Hummel was elected to the Musikverein in Vienna in 1826. He had heard rumors that Beethoven, who had been his longtime friend and rival when he was young, was in poor health and that he might be in danger early the next year, so in 1827 he married his wife, Elizabeth, who was an old acquaintance of Beethoven. He took his first disciple, Hiller, to Vienna to visit Beethoven.

The situation at this time is described in Hiller's autobiography and memoirs. According to it, he visited Beethoven's house four times between March 8 and 23, 1827. Over the past 25 years, there have been many quarrels. Differences in ways of life, differences in composition methods, conflicts among disciples, severance of friendship due to misunderstandings... However, at this final meeting, they were embraced so deeply that they forgot everything. His wife, Elisabeth, devotedly nursed Beethoven, changing his clothes and wiping his body. Beethoven communicated to Hummel, albeit in writing.

 

“Johann, you are a lucky person.

And above all, he has such a beautiful and wonderful wife.”

 

 

  Beethoven asked to reserve his seat at a charity concert organized by Hummel's Musikverein, and also stated that he wanted Hummel to perform at a memorial concert after his death. . Furthermore, I told Elizabeth that I wanted her to cut my hair and keep it. And I left a message that I want Hummel to do his best in copyright activities.

 

Digression [Beethoven's hair]

Beethoven's hair research, which became the basis for the "lead poisoning theory," began in 1994, when Beethoven researchers Ira Brilliant and Alfred Guevara bought a hair at Sotheby's in London. After that, after DNA analysis, various things about his illness were revealed, but the historical development of this hair is summarized in the book "Beethoven's Remains" (Hakusuisha). Apart from the story of the two bidding on the hair of the deceased and requesting an appraisal, we are exploring how the hair of the deceased was auctioned for 170 years.

In a nutshell, when Beethoven passed away in 1827, the musician Hummel and his disciple Hiller, who came to pay his respects, cut off his hair and put it in a locket, which is the beginning of "Fate". Hiller gave it to his son Paul before his death, and in 1911, after Paul sent his keepsake locket in for repairs, his hair met a strange fate. It was at a time when the Nazi persecution of Jews was intensifying that the hair was found at a town doctor in Gileraye, a port town in Denmark. The Hiller family was Jewish, persecuted during the Nazi era, and moved to Denmark. Lastly, one of the things Beethoven entrusted to his disciples during his lifetime was the clarification of his own illness. . (From "Medical history of the composer 2. Beethoven")

 

  Three days after his last visit on the 23rd, Beethoven died.

  Hummel was the coffin bearer at the funeral, and at the memorial concert organized by Schindler and Beethoven's friends, he performed several improvisations on themes of the deceased's works at the request of Beethoven. went.

Hummel performed a variation from the Allegretto of the Seventh Symphony and a fantasy based on the prisoner's chorus from the opera Fidelio, which impressed many, Hiller wrote.

 

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  During this stay, Hummel also met Schubert, and once improvised from his song <Blind Boy> to his great delight. Schubert had dedicated the last three piano sonatas to Hummel and may have wanted him to perform them, but these were published after the deaths of both, so the publishers changed the dedication to Schumann.