In 1801, Breuning moved to Vienna where four years later Beethoven's Fidelio was premiered. Besides Joseph Sonnleithner and Georg Friedrich Treitschke, Breuning also contributed to the libretto. In 1806, Beethoven dedicated his violin concerto op. 61 to his friend. Following Beethoven's death in 1827, Breuning assisted in handling affairs of the estate, but he died at age 52 only a few months after the composer. The plan to publish a Beethoven biography, which Breuning had considered writing in collaboration with Beethoven's childhood friend and Breuning's brother-in-law Franz Gerhard Wegeler and Anton Schindler, could not be realized.See Friederike Grigat, Die Genese von Franz Gerhard Wegelers Beethoven-Biographie in den Jahren 1827 bis 1845, in dies., Die Sammlung Wegeler im Beethoven-Haus. Kritischer Katalog, Bonn 2008 (Bonner Beethoven-Studien, volume 7),
