Ludwig van Beethoven, Brief an Georg August Griesinger, Wien, 7. Januar 1823, Autograph

Beethoven asks for Griesinger's advice concerning the form in which he should publish his new mass (op. 123), one which would be more profitable than printing it. He asks Griesinger to tell his ideas to the bearer of the letter, his brother Johann van Beethoven.

Georg August von Griesinger was a senior official at the Saxon Embassy in Vienna. He was a music lover and thus had contacts to all the great musicians in Vienna, published articles (e.g. Biographic Notes on Haydn, whom he knew well) and represented the interests of the Leipzig publishers Breitkopf & Härtel in Vienna. In his role as diplomat and publishers' representative Beethoven sought Griesinger's advice in connection with the call for subscriptions for the Missa solemnis. Griesinger did actually organize a score copy of the Mass for Beethoven in Dresden.