[1]Johann or Jean van Beethoven, father of the composer, was a tenor singer in the chapel of the Elector of Cologne at Bonn.
[2]Max Franz was brother of the Emperor Joseph II.
[3]The Graus Haus, where Beethoven was born, is No. 515 in the Bonn Gasse (Bonn Street), and is now marked by a tablet, placed there in 1870.
[4]Beethoven’s mother, Marie Magdelena Laym, was the daughter of the chief cook at Ehrenbreitstein.
[5]There is a question whether Beethoven was born on the 16th or 17th of December, 1770. Probably he was born on the 16th.
[6]Beethoven’s grandfather was Ludwig van Beethoven, chapelmaster for the Elector of Cologne. He died in 1773, when his grandson was three years of age.
[7]Pfeiffer was a tenor singer in the opera at Bonn.
[8]Van den Eeden was organist at the Court Chapel and an old friend of Beethoven’s grandfather.
[9]Neefe succeeded Van den Eeden as organist, and when he in turn gave up the position, he left Beethoven in charge of the organ.
[10]Seven Mountains.
[11]A castle on the Rhine, twenty-two miles from Cologne.
[12]KÖnigswinter is seven miles from Bonn, and is the favorite resort of tourists to the “Sieben Gebirge,” a mountainous region famous for its picturesque beauty.
[13]Dr. Wegeler was a physician of Bonn, who subsequently married Eleonora von Breuning, a daughter in the Breuning family, Beethoven’s devoted friends.
[14]Beethoven had four brothers, viz.: Ludwig Maria, born April 1, 1769; Caspar Anton Carl, April 7, 1774; Nikolaus Johann, Oct. 1, 1776; August Franz Georg, Jan. 16, 1781; and two sisters, the elder of whom, born Feb. 23, 1779, lived only four days, and Maria Margaretha Josepha, born May 4, 1786.
[15]Reader.
[16]“Auf wiedersehen,” or, “till we see each other again,” equivalent to the French “Au revoir.”
[17]Frau von Breuning was the widow of the electoral counsellor von Breuning. The family consisted of three sons and a daughter, Eleonora, who for some time was a pupil of Beethoven, and eventually married Dr. Wegeler. Beethoven dedicated his first variations for the piano to her.
[18]Franz Anton Ries, violinist, was born at Bonn, Nov. 10, 1755, and was a teacher and friend of Beethoven. His son Ferdinand was a pupil of Beethoven.
[19]The Count von Waldstein was a patron of the arts and a connoisseur in music. He was of special service to Beethoven, who dedicated to him his great Sonata (op. 53).
[20]Beethoven was appointed organist to the electoral chapel in 1785, being then in his fifteenth year.
[21]Dr. Heinrich Doring, in his “Life and Characteristics of Beethoven,” says: “He preferred the English writers to the French. Thompson is his favorite poet, but particularly great is his admiration for Shakespeare.”
[22]A bass singer in the electoral chapel.
[23]Prince Karl Lichnowski was a highly cultivated nobleman, and a pupil of Mozart. His consort, Princess Christiane, born Countess of Thun, was also refined, scholarly, and devoted to music.
[24]Mozart was at this time thirty-one, and Beethoven seventeen years of age.
[25]Gluck was born in 1714, and Haydn in 1732, so at this time (1788) Gluck was seventy-four and Haydn fifty-six years of age. Both these composers made Vienna their home, and both died there.
[26]Haydn was at this time returning from his visit to England.
[27]Beethoven was now in the twenty-second year of his age.
[28]Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia, nephew of Frederick the Great, was born Nov. 18, 1772, and died on the battlefield at Saalfeld, Oct. 10, 1806. He was an excellent pianist and composer, and so fond of music that he kept musicians with him in the army.
[29]Archduke Rudolph, son of Leopold of Tuscany and Marie Louise of Spain, was born at Florence, Jan. 8, 1788, and died at Vienna, July 24, 1831. He was a pupil of Beethoven, but eventually gave up music and went into the Church, and was appointed cardinal.
[30]Ferdinand Ries, pianist and composer, and the pupil of Beethoven, was born at Bonn, Nov. 28, 1784, and died at Frankfurt, Jan. 13, 1838. He was considered one of the best pianists of his time.
[31]Buda is that part of Budapest lying on the west bank of the Danube.
[32]These gardens were attached to the imperial
