Born in the
Pitti Palace in
Florence,
Tuscany, he was the youngest son of Emperor
Leopold II and
Maria Louisa of Spain. In 1803 or 1804, Rudolph began taking lessons in piano and composition from
Ludwig van Beethoven. The two became friends, and Rudolph became a supporter and patron of Beethoven; their meetings continued until 1824. Beethoven dedicated 14 compositions to Rudolph, including the
Archduke Trio, the
Hammerklavier Sonata, the
Emperor Concerto and the
Missa Solemnis.
Piano Sonata No. 26 - Les Adieux ("The Farewells") was gifted to Rudolf just before his flight from Vienna with the imperial family on the occasion of the 1809 invasion by
Napoleon. The movements are "Lebewohl", "Abwesenheit", and "Wiedersehen" ('farewell', 'absence', and 'reunion'). Rudolph dedicated one of his own compositions to Beethoven. The letters Beethoven wrote to Rudolph are today kept at the
Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna.
Franz Schubert and
Ferdinand Ries also dedicated works to Rudolf. On 24 March 1819, aged 31, Rudolph was appointed
Archbishop of Olomouc in the present day
Czech Republic but then known as Olmütz which was part of the
Austrian Empire. He was made
Cardinal-Priest of the
titular church of
S. Pietro in Montorio by
Pope Pius VII on 4 June 1819. He was ordained a priest on 29 August 1819, and consecrated a
bishop on 26 September. In 1823–24, he was one of the 50 composers who composed a variation on a waltz by
Anton Diabelli for
Vaterländischer Künstlerverein. In Rudolph's case, the music was published anonymously, as by "S.R.D" (standing for
Serenissimus Rudolfus Dux). He acquired a significant library of musical compositions, comprising over 18,000 works from 2,400 composers, now held by the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde. He died on 24 July 1831 of a cerebral hemorrhage in
Baden bei Wien at the age of 43 and was interred in the
Imperial Crypt in Vienna; his heart was buried in the crypt in
Saint Wenceslas Cathedral in Olomouc. == Ancestors ==