Ludwig van Beethoven
composer of the classical era 1770-1827 Lex
Ludwig van Beethoven
Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany on December 17th in 1770. He was miserable as a child. He loved his mother, Maria. But his father, Johann was a hard drinker. Beethoven was one of seven children. Only three made it to adulthood. At a young age Beethoven became fascinated with music. His terrible father found this as a source of income. When Beethoven was 17 he travelled to Vienna, the city that would be his home. Beethoven played piano for Mozart, Mozart said "You will make a big noise in the world."
Map of Vienna
Beethoven moved from Bonn to Vienna when his father died in 1792 to try and get a job. Beethoven made many friends including other composers from which he learned how to write music. He started to write symphonies that were never continued. He was so desperate to write music that he would get rid of things that took time. People would come to Beethoven's house to hang out. Beethoven would practice naked.
Beethoven - Moonlight Sonata (FULL)
Beethoven Moon light sonata
Beethoven was never married. Yet he was a real ladies man. In fact he dedicated a lot of his music to the women of his life. One of his most famous pieces is his Moonlight sonata which was dedicated to a women in Beethoven's life.
Beethoven's other music
Beethoven wrote many musical pieces. He wrote the world famous da-da-da-daaa. He also wrote pieces like the Moonlight Sonata, the Fur Elise, Wellington's victory, Eroica, or the most famous of them all "Ode To Joy".
Fun facts about Beethoven!
Beethoven was deaf for most of his life. This didn't keep him from composing or writing music. It was said that he could "hear" the vibrations from playing instruments. He chopped off the legs to his piano so that he could feel the vibrations in the floor. Both his parents died when Beethoven was at a pretty young age, he was left to care for the family that was left. Eventually he left and moved to Vienna. Beethoven still composed while deaf. As a matter of fact on the opening night of one of his pieces he composed while deaf, when the symphony was over he kept composing. One of the players got up and turned Beethoven around to see an audience cheering and clapping. Beethoven cried. He was also very well known for his temper, apparently he threw hot food at a waiter and swiped the candles off of a piano in the middle of a symphony because it was played wrong.
citations
Beethoven moonlight sonata. Prod. Andrea Romano. youtube. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2015. https://youtu.be/4Tr0otuiQuU.MLAAPAHarvardChicago Manual of Style
Map Of Vienna, Austria, 1899. Photo. Encyclopædia Britannica ImageQuest. Web. 14 Oct 2015.
http://quest.eb.com/search/300_213639/1/300_213639/cite
Ludwig van Beethoven. Photography. Encyclopædia Britannica ImageQuest. Web. 14 Oct 2015.
http://quest.eb.com/search/139_2010565/1/139_2010565/cite