What did American musical contemporaries of Beethoven think of him? And what did the American public in general know about him and his music while he was still alive?

Hi /u/hobbes19,

I'm sorry no one has gotten to your question because this is actually quite a fascinating one to think about. My speciality is in music theory, but I have spent a lot of time thinking about music in America (mostly 19th/20th century) but I feel qualified enough to at least give you some resolution to your question.

Beethoven lived from 1770-1827--so right in the heart of the founding of America and its solidification as a nation (with the war of 1812). Music was not a very big part in the growth of this nation. Unlike in Europe where musicians were an integral part of the court and seen as a marker of prestige, America simply did not have this model. As a result, many of America's musicians/composers did this as a hobby in addition to some other kind of profession.

However, around 1815 or so, we start seeing the formulation of musical societies in urban areas that sought to bring over "new, scientific music of Europe" (H. Wiley Hitchcock Music in the United States: A Historical Introduction 2nd ed, 39). These were mostly in the form of the big names in England at the time (Handel and Haydn) but Beethoven's music would have surely been part of this trend.

By 1825, you start seeing the formation of music presses in America and they were definitely publishing compositions by Beethoven (likely piano works). By the time that Beethoven died, his music would have been known in educated music circles (pretty much exclusively the elite) but it likely would have not had an incredibly wide impact at the time.

The biggest impact would have been from the immigrants coming to the new nation who were really the most integral part of the formation of concert and opera halls in America. By the time Beethoven had died, he would have been well known to any new immigrants coming into the country.

In terms of holding Beethoven to the high esteem that we all do today, that would have started taking hold around when music became a part of university study. John Knowles Paine became the first professor of music in America at Harvard in 1875. He is often regarded as the grandfather of American music because he was the first composer of true significance. He was trained over in Europe and his style is highly Beethovenian and resembles many of the Germanic ideals. In his curriculum at Harvard, he sought to teach students to become music critics and essentially "teach" America about the great European music. Beethoven is certainly at the top of this list. While Paine certainly wasn't alone in this endeavor, I'm just using this example to show how late music "culture" really developed here in America.

As a side story, Beethoven really became the ideal once concert halls really took off. There is a famous story about the construction of Symphony Hall in Boston (around 1900). Around the proscenium, they put a bunch of plaques that were suppose to house the names of the great composers. When it came time to decide which composers would be put on those plaques, the only name they could unanimously decide on was Beethoven--and thus, still today, it's Beethoven's name only that is displayed.

For more information on the history of American music, I highly suggest H. Wiley Hitchcock's Music in the United States: A Historical Introduction or The Cambridge History of American Music. And although I haven't read it myself, I would definitely recommend Beethoven in America by Michael Broyles (definitely the foremost expert on this subject). From my general perusal of it, it looks like he also comes to the conclusion that Beethoven's impact really doesn't begin until the very last years of his life.