teristics date from this period. First, his constant habit of
drawing inspiration directly from Nature, of which he was a passionate
and persistent lover. He says of himself "No one can love the country
as I love it. Here alone can I learn wisdom. Every tree exclaims to me
'Holy, Holy, Holy.'" In long walks through wood and field he would
allow his thoughts to germinate, giving himself up utterly to creative
emotion. When in this state of mind Madame von Breuning used to say
that he was in his "raptus." Consequently, in comparison with the
works of previous composers, which often have a note of primness and
artificial restraint--they smell a bit of the lamp and the
study--those of Beethoven have the elemental power of Nature herself,
especially shown in the vigor and variety of the rhythm. Second, he
would always carry sketch books in which to jot down ideas as they
came to him. These he would polish and improve--sometimes for
years--before they took final shape. Many of these sketch books[134]
have been preserved and edited, and they illustrate, most vividly,
Beethoven's method of composing: slow, cautious, but invincible in its
final effect; an idea frequently being altered as many as twenty
times. At the age of twenty-two he was chiefly known as a pianist with
wonderful facility in improvisation; his compositions had been
insignificant. The next eight years--up to 1800, when Beethoven was
thirty--were spent in acquainting himself with the Viennese
aristocracy and in building up a public clientele. Then follows the
marvellous period until 1815 in which his power of inspiration was at
its height, and which gave to the world a body of work for magnitude
and variety never surpassed: all the symphonies except the Ninth, the
first twenty-seven pianoforte Sonatas, five concertos for pianoforte
and orchestra, the opera of Fidelio, several Overtures, numerous
string quartets and ensemble chamber music. We realize even more
vividly the heroic and sublime character of Beethoven when we learn
that, as early as 1798, there began the signs of that deafness which
altered his whole life. By nature he was hypersensitive, proud and
high-strung, and these qualities were so aggravated by his malady that
he became suspicious, at times morose, and his subsequent career was
checkered with the violent altercations, and equally spasmodic
renewals of friendship, which took place between him and his best
friends. His courage was extraordinary.