166.

TO MR. BIRCHALL,—­LONDON.

Vienne, le 3.  Febr. den 1816

VOUS RECEUES CI JOINT—­

Le grand Trio p.  Pf.  V. et Vllo.  Sonata pour Pf. et Violin—­qui form le reste de ce qu’il vous a plus a me comettre.  Je vous prie de vouloir payer la some de 130 Ducats d’Holland come le poste lettre a Mr. Th.  Cutts et Co. de votre ville e de me croire avec toute l’estime et consideration

Votre tres humble Serviteur,

LOUIS VAN BEETHOVEN.

167.

TO CZERNY.[1]

MY DEAR CZERNY,—­

Pray give the enclosed to your parents for the dinners the boy had recently at your house; I positively will not accept these gratis.  Moreover, I am very far from wishing that your lessons should remain without remuneration,—­even those already given must be reckoned up and paid for; only I beg you to have a little patience for a time, as nothing can be demanded from the widow, and I had and still have heavy expenses to defray;—­but I borrow from you for the moment only.  The boy is to be with you to-day, and I shall come later.

Your friend,

BEETHOVEN.

[Footnote 1:  Carl Czerny, the celebrated pianist and composer, for whom Beethoven wrote a testimonial in 1805 (see No. 42).  He gave lessons to Beethoven’s nephew in 1815, and naturally protested against any payment, which gave rise to the expressions on the subject in many of his notes to Czerny, of which there appear to be a great number.]

168.

TO CZERNY.[1]

Vienna, Feb. 12, 1816.

DEAR CZERNY,—­

I cannot see you to-day, but I will call to-morrow being desirous to talk to you.  I spoke out so bluntly yesterday that I much regretted it afterwards.  But you must forgive this on the part of an author, who would have preferred hearing his work as he wrote it, however charmingly you played it.  I will, however, amply atone for this by the violoncello Sonata.[2]

Rest assured that I cherish the greatest regard for you as an artist, and I shall always endeavor to prove this.

Your true friend,

BEETHOVEN.

[Footnote 1:  Czerny, in the A.M.  Zeitung, 1845, relates:—­“On one occasion (in 1812), at Schuppanzigh’s concert, when playing Beethoven’s quintet with wind-instruments, I took the liberty, in my youthful levity, to make many alterations,—­such as introducing difficulties into the passages, making use of the upper octaves, &c., &c.  Beethoven sternly and deservedly reproached me for this, in the presence of Schuppanzigh, Linke, and the other performers.”]

[Footnote 2:  Opera 69, which Czerny (see A.M.  Zeitung) was to perform with Linke the following week.]

169.

TO RIES,—­LONDON.

Vienna, Feb. 28, 1816.