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It was a band of chosen spirits, and the attrition engendered by these meetings must have been advantageous to each. They were true Concerts Spirituels, an audience of artists from which the performers were drawn. Second only to Czerny as a pianist among this company was Beethoven's friend and pupil, the Baroness Ertmann, who frequently took part in these concerts.
The next important figure on the list was the Countess Babette de Keglevics, afterward Princess Odeschalchi, to whom Beethoven showed his feelings in the shape of the Sonata, Opus 7. The Baroness Ertmann he addressed as "Liebe, werthe, Dorothea Cecilia," while the Countess Erdödy received the still warmer greeting of "Liebe, liebe, liebe, liebe Gräfin."
He used to allude to her as his father confessor. Madame Erdödy erected in honor of Beethoven, in the park of one of her seats in Hungary, a temple, the entrance to which is decorated with a characteristic inscription expressing her homage to the great composer. Later in life she was banished and died in Munich. The Baroness Ertmann was also a good friend to Beethoven.
Such is our will and pleasure. Given on the 23d of January, 1817, by the Generalissimus. Manu propria. The following dedication occurred to me of my new Sonata: "Sonata for the Pianoforte, or Hammer Clavier. Composed and dedicated to Frau Baronin Dorothea Ertmann née Graumann, by Ludwig van Beethoven." Hammer Clavier is certainly German, and so is the device. Honor to whom honor is due!
He formed many romantic attachments which may not always have been Platonic, but they were always pure. Beethoven had as chivalrous a regard for women as had any knight of the middle ages. Among those with whom he became intimate are the Baroness Ertmann, the Countess Erdödy, the sisters of the Count of Brunswick and many others.
He was only too glad to abandon it as soon as proper encouragement for composition came to him from his publishers. Here and there an attractive lady would be able to cajole him into giving a few lessons on the pianoforte the Brunswick sisters and Madame Ertmann are instances, but they were intermittent in character, and did not continue long.
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