comfort with as motherly an affection as Madame Breuning had done.  The etiquette of the Palace however, offended Ludwig’s love of Bohemianism, especially the dressing for dinner at a certain time.  He took to dining at a tavern quite frequently, and finally engaged lodgings.  The Prince and his good lady, far from taking offense at this unmannerly behavior, forgave it and always kept for Beethoven a warm place in their hearts, while he, on his part was sincere in his affection for his kind friends.

Beethoven began his lessons with Haydn, but they did not seem to get on well together.  The pupil thought the master did not give him enough time and attention.  When Haydn went to England, about a year after the lessons began, Beethoven studied with several of the best musicians of the city, both in playing and composition.  Albrechtsberger, one of these, was a famous contrapuntist of his time, and the student gained much from his teaching.  The young musician was irresistible when he seated himself at the piano to extemporize.  “His improvisating was most brilliant and striking,” wrote Carl Czerny, a pupil of Beethoven.  “In whatever company he might be, he knew how to produce such an effect upon the listeners that frequently all eyes would be wet, and some listeners would sob; there was something wonderful in his expressive style, the beauty and originality of his ideas and his spirited way of playing.”  Strange to say the emotion he roused in his hearers seemed to find no response in Beethoven himself.  He would sometimes laugh at it, at other times he would resent it, saying, “We artists don’t want tears, we want applause.”  These expressions however only concealed his inner feelings—­for he was very sympathetic with those friends he loved.  His anger, though sharp, was of short duration, but his suspicions of those whose confidence he had won by his genius and force of character, were the cause of much suffering to himself and others.

Beethoven in appearance was short and stockily built; his face was not at all good looking.  It is said he was generally meanly dressed and was homely, but full of nobility, fine feeling and highly cultivated.  The eyes were black and bright, and they dilated, when the composer was lost in thought, in a way that made him look inspired.  A mass of dark hair surmounted a high broad forehead.  He often looked gloomy, but when he smiled it was with a radiant brightness.  His hands were strong and the fingers short and pressed out with much practise.  He was very particular about hand position when playing.  As a conductor he made many movements, and is said to have crouched below the desk in soft passages; in Crescendos he would gradually lift himself up until at the loudest parts he would rise to his full height with arms extended, even springing into the air, as though he would float in space.

Beethoven as a teacher, showed none of the impatience and carelessness that were seen in his personal habits.  He insisted on a pupil repeating the passage carefully a number of times, until it could be played to his satisfaction.  He did not seem to mind a few wrong notes, but the pupil must not fail to grasp the meaning or put in the right expression, or his anger would be aroused.  The first was an accident, the other would be a lack of knowledge of feeling.