Carl Friedrich Peters, Brief an Ludwig van Beethoven in Wien, Leipzig, 15. Juni 1822, Autograph

In 1818 the Leipzig publisher Peters had already tried to buy works by Beethoven. It was only in the early summer 1822 that he succeeded in entering into serious discussions with the composer. After first getting into contact with him in May, Peters begins concrete negotiations with this letter. It was written on two bifolia, which were separated at some point; the first bifolium, which contains the larger amount of text, is now in Vienna, the second is the one shown here.

Beethoven had offered Peters his Missa solemnis op. 123 and the publisher shows interest. He is even prepared to pay the 1,000 florins C.M. (Viennese part of the letter) which Beethoven has stipulated. However, as this is a very large sum of money, even for Peters, he asks in return for further small works which can be sold more easily. He asks for Lieder, bagatelles, military marches and Beethoven's latest string quartet, but stresses that he cannot pay the price requested. He is also very interested in Beethoven's idea of a complete edition, but puts off the discussion until a later date (Bonn part of the letter).

Beethoven's correspondence with Peters in Leipzig comes at the time of his disagreement with the Viennese publisher Steiner and is directly influenced by this. Before 1820 Beethoven was good friends with Steiner, who had also published many of his works. On different occasions and for different reasons Beethoven had borrowed larger sums of money from Steiner, who asked for them to be repaid at the end of 1820. The composer was very angry about this. As a result he began looking for a new publisher (first of all finding Peters, with whom he did not do business in the end). At the same time he tried to offer his Missa solemnis to many different publishers for the incredible price of 1,000 florins - after all he needed money - without, however having finished composing the mass.

For his part Steiner tried to subtly prevent Beethoven from leaving him by introducing himself to Peters as Beethoven's intermediary at the trade fair in Leipzig. Peters even believed this at first. Beethoven enlightened Peters about Steiner's high-handedness, warning him not to get involved with him, not to buy any works from him or to give him any, and not even to accept his services. In this letter Peters assures him he will not get mixed up in Steiner's machinations (which were, however, no worse than those of any businessman and were quite usual for the times).

Over the years the tone between the Leipzig publisher Peters and the composer became much harsher on account of the tough negotiations and Beethoven's false promises and delaying tactics. In the end it was no longer the friendly and respectful tone of this early letter.