The language of joy is always more or less superficial. The
tragedies of life have to be told in stronger language, since they go
deeper. Happiness is negative, pain positive. The comedies of
Shakespeare, in which the note is usually buoyant and felicitous, do not
stir us as do the tragedies.
Beethoven's visit at Count Brunswick's continued throughout the summer
of 1806. He left the Brunswicks in October, but instead of returning to
Vienna as was his wont in the autumn, he turned his face toward Silesia,
on a visit to Prince Lichnowsky who had an estate there. But the idyllic
life left behind at Count Brunswick's was not to be repeated here. His
stay was destined to be short owing to a violent quarrel between the
Prince and him, which caused an estrangement lasting some years. The
circumstances leading up to it can be briefly narrated. When Beethoven
arrived at the castle of Prince Lichnowsky, he found other guests there,
uninvited but not unexpected, consisting of French officers who had been
quartered on the Prince.
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