It may be said in passing that he gave it away
freely, glad to be of service to others. His income, augmented by his
copyrights, did not keep pace with his expenditures; when a friend
needed money and he had none, he would give him a composition instead,
which the other would turn into cash.
The manager of the theatre, An der Wien, had, before this, made
overtures to Beethoven to write an opera, and he went so far as to take
up his quarters in the theatre, preparatory to this work; but a change
in the management made it necessary to give up the idea for the time
being. In 1804, the offer in regard to the opera was renewed, and work
was begun upon it. It took up a large part of his time until its
production in November of 1805. It is probable that he took more pains
with this work than was devoted to any other of his compositions with
the exception of the Mass in D. His capacity for work was extraordinary,
particularly at this time, and the delight that he experienced in
producing these masterpieces was still new to him, which in itself was
an incentive to great exertion.
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