Progress in Composition—Guest of the Lichnowskys—Oppressive Hospitality—First Viennese Appearance as Pianist—An Aristo-cratic Musicmaker—van Swieten and the “48”—The B flat Concerto—The Trios, Op. I—Profitable Publication—First Pianoforte Sonatas

This is a suitable point at which to report on Beethoven’s progress as a composer. A glance at the list of works at the end of the book will show that his output so far was small, compared with that of Mozart, Haydn, and other great com posers at the same age. The cause is no doubt to be found in the lack of regular study of harmony and counterpoint in his early years, and to the small part such study played compared with his work at the pianoforte. We must remember, too, that the method of composition practised in his maturity—often a painful kind of evolution rather than invention—seems to have been more or less habitual from the first. However, some important works of a later date were undoubtedly conceived at this time. Even the Ninth Symphony is linked with his boyhood, for before going to Vienna he had already expressed his intention of setting the “Ode to Jo” that was eventually to form the chorale finale.