DICTIONARY OF MUSIC - El Atril

GALIMATHIAS GALITZIN 1.35
any European theorist ; and the scale he
advocated for the lute is the only one now used
for the pianoforte, the organ, and tempered
instruments of every kind. The Dialogo contains,
however, much interesting matter, but
very slightly connected with the controversy
with Zarlino ; for instance, the text and musical
notation of the three apocryphal Greek Hymns,
to Apollo, Calliope, and Xemesis, which have
since given rise to so much speculation, and so
many contradictory theories.
Vincenzo (_ialilei died at Florence towards
the close of the 16th centur}', or beginning of
the 17th. \v, s. E.
GALIMATHIAS. A French term of very
doubtful derivation (Littre), meaning a confused
unintelligible affair. ' Galimathias musicum
is a comic piece of music for orchestra with
clavier and other instruments obhligato, composed
by Mozart in 1766 at the Hague, for the
festivities at the coming of age of William of
Orange the Fifth (March S). Mozart, then on
his road from London, was just ten years old.
The jdece is in thirteen short numbers ending
with a variation on the Dutch national air of
' Wilhelmus von Nassau.' (Kochel, No. 32;
0. .lalm, 2nd ed. i. 44.) In a letter of Feb. 5,
1783, Mozart speaks of a galimathias opera
— 'Ga;
faciens
GALIN. See Chevi;, vol. i. p. 513.
GALITZIN, NicoL.\s Boris,sovich, a Russian
Prince who is immortalised by the dedication
to him by Beethoven of an overture (op. 124)
and three quartets (opp. 127, 130, 132). Of his
birth nothing is known ; he died on his estates
in the province of Kurski in 1866. In 1804-6
he was in Vienna, and doubtless made the
acquaintance of Beethoven and his music at
the house of Count Easoumowsky, the Russian
ambassador, for whom at that very date Beethoven
wrote the three quartets (op. 59) and at
that of the Count von Browne, an officer in the
Russian service, for whom Beethoven had written
several works (opp. 9, 10, 22, etc.). In 1816
Moscheles met him at Carlsbad, and speaks of
him as a practical musician (Leben, i. 2 7). In
1822 he was married and living in Petersburg
in very musical society, his wife an accomplished
piianoforte player and he himself a violoncellist
and an enthusiastic amateur. At this time, Nov.
9, 1822, he ' writes to Beethoven a letter full of
devotion, proposing that he shall compose three
new cpiartets at his own price, to be dedicated
to the Prince. Beethoven accepts the offer (by
letter, Jan, 25, 1823), and fixes 50 ducats (say
£23) per quartet as the price. Feb. 19, the
Prince replies, that he has 'given an order' for
50 ducats to his banker, and will immediately
remit 100 more for the two others. May 5,
1823, he writes again, 'you ought to have re-
1 rriie lettj?r9 hero referred to ti.^ve not yet 1190.51 been printed in
Deiters'3 revised edition of Tlijyer'a [slojraph>i of Bi'ethjven]
ceived the 50 ducats fixed for the first quartet.
As soon as it is complete you can sell it to any
publisher you choose— all I ask is the dedication
and a MS. copy. Pray begin the second, and
when you inform me you have done so I will
forward another 50 ducats.'
From this time the correspondence continues
till Beethoven's death,
— in French, fourteen
Galitzin's further letters
in number—are full of
enthusiasm for Beethoven, pressing money and
services upon him, ofiering to subscribe for mass,
symphony, and overture, and volunteering his
willingness to wait for ' the moments of inspiration.'
In fact he had to wait a long time. The
first quartet (in Eb, op. 127) was first played
at Vienna, March 6, 1825, and is acknowledged
by the Prince on April 29. The second (in A
minor, op. 132) was first played Nov. 6, 1825,
and the third (in Bb, op. 130) on March 21,
1826. These were received by the Prince to-
gether, and were acknowleged by him Nov. 22,
1826. He also received a MS. copy of the Mass
in D and printed copiies of the Ninth Symphony
and of the two overtures in C, the one (op. 124)
dedicated to him, the other (op. 115) dedicated
to Count Radzivill. Thus the whole claim
against him was— Quartets, 150 ducats ; Over-
ture (op. 115), 25 ducats ; Mass, 50 ducats; loss
on exchange, 4 ducats ; total, 229 ducats, not
including various other pieces of music sent. On
the other hand he appears, notwithstanding all
his promises, to have paid, up to the time of
Beethoven's death, only 104 ducats. It should
be said that in 1826 war and insurrections had
broken out in Russia, which occupied the Prince
and obliged him to live away from Petersburg,
and also put him to embarrassing expienses.
After the peace of Adrianople (Sept. 14, 1829),
when Beethoven had been dead some years, a
correspondence was opened with him by Hotschevar,
Carl van Beethoven's guardian, which
resulted in 1832 in a further payment of 50
ducats, making a total of 154. Carl still urges
his claim for 75 more to make up the 150
for the quartets, which Galitzin in 1835 promises
to piay, but never does. In 1852, roused by
Schlindler's statement of the affair (ed. i. , pp.
162, 163),hewritestothet?are