1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:04,600 Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood. A production of iHeartRadio and Grim 2 00:00:04,600 --> 00:00:11,720 Speaker 1: and Mild from Aaron Mankie listener discretion advised in the morning, 3 00:00:12,119 --> 00:00:16,239 Speaker 1: my angel, my all, myself, only a few words today, 4 00:00:16,360 --> 00:00:20,319 Speaker 1: and indeed with pencil, with yours only tomorrow is my 5 00:00:20,480 --> 00:00:24,280 Speaker 1: lodging positively fixed? What a worthless waste of time on such? 6 00:00:24,760 --> 00:00:29,680 Speaker 1: Why this deep grief? When necessity speaks? Can our love exist? 7 00:00:29,800 --> 00:00:34,479 Speaker 1: But by sacrifices, by not demanding everything? Can you change it? 8 00:00:34,680 --> 00:00:38,479 Speaker 1: That you not completely mine? I am not completely yours? 9 00:00:38,880 --> 00:00:42,480 Speaker 1: Oh God, look upon beautiful nature and calm your soul 10 00:00:42,960 --> 00:00:47,720 Speaker 1: over what must be. Love demands everything and completely with 11 00:00:47,840 --> 00:00:51,120 Speaker 1: good reason. So it is for me with you, for 12 00:00:51,320 --> 00:00:55,880 Speaker 1: you with me. This is a translation of the opening 13 00:00:56,040 --> 00:01:00,440 Speaker 1: of one of the most famous love letters ever written, 14 00:01:00,840 --> 00:01:06,200 Speaker 1: which was composed by arguably the most influential romantic composer 15 00:01:06,440 --> 00:01:10,080 Speaker 1: who ever lived. You might have heard of him, Ludwig 16 00:01:10,280 --> 00:01:16,240 Speaker 1: van Beethoven. Ten small pages hold the trove of passionate 17 00:01:16,680 --> 00:01:21,119 Speaker 1: and conflicted feelings that he scribbled one summer in Old 18 00:01:21,319 --> 00:01:26,080 Speaker 1: German script, with, as he noted, the very pencil he 19 00:01:26,160 --> 00:01:31,119 Speaker 1: borrowed from the intended recipient of his letter. That recipient 20 00:01:31,319 --> 00:01:35,679 Speaker 1: is addressed later in his Emotive Outpouring only as his 21 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:42,280 Speaker 1: quote immortal beloved. Beethoven wrote his message to his immortal 22 00:01:42,319 --> 00:01:46,920 Speaker 1: beloved in three parts over two days, and there seems 23 00:01:46,959 --> 00:01:50,400 Speaker 1: to be no proof that it was ever actually received. 24 00:01:51,040 --> 00:01:55,080 Speaker 1: The multi part letter was discovered at Beethoven's estate in 25 00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:59,760 Speaker 1: Vienna after his death in eighteen twenty seven, and over 26 00:01:59,840 --> 00:02:03,760 Speaker 1: the course of nearly two hundred years it has become 27 00:02:03,960 --> 00:02:08,560 Speaker 1: one of the most hotly contested documents in all of 28 00:02:08,680 --> 00:02:14,600 Speaker 1: Western music historiography. This is largely thanks to the sheer 29 00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:20,919 Speaker 1: number of enticing mysteries that the letter presents. First among them, 30 00:02:21,320 --> 00:02:27,280 Speaker 1: who was the immortal beloved Beethoven did not actually ever 31 00:02:27,480 --> 00:02:33,000 Speaker 1: use his intended recipient's name. Beethoven was never married, and 32 00:02:33,120 --> 00:02:38,240 Speaker 1: by all accounts, he had a fairly disastrous love life. Nevertheless, 33 00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:42,239 Speaker 1: there is ample evidence that he became enamored with several 34 00:02:42,360 --> 00:02:47,119 Speaker 1: countesses and women of high social status throughout his adulthood, 35 00:02:47,639 --> 00:02:52,080 Speaker 1: and by analyzing clues in his personal writing and the 36 00:02:52,120 --> 00:02:57,959 Speaker 1: correspondence of others, scholars have put forth multiple compelling candidates 37 00:02:58,320 --> 00:03:02,079 Speaker 1: as to who might have inspired such an ardent first 38 00:03:02,280 --> 00:03:08,600 Speaker 1: draft of amorous feelings. But maybe Beethoven's music holds the answer. 39 00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:13,400 Speaker 1: You've been listening to Beethoven's Piano Sonata at number thirty 40 00:03:13,720 --> 00:03:19,000 Speaker 1: in E major, Opus one hundred and nine. Multiple musicologists 41 00:03:19,040 --> 00:03:24,320 Speaker 1: and biographers claim that this piece, through both its composition 42 00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:29,480 Speaker 1: and dedication, not only highlights a link between the composer's 43 00:03:29,600 --> 00:03:33,400 Speaker 1: personal life and his creative work, but might hold the 44 00:03:33,400 --> 00:03:38,880 Speaker 1: clues as to the true identity of Beethoven's Immortal Beloved. 45 00:03:39,800 --> 00:03:44,360 Speaker 1: I'm Danish Schwartz and this is a very special musical 46 00:03:44,440 --> 00:03:54,400 Speaker 1: installment of noble blood. The Immortal Beloved letter did not 47 00:03:54,600 --> 00:03:58,760 Speaker 1: initially seem like an enticing mystery. The letter was first 48 00:03:58,880 --> 00:04:02,920 Speaker 1: published in eighteen teen, forty after the composer's death, by 49 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:07,400 Speaker 1: Beethoven's former secretary, who claimed that Beethoven wrote it in 50 00:04:07,480 --> 00:04:13,440 Speaker 1: eighteen o six to Australian Countess Julieta Gucciardi, a former 51 00:04:13,520 --> 00:04:17,000 Speaker 1: piano student of his, while he was taking the waters 52 00:04:17,040 --> 00:04:21,600 Speaker 1: at a Hungarian spa quote on account of his gradually 53 00:04:21,680 --> 00:04:26,800 Speaker 1: increasing deafness. Besides the part about Beethoven's suffering from hearing 54 00:04:26,880 --> 00:04:30,240 Speaker 1: loss and being at a spa, almost none of those 55 00:04:30,279 --> 00:04:31,720 Speaker 1: other details. 56 00:04:31,200 --> 00:04:35,159 Speaker 2: Would prove to be accurate. The likeliest spa Beethoven was 57 00:04:35,200 --> 00:04:39,679 Speaker 2: recuperating at wasn't even a Hungarian one. Beethoven had neither 58 00:04:39,880 --> 00:04:43,760 Speaker 2: dated his letter nor specified his location at the time 59 00:04:43,800 --> 00:04:49,560 Speaker 2: of writing. As later revised statements revealed, it seemed probable 60 00:04:49,640 --> 00:04:54,240 Speaker 2: that Beethoven's secretary had simply guessed at and inserted the 61 00:04:54,360 --> 00:04:59,280 Speaker 2: date and made other assumptions. Researchers later pointed out that 62 00:04:59,320 --> 00:05:03,320 Speaker 2: by eighteen Ohio, Julietta was married and living in Naples. 63 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:07,359 Speaker 2: As will soon discover, a woman being married might not 64 00:05:07,480 --> 00:05:10,880 Speaker 2: have been a total deterrent in terms of Beethoven expressing 65 00:05:11,160 --> 00:05:15,680 Speaker 2: heartfelt sentiments. However, Naples was simply too far from any 66 00:05:15,720 --> 00:05:18,560 Speaker 2: of the spas that he did visit in the summers 67 00:05:18,880 --> 00:05:22,680 Speaker 2: for her to be a plausible candidate. But Julieta, that 68 00:05:22,839 --> 00:05:26,960 Speaker 2: former noble piano student, is still an important figure in 69 00:05:27,040 --> 00:05:31,360 Speaker 2: Beethoven's history. She is the dedicatee of the song We're 70 00:05:31,400 --> 00:05:37,080 Speaker 2: Hearing Now, Beethoven's wildly famous piano sonata number fourteen in 71 00:05:37,240 --> 00:05:41,479 Speaker 2: C sharp minor Opus twenty seven, number two that was 72 00:05:41,560 --> 00:05:46,880 Speaker 2: originally titled Quasi Una Fantasia. Now it's more popularly known 73 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:56,520 Speaker 2: as his Moonlight Sonata. The next widely proposed immortal beloved 74 00:05:56,560 --> 00:06:02,800 Speaker 2: candidate was actually Julietta's cousins. Terrez von Brunswick was from 75 00:06:02,839 --> 00:06:06,520 Speaker 2: a noble Hungarian family, and she was also a piano 76 00:06:06,600 --> 00:06:11,040 Speaker 2: student of Beethoven's. The fact that Terrez and her siblings 77 00:06:11,120 --> 00:06:16,039 Speaker 2: had grown extremely close with their renowned teacher was well established. 78 00:06:16,520 --> 00:06:20,520 Speaker 2: The key question was whether there was any romantic connection 79 00:06:20,880 --> 00:06:24,560 Speaker 2: between Beethoven and Terrez that could have reached such a 80 00:06:24,600 --> 00:06:29,200 Speaker 2: fever pitch. Some of the details present some compelling arguments, 81 00:06:29,760 --> 00:06:35,320 Speaker 2: like Beethoven Terres never married. Interestingly, Beethoven kept a favorite 82 00:06:35,440 --> 00:06:41,040 Speaker 2: portrait of Terrez at his estate until he died, and then, astonishingly, 83 00:06:41,200 --> 00:06:46,800 Speaker 2: in eighteen ninety a published account detailed a secret betrothal 84 00:06:47,000 --> 00:06:51,359 Speaker 2: between the two and eighteen oh six case closed well 85 00:06:51,640 --> 00:06:57,159 Speaker 2: no that specific account proved to be a forgery. Eventually, 86 00:06:57,320 --> 00:07:01,520 Speaker 2: many of Terrez's letters and diary and were found, and 87 00:07:01,560 --> 00:07:07,200 Speaker 2: they did reveal several supposed affairs. But regarding Beethoven, although 88 00:07:07,240 --> 00:07:11,880 Speaker 2: she wrote about him on several occasions with deep friendly affection, 89 00:07:12,560 --> 00:07:16,720 Speaker 2: there was no evidence to claim a strong romantic attraction 90 00:07:16,920 --> 00:07:21,920 Speaker 2: from either side. Nevertheless, Beethoven apparently kept in touch with 91 00:07:22,040 --> 00:07:27,080 Speaker 2: Therez over the course of multiple decades, and he dedicated 92 00:07:27,120 --> 00:07:30,560 Speaker 2: the piece We're listening to now to her, his piano 93 00:07:30,680 --> 00:07:35,560 Speaker 2: Sonata in F sharp major Opus seventy eight, composed in 94 00:07:35,680 --> 00:07:42,120 Speaker 2: eighteen o nine. Biographers subsequently proposed more countesses and socialites 95 00:07:42,200 --> 00:07:46,760 Speaker 2: as immortal beloved possibilities. In the twentieth century, a few 96 00:07:46,920 --> 00:07:51,120 Speaker 2: tidbits of speculation even trickled out that the intended recipient 97 00:07:51,480 --> 00:07:54,840 Speaker 2: could have been a man. There is perhaps no way 98 00:07:54,960 --> 00:07:59,960 Speaker 2: to incontrovertibly rule that out, but virtually all the most 99 00:08:00,280 --> 00:08:04,800 Speaker 2: thorough research on Beethoven's life patterns and relationships at the 100 00:08:04,840 --> 00:08:08,960 Speaker 2: time points to the addressy of the letter being a 101 00:08:09,120 --> 00:08:13,840 Speaker 2: noble or high status woman. The key relationships in question 102 00:08:14,160 --> 00:08:19,720 Speaker 2: often originated in teacher, student, and or artist patron dynamics 103 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:25,040 Speaker 2: that then purportedly sparked feelings in Beethoven that grew stronger. 104 00:08:25,680 --> 00:08:29,840 Speaker 2: But rather than just focus on his known social circles, 105 00:08:30,280 --> 00:08:34,160 Speaker 2: some scholars have focused on the letter itself, trying to 106 00:08:34,200 --> 00:08:38,360 Speaker 2: find more clues to discover who its recipient might have been. 107 00:08:39,240 --> 00:08:44,160 Speaker 2: One especially critical clue was that Beethoven starts the second 108 00:08:44,280 --> 00:08:49,760 Speaker 2: part of his letter quote evening Monday, July sixth by 109 00:08:49,840 --> 00:08:54,120 Speaker 2: looking back at years when July sixth fell on a Monday, 110 00:08:54,559 --> 00:08:59,520 Speaker 2: and cross checking travel documents and other correspondents the situation 111 00:09:00,280 --> 00:09:05,680 Speaker 2: into better focus. It's now widely accepted that Beethoven wrote 112 00:09:05,679 --> 00:09:09,840 Speaker 2: to his immortal beloved in eighteen twelve while in the 113 00:09:09,920 --> 00:09:14,480 Speaker 2: Spa town of Tepletz in the Austrian Empire. Beethoven also 114 00:09:14,559 --> 00:09:19,560 Speaker 2: references his intention to send his letter by post two K, 115 00:09:20,440 --> 00:09:24,800 Speaker 2: which historians generally believe he was using as an abbreviation 116 00:09:25,040 --> 00:09:34,480 Speaker 2: of Carlsbad, another resort town. These details give a more 117 00:09:34,559 --> 00:09:39,200 Speaker 2: precise sense of Beethoven's whereabouts, as well as his artistic 118 00:09:39,280 --> 00:09:43,160 Speaker 2: status and internal struggles at the time. To start with 119 00:09:43,440 --> 00:09:48,160 Speaker 2: some broader personal and career contexts, eighteen twelve was at 120 00:09:48,160 --> 00:09:53,240 Speaker 2: the end of what musicologists later deemed Beethoven's middle or 121 00:09:53,360 --> 00:09:58,160 Speaker 2: heroic period, in which his compositions often tended toward a 122 00:09:58,280 --> 00:10:03,680 Speaker 2: grand style and innov upon classical forms. Right now, we're 123 00:10:03,720 --> 00:10:08,120 Speaker 2: listening to the first movement of Beethoven's Symphony Number eight 124 00:10:08,559 --> 00:10:12,600 Speaker 2: in F major Opus ninety three, which he began working 125 00:10:12,640 --> 00:10:16,160 Speaker 2: on in the summer of eighteen twelve. Although it didn't 126 00:10:16,200 --> 00:10:21,040 Speaker 2: receive glowing acclaim at its premiere, critics, audiences, and other 127 00:10:21,120 --> 00:10:26,280 Speaker 2: composers have since extolled the beautiful, witty, and masterful manner 128 00:10:26,320 --> 00:10:29,240 Speaker 2: in which it both recalled the works of composers like 129 00:10:29,600 --> 00:10:33,600 Speaker 2: Mozart and Hayden and started to shake up certain norms 130 00:10:33,679 --> 00:10:39,080 Speaker 2: of symphonic structure. By eighteen twelve, Beethoven had also already 131 00:10:39,120 --> 00:10:43,400 Speaker 2: dealt with a myriad of personal obstacles. Early on. His 132 00:10:43,600 --> 00:10:48,439 Speaker 2: home life was reportedly dismal due to his parents' contentious 133 00:10:48,480 --> 00:10:53,880 Speaker 2: marriage and his father's alcoholism. According to accounts from friends, 134 00:10:54,280 --> 00:10:59,240 Speaker 2: Beethoven's amorous advances as a young man never seemed to 135 00:10:59,320 --> 00:11:03,439 Speaker 2: come to any sort of satisfying fruition, and then there 136 00:11:03,559 --> 00:11:08,040 Speaker 2: was the gradual, life altering loss of his hearing. This 137 00:11:08,160 --> 00:11:13,240 Speaker 2: auditory decline likely started in seventeen ninety seven or ninety eight, 138 00:11:13,800 --> 00:11:19,160 Speaker 2: and increasingly threatened his ability to conduct performances of his works. 139 00:11:19,720 --> 00:11:24,600 Speaker 2: Given that Beethoven also suffered through the excruciating ringing of 140 00:11:24,920 --> 00:11:28,960 Speaker 2: tenitis in his ears, as well as other painful and 141 00:11:29,240 --> 00:11:34,599 Speaker 2: isolating health problems, doctors often recommended that he spend summers 142 00:11:34,640 --> 00:11:40,640 Speaker 2: in resort towns with supposedly healing hot springs. A closer 143 00:11:40,679 --> 00:11:46,560 Speaker 2: look at Beethoven's correspondence and some supporting travel documentation allowed 144 00:11:46,760 --> 00:11:52,120 Speaker 2: researchers to deduce his travel itinerary through the Austrian Spa 145 00:11:52,160 --> 00:11:55,959 Speaker 2: region prior to his writing of The Immortal Beloved Letter. 146 00:11:56,480 --> 00:12:01,080 Speaker 2: The specifics almost sound plucked from an Agatha Christy novel 147 00:12:01,960 --> 00:12:07,040 Speaker 2: Traveling from Vienna, Beethoven arrived in Prague on July first, 148 00:12:07,200 --> 00:12:10,360 Speaker 2: eighteen twelve. Based on a letter he sent to a 149 00:12:10,360 --> 00:12:14,560 Speaker 2: friend there and implications in his Immortal Beloved Letter, he 150 00:12:14,880 --> 00:12:20,080 Speaker 2: very likely met his beloved for a potentially romantic tryst 151 00:12:20,559 --> 00:12:25,120 Speaker 2: in the city on July third, he possibly likely borrowed 152 00:12:25,160 --> 00:12:29,920 Speaker 2: a pencil. Then on July fourth, he departed by post 153 00:12:30,040 --> 00:12:34,199 Speaker 2: coach and after an arduous journey, arrived at four am 154 00:12:34,400 --> 00:12:38,840 Speaker 2: on July fifth in Tepletz. The following morning, he began 155 00:12:39,120 --> 00:12:44,120 Speaker 2: writing to his Immortal beloved from his temporary lodgings, thinking 156 00:12:44,160 --> 00:12:47,520 Speaker 2: that she would soon arrive in the town of Carlsbad, 157 00:12:47,800 --> 00:12:52,720 Speaker 2: where he would send his letters. Using these parameters, a 158 00:12:52,760 --> 00:12:56,840 Speaker 2: pair of prominent French scholars and a Japanese author separately 159 00:12:56,960 --> 00:13:02,560 Speaker 2: came to the same conclusion about a new possible candidate. Then, 160 00:13:02,720 --> 00:13:07,640 Speaker 2: in nineteen seventy two, an American musicologist Furthered those claims 161 00:13:07,679 --> 00:13:11,640 Speaker 2: through an extensive investigation of the evidence that included a 162 00:13:11,720 --> 00:13:16,080 Speaker 2: couple more prerequisites. One the woman must have been in 163 00:13:16,200 --> 00:13:20,520 Speaker 2: both Prague and Carlsbad at the right times, and two, 164 00:13:21,040 --> 00:13:24,520 Speaker 2: the woman must have been on great terms with Beethoven 165 00:13:25,080 --> 00:13:29,600 Speaker 2: just before the relevant Spa visits to have elicited such 166 00:13:29,679 --> 00:13:34,680 Speaker 2: impassioned writing. Ultimately, this narrowed down the list of immortal 167 00:13:34,720 --> 00:13:43,840 Speaker 2: beloved candidates and left one plausible name. Antony Brentano was 168 00:13:43,880 --> 00:13:49,319 Speaker 2: an Austrian art collector and music patron. Sources clearly show 169 00:13:49,600 --> 00:13:52,959 Speaker 2: she was in Prague on July third, and had grown 170 00:13:53,120 --> 00:13:57,800 Speaker 2: close to Beethoven in the preceding months. Antony had initially 171 00:13:57,840 --> 00:14:01,040 Speaker 2: come to Vienna in eighteen oh nine to care for 172 00:14:01,080 --> 00:14:05,880 Speaker 2: her ailing father, and after he died, she oversaw the 173 00:14:05,920 --> 00:14:10,120 Speaker 2: auction of his estate in eighteen ten. The connections of 174 00:14:10,160 --> 00:14:14,760 Speaker 2: Antony's husband and her husband's half sister to the quote 175 00:14:14,840 --> 00:14:19,320 Speaker 2: in crowd of famous artists working in Vienna led the 176 00:14:19,400 --> 00:14:25,479 Speaker 2: three to meet Beethoven and befriend him. According to numerous accounts, 177 00:14:25,520 --> 00:14:29,640 Speaker 2: including Antony's and those close to her, Beethoven became a 178 00:14:29,680 --> 00:14:33,960 Speaker 2: source of great comfort during periods when Antony was mourning 179 00:14:34,200 --> 00:14:39,840 Speaker 2: or ill Additionally, as several scholars have argued, Antony fulfilled 180 00:14:39,880 --> 00:14:45,000 Speaker 2: an additional parameter. Later in his life, Beethoven spent ample 181 00:14:45,120 --> 00:14:50,920 Speaker 2: time with the prominent Giantastio del Rio family. In a 182 00:14:51,160 --> 00:14:56,440 Speaker 2: recovered diary that many historiographers take to be trustworthy, a 183 00:14:56,520 --> 00:15:01,760 Speaker 2: young woman in the family, Fanny, recorded a conversation in 184 00:15:01,880 --> 00:15:07,320 Speaker 2: eighteen sixteen in which Beethoven discussed his fraught love life. 185 00:15:07,920 --> 00:15:13,880 Speaker 2: According to Franny's entry, Beethoven lamented that five years prior 186 00:15:14,320 --> 00:15:18,560 Speaker 2: he had met someone quote, a closer union with whom 187 00:15:18,840 --> 00:15:22,600 Speaker 2: he would have considered as the greatest happiness of his life, 188 00:15:23,160 --> 00:15:26,960 Speaker 2: but quote it was not to be thought of, almost 189 00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:33,240 Speaker 2: an impossibility a chimera. The approximate timing lined up with 190 00:15:33,320 --> 00:15:38,800 Speaker 2: when Beethoven met Antony, and the impossibility was presumably that, 191 00:15:39,440 --> 00:15:44,320 Speaker 2: as you probably have noted, she was married. Not only 192 00:15:44,480 --> 00:15:50,000 Speaker 2: was Antony married, Beethoven considered her husband, the successful merchant 193 00:15:50,160 --> 00:15:55,880 Speaker 2: Franz Bentano, a dear friend. Franz was apparently grateful for 194 00:15:56,040 --> 00:16:00,000 Speaker 2: the time Beethoven spent uplifting his wife's spirits with him 195 00:16:00,080 --> 00:16:04,480 Speaker 2: his music, and as records show, at times, he even 196 00:16:04,560 --> 00:16:11,640 Speaker 2: helped Beethoven financially. Many sources also indicate that after Beethoven's 197 00:16:11,760 --> 00:16:14,920 Speaker 2: stay in Templetz, he went on to meet up with 198 00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:18,760 Speaker 2: the whole Brentano family to vacation with them in the 199 00:16:18,880 --> 00:16:23,560 Speaker 2: resort towns of Carlsbad and Friends and Bad. As Many 200 00:16:23,680 --> 00:16:29,840 Speaker 2: scholars contend, this brings up critical questions regarding Antony's candidacy 201 00:16:30,240 --> 00:16:34,520 Speaker 2: as the address see of the Immortal Beloved letter. How 202 00:16:34,560 --> 00:16:39,400 Speaker 2: intimate was Beethoven's relationship with her If it did veer 203 00:16:39,520 --> 00:16:43,000 Speaker 2: into some form of a romantic affair, how can that 204 00:16:43,080 --> 00:16:47,960 Speaker 2: be reconciled with his position as a family friend. Beethoven 205 00:16:48,120 --> 00:16:52,359 Speaker 2: often wrote of the importance of being virtuous and faithful. 206 00:16:53,000 --> 00:16:57,160 Speaker 2: So was he being dishonest and duplicitous in his actions? 207 00:16:57,840 --> 00:17:01,040 Speaker 2: How much salacious stuff was going going down in those 208 00:17:01,120 --> 00:17:06,520 Speaker 2: Austrian hot springs. While some writers have gone so far 209 00:17:06,640 --> 00:17:09,879 Speaker 2: as to claim that Beethoven was the father of the 210 00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:14,480 Speaker 2: son that Antony had in March of eighteen thirteen, there 211 00:17:14,560 --> 00:17:17,520 Speaker 2: seems to be a lack of substantial evidence to back 212 00:17:17,600 --> 00:17:22,520 Speaker 2: that up. Critics of the Antony theory argued that she 213 00:17:22,880 --> 00:17:26,560 Speaker 2: was a committed wife and mother, and it was highly 214 00:17:26,640 --> 00:17:31,280 Speaker 2: unlikely that she would have entertained such a risky secretive affair. 215 00:17:31,960 --> 00:17:37,679 Speaker 2: Beethoven did ultimately dedicate multiple works to Antony, including what 216 00:17:37,840 --> 00:17:42,720 Speaker 2: we're currently listening to, thirty three variations on a Waltz 217 00:17:42,960 --> 00:17:47,240 Speaker 2: by Diabelli Opus one hundred and twenty, often known now 218 00:17:47,359 --> 00:17:52,399 Speaker 2: as the Diabelli Variations. But there's also substantial doubt in 219 00:17:52,440 --> 00:17:57,960 Speaker 2: the scholarly community over whether Beethoven was passionately attracted to 220 00:17:58,080 --> 00:18:02,240 Speaker 2: Antony in the same way he reportedly was with other women. 221 00:18:03,040 --> 00:18:09,080 Speaker 2: This brings up another important quandary. However, momentarily putting aside 222 00:18:09,240 --> 00:18:14,160 Speaker 2: candidates and related character assumptions and going back to the 223 00:18:14,200 --> 00:18:19,199 Speaker 2: Immortal Beloved letter itself, it's worth questioning whether it was 224 00:18:19,760 --> 00:18:27,280 Speaker 2: first and foremost a love letter at all. To be sure, 225 00:18:27,600 --> 00:18:33,400 Speaker 2: Beethoven's multipart missive is full of passionate prose. He longs 226 00:18:33,440 --> 00:18:37,480 Speaker 2: for his immortal beloved and repeatedly declares his undying love 227 00:18:37,560 --> 00:18:42,879 Speaker 2: and devotion to her as her quote, faithful Ludwig. But 228 00:18:43,000 --> 00:18:47,720 Speaker 2: he also mentioned travel issues, postal schedules, his place in 229 00:18:47,760 --> 00:18:51,560 Speaker 2: the universe, his need to live for himself, and even 230 00:18:51,640 --> 00:18:55,639 Speaker 2: to some light questioning of God. His shifting tone and 231 00:18:55,840 --> 00:19:00,639 Speaker 2: focus thus makes it inherently possible to enter interpret the 232 00:19:00,720 --> 00:19:05,800 Speaker 2: letter in multiple ways, complicating matters. Further, the Immortal Beloved 233 00:19:05,880 --> 00:19:10,000 Speaker 2: letter itself has been published in varying formats and has 234 00:19:10,080 --> 00:19:15,960 Speaker 2: been translated into several different English versions. Tracking the slight 235 00:19:16,119 --> 00:19:20,880 Speaker 2: but meaning altering differences makes it tempting to wonder how 236 00:19:21,040 --> 00:19:26,119 Speaker 2: cogent some of our own cryptic email drafts, unsent text messages, 237 00:19:26,320 --> 00:19:31,399 Speaker 2: or pained diary entries might seem if repeatedly examined and 238 00:19:31,680 --> 00:19:37,600 Speaker 2: retranslated over two centuries. Furthermore, as if analyzing a scribbled 239 00:19:37,800 --> 00:19:42,400 Speaker 2: stream of consciousness drafted on Little Sleep that was possibly 240 00:19:42,440 --> 00:19:47,359 Speaker 2: never sent nor received was not already a subjective enough task, 241 00:19:48,080 --> 00:19:53,800 Speaker 2: many biographers and musicologists largely drew from different pools of 242 00:19:53,920 --> 00:19:59,640 Speaker 2: scholarly research. Some of the most significant books and monographs 243 00:19:59,680 --> 00:20:04,159 Speaker 2: on this subject were either not translated into English or 244 00:20:04,280 --> 00:20:09,080 Speaker 2: not circulated in English speaking countries for decades, if at all. 245 00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:14,760 Speaker 2: The theory that Antony Brentano was the Immortal Beloved still 246 00:20:14,800 --> 00:20:17,919 Speaker 2: appears to be the most widely accepted one in the 247 00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:22,040 Speaker 2: United States, but that's seemingly not the case in Europe. 248 00:20:22,560 --> 00:20:27,080 Speaker 2: As will soon get to Dissertations could be written on 249 00:20:27,320 --> 00:20:31,080 Speaker 2: all the cultural and political factors, as well as the 250 00:20:31,160 --> 00:20:36,160 Speaker 2: gatekeeping that spawned so many divisive theories about immortal beloved 251 00:20:36,240 --> 00:20:39,720 Speaker 2: candidates over the years. But at the core of it, 252 00:20:40,160 --> 00:20:44,000 Speaker 2: what is so fascinating about the letter is not simply 253 00:20:44,119 --> 00:20:49,040 Speaker 2: what Beethoven was potentially trying to say to his immortal beloved, 254 00:20:49,640 --> 00:20:55,159 Speaker 2: but what the letter says about Beethoven. Beethoven wrote to 255 00:20:55,240 --> 00:20:58,639 Speaker 2: his immortal beloved when he was forty one years old, 256 00:20:59,080 --> 00:21:03,679 Speaker 2: and then struggled through a period of depression and diminished 257 00:21:03,800 --> 00:21:09,679 Speaker 2: productivity for about five years. Between his anguished words and 258 00:21:09,960 --> 00:21:14,840 Speaker 2: forced transposition of his larger life goals, many scholars have 259 00:21:15,040 --> 00:21:18,440 Speaker 2: argued that it was far more than a love letter. 260 00:21:19,320 --> 00:21:23,840 Speaker 2: This letter was a last stab at an intimate relationship, 261 00:21:24,320 --> 00:21:28,800 Speaker 2: as well as something of a tragic realization, a painful 262 00:21:28,960 --> 00:21:33,760 Speaker 2: renunciation of what he couldn't have, or perhaps what he 263 00:21:33,880 --> 00:21:39,200 Speaker 2: knew he would never have. Beethoven frequently felt the sting 264 00:21:39,359 --> 00:21:44,040 Speaker 2: of rejection in his life. He was reportedly rebuffed many 265 00:21:44,200 --> 00:21:49,359 Speaker 2: times due to his social class, his physical appearance, and 266 00:21:49,560 --> 00:21:56,360 Speaker 2: or his difficult personality. But whether intentionally or subconsciously, perhaps 267 00:21:56,359 --> 00:22:00,639 Speaker 2: as a means of self preservation or instinctual drive to 268 00:22:00,800 --> 00:22:06,040 Speaker 2: focus on his work, Beethoven also followed certain patterns that 269 00:22:06,280 --> 00:22:11,159 Speaker 2: seemingly inhibited him from entering a more traditional marriage, a 270 00:22:11,240 --> 00:22:17,080 Speaker 2: long lasting affair, or fulfilling sexual relationship at all. Simply put, 271 00:22:17,560 --> 00:22:22,680 Speaker 2: Beethoven had a type. He frequently pursued women who were, 272 00:22:22,760 --> 00:22:27,840 Speaker 2: by most accounts, beautiful, appreciated music, and in many cases 273 00:22:27,880 --> 00:22:32,280 Speaker 2: took lessons from him, were often younger, and were almost 274 00:22:32,320 --> 00:22:37,919 Speaker 2: always unobtainable due to their social standing or marital status. 275 00:22:38,440 --> 00:22:43,600 Speaker 2: Did these women's positions and committed relationships somehow make them 276 00:22:43,640 --> 00:22:48,640 Speaker 2: more romantically alluring to Beethoven or does that facet reveal 277 00:22:48,760 --> 00:22:54,160 Speaker 2: another compelling pattern in his life. According to many sources, 278 00:22:54,240 --> 00:22:57,280 Speaker 2: after Beethoven's parents died by the time he was a 279 00:22:57,280 --> 00:23:03,119 Speaker 2: young adult, he continually sought to integrate himself into prominent families. 280 00:23:03,640 --> 00:23:09,480 Speaker 2: Here again Beethoven's music, biography, and writing converge. Remember the 281 00:23:09,640 --> 00:23:13,280 Speaker 2: sonata we heard back in the introduction, The dedicated ee 282 00:23:13,960 --> 00:23:17,879 Speaker 2: was not one of the main proposed immortal Beloved candidates, 283 00:23:18,440 --> 00:23:22,760 Speaker 2: but the daughter of one. In addition to his affectionate 284 00:23:22,880 --> 00:23:29,000 Speaker 2: bonds with Antony and friendz Brentano, Beethoven was reportedly very 285 00:23:29,040 --> 00:23:34,159 Speaker 2: fond of their children, particularly young Maximilane, to whom he 286 00:23:34,320 --> 00:23:38,680 Speaker 2: dedicated two pieces. One was what we have been listening 287 00:23:38,720 --> 00:23:42,479 Speaker 2: to his Allegretto in B flat major for piano trio. 288 00:23:43,080 --> 00:23:46,720 Speaker 2: He composed this for her in June eighteen twelve, when 289 00:23:46,760 --> 00:23:50,080 Speaker 2: she was ten years old, just before his summer spa trip. 290 00:23:50,640 --> 00:23:54,439 Speaker 2: The other was that piano sonata at number thirty. The 291 00:23:54,680 --> 00:23:59,879 Speaker 2: sincere dedication that Beethoven wrote to Maximilane by then ninety 292 00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:05,120 Speaker 2: is fascinating because it conveys a great deal about how 293 00:24:05,160 --> 00:24:10,359 Speaker 2: he apparently viewed some compositions, along with the close relationships 294 00:24:10,400 --> 00:24:15,320 Speaker 2: in his life. Let's listen to the first two movements again, 295 00:24:15,880 --> 00:24:23,720 Speaker 2: along with a translation of Beethoven's dedication to Maximiliane. A 296 00:24:23,840 --> 00:24:28,240 Speaker 2: dedication now. It is not one of those dedications that 297 00:24:28,359 --> 00:24:31,720 Speaker 2: are misused by a great many. It is the spirit 298 00:24:31,920 --> 00:24:35,320 Speaker 2: that unites the noble and better people on this earth, 299 00:24:35,720 --> 00:24:39,240 Speaker 2: and which time can never destroy. That is the spirit 300 00:24:39,320 --> 00:24:41,960 Speaker 2: of which I speak to you now, and which makes 301 00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:47,040 Speaker 2: me sieve still in your childhood years. Likewise, your beloved parents, 302 00:24:47,359 --> 00:24:51,760 Speaker 2: your excellent and gifted mother, your father, inspired by truthful, 303 00:24:51,800 --> 00:24:55,600 Speaker 2: good and noble qualities, always thinking about the well being 304 00:24:55,720 --> 00:24:59,600 Speaker 2: of his children. When I think on the excellent qualities 305 00:24:59,640 --> 00:25:03,840 Speaker 2: of yours parents, I have not the slightest doubt that 306 00:25:03,920 --> 00:25:07,280 Speaker 2: you will have been, and are daily inspired to be 307 00:25:07,359 --> 00:25:10,679 Speaker 2: a noble imitation of them. Never can the memory of 308 00:25:10,720 --> 00:25:14,359 Speaker 2: such a noble family fade in me. May you sometimes 309 00:25:14,440 --> 00:25:19,280 Speaker 2: remember me fondly my heartfelt wishes. May Heaven bless you 310 00:25:19,280 --> 00:25:22,480 Speaker 2: your life and the lives of those around you, Forever, 311 00:25:23,040 --> 00:25:29,920 Speaker 2: affectionately and always your friend Beethoven. As some writers have suggested, 312 00:25:30,040 --> 00:25:34,680 Speaker 2: it's possible that dedications like that were veiled ways for 313 00:25:34,760 --> 00:25:40,120 Speaker 2: Beethoven to express romantic feelings to married women or mothers 314 00:25:40,240 --> 00:25:45,600 Speaker 2: of dedicatees. But as others assert, this type of behavior 315 00:25:45,680 --> 00:25:49,720 Speaker 2: and later in life dedication far more likely underscored a 316 00:25:49,880 --> 00:25:55,440 Speaker 2: deeper longing for a loving and stable family structure, as 317 00:25:55,480 --> 00:26:01,720 Speaker 2: Beethoven so often sought out substitute families. So, in addition 318 00:26:01,880 --> 00:26:07,560 Speaker 2: to signaling a crestfallen emotional key change, the Immortal Beloved 319 00:26:07,720 --> 00:26:12,760 Speaker 2: letter was perhaps a love letter that actually weighed multiple 320 00:26:12,880 --> 00:26:18,560 Speaker 2: types of love, from romantic to familial to self love, and, 321 00:26:18,720 --> 00:26:24,680 Speaker 2: according to some maybe even rekindled love. Many of Beethoven's 322 00:26:24,720 --> 00:26:28,880 Speaker 2: behavioral patterns, as well as clues and documents that were 323 00:26:28,920 --> 00:26:33,600 Speaker 2: revealed more recently, factor into the case for the other 324 00:26:34,119 --> 00:26:40,040 Speaker 2: most widely believed immortal beloved candidate. That candidate was from 325 00:26:40,119 --> 00:26:46,360 Speaker 2: a noble family, was supposedly exceedingly beautiful, and was incredibly 326 00:26:46,560 --> 00:26:51,120 Speaker 2: musically talented. According to that theory, which has been long 327 00:26:51,320 --> 00:26:56,119 Speaker 2: backed by certain German and German speaking scholars, it was 328 00:26:56,200 --> 00:27:00,240 Speaker 2: not Terrez von Brunswick who made the most sense as 329 00:27:00,280 --> 00:27:06,440 Speaker 2: Beethoven's immortal beloved, but her younger sister Josephine, because deep 330 00:27:06,520 --> 00:27:12,000 Speaker 2: down she was his only beloved. But more on that 331 00:27:12,440 --> 00:27:18,440 Speaker 2: next week. This has been part one of the endlessly 332 00:27:18,640 --> 00:27:23,879 Speaker 2: fascinating story of Beethoven's famous immortal Beloved. But stick around 333 00:27:23,960 --> 00:27:27,400 Speaker 2: after a brief sponsor break to hear a few measures 334 00:27:27,400 --> 00:27:44,000 Speaker 2: of another music related mystery. Baroness Terrees Malfati was another 335 00:27:44,119 --> 00:27:47,399 Speaker 2: candidate who historians more or less ruled out as the 336 00:27:47,600 --> 00:27:52,399 Speaker 2: enigmatic immortal beloved. Beethoven did supposedly propose to her in 337 00:27:52,480 --> 00:27:58,040 Speaker 2: eighteen ten, though, and she factors into another mystery. According 338 00:27:58,160 --> 00:28:03,960 Speaker 2: to many sources, Beethoven, and exceedingly well known for Elease Bagatelle, 339 00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:07,800 Speaker 2: which we are of course hearing now, was likely written 340 00:28:07,920 --> 00:28:12,439 Speaker 2: for her between eighteen oh eight and eighteen ten. The 341 00:28:12,480 --> 00:28:17,840 Speaker 2: piece was only discovered and published forty years after Beethoven's death, 342 00:28:18,520 --> 00:28:23,159 Speaker 2: and while multiple Elise candidates have been proposed, one of 343 00:28:23,200 --> 00:28:26,720 Speaker 2: the main theories about the dedication was that it was 344 00:28:26,760 --> 00:28:33,280 Speaker 2: initially misread and had actually been written for Terres. As 345 00:28:33,440 --> 00:28:39,400 Speaker 2: many scholars note, Beethoven had notoriously sloppy handwriting, which is 346 00:28:39,560 --> 00:28:43,480 Speaker 2: yet another reason why the mission to identify the intended 347 00:28:43,520 --> 00:28:47,240 Speaker 2: recipients of some of his works of both romantic music 348 00:28:47,360 --> 00:28:54,760 Speaker 2: and affectionate prose continues to be so immortally befuddling. This 349 00:28:54,920 --> 00:28:59,360 Speaker 2: episode was written by Paul Jeffy. Special thanks to doctor 350 00:28:59,480 --> 00:29:03,680 Speaker 2: Jane vile Jaffe and doctor William Meredith, who were both 351 00:29:03,800 --> 00:29:08,640 Speaker 2: incredibly helpful resources in the writing of this episode. One 352 00:29:08,720 --> 00:29:12,200 Speaker 2: final note for this episode, our producers for the show 353 00:29:12,280 --> 00:29:15,320 Speaker 2: found most of the Beethoven music we got to listen 354 00:29:15,360 --> 00:29:20,480 Speaker 2: to for this special musical two parter from musopen dot org, 355 00:29:20,920 --> 00:29:25,400 Speaker 2: a free website and nonprofit that provides access to classical 356 00:29:25,600 --> 00:29:29,840 Speaker 2: music recordings and sheet music and other educational material. If 357 00:29:29,880 --> 00:29:33,800 Speaker 2: you're interested in hearing more Beethoven, absolutely go check the 358 00:29:33,840 --> 00:29:46,840 Speaker 2: site out. Nobel Blood is a production of iHeartRadio and 359 00:29:47,000 --> 00:29:50,600 Speaker 2: Grim and Mild from Aaron Mankey. Noble Blood is hosted 360 00:29:50,680 --> 00:29:54,680 Speaker 2: by me Dana Schwartz, with additional writing and research by 361 00:29:54,720 --> 00:29:59,440 Speaker 2: Hannah Johnston, Hannaswick, Courtney Sender, Amy Hit and Julia Milani. 362 00:30:00,160 --> 00:30:03,720 Speaker 2: The show is edited and produced by Jesse Funk, with 363 00:30:03,920 --> 00:30:09,440 Speaker 2: supervising producer rima il Kaali and executive producers Aaron Manke, 364 00:30:09,760 --> 00:30:14,280 Speaker 2: Trevor Young, and Matt Frederick. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, 365 00:30:14,520 --> 00:30:18,840 Speaker 2: visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen 366 00:30:18,880 --> 00:30:19,920 Speaker 2: to your favorite shows.