of 1803 and 1804 with Beethoven in Baden bei Wien, as well as in Döbling. Ries' work as a secretary and a copyist won Beethoven's confidence in negotiations with publishers and he became a fast friend. One of the most famous stories told about Ries is connected with the first rehearsal of the Eroica Symphony, when Ries, during the performance, mistakenly believed that the horn player had come in too early and said so aloud, infuriating Beethoven. Ries feared conscription in the occupying French army (though he was blind in one eye) and so he fled Vienna in September 1805. He stayed in Bonn for a year with his family, and this is where he wrote his first piano concerto in C major, now known as Concerto no. 6 for piano and orchestra. While Ries was living in Bonn, his two piano sonatas, op. 1, dedicated to Beethoven were published by Simrock. Starting in 1807, Ries spent the next two years in Paris before returning to Vienna. Here Ries quickly expanded his catalogue of works (mainly to chamber and piano music, such as the later popular Septet op. 25). Ries had great difficulty succeeding in the capital city of the French Army and was at times so discouraged that he wanted to give up the profession of music and seek a position in the civil service. On 27 August 1808, Ries arrived back in Vienna, where he again made contact with Beethoven. Ries helped Beethoven with the premieres of the Fifth and Sixth Symphonies and other works for the benefit concert held on 22 December 1808. In July 1809, Ries left Vienna for the second time; this time he was threatened by the call-up to the Austrian military, which mobilized all forces against the threat to Vienna by Napoleon. Again he took refuge in his paternal home of Bonn and spent the next one and a half years composing a series of larger works: his first Symphony, his second Piano Concerto in C minor (later known as Concerto no. 4 op. 115) and his Violin Concerto (unpublished during his lifetime) in E minor op. 24. Later life In January 1811, Ries left for Russia with the goal of an extended concert trip via Kassel, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Stockholm to St. Petersburg. There, he met his old teacher Bernhard Romberg, with whom he played concerts in Western Russia. He composed two piano