Memories of Beethoven: From the House of the Black-Robed Spaniards (Canto original series) [Paperback]

Gerhard von Breuning (Author), Maynard Solomon (Editor, Translator), Henry Mins (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 31, 1995 | ISBN-10: 0521484898 | ISBN-13: 978-0521484893

These are the personal memories of an elderly man who, as a child, was closely acquainted with Beethoven. Gerhard von Breuning, the son of one of Beethoven's oldest friends, was a favourite of the ageing composer, who delighted in the boy's frequent visits. This firsthand account provides us with telling details about Beethoven's daily life, his personality, and his relationships with family and friends. It is as a clear-eyed witness of Beethoven's final illness that Breuning is particularly compelling, providing graphic reports on the atmosphere of the sickroom, the course of the medical treatment and Beethoven's death throes after he despaired both of his doctor and of his life and, muttering 'Oh, that ass!', turned his face to the wall. This is an English translation of a fascinating document. The Beethoven scholar, Maynard Solomon, has provided many explanatory notes as well as a full and informative introduction. A permanent contribution to the Beethoven literature, this book provides a sensitive and unique insight into the life of the composer during his later years.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Two years before his death in 1827, Ludwig van Beethoven moved into an apartment at the so-called Schwarzspanierhaus (the house of the black-robed Spaniards) in Vienna, around the corner from the home of his close friend Stephan von Breuning. Von Breuning's son Gerhard (1813-1892), at the time a precocious 12-year-old, visited the composer frequently and observed his character and habits so closely that Beethoven nicknamed the boy "Hosenknopf," or trouser button ("because I stuck to him like a button on trousers"). Gerhard, who became a doctor, later wrote a small book of reminiscences about the irascible genius; published in 1874 and reprinted several times, it became an important source of information about the composer's last years and final illness, despite the fact that the author added fabrications from a notoriously inaccurate biography by Anton Schindler, another of Beethoven's contemporaries. The deft English translation of this fascinating book contains a lucid introduction by Solomon ( Beethoven ), who has also provided copious endnotes to clarify von Breuning's references and to call attention to spurious material. Illustrations not seen by PW.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

During the last few years of Beethoven's life, the von Breuning family, including 12-year-old Gerhard, lived around the corner from the composer's residence at the Schwarzspanierhaus in Vienna. Von Breuning, a precocious and observant child, spent many hours at Beethoven's side and later chronicled his memories in a thin volume that is considered a minor classic among music historians. Solomon, a highly respected Beethoven scholar, has provided the first translation of the book, which was originally published in 1874. The meticulous editorial work is invaluable, as much of our knowledge of Beethoven's final years has been tainted by the fraudulent memoirs of Anton Schindler; even von Breuning himself occasionally relies upon Schindler's untrustworthy accounts. Many of the author's anecdotes and observations have been included in the major biographies, but they are told here with an affecting charm and freshness. Highly recommended for music libraries and lovers of Beethoviana.
- Larry Lipkis, Moravian Coll., Bethlehem, Pa.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 172 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (March 31, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521484898
• ISBN-13: 978-0521484893
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,050,346 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #46 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( B ) > Beethoven, Ludwig

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars REMEMBERING BEETHOVEN., July 28, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Memories of Beethoven: From the House of the Black-Robed Spaniards (Canto original series) (Paperback)

By its nature, what's most obvious can easily escape our attention, so it may be worth noting that Beethoven's era is beyond the recall of any living person. Theoretically, there might now be some living centenarian whose grandfather could have known him, or at least been in his presence and spoken with him - but this is conceptual, and though conjecture is fruitless it's still fascinating. We can't talk with Beethoven or his intimates, none of whom lived into the 20th century - but here one of them operatively speaks to us, if not literally then surely effectively.

Edited by Maynard Solomon and translated for the first time from the original German by him and Henry Mins, the book FROM THE HOUSE OF THE BLACK SPANIARD - REMEMBRANCES OF BEETHOVEN FROM MY YOUTH was authored by Dr. Gerhard von Breuning and first published in Vienna in 1874.

The title is fitting. As a 12-year-old, the author (whose father was a close friend of the composer) was privy to Beethoven's inner circle and played a small but important role in the composer's daily existence during the last year and a half of his life. He helped him in various ways by assisting with his correspondence, running special errands, helping him keep order in his dwelling, and doing what he could during Beethoven's last illness. The boy eventually developed for the composer a feeling approaching worship. Beethoven reciprocated this devotion by guiding some of the boy's musical education. When the young Gerhard eventually asked the older man's permission to address him with the familiar Du (rather than the formal Sie), the boy was overjoyed when Beethoven consented.

Dr. Solomon says in the book's introduction, "Like many children, Gerhard was a keen observer of small details..." This boy, who became a respected Viennese physician, evidently was the early 19th-century counterpart of today's "kid who doesn't miss a thing" (even pinpointing in his book such details as the exact location and number of windows of Beethoven's street-facing top floor apartment). His precision was fortunate and significant for posterity: it extended even to the minutest specifics about Beethoven's dwelling, personality and character, mood swings, daily conversations about his circumstances, personal preferences and other matters now irretrievably beyond our reach and forever lost. Often even the smallest details, about any subject, can be keys to opening large doors behind which are answers to some important questions. Beethoven's life was dramatic enough without the need for embellishment a-la-Hollywood, and von Breuning illuminates his subject from the real-world viewpoint.

His book takes its name from the building, the Schwarzspanierhaus (House of the Black Spaniard) - Beethoven's last residence, and where he died on Monday, March 26, 1827. In Vienna today, the site of the house (demolished ca.1904) is Schwarzspanierstrasse 15, marked with a memorial plaque and the characteristic red and white Austrian banner. In his day the address was 200 Alsergrund am Glacis. Because of its Beethoven connection the street was later renamed Schwarzspanierstrasse: the composer's swarthy complexion in his youth prompted some to call him The Black Spaniard - which in turn might have been what induced a few revisionist claims in our day that the composer was negro.

When Gerhard von Breuning died in 1892 he was the last survivor of those who had personally known Beethoven. Though his accounts were written late in life, he was there to witness the events of the composer's last years. This gives us not only a more immediate picture, but perhaps more importantly, bottom-line details which shed a bright light on what transpired more than a century and a half ago. This proximity gives special value to accounts like these.

Among the book's photographs are Beethoven's desk, the entrance hall and main door to the very apartment he occupied in the Schwarzspanierhaus, the building's exterior, an intriguiging floor plan of the actual dwelling, and Gerhard von Breuning himself in old age.

Perhaps the most compelling illustration is a superb photograph of Beethoven's life-mask, made by Franz Klein in 1812. It's compelling because it offers a literal glimpse into the past: Beethoven lived before the advent of photography, but this life mask represents him effectively as he looked at 42 and gives us the most accurate rendering we have of his physical features. Artists might disagree - but this illustration, by its very immediacy, seems to enlarge and strengthen the links in the chain that binds us to our own musical history.

Von Breuning's reports range from the humorous and fascinating - about Beethoven's fondness for puns and sarcasm - to the exasperating and even heartbreaking: Gerhard was devastated when as a young adult the numerous handwritten notes he had received from Beethoven were inadvertently discarded by a servant who thought they were trash.

This book is for those who want to know about Beethoven from someone who truly knew him. Historians compile and present an amalgam of data; author von Breuning via editor Solomon takes us into a courtroom and displays primary evidence unsullied by the traditional legendary gloss, the ghosts of myth, and the passage of more than 17 decades. Though no-one's memory is infallible, he still places before us, devoid of cosmetic veneer, the raw material from which we can experience our own reactions, form our own opinions, and draw our own conclusions.

The editor of this work has prepared a book that can be read and enjoyed by both reader and scholar. It's content is authentic, not synthetic - a treasury of material taken from a primary source: someone who literally knew Beethoven and who reports from this distinctive perspective. There are few if any substitutes for accounts like these, and a more superlative book of this type would be hard to imagine.

There's no other book quite like it so its singularity makes it quite special. About Beethoven there are countless tomes, perhaps more than about any other composer, but this book provides something rather unique, which adds to its value: a compendium of fascinating details that would be difficult, if not altogether impossible, to find in any other single volume. The book is, in a word, superb and for both the reader and researcher can be enjoyable, even fascinating and, perhaps more importantly, enlightening reading.

JEFFREY DANE

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful little book!, June 4, 2007

By 

Southern Gal - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Memories of Beethoven: From the House of the Black-Robed Spaniards (Canto original series) (Paperback)

The previous reviewer did an excellent job in describing this book but I must give the book five stars. There is not much more I can add. The book is written in a delightful, honest, sensitive, and engrossing manner. What the previous reviewer wrote is true. Gerhard did come to address Beethoven in a familiar rather than a more formal manner. And Beethoven nicknamed the boy "Trouserbutton" as their close and loving relationship developed. Beethoven is shown as the man rather than the sometimes difficult genius we read about. What a gift Gerhard von Breuning has given us in recording his memories for later generations!
One thing I must comment on is how Beethoven is described to have faced impending death with grace and dignity. Beethoven had to have been in incredible pain during those last months. Not only did Beethoven suffer greatly from his disease but horrible bedsores were discovered when Beethoven's body was moved after his death. Yet it is recorded that he rarely complained.
I cannot imagine anyone not thoroughly enjoying this book. This is a book that I will keep in my personal library for a very long time.

5.0 out of 5 stars You'll Love This One!!, April 4, 2009

By 

The Statt Family (Andover, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Memories of Beethoven: From the House of the Black-Robed Spaniards (Canto original series) (Paperback)

To someone immensely enjoying delving into the life of my favorite composer, this book was the "icing on the cake"! What better remembrances to read than those of a boy whose family rekindled an ealier friendship with the aging composer. You'll find interesting trivia not found elsewhere, such as the layout of his final large apartment, portraits of both Beethoven and others in his life. (Gerhard shares which ones he and his father felt were most realistic). It is sad to read of how much physical suffering Beethoven endured at the end, yet rarely complained. Also, how Vienna (previously apathetic to older Beethoven) became frenzied after his death for souvenirs. - Jonna Lambrosa Statt -