Julius Hähnel (1811–1891). The casting was done by Jakob Daniel Burgschmiet of Nuremberg. Liszt returned to the concert stage for this purpose; he had earlier retired to compose and spend time with his family. He also wrote a special work for occasion of the unveiling, Festival Cantata for the Inauguration of the Beethoven Monument in Bonn, S.67 (Festkantate zur Enthüllung des Beethoven-Denkmals in Bonn). Other musicians had been involved earlier: Robert Schumann offered to write a "Grande Sonate", have it published with gold trim and black binding, and use the proceeds of the sale for the building fund. His Obolen auf Beethovens Monument: Ruinen, Trophäen, Palmen: grosse Sonate für das Pianoforte für Beethovens Denkmal, von Florestan und Eusebius (Small Contribution to Beethoven’s Monument: Ruins, Trophies, Palms: Grand Sonata for the Pianoforte for Beethoven’s Memorial, by Florestan and Eusebius) underwent some name changes. His publishers did not accept it in 1836, and so he revised it and had it published in 1839 as his Fantasie in C, Op. 17, with a dedication to Liszt. In the first movement, Schumann possibly alludes to a theme from Beethoven's song cycle An die ferne Geliebte (To the Distant Beloved) which if true, was also an allusion to his own "distant beloved", Clara Wieck, who was then separated from him in Paris, by order of her father Friedrich Wieck. In 1841 Felix Mendelssohn wrote his Variations sérieuses in D minor for the project. The unveiling was originally scheduled for 6 August 1843, but was postponed to 12 August 1845. On 12 May 1845, Schlegel died. His place as head of the organising committee was taken by the instigator of the idea, Heinrich Breidenstein. Hasty building of the Beethoven Hall The official unveiling of the Beethoven Monument was to be the high point of a 3-day Beethoven Festival. A month before the festival was due to commence, there was not a suitable venue to hold the expected 3,000 attendees. At Liszt's urgings, and only after he offered to bear the full cost himself, the committee engaged an architect and builders to construct the Beethoven Hall. By the time they finally started, they had less than two weeks to do this, and had to work around the clock to finish it on time. Fortunately, a little more attention had been paid to the musicians who were to perform the music. The orchestra was made up of players