The maestro

Ludwig van Beethoven

Bonn 1770 – Vienna 1827. The composer who wrote some of the most famous music ever while losing his hearing.

At a glance

Bonn: a child prodigy (1770–1792)

His father, Johann, a tenor at the Bonn court, wants to turn his son into a new Mozart. He makes him practise for hours, and in 1778, for his first public concert, in Cologne, the announcement says the boy is six: he is actually seven.

His real teacher arrives around 1780: the court organist Christian Gottlob Neefe. Between 1782 and 1783, aged eleven or twelve, his first printed compositions come out, including a set of keyboard variations. In 1787 he makes a short trip to Vienna but has to hurry home: his mother is ill, and she dies in July.

Vienna: the pianist who amazes everyone (1792–1802)

In November 1792 Beethoven moves to Vienna, never to return to Bonn. His patron Count Waldstein sees him off with a famous line: with hard work he will receive "Mozart's spirit from Haydn's hands".

In Vienna he studies with Haydn, Albrechtsberger and Salieri, but he becomes famous above all as a pianist, for his improvisations. Music-loving aristocrats such as Prince Lichnowsky and Prince Lobkowitz support him.

Deafness and the Heiligenstadt Testament (1802)

Around 1798 Beethoven starts losing his hearing; he first mentions it in a letter to his friend Wegeler in 1801. In October 1802, staying in Heiligenstadt, a village near Vienna, he writes a desperate letter to his brothers Karl and Johann: the Heiligenstadt Testament. He never sends it; it is found among his papers after his death. Yet in those same months he writes music full of energy, such as the Violin Sonatas Op. 30 and the Piano Sonatas Op. 31.

The heroic years (1803–1812)

His boldest works arrive. The Third Symphony, in 1803–04, is first titled Bonaparte: when Napoleon declares himself emperor, Beethoven angrily scratches out the name, and the symphony becomes the Eroica. On 22 December 1808, in a single, very long and under-rehearsed concert, he premieres the Fifth and Sixth Symphonies.

In 1809 Archduke Rudolf and Princes Kinsky and Lobkowitz promise him a yearly income of 4,000 florins if he stays in Vienna. In 1812 he writes a ten-page love letter, never sent, to his "Immortal Beloved": who she was is still a mystery, and there are many candidates.

The last years and the Ninth (1813–1827)

From 1818 his hearing is so poor that friends and visitors talk to him in writing, in notebooks we call conversation books. These are hard years, not least because of a long legal battle over the guardianship of his nephew Karl. Yet he writes masterpieces such as the Missa solemnis, the last sonatas and quartets, and the Ninth Symphony with the Ode to Joy.

At the premiere of the Ninth, on 7 May 1824 in Vienna, Beethoven is on stage but cannot hear the applause: the contralto Caroline Unger turns him around to face the audience.

He dies on 26 March 1827. Thousands of people attend his funeral: estimates range from 10,000 to 20,000. Today he is buried in Vienna's Central Cemetery, next to Franz Schubert.

True or false?

  1. Beethoven was born deaf.

    False. He began losing his hearing around 1798, when he was nearly thirty and already an established musician.

  2. His father made him out to be older than he was.

    False. The opposite: at his first concert, in 1778, the posters said he was six, but he was seven.

  3. The Third Symphony was meant to be called Bonaparte.

    True. Beethoven scratched out Napoleon's name when he declared himself emperor in 1804.

  4. At the premiere of the Ninth Symphony he could not hear the applause.

    True. The contralto Caroline Unger turned him around to see the audience clapping.

  5. Beethoven married his "Immortal Beloved".

    False. He never married, and we don't even know for sure who the letter was meant for.

His music in PlayByPaw

These are the Beethoven pieces you can play with Purrthoven, each with its difficulty level.

  1. 1Symphony No. 5 · openingPlay ▶
  2. 2Ode to JoyPlay ▶
  3. 3Symphony No. 7 · AllegrettoPlay ▶
  4. 4Minuet in GPlay ▶
  5. 5Écossaise in GPlay ▶
  6. 6Für EliseStory and triviaPlay ▶
  7. 7Pathétique Sonata · 2nd movementPlay ▶
  8. 8Turkish March (Ruins of Athens)Play ▶
  9. 9Rage Over a Lost PennyPlay ▶
  10. 10Moonlight Sonata · 1st movementPlay ▶
  11. 11Für Elise · complete versionBonus · unlocked with 3 ★ on Für Elise

Sources