Even under favoring conditions, discipline was not to be
expected, but matters were further complicated by Karl's mother, who
made a practice of bribing the servants to get information about the
young man. There is no doubt her influence tended to increase the
discomfort and disorder that would have existed in any event. "Some
devils of people have again played me such a trick that it is almost
impossible for me to mix with human beings any more," he said in a
letter to Madame Streicher, which remark Mr. Kalischer (_Neue
Beethovenbriefe_, Berlin, 1902), attributes to intrigues against him by
his sister-in-law.
To illustrate the slight regard his servants had for Beethoven and their
absolute ignorance of the value of his work, an incident related by
Schindler about the loss of the manuscript of the Kyrie of the Mass in D
is in point. On reaching Doebling in 1821 on his annual summer migration,
he missed this work and the most diligent search failed to bring it to
light. Finally the cook produced it; she had used the separate sheets
for wrapping kitchen utensils.
Pages:
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281