WEBVTT - Beethoven's Immortal Beloved, Part 1

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Noble Blood. A production of iHeartRadio and Grim

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<v Speaker 1>and Mild from Aaron Mankie listener discretion advised in the morning,

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<v Speaker 1>my angel, my all, myself, only a few words today,

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<v Speaker 1>and indeed with pencil, with yours only tomorrow is my

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<v Speaker 1>lodging positively fixed? What a worthless waste of time on such?

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<v Speaker 1>Why this deep grief? When necessity speaks? Can our love exist?

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<v Speaker 1>But by sacrifices, by not demanding everything? Can you change it?

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<v Speaker 1>That you not completely mine? I am not completely yours?

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<v Speaker 1>Oh God, look upon beautiful nature and calm your soul

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<v Speaker 1>over what must be. Love demands everything and completely with

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<v Speaker 1>good reason. So it is for me with you, for

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<v Speaker 1>you with me. This is a translation of the opening

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<v Speaker 1>of one of the most famous love letters ever written,

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<v Speaker 1>which was composed by arguably the most influential romantic composer

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<v Speaker 1>who ever lived. You might have heard of him, Ludwig

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<v Speaker 1>van Beethoven. Ten small pages hold the trove of passionate

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<v Speaker 1>and conflicted feelings that he scribbled one summer in Old

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<v Speaker 1>German script, with, as he noted, the very pencil he

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<v Speaker 1>borrowed from the intended recipient of his letter. That recipient

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<v Speaker 1>is addressed later in his Emotive Outpouring only as his

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<v Speaker 1>quote immortal beloved. Beethoven wrote his message to his immortal

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<v Speaker 1>beloved in three parts over two days, and there seems

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<v Speaker 1>to be no proof that it was ever actually received.

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<v Speaker 1>The multi part letter was discovered at Beethoven's estate in

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<v Speaker 1>Vienna after his death in eighteen twenty seven, and over

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<v Speaker 1>the course of nearly two hundred years it has become

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<v Speaker 1>one of the most hotly contested documents in all of

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<v Speaker 1>Western music historiography. This is largely thanks to the sheer

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<v Speaker 1>number of enticing mysteries that the letter presents. First among them,

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<v Speaker 1>who was the immortal beloved Beethoven did not actually ever

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<v Speaker 1>use his intended recipient's name. Beethoven was never married, and

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<v Speaker 1>by all accounts, he had a fairly disastrous love life. Nevertheless,

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<v Speaker 1>there is ample evidence that he became enamored with several

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<v Speaker 1>countesses and women of high social status throughout his adulthood,

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<v Speaker 1>and by analyzing clues in his personal writing and the

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<v Speaker 1>correspondence of others, scholars have put forth multiple compelling candidates

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<v Speaker 1>as to who might have inspired such an ardent first

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<v Speaker 1>draft of amorous feelings. But maybe Beethoven's music holds the answer.

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<v Speaker 1>You've been listening to Beethoven's Piano Sonata at number thirty

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<v Speaker 1>in E major, Opus one hundred and nine. Multiple musicologists

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<v Speaker 1>and biographers claim that this piece, through both its composition

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<v Speaker 1>and dedication, not only highlights a link between the composer's

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<v Speaker 1>personal life and his creative work, but might hold the

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<v Speaker 1>clues as to the true identity of Beethoven's Immortal Beloved.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm Danish Schwartz and this is a very special musical

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<v Speaker 1>installment of noble blood. The Immortal Beloved letter did not

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<v Speaker 1>initially seem like an enticing mystery. The letter was first

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<v Speaker 1>published in eighteen teen, forty after the composer's death, by

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<v Speaker 1>Beethoven's former secretary, who claimed that Beethoven wrote it in

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<v Speaker 1>eighteen o six to Australian Countess Julieta Gucciardi, a former

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<v Speaker 1>piano student of his, while he was taking the waters

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<v Speaker 1>at a Hungarian spa quote on account of his gradually

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<v Speaker 1>increasing deafness. Besides the part about Beethoven's suffering from hearing

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<v Speaker 1>loss and being at a spa, almost none of those

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<v Speaker 1>other details.

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<v Speaker 2>Would prove to be accurate. The likeliest spa Beethoven was

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<v Speaker 2>recuperating at wasn't even a Hungarian one. Beethoven had neither

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<v Speaker 2>dated his letter nor specified his location at the time

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<v Speaker 2>of writing. As later revised statements revealed, it seemed probable

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<v Speaker 2>that Beethoven's secretary had simply guessed at and inserted the

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<v Speaker 2>date and made other assumptions. Researchers later pointed out that

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<v Speaker 2>by eighteen Ohio, Julietta was married and living in Naples.

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<v Speaker 2>As will soon discover, a woman being married might not

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<v Speaker 2>have been a total deterrent in terms of Beethoven expressing

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<v Speaker 2>heartfelt sentiments. However, Naples was simply too far from any

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<v Speaker 2>of the spas that he did visit in the summers

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<v Speaker 2>for her to be a plausible candidate. But Julieta, that

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<v Speaker 2>former noble piano student, is still an important figure in

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<v Speaker 2>Beethoven's history. She is the dedicatee of the song We're

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<v Speaker 2>Hearing Now, Beethoven's wildly famous piano sonata number fourteen in

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<v Speaker 2>C sharp minor Opus twenty seven, number two that was

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<v Speaker 2>originally titled Quasi Una Fantasia. Now it's more popularly known

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<v Speaker 2>as his Moonlight Sonata. The next widely proposed immortal beloved

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<v Speaker 2>candidate was actually Julietta's cousins. Terrez von Brunswick was from

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<v Speaker 2>a noble Hungarian family, and she was also a piano

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<v Speaker 2>student of Beethoven's. The fact that Terrez and her siblings

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<v Speaker 2>had grown extremely close with their renowned teacher was well established.

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<v Speaker 2>The key question was whether there was any romantic connection

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<v Speaker 2>between Beethoven and Terrez that could have reached such a

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<v Speaker 2>fever pitch. Some of the details present some compelling arguments,

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<v Speaker 2>like Beethoven Terres never married. Interestingly, Beethoven kept a favorite

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<v Speaker 2>portrait of Terrez at his estate until he died, and then, astonishingly,

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<v Speaker 2>in eighteen ninety a published account detailed a secret betrothal

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<v Speaker 2>between the two and eighteen oh six case closed well

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<v Speaker 2>no that specific account proved to be a forgery. Eventually,

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<v Speaker 2>many of Terrez's letters and diary and were found, and

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<v Speaker 2>they did reveal several supposed affairs. But regarding Beethoven, although

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<v Speaker 2>she wrote about him on several occasions with deep friendly affection,

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<v Speaker 2>there was no evidence to claim a strong romantic attraction

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<v Speaker 2>from either side. Nevertheless, Beethoven apparently kept in touch with

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<v Speaker 2>Therez over the course of multiple decades, and he dedicated

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<v Speaker 2>the piece We're listening to now to her, his piano

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<v Speaker 2>Sonata in F sharp major Opus seventy eight, composed in

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<v Speaker 2>eighteen o nine. Biographers subsequently proposed more countesses and socialites

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<v Speaker 2>as immortal beloved possibilities. In the twentieth century, a few

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<v Speaker 2>tidbits of speculation even trickled out that the intended recipient

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<v Speaker 2>could have been a man. There is perhaps no way

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<v Speaker 2>to incontrovertibly rule that out, but virtually all the most

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<v Speaker 2>thorough research on Beethoven's life patterns and relationships at the

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<v Speaker 2>time points to the addressy of the letter being a

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<v Speaker 2>noble or high status woman. The key relationships in question

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<v Speaker 2>often originated in teacher, student, and or artist patron dynamics

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<v Speaker 2>that then purportedly sparked feelings in Beethoven that grew stronger.

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<v Speaker 2>But rather than just focus on his known social circles,

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<v Speaker 2>some scholars have focused on the letter itself, trying to

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<v Speaker 2>find more clues to discover who its recipient might have been.

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<v Speaker 2>One especially critical clue was that Beethoven starts the second

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<v Speaker 2>part of his letter quote evening Monday, July sixth by

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<v Speaker 2>looking back at years when July sixth fell on a Monday,

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<v Speaker 2>and cross checking travel documents and other correspondents the situation

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<v Speaker 2>into better focus. It's now widely accepted that Beethoven wrote

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<v Speaker 2>to his immortal beloved in eighteen twelve while in the

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<v Speaker 2>Spa town of Tepletz in the Austrian Empire. Beethoven also

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<v Speaker 2>references his intention to send his letter by post two K,

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<v Speaker 2>which historians generally believe he was using as an abbreviation

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<v Speaker 2>of Carlsbad, another resort town. These details give a more

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<v Speaker 2>precise sense of Beethoven's whereabouts, as well as his artistic

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<v Speaker 2>status and internal struggles at the time. To start with

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<v Speaker 2>some broader personal and career contexts, eighteen twelve was at

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<v Speaker 2>the end of what musicologists later deemed Beethoven's middle or

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<v Speaker 2>heroic period, in which his compositions often tended toward a

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<v Speaker 2>grand style and innov upon classical forms. Right now, we're

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<v Speaker 2>listening to the first movement of Beethoven's Symphony Number eight

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<v Speaker 2>in F major Opus ninety three, which he began working

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<v Speaker 2>on in the summer of eighteen twelve. Although it didn't

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<v Speaker 2>receive glowing acclaim at its premiere, critics, audiences, and other

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<v Speaker 2>composers have since extolled the beautiful, witty, and masterful manner

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<v Speaker 2>in which it both recalled the works of composers like

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<v Speaker 2>Mozart and Hayden and started to shake up certain norms

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<v Speaker 2>of symphonic structure. By eighteen twelve, Beethoven had also already

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<v Speaker 2>dealt with a myriad of personal obstacles. Early on. His

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<v Speaker 2>home life was reportedly dismal due to his parents' contentious

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<v Speaker 2>marriage and his father's alcoholism. According to accounts from friends,

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<v Speaker 2>Beethoven's amorous advances as a young man never seemed to

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<v Speaker 2>come to any sort of satisfying fruition, and then there

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<v Speaker 2>was the gradual, life altering loss of his hearing. This

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<v Speaker 2>auditory decline likely started in seventeen ninety seven or ninety eight,

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<v Speaker 2>and increasingly threatened his ability to conduct performances of his works.

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<v Speaker 2>Given that Beethoven also suffered through the excruciating ringing of

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<v Speaker 2>tenitis in his ears, as well as other painful and

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<v Speaker 2>isolating health problems, doctors often recommended that he spend summers

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<v Speaker 2>in resort towns with supposedly healing hot springs. A closer

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<v Speaker 2>look at Beethoven's correspondence and some supporting travel documentation allowed

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<v Speaker 2>researchers to deduce his travel itinerary through the Austrian Spa

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<v Speaker 2>region prior to his writing of The Immortal Beloved Letter.

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<v Speaker 2>The specifics almost sound plucked from an Agatha Christy novel

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<v Speaker 2>Traveling from Vienna, Beethoven arrived in Prague on July first,

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<v Speaker 2>eighteen twelve. Based on a letter he sent to a

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<v Speaker 2>friend there and implications in his Immortal Beloved Letter, he

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<v Speaker 2>very likely met his beloved for a potentially romantic tryst

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<v Speaker 2>in the city on July third, he possibly likely borrowed

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<v Speaker 2>a pencil. Then on July fourth, he departed by post

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<v Speaker 2>coach and after an arduous journey, arrived at four am

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<v Speaker 2>on July fifth in Tepletz. The following morning, he began

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<v Speaker 2>writing to his Immortal beloved from his temporary lodgings, thinking

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<v Speaker 2>that she would soon arrive in the town of Carlsbad,

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<v Speaker 2>where he would send his letters. Using these parameters, a

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<v Speaker 2>pair of prominent French scholars and a Japanese author separately

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<v Speaker 2>came to the same conclusion about a new possible candidate. Then,

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<v Speaker 2>in nineteen seventy two, an American musicologist Furthered those claims

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<v Speaker 2>through an extensive investigation of the evidence that included a

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<v Speaker 2>couple more prerequisites. One the woman must have been in

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<v Speaker 2>both Prague and Carlsbad at the right times, and two,

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<v Speaker 2>the woman must have been on great terms with Beethoven

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<v Speaker 2>just before the relevant Spa visits to have elicited such

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<v Speaker 2>impassioned writing. Ultimately, this narrowed down the list of immortal

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<v Speaker 2>beloved candidates and left one plausible name. Antony Brentano was

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<v Speaker 2>an Austrian art collector and music patron. Sources clearly show

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<v Speaker 2>she was in Prague on July third, and had grown

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<v Speaker 2>close to Beethoven in the preceding months. Antony had initially

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<v Speaker 2>come to Vienna in eighteen oh nine to care for

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<v Speaker 2>her ailing father, and after he died, she oversaw the

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<v Speaker 2>auction of his estate in eighteen ten. The connections of

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<v Speaker 2>Antony's husband and her husband's half sister to the quote

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<v Speaker 2>in crowd of famous artists working in Vienna led the

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<v Speaker 2>three to meet Beethoven and befriend him. According to numerous accounts,

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<v Speaker 2>including Antony's and those close to her, Beethoven became a

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<v Speaker 2>source of great comfort during periods when Antony was mourning

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<v Speaker 2>or ill Additionally, as several scholars have argued, Antony fulfilled

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<v Speaker 2>an additional parameter. Later in his life, Beethoven spent ample

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<v Speaker 2>time with the prominent Giantastio del Rio family. In a

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<v Speaker 2>recovered diary that many historiographers take to be trustworthy, a

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<v Speaker 2>young woman in the family, Fanny, recorded a conversation in

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<v Speaker 2>eighteen sixteen in which Beethoven discussed his fraught love life.

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<v Speaker 2>According to Franny's entry, Beethoven lamented that five years prior

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<v Speaker 2>he had met someone quote, a closer union with whom

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<v Speaker 2>he would have considered as the greatest happiness of his life,

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<v Speaker 2>but quote it was not to be thought of, almost

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<v Speaker 2>an impossibility a chimera. The approximate timing lined up with

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<v Speaker 2>when Beethoven met Antony, and the impossibility was presumably that,

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<v Speaker 2>as you probably have noted, she was married. Not only

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<v Speaker 2>was Antony married, Beethoven considered her husband, the successful merchant

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<v Speaker 2>Franz Bentano, a dear friend. Franz was apparently grateful for

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<v Speaker 2>the time Beethoven spent uplifting his wife's spirits with him

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<v Speaker 2>his music, and as records show, at times, he even

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<v Speaker 2>helped Beethoven financially. Many sources also indicate that after Beethoven's

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<v Speaker 2>stay in Templetz, he went on to meet up with

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<v Speaker 2>the whole Brentano family to vacation with them in the

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<v Speaker 2>resort towns of Carlsbad and Friends and Bad. As Many

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<v Speaker 2>scholars contend, this brings up critical questions regarding Antony's candidacy

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<v Speaker 2>as the address see of the Immortal Beloved letter. How

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<v Speaker 2>intimate was Beethoven's relationship with her If it did veer

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<v Speaker 2>into some form of a romantic affair, how can that

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<v Speaker 2>be reconciled with his position as a family friend. Beethoven

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<v Speaker 2>often wrote of the importance of being virtuous and faithful.

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<v Speaker 2>So was he being dishonest and duplicitous in his actions?

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<v Speaker 2>How much salacious stuff was going going down in those

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<v Speaker 2>Austrian hot springs. While some writers have gone so far

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<v Speaker 2>as to claim that Beethoven was the father of the

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<v Speaker 2>son that Antony had in March of eighteen thirteen, there

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<v Speaker 2>seems to be a lack of substantial evidence to back

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<v Speaker 2>that up. Critics of the Antony theory argued that she

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<v Speaker 2>was a committed wife and mother, and it was highly

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<v Speaker 2>unlikely that she would have entertained such a risky secretive affair.

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<v Speaker 2>Beethoven did ultimately dedicate multiple works to Antony, including what

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<v Speaker 2>we're currently listening to, thirty three variations on a Waltz

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<v Speaker 2>by Diabelli Opus one hundred and twenty, often known now

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<v Speaker 2>as the Diabelli Variations. But there's also substantial doubt in

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<v Speaker 2>the scholarly community over whether Beethoven was passionately attracted to

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<v Speaker 2>Antony in the same way he reportedly was with other women.

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<v Speaker 2>This brings up another important quandary. However, momentarily putting aside

0:18:09.240 --> 0:18:14.160
<v Speaker 2>candidates and related character assumptions and going back to the

0:18:14.200 --> 0:18:19.199
<v Speaker 2>Immortal Beloved letter itself, it's worth questioning whether it was

0:18:19.760 --> 0:18:27.280
<v Speaker 2>first and foremost a love letter at all. To be sure,

0:18:27.600 --> 0:18:33.400
<v Speaker 2>Beethoven's multipart missive is full of passionate prose. He longs

0:18:33.440 --> 0:18:37.480
<v Speaker 2>for his immortal beloved and repeatedly declares his undying love

0:18:37.560 --> 0:18:42.879
<v Speaker 2>and devotion to her as her quote, faithful Ludwig. But

0:18:43.000 --> 0:18:47.720
<v Speaker 2>he also mentioned travel issues, postal schedules, his place in

0:18:47.760 --> 0:18:51.560
<v Speaker 2>the universe, his need to live for himself, and even

0:18:51.640 --> 0:18:55.639
<v Speaker 2>to some light questioning of God. His shifting tone and

0:18:55.840 --> 0:19:00.639
<v Speaker 2>focus thus makes it inherently possible to enter interpret the

0:19:00.720 --> 0:19:05.800
<v Speaker 2>letter in multiple ways, complicating matters. Further, the Immortal Beloved

0:19:05.880 --> 0:19:10.000
<v Speaker 2>letter itself has been published in varying formats and has

0:19:10.080 --> 0:19:15.960
<v Speaker 2>been translated into several different English versions. Tracking the slight

0:19:16.119 --> 0:19:20.880
<v Speaker 2>but meaning altering differences makes it tempting to wonder how

0:19:21.040 --> 0:19:26.119
<v Speaker 2>cogent some of our own cryptic email drafts, unsent text messages,

0:19:26.320 --> 0:19:31.399
<v Speaker 2>or pained diary entries might seem if repeatedly examined and

0:19:31.680 --> 0:19:37.600
<v Speaker 2>retranslated over two centuries. Furthermore, as if analyzing a scribbled

0:19:37.800 --> 0:19:42.400
<v Speaker 2>stream of consciousness drafted on Little Sleep that was possibly

0:19:42.440 --> 0:19:47.359
<v Speaker 2>never sent nor received was not already a subjective enough task,

0:19:48.080 --> 0:19:53.800
<v Speaker 2>many biographers and musicologists largely drew from different pools of

0:19:53.920 --> 0:19:59.640
<v Speaker 2>scholarly research. Some of the most significant books and monographs

0:19:59.680 --> 0:20:04.159
<v Speaker 2>on this subject were either not translated into English or

0:20:04.280 --> 0:20:09.080
<v Speaker 2>not circulated in English speaking countries for decades, if at all.

0:20:10.000 --> 0:20:14.760
<v Speaker 2>The theory that Antony Brentano was the Immortal Beloved still

0:20:14.800 --> 0:20:17.919
<v Speaker 2>appears to be the most widely accepted one in the

0:20:18.000 --> 0:20:22.040
<v Speaker 2>United States, but that's seemingly not the case in Europe.

0:20:22.560 --> 0:20:27.080
<v Speaker 2>As will soon get to Dissertations could be written on

0:20:27.320 --> 0:20:31.080
<v Speaker 2>all the cultural and political factors, as well as the

0:20:31.160 --> 0:20:36.160
<v Speaker 2>gatekeeping that spawned so many divisive theories about immortal beloved

0:20:36.240 --> 0:20:39.720
<v Speaker 2>candidates over the years. But at the core of it,

0:20:40.160 --> 0:20:44.000
<v Speaker 2>what is so fascinating about the letter is not simply

0:20:44.119 --> 0:20:49.040
<v Speaker 2>what Beethoven was potentially trying to say to his immortal beloved,

0:20:49.640 --> 0:20:55.159
<v Speaker 2>but what the letter says about Beethoven. Beethoven wrote to

0:20:55.240 --> 0:20:58.639
<v Speaker 2>his immortal beloved when he was forty one years old,

0:20:59.080 --> 0:21:03.679
<v Speaker 2>and then struggled through a period of depression and diminished

0:21:03.800 --> 0:21:09.679
<v Speaker 2>productivity for about five years. Between his anguished words and

0:21:09.960 --> 0:21:14.840
<v Speaker 2>forced transposition of his larger life goals, many scholars have

0:21:15.040 --> 0:21:18.440
<v Speaker 2>argued that it was far more than a love letter.

0:21:19.320 --> 0:21:23.840
<v Speaker 2>This letter was a last stab at an intimate relationship,

0:21:24.320 --> 0:21:28.800
<v Speaker 2>as well as something of a tragic realization, a painful

0:21:28.960 --> 0:21:33.760
<v Speaker 2>renunciation of what he couldn't have, or perhaps what he

0:21:33.880 --> 0:21:39.200
<v Speaker 2>knew he would never have. Beethoven frequently felt the sting

0:21:39.359 --> 0:21:44.040
<v Speaker 2>of rejection in his life. He was reportedly rebuffed many

0:21:44.200 --> 0:21:49.359
<v Speaker 2>times due to his social class, his physical appearance, and

0:21:49.560 --> 0:21:56.360
<v Speaker 2>or his difficult personality. But whether intentionally or subconsciously, perhaps

0:21:56.359 --> 0:22:00.639
<v Speaker 2>as a means of self preservation or instinctual drive to

0:22:00.800 --> 0:22:06.040
<v Speaker 2>focus on his work, Beethoven also followed certain patterns that

0:22:06.280 --> 0:22:11.159
<v Speaker 2>seemingly inhibited him from entering a more traditional marriage, a

0:22:11.240 --> 0:22:17.080
<v Speaker 2>long lasting affair, or fulfilling sexual relationship at all. Simply put,

0:22:17.560 --> 0:22:22.680
<v Speaker 2>Beethoven had a type. He frequently pursued women who were,

0:22:22.760 --> 0:22:27.840
<v Speaker 2>by most accounts, beautiful, appreciated music, and in many cases

0:22:27.880 --> 0:22:32.280
<v Speaker 2>took lessons from him, were often younger, and were almost

0:22:32.320 --> 0:22:37.919
<v Speaker 2>always unobtainable due to their social standing or marital status.

0:22:38.440 --> 0:22:43.600
<v Speaker 2>Did these women's positions and committed relationships somehow make them

0:22:43.640 --> 0:22:48.640
<v Speaker 2>more romantically alluring to Beethoven or does that facet reveal

0:22:48.760 --> 0:22:54.160
<v Speaker 2>another compelling pattern in his life. According to many sources,

0:22:54.240 --> 0:22:57.280
<v Speaker 2>after Beethoven's parents died by the time he was a

0:22:57.280 --> 0:23:03.119
<v Speaker 2>young adult, he continually sought to integrate himself into prominent families.

0:23:03.640 --> 0:23:09.480
<v Speaker 2>Here again Beethoven's music, biography, and writing converge. Remember the

0:23:09.640 --> 0:23:13.280
<v Speaker 2>sonata we heard back in the introduction, The dedicated ee

0:23:13.960 --> 0:23:17.879
<v Speaker 2>was not one of the main proposed immortal Beloved candidates,

0:23:18.440 --> 0:23:22.760
<v Speaker 2>but the daughter of one. In addition to his affectionate

0:23:22.880 --> 0:23:29.000
<v Speaker 2>bonds with Antony and friendz Brentano, Beethoven was reportedly very

0:23:29.040 --> 0:23:34.159
<v Speaker 2>fond of their children, particularly young Maximilane, to whom he

0:23:34.320 --> 0:23:38.680
<v Speaker 2>dedicated two pieces. One was what we have been listening

0:23:38.720 --> 0:23:42.479
<v Speaker 2>to his Allegretto in B flat major for piano trio.

0:23:43.080 --> 0:23:46.720
<v Speaker 2>He composed this for her in June eighteen twelve, when

0:23:46.760 --> 0:23:50.080
<v Speaker 2>she was ten years old, just before his summer spa trip.

0:23:50.640 --> 0:23:54.439
<v Speaker 2>The other was that piano sonata at number thirty. The

0:23:54.680 --> 0:23:59.879
<v Speaker 2>sincere dedication that Beethoven wrote to Maximilane by then ninety

0:24:00.800 --> 0:24:05.120
<v Speaker 2>is fascinating because it conveys a great deal about how

0:24:05.160 --> 0:24:10.359
<v Speaker 2>he apparently viewed some compositions, along with the close relationships

0:24:10.400 --> 0:24:15.320
<v Speaker 2>in his life. Let's listen to the first two movements again,

0:24:15.880 --> 0:24:23.720
<v Speaker 2>along with a translation of Beethoven's dedication to Maximiliane. A

0:24:23.840 --> 0:24:28.240
<v Speaker 2>dedication now. It is not one of those dedications that

0:24:28.359 --> 0:24:31.720
<v Speaker 2>are misused by a great many. It is the spirit

0:24:31.920 --> 0:24:35.320
<v Speaker 2>that unites the noble and better people on this earth,

0:24:35.720 --> 0:24:39.240
<v Speaker 2>and which time can never destroy. That is the spirit

0:24:39.320 --> 0:24:41.960
<v Speaker 2>of which I speak to you now, and which makes

0:24:42.000 --> 0:24:47.040
<v Speaker 2>me sieve still in your childhood years. Likewise, your beloved parents,

0:24:47.359 --> 0:24:51.760
<v Speaker 2>your excellent and gifted mother, your father, inspired by truthful,

0:24:51.800 --> 0:24:55.600
<v Speaker 2>good and noble qualities, always thinking about the well being

0:24:55.720 --> 0:24:59.600
<v Speaker 2>of his children. When I think on the excellent qualities

0:24:59.640 --> 0:25:03.840
<v Speaker 2>of yours parents, I have not the slightest doubt that

0:25:03.920 --> 0:25:07.280
<v Speaker 2>you will have been, and are daily inspired to be

0:25:07.359 --> 0:25:10.679
<v Speaker 2>a noble imitation of them. Never can the memory of

0:25:10.720 --> 0:25:14.359
<v Speaker 2>such a noble family fade in me. May you sometimes

0:25:14.440 --> 0:25:19.280
<v Speaker 2>remember me fondly my heartfelt wishes. May Heaven bless you

0:25:19.280 --> 0:25:22.480
<v Speaker 2>your life and the lives of those around you, Forever,

0:25:23.040 --> 0:25:29.920
<v Speaker 2>affectionately and always your friend Beethoven. As some writers have suggested,

0:25:30.040 --> 0:25:34.680
<v Speaker 2>it's possible that dedications like that were veiled ways for

0:25:34.760 --> 0:25:40.120
<v Speaker 2>Beethoven to express romantic feelings to married women or mothers

0:25:40.240 --> 0:25:45.600
<v Speaker 2>of dedicatees. But as others assert, this type of behavior

0:25:45.680 --> 0:25:49.720
<v Speaker 2>and later in life dedication far more likely underscored a

0:25:49.880 --> 0:25:55.440
<v Speaker 2>deeper longing for a loving and stable family structure, as

0:25:55.480 --> 0:26:01.720
<v Speaker 2>Beethoven so often sought out substitute families. So, in addition

0:26:01.880 --> 0:26:07.560
<v Speaker 2>to signaling a crestfallen emotional key change, the Immortal Beloved

0:26:07.720 --> 0:26:12.760
<v Speaker 2>letter was perhaps a love letter that actually weighed multiple

0:26:12.880 --> 0:26:18.560
<v Speaker 2>types of love, from romantic to familial to self love, and,

0:26:18.720 --> 0:26:24.680
<v Speaker 2>according to some maybe even rekindled love. Many of Beethoven's

0:26:24.720 --> 0:26:28.880
<v Speaker 2>behavioral patterns, as well as clues and documents that were

0:26:28.920 --> 0:26:33.600
<v Speaker 2>revealed more recently, factor into the case for the other

0:26:34.119 --> 0:26:40.040
<v Speaker 2>most widely believed immortal beloved candidate. That candidate was from

0:26:40.119 --> 0:26:46.360
<v Speaker 2>a noble family, was supposedly exceedingly beautiful, and was incredibly

0:26:46.560 --> 0:26:51.120
<v Speaker 2>musically talented. According to that theory, which has been long

0:26:51.320 --> 0:26:56.119
<v Speaker 2>backed by certain German and German speaking scholars, it was

0:26:56.200 --> 0:27:00.240
<v Speaker 2>not Terrez von Brunswick who made the most sense as

0:27:00.280 --> 0:27:06.440
<v Speaker 2>Beethoven's immortal beloved, but her younger sister Josephine, because deep

0:27:06.520 --> 0:27:12.000
<v Speaker 2>down she was his only beloved. But more on that

0:27:12.440 --> 0:27:18.440
<v Speaker 2>next week. This has been part one of the endlessly

0:27:18.640 --> 0:27:23.879
<v Speaker 2>fascinating story of Beethoven's famous immortal Beloved. But stick around

0:27:23.960 --> 0:27:27.400
<v Speaker 2>after a brief sponsor break to hear a few measures

0:27:27.400 --> 0:27:44.000
<v Speaker 2>of another music related mystery. Baroness Terrees Malfati was another

0:27:44.119 --> 0:27:47.399
<v Speaker 2>candidate who historians more or less ruled out as the

0:27:47.600 --> 0:27:52.399
<v Speaker 2>enigmatic immortal beloved. Beethoven did supposedly propose to her in

0:27:52.480 --> 0:27:58.040
<v Speaker 2>eighteen ten, though, and she factors into another mystery. According

0:27:58.160 --> 0:28:03.960
<v Speaker 2>to many sources, Beethoven, and exceedingly well known for Elease Bagatelle,

0:28:04.000 --> 0:28:07.800
<v Speaker 2>which we are of course hearing now, was likely written

0:28:07.920 --> 0:28:12.439
<v Speaker 2>for her between eighteen oh eight and eighteen ten. The

0:28:12.480 --> 0:28:17.840
<v Speaker 2>piece was only discovered and published forty years after Beethoven's death,

0:28:18.520 --> 0:28:23.159
<v Speaker 2>and while multiple Elise candidates have been proposed, one of

0:28:23.200 --> 0:28:26.720
<v Speaker 2>the main theories about the dedication was that it was

0:28:26.760 --> 0:28:33.280
<v Speaker 2>initially misread and had actually been written for Terres. As

0:28:33.440 --> 0:28:39.400
<v Speaker 2>many scholars note, Beethoven had notoriously sloppy handwriting, which is

0:28:39.560 --> 0:28:43.480
<v Speaker 2>yet another reason why the mission to identify the intended

0:28:43.520 --> 0:28:47.240
<v Speaker 2>recipients of some of his works of both romantic music

0:28:47.360 --> 0:28:54.760
<v Speaker 2>and affectionate prose continues to be so immortally befuddling. This

0:28:54.920 --> 0:28:59.360
<v Speaker 2>episode was written by Paul Jeffy. Special thanks to doctor

0:28:59.480 --> 0:29:03.680
<v Speaker 2>Jane vile Jaffe and doctor William Meredith, who were both

0:29:03.800 --> 0:29:08.640
<v Speaker 2>incredibly helpful resources in the writing of this episode. One

0:29:08.720 --> 0:29:12.200
<v Speaker 2>final note for this episode, our producers for the show

0:29:12.280 --> 0:29:15.320
<v Speaker 2>found most of the Beethoven music we got to listen

0:29:15.360 --> 0:29:20.480
<v Speaker 2>to for this special musical two parter from musopen dot org,

0:29:20.920 --> 0:29:25.400
<v Speaker 2>a free website and nonprofit that provides access to classical

0:29:25.600 --> 0:29:29.840
<v Speaker 2>music recordings and sheet music and other educational material. If

0:29:29.880 --> 0:29:33.800
<v Speaker 2>you're interested in hearing more Beethoven, absolutely go check the

0:29:33.840 --> 0:29:46.840
<v Speaker 2>site out. Nobel Blood is a production of iHeartRadio and

0:29:47.000 --> 0:29:50.600
<v Speaker 2>Grim and Mild from Aaron Mankey. Noble Blood is hosted

0:29:50.680 --> 0:29:54.680
<v Speaker 2>by me Dana Schwartz, with additional writing and research by

0:29:54.720 --> 0:29:59.440
<v Speaker 2>Hannah Johnston, Hannaswick, Courtney Sender, Amy Hit and Julia Milani.

0:30:00.160 --> 0:30:03.720
<v Speaker 2>The show is edited and produced by Jesse Funk, with

0:30:03.920 --> 0:30:09.440
<v Speaker 2>supervising producer rima il Kaali and executive producers Aaron Manke,

0:30:09.760 --> 0:30:14.280
<v Speaker 2>Trevor Young, and Matt Frederick. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio,

0:30:14.520 --> 0:30:18.840
<v Speaker 2>visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen

0:30:18.880 --> 0:30:19.920
<v Speaker 2>to your favorite shows.