[Illustration: Beethoven's first authenticated likeness--a silhouette by Neesen, made between 1787 and 1789.]
In 1783, Beethoven published the first three sonatas, dedicated to the Elector. A year after, he was named second-organist, through the intervention of Neefe and Count Salm, but "without appointments." Maximilian died in 1784, and Maximilian of Austria, the brother of Marie Antoinette, ruled in his stead. He at once began the work of reforming the court-music. In a record of the day, Johann is spoken of as a worn-out singer, "but he has been long in service and is very poor." Ludwig is referred to as a possible successor to Neefe, and they could secure him for about $60 a year. "He is poor, very young, and the son of a court musician." In July, 1784, Ludwig was awarded a salary of $60, although Neefe was not removed; and at the installation of the new Elector in 1785, the boy, in court dress with sword at side, was permitted to kiss the hands of his august master.
At that time Bonn was a sleepy town of about 10,000 inhabitants, who were chiefly priests and people of the court. There were no factories; there was no garrison, and the only soldiers were the body guard of the elector. The theatre was in a wing of the palace. Strolling companies tarried there for a season. Concerts, or "academies," as they were called, were given in a handsome hall. The musicians lived bunched together in a quarter of the town. Franz Ries, the violinist; the horn player, Simrock, the founder of the publishing house; the singing daughters of Salomon;--these worthy people were neighbors of the Beethovens. There were many skilled amateurs in society. The Elector himself was passionately fond of music; he played the viola and the pianoforte.
There is a story that in 1781, Ludwig made a concert tour in Holland, or at least played in Rotterdam, but, with this possible exception, he did not leave Bonn from his birth until the spring of 1787, and then he went to Vienna. The Elector probably paid the expenses, and he gave him a letter to Mozart. This great composer was apt to look askew at any infant phenomenon. He listened at first impatiently to the playing of Beethoven, but when the latter invented a fantasia on a given theme, Mozart said to the hearers, "Pay attention to this youngster; he will make a noise in the world, one of these days." He gave the boy a few lessons. There is a story that Beethoven also met the Emperor Joseph. His stay was cut short by lack of money and the news that his mother was dying. In July, Franz Ries paid her burial expenses. Johann kept on drinking, and his son, who was now the head of the house, rescued him occasionally from the hands of the police. In 1789 it was decreed that a portion of the father's salary should be paid to the son, and December 18, 1792, the unfortunate man died. The Elector, in a letter to Marshall Schall, pronounced this funeral oration: "Beethoven is dead; it is a serious loss to the duties on spirits."