rs,

BEETHOVEN.

[Footnote 1: The _Rochlitz'sche article_ is probably the report in the
_A.M. Zeitung_ of the works performed at the grand concert of May 7.]

384.

TO HERR SCHOTT,--MAYENCE.

1824.

The Overture[1] that you got from my brother was recently performed here,
and I received many eulogiums on the occasion.

What is all this compared to the grandest of all masters of harmony above!
above! above! Rightfully the _Most High_! While here below all is a mere
mockery--_Dwarfs_--and the _Most High_!!

You shall receive the Quartet with the other works. You are open and
candid, qualities which I never before found in publishers, and this
pleases me. I say so in writing, but who knows whether it may not soon be
in person? I wish you would transmit the sum due for the Quartet to P., as
at this moment I require a great deal of money, for I derive everything
from foreign sources, and sometimes a delay occurs--caused by myself.

[Footnote 1: The Overture to which he alludes is no doubt Op. 124, in C
major, _Zur Weihe des Hauses_, published by Schott. It was performed in the
great concert of May 23 of this year (1824), which in the estimation of a
Beethoven, already absorbed in new great works, might well be termed
"recently performed." Schott himself says the letter is written between
July 3 and September 17, 1824.]

385.

TO THE ARCHDUKE RUDOLPH.

Baden, August 23, 1824.

YOUR ROYAL HIGHNESS,--

I live--how?--the life of a snail. The unfavorable weather constantly
throws me back, and at these baths it is impossible to command one's
natural strength. A few days ago, Naegeli, a musical author and poet of
considerable repute, wrote to me from Zurich; he is about to publish 200
poems, and among these some are suitable for musical composition. He urged
me much to apply to Y.R.H. to request that you would be graciously pleased
to subscribe to this collection. The price is very moderate, 20 groschen,
or 1 florin 80 kreutzers. Were Y.R.H. to subscribe for six copies, it would
immediately be noised abroad, although I am well aware that my illustrious
master does not care for anything of the kind; it will suffice for the
present if Y.R.H. will condescend to inform me of your will on the subject.
The money can be paid when the copies arrive, probably a couple of months
hence. I have conveyed Herr Naegeli's request, and now I must ask another
favor, on his account, from myself. Everything cannot be measured by