Vienna, June 21, 1801
I am
really a little surprised at the message you sent me through your business
agent in Vienna. I almost feel inclined to be annoyed with you for thinking
me capable of playing such a dirty trick. It would be a different matter
if I had handed over this affair of mine to greedy tradesmen and, in
addition, were speculating successfully in secret. But writing as artist
to artist, it is really a bit too much to suspect me of such dealings.
It seems to me that either the whole affair has been carefully thought
out in order to test me or is merely a supposition. In any case I will
satisfy your curiosity by informing you that before you received the
septet from me I had sent it to London, to Herr Salomon (to be performed
at his concert, and this I did purely out of friendship), but with the
reminder to make certain that it would not fall into the hands of strangers,
because I intended to have it engraved in Germany. If you consider it
necessary, you yourself may ask him about this. But in order to give
you a further proof of my rectitude, I give you herewith my written
assurance that I have sold the septet, the concerto, the symphony and
the sonata to nobody else in the world but to yourselves, Herren Hoffmeister
& Kuhnel, and that you may certainly regard those works as your
exclusive property; and on that I stake my honour. In any case you may
make whatever use you like of this assurance -- Let me add that I am
as little inclined to believe that Salomon is capable of such a dirty
trick as that of having the septet engraved as I am of having sold it
to him -- I am so conscientious that I have refused to give the pianoforte
arrangement of the septet to several publishers who approached me about
this. Yet I don't even know whether you are going to make use of the
septet in that arrangement -- The titles of my works which I promised
long ago to let you have are as follows: --
Concert pour le piano-forte avec deux
violons, viola, basse et violon-celle, une flute, deux oboes, deux cors,
deux fagots, compose et dedie a Monsieur Charles Nikl noble de
Nikelsberg Conseiller Aulique de sa Majeste Imperiale et Royale
par
Louis van Beethoven
oeuvre
19
_________________________________________
Septette pour un violon, viole violoncelle, contrebasse, un cors, une
clarinette, un fagot
compose
et dedie
a
sa Majeste l'Imperatrice et Reine
par
Louis van Beethoven
oeuvre
20
_________________________________________
Grande simphonie avec deux violons viole violoncell et contre Basse,
deux flute, deux oboe, deux cors, deux fagots, deux clarines et tymbales
Composee
et dediee
a
son altesse serenissime
Maximilien
Francois
Prince
Royal d'hongrie et de Boheme
Electeur
de Cologne, etc.
par
Louis
van Beethoven
oeuvre
21
_________________________________________
Grande
Sonata pour le piano-forte
composee
e dediee
a
Monsieur
le
comte de Browne
Brigadier
au service de S.M.I. de
touttes
les Russies
par
Louis
van Beethoven
oeuvre
22
_________________________________________
Much will still have to be altered or
corrected in the titles. I leave that to you -- I am expecting shortly
to receive from you a letter and soon too the works themselves. I should
like to see them engraved, because other works composed after them and
in the same numerical series have already been or are being published.
I have written to Salomon as well. But
since I am treating your remarks merely as a rumour, which you picked
up a little too credulously, or even as a supposition which perhaps
occurred to you, because you had heard somewhere or other that I had
sent the work to S[alomon], well then to such credulous friends I cannot
help describing myself somewhat coolly
as
your friend
L.
v. Bthvn