Jim Tobin, responding to me:

>>...wrote tens of letters to his pupil Rudolph von Habsburg, brother of the
>>emperor, and in all of them he calls himself Rudolph's "most humble and
>>obedient servant" or the like.  Not very rebellious!
>
>Have you ever read an 18th Century letter--not to an intimate--that
>did not end something like this?

Yes, I have. See below.

>Wasn't it the "Yours, truly" of the day?

In principle you're right, of course, but there's a difference, at least
in Beethoven's letters.  I've read them all and it's striking that the
words he used for Rudolph are always much more humble than the words he
used for other not intimate relationships.  Everything he wrote to Rudolph
is a bit more, a bit overdone in showing his obedience and his being a
humble servant.  No wonder, Rudolph was the one who paid him really very
well over the years, better than anyone else!  Do not get me wrong, I don't
blame Beethoven.  I can understand him very well.  But that doesn't change
the fact.  The proofs for Beethoven's urge to become a nobleman too are
impressive and IMHO somewhat embarrassing, particularly from the pen and
the mouth of the same man who replied Lichnowsky in such an excellent way.
Beethoven's brothers had the same strong urge.  The difference between
Ludwig on this side and Carl and Johann on the other side is that Ludwig,
mostly being an honest man, never lied about his comparatively humble
descent, while Johann and Carl did.

Joyce Maier
www.ademu.com/Beethoven