Beethoven’s
Immortal Beloved—a mystery that scholars have been trying to solve for decades.
This month on Clef Notes we’re exploring love and its relation to classical
music and composers. Today, let’s look at Beethoven and the woman who will
forever be labeled his “Immortal Beloved.”
When
Beethoven passed away in 1827, his brother and several friends found a letter
among his belongings. It contained no year, location, or addressee. It did,
however, contain passionate lines written to someone for whom the composer must
have felt deeply:
“My
angel, my all, my very self…”
“Though
still in bed, my thoughts go out to you, my Immortal Beloved—I am resolved to
wander so long away from you until I can fly to your arms and say that I am
really at home with you, and can send my soul enwrapped in you into the land of
spirits.”
“Oh
continue to love me—never misjudge the most faithful heart of your beloved…”
Beethoven’s
Immortal Beloved has been a subject of musicological research for years. In the
1950s, the analyzing of a water mark on the paper estimated that the note was
composed in 1812. Records state that at that time, Beethoven was in a Bohemian
spa town known as Teplitz. Though scholars have disagreed over the years in
just who this woman may be, there are several popular candidates.
Some
consider Countess Julia Guicciardi a viable candidate. Beethoven’s former piano
student, he dedicated his famed “Moonlight” Sonata to the girl. It is known
that he did love her however her father did not approve of the relationship.
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| Julia Guicciardi [Courtesy of https://wikimedia.org] |
What
about Josephine Brunsvik? She also studied with Beethoven at one point. Though
married to Count Josef Deym, Josephine maintained correspondence with the composer
following her husband’s death. Beethoven once referred to her as his “only
Beloved” in a letter.
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| Josephine Brunsvik [Courtesy of http://assets4.classicfm.com] |
Lastly,
and probably the most popular candidate, it’s Antonie Brentano, wife of
Beethoven’s friend Franz Brentano. For years, many people didn’t believe it was
possible for Beethoven to love the wife of his dear friend in such a way. But
in the 1970s, scholar Maynard Solomon shed some light on the situation,
claiming both Beethoven and Antonie were at the same hotel in Prague just days
before the letters were written, according to the hotel registry. Interesting.
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| Antonie Brentano [Courtesy of https://wikimedia.org]
These
are just three of many potential “Immortal Beloveds” whom have been considered
over the years. Will we ever know exactly who Beethoven addressed in his 1812
letter? One can only speculate.
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