The idea of writing another oratorio seems now to have taken possession
of his mind. A preference for this mode appears in his journals and
letters and was probably the subject of conversation on his part. At all
events, the newly established Society of Friends of Music of Vienna
(which Beethoven, with his usual aptitude for punning, used to refer to
as the society of _Musikfeinde_, enemies of music) made him a
proposition to write an oratorio for them, which he accepted. No
stipulations were made as to subject or treatment, and the society
agreed to pay the handsome sum of three hundred gold ducats, merely for
the use of the work for one year. So far as known, this work was never
begun. The Archduke soon after obtained his appointment as
Cardinal-Archbishop, and the work on the mass for the Installation
occupied Beethoven to the exclusion of other works.
The loss by death of three of Beethoven's old friends must have been
greatly felt by him in these years. Prince Lichnowsky, who died in
1814, was the first, and was followed two years later by Prince
Lobkowitz.
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