Mozart was astonished. He was amazed that this German boy showed such
skill. He listened for a while in silence; then he arose and tiptoed
from the room. He whispered to some friends, "Keep your eye on this
youth. He will make a noise in the world some day."
Beethoven had been in Vienna only a short time when he received sad news
from home. A letter from Bonn told him that his mother was dying. He
hastened home, and reached there only a few days before her death.
Beethoven was very sad. He wrote to a friend, "Who was happier than I so
long as I could speak the sweet name of mother? There is none to whom I
can say it now."
Beethoven decided to remain in Bonn. He felt that he must do something
to help support the family; so he made up his mind to give music
lessons.
Among his pupils was a lad from one of the wealthiest families of Bonn.
The mother in this family was a woman of culture and refinement. She
often invited Beethoven to her home and talked with him as his own
mother might have done.
She gave him the finest books to read. He became interested in the best
writings. He read the poems of Goethe with great pleasure, and was fond
of English poets as well. He spent many hours studying the works of
Shakespeare and Milton.
For five years Beethoven taught music in his native town. During this
time he made many friends. One of these was a count, and a very good
friend he proved to be.
After Beethoven's first visit to Vienna he longed to go there again. His
friend, the count, had often heard him express this wish. The gift of a
piano and some money from the count helped Beethoven to obtain his wish.
In 1792 he went to Vienna to study music. He became the pupil of Haydn.
He did not have many lessons from that teacher, for Haydn soon left the
city.
When Mozart was twenty-five he had published nearly three hundred
compositions. Beethoven at the same age had published almost none. After
his arrival in Vienna, however, he began to write down some of the
beautiful music which filled his mind. These compositions won for him
many friends among the families of rank in Vienna.
Princes and nobles vied with one another in entertaining him. They saw
in him a musician of great promise. They were proud that such a composer
had chosen Vienna for his home. They appreciated his music and were
always glad to hear it.
Scarcely a day passed that Beethoven did not play in the home of some
person of wealth. During the first few years that he spent in Vienna, he
did not appear in concerts. He played only in the homes of his friends,
where his symphonies delighted all hearers.
Beethoven was an eccentric man. His friends were people of fashion, but
he cared little for style. In fact, he was often untidy in his dress.
His clothes were loose and ill-fitting. His hair was long and unkempt.
His aristocratic friends were polished and courteous in their manners.
Beethoven was impolite and even rude at times.
In spite of all these faults, his friends were fond of Beethoven. It has
been said of him, that he "never let go of what seemed to him the
right." He was honest and sincere in all that he did. He was
warm-hearted and generous. For all these things he was loved.
Among Beethoven's friends was a prince. He and his wife lived in a
beautiful palace and kept many servants. They invited Beethoven to live
with them. He was a member of their household for several years.
[Illustration: _C. Schloesser_