Ludwig Van Beethoven, The Man Who Changed Music

No other composer or musical artist has made as big of an impact on music as Ludwig Van Beethoven. He influenced many other composers, and made some of the most beautiful pieces that are still played today. It is truly amazing that he was able to master his craft and become questionably the greatest composer that has ever lived, despite having a condition that would seem to make composing music impossible.

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.

In Vienna, 1822, Christoph and his mother were mourning the death of his father and because they had no income, Uncle Curt rented out Christoph’s fathers old office to none other than Beethoven.

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.

Only a few composers in the history of time have ever successfully left their mark throughout our musical world we live in today. It’s been over two hundred years since the birth of Beethoven and his music still speaks to us today as he originally expressed and composed it. Ludwig Van Beethoven was born in the city of Bonn Germany on December 16th 1770 and has since been one of the most influential composers known to man. A common theme of early age learning and mastering seems to emerge in Beethoven’s life because while living in a musical family as a child, his father taught him how to play the piano, violin and in addition how to compose musical pieces since he was four years of age. A few short years later, he gave his first public piano performance at the age of seven. While Beethoven certainly gained a lot of knowledge from his peers, he also supported his family by giving music lessons and also by playing in the court orchestra. In the year 1792, Beethoven worked under an Austrian composer Franz Joseph Haydn and by the year 1800, his compositions established him as a strong Mozart successor.

Also among Beethoven’s teachers, though later in his life, were Johann Georg Albrechtsberger, an organist at the imperial court in Vienna whom he studied under until 1795, and Antonio Salieri; Mozart’s old rival whom Beethoven learned vocal composition in the same period he was studying under Albrechtsberger. Before Albrechtsberger and Salieri was a man named Haydn, whom he studied under for a period of about three years starting in 1792 until 1794 when Haydn moved to London. It is said that Beethoven admired Haydn so much that he was the only man he had ever bent his knee to kiss the hand of. Finally, Beethoven studied under Aloys Forster, a specialist in writing scores for quartets. It is plane to see that throughout his life, his talent was not only constructed through his love of music, but forged by his exposure to multiple mediums and teachings throughout his life.

As a child, Beethoven’s father pushed him past his limits to be a musician. The young boy’s neighbors accounted for hearing “weeping while he played the clavier, standing atop a footstool to reach the keys, his father beating him for each hesitation or mistake” (“Ludwig”). He was “flogged” on a near daily basis and “locked in the cellar and deprived of sleep for extra hours of practice” (“Ludwig”). Due to the inhuman amount of hours he spent playing music, Beethoven began showing “flashes of the creative imagination that would eventually reach farther than any composer's before or since” (“Ludwig”). He composed a piece entitled Cantata on the Death of Emperor Joseph II, which is now considered his earliest masterpiece.

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As the son of “Maria Magdalena van Beethoven” and “Johann van Beethoven,” (Biography.com), Ludwig van Beethoven had started out his music career at a very young age. It was known that Beethoven’s grandfather “Kapellmeister Ludwig van Beethoven” (Biography.com) was “a source of endless pride for young Ludwig” (Biography.com). Although, “his first years…was not happy for him” (Masha). By seeing that Ludwig was an “extensive musical talent…his father, a music enthusiast, but an extremely crude and violent person, wanted to make him a next Mozart” (Masha). Even if Ludwig was musically talented at such a young age, being forced into becoming the “next Mozart,” (Masha) must have been such a big burden. Ludwig may have as well been stripped off of his childhood and was not able to experience what kids of his age should have. He should have been playing outside with his friends, making a mess and playing in the dirt, breaking things intentionally, making his mother worry if he will come back in time for supper. If any other kids of his age were to experience that, it would have been a pathway leading to hate music in their adolescent years, but on the contrary, Ludwig “did not come to hate music” (Masha). Despite “on a nearly basis” of being “locked in the cellar and deprived of

In 1795 Beethoven was pleased with his brother's decision to take up residency in Vienna. Also in this year, Beethoven began to play in public concerts. This concert was organized by his mentor Haydn. His music selections included Mozart, Haydn, as well as his own. Amazingly, Ludwig was not keen on performing publicly. As a matter of fact, Beethoven only gave one more public appearance in the "early" period and declined numerous other offers to share with the audience his musical skills. It has been postulated that the composer may have already suffered minor hearing loss, as well as having an "overly suspicious" personality that caused him to hide from the public eye. (Stanley 17) Beethoven's "early"

From the time Ludwig van Beethoven was a young child, everyone around him could see that he was extremely talented. His name is known all around the world and when people think classical music, Beethoven is one of the first names that pop up. Long after his death in 1827, his music is still listened to. Soon to be mothers are sometimes told to allow the baby to listen to classical music, especially by Beethoven, to help with brain development. College and high school students are told we can benefit by listening to Beethoven when studying. Even in some modern songs, you can hear Beethoven’s legacy living on. Beethoven was an excellent composer and wrote pieces that defied the norm of the Romantic Era. Many artists today may not realize that

Ludwig van Beethoven was a composer based in the late 1700’s and early 1800’s. He was born in his house attic in 1770, located in Bonn, Germany. He was the third Ludwig van Beethoven in his family. His childhood, he learned how to play the violin which sparked his interest in music. He did not enjoy music his entire life though. His father who was obsessed in making a musical genius, would make him and his brother play piano for hours at a time until the point he would start crying. The work paid off though, because later in his life, he got to play for the great Mozart, who was overly impressed with how well he was able to play the piano compared to his peers. Later in his life as he began to be known for his ability to improvise while playing

Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist, and the predominant musical figure in the transitional period between the Classical and Romantic eras. He was born to musician Johann van Beethoven and Maria Magdalena van Beethoven, and though his exact birthdate is unknown his family celebrated it on December 16, 1770. Having been practically born into his profession, Beethoven exhibited strong musical development underneath the harsh instruction of his father. He learned to play the violin and piano, and was often ordered to perform for his father’s drinking companions with the threat of a beating if he refused. Practice would sometimes even last until morning. It is known that he began to attract attention as early as his adolescence due to his superior musical skill.

Testing on Beethoven’s hair indicated tremendous amounts of mercury in his system. Mercury could have been prescribed as a remedy for his various illness when he was a child. This poisoning could explain his early deafness and his odd behavior (Russel and Nibley 1,7). Beethoven’s middle years were spent supporting his family because his father and mother had died when he was young (Russell and Nibley 14). He was influenced by many people who helped and encouraged him during these years. Beethoven supposedly got his musical traits from his grandfather (Russell and Nibley 11). Then as a young organist, Christian Gotlob Neefe, taught Beethoven and was a good mentor and friend. Later, in 1792, Beethoven left Bonn to live in Vienna, where Josef Haydn served to promote Beethoven to the Viennese cultural community (Russel and Nibley

Ludwig Van Beethoven was one of the greatest musical composers of his time. Starting very young in his studies of music, he held many important positions they would develop him into the composer he became. Born in Bonn, Germany to a singer, he held his first position at the church. He later moved to Vienna where his composed several pieces, and even an opera. He created a new style of music, cyclic form.