How did Beethoven...?

How did Beethoven earn his living between 1792 and 1801 ?

Beethoven has been a musician under the Bonn electoral's payrolls since 1784. He leaves Bonn for Vienna in 1792. The main purpose of this trip to Vienna is to study counterpoint with Haydn before coming back to Bonn again, therefore he is still under the Bonn's payroll. Although Beethoven has written quite a lot of music while he was in Bonn, he is generally regarded as a virtuoso pianist. What opportunity could be opened to a musician in those days? Most musicians before Beethoven's time can only survive under patronage. Even a genius like Mozart can barely survive as a free lance. However at Beethoven's time, the expansion of the bourgeois opens up more opportunities in teaching, performing and organising a concert. A composer also can earn an extra income from the fee of his published works.

Beethoven relies on his salary from the Bonn court during his early years in Vienna before the payment ceases in May 1794 as a result of court dissolution. This could bring a lot of vexation to his financial situation since his salary is the only source of his income. Fortunately, his reputation both as a pianist and a composer leads him to Prince Carl Lichnowsky who is a great music lover. Through this connection, Beethoven begins to be asked to play at the private aristocratic salons. This brings him close to potential piano students and potential subscribers of his compositions.

Let's look at the musical scene in Vienna in the 1790s to see what Beethoven could have produced to suit the market during that period. In Vienna at that time, there are operas, instrumental music, and oratorio as majorities. Private concerts can also be found in the private houses of nobility. These are the canvas for heavy weight ones. For amateur middle class music making, there are the so-called private academies. The contents of this light weight academies are quartets, symphonies, arias from the latest operas, piano sonata, etc. We can conclude that there is a market in the following genres opened to Beethoven:

• • Orchestral works: Symphonies, Concertos, Ballet, Overture, etc.

  • Chamber works: Trio, Quartet, Septet, etc.

  • Piano works: Piano sonata, Variations, etc.

  • Vocal and Choral works: Opera, Songs, etc.

It is not much of a surprise that after he is forced to be a free lance in 1794, his outputs in piano sonata and chamber orchestra increase considerably. His works with opus number in which he considers as more important than those without opus number also increase sharply. Having successfully established himself as a pianist and composer around private houses of nobility, he aims for a larger audience group. A public concert debut follows by a concert tour is the next logical strategy for Beethoven.

Beethoven completes his piano concerto no.2 in Bb in 1795 and make his first debut to the public of Vienna on 29 March 1795 at the annual benefit concert given in aid of the widows and orphans of the musicians. In 1796, Beethoven has two successful concert trips. His letter to his brother Johann in 1796 shows that he seems to be very satisfied with both his career and financial situation [Eaglefield-Hull 72b].

In 1797, Beethoven contracts the illness which leads to his subsequent deafness and poor health for the rest of his life. Ironically, as his deafness increases, his success in musical career blossoms. His output between 1797-1800 are mainly piano works, chamber works and orchestral works. Monument works like Piano concerto no.1; no.3, Symphony no.1, Septet, Pathetique sonata, etc. are accomplished in this period.

Apparently, Beethoven does not give any concert tour after recovering from his sickness in 1797. This could have stemmed from his poor health and his realization of his increasing deafness. In a letter to his old Bonn friend dated 1801 [Eaglefield-Hull 72a], he expresses his misery over his health and an increasing difficulty in social interactions due to his deafness. Beethoven gradually retracts from social functions and this must have driven him into a deep depression state. Around this time, with his fame as a piano virtuoso, he gradually ceases from piano playing and turns more towards compositions. Another good news comes in 1800, Prince Lichnowsky grants Beethoven an annuity of 600 florins until he could find a permanent appointment. This gives Beethoven financial security and perhaps relieves him from writing to the public test.

Beethoven's style in his early period could be influenced by the music of Bach, Handel and his older contemporaries: Haydn, Mozart, Salieri and Clementi. Around 1800-1801, after finishing op.28, he confides to his intimate friend Krumpholz Sonneck[Sonneck 67].: "I am not very well satisfied with the work I have thus far done. From this day on, I shall take a new path."

Conclusion

After spending his first five years in Vienna (1792-1796), we can see that Beethoven's source of income has shifted from the sole salary under the court patronage (during his Bonn years till 1794) to a sum of incomes from teaching piano, giving concert, from subscribers and from fee of his published compositions. Beethoven is able to establish himself and live on freelance earnings in quite a short time attributes to the fact that he is a first class pianist and the greatest improviser.

The period of 1797-1801 is an even much more successful period for Beethoven except for his poor health. He is acclaimed as both piano virtuoso and composer. There is always demand for his music, so much so that he has to turn down the commissions offered. He is in need as a piano teacher, a performer and a composer. It could be concluded that the first ten-year-period in Vienna is the time Beethoven is at his peak financially.