It later came into the possession of Liszt.
Beethoven's love of a joke was such that it appears in the title to one
of his works, the opus 129. It is a rondo a capriccio for piano, with
the title, Die Wuth ueber den verlorenen Groschen (fury over a lost
penny), of which Schumann says "it would be difficult to find anything
merrier than this whim. It is the most harmless amiable anger."
Beethoven was ready in repartee, and full of resources, with a wit that
was spontaneous and equal to any emergency. One New-year's day, as he
and Schindler were sitting down to dinner, a card was brought in
JOHANN VAN BEETHOVEN
_Gutsbesitzer_ (Landed proprietor).
Beethoven took the card and wrote on the back of it--
L. VAN BEETHOVEN
_Hirnbesitzer_ (Brain proprietor).
and sent it back to Johann. Cold-blooded, selfish, always ready to
profit by his talented brother, and never caring how he compromised him,
it was not to be expected that Johann would have the master's approval,
or that there could be any accord between them.
Pages:
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209