Beethoven's Life

The Four Periods of Bethoven's Life

The literature regarding the life of Beethoven is extremely rich and variate .We have separated Beethoven's biography in 4 major periods. The first one is between his birth in Boon and his leaving for Vienna (1770-1792). The second one documents his first years in Vienna (1792-1805). The third period is the one between 1805 and 1815, and the 4th is about the last years of his life. (1815-1827). To ease the reader's efforts we also added a chronological list that highlights the main events in the life of Beethoven. The Life and Music We consider that there is a very close relation between Beethovenss biography and his music. That is why we tried to describe the main events in his life and the way they influenced his creation which became a part of music history. Beethoven lived his life exactly the same as he composed his music: with infinite passion.

Beethoven's childhood. 1770-1792

Beethoven's Birth and Family

Beethoven was born in December 1770 in Bonn, in a family of musicians at the royal court of Cologne. His name was given after his grandfather, who was Flemish and who settled in Bonn in 1732. He was a bass player at court, and later, starting with 1761, he became maestro of the chapel. Beethovens father, Johann, left many unpleasant memories in his sons existence. Undoubtedly talented, Johann was not only incapable of being a positive influence on his genius sons education, but, at times, he was outright prejudicial. In 1767 Johann marries Maria-Magdalena Kewerich the daughter of the chief cook at the Coblenz court, a 19-year-old widow. Her first husband had been a butler at court. Maria-Magdalena was one of the most radiant figures in Beethoven's childhood. Her kind, affectionate and gentle character did not stop her from manifesting great self-restraint, amazing will and extraordinary wit if the situation called for it. She had remarkable tact in dealing with her loved ones as well as with strangers. In December 1770 Maria-Magdalena gives birth to a baby boy whom she names Ludwig. The exact date of birth is unknown; however the records show that the baptising took place on December 17th 1770 so the most probable date of birth is December 16th. The First Years in Bonn Ludwig spent the first years of his childhood with his family, in a harmonious and fruitful atmosphere. Johann Beethoven had a good financial situation at the time, although somewhat moderate. Old Ludwig, the composers grandfather, was supporting the weak and feeble Johann both morally and financially.

When Ludwig turned five, the Beethoven family moved to Rhine Street, in the house of a baker named Fischer. The Rhines right bank revealed itself before the windows of the house, with its small villages and fields as well as the seven mountains rising ahead. Little Ludwig was sometimes completely captured in a deep meditation upon looking at the marvelous river. One could hardly get him out of this state. Even as a child he stood apart through a rare capacity to focus and through his introvert nature. However, one must not picture little Ludwig as a self-encased melancholic. On the contrary, he was a vigorous youngster not much different from other scoundrels his age. At least this is the image portrayed by Fischers manuscript (the bakers son, Ludwigs youngest friend, left some indications about Beethovens childhood, although not very accurate). Ludwigs hot temper manifested itself in his passionate affection or, on the contrary, his direct repulsion towards certain people, or in his attitude towards the events of everyday life, in his sense of humor, in his disposition to laugh as much as he could. Until the age of ten, Ludwig went to primary school, but the years he actually spent in school gave him little knowledge. He could not further his studies due to his familys poor financial status. We could say that until this period, Beethoven's childhood was that of any normal child of his age. Little Mozart Becoming aware of his sons extraordinary talent, Johann thinks of turning young Beethoven into a new Mozart (whose childhood success was still vivid in peoples minds). In this respect, he tries to provide Ludwig with a musical education that might enhance his remarkable abilities. In fact, from this point on, Beethoven's childhood will be marked by his father's cruel attempts to transform him into a music genius. Until the age of 12 his studies lacked any systematic organization. Among his teachers there was one of the courts musicians, a certain Eden, followed by actor Tobias Pfeifer and Franciscan monk Willibald Koch. In March 1778, Johann forces Ludwig to hold a concert in Koeln. At that time Beethoven was 8 years old. Learning From the Best Mozart and Haydn, his greatest predecessors, served as a paradigm of creative work in the new direction of Classicism. Albrechtsberger thoroughly taught him the art of counterpoint, which brought Beethoven his glory. Salieri taught the young composer the artistic matters of the bourgeois musical tragedy. Alois Forster taught him the art of composition with quartets. In other words, the genius musician voraciously absorbed not only the progressive music of his time, but also the richest creative experience of the most erudite contemporary composers. The musical knowledge he acquired and interpreted, together with an unmatched capacity to constantly work, makes Beethoven one of the most knowledgeable composers of his time.

Beethoven Biography on the Early Years

This Beethoven biography will cover his early years. Born in Bonn, Germany in December 1770, Ludwig van Beethoven became the most famous composer of his time, in fact, he is deemed the greatest composer of all times by many. His family members were royal-court musicians in Cologne. His first years of childhood were happy ones (according to the Beethoven biography accounts). Johann, his father was in moderately good financial standing during this time. Ludwig's grandfather also helped to support the family. His father started teaching him the piano at about 4 years of age. It was soon learned that Ludwig had a gift for it. This allowed him to excel quickly. The family slowly lost their money over time and became poorer. When Ludwig's grandfather died in 1773, it lead to his father becoming an alcoholic. Beethoven's father tried to exploit him around age 6 by claiming he was actually 7 years old at the time. This was at the time of his first performance in public in March 1778. After 1779, at some point, Ludwig studied with his most influential teacher (at least in Bonn), Christian Gottlob Neefe. Christian had become the court's organist in the same year. Beethoven learned composition with him and when onto eventually worked on a paid basis with him in 1782. At 11 years of age, Ludwig van Beethoven had to quit school. In 1783, Ludwig became a continuo player for the Bonn opera. He was so successful that in 1787 he was sent to Vienna for the purpose of studying with Mozart. Sadly, the visit was cut short when his mother died. It is said though that Mozart thought highly of Beethoven and knew he would go places. The death of his mother drove his father further into alcoholism. Beethoven spent the next five years working in Bonn supporting his two brothers (as the Beethoven biography reports). This particular Beethoven biography will cover the period of time that Beethoven's talents became fully developed. After he had even made a name for himself that made is fame spread to even abroad in 1800, Ludwig started on a path of producing some of his most well known works. His First and Second Symphonies had been premiered during 1800 and 1802. After these he was thought of are one of the most talented young composers of his time to come after Haydn and of course Mozart. During the 10 years between the year 1805 and the year 1815 many of his best work was done. With the Symphonies numbered IV, No.5 and No. 7 along with overtures, quartets and a number of piano concertos Beethoven had success. Even though in 1800 he started to have his first symptoms of going deaf, he did not let this dampen his spirit. He eventually had to quit playing the piano in public though. In 1811, he tried

to play in public one last time failing to perform Piano Concerto No.5, which was written by him. After this he did not try to perform publicly again. Ludwig turned to composing then (as per Beethoven biography writings). In 1819, his deafness was so complete that he had to use conversation books to communicate with friends. They would jot down any questions they had and Ludwig would reply verbally. He would still appear publicly at intervals; however, he spent most of his time composing. During this time, he would spend time in one of the small villages just outside Vienna. He would take long walks in the country. On the walks, he would come up with many of his ideas for music. He would mark them down in sketchbooks according to accounts in many of the Beethoven biography writings. Beethoven Biography Covering His Final Years This Beethoven biography will cover the last 12 years of Ludwig's life. Due to his deafness increasing and eventually becoming total, the work he wrote during this time is only a small fraction of what he wrote in his lifetime. The quality of it though, was far superior to what he had previously composed. He went out in society less, but still participated in business affairs, which were not always profitable. In 1815, Casper Anton Carl, Ludwig's brother, dies leaving a child Karl, who was nine years old and his widow Johanna. Johanna and Ludwig were appointed guardians of the boy in the will. Ludwig fought this because of Johanna's poor morality and he won after three years of litigation. Beethoven and his nephew quarreled a lot though and at one point tried to commit suicide in 1826. Once recovered Ludwig agreed with his friends' advice and sent the boy to the army for a career. The horror of the suicide attempt did stay with Beethoven though to his death (according to other Beethoven biography accounts). Beethoven's last large-scale work was the Ninth Symphony. He supervised the premier of it at the Krntnertor Theatre. Ludwig was oblivious to the applause because of his deafness until a soloist had him look toward the audience. In 1826, Beethoven went and stayed with his only living brother, Nikolaus Johann at his estate. When he got back to Vienna, Ludwig came down with pneumonia, a disease he did not fully recover from. After this, he was bedridden in Vienna until his death on March 26, 1827 of cirrhosis of the liver. Beethoven accomplished rising instrumental music into a valued art form. Before his time this type of music was thought not to be as valued as singing. Through this Beethoven biography, you can get a glimpse his final years were spent.