BEGINNING LATE PERIOD

VIENNA - 1814 (Age 43 years)

MEDICAL: Despite Beethoven's continual efforts to find medical advise and treatment, his intermittent abdominal pains, infections, fevers, headaches, and now complete deafness continued. "Conversation books" were extensively used to communicate more efficiently. In the end, over 400 of these books were filled (with over 250 of them destroyed and/or altered by one of Beethoven's secretaries - Anton Schindler, who sought an idealized recollection of Beethoven after his death.

CREATIVE / FINANCIAL: By June 1813, he picked himself up and found the motivation to begin composing again, perhaps associated with the news of Napoleon's armies having been defeated at Vittoria, Spain, by forces led by the Duke of Wellington. This news prompted his completing the "battle symphony - Wellington's Victory," performed December 8, 1813. The performance was a success and led the public to ask for his "Fidelio" to be performed again. Beethoven completed its third revision and performances in July 1814 were well received. Other compositions that summer included his piano sonata No. 27, Opus 90 - the first written after a five-year hiatus from the last. He also created several songs including the song cycle, "An die ferne Geliebte, and in 1815 - the second rendition of "An die Hoffnung," Opus 94, the first of which was written in 1805 as a gift to Josephine Brunsvik.

A new lyrical strain emerged with a sense of inner peace; a sense similar to that of the fantasy sonatas of 1802. But, by the end of 1813, melancholia had developed and composition slowed with a marked decrease in creative output over the years 1813-1815.

1814 Copper Engraving by Hofel

FAMILY - SOCIAL ISSUES: Caspar Carl married Johanna Reiss on May 25, 1806, with their only child, Karl born 4 months later on September 4, 1806. Beethoven opposed this marriage, pointing to Johanna's theft conviction in 1811, etc., (He had also opposed his brother Johann's marriage in 1812.), but visited them frequently. Beethoven visited his brother Carl who was ill with tuberculosis late in October 1812 and within a few months - by early 1813, he provided significant care of him. Beethoven suffered emotionally and complained that the cost of his efforts had left him penniless. During this time, his physical appearance became disheveled, his public manners declined, and his work output decreased. Casper Carl died of his progressive tuberculosis on November 14, 1815. Shortly before his death Casper Carl signed a will - first granting Beethoven exclusive custody over Karl - their only son - but then signed a codicil restating his wish to assign joint custody to Beethoven and to his wife. Upon Casper Carl's death, Beethoven immediately brought suit in the upper courts, seeking sole guardianship over Karl, then 9 years old. This was granted in February 1816, but the mother appealed leading to a full resolution only years later in 1820.

It is likely not a simple coincidence that Beethoven's creative output declined between the years 1815 and 1817, given his legal struggles over Karl and his struggles to provide proper care of the boy. In addition, Beethoven suffered from a protracted illness that began in October 1816.

Beethoven: "There is much to be done on earth, do it soon." "I must not continue my present everyday life; art demands this sacrifice too. Rest and find diversion only in order to act all the more forcefully in art." [Tagebuch #25] ... "No time passes more quickly, rolls by faster, then when our mind is occupied or when I spend it with my Muse." [Tagebuch #31]