Beethoven Research Paper Outline

Although there have been many famous composers over the years, probably none are as well-known as Ludwig van Beethoven. Regardless of one’s particular preference of musical style, almost everyone can quickly recognize Fur Elise, Moonlight Sonata, Ode to Joy, or Symphony 5. Beethoven “was born during the age of the Enlightenment, came to maturity during a period of political and social revolutions, and died as the Romantic era was in full flower” (Benton & DiYanni, 443). He was “regarded as the bridge figure to the Romantic period” (Chiego, 307).

On 17 December 1770, Ludwig van Beethoven was born. He was an amazing and great classical musical composer. He is known for being the most famous composer of the classical and romantic periods of music. According to the “Enjoyment of Music” manual, Beethoven was born in Bohn, Germany. His father, with his grandfather, was the two singers at the court of a local prince, Friedrich Max. (Forney and Machlis 197).

Ever since his father began teaching him as a child to play the violin and clavier, any keyboard instrument such as the harpsichord, Ludwig van Beethoven has been amongst the most renowned and influential composers of music. Despite the harsh punishments and mistreatment Beethoven suffered through while practicing with his father, he still managed to become a “prodigy” at a rather young age, having his first public recital at around seven years old. After his first recital role music played in his continued to grow, and soon after dropping out of school to pursue music “full time” he published his first composition.

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 was, and remains today, an influential figure in the history of classical music. Perhaps no other composer in history wrote music of such inspiring power and expressiveness. His influence on the last 150 years of music is unequalled.

Some of the most well known composers came to be in the in the classical music period. Ludwig van Beethoven was one of the composers, along with other greats of the time like Haydn and Mozart, which helped to create a new type of music. This new music had full rich sounds created by the new construction of the symphony orchestra.

There are many influential people in the arts, government, and sports. Given a choice, I would interview, Ludwig van Beethoven, Barack Obama, and Jordan Spieth. These people are successful and have had historical influence.

Early eighteenth century marked the beginning of the middle period, which was said to be the most productive period out of his three compositional periods as some of his most magnificent works were produced during this time (Lockwood, 194). In this paper, I will examine the heroic style - why it came about, what are some characteristics of ‘heroic’ music and through the analysis of a ‘product of the times’ (Taruskin) , compare the differences between the music of the heroic style and that of before. The middle period is also known as the heroic period from 1803 – 1812 is after the Viennese period and before the Late

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)

Beethoven is perhaps the most famous musician of all time. His influence on later composers was extremely huge, to the extent where many composers were intimidated by his music. Ludwig van Beethoven was born in 1770 into a family of musicians. His father and grandfather were both musicians at the court of Elector in the German town of Bonn. His grandfather was very respected, but his dad not so much given that he was an alcoholic. At a young age, Beethoven was put in charge of his family’s finances and started a job at the court. He composed music and helped look after the instrumentation. Around the same time, he began to write music. In 1790, an important visitor passed through Bonn: this was Franz Joseph Haydn. He was on his way to London for a visit when he stopped to meet Beethoven and agreed to take him on as a student when he came back from London to Vienna. In 1792, Beethoven moved to Vienna to study with Hayden. Apparently, it did not go as planned. Hayden was old fashion and a little overbearing, while Beethoven was rebellious and headstrong. Beethoven found support among the rich arts who lived in Vienna. Prince Lichnowsky gave him board and lodging at his place for in return, Beethoven would compose music and preform at evening parties.

Unknown to Beethoven at that time, he was to live out his life in Vienna. "Hailed as a genius and a master of improvisation at the piano, Beethoven soon made a name for himself, and by 1794 was known throughout Europe. He faithfully learned the Classical Viennese styles and traditions in music, and then proceeded throughout his career to completely revolutionize them. His earliest compositions reflect the classical restraint of Haydn and Mozart." (Sherrane) At this point, Beethoven was surrounded by a vast number of wealthy and influential people. Funny enough, Ludwig van Beethoven was aided by the 'van' in his name. Many people of the aristocratic society mistook the 'van' to represent nobility (as with the German 'Von'). (Harrison)

Beethoven is one of the most famous music composers not only of his time but as of today also. Although he suffered from loss of hearing, he has composed some of the most beautiful pieces of music we can still listen to today. After reading Beethoven’s testament, I have more of an understanding of what he was and had to go through due to his deafness. The correlation I found between his lack of hearing and his music is the emotion he put into his Fifth Symphony. Different from the Baroque style a symphony expressed multiple moods because of the movements used in a symphony making it more “real”. Because of Beethoven’s tragedy, his music displayed emotions parallel to what he felt, making his music more relatable and memorable. The complexity

Ludwig Van Beethoven is one of the most famous composers of all time. Some people consider him the greatest composer of all time. Beethoven was the predominant musical figure in the transitional period between the Classical and Romantic eras. He was very talented in music. He was a great composer and made music for himself to play in his early years. Not everything was perfect in Beethoven's life. He started to become deaf and could hardly hear when he was older.

I believe that the tone of the second reviewer was in a more positive tone towards Beethoven’s work for the audience to read. He believes the readers should take the idea of Beethoven as an original and rare. Beethoven was original because of the unique and “customary” pieces he had composed. Beethoven was rare because he explains how many have overlooked his work because many were “accustomed to Haydn’s and Mozart’s work”.

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.