A letter written by
composer Ludwig van Beethoven has emerged in Germany after being left in a
will.
In the six-page
document of Beethoven's scrawled corrections, he complains about his illness
and a lack of money.
Experts were already
aware of the 1823 letter's existence, but say it is of historic value.
Broadcaster John
Suchet, who has written books on Beethoven, said finding the letter was
"hugely significant".
Speaking to BBC News,
he said: "We've always known it existed, therefore the information in it
isn't new, but anything in its original form to do with Beethoven is hugely
significant.
"It means we can
look at his handwriting, which was always untidy, because his father took him
out of school very early so he could concentrate on music."
'Musical
legacy'
Stefan Weymar, from
the Brahms Institute in Lubeck where the letter will be displayed, added:
"Beethoven was not a composer with beautiful handwriting.
"It is
spontaneous and he wrote things, then crossed them out, his thoughts changed as
he went on."
In the letter,
Beethoven asks harpist and composer Franz Anton Stockhausen to help find
advance buyers for his Missa Solemnis mass.
He also wrote about an
eye disorder from which he was suffering at the time.
"My low salary
and my illness demand efforts to make a better fortune," said Beethoven.
The letter ended up in
the hands of music teacher Renate Wirth, a descendant of the recipient.
The value of the
document has been estimated at more than 100,000 euros (£82,000).
Michael Ladenburger,
head of the Beethoven House Museum in Bonn, told Reuters news agency that the
appeal of the document was "certainly very great".
Suchet added:
"Beethoven, in my view, is one of the greatest artists who ever lived. His
music and legacy will be known to every single generation in the world, until
the end of time.
"I'm publishing
my sixth book on him later this year and I'm dedicating it to my
grandchildren's children because they will know his music - they don't have to
like it - but they will know it.
"Leonardo da
Vinci, Michelangelo or Mozart, in my view, are only a handful of truly great
artists who ever lived, therefore anything to do with them that can make us
understand their thought process is of great significance."
The letter is the
latest information in recent months that has come out on Beethoven.
In December,
scientists wrote in the British Medical Journal that they thought the
composer's deafness helped to define his music.
They said that he
favoured lower and middle range notes as his hearing deteriorated.
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