Ignaz von Gleichenstein

An attractive feature of Beethoven's post Fidelio years was his decision to dedicate at least some of his compositions to close friends, rather than to grandees; friends like Ignaz von Gleichenstein (1778–1828), a keen amateur cellist and, in the opinion of another member of Beethoven's circle, the historian Julius Schneller, ‘a man of the greatest probity and … the kindest [of] men’. Gleichenstein was a state counsellor working in the War Department and his official duties included at least one intelligence mission to assess Napoleon's troop movements, after war broke out yet again between France and Austria. He helped Beethoven in a number of practical ways. For example, it was Gleichenstein, at the instigation of Countess Erdödy, who negotiated the all-important contract agreed by Archduke Rudolph, Prince Lobkowitz and Prince Kinsky in February 1809 (see Chapter 19) designed to keep Beethoven in Vienna when he was considering a lucrative offer from the King of Westphalia.

The numerous letters Beethoven wrote to Gleichenstein suggest that, for some years at least, their friendship was especially warm. Beethoven even asked him for help with his marriage plans: ‘Now you can help me look for a wife … who would perhaps now and then grant a sigh to my harmonies.’ A month later, he begged Gleichenstein to undertake a particularly sensitive mission: to give as much support as he could to Stephan von Breuning, whose wife Julie, with whom Beethoven often played duets, had died after only a year of marriage. Her death upset Beethoven deeply, all the more because he felt that his attempts to comfort von Breuning had been a complete failure: ‘You would hardly believe in what an excited condition I found him … Hence, my dear Gleichenstein, I am entrusting to your care one of my best and staunchest friends.’ Apart from two periods of estrangement, Beethoven's friendship with von Breuning, who had recently revised the libretto for the 1806 revival of Fidelio, lasted from their years as children together in Bonn until Beethoven's death. Their friendship had been cemented earlier by his dedication of the Violin Concerto to Stephan and the piano version of the concerto to Julie.