WEBVTT - Beethoven's Immortal Beloved, Part 2 0:00:00.240 --> 0:00:04.600 Welcome to Noble Blood, A production of iHeartRadio and Grim 0:00:04.600 --> 0:00:12.560 and Mild from Aaron Manky. Listener discretion advised. I weep 0:00:12.600 --> 0:00:15.240 when I think that you will probably not receive the 0:00:15.280 --> 0:00:18.479 first news of me until Saturday. As much as you 0:00:18.600 --> 0:00:22.439 love me, I love you even more deeply, But but 0:00:22.640 --> 0:00:26.920 never hide yourself from me. Good Night, As one bathing, 0:00:27.120 --> 0:00:31.040 I must go to sleep. Oh God, so near, so far? 0:00:31.840 --> 0:00:35.720 Is not our love a true heavenly edifice, but also 0:00:35.920 --> 0:00:41.480 firm like the firmament. This is a widely accepted translation 0:00:41.720 --> 0:00:46.080 of a piece of the second part of Beethoven's famous 0:00:46.200 --> 0:00:52.040 Immortal Beloved Letter. This portion, in particular, weaves together passionate 0:00:52.120 --> 0:00:57.240 language and specific references in a way that provides context clues, and, 0:00:57.520 --> 0:01:03.960 almost two centuries later, still Bill Spark's debates between musicologists, historians, 0:01:04.319 --> 0:01:10.400 and ardent Beethoven aficionados. In the spirit of classic sonata form, 0:01:10.880 --> 0:01:13.800 Let's do a quick recap of what we covered in 0:01:13.880 --> 0:01:18.920 part one. The Immortal Beloved Letter was found in Beethoven's 0:01:19.000 --> 0:01:22.800 Vienna estate after he died in eighteen twenty seven, and 0:01:22.959 --> 0:01:28.319 published in eighteen forty by his secretary, who likely misdated 0:01:28.400 --> 0:01:34.280 the letter and misidentified its romantic mark. Further research showed 0:01:34.400 --> 0:01:39.160 that Beethoven almost certainly wrote the letter in eighteen twelve, 0:01:39.520 --> 0:01:42.919 when he was in the Austrian resort town of Taplets. 0:01:43.520 --> 0:01:47.680 Before arriving there, he was in Prague and probably saw 0:01:47.720 --> 0:01:53.240 his immortal beloved for one possibly steamy night. He also 0:01:53.480 --> 0:01:56.920 must have had an inkling she was headed to Carlsbad, 0:01:57.000 --> 0:02:02.120 another Spa town. This all led several scholars, especially in 0:02:02.200 --> 0:02:08.200 the US, to believe that the immortal beloved was Antony Brentano. 0:02:08.600 --> 0:02:13.880 Her whereabouts lined up, But this claim raised questions about 0:02:13.960 --> 0:02:19.320 Beethoven's morals and patterns of both falling for unattainable women 0:02:19.840 --> 0:02:26.040 and ingratiating himself with prominent families. Those behavioral patterns all 0:02:26.080 --> 0:02:30.040 factor into the case for the other most widely believed 0:02:30.040 --> 0:02:36.600 immortal beloved candidate, Countess Josephine von Brunswick. Just about all 0:02:36.639 --> 0:02:41.880 biographers seem to agree that Beethoven's love for Josephine surpassed 0:02:42.040 --> 0:02:46.000 all others, But does that mean beyond a doubt she 0:02:46.320 --> 0:02:52.000 was the muse of his soulful but perplexing letter. Yet again, 0:02:52.320 --> 0:02:57.320 the potential links between Beethoven's personal life and his work 0:02:57.760 --> 0:03:02.200 are too compelling to ignore, for example, what we're listening 0:03:02.320 --> 0:03:08.000 to now. A composition for solo piano titled Andante Favori 0:03:08.639 --> 0:03:13.320 was originally a movement for a full sonata before Beethoven 0:03:13.480 --> 0:03:17.000 pulled it out to be a standalone piece on its own. 0:03:17.200 --> 0:03:21.200 It was purportedly intended to be a declaration of love 0:03:21.360 --> 0:03:27.160 to Josephine, and one that some musicologists claim directly connects 0:03:27.160 --> 0:03:31.440 to other works in Beethoven's repertoire, as well as to 0:03:31.520 --> 0:03:36.560 that all important letter that stirred up the eternally beguiling 0:03:36.680 --> 0:03:42.839 story of his immortal beloved. I'm Danas Schwartz and this 0:03:43.040 --> 0:03:52.400 is noble blood. In seventeen ninety nine, the Brunswick sisters 0:03:52.440 --> 0:03:56.360 went on an exciting trip to Vienna, where Teres and 0:03:56.600 --> 0:04:01.760 Josephine both took music lessons from Bethos. The twenty eight 0:04:01.880 --> 0:04:06.000 year old composer already had an illustrious reputation by then, and, 0:04:06.160 --> 0:04:10.480 according to Therese's memoirs, became so fond of her and 0:04:10.520 --> 0:04:14.040 her sister that he came every day to teach them 0:04:14.160 --> 0:04:17.720 for the rest of their stay. Later, he jointly dedicated 0:04:17.760 --> 0:04:21.320 the work six variations on his iicdank Dine for four 0:04:21.360 --> 0:04:26.200 hands to both of them. A highly motivating factor in 0:04:26.279 --> 0:04:30.880 Beethoven's wanting to teach the two Brunswick sisters for free, 0:04:30.880 --> 0:04:36.240 no less was that he supposedly became infatuated with the 0:04:36.360 --> 0:04:41.200 twenty year old Josephine right away. It's largely accepted that 0:04:41.279 --> 0:04:47.560 Beethoven wrote and unofficially dedicated multiple works to Josephine. He 0:04:47.839 --> 0:04:51.960 likely would have officially dedicated many pieces in published form 0:04:52.040 --> 0:04:56.440 to her if not for the sizeable obstacles standing in 0:04:56.480 --> 0:05:00.960 the way of their possible romance. A monument mental issue 0:05:01.360 --> 0:05:06.680 was social class. The Brunsvicks, who by European nobility standards 0:05:06.720 --> 0:05:10.960 were far from the most prominent or powerful, were still 0:05:11.120 --> 0:05:17.640 reportedly firmly against Josephine marrying a commoner, even if that 0:05:17.880 --> 0:05:23.559 commoner was the Beethoven, an already renowned composer and sought 0:05:23.560 --> 0:05:29.400 after teacher. So tragically for Beethoven, although Josephine was reportedly 0:05:29.520 --> 0:05:34.520 his type to a tea incredibly beautiful, engaging, musically talented, 0:05:35.040 --> 0:05:38.480 her mother set her up with someone in Vienna whom 0:05:38.600 --> 0:05:42.599 she saw as more suitably high class, a man named 0:05:42.720 --> 0:05:48.920 Joseph Count Dame. Despite Josephine being much younger than the Count, 0:05:49.320 --> 0:05:54.160 and perhaps being initially ordered into the marriage. By many accounts, 0:05:54.200 --> 0:05:58.640 the relationship turned into a relatively happy one. According to 0:05:58.720 --> 0:06:04.080 some sources, Betooven was disheartened, but his relationship with Josephine 0:06:04.120 --> 0:06:07.839 did not end. He remained close with the Brunswicks and 0:06:08.120 --> 0:06:14.080 kept giving Josephine music lessons for years. Beethoven even established 0:06:14.120 --> 0:06:18.240 a close friendship with Count Dame, which makes some of 0:06:18.320 --> 0:06:23.240 Beethoven's true intentions and romantic feelings a little tricky to 0:06:23.400 --> 0:06:31.560 infer during this period. Then, in eighteen o four, Beethoven 0:06:31.720 --> 0:06:36.920 began making his affections very clear. While Josephine was pregnant 0:06:37.000 --> 0:06:41.160 with her fourth child, Count Dame died. In an apparent 0:06:41.240 --> 0:06:46.240 attempt to comfort the grief stricken Josephine, Beethoven wrote her 0:06:46.360 --> 0:06:50.640 the song and die hoffnuon or to Hope, set to 0:06:50.720 --> 0:06:54.920 text by C. A. Tch. In doing so, he allegedly 0:06:55.040 --> 0:06:59.599 caused a small kerfuffle when a visiting prince saw the 0:06:59.720 --> 0:07:04.600 un published version with Josephine's name on it. Beethoven then 0:07:04.800 --> 0:07:08.560 basically had to do damage control as word that he 0:07:08.720 --> 0:07:12.840 was planning to officially dedicate a piece to a recently 0:07:12.920 --> 0:07:18.960 widowed countess might have caused a public scandal. Still, in private, 0:07:19.320 --> 0:07:25.200 Beethoven's love steadily crescendoed. Once the possibility of Josephine remarrying 0:07:25.400 --> 0:07:29.600 was on the table, a series of fourteen love letters 0:07:29.680 --> 0:07:32.960 he wrote to her were found in the Brunswick family's 0:07:33.000 --> 0:07:38.160 possession and published in nineteen fifty seven. According to many 0:07:38.400 --> 0:07:44.720 modern historians and musicologists, these passionate messages were likely sent 0:07:44.960 --> 0:07:48.800 from eighteen oh four up until eighteen o nine or 0:07:48.840 --> 0:07:54.120 eighteen ten, and Beethoven's phrasing in them is notable. In 0:07:54.160 --> 0:07:59.080 relation to his Immortal Beloved letter. He addresses Josephine as 0:07:59.240 --> 0:08:02.840 my angel in both, and in his love letter series 0:08:02.880 --> 0:08:07.280 he makes many references to remaining faithful to her, calling 0:08:07.320 --> 0:08:12.080 her his beloved, his only Jay, and his beloved Jay. 0:08:12.640 --> 0:08:16.320 Of course, a crucial factor in all of this, and 0:08:16.520 --> 0:08:20.480 one that has spawned immense debate, is the level to 0:08:20.560 --> 0:08:27.679 which Josephine reciprocated Beethoven's feelings. Relatively little of her own 0:08:27.760 --> 0:08:32.120 writing seems to have survived, so it's tricky to gauge 0:08:32.160 --> 0:08:36.720 her emotional mindset at various points. Still, a few of 0:08:36.840 --> 0:08:42.600 Josephine's letters were ultimately unearthed. Here is a translated portion 0:08:42.800 --> 0:08:46.679 of one of her written replies to Beethoven's love letters. 0:08:47.600 --> 0:08:51.720 My soul was already enthusiastic for you, even before I 0:08:51.800 --> 0:08:56.720 knew you personally. This was increased through your affection. A 0:08:56.800 --> 0:09:01.200 deep feeling in my soul incapable of Russian made me 0:09:01.360 --> 0:09:05.160 love you. However, later in the same letter, she went 0:09:05.240 --> 0:09:09.320 on to say, this preference that you granted me the 0:09:09.360 --> 0:09:13.280 pleasure of your acquaintance, would have been the finest jewel 0:09:13.400 --> 0:09:18.439 of my life if you could have loved me less sensually. Similarly, 0:09:18.600 --> 0:09:23.360 in another letter, she stated, you have long had my heart, 0:09:23.400 --> 0:09:27.040 dear Beethoven. If this assurance can give you joy, then 0:09:27.160 --> 0:09:33.080 receive it, but later clarified, I love you inexpressibly as 0:09:33.160 --> 0:09:36.800 one gentle soul to another. Are you not capable of 0:09:36.840 --> 0:09:41.200 this covenant? I am not receptive to other forms of 0:09:41.280 --> 0:09:45.760 love for the present. Some biographers have argued that while 0:09:45.840 --> 0:09:52.520 Josephine cherished Beethoven's friendship and musical genius, she very kindly 0:09:52.720 --> 0:09:58.400 yet firmly tried to shut down his amorous overtures. Others 0:09:58.440 --> 0:10:03.800 have claimed that Josephine's true romantic inclinations are hard to ascertain, 0:10:04.440 --> 0:10:07.600 since she so often had to weigh them against her 0:10:08.000 --> 0:10:15.480 financial troubles, maternal responsibilities, and family's wishes. Researchers then dialed 0:10:15.559 --> 0:10:20.520 up even more of this analytical dissonance when they eventually 0:10:20.640 --> 0:10:25.960 compiled the letters, notes, and diary fragments of Josephine's sister 0:10:26.240 --> 0:10:31.000 Theres and published them in nineteen thirty eight, long after 0:10:31.080 --> 0:10:35.240 her death. Some of these documents show that after the 0:10:35.280 --> 0:10:40.560 Immortal Beloved Letter was published and Julietta Jucciardi was proposed 0:10:40.640 --> 0:10:46.040 as the intended recipient, Theres doubted the mysterious letter was 0:10:46.120 --> 0:10:50.240 to Julieta. She assumed it must have been to her 0:10:50.280 --> 0:10:55.880 sister Josephine, although it's possible Theres's understanding of the letter's 0:10:55.960 --> 0:11:00.080 date may have still been off. In any case, Here 0:11:00.160 --> 0:11:05.200 is a translation of one of Theresa's entries Beethoven. It 0:11:05.320 --> 0:11:08.040 is like a dream that he was the friend, the 0:11:08.120 --> 0:11:13.040 confident of our house, a beautiful mind. Why did not 0:11:13.280 --> 0:11:17.840 my sister Josephine, as widow dame take him as her husband, 0:11:18.320 --> 0:11:23.600 Josephine's soulmate. They were born for each other. The timing 0:11:23.720 --> 0:11:27.640 of the release of documents relating to the Immortal Beloved Letter, 0:11:28.080 --> 0:11:32.320 along with the absence of some of Josephine's personal writings 0:11:32.360 --> 0:11:37.240 does beg some questions about the Brunswick family. Did some 0:11:37.520 --> 0:11:41.560 information take a while in getting out simply because descendants 0:11:41.640 --> 0:11:46.080 and researchers needed time to comb through a large or 0:11:46.480 --> 0:11:51.520 disorganized state, or were members of the Brunswick family at 0:11:51.760 --> 0:11:56.839 times motivated to keep some materials out of public view. 0:11:57.720 --> 0:12:01.559 If so, was there a general fear of dirty laundry 0:12:01.600 --> 0:12:06.400 being aired, or was there a more specific scandal to 0:12:06.440 --> 0:12:12.240 be carefully covered up, because according to some scholars, there's 0:12:12.360 --> 0:12:17.360 a chance Josephine could have been in Prague on July third, 0:12:17.559 --> 0:12:22.679 eighteen twelve, and, as the more sealicious version of the 0:12:22.679 --> 0:12:27.400 theory goes, a one night tryst with Beethoven produced a 0:12:27.440 --> 0:12:35.240 Love Letter and a Love Child as a prelude to 0:12:35.400 --> 0:12:40.640 our celebrated composer's pivotal spa filled summer. Here's a bit 0:12:40.679 --> 0:12:46.319 more backstory, accompanied by Beethoven's piano trio in D major, 0:12:46.760 --> 0:12:52.079 Opis seventy number one, nicknamed the Ghost Trio. He composed 0:12:52.120 --> 0:12:56.679 it in eighteen o eight and dedicated it to Countess 0:12:56.840 --> 0:13:01.440 Marie Erduri, who, fun fact, was an another person briefly 0:13:01.480 --> 0:13:06.720 floated as the immortal Beloved while Beethoven was off courting 0:13:06.840 --> 0:13:11.800 other countesses. After seemingly being rebuffed for years by Josephine, 0:13:12.200 --> 0:13:18.160 Josephine met Estonian baron Christoph van Stockelberg in eighteen o eight. 0:13:18.640 --> 0:13:22.600 She got pregnant, and though her family was reportedly not 0:13:22.840 --> 0:13:26.840 thrilled about the match, she married Stockelberg in eighteen ten 0:13:27.000 --> 0:13:31.480 in a wedding with no guests. Sadly for Josephine, according 0:13:31.520 --> 0:13:38.000 to virtually all accounts, her second marriage was miserable. Stockelberg 0:13:38.160 --> 0:13:42.880 turned out to have extensive money troubles. Additionally, at that 0:13:43.120 --> 0:13:48.360 time in the Austrian Empire, aristocratic mothers were beholden to 0:13:48.440 --> 0:13:53.280 their husbands when it came to retaining custody and guardianship 0:13:53.360 --> 0:13:59.400 of their children, and Stockelberg allegedly often manipulated Josephine by 0:13:59.480 --> 0:14:03.120 threatening to take her children away from her, and often 0:14:03.200 --> 0:14:09.280 followed through. Given those familial problems, Josephine's apparent whereabouts in 0:14:09.320 --> 0:14:14.160 eighteen twelve and her seemingly ended relationship with Beethoven at 0:14:14.160 --> 0:14:18.760 the time, many scholars ruled her out as the addressee 0:14:18.800 --> 0:14:23.160 of the Immortal Beloved Letter for the record, though several 0:14:23.400 --> 0:14:27.680 did contend that Josephine was the intended recipient at different 0:14:27.720 --> 0:14:31.800 points in the twentieth century. To them, the fraught but 0:14:32.160 --> 0:14:36.800 enduring romantic connection was undeniable, even if some of the 0:14:37.040 --> 0:14:42.320 logistics were difficult to explain and over time for their. 0:14:42.400 --> 0:14:48.720 Examinations of Beethoven's other love letters and Terrez's diary, as 0:14:48.760 --> 0:14:52.920 well as additional Brunswick family documents that have surfaced in 0:14:52.960 --> 0:14:57.200 the last twenty years, appear to have bolstered the case 0:14:57.240 --> 0:15:02.000 for Josephine, or at least weakn and some arguments against 0:15:02.040 --> 0:15:06.600 her as the immortal beloved. For instance, in two thousand 0:15:06.720 --> 0:15:12.680 and seven, a Canadian musicologist found and published more documents 0:15:13.040 --> 0:15:18.840 from the Brunswick estate. Excerpts from Josephine's diary and notes 0:15:18.960 --> 0:15:23.200 left behind by her second husband, including a table of 0:15:23.440 --> 0:15:27.520 moral rules he left her to follow, make their relationship 0:15:27.720 --> 0:15:32.800 seem very rocky during the summer of eighteen twelve. They 0:15:32.920 --> 0:15:37.520 also show that Stockelberg likely left Josephine on her own 0:15:38.000 --> 0:15:42.560 that June and July. Furthermore, in a diary entry in 0:15:42.720 --> 0:15:48.800 June of eighteen twelve, Josephine expressed an intention to visit Prague. 0:15:49.360 --> 0:15:52.680 This makes it highly possible that she was in the 0:15:52.800 --> 0:15:58.680 city on July third, when Beethoven potentially had a fateful 0:15:58.880 --> 0:16:04.400 romantic rendez prior to writing his Immortal Beloved letter. Deeper 0:16:04.440 --> 0:16:09.080 analysis also revealed that Josephine possibly had plans to go 0:16:09.120 --> 0:16:13.680 to Carlsbad. Currently, there's no proof she went, but her 0:16:13.760 --> 0:16:18.000 intention to go could have been enough for Beethoven to 0:16:18.160 --> 0:16:22.800 consider sending his letter to Kay, and her then not 0:16:23.000 --> 0:16:26.280 going to Carlsbad after all, might have been a reason 0:16:26.440 --> 0:16:31.680 he never sent it. Here things become more speculative in 0:16:31.800 --> 0:16:37.640 several historians' claims. Some argue that Beethoven and Josephine met 0:16:37.720 --> 0:16:43.040 in Prague, and due to her unhappy and unfulfilling marriage, 0:16:43.520 --> 0:16:47.840 and perhaps even as the culmination of years of secretive longing, 0:16:48.480 --> 0:16:53.760 the two shared a night of passionate intimacy. Backers of 0:16:53.920 --> 0:16:58.840 this theory often point out the suspicious timing of the 0:16:58.880 --> 0:17:04.320 birth of Josephine's daughter, Minona, nine months after her apparent 0:17:04.840 --> 0:17:10.480 separation from Stockelberg, as well as remarks people made about 0:17:10.520 --> 0:17:15.760 how Minona looked very different from her siblings. A child 0:17:16.000 --> 0:17:19.720 born out of wedlock would also help to explain some 0:17:19.840 --> 0:17:26.600 of the Brunswick's later interfamily conflicts and Beethoven's cryptic messages. 0:17:27.520 --> 0:17:31.520 All that said, critics of this idea tend to dismiss 0:17:31.560 --> 0:17:36.919 it as pure sensationalism and similar to there being skepticism 0:17:37.040 --> 0:17:41.880 about the other main candidate we covered, Antony Brentano, There 0:17:41.920 --> 0:17:46.920 are vastly differing opinions on Josephine as the Immortal Beloved. 0:17:47.480 --> 0:17:53.000 Some scholars assert that Josephine clearly dashed Beethoven's romantic hopes 0:17:53.359 --> 0:17:57.960 and cut him off several years before eighteen twelve, while 0:17:58.080 --> 0:18:02.840 others maintain that Beta Beethoven kept up his relationship or 0:18:03.200 --> 0:18:08.440 some form of communication with Josephine and her siblings. Some 0:18:08.600 --> 0:18:12.639 say Josephine couldn't have been the Immortal Beloved because of 0:18:12.680 --> 0:18:19.680 the conversation referenced in Fanny Gientasio's eighteen sixteen diary entry, 0:18:20.160 --> 0:18:23.920 in which Beethoven said he'd gotten to know a woman 0:18:24.200 --> 0:18:28.280 five years before and that it was the greatest happiness 0:18:28.400 --> 0:18:34.280 of his life. Other question that diaries possible bias, since 0:18:34.320 --> 0:18:38.879 Fanny herself was supposedly enamored with Beethoven and her father 0:18:39.080 --> 0:18:42.240 was sessing out whether the composer might want to marry her. 0:18:43.200 --> 0:18:47.640 Of the many researchers who do accept the entry's account, 0:18:48.119 --> 0:18:52.879 some still interpret the five years comment Fanny made in 0:18:53.000 --> 0:18:56.800 different ways. Maybe it was a rough estimate by Fanny. 0:18:57.560 --> 0:19:01.040 Was it when Beethoven met a certain woman for the 0:19:01.080 --> 0:19:04.400 first time, or could it have been when he got 0:19:04.440 --> 0:19:08.600 to know someone more intimately? This brings us back to 0:19:08.720 --> 0:19:14.320 the subjectivity of such personal documents and leads us to 0:19:14.400 --> 0:19:20.560 the case for one last immortal beloved candidate, Bettina von 0:19:20.920 --> 0:19:27.720 Arnim formerly Brentano. Bettina has not gained quite the same 0:19:27.800 --> 0:19:32.960 level of scholarly support as Antony or Josephine, but she's 0:19:33.160 --> 0:19:38.800 recently garnered increased interest. She was the half sister of 0:19:39.040 --> 0:19:44.040 Franz Brentano, who married Antony, and many of the same 0:19:44.119 --> 0:19:49.240 parameters that contributed to the argument for Antony seemingly also 0:19:49.400 --> 0:19:54.720 applied to her. Bettina also met Beethoven in eighteen ten, 0:19:55.359 --> 0:20:00.800 thus fulfilling the rough window of Fanny's diary entry. By 0:20:00.840 --> 0:20:06.399 eighteen twelve, she was married, hence the hypothetical need for secrecy. 0:20:06.960 --> 0:20:10.679 Betina also intended to go to Carlsbad in the summer 0:20:10.720 --> 0:20:15.680 of eighteen twelve, then supposedly changed her plans and went 0:20:15.720 --> 0:20:20.840 to Teplete where Beethoven wrote his letter, which would readily 0:20:20.880 --> 0:20:24.960 explain why he didn't need to send it. Bettina was 0:20:25.040 --> 0:20:30.840 also an exceedingly accomplished singer, pianist, and composer, which possibly 0:20:30.880 --> 0:20:36.360 made her especially attractive to Beethoven. Again, his romantic feelings 0:20:36.400 --> 0:20:41.120 allegedly hinged on many traits. It is interesting, though, that 0:20:41.240 --> 0:20:46.480 some of his strongest infatuations did seem to involve many 0:20:46.560 --> 0:20:52.639 women who were themselves terrific musicians. One further link is 0:20:52.680 --> 0:20:57.719 that among Beethoven's surviving letters, there appeared to be only 0:20:57.920 --> 0:21:01.960 two in which he used the the informal German do 0:21:02.359 --> 0:21:06.520 form of you when writing to a woman. One was 0:21:06.560 --> 0:21:10.439 his Immortal Beloved letter, the other was a letter he 0:21:10.600 --> 0:21:15.320 sent to Betina a year earlier. Still, like any other 0:21:15.560 --> 0:21:21.879 immortal beloved candidacy, Bettina has detractors and possible holes. Some 0:21:22.119 --> 0:21:27.879 musicologists and German speaking biographers claim the way Beethoven used 0:21:28.000 --> 0:21:31.640 the second person due form in his letter to Bettina 0:21:32.160 --> 0:21:36.440 seems more friendly than romantic, and that his love letters 0:21:36.440 --> 0:21:41.959 to Josephine utilized phrases that also implied an informal and 0:21:42.240 --> 0:21:48.200 coy tone. Bettina's case also took hits Over the years since, 0:21:48.280 --> 0:21:54.120 she allegedly had a habit of embellishing stories, including ones 0:21:54.200 --> 0:21:59.800 involving Beethoven interacting with another famous friend, writer Johann Wolfgang. 0:22:01.280 --> 0:22:05.600 Bettina also published letters that she initially claimed to have 0:22:05.640 --> 0:22:11.800 been written by Beethoven that many historians subsequently discounted as forgeries, 0:22:12.200 --> 0:22:17.359 which diminished her overall credibility in certain scholarly circles. The 0:22:17.440 --> 0:22:21.520 reality is probably no piece of evidence will appear that 0:22:21.960 --> 0:22:28.040 irrevocably proves the identity of Beethoven's immortal beloved, and maybe 0:22:28.119 --> 0:22:32.639 that's part of the enduring fascination. The letter is a 0:22:32.880 --> 0:22:39.200 romantic riddle that keeps everyone from professional musicologists to casual 0:22:39.240 --> 0:22:44.360 fans of classical music guessing and debating, and in many ways, 0:22:44.400 --> 0:22:49.520 the sheer divisiveness of various theories and staunch loyalty of 0:22:49.560 --> 0:22:54.879 certain camps speaks to the letter's incredible lasting impact. In 0:22:54.920 --> 0:22:59.320 addition to what it conveys to a possible recipient and 0:22:59.440 --> 0:23:03.560 what it says about Beethoven, the letter also reveals a 0:23:03.760 --> 0:23:08.720 great deal about us those who dig into its mystery. 0:23:09.320 --> 0:23:14.560 Perhaps it's easy to emotionally invest in certain speculations and 0:23:15.040 --> 0:23:20.320 candidates because it's easy to project personal feelings and experiences 0:23:20.359 --> 0:23:25.120 onto Beethoven, his fraught personal life and the individual who 0:23:25.280 --> 0:23:28.960 earned his undying love, whoever they were. For those who 0:23:29.000 --> 0:23:33.879 have suffered through heartfelt longing and heartbreak, the way in 0:23:33.960 --> 0:23:39.480 which Beethoven closes his Immortal Beloved Letter is often as 0:23:39.600 --> 0:23:44.800 relatable as it is raw. Be calm. Only through quiet 0:23:44.840 --> 0:23:48.560 contemplation of our existence can we reach our goal to 0:23:48.640 --> 0:23:54.840 live together. Be patient, love me today, yesterday, what longing 0:23:55.000 --> 0:24:01.880 with tears for you? You, you my love, my all. Farewell, Oh, 0:24:01.920 --> 0:24:06.320 continue to love me. Never misjudge the most faithful heart 0:24:06.520 --> 0:24:15.959 of your beloved l Forever yours, forever mine, forever us. 0:24:17.160 --> 0:24:21.320 The original pages of the Immortal Beloved Letter now reside 0:24:21.480 --> 0:24:25.919 in the Berlin State Library, and its contents continue to 0:24:26.119 --> 0:24:32.520 fuel research articles and ample scholarly squabbling. The letter even 0:24:32.640 --> 0:24:38.480 inspired the nineteen ninety four movie Immortal Beloved that erroneously 0:24:38.680 --> 0:24:43.280 depicted Beethoven's sister in La johannav On Beethoven as the 0:24:43.400 --> 0:24:49.200 addressy speaking of more improbable candidates. We are now listening 0:24:49.240 --> 0:24:53.840 to Beethoven's piano Sonata Number twenty eight in a Major 0:24:54.240 --> 0:24:57.639 Opus one hundred and one, which he composed in eighteen 0:24:57.800 --> 0:25:03.800 fifteen and eighteen sixteen, and dedicated to Countess Dorothea Rtmann, 0:25:04.080 --> 0:25:08.760 another pianist. Around the time, he was reportedly looking back 0:25:08.880 --> 0:25:13.639 on his time spent with his immortal beloved Fascinatingly, in 0:25:13.680 --> 0:25:18.040 addition to leaving behind its own complex legacy, the Immortal 0:25:18.080 --> 0:25:23.760 Beloved letter might have inspired other similar love letters. Composer 0:25:23.960 --> 0:25:28.360 Richard Wagner, known to be very familiar and very enamored 0:25:28.400 --> 0:25:33.160 with Beethoven's life and work, became infatuated with a married 0:25:33.280 --> 0:25:37.800 woman and wrote her an impassioned final letter that, according 0:25:37.840 --> 0:25:43.119 to some biographers, has a striking resemblance to Beethoven's famous 0:25:43.240 --> 0:25:48.240 enigmatic message. Wagner apparently wrote his letter on the same 0:25:48.480 --> 0:25:53.720 date that Beethoven began drafting his July sixth. It contained 0:25:53.880 --> 0:25:58.879 similar phrases, and it even seems to clearly reference specific 0:25:59.000 --> 0:26:05.320 passages Beethoven's secretary wrote about Beethoven's love life. Then get this. 0:26:06.040 --> 0:26:12.119 Wagner's tragic love letter seemingly inspired Austrian composer Albin Berg, 0:26:12.560 --> 0:26:16.240 a big Wagner fan, to write a similar sounding letter 0:26:16.359 --> 0:26:21.240 to the unattainable love of his life. It's worth noting 0:26:21.440 --> 0:26:26.840 that it can be difficult to delineate between composers personal feelings, 0:26:27.240 --> 0:26:31.719 their public personas, and some of the creative trappings and 0:26:31.920 --> 0:26:37.520 tropes of the burgeoning romantic movement in Western Europe. Specifically, 0:26:37.680 --> 0:26:42.040 the notion of pining away for an unattainable love became 0:26:42.160 --> 0:26:46.840 a fashionable theme and an undercurrent of many artists' work 0:26:47.000 --> 0:26:52.840 across multiple mediums. Relatedly, there has been substantial debate over 0:26:53.000 --> 0:26:58.240 historians and critics' shifting views on the relationship between a 0:26:58.320 --> 0:27:04.760 composer's music and their biography. Scholarly opinions very massively on 0:27:04.920 --> 0:27:09.480 how readily we should accept musical works as outpourings of 0:27:09.520 --> 0:27:14.120 a composer's inner self. That said, this is a podcast, 0:27:14.560 --> 0:27:17.919 it would seem a missed opportunity to feature some of 0:27:18.160 --> 0:27:23.520 classical music's most timeless pieces without highlighting at least a 0:27:23.560 --> 0:27:30.800 few more possible romantic connections using Beethoven's own auditory love language. 0:27:31.480 --> 0:27:37.160 Searching for secret musically encoded messages can certainly go too far, 0:27:37.880 --> 0:27:41.639 but there is also a humorous irony in the most 0:27:41.880 --> 0:27:46.879 narrow quests to parse every last phrase of Beethoven's letter, 0:27:47.480 --> 0:27:51.280 when he often called out his own limitations with language, 0:27:51.720 --> 0:27:56.200 claiming quote music is more at my command than words, 0:27:56.920 --> 0:28:01.919 So let's close by letting Beethoven's compositions do most of 0:28:02.000 --> 0:28:07.960 the talking. Many musicologists have pointed out links between specific 0:28:08.119 --> 0:28:12.760 Beethoven pieces and the Immortal Beloved Letter. The music theory 0:28:12.880 --> 0:28:18.280 can get granular and in some cases even obsessive, but 0:28:18.560 --> 0:28:24.280 three related works that frequently come up as having demonstrably 0:28:24.480 --> 0:28:31.080 similar themes are Andante favori, written for Josephine in eighteen 0:28:31.080 --> 0:28:33.919 oh three and eighteen oh four, which we heard in 0:28:34.000 --> 0:28:48.480 part one song number six of the To the Distant 0:28:48.560 --> 0:28:53.719 Beloved song cycle Opus ninety eight, composed eighteen sixteen and 0:28:53.800 --> 0:28:59.280 said to poetry by Alois Jechle. According to some musicologists, 0:28:59.680 --> 0:29:04.840 this was Beethoven calling out to the same beloved whom 0:29:04.920 --> 0:29:08.360 he told in his Immortal Beloved Letter quote, I have 0:29:08.520 --> 0:29:13.400 resolved to stray about in the distance, and it contains 0:29:13.440 --> 0:29:21.400 a very similar specific musical phrase to Andante favorie. And finally, 0:29:21.600 --> 0:29:28.160 the third movement Andante molto contibile ed espressivo of piano 0:29:28.320 --> 0:29:43.520 sonata at number thirty Opus one hundred and nine. If 0:29:43.520 --> 0:29:47.600 you remember, this was the sonata we previously heard that 0:29:47.800 --> 0:29:53.880 was dedicated to Antony's daughter Maximilian, but was Beethoven also 0:29:54.120 --> 0:29:59.280 using a theme originally and maybe still meant for Josephine. 0:30:00.440 --> 0:30:04.320 Let's hear each excerpt one more time and then you 0:30:04.400 --> 0:30:08.400 can judge. Were these merely cases of a master leaning 0:30:08.560 --> 0:30:13.520 on a favorite motif, an emotional composer leaning into the 0:30:13.640 --> 0:30:18.440 artistic ideals of his era, a cheeky interloper hoping his 0:30:18.560 --> 0:30:25.200 beloved would hear his musical messaging, a heartbroken romantic lamenting 0:30:25.280 --> 0:30:30.280 a love that could never be? And or are these 0:30:30.520 --> 0:30:54.480 just some pieces of immortally moving music. That's part two 0:30:54.800 --> 0:31:00.600 of the perpetually gripping story of Beethoven's Immortal Beloved. But 0:31:00.960 --> 0:31:04.560 stick around after a brief sponsor break to learn a 0:31:04.600 --> 0:31:17.880 little bit more about Beethoven's other famous unsent letter. When 0:31:17.920 --> 0:31:21.760 the Immortal Beloved letter was found at Beethoven's estate, so 0:31:22.240 --> 0:31:28.680 was one other crucial unsent document. The Heiligenstadt Testament, was 0:31:28.720 --> 0:31:33.080 a message Beethoven drafted to his brothers in eighteen o 0:31:33.200 --> 0:31:38.400 two about his struggles with his hearing loss, depression, and 0:31:38.600 --> 0:31:43.200 related grappling over whether to commit suicide or to continue 0:31:43.240 --> 0:31:46.640 to live on for the sake of producing more music. 0:31:47.320 --> 0:31:51.760 It is tough to fully fathom the pain and isolation. 0:31:52.320 --> 0:31:56.720 Beethoven endured during vast periods of his life, and his 0:31:56.880 --> 0:32:02.400 plight brings up many complicated questions regarding how his suffering 0:32:02.520 --> 0:32:07.760 inhibited or fueled his genius. One thing is for sure, though, 0:32:08.200 --> 0:32:13.400 considering his transcendent creative output for the last twenty five 0:32:13.480 --> 0:32:16.880 years of his life, the music loving world can be 0:32:17.200 --> 0:32:23.640 endlessly thankful that Beethoven continually chose his beloved art of composing. 0:32:28.480 --> 0:32:32.840 This episode was written by Paul Jeffy. One final note 0:32:32.880 --> 0:32:36.360 for this episode, our producers for the show found most 0:32:36.440 --> 0:32:39.440 of the Beethoven music we got to listen to for 0:32:39.520 --> 0:32:44.400 this special musical two parter from museopen dot org, a 0:32:44.560 --> 0:32:49.280 free website and nonprofit that provides access to classical music 0:32:49.320 --> 0:32:53.400 recordings and sheet music and other educational material. If you're 0:32:53.440 --> 0:32:59.240 interested in hearing more Beethoven, absolutely go check the site out. 0:33:03.000 --> 0:33:06.760 Noble Blood is a production of iHeart Radio and Grim 0:33:06.800 --> 0:33:10.360 and Mild from Aaron Mankey. Noble Blood is hosted by 0:33:10.400 --> 0:33:15.960 me Dana Schwartz, with additional writing and research by Hannah Johnston, Hannahswick, 0:33:16.120 --> 0:33:20.240 Courtney Sender, Amy Hit and Julia Melaney. The show is 0:33:20.440 --> 0:33:25.400 edited and produced by Jesse Funk with supervising producer rima 0:33:25.560 --> 0:33:30.040 il KLi and executive producers Aaron Manke, Trevor Young, and 0:33:30.120 --> 0:33:35.640 Matt Frederick. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, 0:33:35.920 --> 0:33:43.840 Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.