Ludwig Van Beethoven

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When you look at the world and all the people on it as a whole, you see that there are very few influential people whose actions or opinions strongly influence the course of events. Ludwig Van Beethoven, a German musician, is one of those very few. He was an extraordinary musician that lived through hardship and had the horrific fate of deafness, any musician’s worst nightmare. Beethoven left a wall standing in history that captured the art of sounds and worked it beyond imagination into music so fragile and pure yet onerous, unable to be matched by any succeeding composer. His determination to push music forward, go beyond the thinkable, and make it his own, has made a huge impact on all music forever going forward. Beethoven had a reason or explanation for everything he ever did. He was born in Bonn, Germany in 1770 and grew up around numerous musicians, including many musicians of which were in his very own family. Beethoven’s father, Johann, earned money from his career in singing, so when Johann picked up heavy drinking he practically ruined his voice, therefore less money came in. Johann turned the disappointment in himself into high expectations for his son Ludwig. He wanted Beethoven to be a child prodigy, a second Mozart, yet he would not let Ludwig to express himself and play the music in his own style; he was only allowed to play it exactly how it was written with no adjustments at all. Whenever he would try to play something that wasn’t written straight from a book his father would punish him, so Beethoven was overjoyed when he started working with first mentor, Christian Neefe. Beethoven had hoped to study along-side of Mozart, one whom of which he admired. He briefly worked with him in 1787 when he visited Vienna, G... ... middle of paper ... .... “Beethoven, Ludwig Van.” Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia (1996): 89. Literary Reference Center. Web. 8 Dec. 2013 Carew-Miller, Anna and Vitali Kanstantinov. “BEETHOVEN..(Cover Story).” Beethoven (2013): N. History Reference Center. Web. 25 Nov. 2013. Great Neck, Publishing. “Ludwig Van Beethoven.” Monkeyshines On Music & Great Musicians (2001): 58. History Reference Center. Web. 25 Nov. 2013. Hart, Michael H. “Ludwig Van Beethoven.” The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History. New York: Citadel Press, 1978. Print. “Ludwig Van Beethoven (1770-1827).” Ludwig Van Beethoven (1770-1827). N. p., n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2013. “The Era of Beethoven.” The Era of Beethoven. N. p., n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2013

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