FOR WANT OF A WIFE
BEETHOVEN MUSIC LOST A wise writer in the “Musical Times” has been saying a good thing—that Beethoven would have liver longer, and therefore would have given the world more masterpieces, if he had married a practical wife. Much of the bachelor composer’s correspondence is devoted to complaints about his servants. They cooked badly, they stole his clothes, and if he rang the bell they sneered at him, so that we can almost forgive him for calling one Troglodyte and throwing half a dozen books at another. Of course, servants came and went with rapidity, as this extract from Beethoven’s notebook shows: “April 17: The kitchenmaid came. “May 16: Gave notice to kitchenmaid. “May 30: Cook entered on her duties. “July 1: New kitchenmaid came. “July 28: New kitchenmaid ran away. “July 30: Woman from Lower Dobling came. “September 9: A girl entered service. “October 22: The girl left. “December 12: Kitchenmaid entered service. “December 18: Kitchenmaid gave notice.” It is certainly tragic to think of Beethoven wearing out his nerves in trying to be a housekeeper, and it seems an infinite pity that there was no Frau Beethoven. For want of a shoe the horse was lost, but for want of a wife a whole world of immortal music may have been lost..
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/SUNAK19271206.2.38.3
Bibliographic details
Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 220, 6 December 1927, Page 5
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218FOR WANT OF A WIFE Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 220, 6 December 1927, Page 5
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