Then, the natural thing to do was to dedicate it to the man that filled in his mind at that time the niche of hero. That happened to be Napoleon I.
The original score had been sent to the French ambassador to be forwarded to France (and much Napoleon would have cared for it had he ever received it!), when one day in came Ferdinand Ries, a pupil of Beethoven, and told the news that Napoleon had taken the title of "Emperor" and had crowned himself Emperor of the French.
When Beethoven heard this, he started up in a rage, seized his copy of the "Heroic" symphony and, tearing off the title page with the dedication thereon, he threw it on the floor, exclaiming: "After all, he is nothing but an ordinary mortal. He, too, will trample the rights of men under foot!"
From that time till Napoleon's death at St. Helena Beethoven never spoke of his hero; but when that event occurred he said: "I have already composed music for this calamity," referring to the "Funeral March" in this symphony. Meanwhile he changed the dedication of the work, making it read "Heroic Symphony, composed to celebrate the memory of a great man. Dedicated to His Serene Highness Prince Lobkowitz, by Louis van Beethoven."
288.—A PECULIAR VISITING CARD.
In Haydn's old age he resided in quiet repose at his villa at Grumpendorff, near Vienna. When he wished to remind some old friend of his uncertain health and of his still lingering on this planet, he would send him one of his cards, on which was engraved a passage from the close of his last quartet. The music consisted of but a dozen notes of melody; but the rhythm was halting and the ending had no cadence. It was well suited to the words he had added underneath, which ran:—
"Hin ist alle meine kraft,
Alt und schwach bin ich."
