Talk:Heiligenstadt Testament

Some external links
You can find some info here: http://www.carolinaclassical.com/articles/beethoven.html Original (in German): http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/beethoven_heiligenstadt.html More info (and manuscripts), here: http://www.beethoven-haus-bonn.de

Will?
I don't believe that this document is a will within the meaning of the Act. Its principal purpose isn't to say who should receive Beethoven's possessions after his death, which is the principal purpose of a will - this document is a combination of an apology and a cri de coeur It looks to me as if someone (maybe someone for whom English isn't a first language?) has assumed that "testament" equals "will", which it doesn't really in this case. German Wikipedia says "Das Heiligenstädter Testament ist ein Brief", and I propose that the word "will" be changed to "letter". I'll do it myself if there's no disagreement here. --GuillaumeTell 17:03, 4 May 2006 (UTC)


 * This document is a will, it fulfills all legal demands of such a document which were valid at that time and it would have been accepted as a will by the civil court of the Vienna City Council.--91.115.49.167 (talk) 14:18, 19 November 2013 (UTC)

Translation
I don't like it. The use of 3-400 year old English, I feel, detracts from the emotional appeal of it. Beethoven was in the deepest despair when he wrote this - a composer going deaf. I propose modifying the translation into more common speech to help convey the emotion. I'm not saying paraphrasing, just change 'ye' to 'you' and whatnot. --Milton 17:05, 23 September 2006 (UTC)