The following brief sketch can lay no claim to originality; it is merely a slight résumé of the principal events in the master's life (from the works of Schindler, Ries, and Wegeler, and more especially from Marx and Thayer), and is intended for those who, without the leisure to go deeply into the subject, yet desire to know a little more about the great Tone-poet than can be gathered from the pages of a concert programme, however skilfully annotated.
The few letters introduced have been translated as nearly as possible in the manner in which they were written. Beethoven's epistolary style was simple, fervent, original, but certainly not polished.
The author feels convinced that any shortcomings in the "Memoir" will be more than atoned for by Dr. Hiller's eloquent and appreciative "Festrede," which seems to have been dictated by that poetic genius, the possession of which he so modestly disclaims.
The first edition of this little book was exhausted within a few months of publication, and I have repeatedly been asked since to reprint it, but have hitherto withheld my consent, trusting to be able to undertake a more comprehensive work on the subject.
As, however, the necessary leisure for this is still wanting to me, and the demand for the "Memoir" continues, it is fated to reappear, and I can but commend it again to the kind indulgence of the reader. Several rectifications as to dates, &c., have been made throughout, in accordance with the recent researches of ALEXANDER THAYER, and the chapter entitled Lehrjahre has been partly rewritten on the basis of NOTTEBOHM'S Beethoven's Studien (Part I., Unterricht bei Haydn und Albrechtsberger) by far the most important contribution to Beethoven-literature which has appeared for some time.
It may, indeed, be considered the first step to the systematic study of the Master, and as such deserves to be better known in England than is at present the case.
