Note 91 — Chapter IV · (continued 2)

In view of the fact that Beethoven would not have been able to hear a note of the music had he been present and that, unless deeply moved, he would not have made a public exhibition of his feelings, and that even Schindler does not seem to have heard of the story of the kiss, it is very likely, in the opinion of the present editor, that the whole story is a canard invented for advertising purposes. Thayer’s note on the copy which he made of the conversation at the time of the presentation of the lad is: “B. does not appear to have attended the concert, as some one reports to him that he ‘improvised on a Hungarian-German theme.’” But there are several versions of the story (see Frimmel, “Bausteine, etc.,” p 91) and Beethoven may at another time have kissed the boy.