at to induce him to
undertake it at all. His dislike for improvising for others was
deep-seated, and was increased by his deafness.

In the fall we find him visiting his brother Johann at Linz, where he
made quite a long stay. It was not alone Johann whom he was visiting; he
had good friends there, among them Kapellmeister Gloeggl, whom he saw
nearly every day. At the latter's request the master composed three
equali for trombones for All Souls' Day, then near at hand. These
equali, as it turned out, were eventually used for Beethoven's funeral.
The Kapellmeister's son, then a lad of fourteen, relates an incident of
this time with Beethoven as the central figure. A resident of Linz, a
certain Herr Graf von Doenhoff, who was a great admirer of Beethoven,
gave an entertainment in his honor. After some of his music had been
rendered by others, Beethoven was asked to extemporize, which he
declined absolutely to do. Shortly after he disappeared. Supper being
ready a search for him was instituted, but he was not to be found, so
the company, after some delay, repaired to the adjoining room. They had
hardly seated themselves at the table, when they heard some one at the
piano. Gradually, one by one, they found themselves in the other room,
where Beethoven was extemporizing. This he kept up for nearly an hour,
when, suddenly coming to a realization of the circumstances, and looking
around, he saw the entire company listening in rapt attention. He at
once got up from the instrument and hastily left the room, either
through anger or embarrassment. Such was his haste that he ran against a
table containing fine porcelain bric-a-brac, which, of course, was
shattered. The Count, with easy good nature, made some reassuring
remark, upon which they all made another essay at the supper.

His object in going to Linz was not altogether for the purpose of making
visits. A disagreeable duty had to be performed; Johann's relations
with a young woman, whom he had taken as housekeeper, had become a
scandal; the good repute of the family was at stake, and Beethoven went
there with the express design of putting an end to the matter. Johann
was not at all amenable to argument, and contested the elder brother's
right to interfere. The dispute became so bitter that a personal combat
between the brothers occurred. It finally required the combined
ecclesiastical and secular authority of Linz (bishop, magistrate and
police), to effect the expulsion of