254.—A BOLD PUPIL.
It is to Ferdinand Ries that we are indebted for many particulars as to the life and habits of Beethoven. This great master lived a solitary life, and for this reason our records of him are not so complete as to details as are the accounts of some of the other great composers. It is said that Ries, who, by the way, was a pupil of Beethoven, gave way to the temptation to "draw the long bow" occasionally, and that some of his statements concerning Beethoven are more or less tinged by his imagination.
However, here is one little story that probably may be accepted: "Upon Ries' first appearance in public as Beethoven's pupil, he was to play the C minor concerto from manuscript. This was the first performance of a work which has since become a general favorite with concert pianists, though it is not so great as the E flat concerto. Ries asked his teacher to write a cadenza for the work, but Beethoven, in a particularly genial mood, told the young man he might compose one himself and insert his own cadenza.
This was a high honor. Ries wrote his cadenza, but, on presenting it to Beethoven, the latter objected to one passage which was so difficult that its correct performance was doubtful, and advised the substitution of an easier passage. This Ries did until the time of the concert. When he came to the cadenza, instead of playing the easier passage he dashed into the forbidden one and completed it with great success.
"Bravo," cried Beethoven, and the audience took up the applause. After the performance Beethoven, remembering the disobedience said to Ries, "You are always obstinate. I would never have given you another lesson had you missed one note of that passage," and we may well believe Beethoven would have kept his word.