Hummel Note
Research notes of composer Hummel
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J. N. Hummel. Includes his life, works, and audio listening.
5. The Weimar Period: Association with Goethe
After serving as Kapellmeister at the Stuttgart court from 1816 to 1819—a position with which he grew dissatisfied due to the lack of time available for composition—Hummel accepted, in 1819, the post of Kapellmeister in Weimar, the capital of the Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach.
This position offered not only a stable and substantial income but also, quite exceptionally for the time, several months of paid leave each year to allow for concert tours. Hummel remained in this post until his death in 1837, and it was in Weimar that his career reached its pinnacle.
In the early 19th century, Weimar stood as one of the foremost centers of German intellectual and cultural life, home to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and imbued with the legacy of Friedrich von Schiller. Hummel developed a particularly close personal relationship with Goethe and was a frequent visitor to his residence.
Hummel learned from Goethe to appreciate the true value of Schiller’s poetry, while Goethe, in turn, was deeply impressed by Hummel’s piano playing. Goethe is said to have praised him highly, remarking that Hummel “commands the piano as Napoleon commands the world.” This admiration is also noted in Johann Peter Eckermann’s Conversations with Goethe.
One of Hummel’s privileges as Kapellmeister in Weimar was the freedom to invite leading musicians he encountered during his tours to the city. Exercising this autonomy, he brought virtuosi from across Europe to Weimar, organizing special court performances as well as benefit concerts for pension funds supporting widows and orphans of musicians.
As a result, Weimar—originally no more than a small ducal city—was transformed under Hummel’s influence into an “unofficial musical capital” of Europe.
Elisabeth also occupied an important role within Weimar’s refined social sphere as the “Frau Capellmeisterin” (wife of the Kapellmeister). Her cultivated demeanor and the extensive network of top-tier artists she had developed during her Vienna years served as a vital catalyst for cultural exchange among Weimar’s intellectuals. The couple also became involved in discovering and nurturing the next generation of musical talent.
A particularly notable episode occurred during a concert tour to Warsaw in 1828, where Hummel met the young, then-unknown Frédéric Chopin. Recognizing Chopin’s extraordinary talent, Hummel offered him strong encouragement, urging him to “believe in yourself and continue on your path.”
When Chopin later reunited with Hummel in Vienna, he wrote in a letter to a friend that “Uncle Hummel is very kind and a wonderful man.” Chopin’s own piano concertos also show significant influence from Hummel’s pianistic style.
6. The Historic Encounter and Relics at Beethoven's Deathbed
Among the events of the Hummel couple’s Weimar period, the one of greatest historical significance was their visit to Vienna at the time of Beethoven’s death in 1827.
In March 1827, upon receiving news that Beethoven was gravely ill and on his deathbed, Hummel set out urgently for Vienna, accompanied by his wife Elisabeth and his pupil at the time, Ferdinand Hiller. It is also recorded that Beethoven himself, sensing his approaching death, strongly wished to see Elisabeth and sent a student and his secretary to summon her.
This final meeting was deeply moving and symbolic. Upon seeing the weakened state of Beethoven—his long-time rival and friend—Hummel was overcome with emotion and burst into tears. Elisabeth, meanwhile, gently wiped the sweat from Beethoven’s brow with her handkerchief as he lay on his deathbed. In the final week before Beethoven’s death on March 26, 1827, Elisabeth visited him twice.
On this occasion, Elisabeth received directly from Beethoven two relics of profound significance for music history.
First, a lock of Beethoven’s hair, cut from his head just days before his death.
Second, the quill pen that Beethoven literally used at the very end of his life. This pen was used only hours before his death to sign his codicil and to write a letter of gratitude to the music publisher Schott in Mainz.
Elisabeth preserved these items throughout her life, not merely as keepsakes, but almost as sacred relics. Nearly half a century later, on February 6, 1877, she had these objects framed together with other mementos and personally attached a certificate stating, “With this pen Beethoven wrote his final words.”
Today, many of these relics, including the pen, are housed in the Goethe Museum in Düsseldorf, while part of the lock of hair was rediscovered in Florence in 1934 by her descendant Wilhelm Hummel. As Michael Lorenz pointed out in his critique of the Für Elise manuscript controversy, it is logically difficult to explain how Elisabeth—who cherished her spiritual bond with Beethoven to such an extent and preserved his relics until her death—could have casually parted with an autograph manuscript supposedly dedicated to her.
Beethoven’s funeral became a major public event, with all of Vienna in mourning. Hummel bore the significant responsibility of serving as a pallbearer and is said to have cast three laurel wreaths into the grave as a final tribute to his great friend.
A few days later, in accordance with Beethoven’s wishes, Hummel performed an improvised memorial piece at a charity concert. He created a deeply moving improvisation that interwove themes from the “Prisoners’ Chorus” from Fidelio and the solemn Allegretto from the Seventh Symphony, reportedly moving the audience to tears.
During this period of memorial events, Hummel also formed a connection with Franz Schubert. Schubert greatly admired Hummel’s musical artistry and resolved to dedicate his final three piano sonatas (D958, D959, D960) to him. However, by the time these works were published in 1839, both Schubert and Hummel had already passed away. As a result, the publisher (Diabelli) altered the dedication, assigning it instead to Robert Schumann.