Threshold - Surface To Air

At first, Beethoven’s relationship with Steiner was friendly, and the composer always treated Haslinger with some kind of almost paternal warmth. Steiner imagined whom he was dealing with, and in informal communication Beethoven was given the nickname Generalissimo. Beethoven eagerly picked up this military theme, calling the publishing house his headquarters and endowing his employees with the appropriate ranks (for example, Steiner became “lieutenant general”, Haslinger became “adjutant”, and some of their assistant became “non-commissioned officer”), in Beethoven’s letters to Steiner and Haslinger has a lot of jokes on this subject. Often he puns, beating the names of Steiner (in German, Stein - “stone”), as well as Antonio Diabelli (“Diabolus”, that is, “devil”) who worked for some time in his company. The composer was also amused by the address of Steiner’s company, located in an alley overlooking Vienna’s main shopping street, Graben: Paternostergessel, that is, Otchenashensky Lane. Therefore, Beethoven often teased employees of the publishing house and the music store that belonged to him with “otzhenashenetsami”.