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Beethoven Influence On Society

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Ludwig von Beethoven, considered messy, unconventional, and ugly by his society, is widely respected today by both musicians and nonmusicians. He was a man of magnitude, someone who is, “a definition of greatness,” (Fugard 19). Despite his obstacles, he produced beautiful music and gain a great deal of fame. Beethoven was able to create nine symphonies, five concertos for piano, thirty-two piano sonatas, and sixteen string quartets even though he dealt with his mother’s death and an alcoholic father, was faced with negative remarks from society, and lost his hearing. Beethoven, born in Bonn, Germany, was talented in composition and the keyboard. His strict father wanted him to become like Mozart, a music prodigy, and forced Beethoven to perform at a public concert at age five. Many times, his alcoholic father beaten Beethoven up for refusing to play for his father’s friends, especially early in the morning. Once, his father beat up his mother for protesting about Beethoven’s beatings. …show more content…

He felt social pressure, wondering how he could still compose music for people and mingle. He stopped coming to social events, so people would not notice his deafness. “How can I, a musician, say to people “I am deaf!” (Letters Beethoven Wrote About His Deafness). “Forgive me therefore when you see me withdraw from you with whom I would so gladly mingle. No longer can I enjoy recreation in social intercourse, refined conversation, or mutual outpourings of thought. Completely isolated, I only enter society when compelled to do so. I must live like an exile,” (The Joy of Suffering Overcome: Young Beethoven’s Stirring Letter to His Brothers About the Loneliness of Living with Deafness and How Music Saved His Life). However, Beethoven’s passion for music did not hinder him. He used his “inner ear,” and in 1802, Beethoven's year of crisis, he composed the Eroica

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