64. “The great pianists have nothing but technique and affectation.”

(Fall of 1817, to Marie Pachler-Koschak, a pianist whom Beethoven

regarded very highly. “You will play the sonatas in F major and C minor,

for me, will you not?”)

65. “As a rule, in the case of these gentlemen, all reason and feeling

are generally lost in the nimbleness of their fingers.”

(Reported by Schindler as a remark of Beethoven’s concerning pianoforte

virtuosi.)