Ludwig van Beethoven
Written by ChrisRick on Thursday 21 February 2008
Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany December 16, 1770 and began to learn music at the early age of four. By the age of eight he was studying the piano, organ and viola under various tutors including Christian Gottlob Neffe, the Court Organist in Bonn. Beethoven is said to have visited Vienna in 1787 to study under Mozart, though no one is certain as to why he did not study with him. He quickly returned home due to his mother’s failing health and her death in July 1787.
When he was twenty-two he moved to Vienna and studied with Joseph Haydn and Antonio Salieri. Within a year he was established as a piano virtuoso and lived a life as something of a freelance musician living off of annual stipends from nobles, payment from subscription concerts, lessons and royalties from the sale of his works. Unfortunately, this did not always work and he was soon in debt. In 1808 he accepted the position of chapel maestro in Westphalia at the court of Jerome Bonaparte but was kept from leaving Vienna by a promised annual salary of 4000 Florins, which never fully materialized and even the portion that did disappeared in 1811.
As is well known, Beethoven began losing his hearing early in life, at the age of twenty-six in fact and had a constant tinnitus which made it difficult for his chosen profession. This did leave behind a wealth of information though in the form of written conversation between Beethoven and his friends. It is hard to fully appreciate his life without taking into account his personality which is well documented through is disdain for authority and social rank for which he cared little. He would even stop playing if the audience was not paying full attention or chatting and refused to perform at a party if not pre-planned.
His works though, speak for themselves and his hearing loss never stopped him from composing. He produced a vast amount of work in various genres including concertos, sonatas, chamber music, symphonies, opera and lieders (a form based on German poems set to music). The most famous of his works include the Fifth Symphony (containing the Ode to Joy), Ninth Symphony (containing a popular Choral section), Moonlight Sonata, Adelaide, Choral Fantasy and the Pathetique Sonata.
Bookmark it del.icio.us | Reddit | Slashdot | Digg | Facebook | Technorati | Google | StumbleUpon | Window Live | Tailrank | Furl | Netscape | Yahoo | BlinkListNo comments yet.
You must be logged in to post a comment.
