ABSTRACT
Johann Beethoven had contracted an irregular union with one Therese Obermeyer, and Ludwig van Beethoven, instead of being content with putting his objections as one brother might to another, must needs descend on their home at Linz, and try to bully them into separating. During this wretched visit to Linz, Beethoven put the finishing touches to the happy eighth Symphony— "the little one", as he called it. Maelzel was a well-trained and capable musician who succumbed to a passion for mechanical invention. The Panharmonicon seems to have been the forerunner of the powerful steam organs heard to-day in connection with "roundabouts." Its repertoire included such works as Cherubini's "Lodoiska" Overture, Haydn's "Military" Symphony, and overtures and choruses by Handel. The victory of Wellington at Vittoria in the summer of the year 1813 also provided the subject for an English tour.
