Maria Pachler (1794-1855) - Anonyme Miniatur, um 1817

Marie Leopoldine Pachler, born Koschak, was an excellent pianist and she also composed. She was particularly fascinated by Beethoven's music as well as by him himself as a person. Her brother-in-law showed Beethoven some of her compositions, and Beethoven expressed his appreciation of those compositions.

In the late summer of 1817, Marie Leopoldine Pachler finally met the composer in person and she also had the opportunity to play the piano for him. Beethoven later on wrote in a letter, praising her piano playing very much: "Never have I met anyone else, who plays my composition as well as she does".

Karl Pachler, Marie Leopoldine's husband, was aquainted with Beethoven, too. They both invited the composer in a very cordial way to come to Graz and visit them, but Beethoven never went on that journey. On September 27, in 1823 Marie Leopoldine Pachler visited Beethoven the second time. She was distressed about the poor health condition of the composer she admired so much. On this occasion, Beethoven composed a musical piece of farewell in 2 bars (WoO 202) for her.(S.B.)