1810. Beethoven doubtless owed to it the self-mastery which at this period enabled him to pro- duce some of the most perfect fruits of his genius; that great classical tragedy, the Symphony in C minor and that delicious idyll of a summer's day: the Pastoral Symphony, 1808.[1] The Sonata Appassionata, inspired by Shakespeare's Tempest,[2] the Sonata which he himself regarded as his most powerful one, appeared in 1807 and was dedicated to Theresa's brother. To Theresa herself he dedicated the dreamy and fantastic Sonata in F sharp, Opus 78 (1809). An undated letter[3] addressed to his "Immortal Beloved expresses the intensity of his love no less strongly than does the Sonata Appassionata.
"My Angel, my all, my very self.
Just a few words to-day—and indeed in pencil (with thine). Only till to-morrow is my room definitely engaged. What an unworthy waste of time in such matters! Why this deep sorrow where necessity speaks? Can our love endure otherwise than through sacrifices, through restraint in longing? Canst thou help not being wholly mine? Can I, not being wholly thine? Oh! gaze at nature in all
