The father of Carl Czerny, a famous composer, was walking in
the streets of Vienna sometime in 1793 when he encountered Abbe Joseph Gelinek,
a famous pianist of the day. Gelinek was preparing to have a public musical
duel with another pianist. His opponent: a young foreigner. “I’ll fix him,”
said Gelinek confidently.
The next day, they
met again. How did the duel go? asked Czerny.
Gelinek was
“awestruck.”
“Yesterday was a
day I’ll remember! The young fellow must be in league with the devil. I’ve
never heard anybody play like that! I gave him a theme to improvise on, and I
assure you I’ve never heard even Mozart improvise so admirably. Then he played
some of his own compositions which are marvelous—really wonderful—and he manages
difficulties and effects at the keyboard that we never even dreamed of.”
“I say,” said
Czerny the elder. “What’s his name?”
“He’s a small,
ugly, swarthy young fellow and seems to have a willful disposition…. His name
is Beethoven.”
In
Beethoven: Anguish and Triumph, by Jan Swafford,
Houghton-Mifflin, 2014.
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