Beethoven and Shakespeare

[Jim Bailey]

I'm new to this forum, but I have looked through the archive to see the previous comments on this topic. I couldn't find an answer to the following question:

When Beethoven died there were four volumes of Schlegel's translations (into German) of Shakespeare's plays in his estate. They are described as "dog-eared from continual use, and heavily underlined". Does anyone know which four volumes these were, and which plays were in them? Can anyone suggest where I might find this information? Do the books still exist, and if so where are they?

Jim Bailey

[chopithoven]

I don't know what happened with the books, but they surely inspired the Tempest Sonata.
Therefore, one of them must have been the play 'The Tempest'.

[Andrea]

One of the last conversations that Beethoven had, that was recorded in one of his conversation books just 3 weeks before his death, shows that B. still held fast to his life-long loves. This subject was Shakespeare.

It was said in earlier conversations that his favorite Shakespeare play was "The Merchant of Venice". Beethoven also read Hamlet, The Tempest, Othello, Much Ado About Nothing, All's Well That Ends Well and The Winter's Tale.

Now as to what exactly happened to these four volumes that you mentioned Jim, I do not know. They could be somewhere here in Vienna in one of the Beethoven museums or in our National Library. I've looked through all of my books on Beethoven and there's no mention of what became of them after his death. I would also be interested what became of them.

[Joy]

I know a lot of his personal belongings were auctioned off after his death. I wonder if these books were auctioned to someone in the private sector, then it would really be hard to trace. They may not even exist anymore especially if they cannot be found in any museum.

[Jim Bailey]

I find Andrea's list of plays which Beethoven read very interesting because of two omissions(!):

Romeo and Juliet: Beethoven's friend Karl Amenda said that the second movement of the string quartet Op.18 #1 took its inspiration from the vault scene in Romeo and Juliet (see also the sketches for that quartet found in the manuscript Grasnick 2)

Macbeth: Beethoven started an opera Macbeth which never got past a few sketches. He used some of them in the slow movement to the Ghost Trio Op. 70 #1.

Andrea, could you send me your references to Beethoven's favorite Shakespeare play and which plays he had read, either the primary or secondary sources?

[Andrea]

Well Jim, I found most of my info from the book, "Beethoven. Biography of a Genius" by George R. Marek. This book has quite a few references to Shakespeare, Beethoven's interest in him, and his works.

I bought this book back in 1972 and I don't know if it's still in print. It's also 696 pages long but it is packed with more info then you can shake a stick at. Only Thayer's book is thicker.