In Charles C. Perkins’s “History of the Handel and Haydn Society, of Boston,” Vol. I, p. 87, the author writes: “The most interesting matter connected with the history of the society in the year 1823 ... is the fact that Beethoven was commissioned to write an oratorio for it.” The date is obviously wrong; it should be 1822, for in a letter dated December 20, 1822, as will appear in the next chapter of this work, Beethoven tells Ries that he has received requests from all parts of Europe “and even from North America.” The historian of the Boston Society adds:
That the commission was given is certain, but as it is not mentioned in the records, Mr. A. W. Thayer is probably right in thinking that it was given unofficially by Richardson and two or three other members. In October 1854 Mr. Thayer wrote a letter to Mr. J. S. Dwight, the well-known editor of the “Musical Journal,” to say that he had questioned Schindler, Beethoven’s biographer, on the subject and had learned from him that in 1823 a Boston banker, whose name was unknown to him, having occasion to write to Geymüller, a Viennese banker, had sent an order to the great musician to compose an oratorio for somebody or some society in Boston and it was forwarded to its destination.... Wishing to know the truth about the matter I wrote to Mr. Thayer, then, as now, U. S. Consul at Trieste, for information, and in reply learned that in one of Beethoven’s note books he had found this passage: “Bühler writes: ‘The oratorio for Boston?’ (Beethoven) ‘I cannot write what I should like best to write, but that which the pressing need of money obliges me to write. This is not saying that I write only for money. When this period is past I hope to write what for me and for art is above all--Faust.’”
The passages cited are from a Conversation Book used in the early days of April, 1823. In the fall of that year, on November 5, the “Morgenblatt für Gebildete Leser” closed an article on Beethoven with the words: “A symphony, quartets, a Biblical oratorio, sent to him in English by the consul of the United States, observe the United States, and possibly one of Grillparzer’s poems, may be expected.”
[42] For this arraignment and defence (if defence it be) of Beethoven the present Editor wishes to assume entire responsibility. Thayer’s notes fail him here, but the indictment, he is convinced, is not only demanded by historical truth but also wholly within the spirit of Thayer as manifested in the earlier volumes of this work. Dr. Deiters makes no effort to conceal the facts, though he does not marshal them so as to present the moral delinquency in the strong light in which it appears when Beethoven’s words and deeds are brought sharply into juxtaposition; nevertheless, after presenting a plea in extenuation fully and fairly, he says: “We pay the tribute of our profoundest sympathy for Beethoven under these circumstances; we know sufficiently well the noble impulses of his soul in all other fields; we are aware of the reasons which compelled him to try everything which promised to better his condition; but the conscientious reporter cannot ignore facts which lie notoriously before him, and, hard as it may be, can not acquit Beethoven of the reproach that his conduct was not in harmony with the principles of strict justice and uprightness.”