Baroness Therese von Droßdik, née Malfatti (1 January 1792 – 27 April 1851), was an Austrian musician and a close friend of

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

. She is best known as one of the possible dedicatees of Beethoven's famous

bagatelle Bagatelle (from the Château de Bagatelle) is a billiards-derived indoor table game, the object of which is to get a number of balls (set at nine in the 19th century) past wooden pins (which act as obstacles) into holes that are guarded by woode ...

, ''

Für Elise Bagatelle No. 25 in A minor ( WoO59, Bia515) for solo piano, commonly known as "Für Elise" (, ), is one of Ludwig van Beethoven's most popular compositions. It was not published during his lifetime, only being discovered (by Ludwig Nohl) 40 ye ...

'',

WoO Woo, WoO, WOO, W.O.O. and variants may refer to: People Woo or Wu, romanization of several East Asian names: * Hu (surname): 胡, 瓠, 護, 戶, 扈, 虎, 呼, 忽, 斛 * Wu (surname): 吳, 伍, 武, 仵, 烏, 鄔, 巫 * Ng (name): 吳, 伍 * ...

59.

Biography

Born in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

on 1 January 1792 (3 weeks after the passing of Mozart) . Therese Malfatti was the daughter of the Viennese merchant Jacob Friedrich Malfatti (1769–1829) and a cousin of the famous and wealthy physician,

Johann Baptist Malfatti von Monteregio Johann Baptist Malfatti, Edler von Monteregio baptized as ''Giovanni Domenico Antonio Malfatti'' (June 12, 1775 in Lucca – September 12, 1859 in Hietzing near Vienna) was an Italian/Austrian doctor famous for treating the composer Ludwig van Be ...

(1775–1859). Her father, who from 1804 on owned an estate in Walkersdorf am Kamp (

Grafenegg Grafenegg is a market town (Municipality) in the Krems-Land district of Lower Austria, Austria. History Originally called Etsdorf-Haitzendorf, it changed its name in 2003. Population Sights Grafenegg is renowned for Grafenegg Castle, owned ...

), on 2 April 1806 was ennobled and given the title "Edler von Rohrenbach zu Dezza". Her younger sister Anna (1792–1869) married Beethoven's friend

Ignaz von Gleichenstein Baron Ignaz von Gleichenstein (24 May 1778 – 3 August 1828) was a German aristocrat and amateur cellist. He became a close friend of Ludwig van Beethoven, as well as being one of his most ardent supporters. Alongside Countess Marie Erdödy, Gle ...

on 29 May 1811 in Etsdorf am Kamp, Michael Lorenz: ''"Baronin Droßdik und die verschneyten Nachtigallen". Biographische Anmerkungen zu einem Schubert-Dokument''. In: ''Schubert durch die Brille'' 26, 2001, p. 64. while Therese was "the object of Beethoven's affection and marriage-project in the year 1810".Unger, 1925. In April or May 1810 Beethoven wrote to Therese a letter which ended ::Now fare you well, respected Therese. I wish you all the good and beautiful things of this life. Bear me in memory—no one can wish you a brighter, happier life than I—even should it be that you care not at all for your devoted servant and friend, Beethoven.". This was not exactly a love-letter, and it is not certain that Beethoven ever proposed marriage to Therese Malfatti, though some believe that he did. Further, the

", a song possibly written for Therese, was found among her personal papers. Baronin Droßdik died in Vienna.

References

Sources

* Virginia Beahrs: ''The Beethoven-Malfatti Connection Revisited''. In: ''The Beethoven Journal'' 13/1, 1998, , pp. 12–16. *

Sieghard Brandenburg Sieghard Brandenburg (21 January 1938 – 18 December 2015) was a German musicologist, who stood out especially as a Beethoven researcher. Life Born in Bad Frankenhausen, Brandenburg studied music (main subject oboe), musicology and mathematics ...

: ''Der Freundeskreis der Familie Malfatti in Wien. Gezeichnet von Ludwig Ferdinand Schnorr von Carolsfeld''. Beethoven-Haus, Bonn 1985, (''Jahresgaben des Vereins Beethoven-Haus'' 4th year. 1985). (in German) * Michael Lorenz: "Die 'Enttarnte Elise': Elisabeth Röckels kurze Karriere als Beethovens 'Elise'". In: ''Bonner Beethoven-Studien 9''. Bonn 2011, pp. 169–190
Article online
(in German) * Michael Lorenz: ''"Baronin Droßdik und die verschneyten Nachtigallen". Biographische Anmerkungen zu einem Schubert-Dokument''. In: ''Schubert durch die Brille'' 26, 2001, pp. 47–88. * Michael Lorenz: ''Studien zum Schubert-Kreis''. Vienna 2001, (Vienna, Ph. Diss., 2001). (in German) * Ludwig Nohl (Hrsg.): ''Neue Briefe Beethovens. Nebst einigen ungedruckten Gelegenheitscompositionen und Auszügen aus seinem Tagebuch und seiner Lectüre''. Cotta, Stuttgart 1867, S. 28–33. (in German) *

Max Unger Maxwell McCandless Unger (born April 14, 1986) is a former American football center (American football), center who played in the National Football League for 10 seasons. He played college football at Oregon Ducks football, Oregon and was draft ...

:
Beethoven and Therese von Malfatti
'. In: ''Musical Quarterly'' 11, 1925, , pp. 63–72 {{DEFAULTSORT:Malfatti, Therese 1792 births 1851 deaths 19th-century Austrian people Austrian baronesses Austrian people of Italian descent Musicians from Vienna