The concert was brought to a close with the Battle of Vittoria, at which the majority of the audience went wild; I, on the contrary, was painfully grieved to find Beethoven, whom Provi­dence has perhaps destined for the highest throne in the musical hierarchy, moving on the plane of the coarsest materialists. [...] When the orchestra all but capsized in the tumultuous riot of drumming, pounding, and rattling, and I expressed to Herr Sonnleithner my distaste over the boisterous applause, he remarked in a mocking tone that "most people would like it even better if the beating were extended to their own eardrums". The concert was under the direction of Umlauff; Beethoven stood at his side and beat time together with him. His beat was mostly false, however, owing to his deafness, but no mishap occurred inasmuch as the orchestra watched only Umlauff's indications. << less