LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN

Ludwig van Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven

Introduction

Ludwig Van Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany during the year of 1770. Beethoven was the eldest son of a singer in the Kapelle of the Archbishop-Elector of Cologne. He came from a musical family, and his early musical training was under his father's guidance. His father subjected him to a brutal regimen, hoping to exploit him as a child prodigy. While this plan did not succeed, young Beethoven's gifts were recognized and nurtured by his teachers and by members of the local aristocracy. His father also taught him piano and violin. Beethoven showed remarkable talent at an early age. His general education was not continued beyond the elementary school. He was practically illiterate in math. He had worked for a court in Bonn so his first contacts were in aristocratic circles. He needed financial support from them. In 1787 Beethoven first visited Vienna, at that time the center of the music world. His first task in Vienna was to establish himself as pianist and composer. He achieved both rapidly. There he performed for Mozart, whom he greatly impressed.(Lockwood,2005)

Discussion

At a very early age, Beethoven received violin and piano lessons from his father. At the age of 8, he studied theory and keyboard with van den Eeden (former chapel organist). He also studied with several local organists, received piano lessons from Tobias Friedrich Pfeiffer, and Franz Rovantini gave him violin and viola lessons. Although Beethoven's musical genius was compared to that of Mozart's, his education never exceeded elementary level.(Solomon,2001)

Beethoven's Teenage Years:

Beethoven was the assistant (and formal student) of Christian Gottlob Neefe. As a teen, he performed more than he composed. In 1787, Neefe sent him to Vienna for reasons unknown, but many agree that he met and briefly studied with Mozart. Two weeks later, he returned home because his mother had tuberculosis. She died in July. His father took to drink, and Beethoven, only 19, petitioned to be recognized as the head of the house; he received half of his father's salary to support his family.

Beethoven's Early Adult Years:

In 1792, Beethoven moved to Vienna. His father died in December that same year. He studied with Haydn for less than a year; their personalities did not mix well. Beethoven then studied with Johann Georg Albrechtsberger, the best known teacher of counterpoint in Vienna. He studied counterpoint and contrapuntal exercises in free writing, in imitation, in two to four-part fugues, choral fugues, double counterpoint at the different intervals, double fugue, triple counterpoint and canon. (Kerman,2006)

Beethoven's Mid Adult Years:

Once establishing himself, he began composing more. In 1800, he performed his first symphony and a septet (op. 20). Publishers soon began to compete for his newest works. While still in his 20's, Beethoven became deaf. His attitude and social life changed dramatically - he wanted to hide his impairment from the world. How could a great composer be deaf? Determined to overcome his disability, he wrote symphonies 2, 3, and 4 before ...