A Complete History Of Beethoven Essay, Research Paper
Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany in 1770 to Johann van
Beethoven and his wife, Maria Magdalena. He took his first music
lessons from his father, who was tenor in the choir of the
archbishop-elector of Cologne. His father was an unstable, yet
ambitious man whose excessive drinking, rough temper and anxiety
surprisingly did not diminish Beethoven?s love for music. He studied
and performed with great success, despite becoming the breadwinner of
his household by the time he was 18 years old. His father?s
increasingly serious alcohol problem and the earlier death of his
grandfather in 1773 sent his family into deepening poverty.
At first, Beethoven made little impact on the musical society,
despite his father?s hopes. When he turned 11, he left school and
became an assistant organist to Christian Gottlob Neefe at the court
of Bonn, learning from him and other musicians. In 1783 he became the
continuo player for the Bonn opera and accompanied their rehearsals on
keyboard. In 1787, he was sent to Vienna to take further lessons from
Mozart. Two months later, however, he was called back to Bonn by the
death of his mother.
He started to play the viola in the Opera Orchestra in 1789,
while also teaching in composing. He met Haydn in 1790, who agreed to
teach him in Vienna, and Beethoven then moved to Vienna permanently.
He received financial support from Prince Karl Lichnowsky, to whom he
dedicated his Piano Sonata in C minor, better known as The Path?tique
?. He performed publicly in Vienna in 1795 for the first time, and
published his Op. 1 and Op. 2 piano sonatas. His works are
traditionally divided into three periods. The first is called the
Viennese Classical, the second is the Heroic, and the third is Late
Beethoven. In the first period, his individuality and style gradually
developed, as he used many methods from Haydn, including the use of
silence. He composed mainly for the piano during this period. These
works include Symphony no. 1 in C (1800), his first six string
quartets, and the Path?tique (1799). His Moonlight Sonata in C#
minor (1801) is known as the first of Heroic Beethoven.
Beethoven learned that he would become deaf in 1802 and suffered
sever depression. His composing skills were not affected by his
deafness, but his ability to teach and perform was inhibited. It is
said that he became deaf from his habit of pouring cold water over his
head while composing, to refresh himself, and then not drying his
massive amounts of hair afterwards. He wrote his only opera, Fidelio
in 1805. The main theme of the opera revolves around fidelity, which
reflects his personal desire to marry. Other works in the Heroic
period include the Kreuzer Sonata (1803), symphonies 3 ? 7, the Violin
Concerto in D major (1806), the Razumovsky Quartets (1806), the
Emperor Concerto (1809) and the Archduke Trio, Op. 97 (1811).
After 1813, during his Late period, Beethoven composed inwardly.
He was totally deaf, as this is sometimes known as the ?silent
period.? Some say that Beethoven was composing music for a different
age. His life became more chaotic and he composed less and less. In
his works, he used more miniaturization and expansion. The music
began to become ?odd? as he began to experiment with the number of
movements, contrast in volume and dynamics, harmonic predictability,
sonata movements and trills in his works. Beethoven became
increasingly argumentative as he was further tormented by his
deafness. Goethe described his attitude as aggressive, and perhaps
understandable, but not easy to live with. He gave his last
performance in 1814, on the piano, but continued to be a respected
composer in Viennese society. Some of his late achievements include
the Diabelli Variations (1820-1823), the last piano sonatas and six
string quartets, the Mass in D major, Missa Solemnis (1823), the
Choral Symphony, no. 9 (1824), in which he set Schiller?s ?Ode to Joy?
in the final movement. At Beethoven?s death in 1827, Franz
Grillparzer best described him during his funeral address when he
said: ?despite all these absurdities, there was something so touching
and ennobling about him that one could not help admiring him and
feeling drawn to him.?