I

ON MARCH 26, 1827, the day Ludwig van Beethoven died at the age of fifty-six, Franz Grillparzer, who was two decades younger in age than the composer, wrote a long-form poem to honor Beethoven, indicating his reverence as much as reflecting the intimidation he felt in his presence. In the poem, an invisible narrator celebrates Beethoven's ascendance into heaven and, once he has arrived, imagines a dialogue between him and fellow composers Bach, Handel, Gluck, and Haydn. Yet it is the encounter between Mozart and Beethoven that intrigues the narrator most. Mozart, the “Meister,” who entered the scene “im Siegeskranz,” welcomes Beethoven as equal to all of them: “Gleich den Besten sei geehrt!” Nevertheless, Mozart's praise contains a hint of critique; a benevolent one since an agent is missing: “Rechtes, ohne Maß und Wahl, / Zeugt verderbenschwangre Qual.” Furthermore, Mozart is also lenient towards Beethoven; for violating the rules, he holds responsible only those who attempt to imitate the master. He does not accuse Beethoven of this himself: “Nach es ahmen in Geduld, / Ihnen ist, nicht uns die Schuld.” Yet Beethoven's implied misstep seems in need of a quasi-theological pardon: “Doch kein Tadel folgt Verklärten, / Und der letzte Schritt auf Erden / Macht den letzten Fehler gut.” Following Mozart's welcome speech, such luminary authors as Shakespeare, Lope de Vega, and Klopstock greet Beethoven as well. In the end, however, it is Lord Byron, “der Feind der Knechte,” who wishes to bond with Beethoven when the narrator has him speak the last lines: “Sieh dort dunkle Buchengänge, / Laß uns miteinander gehn!”

On the whole, Grillparzer's assessment of Beethoven's legacy on the day of his death constitutes a surprisingly ambivalent sort of reverence: while in a semi-private act Grillparzer felt compelled to write a poem in which he imagines the deceased in an artists’ heaven, his admiration is tempered by restraint. Unlike Mozart, who appeared in a “double aurora,” Grillparzer wants to have Beethoven guided into the darkness, out of sight. In a symbolic configuration Grillparzer temporarily puts Beethoven in the foreground only to ultimately place him in the background.