biography for beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer whose Symphony 5 is a beloved classic. Some of his greatest works were composed while Beethoven was going deaf.

(1770-1827)

Who Was Ludwig van Beethoven?

Ludwig van Beethoven was a German pianist and composer widely considered to be one of the greatest musical geniuses of all time. His innovative compositions combined vocals and instruments, widening the scope of sonata, symphony, concerto and quartet. He is the crucial transitional figure connecting the Classical and Romantic ages of Western music.

Beethoven’s personal life was marked by a struggle against deafness, and some of his most important works were composed during the last 10 years of his life, when he was quite unable to hear. He died at the age of 56.

Controversial Birthday

Beethoven was born on or about December 16, 1770, in the city of Bonn in the Electorate of Cologne, a principality of the Holy Roman Empire. Although his exact date of birth is uncertain, Beethoven was baptized on December 17, 1770.

As a matter of law and custom, babies at the time were baptized within 24 hours of birth, so December 16 is his most likely birthdate.

However, Beethoven himself mistakenly believed that he was born two years later, in 1772, and he stubbornly insisted on the incorrect date even when presented with official papers that proved beyond any reasonable doubt that 1770 was his true birth year.

Beethoven had two younger brothers who survived into adulthood: Caspar, born in 1774, and Johann, born in 1776. Beethoven's mother, Maria Magdalena van Beethoven, was a slender, genteel, and deeply moralistic woman.

His father, Johann van Beethoven, was a mediocre court singer better known for his alcoholism than any musical ability. However, Beethoven's grandfather, godfather and namesake, Kapellmeister Ludwig van Beethoven, was Bonn's most prosperous and eminent musician, a source of endless pride for young Beethoven.

Childhood Abuse

Sometime between the births of his two younger brothers, Beethoven's father began teaching him music with an extraordinary rigor and brutality that affected him for the rest of his life.

Neighbors provided accounts of the small boy weeping while he played the clavier, standing atop a footstool to reach the keys, his father beating him for each hesitation or mistake.

On a near daily basis, Beethoven was flogged, locked in the cellar and deprived of sleep for extra hours of practice. He studied the violin and clavier with his father as well as taking additional lessons from organists around town. Whether in spite of or because of his father's draconian methods, Beethoven was a prodigiously talented musician from his earliest days.

Meanwhile, the musical prodigy attended a Latin grade school named Tirocinium, where a classmate said, "Not a sign was to be discovered of that spark of genius which glowed so brilliantly in him afterwards."

Beethoven, who struggled with sums and spelling his entire life, was at best an average student, and some biographers have hypothesized that he may have had mild dyslexia. As he put it himself, "Music comes to me more readily than words."

In 1781, at the age of 10, Beethoven withdrew from school to study music full time with Christian Gottlob Neefe, the newly appointed Court Organist, and at the age of 12, Beethoven published his first composition, a set of piano variations on a theme by an obscure classical composer named Dressler.

By 1784, his alcoholism worsening and his voice decaying, Beethoven's father was no longer able to support his family, and Beethoven formally requested an official appointment as Assistant Court Organist. Despite his youth, his request was accepted, and Beethoven was put on the court payroll with a modest annual salary of 150 florins.

Beethoven and Mozart

There is only speculation and inconclusive evidence that Beethoven ever met with Mozart, let alone studied with him. In an effort to facilitate his musical development, in 1787 the court sent Beethoven to Vienna, Europe’s capital of culture and music, where he hoped to study with Mozart.

Tradition has it that, upon hearing Beethoven, Mozart said, "Keep your eyes on him; someday he will give the world something to talk about.”

After only a few weeks in Vienna, Beethoven learned that his mother had fallen ill and he returned home to Bonn. Remaining there, Beethoven continued to carve out his reputation as the city's most promising young court musician.

Early Career as a Composer

When the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II died in 1790, a 19-year-old Beethoven received the immense honor of composing a musical memorial in his honor. For reasons that remain unclear, Beethoven's composition was never performed, and most assumed the young musician had proven unequal to the task.

However, more than a century later, Johannes Brahms discovered that Beethoven had in fact composed a "beautiful and noble" piece of music entitled Cantata on the Death of Emperor Joseph II . It is now considered his earliest masterpiece.

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Beethoven and Haydn

In 1792, with French revolutionary forces sweeping across the Rhineland into the Electorate of Cologne, Beethoven decided to leave his hometown for Vienna once again. Mozart had passed away a year earlier, leaving Joseph Haydn as the unquestioned greatest composer alive.

Haydn was living in Vienna at the time, and it was with Haydn that the young Beethoven now intended to study. As his friend and patron Count Waldstein wrote in a farewell letter, "Mozart's genius mourns and weeps over the death of his disciple. It found refuge, but no release with the inexhaustible Haydn; through him, now, it seeks to unite with another. By means of assiduous labor you will receive the spirit of Mozart from the hands of Haydn."

In Vienna, Beethoven dedicated himself wholeheartedly to musical study with the most eminent musicians of the age. He studied piano with Haydn, vocal composition with Antonio Salieri and counterpoint with Johann Albrechtsberger. Not yet known as a composer, Beethoven quickly established a reputation as a virtuoso pianist who was especially adept at improvisation.

Debut Performance

Beethoven won many patrons among the leading citizens of the Viennese aristocracy, who provided him with lodging and funds, allowing Beethoven, in 1794, to sever ties with the Electorate of Cologne. Beethoven made his long-awaited public debut in Vienna on March 29, 1795.

Although there is considerable debate over which of his early piano concerti he performed that night, most scholars believe he played what is known as his "first" piano concerto in C Major. Shortly thereafter, Beethoven decided to publish a series of three piano trios as his Opus 1, which were an enormous critical and financial success.

In the first spring of the new century, on April 2, 1800, Beethoven debuted his Symphony No. 1 in C major at the Royal Imperial Theater in Vienna. Although Beethoven would grow to detest the piece — "In those days I did not know how to compose," he later remarked — the graceful and melodious symphony nevertheless established him as one of Europe's most celebrated composers.

As the new century progressed, Beethoven composed piece after piece that marked him as a masterful composer reaching his musical maturity. His Six String Quartets, published in 1801, demonstrate complete mastery of that most difficult and cherished of Viennese forms developed by Mozart and Haydn.

Beethoven also composed The Creatures of Prometheus in 1801, a wildly popular ballet that received 27 performances at the Imperial Court Theater. It was around the same time that Beethoven discovered he was losing his hearing.

Personal Life

For a variety of reasons that included his crippling shyness and unfortunate physical appearance, Beethoven never married or had children. He was, however, desperately in love with a married woman named Antonie Brentano.

Over the course of two days in July of 1812, Beethoven wrote her a long and beautiful love letter that he never sent. Addressed "to you, my Immortal Beloved," the letter said in part, "My heart is full of so many things to say to you — ah — there are moments when I feel that speech amounts to nothing at all — Cheer up — remain my true, my only love, my all as I am yours."

The death of Beethoven's brother Caspar in 1815 sparked one of the great trials of his life, a painful legal battle with his sister-in-law, Johanna, over the custody of Karl van Beethoven, his nephew and her son.

The struggle stretched on for seven years, during which both sides spewed ugly defamations at the other. In the end, Beethoven won the boy's custody, though hardly his affection.

Despite his extraordinary output of beautiful music, Beethoven was lonely and frequently miserable throughout his adult life. Short-tempered, absent-minded, greedy and suspicious to the point of paranoia, Beethoven feuded with his brothers, his publishers, his housekeepers, his pupils and his patrons.

In one illustrative incident, Beethoven attempted to break a chair over the head of Prince Lichnowsky, one of his closest friends and most loyal patrons. Another time he stood in the doorway of Prince Lobkowitz's palace shouting for all to hear, "Lobkowitz is a donkey!"

For years, rumors have swirled that Beethoven had some African ancestry. These unfounded tales may be based on Beethoven's dark complexion or the fact that his ancestors came from a region of Europe that had once been invaded by the Spanish, and Moors from northern Africa were part of Spanish culture.

A few scholars have noted that Beethoven seemed to have an innate understanding of the polyrhythmic structures typical to some African music. However, no one during Beethoven's lifetime referred to the composer as Moorish or African, and the rumors that he was Black are largely dismissed by historians.

Was Beethoven Deaf?

At the same time as Beethoven was composing some of his most immortal works, he was struggling to come to terms with a shocking and terrible fact, one that he tried desperately to conceal: He was going deaf.

By the turn of the 19th century, Beethoven struggled to make out the words spoken to him in conversation.

Beethoven revealed in a heart-wrenching 1801 letter to his friend Franz Wegeler, "I must confess that I lead a miserable life. For almost two years I have ceased to attend any social functions, just because I find it impossible to say to people: I am deaf. If I had any other profession, I might be able to cope with my infirmity; but in my profession it is a terrible handicap."

Heiligenstadt Testament

At times driven to extremes of melancholy by his affliction, Beethoven described his despair in a long and poignant note that he concealed his entire life.

Dated October 6, 1802, and referred to as "The Heiligenstadt Testament," it reads in part: "O you men who think or say that I am malevolent, stubborn or misanthropic, how greatly do you wrong me. You do not know the secret cause which makes me seem that way to you and I would have ended my life — it was only my art that held me back. Ah, it seemed impossible to leave the world until I had brought forth all that I felt was within me."

Almost miraculously, despite his rapidly progressing deafness, Beethoven continued to compose at a furious pace.

Moonlight Sonata

From 1803 to 1812, what is known as his "middle" or "heroic" period, he composed an opera, six symphonies, four solo concerti, five string quartets, six-string sonatas, seven piano sonatas, five sets of piano variations, four overtures, four trios, two sextets and 72 songs.

The most famous among these were the haunting Moonlight Sonata, symphonies No. 3-8, the Kreutzer violin sonata and Fidelio , his only opera.

In terms of the astonishing output of superlatively complex, original and beautiful music, this period in Beethoven's life is unrivaled by any other composer in history.

Beethoven’s Music

Some of Beethoven’s best-known compositions include:

Eroica: Symphony No. 3

In 1804, only weeks after Napoleon Bonaparte proclaimed himself Emperor of France, Beethoven debuted his Symphony No. 3 in Napoleon's honor. Beethoven, like all of Europe, watched with a mixture of awe and terror; he admired, abhorred and, to an extent, identified with Napoleon, a man of seemingly superhuman capabilities, only one year older than himself and also of obscure birth.

Later renamed the Eroica Symphony because Beethoven grew disillusioned with Napoleon, it was his grandest and most original work to date.

Because it was so unlike anything heard before it, the musicians could not figure out how to play it through weeks of rehearsal. A prominent reviewer proclaimed "Eroica" as "one of the most original, most sublime, and most profound products that the entire genre of music has ever exhibited."

Symphony No. 5

One of Beethoven’s best-known works among modern audiences, Symphony No. 5 is known for its ominous first four notes.

Beethoven began composing the piece in 1804, but its completion was delayed a few times for other projects. It premiered at the same time as Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, in 1808 in Vienna.

In 1810, Beethoven completed Fur Elise (meaning “For Elise”), although it was not published until 40 years after his death. In 1867, it was discovered by a German music scholar, however Beethoven’s original manuscript has since been lost.

Some scholars have suggested it was dedicated to his friend, student and fellow musician, Therese Malfatti, to whom he allegedly proposed around the time of the song’s composition. Others said it was for the German soprano Elisabeth Rockel, another friend of Beethoven’s.

Symphony No. 7

Premiering in Vienna in 1813 to benefit soldiers wounded in the battle of Hanau, Beethoven began composing this, one of his most energetic and optimistic works, in 1811.

The composer called the piece “his most excellent symphony." The second movement is often performed separately from the rest of the symphony and may have been one of Beethoven’s most popular works.

Missa Solemnis

Debuting in 1824, this Catholic mass is considered among Beethoven’s finest achievements. Just under 90 minutes in length, the rarely-performed piece features a chorus, orchestra and four soloists.

Ode to Joy: Symphony No. 9

Beethoven’s ninth and final symphony, completed in 1824, remains the illustrious composer's most towering achievement. The symphony's famous choral finale, with four vocal soloists and a chorus singing the words of Friedrich Schiller's poem "Ode to Joy," is perhaps the most famous piece of music in history.

While connoisseurs delighted in the symphony's contrapuntal and formal complexity, the masses found inspiration in the anthem-like vigor of the choral finale and the concluding invocation of "all humanity."

String Quartet No. 14

Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 14 debuted in 1826. About 40 minutes in length, it contains seven linked movements played without a break.

The work was reportedly one of Beethoven’s favorite later quartets and has been described as one of the composer’s most elusive compositions musically.

Beethoven died on March 26, 1827, at the age of 56, of post-hepatitic cirrhosis of the liver.

The autopsy also provided clues to the origins of his deafness: While his quick temper, chronic diarrhea and deafness are consistent with arterial disease, a competing theory traces Beethoven's deafness to contracting typhus in the summer of 1796.

Scientists analyzing a remaining fragment of Beethoven's skull noticed high levels of lead and hypothesized lead poisoning as a potential cause of death, but that theory has been largely discredited.

Beethoven is widely considered one of the greatest, if not the single greatest, composer of all time. Beethoven's body of musical compositions stands with William Shakespeare 's plays at the outer limits of human brilliance.

And the fact Beethoven composed his most beautiful and extraordinary music while deaf is an almost superhuman feat of creative genius, perhaps only paralleled in the history of artistic achievement by John Milton writing Paradise Lost while blind.

Summing up his life and imminent death during his last days, Beethoven, who was never as eloquent with words as he was with music, borrowed a tagline that concluded many Latin plays at the time. Plaudite, amici, comoedia finita est , he said. "Applaud friends, the comedy is over."

QUICK FACTS

• Name: Ludwig Beethoven
• Birth Year: 1770
• Birth date: December 16, 1770
• Birth City: Bonn
• Birth Country: Germany
• Gender: Male
• Best Known For: Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer whose Symphony 5 is a beloved classic. Some of his greatest works were composed while Beethoven was going deaf.
• Astrological Sign: Sagittarius
• Nacionalities
• Interesting Facts
• Beethoven's father was an alcoholic who beat his son into practicing music.
• Many of Beethoven's most accomplished works were created during the time he was deaf.
• Death Year: 1827
• Death date: March 26, 1827
• Death City: Vienna
• Death Country: Austria

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CITATION INFORMATION

• Article Title: Ludwig van Beethoven Biography
• Author: Biography.com Editors
• Website Name: The Biography.com website
• Url: https://www.biography.com/musicians/ludwig-van-beethoven
• Access Date:
• Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
• Last Updated: July 13, 2021
• Original Published Date: April 3, 2014
• Never shall I forget the time I spent with you. Please continue to be my friend, as you will always find me yours.
• Anyone who tells a lie has not a pure heart and cannot make good soup.
• Love demands all and has a right to all.
• Recommend to your children virtues that alone can make them happy. Not gold.
• I shall seize fate by the throat.
• Music is the mediator between the spiritual and sensual life.
• To play without passion is inexcusable!
• Ever thine, ever mine, ever ours.
• Don't only practice your art, but force your way into its secrets, for it and knowledge can raise men to the divine.
• Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy.

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Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) was a German composer and pianist, who is arguably the defining figure in the history of Western music.

Ludwig Van Beethoven was born in December 1770, but no-one is completely sure on which date. He was baptized on the 17th. The earliest recorded piece that Beethoven composed is a set of nine piano variations, composed in 1782. Beethoven moved to Vienna in 1792, where he met influential composers like Haydn and began to compose in earnest. By 1796, he had begun to suffer from tinnitus and was losing his hearing. Beethoven composed his Piano Sonata No. 14 ('Moonlight') in 1802. The Third Symphony, known as the 'Eroica', was completed in 1804. It went on to redefine the symphony as a genre. The opening motif to the Fifth Symphony from 1808 is one of the most famous musical excerpts in history. The 'middle period' of Beethoven's career also saw him compose piano works like the Waldstein and Apassionata sonatas, as well as his only opera, Fidelio, which went through countless rewrites and revisions. Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, the 'Choral' from 1824, is another work of his that has remained infinitely popular. It was the first time that a composer had used choral voices in a major symphony. Ill health and increasing deafness caused a drop in productivity at the end of Beethoven's life, but he still managed to produce important works like his 'Late Quartets' in 1825, which were wildly inventive for the time. Beethoven died in Vienna on the 26th March 1827 after a long illness that has variously been attributed to alcohol, hepatitis, cirrhosis and pneumonia. Did you know? Beethoven composed only one opera, Fidelio, which took years to get right. He re-wrote one aria no fewer than 18 times and came up with four different overtures before deciding upon the one he liked.

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Beethoven 250

Beethoven's life, liberty and pursuit of enlightenment.

Tom Huizenga

A portrait of Ludwig van Beethoven, painted in 1804 by W.J. Mähler. Wikimedia Commons hide caption

A portrait of Ludwig van Beethoven, painted in 1804 by W.J. Mähler.

Two-hundred-fifty years ago, a musical maverick was born. Ludwig van Beethoven charted a powerful new course in music. His ideas may have been rooted in the work of European predecessors Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Josef Haydn , but the iconic German composer became who he was with the help of some familiar American values: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That phrase, from the Declaration of Independence, is right out of the playbook of the Enlightenment, the philosophical movement that shook Europe in the 18th century.

"One way to look at it is what happened after Newton created the scientific revolution: Basically, people, for the first time, developed the idea that through reason and science, we can understand the universe and understand ourselves," says Jan Swafford, the author of Beethoven: Anguish and Triumph , a 1,000-page biography of the composer.

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Swafford says the Enlightenment idea embodied in the Declaration of Independence is that the aim of life is to serve your own needs and your own happiness. "But you can only do that in a free society," he says. "So freedom is the first requirement of happiness."

Other key components of the Enlightenment — including a cult of personal freedom and the importance of heroes — were vibrating in the air in Beethoven's progressive hometown of Bonn when he was an impressionable teenager. "There was discussion of all these ideas in coffeehouses and wine bars and everywhere," Swafford adds. "Beethoven was absorbed into all that and he soaked it up like a sponge."

You can hear ideas from the Enlightenment in Beethoven's Third Symphony, nicknamed "Eroica" — heroic. "There's an amazing place near the end of the first movement of the 'Eroica' where you hear this theme which I think represents the hero," Swafford points out. "It starts playing in a horn, and then it's as if it leads the whole orchestra into a gigantic proclamation, as if that is the hero leading an army into the future."

The hero of the "Eroica" Symphony was originally Napoleon — until Beethoven found out he was just another brutal dictator, and tore up the dedication page of the score. Overall, the hero of much of Beethoven's music is humanity itself.

"He was a humanist, above all," says conductor Marin Alsop, who had planned to mount Beethoven's Ninth Symphony on six continents this year, before the pandemic hit. Beethoven, she says, believed that each of us can surmount any obstacle.

"You can hear his perspective on this new philosophy of the Enlightenment, because it's very personal to Beethoven," Alsop says. "Throughout all of his works, you have this sense of overcoming."

You can hear that journey from darkness to light in pieces like the "Eroica," in the famous Fifth Symphony — and, Alsop says, at the very beginning the groundbreaking Ninth Symphony.

"It opens in the most unexpected way for a piece that's about to make a huge statement," Alsop says. "You can't even tell if it's a major or a minor key. It's kind of fluttering with a tremolo sound in the strings. It's this idea of possibility, an empty slate."

From there, Alsop adds, "Beethoven builds this whole journey of empowerment of unity. There's a lot of unison where the orchestra shouts out as one."

Those unisons are the way Beethoven depicts the connections between people – a pretty important thing for a man who began to go deaf before he was 30. He's a perfect symbol for this era of COVID, Alsop says, because of his severe isolation. That solitude sent the composer out for long walks in the woods outside Vienna.

"Beethoven absolutely loved and cherished nature, and thought of nature as a holy thing," says conductor Roderick Cox, who led performances of Beethoven's Symphony No. 6, the "Pastorale," this fall in Fort Worth, Texas. "Those are some of the principles of Enlightenment, of this music, the liberation of the human mind."

Cox also points to another Beethoven obsession: freedom, which is captured on stage, he says, in the composer's politically fueled opera Fidelio . "It really is the epitome of this Enlightenment spirit: This governmental prisoner, speaking out against the government for individual rights and liberty, has been jailed." In the opera, when the chorus of political prisoners leave their dungeon cells for a momentary breath of fresh air, Beethoven has them sing the word "Freiheit" — freedom.

Two and a half centuries after his birth, Beethoven continues to loom large over today's composers — literally, in some cases. American composer Joan Tower has a picture of Beethoven over her desk, and says he even paid her a ghostly visit once while she was trying to write music.

"He walked into the room right away," Tower says," and I said, 'Listen, could you leave? I'm busy here.' He would not leave. So I said, 'OK, if you're going to stay, then I'm going to use your music.' " And she did, in her piano concerto: Dedicated to Beethoven, the piece borrows fragments from three of his piano sonatas, including his final sonata, No. 32 in C minor.

"The thing I relate to is the struggle, because I struggle the way he does," Tower adds. "He was slow, and I'm slow. So there are certain connections that I'm so happy to have with him."

Everyone can connect to Beethoven, according to Alsop. "This is art that defies time, that defies culture, that defies partisanship, that unifies. And it can speak to each individual differently, but it speaks loudly to each of us," she says.

It's music that speaks to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness — things we're all yearning for right now.

• Marin Alsop
• Ludwig van Beethoven

Biography of Ludwig van Beethoven, German Composer

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Ludwig van Beethoven (December 16, 1770–March 26, 1827) was a German composer and musician. His work embraced a range of musical styles, from the classical to the romantic; although Beethoven composed music for a variety of settings, he is best known for his nine symphonies. His final symphony—featuring the "Ode to Joy" chorus—is one of the most famous works in Western music.

Fast Facts: Ludwig van Beethoven

• Known For : Beethoven is one of the most celebrated composers in the history of classical music; his symphonies are still performed throughout the world.
• Born : December 16, 1770 in Bonn, Electorate of Cologne
• Parents : Johann van Beethoven and Maria Magdalena Keverich
• Died : March 26, 1827 in Vienna, Austria

Beethoven's father Johann van Beethoven sang soprano in the electoral chapel where his father was Kapellmeister (chapel master). Johann eventually became proficient enough to teach violin, piano, and voice to earn a living. He married Maria Magdalena Keverich in 1767. Ludwig van Beethoven was baptized on December 17, 1770. Most scholars believe he was born the day before, as Catholic baptisms traditionally took place the day after birth. Maria later gave birth to five other children, but only two survived, Kaspar Anton Karl and Nikolaus Johann.

At a very early age, Beethoven received violin and piano lessons from his father. At the age of 8, he studied theory and keyboard with Gilles van den Eeden (a former chapel organist). He also studied with several local organists and received piano lessons from Tobias Friedrich Pfeiffer and violin and viola lessons from Franz Rovantini. Although Beethoven’s musical genius is often compared to that of Mozart , his education never exceeded the elementary level.

Teenage Years

As a teenager, Beethoven was the assistant and formal student of Christian Gottlob Neefe, the court organist of the city of Bonn. Beethoven performed more than he composed. In 1787, Neefe sent Beethoven to Vienna for reasons unknown, but many historians agree that while he was there he met and briefly studied with Mozart. Two weeks later, he returned home because his mother was ill with tuberculosis. She died in July. His father took to drink, and Beethoven, only 19 years old, petitioned to be recognized as the head of the house; he received half of his father's salary to support his family.

Music Career

In 1792, Beethoven moved to Vienna. His father died in December that same year. Beethoven studied with Austrian composer Joseph Haydn for less than a year; their personalities were evidently not a match for each other. Beethoven then studied with Johann Georg Albrechtsberger, the most famous teacher of counterpoint in Vienna. He studied counterpoint and contrapuntal exercises in free writing, in imitation, in two to four-part fugues, choral fugues, double counterpoint at different intervals, double fugue , triple counterpoint, and canon.

After establishing himself as a composer, Beethoven began writing more complex works. In 1800, he performed his first symphony and a septet. Publishers soon began to compete for the rights to his newest compositions. While still in his 20s, however, Beethoven began to suffer from hearing loss after a fall. His attitude and social life changed dramatically, as the composer wanted to hide his impairment from the world. Determined to overcome his disability, he wrote his second, third, and fourth symphonies before 1806. Symphony 3, ("Eroica") , was originally titled "Bonaparte" as a tribute to Napoleon.

Middle Period

In 1808, Beethoven completed his fifth symphony, whose opening notes are some of the most famous in all of classical music. This success was followed by several additional symphonies as well as string quartets and piano sonatas, including Fur Elise . During this time, Beethoven also premiered an early version of his opera "Fidelio." The production received poor reviews, and the composer continued to revise the work until 1814.

Beethoven's newfound fame began to pay off, and he soon found himself prosperous. His symphonic works were celebrated as masterpieces; critics cited Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven as the greatest composers of their era. Nevertheless, Beethoven faced personal challenges during this time. He fell in love with a young countess, Julie Guicciardi, but could not marry her because he was from a lower social station. He later dedicated his "Moonlight Sonata" to her.

Beethoven's output suffered during the next decade, the result of several serious illnesses and the death of his brother Kaspar, whom Beethoven had cared for during his sickness. This was followed by a custody battle with his brother's wife over his nephew Karl. The case was eventually resolved in Beethoven's favor, and the composer became the guardian of his nephew. However, the two had a troubled relationship.

Late Period

During the last 15 years of his life, Beethoven's hearing continued to decline. Nevertheless, he did not cease work on his compositions, and in the years before his death, he finished two of his most ambitious pieces—the Missa Solemnis , a mass written for a small orchestra and mixed choir, and the Ninth Symphony, one of the earliest examples of a choral symphony. The latter features what is perhaps Beethoven's most enduring piece of music—a chorus set to words from Friedrich Schiller's poem "Ode to Joy." Beethoven also wrote several additional string quartets, even as his health began to decline.

In 1827, Beethoven died of dropsy. In a will written several days before his death, he left his estate to his nephew Karl, of whom he was the legal guardian after his brother Kaspar's death.

Beethoven remains one of the most popular classical composers of all time, and his major works are frequently performed throughout the world. By introducing new musical ideas, he inspired countless composers after him; indeed, his influence is so great that it is difficult to summarize. The Voyager Golden Record—a recording placed onboard the Voyager spacecraft—contains two pieces of music by Beethoven: the opening of the Fifth Symphony and String Quartet No. 13 in B flat.

• Grove, George. "Beethoven and His Nine Symphonies." Franklin Classics, 2018.
• Lockwood, Lewis. "Beethoven: the Music and the Life." Norton, 2003.
• Swafford, Jan. "Beethoven: Anguish and Triumph." Faber and Faber, 2014.
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Beethoven, Ludwig van 1770-1827

Ludwig van Beethoven: A Glimpse into the Life of a Genius

Born in 1770 in the city of Bonn, Ludwig van Beethoven was destined to be one of the greatest composers the world has ever known. From an early age, his prodigious talent was evident, and he soon moved to Vienna, the epicenter of musical innovation. Overcoming a series of personal trials, including the tragedy of progressive deafness, Beethoven crafted compositions that are celebrated for their emotion, depth, and revolutionary spirit. His works, spanning from intimate piano sonatas to powerful symphonies, not only reflect his own struggles and joys but also resonate with universal human experiences.

Throughout his life, Beethoven remained a figure of fascination, admiration, and at times, controversy. Yet, his undying commitment to his art and his indomitable spirit have inspired countless generations of musicians, scholars, and music lovers around the globe.

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Beethoven – Did you know?

One of the most beloved musical geniuses of all-time, Beethoven remains one of the most popular people (albeit deceased) in the world.

• Beethoven began losing his hearing in his late 20s, and by the age of 49, he was almost completely deaf, yet he continued to compose groundbreaking music.
• He was baptized on December 17, 1770, in Bonn, Germany, but his exact birthdate remains unknown.
• Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” was dedicated to his pupil, Countess Giulietta Guicciardi, with whom he fell in love.
• Despite his fame, Beethoven often struggled financially and was supported by a group of wealthy patrons.
• His Symphony No. 9 was the first example of a major composer using voices in a symphony.
• Beethoven was known for his fiery personality and frequent mood swings, often reflected in his music.
• He never married, but his Immortal Beloved letters suggest he had a mysterious, intense love affair.
• Beethoven’s “Für Elise,” one of his most famous pieces, was discovered and published 40 years after his death.
• He was a crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western music.
• Beethoven’s last words were reportedly “Pity, pity—too late!”, as he was told of a gift of wine from his publisher.
• His Ninth Symphony’s “Ode to Joy” is the anthem of the European Union.
• Beethoven often dipped his head in cold water before composing, believing it stimulated his creativity.
• He wrote only one opera, “Fidelio,” which was revised multiple times and premiered in its final form in 1814.
• As a child prodigy, Beethoven gave his first public performance at the age of 7½.
• His “Heiligenstadt Testament,” a letter written to his brothers, reveals his thoughts on his growing deafness and his resolve to continue living through his art.
• Beethoven’s compositions include 9 symphonies, 5 piano concertos, 1 violin concerto, 32 piano sonatas, and 16 string quartets.
• He was known to have a messy living space and a disheveled appearance, often focusing so intensely on his work that he neglected his surroundings.
• Beethoven was a great admirer of Napoleon until Napoleon declared himself Emperor, after which Beethoven famously scratched out Napoleon’s name from the dedication of his “ Eroica ” Symphony.
• His music was influenced by his love of nature, often taking long walks in the countryside for inspiration.
• Beethoven’s funeral in Vienna in 1827 was attended by an estimated 10,000 to 30,000 people, reflecting his immense popularity.

Beethoven’s Influence in India: A Cultural Blend

Ludwig van Beethoven, a titan of Western classical music, has long echoed across continents, influencing myriad cultures with his profound compositions. While his impact is universally acknowledged in the Western world, his influence on Eastern traditions, particularly in India, presents a fascinating study of cultural synthesis. This article delves into how Beethoven’s musical genius has resonated within India, creating a

Beethoven in Africa: Symphonic Tributes Unveiled

The Timeless Appeal of Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven, a towering figure in the world of classical music, continues to inspire audiences globally, centuries after his death. Known for his profound deafness and his revolutionary compositions, Beethoven’s music transcends cultural and geographical boundaries, resonating deeply with diverse audiences. In Africa, his legacy is celebrated not only in concert halls but also

Beethoven in China: Bridging Cultural Divides

Ludwig van Beethoven, a towering figure in the history of Western classical music, has also played a significant role in cultural exchanges between the East and the West. His music, embodying universal themes of human struggle, triumph, and the search for beauty, resonates well beyond its Western origins. In China, Beethoven is not just a symbol of Western music but

Beethoven’s Impact on Japan’s Classical Scene

Ludwig van Beethoven, a titan of Western classical music, has left an indelible mark on the global music landscape, and Japan is no exception. The influence of Beethoven in Japan stretches back to the Meiji period when Western music began to permeate Japanese culture. This period marked a significant transformation as Japan opened itself to the world, integrating Western musical

Beethoven in America: His Influence Unveiled

Ludwig van Beethoven, a towering figure in classical music, has left an indelible mark not only in Europe but also across the Atlantic in America. His compositions, transcending time and cultural boundaries, have deeply influenced the American musical and cultural scenes. This article explores how Beethoven’s legacy found a new home in America, becoming a staple in concert halls, influencing

Insights into Beethoven’s Lesser-Known Organ Works

Ludwig van Beethoven, a name synonymous with symphonic grandeur and profound piano sonatas, also ventured into the world of organ music, albeit less famously. Beethoven’s contributions to the organ repertoire may not be as extensive or well-known as his works for other instruments, but they offer a fascinating glimpse into his compositional genius and his exploratory spirit. The Organ in

Frequently Asked Questions about Ludwig van Beethoven

Yes, Beethoven began to lose his hearing in his late twenties, and it deteriorated progressively over time. By his late 40s, he was almost completely deaf. Despite this significant challenge, many of Beethoven’s most celebrated works were composed during the period when he was experiencing profound hearing loss.

For more thorough information on Beethoven’s Deafness check out this comprehensive article we wrote on the topic – “ Beethoven’s Deafness: Triumph of Creativity .”

There is no solid evidence to support the claim that Beethoven was black. The majority of historical records and portraits depict him as a European man of Caucasian descent. Over the years, there have been debates and speculations about his heritage, but there’s no concrete evidence to counter the widely accepted view of his ethnicity. Some of the debates arise from descriptions of Beethoven’s darker complexion, but this can be attributed to various reasons, including his health and the standards of description at the time.

Ludwig van Beethoven was born on December 17, 1770, in Bonn, a city in what is now Germany.

For more information check out our comprehensive Biography of Ludwig van Beethoven .

Beethoven passed away on March 26, 1827, in Vienna. The exact cause of his death is not definitively known. Over the years, various theories have been proposed, including lead poisoning, syphilis, and autoimmune disorders. During an autopsy, significant amounts of lead were found in Beethoven’s hair, lending support to the lead poisoning theory. However, the true cause of his death remains a subject of debate among historians and researchers.

Check out our comprehensive Biography of Ludwig van Beethoven for more information on this topic.

You may also want to check out Beethoven’s Family Tree .

Ludwig van Beethoven composed a total of 9 symphonies.

Visit (and listen) to Beethoven’s Symphonies and Music .

Also check out Beethoven’s Biography .

Use LVBeethoven.com as a resource to learn more about this extraordinary many.

Beethoven passed away on March 26, 1827.

For thorough information on the life of Ludwig van Beethoven check out Beethoven’s Biography.

Beethoven was born in Bonn, which is located in present-day Germany.

Here is a Chronology of Beethoven’s life – https://lvbeethoven.wpenginepowered.com/biography/chronology-of-beethovens-life/

Beethoven began to experience hearing loss in his late twenties. This hearing loss worsened progressively over the years, and by the time he was in his late 40s, he was almost completely deaf.

For the most comprehensive treatise on Beethoven’s Deafness check out “ Beethoven’s Deafness: Triumph of Creativity .”

No, Beethoven was not blind. He is famously known for his hearing impairment, but there are no records or evidence to suggest that he suffered from blindness.

For a comprehensive look at the life of Ludwig van Beethoven check out his BIO .

Yes, Ludwig van Beethoven was German. He was born in Bonn, a city in the Electorate of Cologne, which was a part of the Holy Roman Empire at the time of his birth. This region is now in modern-day Germany.

Here are a few helpful links to learn more about Ludwig van Beethoven:

LVBeethoven.com is your comprehensive resource for information about the impeccable Ludwig van Beethoven.

Perhaps the most famous piece by Ludwig van Beethoven is the Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, often referred to as the “Choral” Symphony. This masterpiece is notable not just for its musical brilliance but also because it was the first time a major composer used voices in a symphony. The final movement of this symphony incorporates Friedrich Schiller’s “Ode to Joy,” sung by a chorus and soloists. This movement has since become an anthem for unity and fraternity. Moreover, the symphony’s structure, themes, and the sheer emotional power it exudes make it a groundbreaking work in the history of classical music. Today, the “Ode to Joy” theme is recognized worldwide and has been adapted for various purposes, including being the anthem of the European Union.

Check out our section dedicated to Beethoven’s Music .

Ludwig van Beethoven was a prolific composer, and throughout his lifetime, he composed a vast number of works across various musical genres. While it’s challenging to pinpoint an exact number due to variations in counting (some pieces have multiple parts, or movements), Beethoven wrote 9 symphonies, 32 piano sonatas, 16 string quartets, 5 piano concertos, 1 violin concerto, 1 opera (“Fidelio”), and many other compositions including sonatas for various instruments, overtures, choral works, and chamber music pieces. In total, he composed well over 200 individual works. His influence in shaping the Classical and Romantic eras of music is monumental, with many of his compositions being staples in the repertoires of orchestras, chamber groups, and soloists around the world.

BTW – you can learn more about Beethoven through Films and Literature .

While Beethoven wrote numerous renowned pieces throughout his lifetime, the Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, also known as the “Choral” Symphony, stands out as one of his most celebrated. The piece’s final movement is particularly famous for its incorporation of Friedrich Schiller’s “Ode to Joy,” performed by a choir and soloists. This inclusion of a choral element was revolutionary for symphonic works at the time. The symphony as a whole, and especially its final movement, is emblematic of Beethoven’s vision for music as a powerful force for unity and shared humanity. It encapsulates his masterful ability to convey profound emotions and ideals through musical expression. This symphony’s enduring popularity is a testament to its universal appeal and its representation of Beethoven’s genius.

Don’t miss the Beethoven Biography for a thorough education on everything Beethoven.

Ludwig van Beethoven is buried in Vienna, Austria. Initially, he was interred at the Währing Cemetery, but in 1888, his remains, along with those of Franz Schubert, were moved to the Zentralfriedhof (Central Cemetery) in Vienna, one of the largest cemeteries in the world. The Zentralfriedhof is notable for its numerous graves of famous composers, making it a significant site for music enthusiasts and historians. Beethoven’s grave attracts countless visitors each year, who come to pay their respects to one of the greatest composers in the history of music. The grand monument marking his final resting place is a testament to the profound impact he left on the world of classical music and his enduring legacy.

Check out the chronology of Beethoven’s life .

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Ludwig van Beethoven Biography

Born: December 16, 1770 Bonn, Germany Died: March 26, 1827 Vienna, Austria German composer

German composer Ludwig van Beethoven is considered one of the most important figures in the history of music. He continued to compose even while losing his hearing and created some of his greatest works after becoming totally deaf.

Early years in Bonn

Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany, on December 16, 1770. 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. Young Ludwig was often pulled out of bed in the middle of the night and ordered to perform for his father's drinking companions, suffering beatings if he protested. As Beethoven developed, it became clear that to reach artistic maturity he would have to leave Bonn for a major musical center.

At the age of twelve Beethoven was a promising keyboard player and a talented pupil in composition of the court organist Christian Gottlob Neefe (1748–1798). He even filled in as church organist when Neefe was out of town. In 1783 Beethoven's first published work, a set of keyboard pieces, appeared, and in the 1780s he produced portions of a number of later works. In 1787 he traveled to Vienna, Austria, apparently to seek out Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) as a teacher. He was forced to return to Bonn to care for his ailing mother, who died several months later. His father died in 1792.

Years in Vienna

In 1792 Beethoven went back to Vienna to study with the famous composer Joseph Haydn (1732–1809). Beethoven was not totally 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 as 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.

Beethoven lived in Vienna from 1792 to his death in 1827, unmarried, among a circle of friends, independent of any kind of official position or private service. He rarely traveled, apart from summers in 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.

Personal and professional problems

Although publishers sought out Beethoven and he was an able manager of his own business affairs, he was at the mercy of the crooked publishing practices of his time. Publishers paid a fee to composers for rights to their works, but there was no system of copyrights (the exclusive right to sell and copy a published work) or royalties (profits based on public performances of the material) at the time. As each new work appeared, Beethoven sold it to one or more of the best and most reliable publishers. But this initial payment was all he would receive, and both he and his publisher had to contend with rival publishers who brought out editions of their own. As a result Beethoven saw his works published in many different versions that were unauthorized, unchecked, and often inaccurate. Several times during his life in Vienna Beethoven started plans for a complete, authorized edition of his works, but these plans were never realized.

Beethoven's deafness and his temper contributed to his reputation as an unpleasant personality. But reliable accounts and a careful reading of Beethoven's letters reveal him to be a powerful and self-conscious man, totally involved in his creative work but alert to its practical side as well, and one who is sometimes willing to change to meet current demands. For example, he wrote some works on commission, such as his cantata (a narrative poem set to music) for the Congress of Vienna, 1814.

Examining Beethoven

Beethoven's deafness affected his social life, and it must have changed his personality deeply. In any event, his development as an artist would probably have caused a crisis in his relationship to the musical and social life of the time sooner or later. In his early years he wrote as a pianist-composer for an immediate and receptive public; in his last years he wrote for himself. Common in Beethoven biographies is the focus on Beethoven's awareness of current events and ideas, especially his attachment to the ideals of the French Revolution (1789–99; the revolt of the French middle class to end absolute power by French kings) and his faith in the brotherhood of men, as expressed in his lifelong goal of composing a version of "Ode to Joy," by Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805), realized at last in the Ninth Symphony. Also frequently mentioned is his genuine love of nature and outdoor life.

No one had ever heard anything like Beethoven's last works; they were too advanced for audiences and even professional musicians for some time after his death in 1827. Beethoven was aware of this. It seems, however, he expected later audiences to have a greater understanding of and appreciation for them. Beethoven reportedly told a visitor who was confused by some of his later pieces, "They are not for you but for a later age."

For More Information

Autexier, Philippe A. Beethoven: The Composer As Hero. Edited by Carey Lovelace. New York: H. N. Abrams, 1992.

Balcavage, Dynise. Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer. New York: Chelsea House, 1996.

Solomon, Maynard. Beethoven. 2nd ed. New York: Schirmer Books, 1998.

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Ludwig van Beethoven

Born december 16, 1770, died march 26, 1827, born in germany, classical period: 1750 - 1827.

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Ludwig van Beethoven

Born December 16, 1770 in Bonn, Germany Died March 26, 1827 in Vienna, Austria

NATIONALITY

Style/period.

Classical 1750-1820

FAMOUS WORKS

Symphonies 1 through 9, Moonlight Sonata, Fur Elise, Fidelio, and Missa Solemnis

Beethoven grew up in Bonn, Germany in a very unhappy home. He was forced to practice the  piano  by his father, an abusive alcoholic who would punish him mercilessly when he made mistakes. By the time he was twelve, he was earning a living for his family by playing  organ  and composing. He was eventually known as the greatest  pianist  of his time. One of Beethoven’s favorite foods was macaroni and cheese. He also loved strong coffee – exactly 60 coffee beans to one cup.

Beethoven never married even though he proposed to plenty of women who rejected him (he wasn’t very attractive and he had a rather nasty temper). Yet in spite of his unpleasant personality, Beethoven is best defined by his music.

His first two symphonies are very much in the same style and form as those of composers that came before him, most notably  Franz Joseph Haydn , his teacher. But Beethoven’s writing–as seen in his third symphony–had developed beyond that of his teacher. Named  Eroica , his Third Symphony was so different from the ones that had come before that it changed music forever. Its originality and innovation even inspired others to change the way that they composed. It was originally dedicated to Napoleon Bonaparte. But when Beethoven heard that Napoleon had proclaimed himself Emperor, he went into a rage and destroyed the title page.

Although Beethoven gradually lost his hearing, he continued composing.  He composed many of the most famous musical works of all time, such as his Ninth Symphony, after he had become totally deaf.

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Music & Drama » Music » Opera & Classical Music

The best books on beethoven, recommended by jessica duchen.

Immortal by Jessica Duchen

He was a much misunderstood man and one of the greatest composers who ever lived. Music critic and novelist Jessica Duchen talks us through the best books about the German composer and pianist, Ludwig van Beethoven.

Interview by Benedict King

Beethoven: Impressions by his Contemporaries by Oscar Sonneck (Editor)

Beethoven Variations: Poems on a Life by Ruth Padel

Beethoven for a Later Age: The Journey of a String Quartet by Edward Dusinberre

Beethoven: The Man Revealed by John Suchet

Beethoven: Anguish and Triumph by Jan Swafford

1 Beethoven: Impressions by his Contemporaries by Oscar Sonneck (Editor)

2 beethoven variations: poems on a life by ruth padel, 3 beethoven for a later age: the journey of a string quartet by edward dusinberre, 4 beethoven: the man revealed by john suchet, 5 beethoven: anguish and triumph by jan swafford.

B efore we discuss your selection of books on Beethoven, a couple of questions. First, 2020 marks the 250th anniversary of his birth. What sort of commemorations are going on to mark that (though I assume most have been cancelled or moved online due to coronavirus )? Second, could you talk about your forthcoming novel about Beethoven, Immortal ?

In England the Oxford Philharmonic is hosting a year-long festival, or was supposed to be, which is perhaps the broadest and most thorough in the whole country. They’re doing as much of the orchestral music as they humanly can. The piano festival in the summer was also going to cover a lot of the sonatas and various associated pieces of piano music, but I just don’t know if that’s going to go ahead or not. There are lots and lots of recordings coming out. Hopefully, many have already been made and will be on track. Just about every record company worth its salt is putting out recordings of Beethoven this year.

There were going to be numerous stagings of the opera Fidelio . I’ve already been lucky enough to see a fabulous staging at the Royal Opera House. I hope that maybe the opera festivals that were going to perform this year may still be able to perform it next year.

Are there big festivals in Vienna and Bonn?

Beethoven’s house in Bonn is the global centre for research on Beethoven. They had a big symposium in February which covered Beethoven from every conceivable angle. They are very much a focal point for it all. There’s an annual Beethoven festival in Bonn, too. I imagine they were planning to have a jamboree this year. We’ll see whether that is going to happen or not.

“The late string quartets are, to many people, his ultimate masterpieces. Dusinberre has spent his whole career delving into these pieces and he writes very clearly and beautifully about them”

There is something strange about Vienna: when you go to Vienna, normally every church, cathedral, shop and tourist destination is pumping out Mozart for all it’s worth, but you actually have to be quite clever to find any Beethoven. It’s as if he’s a permanent foreigner. One thing I discovered when I was writing my book is that although he spent probably 30 years of his life living in Vienna, he never really fitted in and he never really liked the Viennese. I think this widespread image we have of his character, as rather negative, brusque and unpleasant is probably him just being a Rhinelander in Vienna, being a very straight-talking north German and seeing straight through the social niceties and hypocrisies that he found himself surrounded by.

It’s a different culture. Having said that, you can see a lot of Beethoven in Vienna. There are wonderful Beethoven museums and Beethoven walks and Beethoven statues. But to actually hear Beethoven’s music, you probably need to go to the Musikverein, the biggest concert hall.

Tell us a bit about your book on Beethoven. What does it deal with? It’s about a love affair he had, isn’t it?

Yes, it’s called Immortal after the ‘Immortal Beloved’ letter, which was found in Beethoven’s flat after he died. They discovered it in a hidden drawer which held several documents including the Heiligenstadt Testament , the very anguished long letter that he wrote to his brothers when he realised he was going deaf. With it, they found a love letter, the recipient of which is not named. It’s not clear whether he ever sent the letter or not. It took musicologists about 200 years to get to the bottom of it, because the identity of this woman was so well protected. There’s a date of the 6th July, but there’s no year mentioned on the letter and he addresses her only as his ‘Immortal Beloved’. He doesn’t name her at any point, and I think that was probably because he was protecting her.

Over the ensuing centuries, some work on the watermarks managed to prove that this was written in 1812 and the possibilities were gradually narrowed down. I think the most likely candidate is someone whose family was not happy about the way she behaved and I think they were trying to put people off the scent. There’s an illegitimate child involved; photographs of her survive, and she is the spitting image of Beethoven.

“He was a genius and he recognized the strength of his own genius as well. There’s no false modesty about him”

This woman’s name is Josephine von Brunsvik. She’s a Hungarian countess who became Beethoven’s pupil in 1799 along with her elder sister, Therese. Therese is a fascinating figure in her own right. She was a pioneering feminist of the 19th century, which is quite incredible, and she founded the Hungarian system of kindergartens. She was passionately devoted to education, especially education for girls. She was a very eccentric but very forward-looking figure and she was really the person who had to come in after Josephine and mop everything up and clean up all the mess.

I’ve written the book from Therese’s point of view, so she can be a rather lively and very personal observer. And since what we rely on with the story is circumstantial evidence rather than 100 per cent certain proof, there is the chance for her potentially to be an unreliable narrator. The book starts somewhat before 1799, the main part of the story begins in 1799 and goes right through to the end of Beethoven’s life and just beyond. It covers about 30 years, and it’s an absolute rollercoaster of a story, both in terms of the position of women in society, and the way that Josephine and Beethoven actually loved each other for many years, yet were kept apart by society. One was an aristocrat and the other was a commoner and there were two different sets of laws. Josephine would have lost custody of her children from her first marriage had she married a commoner.

This all plays out against a background of the Napoleonic Wars, various economic collapses and the redrawing of boundaries. It was an incredibly seismic time for shifting priorities and the beginnings of Romanticism. It’s been a pretty exciting thing to write, I have to say, and I hope it will be exciting to read as well.

I look forward to it. Did they stay in touch until he died?

Let’s get on to the books about Beethoven, because that last point will emerge in quite a lot of them. Let’s start with Beethoven: Impressions by His Contemporaries . This book is a collection of portraits of Beethoven by people who met him and wrote letters about him, or recollections of meeting him or knowing him. Is that right?

It’s mainly accounts by people who met him who are remembering him, some shortly after they met him, some looking back after many years, having met him when they were children. It’s the most wonderfully vivid, evocative collection of personal accounts. It brings him to life and shows him in many facets—actually many more facets than we would find depicted in any other media.

What picture emerges of Beethoven in the book? Is there a clear difference between how he’s perceived by his servants or people who met him casually during his life, and the portraits of him by his musical and artistic contemporaries—Rossini, Liszt and Goethe—who also feature in the book?

There’s quite a consistent picture. Together the accounts build up an impression and he’s someone you really feel you know by the end of it. I think he had a great deal of integrity; I get the impression that he showed that integrity to most of the people he met in one way or another. He had some spectacular fall-outs and yet, at the same time, he could also be very, very kind and generous.

He didn’t really know the meaning of money. He was pretty bad at keeping track of it. He’s also definitely very eccentric. There’s a wonderful account of him taking a bath in his flat in Vienna and then just jumping out of the bath to go and open the window and wondering why everyone outside was pointing and laughing. Everyone says his apartments were total tips. He was not a tidy housekeeper at all, although he did like his baths. There are all sorts of wonderful stories. He got through servants at quite a rate because he was bad-tempered and he was deaf. At one point, he fired a rather long-standing housekeeper and decided he was going to do all the cooking himself and he invited some friends to dinner and they all sat around the table trying to be terribly polite when he served up a completely inedible fish soup. You don’t think of Beethoven as someone about whom there are funny stories, but there really are.

The clichéd picture of Beethoven is as the classic romantic genius, completely abstracted from the world, with his deafness enhancing that by tragically imprisoning him and cutting him off from the source of this joy that he gave to the rest of the world. Is that an accurate picture? Was he a mad eccentric dedicated to his art?

He was totally dedicated to his art, but I don’t actually think he was mad at all. I think he’s one of the saner individuals that you’ll find in musical history. He was very aware of the world around him, even if he had some difficulties engaging with it because of his deafness. He read avidly, he enjoyed political discussions and he was very on the ball, really—more so than he’s sometimes been given credit for.

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He recognized the strength of his own genius as well. There’s no false modesty about him. He thoroughly disliked the divisions of society that he was faced with. In a way I feel that he weaponized positivity: even when he was at his lowest ebb in his personal life and his despair at his deafness, he would still embrace the joy of living. There’s as much joie de vivre and as much love for life in him as there is despair. The two things really offset each other.

And does the book suggest Beethoven was a lovable character? He was obviously difficult for his servants, but did he engender a lot of personal loyalty and affection among his peers and his family and his friends?

Well, his family was very difficult. So that was a continual battle for him. But among his friends and his musician colleagues, people absolutely did love him and were incredibly loyal and devoted to him. Later in his life—people say Beethoven did this or said that in ‘old age’, but he died when he was 56—young people absolutely adored him. The young musicians who came into his life in his last few years were very devoted to him and very concerned about him. He was kind to them and they were devoted in return. They were really good friends to him.

So, yes, I think he did inspire a great deal of love and there were even young girls with crushes on him. He’s not this kind of ogre that posterity has made out of him.

He did seem to fall in love with a succession of women above his social station, who he was prevented in one way or another from getting together with, often due to social class. He never married. Did he have any successful and enduring love affairs?

I have the impression—and this will come out in Immortal —that he only really had one totally devoted love affair, which was probably only consummated once, the ‘Immortal Beloved’ incident. Basically, he had been pretty much in love with Josephine from the time he first met her in 1799 right through to the end of his life. She was the big one.

“These are absolutely gorgeous poems, very beautifully written..it’s an absolute masterpiece. I love it to pieces”

In the interim, he did at one point court her first cousin, Julie Guicciardi. Julie was a terrible flirt. He dedicated the Moonlight Sonata to her, but that might be more because her piano was one of the best in Vienna and he wanted to try some special effects on it.

At various points he wanted to settle down. He needed stability and he wanted to get married. He courted Therese Malfatti, the daughter of a merchant—Beethoven became friendly with her uncle, who was a doctor and who later treated Beethoven himself—but she turned him down as well. He was 42 and she was 18, so you can’t really blame her. He did court a lot of women without much success, but also without a great deal of conviction, I think, because really his heart belonged to Josephine.

Was his doctor’s daughter, Therese, the Therese of ‘Für Elise’?

There are a couple of different theories about this. She may have been. There’s also a theory that the dedicatee of ‘Für Elise’ was actually Elisabeth Röckel, who married the composer, Johann Hummel, and she was someone he liked very much and was very drawn to, but she married another composer instead. No one is absolutely sure.

Let’s move on to your next book choice, Beethoven Variations: Poems on a Life by Ruth Padel. She’s not just writing about his music, is she—the poems reflect on his life as well?

Yes, they do. These are absolutely gorgeous poems, beautifully written, individually written, full of the most wonderful imagery. This book of poems really delves into Beethoven’s imagination and his whole world in many ways.

It’s come out very recently and it has certainly made me want to go and read all her other work as well because it’s so sensitive and so closely attuned to all sides of Beethoven, which she can just nail in a phrase or capture in a nutshell. When I read it I thought, ‘Oh God, why do I bother trying?’

“He wrote the Heiligenstadt Testament to his brothers, saying he was in such despair about losing his hearing that he’d even thought of taking his own life”

She doesn’t restrict herself just to Beethoven and his life. She also relates it to her own experience of his music and of Vienna. So, there are poems where she’ll be describing something in Vienna or a journey to Vienna where she suddenly realizes that from such and such a house, the Nazis abducted and deported somebody. She has a marvellous way of surprising you with hindsight and atmospheres and context. I think it’s an absolute masterpiece. I love it to pieces.

It is very hard to write well about music, isn’t it?

Yes. I’ve spent 32 years trying to do exactly that. I don’t know who said that writing about music is like dancing about architecture, but it’s totally true.

Let’s move on to Beethoven for a Later Life: the Journey of a String Quartet, a book by Edward Dusinberre.

He’s the first violin of the Takács Quartet . This ensemble was originally all Hungarian, but it’s now multinational. I think they’ve only got one or two of the original members left, but it’s one of the world’s great string quartets. Its leader happens to be English, and he happens to write very well.

In part it’s his journey with the quartet because he joined very young. They deliberately wanted to take in a young, but extremely gifted and sensitive violinist so they could kind of mould him to their own vision.

Beethoven’s string quartets are some of the most demanding ever written and definitely the most rewarding. The late string quartets are, to many people, his ultimate masterpieces. They’re full of mystery and extraordinary sound worlds. Dusinberre has spent his whole career delving into these pieces, and writes very clearly and beautifully about them. I write programme notes and I find that writing about late Beethoven is one of the most difficult things you can possibly do, but he makes it sound effortless. He conveys the wonder of playing these pieces, of the absolute ecstasy of mastering them and of being at one with them. So, it is a book that anyone who loves music can read and enjoy. There’s a little technical terminology, but you can still share this beautiful journey that he’s experiencing.

I think Beethoven wrote 16 string quartets. How many count as the late ones widely regarded as his supreme achievement? And were they the last things he ever wrote?

It’s not as easy to answer as all that. He was commissioned to write five quartets by, I think, the Tsar of Russia, and they were premiered in Saint Petersburg. So, the last five string quartets are the ones that are usually classified as the late works, but then there’s an extra bit because he wrote this incredible thing called the Grosse Fuge , the great fugue, which was going to be the finale of Op. 130. His publisher got back to him and said something like, ‘You know what? No one’s going to be able to play this. For goodness sake replace it with something a bit more manageable.’ And Beethoven very uncharacteristically agreed. He wrote a new finale and then they published the Grosse Fuge separately as Op. 133. So, it’s a question of whether you count that as a work in its own right, or whether it belongs to Quartet No. 13. That’s why numbering them is a little bit difficult.

And is the book about the working life of the string quartet as well, or is it very much focused on the playing the music?

The next book is John Suchet’s biography, Beethoven . John Suchet is not a professional musicologist and I think this is a book very much written for the general reader interested in Beethoven who’s perhaps not technically particularly informed. Would that be fair?

I think that’s right. It’s a very good book and a very readable introduction to Beethoven’s life and work. It’s compulsively readable, which the lot of the bigger books are not.

He really makes it jump off the page in a very immediate way. When people ask me to recommend a good, solid non-technical introductory book to Beethoven and his world, I always recommend that one. I think he really nails it.

We’ve talked a bit about his personal life and its influence on his music, but what about the broader political context? He is this sort of transitional figure from the Classical period to the Romantic period. You could see Mozart as this sort of archetypical product of Enlightenment culture in some ways, and Beethoven similarly embodying the romantic character. He’s a Byronic hero in a way, isn’t he? Was he conscious of his art serving some broader political or cultural purpose?

I think there was one major occasion when this was true, but possibly only one. I think it was the case when, at the turn of the century, he decided he was going to put away his old methods in order to find a new way of composing. The big, ground-breaking work in this part of his life, which is now usually known as the ‘heroic’ period, is the ‘Eroica Symphony’ and that was really the turning point.

It started off as what we would now call a tone poem and it was going to be entitled ‘Bonaparte’! It was actually a direct picture of Napoleon, his life and his motivating forces. Beethoven was a huge admirer of Napoleon Bonaparte until Napoleon decided to declare himself Emperor, at which point Beethoven realized he was just a fallible and probably a not very good human being, like everyone else. He scrubbed out the dedication on the symphony so hard that he left a hole in the page.

That definitely started off as a political statement. But after that I don’t think he ever tried to be quite so overtly political again. I can’t say I blame him.

In fact, pretty much all his life he had to serve aristocratic patrons of one kind or another. In that sense, it was quite an old-fashioned musical existence, wasn’t it?

Well, this is the wonderful paradox at the heart of Beethoven’s working life. He didn’t want to be like his grandfather, a kapellmeister, in the employ of one princely patron and basically a servant. Beethoven wanted to be a freelancer. He wanted to be an independent artist, but that meant that to achieve independence, he had to be dependent on a lot of different people, instead of just one. Of course, they were all princes and aristocrats of one sort or another and this was a situation that had its many ups and downs over the years. When he had a fallout with one, like his massive fallout with Prince Lichnowsky, he immediately lost a quarter of his annual income, because Lichnowsky had been extraordinarily supportive to him and had given him 600 florins per annum. The fallout was never really mended.

After that, there was a consortium of three princes and archdukes who were trying to give him an annual stipend so that he didn’t have to leave Vienna and get a job elsewhere. Then along came the Napoleonic wars, the currency collapsed, and the princes were all ruined. So after that he had to live a hand-to-mouth existence, trying to find commissions that would pay him. That’s why, around the time of the Congress of Vienna, you find him composing some fairly bad pieces of music because these things, like ‘Wellington’s Victory’, were being trotted out to try and please people. And he was never really at his best when he was doing that.

I hadn’t appreciated that. So actually, the fact that he had all these aristocratic patrons was actually a bid for his own freedom.

Yes. He had to earn a living if he wasn’t going to have a job as a kapellmeister—and he couldn’t have had a job as a kapellmeister in any case because he couldn’t hear . He had to find a way to eat and that was how the system worked at that time. He was very exposed to the buffets of fate, and when there were financial problems in society generally, they hit him quite hard.

How long was he deaf for? How old was he when that really became socially and musically difficult for him?

He was about 30, possibly even younger, because he had problems with his hearing for a few years before he actually faced up to it, which is what happened in 1802. He wrote the Heiligenstadt Testament to his brothers, saying he was in such despair about losing his hearing that he’d even thought of taking his own life. It was all downhill from thereon.

He actually did rally after the Heiligenstadt Testament . He didn’t get his hearing back, but it didn’t disappear at quite the rate he thought it would. He tried all sorts of strange things to combat it. There were ear trumpets, and a sort of hood that stood on top of his piano; he could put his head under it and it would amplify sounds. And there was a piece of wood that he could put against the frame of piano, with another end against his jaw bone or the bone behind the ear, which would convey the vibrations to his inner ear.

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He was always trying to battle it. He used conversation books, getting visitors to write down what they wanted to say to him, so he could actually interact with them. But he was pretty young when it began, and he battled with this for nearly half his life.

Half his life, meaning most of his adult life.

And it was a terrible problem for him socially. Deaf people have trouble at parties and can’t interact with people in noisy situations; he was quite a sociable person and found himself forced into solitude. It probably made him a much less attractive prospect to the women he tried to persuade to marry him. It’s very sad.

The next book we have is Beethoven: Anguish and Triumph by Jan Swafford. This is a more scholarly work, I think. What does is add to, or how does it differ from, the John Suchet book on Beethoven?

Well, firstly, it is massive. You could use it as a draft excluder. It’s more than 1,000 pages. It’s huge. He writes about the life, but he also writes about the music. I love this book because he writes so interestingly on the music. You will need a bit of technical know-how to get around it, but he writes very engagingly as well. It’s not difficult reading—it’s just that you sometimes need to chew it over to really appreciate what he’s saying.

“They young musicians who came into his life in his last few years were very devoted to him and very concerned about him. He was kind to them and they were devoted in return. They were really good friends to him”

There’s a huge chapter, for instance, on the ‘Eroica Symphony’ and the way that Beethoven’s whole approach to how he writes the music is transforming, and how this ties in with the development of Romanticism and the figure of Napoleon as a self-made hero who is continually remaking himself, how Beethoven is continually re-making the music in the same way. It’s full of things like that and I find it very vivid and very fresh.

Swafford is a professor and writes professorially, but very well. This is very, very good writing.

So, it’s highly readable?

Yes, it is, but you you’ll need a bit of technical knowledge to get through it. If you want something that is going to keep you busy for a very long time and that is more detailed and musicological than the John Suchet book, I would say this is a good one.

The book also talks quite a lot about the intellectual background of the Enlightenment in Bonn when Beethoven was growing up, doesn’t it?

Yes, very much so. It gives you a real depth of context for the whole thing.

April 20, 2020

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Jessica Duchen

Jessica Duchen writes words for, with and about music. She was a correspondent and critic for The Independent from 2004 to 2016, and her work has appeared in The Guardian , The Sunday Times and BBC Music Magazine , among others. Her output to date includes six novels and two biographies (Fauré and Korngold) and a quantity of stage works and librettos for musical setting.

Among her recent novels is Ghost Variations (Unbound, 2016), based on the true story of the Schumann Violin Concerto’s rediscovery in the 1930s. Her novel about Beethoven, Immortal , will be published in the autumn of 2020. Jessica was born within the sound of Bow Bells, studied music at Cambridge and lives in London with her husband and two cats.

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How did Beethoven die?

197 years ago today, March 26, 2024, Ludwig van Beethoven died. Yet it wasn’t until last year, in 2023 that we figured out how he really died. And it was all because of a lock of the composer’s hair.

Beethoven was born in 1770 in Germany, and is probably most famous for two things: 1) Writing iconic musical compositions like his “Symphony No. 9,” and 2) going deaf around age 26 or 27. Miraculously, he composed a good chunk of his oeuvre after going deaf, which is partially why there’s been so much genetic analysis of Beethoven – though we’ll get to that in a second.

Over the course of his life, he developed numerous maladies. By 22, he was dealing with serious abdominal pain and diarrhea. There’s the aforementioned deafness, which began to develop a few years later. He may have caught syphilis at some point. And while reports vary whether he was an alcoholic, it’s believed he was drinking daily… Which would be a problem given what researchers discovered last year (we’re really being teases here, sorry).

Beethoven was 56 when he died on March 26, 1827, after multiple symptoms wracked his body from December, 1826 onwards: aches in his side, swollen feet, fever, cough, shortness of breath, and coughing up blood.

Because of his symptoms, his body – and we don’t say this lightly – was ripped to shreds after he died to find out the culprit. According to History.com , the top of Beethoven’s head was cut off, as well as his earbones in order to find the cause of his deafness.

In both 1863 and 1855, his skeleton was exhumed to be transferred first to a new coffin and then a new cemetery, and each time further toxicology reports were done.

However, it was nearly two centuries before we actually figured out what killed Beethoven.

What killed Beethoven? How a lock of hair provides the answers to this centuries old mystery

In 2023, a team of researchers released a report to Current Biolog y detailing what they had been working on since 2014. Eight locks of Beethoven’s hair reportedly were kept as keepsakes and provided important genetic information they were able to use to figure out what might have killed the composer.

While one lock was definitively a fake, and belonged instead to a nameless Jewish woman, five others provided complimentary genetic material consistent with what the researchers knew about Beethoven.

Eventually, 30 researchers in multiple countries hit on the answer after nearly a decade of study: Beethoven was predisposed to liver infections, and most likely had Hepatitis B. Remember we mentioned the daily drinking? Given the daily alcohol intake combined with the Hep B and his predisposition to liver infections, he most likely died of cirrhosis.

As for his stomach issues, researchers were less sure, though they were able to rule out celiac disease, lactose intolerance, and potentially irritable bowel syndrome as well.

So there you go! Versus the popular theory that’s survived for centuries that Beethoven died of lead poisoning, it was actually liver damage. At least, that’s what we’re going with until we unearth some new piece of Beethoven. The body kind, not the musical kind.

This article was originally published on askeverest.com as How did Beethoven die? .