Wagner
had the same thing to contend with for the same reason.
After the withdrawal of Fidelio, noted in the last chapter, and with the
advent of summer, Beethoven left Vienna on a visit to Count Brunswick,
at his seat in Hungary. The Count was a man of exceptional intellectual
ability, who had the greatest reverence and admiration for Beethoven's
genius. Beethoven was also on excellent terms with the Count's sisters,
and later became engaged to one of them, the Countess Therese. It is
well known that the Countess Therese exercised a powerful fascination
over him, but so did many another of the gifted Vienna ladies in the
course of his life.
So vast a quantity of work was accomplished by the master during this
summer, that it is likely the proximity of these friends only served to
stimulate his genius. The Appassionata Sonata was worked over, the
Rasoumowsky Quartets were finished, as well as the Fourth Symphony,
besides lesser works, so that he could not have spent much time in
social intercourse. He was in the period of his greatest productivity;
the creative instinct was strong in him and impelled him onward in his
work to the exclusion of other desires.
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