BEETHOVEN, BEHIND THE MUSIK xd.

Ludwig van Beethoven
1770 - 1827

 

Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Germany in 1770 and died in 1827 at the age of 56.  He grew up during a time of great social changes.  He loved nature and social justice. His music reflected these loves.  He was born during the Classical period.  His awesome musical talents created a new era of music called the Romantic period.  He forever changed the course of music history with his inspired compositions.

Beethoven's father and grandfather were professional musicians, so it is no surprise that Beethoven entered the field of music, too.  In fact, it had been the custom for hundreds of years for children to enter the professions of their parents.    

Beethoven's father was aware of the success Mozart had as a young child.  The father wanted his son to be successful, too. There is an a little story about mom has 5 kids with problems as Beetohoven we knows has after 20´s years, doctors recomend to his mom to dont bring him to this world but mom did it anyway, giving us one of the best musicions ever known. Beethoven's father cruelly made young Ludwig practice for hours at a time.  His dream was to have his son make the family rich.  After long nights of drinking, Beethoven's father would sometimes drag his son out of bed to practice the piano or play for guests.  Young Ludwig gave his first public performance when he was just seven years old.

By the time Beethoven was 28 he began to notice a hearing loss.  At first it was slight.  He couldn't hear the church bells ringing in the distance.  As he got older his hearing loss worsened.  By the time he was 50 he was completely deaf.  How sad and strange that one of the world's greatest composers could not hear his own music!  Even more amazing is that he wrote some of the world's greatest music even though he could not hear a note of it.

Beethoven's violent temper and moodiness can be blamed in part on his hearing loss.  He was so angry and sad over his deafness that he thought of killing himself.  He even wrote a suicide note to his brother explaining why he was going to kill himself.  Thankfully, he didn't go through with it.  He would learn to cope with his handicap and would go on to write some of the world's greatest music.  

To hear sounds, Beethoven cut off the legs of his piano and placed the instrument on the floor.  He did this to feel the vibrations in the floor when he played.  

Beethoven wrote lots of piano music.  Listen to Moonlight Sonata to get a musical idea of how sad Beethoven must have felt over his deafness.  Listen to Bagatelle in G Minor to hear his fiery passion.