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There too shall be the MS. of that fragmentary 'Iphige'nie' which Racine laid aside so meekly at the behest of Mlle. de Treves 'quoque cela fut de mon mieux'; and there an early score of that one unfinished Symphony of Beethoven's I forget the number of it, but anyhow it is my favourite.
The Rainbow motive is perhaps not very graphic in itself, but it serves as a basis for a delicious passage evening calm and sunset after storm comparable only with a parallel passage in Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony. The storm itself is Wagner in the plenitude of his power.
And it has never lost anything of its grandeur; the years have left its beauty untouched, and it is for me the highest point of art reached by anyone since Beethoven's death.
Beethoven's first intention was to dedicate Op. 58 to him, which is evident from a large page in Schindler's work, on which is written in bold characters, by the master's own hand, "Quatrième Concerto pour le Piano, avec accompagnement, etc., dédié
I was equally angry and heaped reproaches on his head. The master was too astonished to answer, but stood looking at me. Finally, explanations were offered and then I first learned of Beethoven's grievance against me.
Its largo is like the tread of an Æschylean choros, its allegro movements are wild with anguish, and the occasional uplifting into the major only emphasizes the sombre whole, like the little rifts of clearer harmony in Beethoven's "Funeral March on the Death of a Hero." The last movement begins with a ringing pomposo, and I cannot explain its meaning better than by quoting Mrs.
The crashing of the trees as they fell, the blows of crowbars on the stones, the confused roaring of thousands of voices, the Marseillaise sung in chorus, and the irregular cannonading which resounded from the direction of the Rue Saint-Denis, all composed a strident, stupefying, tempestuous harmony, beside which Beethoven's Tempest would have seemed like the buzzing of a bee.
Prince Lobkowitz was present, and in the effort to pacify him, made light of the affair; he told him that this man's absence did not matter much, as the first and second bassoonists were present, a line of argument that served to include the Prince in Beethoven's wrath. Hofsekretär Mahler relates the dénouement of the incident.
He was continually attempting to approximate the other's grand, pathetic tone, his broad and self-righteous manner. His music is full of but slightly disguised quotations. The trumpet-theme that ushers in Mahler's Fifth Symphony, for instance, appears the result of an attempt to cross the theme of the funeral march of the "Eroica Symphony" with the famous four raps of Beethoven's Fifth.
Traversing in carriages the illuminated and vociferous city, the King and his companions returned by the railroad to Bruhl." Next morning there was a great concert at Bonn part of the Beethoven festival, in which much fine music was given, but, oddly enough, not much of Beethoven's, to her Majesty's regret.
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