So far as known, Goethe never had anything more to do with him after
this summer. On leaving Toeplitz he writes to Zelter, Director of the
Berlin Singakademie, mentioning Beethoven casually or as an
afterthought, and alludes to him as an "entirely untamed (_ungebaendigt_)
person." From this time on, he seems to have excluded him from his
thoughts. Beethoven's music was frequently performed at Goethe's house
at Weimar. We read in "Eckermann's Conversations" that on such occasions
the company would relate incidents from Beethoven's life, but Goethe
never mentioned him.
Poet and musician were utterly dissimilar; it is not likely that either
influenced the other to any appreciable degree. "It is a great folly,"
said Goethe in 1824 (Conversations with Eckermann) "to hope that other
men will harmonize with us. I have never hoped this. I have always
regarded each man as an independent individual, whom I endeavored to
study, and to understand with all his peculiarities, but from whom I
desired no further sympathy. In this way have I been enabled to converse
with every man, and thus alone is produced the knowledge of various
characters, and the dexterity necessary for the conduct of life.
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