Yet beneath these eccentricities what wealth of tenderness, sympathy,
and kindliness existed! His affection for his graceless nephew Karl is a
touching picture. With the rest of his family he had never been on very
cordial terms. His feeling of contempt for snobbery and pretense is very
happily illustrated in his relations with his brother Johann. The latter
had acquired property, and he sent Ludwig his card, inscribed "Johann
van Beethoven, land-owner." The caustic reply was a card, on which
was written, "Ludwig van Beethoven, brain-owner." But on Karl all the
warmest feelings of a nature which had been starving to love and be
loved poured themselves out. He gave the scapegrace every luxury and
indulgence, and, self-absorbed as he was in an ideal sphere, felt the
deepest interest in all the most trivial things that concerned him. Much
to the uncle's sorrow, Karl cared nothing for music; but, worst of
all, he was an idle, selfish, heartless fellow, who sneered at his
benefactor, and valued him only for what he could get from him. At last
Beethoven became fully aware of the lying ingratitude of his nephew, and
he exclaims: "I know now you have no pleasure in coming to see me, which
is only natural, for my atmosphere is too pure for you. God has never
yet forsaken me, and no doubt some one will be found to close my eyes."
Yet the generous old man forgave him, for he says in the codicil of his
will, "I appoint my nephew Karl my sole heir."
Frequently, glimpses of the true vein showed themselves in such little
episodes as that which occurred when Moscheles, accompanied by his
brother, visited the great musician for the first time.
"Arrived at the door of the house," writes Moscheles, "I had some
misgivings, knowing Beethoven's strong aversion to strangers. I
therefore told my brother to wait below. After greeting Beethoven, I
said: 'Will you permit me to introduce my brother to you?'
"'Where is he?' he suddenly replied.
"'Below.'
"'What, down-stairs?' and Beethoven immediately rushed off, seized hold
of my brother, saying: 'Am I such a savage that you are afraid to come
near me?'
"After this he showed great kindness to us."
While referring to the relations of Moscheles and Beethoven, the
following anecdote related by Mme. Moscheles will be found suggestive.
The pianist had been arranging some numbers of "Fidelio," which he
took to the composer. He, _à la_ Haydn, had inscribed the score with the
words, "By God's help." Beethoven did not fail to perceive this, and he
wrote underneath this phylactory the characteristic advice: "O man, help
thyself."
The genial and sympathetic nature of Beethoven is illustrated in this
quaint incident:
It was in the summer of 1811 that Ludwig Lowe, the actor, first met
Beethoven in the dining-room of the Blue Star at Toplitz. Lowe was
paying his addresses to the landlord's daughter; and conversation being
impossible at the hour he dined there, the charming creature one day
whispered to him: "Come at a later hour when the customers are gone and
only Beethoven is here. He cannot hear, and will therefore not be in
the way." This answered for a time; but the stern parents, observing
the acquaintanceship, ordered the actor to leave the house and not to
return. "How great was our despair!" relates Lowe. "We both desired to
correspond, but through whom? Would the solitary man at the opposite
table assist us? Despite his serious reserve and seeming churlishness,
I believe he is not unfriendly. I have often caught a kind smile across
his bold, defiant face." Lôwe determined to try. Knowing Beethoven's
custom, he contrived to meet the master when he was walking in the
gardens. Beethoven instantly recognized him, and asked the reason why he
no longer dined at the Blue Star. A full confession was made, and then
Lowe timidly asked if he would take charge of a letter to give to the
girl.
"Why not?" pleasantly observed the rough-looking musician. "You mean
what is right."
So pocketing the note, he was making his way onward when Lowe again
interfered.
"I beg your pardon, Herr van Beethoven, that is not all."
"So, so," said the master.
"You must also bring back the answer," Lowe went on to say.
"Meet me here at this time to-morrow," said Beethoven.
Lowe did so, and there found Beethoven awaiting him, with the coveted
reply from his lady-love. In this manner Beethoven carried the letters
backward and forward for some five or six weeks--in short, as long as he
remained in the town.
His friendship with Ferdinand Ries commenced in a way which testified
how grateful he was for kindness. When his mother lay ill at Bonn, he
hurried home from Vienna just in time to witness her death. After the
funeral he suffered greatly from poverty, and was relieved by Ries the
violinist. Years afterward young Ries waited on Beethoven with a letter
of introduction from his father. The composer received him with cordial
warmth, and said: "Tell your father I have not forgotten the death of
my mother." Ever afterward he was a helpful and devoted friend to young
Ries, and was of inestimable value in forwarding his musical career.
Beethoven in his poverty never forgot to be generous. At a concert given
in aid of wounded soldiers, where he conducted, he indignantly refused
payment with the words: "Say Beethoven never accepts anything where
humanity is concerned." To an Ursuline convent he gave an entirely new
symphony to be performed at their benefit concert. Friend or enemy
never applied to him for help that he did not freely give, even to the
pinching of his own comfort.