Bicentennial of the Immortal Beloved letters
ever thine
ever mine
ever ours
Do these words ring a bell? Well, they were the valediction of some poignant if not mysterious love letters addressed to a woman whom he called "Immortal Beloved". discovered among papers in Beethoven's desk after his death in March, 1827 along with the Heiligenstadt Testament. Written in pencil and consisting of three parts the passionate feelings in these letters were addressed to a person unknown. Many have speculated over whom might be the recipient, made more difficult by the fact that there is no year or place given on the letters. However, Solomon, studying the period and persons close to Beethoven, came to the solution that Antoine Brentano must be the answer, but there could be other applicants as well. The apparently unsent letter was found in the composer's estate after his death, after which it remained in the hands of Anton Schindler until his death, was subsequently willed to his sister, and was sold by her in 1880 to the Berlin State Library, where it remains today. Since Beethoven did not specify a year, nor a location, an exact dating of the letter and identification of the addressee was speculative until the 1950s, when an analysis of the paper's watermark which can be used for dating purposes, yielded the year, and the place.
ever mine
ever ours
Do these words ring a bell? Well, they were the valediction of some poignant if not mysterious love letters addressed to a woman whom he called "Immortal Beloved". discovered among papers in Beethoven's desk after his death in March, 1827 along with the Heiligenstadt Testament. Written in pencil and consisting of three parts the passionate feelings in these letters were addressed to a person unknown. Many have speculated over whom might be the recipient, made more difficult by the fact that there is no year or place given on the letters. However, Solomon, studying the period and persons close to Beethoven, came to the solution that Antoine Brentano must be the answer, but there could be other applicants as well. The apparently unsent letter was found in the composer's estate after his death, after which it remained in the hands of Anton Schindler until his death, was subsequently willed to his sister, and was sold by her in 1880 to the Berlin State Library, where it remains today. Since Beethoven did not specify a year, nor a location, an exact dating of the letter and identification of the addressee was speculative until the 1950s, when an analysis of the paper's watermark which can be used for dating purposes, yielded the year, and the place.
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