Beethoven Daniela Camela

Beethoven - Daniela Camela

Who was Beethoven as a person overall? Ludwig van Beethoven was a germany born pianist and composer. He was born on, December 16th, 1770 and died on March 26th, 1827. Beethoven is widely considered one of the best composers of all time, all around the world. His innovative compositions combined vocals and instruments, widening the scope of sonata, symphony, concerto and quartet. In 1801 Beethoven lost his sense of hearing, and it resulted in him going deaf. The cause of him going deaf is still unknown. An unknown fact about beethoven is that he was actually a very successful middle school dropout. Yes, he dropped out of middle school, in 7th grade at only 11 years old he left school due to family reasons.

His life, music, and his musical styles and techniques are all contributors to his legendary life story. He was the eldest of three children of Johann and Maria Magdalena van Beethoven. His father, a musician who liked to drink, taught him to play piano and violin. At the age of twelve Beethoven was a promising keyboard player and a talented pupil in composition of the court organist Christian Gottlob Neefe. In 1787, only being 17 at the time, he traveled to Vienna, Austria, apparently to seek out Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart as his teacher. Although he enjoyed his time in Vienna, he was eventually forced to return to Bonn (his hometown) to care for his dying mother, who died several months later. His father then died in 1792.

In 1792, after his father died, Beethoven went back to Vienna to study with the famous composer Joseph Haydn.

Beethoven was not completely satisfied with Haydn's teaching, though, and he turned to musicians of lesser talent for extra instruction. Beethoven rapidly proceeded to make his mark as a brilliant keyboard performer and a s a gifted young composer with a number of works to his credit. In 1795 his first mature published works appeared, and his career was officially launched and

boosted.

Beethoven lived in Vienna from 1792 to his death in 1827, without a wife or children, just his small circle of friends and his fans. Beethoven barely ever traveled, apart from spending his summers on the countryside. In 1796 he made a trip to northern Germany, where his schedule included a visit to the court of King Frederick William of Prussia, an amateur cellist. Later Beethoven made several trips to Budapest, Hungary. In 1808 Beethoven received an invitation to become music director at Kassel, Germany. This alarmed several of his wealthy Viennese friends, who formed a group of backers and agreed to guarantee Beethoven an annual salary of 1,400 florins to keep him in Vienna. He thus became one of the first musicians in history to be able to live independently on his music salary.

Beethoven's two main personal problems, especially in later life, were his deafness and his relationship with his nephew, Karl, whomst he had to foster. Beethoven began to lose his hearing during his early years in Vienna, and the condition soon grew worse. The problem was so severe that as early as 1802 he actually considered suicide. In 1815 he gave up hope of performing publicly as a pianist. After 1818 he was no longer able to carry on conversations with visitors, who were forced to communicate with him in writing. The second problem arose when he became Karl's guardian upon the death of his brother in 1815. Karl proved to be unstable and a continuing source of worry to an already troubled man.

Although Beethoven lived a quite full life, he died on March 26, 1827, at the age of 56. Overall, he proved to be a complex person in life who had a soft spot for people close to him in life. After his death, an autopsy revealed that the immediate cause of death was post-hepatitic cirrhosis of the liver. The autopsy also provided clues to the origins of his deafness.