Ludwig van Beethoven: biography, interesting facts, creativity

Ludwig van Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven is the greatest phenomenon in the world musical culture, the composer has become a legend in his lifetime. He was so incredibly talented and goal-oriented that, even having lost his hearing, he continued to create his own, unparalleled, brilliant masterpieces. The eminent maestro stood on the threshold of Romanticism in Western European music and was the immediate founder of a new era that replaced the exhausted Classicism. In childhood, having learned music on harpsichord with its distinctive lace sound, Beethoven subsequently popularized the piano, creating 5 concerts, 38 sonatas, about 60 plays and several dozen other works for this musical instrument.

A brief biography of Ludwig van Beethoven and many interesting facts about the composer can be found on our page.

Short biography of Beethoven

In the Austrian (and now German) city of Bonn, on December 16, 1770, in the family of the tenor of the court chapel, Johann van Beethoven, the third in the family Ludwig was born, after his grandfather (bass, and then the court conductor) and elder brother. The fact of birth in the family of hereditary singers predetermined the fate of the boy.

The first music teacher Ludwig became his father, who dreamed of making the son of the second Mozart. A four-year-old baby worked on the harpsichord for 6 hours a day, and if his father ordered it, he also worked at night. Ludwig didn’t show such unique abilities, like Wolfgang Mozart's acclaimed virtuoso playing, but he definitely had an outstanding talent for music.

The Beethoven family was not rich, and after the death of his grandfather and completely impoverished. At the age of 14, young Ludwig was forced to drop out of school and help his father in the maintenance of his family, working as an assistant organist in the court chapel.

Prior to that, the boy attended school, where German and arithmetic were in the background after Latin and music. Already in his youth, Beethoven was free to read and translate Plutarch and Homer, but multiplication and spelling remained a secret behind him.

When in 1787 Ludwig's mother died, and his father washed down more than before, the responsible and disciplined youth took over the maintenance of his younger brothers. He took the role of violist in the court orchestra, thanks to which he became acquainted with the diversity of the world of opera.

At 21, in 1791, Ludwig van Beethoven moved to Vienna in search of a good teacher, where he spent his whole life. For some time the young man was engaged with Haydn. But Joseph was afraid not to get into trouble because of the free-thinking and sharp in the student's expressions. And Ludwig, in turn, felt that Haydn was not the person who could teach him anything. In the end, Beethoven began studying Salieri.

The early Viennese creative period of the young composer is biographically closely connected with the names of the Austrian court prince Likhnovsky, the Russian grandee Razumovsky, the Czech nobleman Lobkowitz: they patronized Beethoven, supported them financially, their names were on the title pages of the composer’s manuscripts. At the same time, Beethoven cherished a sense of self-esteem and never allowed his notable patrons to attempt to point out his low origin.

In the 1790s, Beethoven composed mainly chamber and piano music, and in the 1800s he began to write his first symphonies, creating a single oratorio ("Christ on the Mount of Olives").

When by 1811 the maestro had completely lost his hearing, he rarely left the house. Public piano playing was the main source of income for the virtuoso, and he also constantly gave music lessons to representatives of the aristocracy. With the loss of hearing, hard times have come for Beethoven. After a disastrous attempt in 1811 to perform his own Concerto for Piano No. 5 ("The Emperor"), he never again appeared in public until he paired with the conductor Michael Umlauf and led the orchestra during the premiere of Symphony No. 9 in 1824.

But deafness did not prevent the composition of music. Beethoven used a special stick attached at one end to the front of the piano. Clamping the other end of the wand with his teeth, he "felt" the sound made by the instrument due to the vibration transmitted through the stick.

It is during the last decade of the composer’s life that the writing of the most magnificent works, which the listeners still do not get tired to admire, is accounted for: 131; "Solemn Mass"; Great Fugue, op. 133 and, of course, the Ninth Symphony.

Interesting facts about Beethoven

• Beethoven was the eldest of 7 children in his family, 4 of whom went to another world in childhood.
• From the biography of Beethoven, we know that for the first time the young maestro spoke in public at 7 years old on March 26, 1778. It is noteworthy that March 26 is also the date of his death.
• When the father drove little Ludwig for his first performance in Cologne, he indicated that the boy was only 6 years old (he really wanted to emphasize the uniqueness of his son). The young musician believed what was said by his father and since then he considered himself younger for a year and a half than he really was. When his parents handed Beethoven his certificate of baptism, he refused to believe the date specified there, believing that the document belonged to his elder brother, also Ludwig, who died in infancy.
• Beethoven was fortunate enough to study music under the guidance of such famous composers as Gottlob Nefe, Joseph Haydn, Albrechtsberger and Salieri. He also almost became a disciple of Mozart, who was delighted with the improvisation presented to his attention, but the death of his mother forced Ludwig to quit his studies and leave Vienna immediately.
• When Beethoven was 12, he first published his works. It was a compilation of variations for keyboards, which ultimately glorified him as one of the most popular pianists in history.

• Beethoven was one of the first musicians to whom an allowance of 4,000 florins was assigned simply because notable citizens did not want him to leave Vienna for France, where he was invited by the brother of Emperor Napoleon.
• Beethoven wrote 3 love letters to the "Immortal Beloved", whose name remains a mystery to this day. Since he fell in love with many women, biographers find it difficult to single out the only one that the composer could call so unusually.
• Throughout his life, Beethoven wrote only one opera, Fidelio, which is still considered an outstanding example of classical music.

• The composer really appreciated friendship and never allowed his close friends to live in need. Beethoven said that as long as he has a piece of bread, he will share it with a friend, and if he doesn’t have a penny for himself, he will simply sit down at the table to work.
• As a rule, the composer worked simultaneously on several works. Trying to bring his creations to perfection, he could redo a fragment up to 20 times.
• At 26 years old, the great composer began to have problems with hearing, and over the next 20 years, the problem gradually worsened until he became completely deaf. Moreover, day and night he was tormented by incessant tinnitus associated with the specifics of his illness.
• Once, when Beethoven had barely heard anything, friends, coming to his house, found the composer at the piano. He consistently played the notes of the lower register and, admiringly listening to the thunders of the sounds of thunder, remarked: "Isn't that great?". The guests were touched by the endurance and sense of humor of this man, who was gradually plunging into the shrill silence of deafness and childishly rejoicing that he still hears at least the sounds of the lower register.
• In May 1809, when Napoleon’s attacking troops bombarded Vienna, Ferdinand Rees remembers how Beethoven was very worried if he would lose his hearing from the roar of explosions, and hid in the basement of the house, covering his ears with pillows.
• When in 1824 the premiere of the Ninth Symphony, in which Beethoven himself was the conductor, was held, the public gave a stormy ovation. But the great composer did not hear the praise of the audience, or the playing of the orchestra. Then one of the chorus girls took the hand so far facing Beethoven's orchestra and turned to the hall so that he could see the delight that his work caused the public.
• Beethoven described the beginning of the Fifth Symphony as "the knock of Death on the door." Later, the first chords of this symphony will be used as a password for the allies during World War II, because, by coincidence, it is this melody in Morse code that represents the Latin "V" ("Victory" - victory).
• In 1889, a museum was opened in the house of Beethoven’s family in Bonn with a large collection of items from the composer’s life and that era.

• About 20 thousand people participated in the funeral procession on the third day after the death of the beloved composer - March 29, 1827. Franz Schubert, a great admirer of the composer's work, was among those who carried the coffin. Ironically, he himself died a year later and was buried next to Beethoven.
• Of the late quartets of the Fourteenth, C minor, op. 131 Beethoven especially loved, calling him his most perfect work. When Schubert, who was lying on his deathbed, was asked about his last wish, he asked him to play a quartet in C minor. It was November 14, 1828, five days before death.
• In August 1845, a monument to Beethoven was unveiled in Bonn. It was the first monument in Germany to the famous composer, after which about a hundred more were opened around the world.
• They say the Beatles song "Because" ("Because") is based on the melody of the Moonlight Sonatas, played in reverse order.
• "Ode to Joy" (excerpt from the famous Ninth Symphony) is the official anthem of the European Union.
• The third largest crater on Mercury is named after the composer.
• One of the elements of the main ring of asteroids, located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, is called "1815 Beethoven."

Love in the life of Beethoven

To his misfortune, Beethoven fell in love with women who belonged to a different class than he. At that time, class affiliation was a serious argument for solving questions about marriage. He met the young countess Julia Guicciardi in 1801 thanks to the Brunswick family, where he gave piano lessons to Josephine Brunswick. However, for the reasons mentioned above, marriage was out of the question.

After the death of her husband Josephine Brunswick in 1804, Ludwig tried his luck in a relationship with a young widow. He wrote to the beloved of 15 passionate letters, she answered him in return, but soon, at the request of the family, he broke off any communication with Beethoven. In the case of a marriage with a nonaristocrat, the Countess would have been deprived of the opportunity to communicate with the children and bring them up.

After Josephine again married a certain Baron von Shtekelberg in 1810, Beethoven unsuccessfully proposed to his close friend Baroness Teresa Malfatti (sister of Josephine Brunswick). Unsuccessfully, because this lady was more senior than her admirer. Obviously, it was Teresa who was devoted to bagatelle (a small musical piece) "To Elise."

Beethoven Conversations

Beethoven’s biography states that, being inaudible, the composer compensated for his shortcoming with the help of so-called conversational notebooks. There, during a conversation, friends wrote their own lines for him. The composer used conversational notebooks for about the last ten years, and before that he was rescued by an acoustic tube, which is now kept in the Beethoven Museum in Bonn.

Speaking notebooks have become a precious document from which we learn the content of the composer’s discussions, we can learn about his worldview, the composer’s vision of how a particular work should be performed. Of the 400 conversational notebooks, 264 were destroyed, and the rest are subject to bills and editing after the composer’s death by his personal secretary, Anton Schindler. Being also the first biographer of the composer, Schindler, first, saved his and his reputation, since those sharply negative evaluative expressions addressed to the monarch, which Beethoven allowed himself, could cause persecution and prohibitions on the part of the authorities. And secondly, more than a secretary, he wanted to idealize the image of the maestro in the eyes of his descendants.

Strokes to the creative portrait

• The city authorities of Bonn in 1790 elected the cantatas of court violist Beethoven for execution at the funeral of Franz Joseph II and during the subsequent enthronement of Leopold II, the Holy Roman Emperor. After these two imperial cantatas were never performed again and were considered lost until the 1880s. But these works were, according to Brahms, "Beethoven through and through" and clearly revealed that tragic style, which marked all the works of Beethoven, and which distinguished them from classical traditions in music.
• Sonata for piano no. 8 in C minor, op. 13, commonly known as "Pathetic", was written in 1798. Beethoven dedicated it to his friend Prince Karl von Likhnovsky. Contrary to the prevailing opinion that the composer himself called the sonata "Pathetic", this publisher was the person who, under the impression of the tragic sound of the sonata, wrote on the title page of the Great Pathetic Sonata.
• The influence of Mozart and Haydn on Beethoven’s work is undeniable. So, his Quintet for piano and wind instruments reveals a striking similarity with the work of Mozart at the form level. But Beethoven's melodies, the development of a theme, the use of modulation and texture, the expression of emotions in music - all this makes the composer's work beyond the scope of any influences and borrowings.
• Beethoven is rightly considered the first composer of the Romantic era, his Symphony No. 3 was a radical deviation from everything written earlier.
• The Symphony Finale No. 9 - "Ode to Joy" is the first attempt in the history of Western European music to introduce a choir into a canonical symphony.

• The ninth symphony contains a scherzo in the second movement, and an adagio in the third. For the classical symphony, where the tempo was supposed to grow, it was unthinkable.
• Beethoven was, apparently, the first composer who used brass instruments as a full part of the orchestra. Beethoven was also the first to introduce the piccolo flute and trombone to the symphony. In turn, the harp, he included only in one of his work - the ballet "Prometheus Creations".
• Beethoven was the first who in music tried to reproduce the sounds of quail, cuckoo and nightingale - and all this within the framework of one symphony - No. 6, "Pastoral." By the way, an abbreviated version of the Sixth Symphony sounds in the Disney cartoon "Fantasy". Imitations of animal sounds were also present in Mozart’s short “Toy Symphony” and in Vivaldi’s Seasons, but never in a 40-minute symphony.

Music of Ludwig van Beethoven in the films

Since the music of the composer differs as a whole in a gloomy style, films in which his works are used as soundtracks, for the most part contain infernal motifs.

Films about Ludwig van Beethoven

According to Beethoven’s biography, there are so many documentaries and feature films that we decided to mention only the most famous of them.

• Life of Beethoven (German: Das Leben des Beethoven) (1927), silent films, Spanish. Fritz Kortner, Austria.
• Beethoven's great love (Fr.: Un grand amour de Beethoven) (1937), isp. Harry Bohr, France.
• Heroica (German: Eroica) (1949), isp. Ewald Balser, Austria. The film was presented at the Cannes Film Festival in 1949.
• Ludwig van Beethoven (German: Ludwig van Beethoven) (1954), GDR. The Max Jaap documentary tells the story of Beethoven’s life. Original documents, letters and photographs are supplemented with the sound of the most brilliant works of the composer.
• Napoleon (1955), isp. Eric von Stroheim.
• In 1962, Walt Disney released a full speculation television version of the film about Beethoven's "The Magnificent Rebel" (The Magnificent Rebel), isp. Karlheinz Bohm.
• Ludwig van (German: Ludwig van) (1969), film by Mauricio Kagel, isp. Karl Walter Diss.
• Beethoven - days of life (English: Beethoven - Days in a Life) (1976), isp. Donatas Banionis and Stefan Lisevsky.
• The Incredible Adventures of Bill and Ted (1989), isp. David Clifford.
• Beethoven lives at the top (English: Beethoven Lives Upstairs) (1992), isp. Neil Munro, Czech Republic.
• The Immortal Beloved (1994), isp. Gary Oldman.
• Rewriting Beethoven (2006), isp. Ed Harris.
• Maestro (2011), isp. Robert Guy Bathurst.
• Ludwig (2016), isp. Padrig Vion.

Творчество Бетховена охватывает немало музыкальных жанров и использует разнообразные сочетания музыкальных инструментов. Для симфонического оркестра он написал 9 симфоний и более дюжины других произведений. Бетховен сочинил 7 инструментальных концертов. Его перу принадлежит одна опера ("Фиделио") и один балет ("Творения Прометея"). Beethoven's piano music is rich and diverse in terms of forms: these are sonatas, miniatures and other compositions.

Peru Beethoven also owns a significant number of works of ensemble music. In addition to 16 string quartets, he wrote 5 string quintets, 7 piano trios, 5 string trios, and more than a dozen works for various combinations of wind instruments.

Beethoven, according to Anton Schindler, used his own temporhythm and, being considered by most musicologists to be the last Viennese classic, he managed to break quite a few canons of classical music style.