What Is Beethoven's Reality?

Beethoven’s hearing was getting so bad, he could not hear orchestras in theaters unless he was sitting really close, he struggled with hearing the voices of singers, and he had difficulty hearing the high notes (50). Away from music, Beethoven struggled with hearing people that spoke in low tones and people that spoke very softly (50). Beethoven did not want the word to get out that he was losing his hearing, he believed his music career would be tainted if people knew about his hearing condition. Beethoven was able to hear some music and speech up to about 1812, but at the age of 44 Beethoven had little to no hearing, he could not hear speech or music (51).

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.

“Beethoven said that it’s better to hit the wrong note confidentially than hit the right note unconfidently. Never be afraid to be wrong or to embarrass yourself; we are all students in this life, and there is always something more to learn.” – Mike Norton. This quote by Mike Norton hits spot on Beethoven’s character and his person in general. Unlike other musicians of his time, Beethoven had several unique characteristics about his compositions. In his time, he was called a revolutionary. In his later years, Beethoven became deaf and could not always verbally show his emotion, he portrayed his feelings in his music. Although considering the matters of religion and thoroughbass cut and dry, his study of aesthetics was something that he could create something of his own. Throughout several of his Sonata’s and compositions, he holds a darker style of music that shocked and disturbed rather than calmed like the traditional music in the 18th century. Much like his appearance, his contemporaries perceived his compositions as wild, bizarre and crazy. The pieces were more complicated than pieces that were being written in that time period, and Beethoven claimed he was writing them for the future. In one of his final pieces, Piano Sonata, Op. 111, he “shows his radical approach to form and his revolutionary brilliance stands out in every movement of his five Late Quartets, simply the greatest body of music ever composed” (Woods). He went against the grain of the musical society in

Regrettably, though in the late 1790s Beethoven began to lose his hearing. Then at the start of the 1800s Beethoven changed the way he created music and his personality because of the increasing deafness. Prior to the increasing loss of hearing Beethoven had been full of pride and independent, though a little odd. When his hearing started to go he changed, he became more apprehensive and ill tempered. Despite becoming absolutely deaf by the end of his life Beethoven’s works were still brilliant. It was on March 26, 1827 when Beethoven died, the cause was a simple cold that turned into pneumonia and then later dropsy.

Ludwig Beethoven was not only one of the greatest composer & musician ever born- he is a wonderful study tool for me during exam week. My faithful study partner was born in a small town, Bonn, Germany on December 16, 1770 to a family of professional musicians. Beethoven learned violin and some other instruments from his father. His father wanted him to be perfect in music, and in that endeavor he violently scolded Beethoven whenever he made any kind of mistake during practice. Even, according to one story, due to the punishments given by his father, Beethoven suffered from hearing problems in future, which basically ruined his life. (NP)

Beethoven was born on December 16th, 1770 in Bonn, Germany. His parents were Maria Magdalena Keverich and Johann van Beethoven. His grandfather was Bonn’s most prosperous musician. His father was a mediocre singer who taught him how to play organ. His father would often beat him if he didn’t play the right keys. Inspire of that, Beethoven

Beethoven continued to compose after Eroica. Which of the excerpts of Beethoven’s later works do you like the best? Why?

Music was his life and he was deeply depressed and angry at the thought of being deaf. He even became suicidal. His relationship to his music was very serious, and though he continued to compose music, he never performed again following a failure to perform his Piano Concerto No. 5 "Emperor" in 1811.

Beethoven went totally deaf and had depression. Yet somehow he managed to write music beautifully. His hearing loss began around 1796, they couldn't determine the cause of the deafness and it got worse. In 1824 he had lost so much of his hearing that he had to turn around to see the crowd cheering for him after he premiered his Ninth Symphony.

All throughout music history lived many composers that have impacted not only the societies in which they have lived in, but modern-day society as well. These particular composers have given many societies the chance to listen, feel and express themselves through music and instruments that were invented centuries ago that still remain essential components of music today. One example of a composer that changed the music world drastically was a man by the name of Ludwig van Beethoven. Beethoven was born the year of 1770 in Bonn, Germany and lived during the end of the Classical period and the beginning of the Romantic period of Western art as a famous composer and pianist. As a creator of many symphonies, sonatas, and even an opera, Beethoven proved himself to be a musical genius that still is considered one of the most influential musical composers of all time.

The depression however, did not last and Beethoven continued carrying on as a young musician. In 1790, Beethoven, just 19 years old, received a remarkable honor of composing a musical memorial for the death of the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II. With no reasons known, this piece was never played. “However, more than a century later, Johannes Brahms discovered that Beethoven had in fact composed a ‘beautiful and noble’ piece of music entitled ‘Cantata on the Death of Emperor Joseph II.’ It is now considered his earliest masterpiece” (“Biography”). Just under two decades old, this man was pronouncing himself in the world. As Mozart said before, he was giving the world amazing music to talk about.

As a composer, Ludwig Beethoven can be considered the equivalent of any of today’s stars of popular music. His trend setting compositions made music an integral part of life on all levels of society from the royal courts to the general population. His mass appeal can be attributed to his standard defying compositions that forcibly modernized the 18th century music scene. As with the invention of electric instruments in the 20th century, Beethoven’s powerful playing style and innovation techniques, introduced a new way of perceiving and listening to music. His deafness which was seen as restriction to many,

Next, Beethoven’s life took a turn for the worst in 1787. A young man at the mere age of nineteen lost his mother to tuberculosis; this brought him depression, ill health, and a lack of financial resources (Kerman 355). During this time of sorrow he still performed in numerous concerts with his orchestra and made many friends along the way (Kerman 356).

To understand how and why Beethoven embodies each of these characteristics, some background information on his life is needed. Beethoven comes from a family of musicians. Both his father and grandfather were musicians. He is also the second of seven children, of which only three lived. He was born in Bonn, Germany in December of 1770 to parents Maria Josepha Poll and Johann van Beethoven. Beethoven’s father Johann was the catalyst that push him to become a great composer. “It is clear that at a very early age he received instruction from his father on the piano and

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.