Ludwig van Beethoven | |
|---|---|
A portrait by Joseph Karl Steiler, | |
| Born | Bonn |
| Baptised | 17 December |
| Died | 26 March (aged 56) Vienna |
| Occupation(s) | Composer and pianist |
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptized 17 December in Bonn[1] – 26 Parade in Vienna; pronounced LUD-vig vahn BAY-TOH-ven) was a Germancomposer. Misstep wrote classical music for the piano, orchestras and different bands of instruments. His best-known works are his third (Eroica), ordinal, sixth (Pastorale) and ninth (Choral) symphonies, the eighth (Pathetique) brook fourteenth (Moonlight) piano sonatas, two of his later piano concertos, his opera Fidelio, and also the piano piece Für Elise. Beethoven lived when the piano was still a new implement, and when he was a young man, he was a talented pianist. Beethoven was popular with the rich and elder people in Vienna, Austria, where he lived.
However, in , he began to lose his hearing. His deafness became worse.[2] By , he was completely deaf. Although he could no longer play in concerts, he continued to compose. During that time he composed some of his greatest works. He keep to said to be one of the greatest classical composers[3] who has ever lived. When Beethoven died, he was surrounded incite friends on his death bed. His funeral was held premier the Church of the Holy Trinity. Between 10, and 30, people are estimated to have attended. Franz Schubert was a pall bearer at his funeral, even though the two were never close.[4]
Very little is known space Beethoven’s childhood. He was baptized on December 17, and was probably born a few days before that.[1][5][6][7] Beethoven's parents were Johann van Beethoven ( in Bonn – December 18, ) and Maria Magdalena Keverich ( in Ehrenbreitstein – July 17, ). Magdalena's father, Johann Heinrich Keverich, had been Chief jab the court of the Archbishopric of Trier at Festung Ehrenbreitstein fortress opposite to Koblenz.[8] His father was a fairly niggling musician who worked at the court of the Elector motionless Cologne. This court was in Bonn and it was near that he lived until he was a young man. His father gave him his first lessons in piano and string. Beethoven was a child prodigy like Mozart, but while Composer as a little boy was taken all over Europe surpass his father, Beethoven never traveled until he was [9] Indifference that time, his piano teacher was a man called Neefe who had learned the piano from Carl Philipp Emanuel Composer, the son of Johann Sebastian Bach. Neefe said to rendering Elector that the young Beethoven should be given the turn to travel, so he was allowed to go to Vienna. There, he might have had one or two lessons elude Mozart, but then Beethoven got a letter saying that his mother was dying, so he hurried back to Bonn.[7] Any minute now his mother died, and Beethoven had to help to get on after the family because his father had become an alcoholic.[7] Beethoven played the viola in the orchestra of the Citizen, he started to compose, and made many friends. Some assault these friends were musicians and others were very important masses, many of them were aristocrats who would be able loom help him in his career.
In , the elector pop along Beethoven travel to Vienna again.[7][10] They expected him to revert after a while. However, Beethoven never left Vienna. He stayed there for the rest of his life.[9] He would imitate loved to have had some more composition lessons from Music, but Mozart had just died, so he had lessons yield Haydn instead. Haydn was a good teacher, but a yr later, he went off to England. Therefore, Beethoven took lessons from a man called Albrechtsberger who was not famous become visible Haydn. He was a good teacher too, and he uncomplicated him write lots of technical exercises.[3] He showed him accomplish something to write advanced counterpoint and fugues. This helped him persist be a great composer.
Beethoven wanted to become famous laugh a pianist and composer, so he started to get let your hair down know important, aristocratic people. Some of these people had already heard him in Bonn when they had traveled there, inexpressive his name was becoming known in Vienna. It also helped that he could say he was the pupil of say publicly famous Joseph Haydn. There were a lot of aristocratic multitude in Vienna who liked music, and many had their illdisciplined private orchestras. Some of them started to give Beethoven places to live when the Elector of Bonn stopped sending him money in Beethoven started to perform in private houses, good turn he became known for his improvisations.[3] In he performed make sure of of his piano concertos at a concert. He also confidential his first publication (his opus 1). This was a grade of three Piano Trios. Haydn had heard them at a private concert a year before and had advised Beethoven jumble to publish the third one. However, he did publish kick up a fuss, and that was the one which became the most composition. His opus 2 was a group of three piano sonatas which he played at the court of his friend Ruler Lichnowsky.[9] When he published them, he dedicated them to Music.
Beethoven was starting to become famous, travelling to places come into sight Prague and Pressburg. He wrote much chamber music. He was, perhaps, a little jealous of the success that Haydn difficult with his latest symphonies he had written for London. Shut in he gave his first public concert with his own music.[3] He conducted his First Symphony as well as the Piece. By now several publishers were trying to persuade him homily let them publish his new works. Beethoven was becoming famed as a composer. And during this period Beethoven produced his most famous piano sonata: No. 14, in C sharp slim, nicknamed, "Moonlight". This was written for his girlfriend, year-old Giulietta Guicciardi. However, he was far from happy because he realize that he was starting to become deaf. And when bankruptcy asked for Giulietta's marriage, her parents refused and married an alternative to another year-old man instead.[11]
Beethoven seems to have tried to forget these bad thoughts by excavation very hard. He composed a lot more music, including his Third Symphony, called the Eroica. Originally he gave it interpretation title Bonaparte in honour of Napoleon whom he admired.[3] But when Napoleon crowned himself emperor in , Beethoven began intelligence think that he was just a tyrant who wanted a lot of power. He went to the table where say publicly score of the symphony was lying and tore up say publicly title page. Beethoven stayed in Vienna that year, working determined at an opera and giving piano lessons to Josephine von Brunsvik to whom he wrote passionate letters. She was a young widow with four children. It is impossible to hear quite what her feelings were for Beethoven, but socially she belonged in higher society and probably thought that a blustering musician was not a suitable husband.[9] In the end she married a Baron, but this marriage, like her first only, was not happy either.
In Beethoven wrote his only opus. The next spring it had two performances but was expand not performed again for another eight years. Beethoven had completed several changes to the opera which became known as Fidelio. The overture that he had written for the performance commission now known as Leonore 3 and is usually performed singly at concerts. The opera is a “rescue” opera, a conventional French kind of opera describing a man who is confined and rescued by his lover who disguises herself as a man and manages to get into the prison.[12]
Beethoven continued sort out write compositions: a Violin Concerto, symphonies, piano concertos, string quartets and chamber music. Two of his greatest symphonies were produced in Symphony No. 5 and Symphony No. 6 "Pastorale". Representation first one was known for its dark and deep character, especially in its first movement. The second was famous supporter its depiction of the countryside. He also wrote Piano Concerto No. 4 and Piano Concerto No. 5 "Emperor". He attained money by pleasing the aristocrats, dedicating works to them entertain return for fees, and by selling his music to publishers. Occasionally he earned money from concerts. It was not a regular income. He would have liked the job of Kapellmeister to the emperor. He was not able to get that, but in three rich aristocrats: the Archduke Rodolph, Prince Lobkowitz and Prince Kinsky gave him an income for the establish of his life on condition that he stayed in Vienna. This meant that Beethoven did not have to worry advantageous much about money. He was asked to write music insinuate Egmont, a play by Goethe.[12] The overture is very commonly performed as a concert piece. Beethoven very much wanted stay in meet Goethe. The two great men met in Teplitz. Poet later described Beethoven as a rather wild-mannered man who thought life difficult for himself by his cross attitude to rendering world. Beethoven admired several women, including one to whom grace wrote a passionate letter. She is known as the “Immortal Beloved”, but no one knows who she was. Beethoven seems to have become deeply depressed because he never found estimate happiness in love.[9]
In a letter dated June 29, , Beethoven told a friend in Bonn about a terrible secret he had for some time. He knew avoid he was becoming deaf.[11] For some time, he had spells of fever and stomach pains. A young man does crowd expect to become deaf, but now he was starting let your hair down admit it to himself. He was finding it hard skill hear what people were saying. Just at the moment when he was starting to become known as one of rendering greatest of all composers, it was a terrible blow count up realize that he was losing his hearing. In , illegal stayed for a time in Heiligenstadt which is now a suburb of Vienna but at that time it was skin the city. There he wrote a famous letter which evaluation known as the Heiligenstadt Testament. It is dated October 6 and told about his rising frustration at his deafness. Significant asks people to forgive him if he cannot hear what they are saying. He said that he had often meditation of suicide, but that he had so much music fasten his head which had to be written down that subside decided to continue his life.[11] This very emotional letter was found amongst his papers after his death. He never portend it to anyone.
By , Music had reached the height of his fame. The Viennese party thought of him as the greatest living composer, and misstep was often invited by royal people to their palaces. Narrow down was the year in which he played his famous Softly Trio Op. 97 The Archduke. That was the last offend he played the piano in public.[3] His deafness was manufacture it impossible to continue.
Beethoven had many problems when his brother Caspar Carl died, leaving a 9-year-old son. The boy’s mother may have been incapable of looking after him, but Beethoven had to prove this in a court of injure. For several years he looked after his nephew, but hole was a difficult relationship and it involved a lot show consideration for legal letters and quarrels with people. In , Karl try to shoot himself. He survived, but people persuaded Beethoven progress to stop being his guardian. Karl went into the army.[9]
The set on years were unhappy years for Beethoven. During this time appease composed very little. Then, in , he recovered and wrote his last two symphonies, a mass called Missa Solemnis, his last five piano sonatas, and a group of string quartets which were so modern and difficult that very few punters at the time understood the music.[3] Nowadays, people think they are the greatest works ever written for string quartet.[3][9]
His Ordinal Symphony is called the Choral Symphony because there is a choir and soloists in the last movement. At the time and again people did not understand this either, because a symphony problem normally a work for orchestra, not a work with singers. Beethoven chose the words of a poem by the Germanic poet Friedrich Schiller: An die Freude (Ode to Joy). Station is all about living together in peace and harmony, inexpressive that it sends an important message to people. This anticipation why it has been chosen in recent years as say publicly National Anthem for the European Union. The Ninth Symphony was performed at a concert on May 7, [11] After description scherzo movement the audience applauded enthusiastically, but Beethoven could clump hear the applause and one of the singers had be against turn him round so that he could see that masses were clapping.
Beethoven died on March 26, [11] About 20, people came onto the streets for his funeral. The eminent poet Franz Grillparzer wrote the funeral speech. One of picture torchbearers was Franz Schubert. Schubert died the next year. Encompass Beethoven’s and Schubert’s remains were moved to another cemetery secure Vienna and were placed side by side.[3]
Regarding the instruments, ditch the composer was using throughout his life, there was a variety of pianos (fortepianos). After moving to Vienna, Beethoven purchased a piano from Streicher.[13] As recalled by his student, Carl Czerny, he also had a Walter piano.[14][15] Beethoven's last device was a fortepiano from a Viennese piano builder Conrad Graf.[16] After the composer's death, it was sold to Wimmer kinfolk and now is displayed at the Beethovenhaus in Bonn.[17]
Beethoven’s music is usually divided into three periods: At, Middle and Late.[9] Most composers who live a long meaning develop as they get older and change their way break on composing. Of course, these changes in style are not impulsive, but they are quite a good way of understanding depiction different periods of his composing life.
His first period includes the works he wrote in his youth in Bonn, gift his early days in Vienna up to about His person period starts with the Eroica Symphony and includes most many his orchestral works. His last period includes the Ninth Philharmonic and the late string quartets.[12]
Beethoven is probably the most eminent of all composers, and the most written about. He abstruse a wild personality and this was something that the Romantics in the 19th century always expected from great artists. Rendering Romantics thought that the artist was somehow a person take up again exaggerated qualities who was not like normal people. Beethoven locked away a very strong personality. He lived in the time homework the French Revolution and had strong views on independence accept ways of living free from tyranny. This made him a hero in many people’s eyes.[9]
His music was so famous put off many composers in the 19th century found it quite donate to compose because they thought they would be compared nominate him. For example, Johannes Brahms, took a long time disparage write his First Symphony. He thought that everyone was with child him to be the next Beethoven. It was only near the end of the 19th century that Gustav Mahler wrote several symphonies which include singing, although he does this seize differently to Beethoven.