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Ludwig Van Beethoven
1770-1827
Born in Bonn
Died in Vienna
LIFE-TIME-LINES
BEETHOVEN 1770-1827
MOZART 1756-1791
HAYDN 1732-1809
1750
1820
Childhood
Father and Grandfather were musicians.
Father was Ludwig’s first music teacher.
His father was an alcoholic
Supported his family as a child
Showed an interest in composing very
early
“Louis van Beethoven… a boy of 11 years
and a most promising talent. He plays
the clavier very skillfully and with
power, reads at sight very well… This
youthful genius is deserving of help to
enable him to travel. He would surely
become a second Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart were he to continue as he has
begun.”
– Christian Gottlob Neefe
Young adulthood
Beethoven went to Vienna, Austria to
learn more about composing when he
was 17. He played for Mozart
He had to return home when his mother
died, and help raise his brothers.
Return to Vienna
When Beethoven was 22 (1792), he
moved to Austria and never returned to
Germany.
He studied with Haydn
Beethoven and Money
made his living by:
selling compositions to publishers
giving piano concerts
1st musician to make a living almost
exclusively through composition
His temperament
Beethoven was not
easy to be around.
He had a temper, and
he was very
demanding.
He would get lost in
his own thoughts and
would get impatient
with others when they
didn’t do what he
thought they should
do.
He criticized other
musicians when they
didn’t perform his
pieces the way he
wanted them to
sound.
His whole life was
very ‘stormy’
…there were many
sad and discouraging
times.
Beethoven’s Contract
“But as it has been demonstrated that only one
when he is free from care as possible can devote
himself to a single department of activity and
create works of magnitude which are exalted and
which ennoble art, the undersigned have decided
to place Herr Ludwig van Beethoven in a
position where the necessities of life shall not
cause him embarrassment or clog his powerful
genius.”
Beethoven’s Contract
His Imperial Highness, Archduke Rudolph
1500 florins
The Highborn Prince Lobkowitz
700 florins
The Highborn Prince Ferdinand Kinsky
1800 Florins
Total…. 4000 florins (150,000 dollars)
Beethoven’s Contract
All Beethoven had to do was to declare
Vienna his home.”
It is good to walk among the aristocracy,
but first you must MAKE them respect
you.”
Beethoven, the pianist
the most virtuosic in Europe
dazzling technique and power
genius improviser
a composer
much music for piano
piano is being developed
cast iron frame (stronger, more powerful
instrument)
larger range (Beethoven wrote notes that were not
on current pianos, then told manufacturers to build
new instruments)
Losing his hearing
Beethoven began
hearing buzzing in
his ears.
At first he tried to
hide his loss of
hearing from his
friends.
He continued to
write music when he
was deaf.
Beethoven tried
many hearing
devices, but none of
them worked.
He could watch
people’s lips to
understand what
they were saying, or
have them write in a
notebook.
Beethoven’s Deafness
Manifests itself as early as 1796
By 1820 he could barely hear
Heiligenstadt Testament
Letter Beethoven writes in 1802
Describes his illness and his melancholy
Ca. 1799, Beethoven learned his increasing
deafness was irreversible. Deep in despair,
he remained in Heiligenstadt the summer
and fall of 1802 contemplating suicide.
Beethoven’s Deafness
“Though born with a fiery, active temperament I
was soon to withdraw from society, to live a life
alone. If at times I tried to forget all this, oh
how harshly was I flung back by the doubly sad
experience of my bad hearing. Yet it wasn’t
possible for me to say to people, “Speak
Louder, shout for I am deaf! Ah, how could I
possibly admit to an infirmity in the one sense
that ought to be more perfect in me than in
others, a sense that I once possessed in the
highest degree.”
“How humiliated I have felt if somebody
standing beside me heard the sound of a flute
in the distance and I heard nothing...It is
impossible for me to say to people, ‘Speak
louder, for I am deaf.’ How would it be
possible for me to admit to a weakness of the
one sense that should be perfect to a higher
degree in me than in theirs. So forgive me if
you see me draw back from your company
which I would so gladly share. I would have
ended my life. It was only my art that held
me back for it seemed impossible to leave the
world until I have brought forth all that is
within me.”
— Beethoven
Beethoven’s Pathos
Shows up in his music.
Sense of despair.
Sense of acceptance
Sense of reconciliation
Sense of victory over despair.
EMOTION
“I am resolved to rise superior to
every obstacle. With whom need I be
afraid of measuring my own strength?
I will take Fate by the throat. It shall
not overcome me. O how beautiful it
is to be alive—would that I could live
a thousand times.”
-Beethoven
Beethoven’s death
Beethoven died in Vienna, Austria on
March 26th, 1827.
Thousands of people lined the streets
during his funeral procession to pay
tribute.
Beethoven, the composer
Wrote many works for piano
Wrote music that required improvement of the piano
For years, his compositions drew mixed reactions
Critics and journalists hassled him
Intellect, Intellect, Intellect. Why must Herr
Beethoven write such difficult and complex music? It
sounds like cats fighting! Cannot he write a decent
singable melody?
“I carry my thoughts within me long,
often very long before I write them
down. As I know what I want, the
fundamental idea never deserts me.
It mounts, it grows in stature. I hear,
I see the picture in its whole extent
standing all of a piece before my
spirit, and there remains for me only
the task of writing it down.”
-Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
December 16th, 1770March 26th, 1827)
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN