Should Beethoven Have Adapted to Serving the Nobility?

My goodness, what a question... perhaps something more specific would be better, like "the pens Beethoven used"—a very itchy subject......

I will divide the answer according to the interaction with this post. (Perhaps a book would be needed; in fact, several exist that I will not hesitate to recommend to you). First of all, the answer: without nobles and nobility, Beethoven would not have made any kind of career. The nobility and the Italian-style patronage system worked very well in the pre-revolutionary states (but also afterwards... only contemporary Italy has eliminated this system....) and the Beethovens (meaning grandfather Ludwig, father Johann, and grandson Ludwig) rightfully benefited from the time of Prince-Elector Clemens August of Bavaria up to Maximilian Franz of Habsburg (who, poor soul, died in 1801, driven out by the French revolutionaries, but that is another story). In short, the first friends he had of some importance were the Breunings. You have probably already heard of them, Eleonore, Stephan... etc.... it seems it was Wegeler who favored the meeting, also because the Breunings were personal friends of someone much more important, who would play a decisive role in Beethoven's life: the legendary Ferdinand Ernst, Count of Waldstein, the very one who wrote those prophetic words in the album of a spirit deeply aware of his era: "Mozart's genius is still in mourning and weeps for the death of his pupil. He has found refuge, but not employment, in the inexhaustible Haydn; through him, he aspires to reunite once more with someone. Through incessant study, you will receive Mozart's spirit from Haydn's hands". Well, he hit the nail on the head: a direct bullseye on the Bonn wheel, lucky him. (I would have been happy just to have a Casanova as a librarian......) Now, one must reflect for a moment on the "Von". The 'von' is a noble particle, which stands for "Of". In the times of the Austrian and German Emperors, a 'Von' was not denied to anyone... it was like saying "lordship" or "good morning, knight!". This fact, which seems like nonsense, will cause trouble for B during the lawsuit he brings against his sister-in-law in 17[xx]. But again, that is another story. Now, if we observe the dedications of Luigi's first works without Opus numbers, the sequence is interesting: WoO 38: Eleonore von Breuning; WoO 47: Archbishop Maximilian Friedrich (and what else could one expect....); WoO 40: Eleonore "von" Breuning; WoO 42: To the two Countesses of Thun (It is indeed those Thuns who still have a castle in Val di Non); WoO 44: Countess Josephine de Clary....... etc etc....... Come on! Later we will talk about B.'s relationships with his main protectors in Vienna... if you want......

OrlandiArmando wrote:

then we will talk about B.'s relationships with his main protectors in Vienna... if you want......

...I don't know why but "protectors" gives me the idea of "mafia" ...