LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN

Ludwig van Beethoven



Ludwig van Beethoven

Introduction

Beethoven was born in 1770 in Bonn, Germany. His father and grandfather were professional singers, so that the family was music. He started playing the piano at age four, his father taught him. He eventually became assistant organist and has played Viola and Orchestra of the electorate. She loved music and was a success. He moved to Vienna at the age of 22 years to study the famous composer, Haydn, Beethoven thought was the greatest composer of all time.

Due to his enormous talent, played the Beethoven piano surrounded by curious and interested in the social elite in Vienna early in his career. Aristocrats were impressed by his talent and supported him. Its founder was a famous pianist. 20 years later, he started losing his hearing, and large ears. Beethoven lived in music, his deafness was destroyed. Imagine - a divine gift and passion that never ends (Davies, 2002).

Ludwig van Beethoven became the most famous composer of his time, in fact, he is deemed the greatest composer of all times by many. His family members were royal-court musicians in Cologne. His first years of childhood were lucky ones. Johann, his father was in moderately good financial standing during this time. Ludwig's grandfather also helped to support the family. His father started teaching him the piano at about 4 years of age.

It was soon learned that Ludwig had a gift for it. This allowed him to excel quickly. The family slowly lost their money over time and became poorer. When Ludwig's grandfather died in 1773, it led to his father becoming an alcoholic. Beethoven's father tried to exploit him around age 6 by claiming he was actually 7 years old at the time. This was at the time of his first performance in public in March 1778 (Davies, 2001).

After 1779, at some point, Ludwig studied with his most influential teacher (at least in Bonn), Christian Gottlob Neefe. Christian had become the court's organist in the same year. Beethoven learned composition with him and when onto eventually worked on a paid basis with him in 1782. At 11 years of age, Ludwig van Beethoven had to quit school. In 1783, Ludwig became a continuo player for the Bonn opera. He was so successful that in 1787, he sent to Vienna for the purpose of studying with Mozart. Sadly, the visit was cut short when his mother died. It is said though that Mozart thought highly of Beethoven and knew he would go places. The death of his mother drove his father further into alcoholism. Beethoven spent the next five years working in Bonn supporting his two brothers.

In 1790, Haydn had seen a score written by Ludwig van Beethoven, and was so impressed that he offered to train him after he went to London and back. So in the later part of 1792, Beethoven went to train with Haydn in Vienna and never returned to Bonn. He studied with Haydn for more than a year after he got ...