obility, or for friends of the
composers.

Beethoven believed that if he were to write one or two operas, his
income would be reinforced to such an extent as to enable him to give
his attention wholly to the production of symphonies and masses, a style
of composition to which he was inclined by temperament. In the early
symphonies we already have a foreshadowing of what he could do in the
production of great orchestral music, the desire for which in later
years controlled him wholly. Like most men of genius Beethoven had
little regard for money, and until middle age was reached, never thought
of saving any. He valued it only in so far as he could use it for
himself or others. It may be said in passing that he gave it away
freely, glad to be of service to others. His income, augmented by his
copyrights, did not keep pace with his expenditures; when a friend
needed money and he had none, he would give him a composition instead,
which the other would turn into cash.

The manager of the theatre, An der Wien, had, before this, made
overtures to Beethoven to write an opera, and he went so far as to take
up his quarters in the theatre, preparatory to this work; but a change
in the management made it necessary to give up the idea for the time
being. In 1804, the offer in regard to the opera was renewed, and work
was begun upon it. It took up a large part of his time until its
production in November of 1805. It is probable that he took more pains
with this work than was devoted to any other of his compositions with
the exception of the Mass in D. His capacity for work was extraordinary,
particularly at this time, and the delight that he experienced in
producing these masterpieces was still new to him, which in itself was
an incentive to great exertion. His approaching deafness also had a good
deal to do with his great activity. The ailment had progressed steadily
from the time of its first appearance; at the time of which we write he
had abandoned all hope of any aid from medical treatment; by throwing
himself heart and soul into his work, he could forget for the time the
misfortune which was closing in on him. He feared that a period of
absolute deafness might set in when he would be unable to hear any of
his works, and the desire must have been great to accomplish as much as
possible before that time should come.

Beethoven does not seem to have been very hard to suit in the way of a
libretto at this time. He probably gave