Beethoven’s eternal favorite; The secret of love that does not leave the history of music

According to National Geographic; On the surface, Beethoven was a lonely genius who never married; But an unfinished letter made another picture of him. This letter was found in his desk drawer after his death and was addressed to an unnamed woman: “Immortal Beloved”.

In this letter, Beethoven writes neither about music nor about fame; It speaks of longing, of deep love and inevitable separation. The tone of the letter is clear; This is not a distant fascination; It is a real relationship that did not end for an unknown reason.

Since then, researchers have been trying to find the identity of this woman. The clues go back to the summer of 1812; A trip between Prague, “Teplitz” and “Karlsbad”, and the night that apparently changed everything; But a serious obstacle, probably the woman’s marriage, did not allow this love to continue.

Two names are repeated the most: Antonie Brentano, Beethoven’s close friend and supporter, and Josephine Brunsvik, his piano student and a woman with whom he had previously exchanged love letters. Both have been present at the right time and place and both have been socially and familially unavailable.

It may never be known who the eternal lover was; But this ambiguity is part of the charm of the story. This letter, after two centuries, brings Beethoven down from the legendary status and turns him into a human like everyone else who fell in love, failed and gave his grief to music.

Sometimes the greatest mysteries are made not to be solved, but to survive.