A Composer Of All Time – Ludwig van Beethoven

In December 1770 Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn Germany. Johan van Beethoven, his father, was his piano teacher, who taught him the organ, violin and viola as well. With the piano and the organ being the ones he excelled at best, the music most associated with this famous composer are classical and romantic.

Christian Gotthof Neefe, a band master of the court, composer and organist took Ludwig as pupil at the age of 11 which would diversify his background in music and encouraged him to begin composing himself. He would quickly become an assistant at the organ for Neefe and perform for the personal theater of Electors and other families. Soon after, Ludwig was hired to be a band master. It was during his studies with Neefe that Beethoven would find influence in his music from the Free Masons.

The connection with the Elector and other noble families, Ludwig was able to go study in Vienna. There he would have the privilege of being taught by Albrechtsberger, Haydn, Salieri and Schenk, which mold his natural gift into be the skilled pianist he became known for. The expressive power Beethoven on the piano would be what gave him the creativeness he showed in his music.

The music that Beethoven is known for creating has been divided into three periods:

1). His first period would include twenty pieces of his works that were appeal to old forms and prefigures a force that is explosive. An example of his work there would be his 1st Symphony, a minuet, with a writing that led to a romantic tune that was characterized by effective involvement.

2). Beethoven's second period started with his 3rd Symphony, showing an expert form by establishing his own rules such as the sonata that determined this composer's creative evolution.

3). The last 5 chords quartets would be considered Beethoven's third period. The sonatas "Diabelli Variations", "Missa Solemnis" as well as his 9th Symphony would justify Ludwig's artistic and intellectual existence.

The sadness of Beethoven's greatness would be that by the age of 26 he had already started losing his hearing and by his mid 40s, he was completely deaf. Thus, he was never able to fully enjoy the music that he so beautifully created. It has been reported that once breaking down in front of the audience after a performance because he could not hear the applause nor his music.

While teaching the two daughters of a Hungarian Countess in 1799, Beethoven fell in love with Josephine, the youngest. Her mother did not approve of this relationship and sent the young girl away to marry a man she didn't love. That man would die, but her and Beethoven would never marry, thus leaving Ludwig van Beethoven a bachelor at the time of his death in 1827.