28. THE FIRST PORTRAITS OF BEETHOVEN

 
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN Portrait in oil signed Bock or Boch Did this portrait inspire that of the painter Stainhauser which is lost? Or is it the reverse? This question cannot be answered with certainty. ( Private Collection, Berlin)
 
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN After a gravure of C. F. Riedel ( Beethovenhaus, Bonn)
 
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN After a gravure by Johann Neidl ( Beethovenhaus, Bonn) Both engravings are based on the lost painting by Stainhauser.
-96-
 
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN ( 1803) Miniature on ivory by Christian Horneman This portrait was donated by Beethoven to his friend Stephan von Breuning as token of a reconciliation. In the accompanying letter (see below) Beethoven admits his wrongdoing and asks his friend to forget what had happened. (Bodmer, Zürich)
 
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN ( 1804-05) Portrait in oil by Willibord Joseph Mähler This is the first of four portraits by this painter. It remained in Beethoven's possession until he died and then went to his nephew Karl. Today it belongs to one of his descendants. (Private Collection, Vienna)
 
AUTOGRAPH OF BEETHOVEN TO STEPHAN VON BREUNING This letter accompanied the miniature portrait above made by Horneman. (Bodmer, Zürich)
-97-
 
CZAR ALEXANDER I OF RUSSIA ( 1777-1825) Oil portrait by Monnier A music lover, the Czar had forgotten, however, to thank Beethoven for the dedication of opus 30, the Three Sonatas for Piano and Violin. Only in 1815 when Beethoven dedicated the Polonaise for Piano, opus 89 to Empress Elizabeth of Russia did he receive fifty ducats for the polonaise and additionally one hundred ducats for the mentioned sonatas. (Former Collection Stroganoff, Moscow)
 
THREE SONATAS FOR PIANO AND VIOLIN, OPUS 30 Dedicatory page for Czar Alexander I Composed in 1802, the work was published in 1803 by the Bureau d'Arts et d'Industrie in Vienna. (van Hoboken, Ascona)
 
POLONAISE FOR PIANO, OPUS 89 Dedicatory page for the Empress Elizabeth of Russia Composed in 1814, the work was published by Pierre Mechetti in Vienna in 1815. ( Society of Friends of Music, Vienna)
-98-
 
LOUIS FERDINAND, PRINCE OF PRUSSIA ( 1772-1806) Unsigned oil painting The Prince, a nephew of Frederick the Great, fell in the battle of Saalfeld, October 10, 1806. He was a musician and composer of genuine talent and had unlimited admiration for Beethoven whose musical style influenced him. That Beethoven esteemed the Prince is proved by a remark made to the effect that "he plays piano not like a King or a Prince but like an excellent pianist"-Beethoven meant this to be a most flattering compliment. (National Gallery, Berlin)
 
PIANO CONCERTO NO. 3, C MINOR, OPUS 37 Title page with dedication for Louis Ferdinand, Prince of Prussia Composed in 1800, the concerto was premiered by Beethoven at the Theater an der Wien on April 5, 1803. On this occasion he also conducted for the first time his Second Symphony, opus 36, and his oratorio "Christ on Mount Olive," opus 85. The C minor Piano Concerto was published by the Bureau d'Arts et d'Industrie in 1804. ( Society of Friends of Music, Vienna)
-99-