Digital Commons Network^™

“When Will The Time Finally Come When There Will Only Be Humans”: An Unknown Letter From Beethoven To Heinrich Von Struve, Julia Ronge

Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies

Transcription, translation, and discussion of a recently discovered letter from Ludwig van Beethoven to Heinrich von Struve from 1795. In the letter, Beethoven expresses a yearning for a time when there are only humans, without distinctions of rank and class. This sentiment accords with Schiller’s ode An die Freude, which Beethoven set to music more than once.