Carl Maria von Weber, Brief an Hans Georg Nägeli in Zürich, Mannheim, 21. Mai 1810, Autograph

Weber had offered the Zurich publisher Nägeli his B major Piano Quartet and his Piano Capriccio op. 12 for publication. Nägeli's reply has not survived but can be pieced together from Weber's letter. Apparently he had rejected the compositions, dismissing them as they reminded him too much of Beethoven.

In this letter Weber defends himself against Nägeli's accusations, "You seem to think I have copied Beethoven in my quartet and the caprice, and even though this is in some respects very flattering, it is still not pleasant for me. Firstly I hate everything which bears the stamp of imitation, and secondly my views are so different to those of Beethoven that I do not believe they will ever meet. The fiery, almost unbelievable inventive gift with which he has been blessed is accompanied by such a chaotic arrangement of ideas that only his earlier compositions please me. The later ones, however, are only muddled chaos, an incomprehensible search for novelty, from which appear single heavenly flashes of genius, showing how great he could be if only he were able to curb his rich imagination".