Early in the year 1788, the mind of the Elector, Max Franz, was occupied with the project for forming a company of Hofschauspieler; in short, with the founding of a National Theatre upon the plan adopted by his predecessor in Bonn and by his brother Joseph in Vienna. His finances were now in order, the administration of public affairs in able hands and working smoothly, and there was nothing to hinder him from placing both music and theatre upon a better and permanent footing; which he now proceeded to do. The Klos troupe, which had left Cologne in March, played for a space in Bonn, and on its dispersal in the summer several of its better actors were engaged and added to others who had already settled in Bonn. The only names which it is necessary to mention here are those of significance in the history of Beethoven. Joseph Reicha was director; Neefe, pianist and stage-manager for opera; in the orchestra were Franz Ries and Andreas Romberg (violin), Ludwig van Beethoven (viola), Bernard Romberg (violoncello), Nicolaus Simrock (horn) and Anton Reicha (flute). A comparison of the lists of the theatrical establishment with that of the court chapel as printed in the Court Calendars for 1778 and the following years, shows that the two institutions were kept distinct, though the names for the greater part appear in both. Some of the singers in the chapel played in the theatrical orchestra, while certain of the players in the chapel sang upon the stage. Other names appear in but one of the lists.

As organist the name of Beethoven appears still in the Court Calendar, but as viola player he had a place in both the orchestras. Thus, for a period of full four years, he had the opportunity of studying practically orchestral compositions in the best of all schools—the orchestra itself. This body of thirty-one members, under the energetic leadership of Reicha, many of them young and ambitious, some already known as virtuosos and still keeping their places in musical history as such, was a school for instrumental music such as Handel, Bach, Mozart and Haydn had not enjoyed in their youth; that its advantages were improved both by Beethoven and others of the younger men, all the world knows.

One fact worthy of note in relation to this company is the youth of most of the new members engaged. Maximilian seems to have sought out young talent, and when it proved to be of true metal, gave it a permanent place in his service, adopted wise measures for its cultivation, and thus laid a foundation upon which, but for the outbreak of the French Revolution, and the consequent dispersion of his court, would in time have risen a musical establishment, one of the very first in Germany.

This is equally true of the new members of his orchestra. Reicha himself was still rather a young man, born in 1757. He was a virtuoso on the violoncello and a composer of some note; but his usefulness was sadly impaired by his sufferings from gout. The cousins Andreas and Bernhard Romberg, Maximilian had found at MÜnster and brought to Bonn. They had in their boyhood, as virtuosos upon their instruments—Andreas violin, Bernhard ’cello—made a tour as far as Paris, and their concerts were crowned with success. Andreas was born near MÜnster in 1767, and Ledebur (“TonkÜnstler Berlins”) adopts the same year as the date also of Bernhard’s birth. They were, therefore, three years older than Beethoven and now just past 21. Both were already industrious and well-known composers and must have been a valuable addition to the circle of young men in which Beethoven moved. The decree appointing them respectively Court Violinist and Court Violoncellist is dated November 19, 1790.

Anton Reicha, a fatherless nephew of the concertmaster, born at Prague, February 27, 1770, was brought by his uncle to Bonn. He had been already for some years in that uncle’s care and under his instruction had become a good player of the flute, violin and pianoforte. In Bonn, Reicha became acquainted with Beethoven, who was then organist at court. “We spent fourteen years together,” says Reicha, “united in a bond like that of Orestes and Pylades, and were continually side by side in our youth. After a separation of eight years we saw each other again in Vienna, and exchanged confidences concerning our experiences.” At the age of 17 composing orchestral and vocal music for the Electoral Chapel, a year later flautist in the theatre, at nineteen both flautist and violinist in the chapel and so intimate a friend of Beethoven, who was less than a year his junior—were Reicha’s laurels no spur to the ambition of the other?

The names of several of the performers upon wind-instruments were new names in Bonn, and the thought suggests itself that the Elector brought with him from Vienna some members of the Harmoniemusik which had won high praise from Reichardt, and it will hereafter appear that such a band formed part of the musical establishment in Bonn—a fact of importance in its bearing upon the questions of the origin and date of various known works both of Beethoven and of Reicha, and of no less weight in deciding where and how these men obtained their marvellous knowledge of the powers and effects of this class of instruments.

The arrangements were all made in 1788, but not early enough to admit of the opening of the theatre until after the Christmas holidays, namely, on the evening of January 3, 1789. The theatre had been altered and improved. An incendiary fire threatened its destruction the day before, but did not postpone the opening. The opening piece was “Der Baum der Diana” by Vincenzo Martin. It may be thought not very complimentary to the taste of Maximilian that the first season of his National Theatre was opened thus, instead of with one of Gluck’s or Mozart’s masterpieces. It suffices to say that he, in his capacity of Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, had spent a good part of the autumn at Mergentheim and only reached Bonn on his return on the last day of January. Hence he was not responsible for that selection.

The season which opened on January 3, 1789, closed on May 23. Within this period the following operas were performed, Beethoven taking part in the performances as a member of the orchestra: “Der Baum der Diana” (L’Arbore di Diana), Martin; “Romeo und Julie,” Georg Benda; “Ariadne” (duo-drama by Georg Benda); “Das MÄdchen von Frascati” (La Frascatana), Paisiello; “Julie,” Desaides; “Die drei PÄchter” (Les trois Fermiers), Desaides; “Die EntfÜhrung aus dem Serail,” Mozart; “Nina,” Dalayrac; “Trofonio’s ZauberhÖhle” (La grotta di Trofonio), Salieri; “Der eifersÜchtige Liebhaber” (L’Amant jaloux), GrÉtry; “Der Schmaus” (Il Convivo), Cimarosa; “Der Alchymist,” Schuster; “Das Blendwerk” (La fausse Magie), GrÉtry.

The second season began October 13, 1789, and continued until February 23, 1790. On the 24th of February news reached Bonn of the death of Maximilian’s brother, the Emperor Joseph II, and the theatre was closed. The repertory for the season comprised “Don Giovanni,” Mozart (which was given three times); “Die Colonie” (L’Isola d’Amore), Sacchini; “Der Barbier von Sevilla” (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), Paisiello; “Romeo und Julie,” Georg Benda; “Die Hochzeit des Figaro” (Le Nozze di Figaro), Mozart (given four times); “Nina,” Dalayrac; “Die schÖne Schusterin,” Umlauf; “Ariadne,” Georg Benda; “Die Pilgrimme von Mecca,” Gluck; “Der KÖnig von Venedig” (Il Re Teodoro), Paisiello; “Der Alchymist,” Schuster; “Das listige BauernmÄdchen” (La finta Giardiniera), Paisiello; “Der Doktor und Apotheker,” Dittersdorf. A letter to the “Berliner Annalen des Theaters” mentions three operas which are not in the list of the theatrical calendar and indicates that the theatre was opened soon after receipt of the intelligence of the death of Joseph, and several pieces performed, among them Il Marchese Tulipano by Paisiello. The writer also mentions performances of Anfossi’s (or Sarti’s) Avaro inamorato, Pergolese’s Serva padrona and La Villanella di spirito, composer unmentioned, by an Italian company headed by Madame Bianchi.

The third season began October 23, 1790, and closed on March 8, 1791. Between the opening and November 27, performances of the following musical-dramatic works are recorded: “KÖnig Theodor in Venedig” (Il Re Teodoro), Paisiello; “Die Wilden” (Azemia), Dalayrac; “Der Alchymist,” Schuster; “Kein Dienst bleibt unbelohnt,” (?); “Der Barbier von Sevilla,” Paisiello; “Die schÖne Schusterin,” Umlauf; “Lilla,” Martini; “Die Geitzigen in der Falle,” Schuster; “Nina,” Dalayrac; “Dr. Murner,” Schuster. On March 8, the season closed with a ballet by Horschelt, “Pyramus und Thisbe.” The reporter in the “Theaterkalender” says:

Before proceeding with this history a correction must be made in this report: the music to the “Ritterballet,” which was the characteristic ballet referred to, was not composed by Count Waldstein but by Ludwig van Beethoven. We shall recur to it presently. Owing to a long-continued absence of the Elector, the principal singers and the greater part of the orchestra, the fourth season did not begin till the 28th of December, 1791. Between that date and February 20, 1792, the following musical works were performed: “Doktor und Apotheker,” Dittersdorf; “Robert und Caliste,” Guglielmi; “FÉlix,” Monsigny; “Die Dorfdeputirten,” Schubauer; “Im TrÜben ist gut Fischen” (Fra due Litiganti, il Terzo gode), Sarti; “Das rothe KÄppchen,” Dittersdorf; “Lilla,” Martini; “Der Barbier von Sevilla,” Paisiello; “Ende gut, Alles gut,” music by the Electoral Captain d’Antoin; “Die EntfÜhrung aus dem Serail,” Mozart; “Die beiden Savoyarden” (Les deux petits Savoyards), Dalayrac.

The fifth season began in October, 1792. Of the nine operas given before the departure of Maximilian and the company to MÜnster in December, “Die MÜllerin” by De la Borde, “KÖnig Axur in Ormus” by Salieri, and “Hieronymus Knicker” by Dittersdorf, were the only ones new to Bonn; and in only the first two of these could Beethoven have taken part, unless at rehearsals; for at the beginning of November he left Bonn—and, as it proved, forever. Probably Salieri’s masterpiece was his last opera within the familiar walls of the Court Theatre of the Elector of Cologne.

Beethoven’s eighteenth birthday came around during the rehearsals for the first season, of this theatre; his twenty-second just after the beginning of the fifth. During four years (1788-1792) he was adding to his musical knowledge and experience in a direction wherein he has usually been represented as deficient—as active member of an operatic orchestra; and the catalogue of works performed shows that the best schools of the day, save that of Berlin, must have been thoroughly mastered by him in all their strength and weakness. Beethoven’s titanic power and grandeur would have marked his compositions under any circumstances; but it is very doubtful if, without the training of those years in the Electoral “Toxal, Kammer und Theater” as member of the orchestra, his works would have so abounded in melodies of such profound depths of expression, of such heavenly serenity and repose and of such divine beauty as they do, and which give him rank with the two greatest of melodists, Handel and Mozart.