Immortal Beloved

Text analysis

After Schmidt-Görg (1957) published 13 then-unknown love letters by Beethoven to Josephine Brunsvik, it became clear that the one to the "Immortal Beloved" was not the only love letter authored by him. That Josephine could have been the unknown woman was subsequently suggested by analyses of similarities in wordings and phrases between earlier letters (from 1804 to 1809) and this mysterious one from 1812, mainly in the monographs by Massin (1967, 1970), Goldschmidt (1980) and Tellenbach (1983), p. 103ff):

My angel (used again towards the end of this letter): see "farewell angel – of my heart – of my life." (#219, April 1805) – this also uses the intimate German "Du" ("Leb wohl Engel"); "farewell angel of my heart" (#220, April/May 1805).

My everything, you – you – my life – my everything: see "you – you – my everything, my happiness ... my solace – my everything" (#214, 1st quarter 1805); "dear J. everything – everything for you" (#297, after 20 September 1807).

Esterhazy: This Hungarian Prince was well known to the Hungarian Brunsviks.

remain my faithful only, your faithful ludwig, since you know my faithfulness to you, never can another own my heart, never – never, never misjudge the most faithful heart of your beloved L., forever thine, forever mine, forever us: see "Long – Long – may our love last – it is so noble – so much founded on mutual respect and friendship – even great similarity in so many things, in thoughts and feelings – oh let me hope that your heart – will continue to beat for me for a long time – mine can only – stop – to beat for you – if – it does not beat any more – beloved J" (#216, March/April 1805); "your faithful Bethwn" (#279, May 1807); "your faithful Bthwn, eternally devoted to you" (#294, 20 September 1807). Clearly refers to a pre-existing long-term relationship.

You are suffering you my dearest ... you are suffering – Oh, wherever I am, you are with me: Josephine was not only frequently ill, but especially desperate around that time because her husband had left her.

but – but never hide yourself from me: During 1807, Josephine began to withdraw from Beethoven due to family pressure; she was not home when Beethoven came to see her (see #294 and #307).

The period of speculation (1827 to 1969)

In his 1840 biography of Beethoven, Anton Schindler named Julie ("Giulietta") Guicciardi as the "Immortal Beloved". But research by Tellenbach (1983) indicated that Giulietta's cousin Franz von Brunsvik may have suggested her to Schindler, to distract any suspicion away from his sister Josephine Brunsvik, with whom Beethoven had been hopelessly in love from 1799 to around 1809/1810. La Mara (1909) published Therese Brunsvik's memoirs, which show her full of admiration and adoration of Beethoven. This, together with interviews of some of the Brunsvik descendants, led her to the conclusion that Therese must have been the "Immortal Beloved".

At first, most researchers, including Alexander Wheelock Thayer, also believed Therese was the "Immortal Beloved". Thayer thought the letter must have been written around 1806–07. Thomas-San-Galli (1909, 1910) checked out the official listings of guests in Bohemia, and at first (in 1909) concluded that Amalie Sebald was the "Immortal Beloved". Sebald was definitely not in Prague at the beginning of July, 1812, and Cooper consequently ruled her out as a possibility. Thomas-San-Galli then speculated (in 1910) that it might instead have been Therese Brunsvik, whom he believed could have secretly traveled to Prague.

Doubts were raised by Hevesy (1910), who ruled out Therese Brunsvik, (the "Louis" mentioned by Therese in her diary was, in fact, Count Louis Migazzi) and by Unger (1910) against Amalie Sebald. A summary of the older literature can be found in Forbes's work.

There was also a forged Beethoven letter by Paul Bekker in Die Musik. But it was already shown to be a hoax by Newman (1911)—a last-ditch effort to salvage the discredited Guicciardi hypothesis.

The date of the "Immortal Beloved" letter—6/7 July 1812—has meanwhile been firmly established, not only by watermarks and references, but also by a later letter by Beethoven to Rahel Varnhagen, which suggests he must have met his "Immortal Beloved" on 3 July 1812: "I am sorry, dear V., that I could not spend the last evening in Prague with you, and I myself found it impolite, but a circumstance I could not foresee prevented me."

La Mara (1920), after discovering more letters and notes in the Brunsvik estates, was now convinced "that ... Josephine widowed Countess Deym was Beethoven's 'Immortal Beloved'".

The discovery of Josephine Brunsvik (1957–1999)

Schmidt-Görg published 13 heretofore unknown love letters by Beethoven to Josephine Brunsvik (and a draft letter by him that survived as a copy by Josephine), that could be dated to the period from 1804 to 1809/10 when she was a widow after the early death of her first husband Count Deym. Schmidt-Görg dismissed Kaznelson's discoveries as "sensationalist". Goldschmidt explains why the German Beethoven scholarship was so reluctant to accept Kaznelson's theory (already published before these "13 letters"): "The fact that, as a result of this meeting, they had to take a natural daughter into account, appeared so venturesome to the professional world that the resistance to the Josephine hypothesis stiffened noticeably." Schmidt-Görg (1957) believed that with the last letter (which he still thought to have been written in 1807—not 1809) and with Josephine's marriage to Baron Stackelberg (in 1810) the love relationship was terminated.

Ley (1957) saw it differently:

Only on the negative side has one been able to arrive at certain conclusions: neither Giulietta Guicciardi, nor Amalie Sebald, nor Bettina Brentano can be considered any longer, and not even Therese Brunsvik, who for a long time was seriously regarded as the recipient of the famous love letter. But curiously enough, it is precisely the same documents which shed a definitive light, in the negative sense, on Therese which bear witness to Beethoven's passionate love for her sister Josephine."

Riezler, still very much a "standard" German biography of Beethoven, followed Kaznelson regarding Josephine being his "only love", likewise Dahlhaus who concluded that "internal evidence" points to Josephine.

The French authors Jean and Brigitte Massin (1967) identified Josephine as the "Immortal Beloved", mainly based on comparisons of the "Letter to the Immortal Beloved" with the earlier 14 (15) love letters: "The letter to the 'Immortal Beloved'... not only uses similar wording, but also emphasizes his long-time faithfulness to his one and only Beloved." In addition, with regard to traces in Beethoven's compositions, the "Massins argue that... the presence of Josephine in Beethoven's life left traces in his music... From the standpoint of music theory, the connections make eminent sense."

Antonie Brentano and other alternatives (1955–2011)

In 1955, the French scholars Jean and Brigitte Massin noted that Antonie Brentano was present in Prague and Karlsbad at the time and proposed her as a possible candidate for the "Immortal Beloved":

"The assumption that it could have been Antonie Brentano, is both tantalizing and absurd." They then argue:

"Tantalizing" is the assumption, because

Beethoven and Antonie, since her return to Vienna, were "on friendly terms",

In the summer of 1812 he lived in the same hotel in Franzensbad as the Brentanos, and

He had dedicated in the same year to her daughter Maxe a one-movement trio.

"Absurd", they argue, is the assumption because of

Beethoven's lasting friendship with Antonie's husband, Franz,

He borrowed money from him, and

"The many letters he wrote Antonie prove that a true and deep but—due to mutual restraint—nevertheless only formal friendship existed between them and Beethoven always seems to perceive Franz, Antonia and their children as an inseparable unity."

There was four years later also a claim by Japanese author Yayoi Aoki who had "discovered" Antonie. However, this had not been noticed outside Japan. She also published her findings again in a recent book in German.

Once again and more detailed Solomon (1972, 1998) suggested Antonie Brentano to have been the "Immortal Beloved". His hypothesis was founded on two major assumptions (or prerequisites):

Josephine re-discovered (2002–present)

Significant new discoveries in European archives were made and published by Steblin and Skwara & Steblin (2007). These can be summarized into two important items:

Josephine's estranged husband Baron Stackelberg was most likely away from home at the beginning of July 1812 (probably from the end of June for ca. two months), as noted in her diary: "Today has been a difficult day for me. – The hand of fate is resting ominously on me – I saw besides my own deep sorrows also the degeneration of my children, and – almost – all courage deserted me –!!! ... Stackelberg wants to leave me on my own. He is callous to supplicants in need." Steblin also discovered a document headed "Table of Rules" and dated 5–11 July with a list of ethical categories in the handwriting of Christoph von Stackelberg: "Thus this whole document, dated at the time when ... he ... was deliberating about his future, is surely further proof that Josephine was left alone ... in June and July 1812."

Josephine expressed her clear intention to go to Prague (in June 1812): "I want to see Liebert in Prague. I will never let the children be taken from me. ... On account of Stackelberg I have ruined myself physically, in that I have incurred so much distress and illness through him." "A new way of looking at old evidence confirms that Josephine was Beethoven's one and only 'Immortal Beloved'. ... All of the puzzling aspects about Beethoven's affair with the 'Immortal Beloved', including his various cryptic comments, can be explained in terms of his one known beloved – Josephine. Why do we doubt his word that there was only one woman who had captured his heart?"

In art

1994 film

In the 1994 film Immortal Beloved, written and directed by Bernard Rose, the Immortal Beloved is Beethoven's sister-in-law Johanna Reiss, with whom he had a long and frustrating legal battle over the custody of his nephew Karl van Beethoven.

In music

Canadian composer James K. Wright wrote a song cycle for baritone (or mezzo-soprano) and piano trio titled Briefe an die unsterbliche Geliebte/Letters to the Immortal Beloved (2012). The cycle sets excerpts from Beethoven's letter of 6–7 July 1812. The Gryphon Trio recorded the work with Canadian mezzo-soprano Julie Nesrallah in 2015 and in 2019 with Luxembourg baritone David John Pike.