Steibelt apparently spoke slightingly and tauntingly about Beethoven upon arriving in Vienna, and mocked a trio which Beethoven had recently had published. He came to Vienna, in fact, with the deliberate intention of challenging Beethoven. There’s reason to suppose that Steibelt didn’t use real improvisation in his piano duels; rather, he carefully prepared the “improv” beforehand. Beethoven spotted this and publicly accused him of doing this (which was like cheating at cards, in the musical world).
Beethoven not only beat the challenge; he also mocked Steibelt into smithereens, using Steibelt’s own style - only infinitely more powerful and technical. If only I could turn the result into a pithy little phrase…
”He who mocks a Beethoven capsizes in a greater storm”…?
Hmmm… it doesn’t really roll off the tongue.
N.B. Steibelt’s nickname was „Der Sturm“ (after the piano rondeau for which he was most famed at the time).
I’ll stop there. I’m quite capable of going on and on and on about Beethoven - to the boredom of everyone else - and I’m trying not to go there!
