Page 4 - UM0028 - Sonata in D major for Piano Four Hands, KvB

Preface

When one mentions the name Beethoven, very few people think of Kaspar Anton Karl. This is naturally due to his four year older brother Ludwig who left us his
formidable musical inheritance. The fact that there was also a brother named Kaspar is known, however that this brother also composed is mostly information
possessed only by the experts.

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Kaspar Anton Karl van Beethoven was born in Bonn during the year 1774. He was the third of 7 children of which a few died early deaths. Kaspar Anton Karlꞌs exact
2
date of birth in not known with certainty. However, he was christened on April 8 and it is possible that he was born the day before. At aged thirteen, he lost his
mother who died on July 17, 1787. On May 25, 1806, Kaspar Anton Karl van Beethoven married Johanna Reiss who later gave him a son Karl. When Kaspar Anton
Karl died on November 15, 1815, Ludwig van Beethoven got custody of his son. Although the reasons remain unclear, Ludwig hated Johanna. Kaspar Anton Karlꞌs
will and testament, written in November 14, 1815, granted joint custody of his son Karl to his wife Johanna and Ludwig. However, Ludwig had Johannaꞌs name
removed: "indem ich durchaus an ein solches schlechtes Weib bej einer so wichtigen Sache wie die Erziehung des Kindes nicht gebunden sejn wollte, …"

“Because in no way do I want to be associated with such a bad woman, concerning such important matters as the upbringing of a child, …"

In the end, the young Karl lived with his uncle Ludwig for years and was more or less prevented from seeing his mother. It is for this, that brother Kaspar Anton Karl
has become famous in music history.

Kaspar Anton Karl moved to Bonn, where his brother Ludwig lived and worked already for a number of years, in 1794. It was not long before he worked independantly
in music, helping Ludwig rewrite music scores such as separate voices and partitures. After 1800 he not only worked in the finance department but also as Ludwigꞌs
secretary. He made contact with publishers and concerned himself with the finances surrounding the compositions. He was seen to give praise, to a number of
Ludwigꞌs works, in a letter to the publisher Johan Anton André. Below a citation from this letter written in November 23, 1802:

1 Ludwig Maria, baptised April 2, 1769, died six days after his birth in Bonn
Ludwig, baptised December 17, 1770, died March 26, 1827 in Vienna
Nicolaus Johan, baptised October 2, 1776, died January 12, 1848 in Vienna
Anna Maria Franziska, baptised February 23, 1779, died four days after her birth in Bonn
Franz Georg, baptised January 17, 1781, died August 16, 1783 in Bonn
Maria Margareta Josepha, baptised May 5, 1786, died November 26, 1787 in Bonn
2 Even Ludwig van Beethovenꞌs date of birth is uncertain. In general, children were baptised the day after they were born. Assuming this was the case, Kaspar Anton Karl would
have been born on April 7 and Ludwig on December 16

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