Chapter I. The Year 1819—Guardianship of Beethoven’s Nephew Karl—Mother and Uncle in a Legal Struggle—The Lad’s Education—Conversation Books—A Wedding Song—In Travail with the Mass in D—The Commission for an Oratorio from the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde—Visits from Zelter and Friedrich Schneider—Creative Work of the Year
Chapter II. End of the Litigation over the Guardianship of the Nephew—A Costly Victory—E. T. A. Hoffmann—An Analytical Programme—Beethoven’s Financial Troubles—Adagios and English Hymn-Tunes—Stieler’s Portrait—Arrested as a Vagrant—Negotiations for the Mass in D begun with Simrock—The Last Pianoforte Sonatas—Compositions of the Years 1820 and 1821
Chapter III. The Year 1822—The Mass in D—Beethoven and His Publishers—Simrock—Schlesinger—C. F. Peters—Phantom Masses—Johann van Beethoven: His Appearance and Character—Becomes His Brother’s Agent—Meetings with Rochlitz and Rossini—Franz Schubert—“The Consecration of the House”—Revival of “Fidelio”—Madame Schroeder-Devrient—The Bagatelles—A Commission from America
Chapter IV. The Year 1823—The Roman Ritual and the Mass in D—Subscriptions Asked from Royal Courts—Incidents of the Appeal—Goethe and Cherubini Enlisted as Agents—A Medal from the King of France—Further Negotiations with Publishers and Societies—Operatic Projects—Consideration of Grillparzer’s “Melusine”—The Diabelli Variations—Summer Visitors—An Englishman’s Story—Weber and Julius Benedict—Ries and the Ninth Symphony—Franz Liszt and Beethoven’s Kiss
Chapter V. The Year 1824—The Symphony in D Minor—Its Technical History—The Choral Finale and Schiller’s “Ode to Joy”—First Performance of the Work and Portions of the Mass—An Address to Beethoven—Laborious and Protracted Preparations for the Concert—A Financial Failure—Beethoven’s False Accusations against Friends and Helpers Drive Them from the Dinner-Table
Chapter VI. Incidents and Labors of the Year 1824—A Truce with the Hated Sister-in-Law—The Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde’s Oratorio—Bernard’s Libretto—The Society Forgives Beethoven His Debt and Elects Him an Honorary Member—Book of “The Victory of the Cross”—Summer Sojourn at Penzing Interrupted by Curious Visitors—The London Philharmonic Society Receives the Symphony in D Minor—Further Negotiations for the Mass—New Publishers—Probst—Schott and Sons—A Visitor from London—Beethoven’s Opinion of His Predecessors—The Quartet in E-flat, Op. 127—Trip to England Determined Upon
Chapter VII. The Year 1825. The Invitation from the Philharmonic Society of London—The Ninth Symphony Performed at Aix-la-Chapelle—Mass and Symphony Delivered to Schott and Sons—Unpleasant Results of an Attempted Joke on Haslinger—Beethoven and a Copyist—The String Quartet in E-flat Taken Away from Schuppanzigh after a First Performance—Karl Holz—Beethoven Authorizes Him to Write the History of His Life—Early Biographers—Visits of Rellstab, Kuhlau, Smart and Others—Sir George Smart’s Recollections—Dedication of the Mass in D—Stephan von Breuning—Wegeler asks Beethoven to Defend the Honor of His Mother—The Quartets in A Minor and B-flat
Chapter VIII. A Year of Sickness and Sorrow—The Last String Quartets—Wolfmayer Commissions a “Requiem” and Pays in Advance—Many Works in petto—Controversy with Prince Galitzin and His Son—The Fugue in the B-flat Quartet—“Muss es sein?”—Dedication of the Ninth Symphony—The King of Prussia and His Gift of a Dubious Diamond—AbbÉ Stadler—Beethoven Defends Mozart’s “Requiem”—Friedrich Wieck—Beethoven Goes to His Brother’s Summer Home—Life at Gneixendorf—Relations with His Brother’s Family—Young Oxen Thrown into a Panic Fear—The Quartet in F and a New Finale for the Quartet in B-flat—The Year 1826—Beethoven’s Last Compositions
Chapter IX. Karl van Beethoven—A Wayward Ward and an Unwise Guardian—Beethoven and his Graceless Nephew—An Ill-advised Foster-father—A Profligate Youth—Effect of the Guardianship on Beethoven’s Character—An Unsuccessful Attempt at Self-destruction—Karl is Made a Soldier
Chapter X. The Last Days at Gneixendorf—A Brother’s Warning—Beethoven and His Kinspeople—The Fateful Journey to Vienna—The Fatal Illness—The Physicians and Their Treatment—The Nephew Exonerated from a Slanderous Accusation—Schindler’s Disingenuousness—Dr. Malfatti Forgets a Resentment Harbored for more than a Decade—Beethoven and Handel’s Scores—A Gift of 100 Pounds Sterling from the London Philharmonic Society—Eventual Disposition of the Money—Metronome Marks for the Ninth Symphony—Death and Burial of Beethoven—His Estate
