orator. then it is that it was my first and early work of this kind and has been written in 14 days in-between all kinds of upheavals and other unpleasant, frightening events (my brother was just suffering from a deadly disease], [14] -- 

   Rochlitz has, if I am informed right, already reported unfavorably of the Chorus of the Disciples,  "wir haben ihn gesehen" (in C Major) when I had not even given it to you for etching, yet, [15] he called it comical, a perception that, at least here, no one in the public showed, since among my friends, there are also critics.  That I would write an oratorio quite different now than then, that is certain -- 

   and now, review as long as you want, I wish you a great deal of pleasure; even if it somewhat stings one like an insect bite, it is over, soon, and once the bite is over, then it is quite some fun,  re-re-re-re-re-view-view. -- Not 'til all eternity, you can not do that.  with this, let's leave the matter unto God -- 

   in the oratorio there was a passage where the horns should be brought onto two lines in the etching, namely the 2nd horn has bass keys, the first, however, a violin, [16] your corrector will find this passage easily, after all, every man has to have more than one key, even if he never opens anything. -- I shall send you a letter to Kotzebue, [17] and ask you to send it to his place of residence; -- also, someone from Berlin for whom I want to save postage fees, will send his letters to you, [18] so that you would kindly send them to me here, you will not be cross with me for that, I hope, and as far as the postage is concerned, I will always pay for it each time I receive notice of it -- heaven may keep you, now, I hope to see you and speak to you soon, from this you can see my firm resolution to travel -- to the Saxon and particularly to the Leipzig friends everything beautiful for their well-meaning towards me, of which I have heard a great deal, thus also thanks to the musicians of whose great efforts on my behalf I have also heard  

 your 

                                                                              Ludwig van Beethoven.

When will the Mass appear? [19]

-- -- the Egmont? [20] 

send me the entire score, copied, at my cost (the horn score] to Goethe, how can a foremost German publisher be so unkind and rough towards the foremost German poet? thus, hurry and send the score to Weimar.[21]

  as far as the Mass, the dedication could be changed, the lady is married now, and the name would thus have to be changed,  [22] thus it can be left off, write to me only when you will be publishing it, and then the Saint for this work will be found -- 

To Breitkopf and Härtel in Leipzig."

(Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Volume 2, Letter No. 523, p. 214-218]

(Original: Bonn, Beethoven-Haus; to [1]: refers to the Hungarian Assembly at Preßburg that convened on August 29, 1811 and was in Session until June 1, 1812; to [2]: Archduke Rudolph already became the designated successor for Olmütz in 1805, yet upon the death of Cardinal Colloredo in 1811, he did not yet step in has his successor; to [3]:  according to Teplitz records, Beethoven left this spa town on September 18, 1811, to return to Vienna; to [4]:  refers to Beethoven's incidental music to Kotzebue's plays König Stephan oder Ungarns erste Wohltäter, op. 117, the prelude, and Die Ruinen von Athen, op. 113, postlude; to [5]:  refers to Thayer's notion that Beethoven would have sent the package as late as on Montagy, the 16th of September, 1811, which he bases on Letter no. 525; to [6]: refers to the initially intended opening of October 4, 1811, the Emperor's Name Day, and its postponement to February 9, 1812; to [7]: refers to the fact that this letter has not been preserved; to [8]: refers to the edition of Op. 81a, for which Beethoven wanted a bilingual title page, see letter no. 499 of May 20, 1811 and to the fact that the publisher's printing the edition with two different titles, one in German, one in French; to [9]: might perhaps refer to 'fashionable' piano music titles of the times such as Les Adieux de Paris or Les Adieux des Londres; to [10]: refers to the fact that the Original edition of Op. 80, the Choral Fantasy, was dedicated to King Maximilian Joseph of Bavaria; to [11]: see letter no. 492 of April 12, 1811; to [12]: refers to the fact that the etching sample of the original edition of Op. 81a has not been preserved and that the autograph of the first movement had been dated by Beethoven as "Vien am 4ten May 1809"; to [13]: refers to the possibility that Beethoven might have reacted to the review of Op. 75 in a letter that has not been preserved; to [14]: refers to the fact that on Op. 85, Beethoven worked for a longer time period; to [15]: refers to No. 4, Chor der Krieger; to [16]: refers to Op. 85, measures 39 - 41 of the introduction; to [17]: see letters no. 546 and 545 of Jan. 28, 1812; to [18]: might refer to Amalie Sebald; to [19]: refers to Op. 86 having been published in October, 1812; to [20]: refers to the fact that the Overture to Op. 84 had already been published in December, 1810; to [21]: refers to Goethe's having noted his receipt of the work in his diary on January 23, 1812; to [22]: refers to the fact that it is not known who might be meant here; details taken from p. 217-218). 

Breitkopf & Härtel to Beethoven
                                                                                                                       Leipzig October 19, 1811

[According to the GA, the content is not known.]

[Source: Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 528, p. 222]

[Original: not known, existence derived from registration note on Letter No. 523 of Oct. 9, 1811; details taken from p. 222.]

Beethoven to Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig

                                                                                          Vienna, on the 28th of January, 1812.

                                                   P.P.

As punishment for your total silence I oblige you to dispatch these two letters, right away; a windbag of a Lieflander[1] promised me to take care of a letter for me to K.[2], but probably, since Russians and Lieflanders, in general, are windbags and big braggarts, he did not do it, although he represented himself as a good friend of his;--therefore, I ask you, although I am giving this errand to take care of these letters, to you as a punishment, and rightfully so, on account of many editions wrought with mistakes, on account of wrong titles, instances of negligence, etc. and on account of other human traits, I still, once more, ask you most humbly to take care of these letters--and to send, with the letter to Goethe, the score of Egmont[3]; however, not in the usual manner, according to which something might be missing here or there, etc., not that way, but rather quite neatly; this can not be delayed, any longer; I have given my word, and I will keep it, all the more when I can force you to carry this out.--Ha ha ha, the language for which you are to blame that I can use it against you, against such a sinner who, if I wanted, would have to walk around in a ragged sinner's garment, for all atrocities that he has committed against my works; in the choir in the oratorio, "wir haben ihn gesehen" (we have seen him), in spite of my note regarding the old text, you still remained with the unfortunate change;[4] dear heaven, does one believe in Saxony that the word makes the music?  If an unfitting word can spoil the music, which is certain, one has to be glad when one finds that word and music are one, after all, and in spite of the fact that the wording as such is common, one can not want to try to make it better--dixi--out of the 50 talers for musical items[5] I have not taken much, yet, since at Traeg's everything is "traeg" (lazy), in particular, I can not detect anything there of the Härtel-style industriousness, thus, send me Mozart's

                        requiem[6]                              Score
                        M.[ozart's] Clemenza di tito[7]  --------
                        cosi van tute[8]                        --------
                        le nozze di Figaro[9]                 --------
                        don Giovanni [10]                     --------- soon,

since my little [musical] get-togethers [11] will be starting again, so that I need things like these as postage free as possible, since I am a poor Austrian musician--the pieces by C.P. Emanuel Bach you can give to me as a present, on occasion[12], they will rot at your place, anyway--have the 3 songs by Goethe not been printed, yet, hurry with that,  soon, I would like to give them to Princess Kinsky, one of the prettiest fat women in Vienna--and the Lieder from Egmont, why have they not been published, yet,[14] why not publish the entire Egmont, publish, publish--if you want to have one or the other ending added to the entreacts,[15] that can also be, or let the Leipzig corrector of the Musik. Zeitung take care of that, they are so adept at that that they will produce something that will fit most gorgeously, like a boxer's fist on an eye,--

Add the postage for the letters to my running account with you--it appears to me, I have heard rumors that you are looking for a new wife, all confusions of yours, I attribute to that, I wish you a Xantippe like the holy Socrates had, so that, for once, I can see a German publisher, which is to say much, embarrassed, yes, very embarrassed, indeed--I hope you will honor me with some lines of yours, soon--

your friend
                                                                        Beethoven

[Source: Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 545, p. 236-238]

[Original: Bonn, Beethoen-Haus, Bodmer Collection; to [1]:  according to the GA, the identity of this Lieflander can not be determined and it is noted that, perhaps, it might have been Freiherr Christoph von Stackelberg, the second husband of Josephine von Brunsvik-Deym; to [2]: refers to August von Koetzebue; to [3]: refers to the fact that this letter to Goethe has not been preserved; to [4]: refers to Op. 85; Nr. 4; to [5]: refers to the bonus of 50 talers that the publisher had granted to Beethoven on September 24, 1810, which he could take out in form of musical items at the B + H retail agent Traeg's Viennese store; to [6]: refers to KV 626 that was published by B & H in 1800; to [7]: refers to KV 621, that was published there in 1809; to [8]: refers to KV 588, that was published there in 1810; to [9]: refers to KV 492; with respect to this, the GA notes that the B & H only published a piano reduction of the opera in 1818; to p10]: refers to KV 527, published there; to [11]: refers to Letter No. 474 of October 15, 1811; to [13]: refers to Op. 83, that was published in October, 1811; to [14]: refers to the orchestra parts of the overture; to [15]: refers to the fact that, already in their letter of November 11, 1811 (no. 447), the publishers had complained that the music to the entreacts could not be used for a concert hall, without proper endings; details taken from p. 237-238.]

Breitkopf & Härtel to Beethoven

                                                                                               [Leipzig, February 8, 1812]

[According to the GA, the publisher refutes Beethoven's claims with respect to "erroneous editions" [see letter No. 544 of January 28, 1812] and announces the publication of the three songs Op. 83 and complains about their bad sales figures in Vienna and, moreover, notes that the requested scores to Mozart's Requiem and Don Giovanni had already been provided.]

[Source: Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe Vol. 2 , Letter No. 551, p. 243]

[Original: not known, date, according to the GA, derived from the registration note on Letter No. 545 of Jan. 28, 1812; detail derived from Letter No. 555 of February 28, 1812; details taken from p. 243.]

Beethoven to Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig

                                                                                            Vienna on the 28th of February, 1812

    Well, in Saxony one says as rough as a tone poet, and this is supposed to be the case with me since I, in jest, told you some truths[1]--for today, I can not write more than what is necessary, you say that good humor can be seen in my letter, often, the artist has to be able to adapt to everything, and therefore, this could also have been forced, at the moment, I am not in good humor or good spirits, the event with Archduke Rudolf[2] has fatal consequences for me, if heaven only grant me patience until I reach foreign parts, where I will be able to find myself, again, which is the only true blessing for man and particularly for the artist.--Therefore, patience, and if everything is denied me, then I will find myself in nature, again, and also in my heavenly art, the only true gift of the Gods and the heavens, now, where spring can only be faintly imagined, my hope is coming alive, again.--Again, my health was under heavy attack, several times, winter almost takes all advantages of summer away for me, however, here, it is better now, and I hope for a continuation of it.--At one time, you have written to me about a kind of symphony,[3] abut I can not find it [your letter] anymore, it was almost an idea as I have had it, myself--send me the Goethe Lieder, right away--they might be of use to me--+not as a present--+that they do not sell well here, I can believe, however, several things I have to believe less, and yet, they exist.--   

   The songs from Egmont, have they not been printed, yet?[5] Mozart's Reqiuem [sic] and Don Giovanni I have never received[6]--never--Traeg never had them, and I do not have them from you, since you always referred me to  T.[raeg]--for once, keep your word with other things that you wanted to send me--The poetry send by you is to be used and is always ready. [7]--the Missa, <what> when will it be presented to the devout Catholics?-- 

    Farewell, keep me well in your thoughts and prepare yourself to have more, better # in store should I come closer to you, for the ones that you have already sent me, you might have acquired from a pirate, since they seem to be coming from all parts of the world.[9] --

your most devoted

                                                                                               Ludwig van Beethoven

To Breitkopf & Härtel in leipzig.

Ludwig van Beethoven living in the Pascolatische House at the MölkerBastey 1239.

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 555, p. 245-247]

[Original:  Bonn, Beethoven-Haus, Bodmer Collection; to [1]: refers to Letter No. 545 of January 28, 1812, see above; to [2]: refers to Beethoven's report of October 9, 1811 {Letter No. 523] about Archduke Rudolph's declining the succession to the position of Archbishop of Olmütz; with respect to this, the GA notes that Beethoven had held hopes to be appointed Kapellmeister there; to [3]: refers to the fact that the letter has not been preserved; to [4]: refers to Op. 83; to [5]: refers to the fact that the songs and the music to Op. 84 had already been published in January, 1812; to [6]: refers to Beethoven's order of January 28, 1812, in Letter No. 545; to [7]: refers to the possibility that, with Letter No. 551 of February 8, 1812, Härtel might have sent a collection of poems; to [8]: refers to Op. 86, which was only published in October 1812; to [9]: refers to the fact that ducats were coined in numerous countries and that their value was different, depending on the amount of gold in them; details taken from p. 246-247.]

Breitkopf & Härtel to Beethoven

                                                                                                [Leipzig, March 11, 1812]

[According to the GA, the content is not known.]

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No.560, p. 250]

[Original: not known, existence derived from the registration note on Letter No. 555 of February 28, 1812; detals taken from p. 250.]

Beethoven to Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig

                                                                                             Vienna on the 4th of April -- 1812

                                                P.P.

    I very urgently need the 3 Lieder by Goethe and me[1] +dedicated to Princess Kinsky+, therefore, have a print done on fine paper and send it to me by letter mail, faster than usual, for today, I can not answer your last letter[2] --

With esteem your willing

                                                                                                  L v Beethowen

To Breitkopf and Hertel in leipzig.

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven, Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 570, p. 257]

[Original: Bonn, Beethoven-Haus,  Bodmer Collection; to [1]: refers to Op. 83; to [2]: probably refers to Letter No. 560 of March 11, 1812, which has not been preserved, details taken from p. 257.]

Breitkopf & Härtel to Beethoven

                                                                                               [Leipzig, April 11,  1812]

[According to the GA, the publisher sent the print of Op. 83 that Beethoven had requested on April 4, 1812, a copy of the original edition, on fine paper.]  

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No.  572, p. 258]

[Original: not known, existence derived from registration note on Letter No. 570 of April 4, 1812.]  

Beethoven to Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig

                                                                                                   [Vienna, around the 25th of May, 1812][1]

                                                        P.P.

    I will send you the Mass[2], right away, however, do not play a prank on me and generously adorn it with major errors to give it to the public in that shape--since it will be published late, the dedication will be changed, namely to Prince Kinsky[3]; you will receive further details on his titles;--It has to be so--Whether you will see me in the north, who can say, in the chaos in which we Germans live-- 

    Farewell, I am writing three new symphonies, of which one is already completed[4], I have also written something for the Hungarian theatre[6]--however, in the dump in which I find myself here, everything is as good as lost--if I will only not lose myself, entirely-- 

    May you live rather well, be glad that you have it better than other poor mortals-- 

                                                                                          your most devoted Beethowen

To Breitkopf and Härtel in Leipzig.

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 577, p. 263-264]

[Original:  Bonn, Beethoven-Haus, Bodmer Collection; to [1]: refers to the fact that, according to the registration note, the letter arrived in Leipzig on June 1, 1812; to [2]: refers to a proof copy of the original edition of Op. 86; to [3]: refers to Prince Ferdinand Kinsky; to [4]: refers to Op. 92; to [5]: refers to Op. 113 and Op. 117; details taken from p. 263-264.]

Beethoven to Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig

                                                                                                         Teplitz on the 17th of July [1812]

    We only tell you that we have been here since July 5th, but how?--about that, not much can be said, yet--overall, there are not as many interesting people here as last year, and fewer, in general--the crowd is less disturbing than a few--my lodgings are not yet as I wish them to be, however, I hope to have more desirable ones, soon[1]-- 

    The correction of the Mass[2], you will have received--at the beginning of the Gloria, instead of the E [note symbol], I have noted the time signature and  change of tempo, this is how it was marked in the beginning[3], a bad performance at which the tempo was taken too quickly, enticed me to do so, since I have not seen the Mass for a long time, it occurred to me, right away, and I saw that, unfortunately, something like this has to be left to coincidence--somewhere, in the Sanctus it could be indicated that, at the enharmonic change, the B's could be left off, and, instead, one could only retain cross tones, namely  

                                                                                                    [-- Note Sample --]

                                                                                                          Sanc - tus

                                                                                                    [ ----------------------- ]

       Sanc -tus  do-mi-nus de-us        sa-ba-oth

  [ -------------- Note Sample---------------------------]                                  [ ---- Note Sample ---------------- ]

                                                                    instead of with B's

                                                                    retain the #'s

  [ ------------------------------------------------------------ ]  as here                    [ ------------------------------------------ ]          

    with respect to our choirs, I could not hear them singing this passage clearly, without the organist's quietly indicating the the [sic] 7th chord--in Leipzig, they might be [sung] better--in any event, it will be good to indicate somewhere, that instead of the B's one adds the #'s as here--Goethe is here[5]--farewell--and let me know something about your activities, soon-- 

your most devoted

                                                                                          Ludwig van Beethowen

    Nb. I  Since the 50 taler have not been entirely used up, yet, and even if they were, it does not take much imagination to consider them not entirely used up, we ask you to forward either for the real or for the imaginary 50 taler, the following works to a kind woman, in my name, to Berlin, namely, first, the score of Christ on the Mount of Olives [7], second and third, both volumes of Goethe's songs, namely that of six and that of three songs [8] the address is "to Amalie Sebald[9]. Bauhof No I in Berlin" she is a pupil of Zelter,[10] and we like her, very much--+ Nb. II still add something what you have published individually, of my songs. +--your can send me some copies of the last Trio[11], sometimes, one needs something like that for musicians of whom one can not ask that they buy something like that--from your own kindness I hope for the most puntual execution of my kind liberties  <---------->[12] with respect to A.[malie] S.[ebald]

    [13]I ask you to kindly forward the enclosed letter to Hamburg,[14] perhaps you have a publisher there who can dispatch it, right away, I have been delinquent in replying for five months, at least--the postage may be added to the real or the imaginary 50 taler.-- 

To Breitkopf und Hertel in leipzig.

[Quelle: Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 586, p. 275 - 278]

[Original: Bonn, Beethoven-Haus,  Bodmer Collection; to [1]: refers to the fact that , according to the GA, the  "Anzeigs-Protocoll" of Teplitz lists Beethoven on July 6, 1812, at the inn "Zur Goldenen Sonne" and on July 7, 1812, at the "Eiche" where he probably stayed until his departure for Karlsbad around the 27th of July, 1812; to  [2]: refers to Op. 86; to [3]: refers to the fact that in the autograph (at the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn), the time signature is "E" and that the tempo indication is  "Allo con brio"; to [4] refers to the fact that the notation in the original edition, on the last page, was provided as an alternative; to [5]: refers to the fact that, on July 14, 1812, Goethe had arrived in Teplitz and that he met Beethoven on July 19, 1812; to [6]: refers to the fact that, on September 24, 1810 (with Letter No. 469), the publisher granted Beethoven a bonus in the amount of 50 taler for musical items; to [7]: refers to  Op. 85; to [8]: refers to Op. 75; to [9]: refers to the fact that Beethoven met Amalie Sebald in Teplitz in the summer of 1811 and that he met her there again in 1812; to [10]: refers to the fact that Amalie Seblad was a member of the Berlin Singakademie that had been directed by Karl Friedrich Zelter since 1800; to [11]: refers to the Piano Trios, Op. 70; to [12]: refers to the fact that the two following words were written above the line; to [13]: refers to the fact that the following post script was considered as a separate letter by  Anderson (No. 377) which she dated July 18, 1812, and that probably on account of the note in a different handwriting, "17/18"; however, as the GA states, much speaks for the two manuscripts' belonging together; to [14]: refers to the fact that Beethoven obviously enclosed Letter No. 585 of the same date; details taken from p. 277-278.]

Beethoven to Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig

                                                                                          Teplitz on the 24th of July [1812]

   We greet you most friendly and expect the same without any visible signs--that Goethe is here, I have written to you about,[2] I am with him, daily,[3] he promises to write something for me,[4] if it only does not happen to him as to others, with respect to me!!!--many a thing, one can not like and promises with the best of intentions, then still, nothing will come of it-- 

    Send me, by mail coach[5] the songs by me that include "Kennst du das land" by Goethe[6]--quickly, most quickly, faster than fast, so that one can barely express it in words, a copy of it printed on the thinnest, finest paper and send it to me on wigns of thought, yes, on the thinnest, finest paper, since I am a poor Austrian musician--povero Musico!  [But not in the sense of a castrato][7]-- 

    I would still like to tell you this and that, but I do not know anything, period. 

    Have you received the Mass [8] for a long time, already?  I do not want to say the longest of times; will one, in light of several confused, erroneous editions, not recognize the confusion of a publisher who is in love and who want to procreate, anew?--We are most particularly inclined towards you and write this to you, almost immersed in water, and what the public wishes, can happen soon, namely, to have a watery author--  

your friend

                                                                                                    Beethowen

To Breitkopf and Härtel in leipzig.

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 588, p. 279-280]

[Original:  Düsseldorf, Goethe-Meuseum, Kippenberg-Stiftung; to [1]: refers to the year according to the registration not by the publisher; to [2]: refers to Letter No. 586 of July 17, 1812; to [3]: refers to the fact that Goethe had noted his meetings with Beethoven in his diary under the dates of July 19, 20, 21 and 23, 1812; to  [4]: perhaps, this refers to the planned rendition of Faust as an opera libretto; to [5]: refers to fourfold underlining; to [6]: refers to Op. 75; to [7]: refers to the possibility that the crossing-out was not done by Beethoven; to [8]: refers to the fact that, already on July 17, 1812, Beethoven had assumed that his corrections to the Mass, Op. 86, has arrived in Leipzig; details taken from p. 280.]

Breitkopf & Härtel to Beethoven

                                                                                                                   [Leipzig, July 29, 1812]

[According to the GA, the publisher asked for the text for the dedication of the Mass, Op. 86.]

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No.  589, p. 281]

[Original:  not known, date taken from the registration not on Letter No.588 of July 24, 1812; content derived from Letter No. 591 of August 9, 1812; details taken from p. 281.]  

Beethoven to Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig

                                            Franzens Brunn near Eger on the 9th of Aug. +here, the climate is such that

                                                                      one could write 9th of November.+ 1812

    Just the most necessary:  You are missing the title of the Mass[1], and many a thing is too much for me, taking the baths, doing nothing, and the like <all> other usual, unavoidable coincidences and occurrences, I am tired of--you imagine me here, now, my doctor[2] is chasing me from one place to the next in order for me to finally catch health, from Teplitz to Karlsbad, from there to here[3], in K.[arlsbad] I played something for the Prussians and Saxons, for the benefit of the burnt-down town of Baden,[4]so-to-say, it was a poor concert <for the best of the > for the poor--<Signore polledrone>[5] helped me with it, and, after he had been frightened, as usual, he played well--

    <To the> "His Highness the Exalted Prince Kinsky," something like that is what the title may contain--and now, I have to refrain from writing any further; rather, I have to play in the water, again, hardly have I had to fill myself up with it by drinking a good quantity of it, that I have to pour it all over my outer self--at the next opportunity, I will answer to the rest of your letter[6]--

    Goethe is too fond of court atmosphere for a poet, here, one should, rather not be talking about the ridiculous behaviour of the virtuoso, when poets who should be considered the first teachers of a nation, can forget everything over it--

                                                                                                                  your Beethowen

    I have just written for the complete title of Prince Kinsky,[7] you will still receive it in time, since I assume that you will not publish the Mass before fall-- 

To Breitkopf and Härtel in Leipzig.

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 591, p. 285-288]

[Original:  Bonn, Beethoven-Haus, Bodmer Collection; to [1]: refers to the dedication of Op. 86 to Prince Ferdinand Kinsky; to [2]: refers to Dr. Jakob Staudenheim, see Letter No. 592 of August 12th, 1812; to [3]: refers to the fact that the spa journey prescribed to beethove led him from Teplitz to Karlsbad to Franzensbad and back to Teplitz; to [4]: refers to the fact that, on July 26, 1812, due to a catastrophic fire in the town of Baden near Vienna, 117 buildings had been destroyed and that Beethoven, as a consequence, on August 6, 1812, together with the violinist Battista Polledro, gave a recital, the proceeds of which, 954 florins in Viennese currency, were designated for the victims of the catastrophe; with respect to this, the GA quotes the recital annountement: 

                                                    "Herr van Beethoven and Herr Polledro

                                               have, on their own impulse, decided to hold a 

                                                                    musical recital

                                                today, on Thursday, the 6th of  August, 1812

                                                            in the "böhmische Saal"

                                                      in support of the citizens of Baden 

                                                   who were injured in the recent fire there; 

                                          for which purpose this appropriate invitation is extended.   

                                                        The pieces to be performed are:

                      1] Grand Sonata for the Piano Forte, with Violin accompaniment, 

                           played by Herr van Beethoven and Herr Polledro;

                      2] Grand Trio, composed and played by Herr Polledro;

                      3] A Fantasy, played by Herr van Beethoven.

                      4] Variations for the Violin, composed and played by Herr Polledro.

                                                     The Recital will begin at 6 o'clock.

                                      The charitable purpose of this event forbids it, of course,

                                 to limit the generosity of the patrons, by fixing the admission fees."

to [5]: refers to Giovanni Battista Polledro (1781 - 1853), Italian composer and violinist; to [6]: refers to Letter No. 589, which has not been preserved; to [7]: refers to the fact that this letter has not been preserved; details taken from p. 287-288.]

Beethoven to Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig

                                                                                    Teplitz on the 17th of September, 1812

                                                          P.P.

    Lying in bed, I am writing to you, nature also has its etiquette, in that here, I am taking the baths, again; yesterday, at dawn, it occurred to me, in spite of all the fog, to visit the forests, and for this poetic license, I am paying, today;--My aesculap[1] has really led me around in a circle, all the while here, it is still the best,[2] these fellows to not understand effect, very well, I mean, we in our art, are more advanced in it;--It could be that I will visit Leipzig, however, with respect to this, I ask you to be very quiet, since, to tell the truth, they do not trust me, anymore, in Austria, with which they are right, as well, and they might give me permission late or perhaps not at all, so that it would be too late for the Fair[3], however, I do not know any more about it--if you have some time, write to me and let me know your opinion; one more thing: can I have Choirs, etc. perform without it costing too much, in any event, I am not very fond of mere virtuosity, only, experience has taught me that, with respect to vocal works, particularly with choirs, costs are uncommonly high, and sometimes it does not pay off to have set a price, since one, without all that, could have held it for free--moreover, since I can not know anything definite, I ask you not to make use of my plan, any further.-- 

    farewell, do not study too much at the Leipzig University, since aesthetics might lose out in it-- 

                                                                          yours, 

                                                                                                     ludwig van Beethowen

To Breitkopf and Hertel in leipzig.

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 594, p. 290-291]

[Original:  Bonn, Beethoven-Haus, Bodmer Collection; to [1]: refers to Dr. Jakob Staudenheim; to [2]: refers to Beethoven's return to Teplitz on September 10, 1812; to [3]: refers to the Leipzig Fall Fair; details taken from p. 291.]

Breitkopf & Härtel to Beethoven

                                                                                                 [Leipzig, September 23, 1812]

[According to the GA, the content is not known.]

[Source:  Ludwig van Beethoven Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 2, Letter No. 602, p. 296]

[Original: not known, existence of letter derived from the registration note on Letter No. 603 of September 17, 1812; details taken from p.  296.]