December 12, 2024

— Ludwig van Beethoven

↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓

Hey look, a chance to support the newsletter!

Sponsored by: Chatterboss​ The secret to getting more done (without doing it all yourself) If you’re like me, your to-do list never ends, and it’s easy to feel stretched thin. I’m excited to share a game-changing solution with you: ChatterBoss. They provide U.S.-based fractional executive assistant teams who aren’t just there to check boxes—they become your strategic partners at a fraction of the cost of an in-house hire. Your assistant even comes with extra administrative support (plus a manager for more accountability and access to specialists!) to help you save time, avoid burnout, and focus on what you do best. As a special bonus just for my readers, they’re offering $100 off your first month with code BILL100 when you schedule a free consultation by the 31st. Schedule yours now and see how they can transform your day-to-day! ​ Schedule my free consultation ​ ​

​

Please let me know here if you can't see the ads. Thanks!

↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑

There is only one Beethoven ...

A young musician arrived in Vienna just as winter tightened its grip. He was 21 years old, fresh from Bonn, eager to stake his claim in a city that already shimmered with the music of Mozart and Haydn. He carried with him the weight of expectations.

His name is familiar to us now -- Ludwig van Beethoven -- although very few people knew it yet.

Vienna was the center of Western music then, and Beethoven came to learn from the master of his day: Joseph Haydn, the celebrated composer who had already earned his reputation as the “Father of the Symphony” and the “Father of the String Quartet” preceded him. He had innovated, refined, and elevated the forms that defined an age.

Now in his 60s, Haydn was at the height of his fame, having just returned from triumphant tours in London and he agreed to take on Beethoven as a pupil.

The date of their first lesson? December 12, 1792, so 232 years ago today.

Now, Vienna had no shortage of aspiring musicians, and Beethoven was not Haydn's only student. For that matter, teaching him was not exactly Haydn's top priority. He was busy, juggling his responsibilities at the Esterházy court and composing new works to meet ever-growing demand. Their lessons began formally but the relationship quickly became complicated.

Haydn’s approach to teaching was genial. He believed in fostering creativity without imposing too heavily on a student’s natural inclinations.

For Beethoven, this was frustrating. He was fiercely ambitious, brimming with questions and demanding rigorous answers. He wanted to dissect the mechanics of composition, to master every detail, to understand not just what worked but why. Haydn’s relaxed approach felt to Beethoven like neglect.

Tensions simmered. Beethoven felt Haydn was distracted, and his mistrust deepened. He sought other teachers including Johann Albrechtsberger, a renowned theorist, to improve his counterpoint, and to Antonio Salieri for help with vocal writing. To a proud man like Haydn, this must have felt like a betrayal.

In Beethoven’s defense, sort of, his dissatisfaction wasn’t born solely of arrogance or impatience; he was acutely aware of the stakes. His patrons in Bonn had written to Haydn directly, urging him to guide Beethoven in the ways of Mozart, whose death two years earlier had left a gaping hole in Vienna’s musical landscape.

Beethoven knew he wasn’t just another pupil; he was expected to become a successor to greatness. This expectation drove him relentlessly, sometimes to the point of alienating even those who wished to help him.

Still, the lessons continued. Beethoven absorbed much from Haydn, even if he refused to fully admit it at the time. The older composer’s mastery of form, his ability to balance structure and surprise, and his sheer inventiveness left an indelible mark on the younger man.

Beethoven’s early works—his first symphony, his first string quartets—bear Haydn’s influence unmistakably, though Beethoven’s fiery personality and bold ideas were already beginning to break through.

Years later, when Beethoven had ascended to the heights of fame, he spoke of Haydn with mixed feelings. He acknowledged his debt but often in begrudging terms. Haydn, for his part, recognized Beethoven’s genius but lamented their lack of mutual understanding.

In one poignant moment, Haydn reportedly remarked, “Beethoven is clever, too clever; he will never be able to do things so lightly as I.”

Looking back, it is easy to romanticize their connection. But, it was only after several drafts in writing this that I realized why the story wasn't hitting me the way I expected.

That's because I didn't realize who was the main character.

• The main character in the story of Beethoven and Haydn isn't Beethoven; it's Hayden.
• But one of the reasons we know Beethoven today is that back then, Haydn was able to swallow his pride and accept some pain, in order to allow Beethoven to be the main character in their relationship.

In some productive relationships, you don't have to be friends. You don't even have to like each other.

But if you can combine talents and find a way to work together, you might help create things that will enhance societies many, many years in the future.

Good lesson for today, don't you think? And it would be even if it didn't have anything to do with music.

Oh, we need a quote. I was going to go with one from Haydn, but then I came across this one from Beethoven that made me realize just how difficult a student he must have been. Here he is, talking about himself, and addressing the princes to were his patrons:

Did you see ...

• FBI Director Christopher Wray announced Wednesday that he will resign by the end of the Biden administration next month. Wray was named to the post by President-elect Trump during Trump's last term, but drew Trump’s ire for the FBI’s role in criminal investigations of Trump. His announcement clears the way for Trump to install loyalist Kash Patel as the new FBI head. (CNBC)
• Just 2 in 10 Americans approve of President Biden's decision to issue a sweeping pardon for his son, according to an AP-NORC poll out Wednesday. Why it matters: The controversial move, which Biden had previously said he would not make, drew bipartisan backlash from lawmakers in Congress and appears to have frustrated a large swath of the American public. (Axios)
• Elon Musk, one of President-elect Donald Trump’s closest confidants, revealed Wednesday his support for weight-loss drugs like Ozempic being made cheaper for the general public — in contrast with comments Health and Human Services Secretary-designate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has made. “Nothing would do more to improve the health, lifespan and quality of life for Americans than making GLP inhibitors super low cost to the public,” Musk wrote on X. “Nothing else is even close.” (NY Post)
• Saudi Arabia will host the 2034 men's World Cup, FIFA formally announced Wednesday. And in 2030, Morocco, Portugal and Spain will co-host the centennial tournament, with Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay each hosting a single match. With FIFA rotating the World Cup among continental regions, the competitions for the 2030 and 2034 bids were not as competitive. (USA Today)
• The mysterious reported sightings of drone clusters in the night skies over New Jersey and other parts of the US north-east has prompted frustrated outbursts from Congress members, triggering calls for a limited state of emergency to be declared over the region. Jon Bramnick, a Republican state senator in New Jersey, has demanded a ban on all drones until the mystery is solved. (The Guardian)
• Six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach Bill Belichick is finalizing a deal to become the new head coach at the University of North Carolina. Hiring Belichick will resonate as one of the most stunning and compelling moves in college football history. He worked in the NFL in some capacity from 1975 until his divorce from the New England Patriots after the 2023 season. (ESPN)
• A grandmother died after she was pinned against a wall for two days by her Sleep Number bed, according to a new lawsuit. Rosalind Walker, from Godfrey, Illinois, was left trapped between the bed and wall of her bedroom in March 2023 after it "lowered itself without warning." (Daily Mail)