BEETHOVEN under paid?

LUBECK, Germany, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- A handwritten letter by Ludwig van Beethoven reveals the German composer was displeased about his "low salary." The letter, written in July 1823 and addressed to Franz Stockhausen, concerned Beethoven's search for wealthy people to sponsor his latest composition, "Missa solemnis," Beethoven wrote he needed more money, in part, because of his worsening deafness.

"My low salary and my illness demand efforts to make a better fortune," he wrote at the age of 53, four years before his death.

The letter, which has been valued at $188,500, was found recently among items bequeathed to Germany's Brahms Institute of the Lubeck School of Music by Stockhausen's great-granddaughter, Renate Wirth. Wirth died last year.

"The bequest is of extraordinary historic value; this was a huge piece of luck for us," institute Director Wolfgang Sandberger said.



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