ABSTRACT
The death of Haydn must have added to Ludwig van Beethoven's depression. Yet he seems to have been hard at work composing—or at least making sketches—till the end of the year, the seventh Symphony, among other important works, being well on the way. With 1810, however, began a series of comparatively barren years. A variety of explanations suggest themselves, among them the likelihood that the partial blank was merely a pause before entering on his third period. Like his other adventures of the kind, Beethoven's attachment to Bettina has led to a great deal of disputation. His domestic troubles have their ludicrous aspect, but they were desperately serious in their effect on his health and output. The traditional conception of a creative artist dies hard, and the weight of opinion still favours the view that his achievements are the result of some abnormality in conduct, or eccentricity in habit.
