Beethoven is disgusted with Hoffmeister's suggestion that he write a sonata with a programme not related to music (probably about the revolution). The Pope's concordat with Napoleon has meant that the times are now once again Christian and no longer revolutionary. Yet he is prepared to compose another sonata incorporating the aesthetic views of the lady who had wanted to commission this work, and will do so for 50 ducats. He does, however, reserve the right to retain certain artistic freedoms. The lady who commissions the work will own the rights to it for a year, following this the publication rights will revert to the composer.
Beethoven adds that he is happy with the good engraving of the Sonata op. 22 although he has had to wait for it for too long. He asks for the Septet op. 20 to be published more quickly. Finally he writes about the Viennese publisher Mollo's edition of the String Quartets op. 18, in which the mistakes "wriggle about like little fish in water".
