Beethoven: Early Life and Talent

Beethoven, being born so long ago, does not have an exact recorded birthdate. It is believed that he was born December 16th 1770, because he was baptized in the catholic church on December 17th 1770 and the catholic church generally baptizes babies a day after they are born (cmuse.org 1). Beethoven was not the

It took Beethoven about three months for him to settle into his new life in Vienna. His lessons with Hayden lasted for over a year, and were finished one they left London. During his first

1819 is the year in which his hearing was thoroughly depleted. He could no longer play the piano virtuously and had to communicate by text. As a result, he spent a majority of his time composing. Beethoven would sketch out his compositions in a book. These books have been maintained and it is evident that he would work on several pieces at once. During this time, his compositions ranged from simple melodies to more elaborate and edited works. In 1804 Beethoven completed his Third Symphony. This piece was originally a tribute to Napoleon Bonaparte, but when Beethoven found that Napoleon was proclaimed an emperor he deleted the dedication. At this point in his life, Beethoven seriously considered marriage. His first love was for a woman named Giulietta Guicciardi. When this relationship eventually broke, he sought the hand of Giulietta’s cousin, Josephine. The bond between them broke and the engagement was ended. Beethoven’s final attempt with a woman was with his doctor’s daughter, Therese Malfatti. As is expected, this relationship also failed and Beethoven reached the final part of his life as a bachelor. The rate and quality of his compositions slowed and he became more and more isolated. Another depressing and negative event in Beethoven’s life took place in 1815. His brother died. Caspar Anton Carl left behind a son and a widow and instructed

Beethoven devoted himself to study and performance and while working under Haydn’s direction; he sought to master counterpoint – counterpoint being the relationship between voices that are harmonically polyphony yet independent in rhythm and contour. This was European classical tradition, and much of the common practice of the Baroque period. Beethoven lost his hearing around 1798; having the cause of his deafness unknown, his hearing only partially recovered and during its gradual decline, was impeded by a severe form of tinnitus – the hearing of sound when no external sound is present. This is where he threw himself the music writing Sonatas for Piano and the second and third symphonies. The third symphony being in honor of Napoleon Bonaparte. The move from Heiligenstadt back to Vienna marked a change in his musical style. This was the start of his “heroic” period which was characterized by many original compositions of a grand scale – a term more frequently used as an alternative name for the middle period. Beethoven wrote the last

Like many people of this time period Beethoven was affected by the French Revolution, the enlightenment and romantic periods; in 1789 the French Revolution was raging and people were dying. The French general Napoleon defeated France’s enemies and inspired Beethoven with ideas of freedom and equality. It was because those inspirations that Beethoven was going to dedicated his Third Symphony, Erocia which means heroic to him, that was until Napoleon decided to declared himself emperor, which made him so angry that he viciously scratched out the dedication. (Alvarez 2006-2007)

Gives all the pertinent details for a novice in classical music. Distinguishes the differences in types of music written by a

Beethoven regarded Mozart as his early musical god, and his early desire was to promote his profession as Mozart's follower (Lockwood, 2003). Beethoven lost his opportunity to work with Mozart because he died by the time Beethoven arrived back in Vienna in 1792. However, his further training was carried on by Joseph Haydn. In these years, Beethoven expanded his efforts beyond piano music and wrote an original piece for chorus/orchestra which was known as the Cantata, on the Death of the Emperor Joseph

He was German and his family was Flemish in origin. He was a liberal roman catholic. Ludwig was the eldest to survive of his seven siblings. Beethoven’s grandfather settled in Bonn and became a singer in the choir of archbishop-elector of colleges (Knapp and Budden). Johann was a singer of the electoral choir too. Beethoven was born into the profession, like most 18th century musicians. By age 11, Beethoven had to leave school because of economic reasons. Johann noticed signs of talent within Beethoven with the piano. He wanted Beethoven to be a child prodigy. When Johann passed away in 1792, Beethoven fled to Vienna. If he didn’t live in Germany, Vienna wouldn’t have been an option. It wasn’t until his adolescence that Ludwig began to attract mild attention. Cultural influences on Beethoven's life affected him

Ludwig Von Beethoven was born in December 1770, in Germany or at least close to that date there seems to be a bit of controversy with the actual date. His father Johann Beethoven was a court musician and singer. He recognized Ludwig’s talent and potential early and thought he may have another Mozart in his son. He thought to capitalize on his son’s talent and made the young child practice relentlessly. “Beethoven paid heavily for his father’s ambitions. More than one visitor to the house saw the little boy weeping as he practiced. Repeatedly he was locked in the cellar and/or deprived of food” (Siepmann, Beethoven His Life & Music)It was also noted that Johann Beethoven drank excessively and not to have been an easy father leaving the children in the care of serving maids. (Robbins - Landon)

Napoleon becoming the Emperor was not the only reason he did not dedicate the Third Symphony to him. Beethoven was disappointed in Napoleon's turn towards imperialism. Beethoven had a repressive, anti-liberal attitude that drove him into an inner emigration.

German composer and pianist, Ludwig van Beethoven, was born December 1770 and spent most of his life in Vienna, Austria. His first teacher was his alcoholic father, who worked as a musician at the Court of Bonn. Teaching him day and night, Ludwig suffered from his father's harsh and erratic behavior. For a time, he and his father played at the Church. As his father's alcoholism increased, Ludwig became the main musician.

He was born in the German town of Bonn on the 16th of December 1770. His grandfather Ludwig and his father Johann were both musicians. Johann was to act as little Ludwig's first music teacher, but Ludwig soon changed to the court organist C. G. Neefe. Passing eleven years of age, Ludwig deputized for Neefe, and at twelve had his first music published. He then stayed as Neefe's assistant until 1787, when at seventeen, he took off for Vienna. Even though Vienna was to be his home for the rest of his life, this first visit was short. On hearing that his mother was dying, he quickly returned to Bonn. Five years later he finally moved to Vienna to live and work.

Ludwig van Beethoven’s exact date of birth is uncertain but he was baptized on December 17, 1770. He was born in the city of Bonn, Germany. He was the predominant musical composer during the transition of the Classical and Romantic eras.

Beethoven rapidly proceeded to make his mark as a brilliant keyboard performer and improviser and as a gifted young composer with a number of works to his credit and powerful ambitions. He won entry into the musical circles of the Viennese titled upper classes and gained a number of lifelong friends and admirers among them. In 1795 his first mature published works appeared--the three Piano Trios, Op. 1--and his career was in effect officially launched. From then until the end of his life Beethoven was essentially able to publish his works at approximately the rate at which he could compose them, if he wished to; in consequence the opus numbers of his major works are, with a few trivial exceptions, the true chronological order of his output. No such publication opportunities had existed for Haydn or Mozart, and least of all for Schubert, who spent his entire life in Vienna (1797-1828) in Beethoven 's shadow, from the publication standpoint.

Beethoven’s Grandfather, Ludwig van Beethoven (1712-1773), moved to Bonn when he was in his twenties. He was employed as a bass singer to the Elector of Cologne. In 1761, he became the music director. Ludwig was father to Johann (1740-1792), his only son.