Ludwig van Beethoven is the greatest phenomenon in the world musical culture, a composer who became a legend during his lifetime. He was so incredibly talented and purposeful that, even having lost his hearing, he continued to create his own, unparalleled, brilliant masterpieces. The outstanding maestro stood on the threshold of Romanticism in Western European music and was the direct founder new era, which replaced the exhausted Classicism. As a child, learning music harpsichord with its characteristic lacy sound, Beethoven subsequently popularized the piano, creating 5 concertos, 38 sonatas, about 60 pieces and several dozen other works for this musical instrument.

A short biography of Ludwig van Beethoven and many interesting facts read about the composer on our page.

Short biography of Beethoven

In the Austrian (and now German) city of Bonn, on December 16, 1770, in the family of the tenor of the court chapel Johann van Beethoven, the third in the family Ludwig was born, after his grandfather (bass, and then court bandmaster) and older brother. The very fact of being born in a family of hereditary singers predetermined the fate of the boy.

Ludwig's first music teacher was his father, who dreamed of making a second Mozart out of his son. A four-year-old kid practiced the harpsichord for 6 hours a day, and if his father ordered, then also at night. So unique abilities, like a sensational with his virtuoso playing Wolfgang Mozart, Ludwig did not show up, but extraordinary talent to music definitely was.

The Beethoven family was not rich, and after the death of his grandfather, they became completely impoverished. At the age of 14, young Ludwig was forced to leave school and help his father in supporting the family, working as an assistant organist in the court chapel.

Before that, the boy went to school, where German and arithmetic were in the background after Latin and music. Already in his youth, Beethoven freely read and translated Plutarch and Homer, but multiplication and spelling remained a mystery to him with seven seals.

When Ludwig's mother died in 1787, and his father drank more than before, the responsible and disciplined young man took over the maintenance of his younger brothers. He got a job as a violist in the court orchestra, thanks to which he became acquainted with the diversity of the world of opera.

At the age of 21 - in 1791 - Ludwig van Beethoven moved to Vienna in search of a good teacher where he spends his entire life. For some time the young man worked with Haydn. But Josef was afraid that he would get into trouble because of a free-thinking and harsh student. And Ludwig, in turn, felt that Haydn was not the person who could teach him anything. Ultimately, Salieri took up Beethoven's training.

The early Viennese period of the young composer's work is biographically closely connected with the names of the Austrian court prince Likhnovsky, the Russian nobleman Razumovsky, the Czech nobleman Lobkowitz: they patronized Beethoven, supported financially, their names appeared on the title pages of the composer's manuscripts. At the same time, Beethoven greatly valued his self-esteem and never allowed his noble patrons to attempt to point out his low origin.

In the 1790s, Beethoven composed mainly chamber and piano music, and in the 1800s he began writing his first symphonies, creating the only oratorio (“Christ on the Mount of Olives”).

When by 1811 the maestro had completely lost his hearing, he rarely left the house. Public piano playing was the main source of income for the virtuoso, and he also constantly gave music lessons to members of the aristocracy. With hearing loss, Beethoven fell on hard times. After failing to perform his own Piano Concerto No. 5 (The Emperor) in 1811, he made no further public appearances until, together with the conductor Michael Umlauf, he led the orchestra during the premiere. Symphonies No. 9 in 1824.

But deafness did not prevent the composition of music. Beethoven used a special stick attached at one end to the front of the piano. Clamping the other end of the stick with his teeth, he "felt" the sound made by the instrument due to the vibration transmitted through the stick.

It was in the last decade of the composer's life that the most magnificent works were written, which to this day listeners do not get tired of admiring: String Quartet, op. 131; "Solemn Mass"; "Great Fugue", op. 133 and, of course, the Ninth Symphony.

Interesting facts about Beethoven

• Beethoven was the eldest of 7 children in his family, 4 of whom died in childhood.
• We know from Beethoven's biography that the young maestro made his first public appearance at the age of 7 on March 26, 1778. It is noteworthy that March 26 is also the date of his death.
• When his father was taking little Ludwig for his first performance in Cologne, he pointed out that the boy was only 6 years old (he really wanted to emphasize the uniqueness of his son). The young musician believed what his father said and since then considered himself a year and a half younger than he really was. When his parents handed Beethoven his baptismal certificate, he refused to believe the date indicated there, believing that the document belonged to his older brother, also Ludwig, who died in infancy.
• Beethoven had the good fortune to study music under renowned composers such as Gottlob Nefe, Joseph Haydn, Albrechtsberger and Salieri. He also almost became a student of Mozart, who was delighted with the improvisation presented to his attention, but the death of his mother forced Ludwig to leave classes and urgently leave Vienna.
• When Beethoven was 12, he first published his works. It was a collection of variations for keyboard instruments, which ultimately made him famous as one of the most popular pianists in history.

• Beethoven was one of the first musicians to receive an allowance of 4,000 florins, simply because the nobles of the city did not want him to leave Vienna for France, where he had been invited by the brother of Emperor Napoleon.
• Beethoven wrote 3 love letters to the "Immortal Beloved", whose name remains a mystery to this day. Since he fell in love with many women, biographers find it difficult to single out the only one that the composer could call so unusually.
• In all his life, Beethoven wrote only one opera - " Fidelio”, which is still considered an outstanding example of classical music.

• About 20 thousand people participated in the funeral procession on the third day after the death of their beloved composer - March 29, 1827 Franz Schubert, a great admirer of the composer's work, was among those who carried the coffin. Ironically, he himself died a year later and was buried next to Beethoven.
• Of the later quartets, the Fourteenth, in C minor, op. 131 Beethoven was especially fond of, calling it his most perfect work. When Schubert, lying on his deathbed, was asked about his last wish, he asked him to play a quartet in C minor. It was November 14, 1828, five days before his death.
• In August 1845, a monument to Beethoven was unveiled in Bonn. It was the first monument to the famous composer in Germany, after which about a hundred more were opened around the world.
• The Beatles song "Because" is said to be based on the tune "Moonlight Sonata" played in reverse order.
• "Ode to Joy" (an excerpt from the famous Ninth Symphony) is the official anthem of the European Union.
• The third largest crater on Mercury is named after the composer.
• One of the elements of the main ring of asteroids, located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, is called "1815 Beethoven".

Love in the life of Beethoven

Unfortunately, Beethoven fell in love with women who belonged to a different class than he did. At that time, class affiliation was a serious argument for resolving questions about marriage. He met the young Countess Giulia Guicciardi in 1801 through the Brunswick family, where he gave piano lessons to Josephine Brunswick. However, for the reasons mentioned above, marriage was out of the question.

After the death of her husband Josephine Brunswick in 1804, Ludwig tried his luck with a young widow. He wrote 15 passionate letters to his beloved, she reciprocated, but soon, at the request of her family, she broke off all contact with Beethoven. In the case of marriage with a non-aristocrat, the countess would be deprived of the opportunity to communicate with children and engage in their upbringing.

After Josephine remarried a certain Baron von Steckelberg in 1810, Beethoven unsuccessfully proposed to his close friend Baroness Teresa Malfatti sister Josephine Brunswick). Unsuccessfully, because this chosen one was from a higher class than her admirer. Obviously, it is Teresa who is dedicated to bagatelle (a small piece of music).

Beethoven's biography says that, being deaf, the composer compensated for his deficiency with the help of the so-called conversational notebooks. There, during the conversation, friends wrote down their lines for him. The composer has been using conversational notebooks for approximately the last ten years, and before that he was rescued by an auditory tube, which is now kept in the Beethoven Museum in Bonn.

Conversational notebooks have become a precious document from which we learn the content of the composer's discussions, we can get information about his worldview, about the vision of the composer himself, how one or another of his works should be performed. Of the 400 conversational notebooks, 264 were destroyed, and the rest were subject to cuts and editing after the death of the composer by his personal secretary Anton Schindler. Being also the first biographer of the composer, Schindler, firstly, saved his and his reputation, since those sharply negative evaluative expressions against the monarch that Beethoven allowed himself could cause persecution and prohibitions from the authorities. And secondly, more than a secretary wanted to idealize the image of the maestro in the eyes of posterity.

Strokes to a creative portrait

• The city authorities of Bonn in 1790 chose the cantatas of the court violist Beethoven to be performed at the funeral of Franz Joseph II and during the subsequent enthronement of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor. After these two imperial cantatas were never performed again and were considered lost until the 1880s. But these works were, according to Brahms, "through and through Beethoven" and clearly revealed the tragic style that marked all of Beethoven's works and which distinguished them from the classical traditions in music.
• Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, op. 13, commonly known as , was written in 1798. Beethoven dedicated it to his friend Prince Karl von Lichnowski. Contrary to the prevailing opinion that the composer himself called the sonata "Pathetic", it was the publisher who, under the impression of the tragic sound of the sonata, wrote on title page"Great Pathetic Sonata".
• The influence of Mozart and Haydn on the work of Beethoven is undeniable. Thus, his Quintet for Piano and Wind Instruments reveals a striking similarity with Mozart's work at the level of form. But Beethoven's melodies, the development of the theme, the use of modulation and texture, the expression of emotions in music - all this takes the composer's work beyond any influences and borrowings.
• Beethoven is rightfully considered the first composer of the Romantic era, his Symphony No. 3 was a radical departure from everything written before.
• The finale of Symphony No. 9 - "Ode to Joy" - is the first attempt in the history of Western European music to introduce the choir into a canonical symphony.

• The Ninth Symphony contains a scherzo in the second movement and an adagio in the third. For a classical symphony, where the tempo had to increase, this was unthinkable.
• Beethoven was apparently the first composer to use brass wind instruments as a full part of the orchestra. Beethoven was also the first to introduce the piccolo flute and trombone into the symphony. In turn, he included the harp in only one of his works - the ballet "Creations of Prometheus".
• Beethoven was the first who in music tried to reproduce the sounds of a quail, a cuckoo and a nightingale - and all this within the framework of one symphony - No. 6, "Pastoral". By the way, the abridged version of the Sixth Symphony sounds in the cartoon Disney's "Fantasy" . Imitations of animal sounds were present both in Mozart's brief "Toy Symphony" and in The Four Seasons by Vivaldi , but they have never been in a 40-minute symphony.

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN AND THE IMMORTAL BELOVED OF THE GREAT DEAF

Ludwig van Beethoven considered a key figure in Western music in the period between classicism and romanticism. Even now he is one of the most performed composers in the world. An unsurpassed master of sonatas, although he wrote in all the genres that existed in his time, including opera, ballet, music for dramatic performances, choral compositions. She is his first true love, to whom he dedicated a brilliant sonata. And although there were other women in the life of the great German composer, it is this young charmer who is called his immortal lover.

Ludwig van Beethoven's first teacher

One of the three " Viennese classics"was born in 1770 in the German city of Bonn. The years of childhood can be called the most difficult in the life of the future composer. It was difficult for a proud and independent boy to survive the fact that his father, a rude and despotic man, noticing musical talent son, decided to use him for personal gain. Forcing little Ludwig to sit at the harpsichord from morning till night, he did not think that his son needed childhood so much. At eight years old Beethoven earned his first money - he gave a public concert, and by the age of twelve the boy was playing the violin and organ freely. But along with success, isolation, the need for solitude and lack of sociability came to the young musician.

At this time in life Ludwig appeared Christian Gottlieb Nefe, his wise and kind mentor. It was he who instilled boy a sense of beauty, taught to understand nature, art, to understand human life. Nefe trained Ludwig ancient languages, philosophy, literature, history, ethics. Subsequently, being a deeply and broadly thinking person, Beethoven became an adherent of the principles of freedom, humanism, equality of all people.

In 1787 Ludwig comes to Vienna. The city of theaters and cathedrals, street orchestras and love serenades under the windows won the heart of the young genius. But right there young musician He was struck by deafness: at first, the sounds seemed muffled to him, then he repeated the unheard phrases several times, then he realized that he was finally losing his hearing. “I lead a bitter existence,” wrote Beethoven to my friend. - I'm deaf. With my craft, nothing can be more terrible ... Oh, if I got rid of this disease, I would embrace the whole world.

"And the sun in it - Juliet"

She appeared in his life suddenly. The young provincial countess, who arrived in the Austrian capital from Italy with her family in 1800, was charming.

The daughter of a respectable family, sixteen-year-old Juliet, struck the composer at first sight. She soon wished to take lessons from the idol of the Viennese aristocracy, especially since Beethoven was close to her cousins ​​and cousin, the young Hungarian counts of Brunswick. And, of course, he could not resist - he began to give the girl piano lessons, and completely free of charge. Juliet had good musical abilities and grasped all his advice on the fly. She was pretty, young, sociable and tirelessly flirted with her 30-year-old teacher.

He impressed Juliet with his popularity and even oddities. With all the severity of views, Beethoven was not indifferent to female beauty and never refused to give lessons to young beautiful girls. He didn't say no this time either. He did not take money from her, and she gave him shirts - under the pretext that she embroidered them for him with her own hands. During the lessons, the composer often got annoyed and even threw the notes on the floor, but, nevertheless, quickly succumbed to the charm of his student.

And just imagine: they are sitting very close in front of the instrument, so that they feel each other's breath ... Music fills the space with romance, emotions and mystery ... Evening creeps up. A candle illuminating the music sheets illuminates the faces of the teacher and student with a warm light... Beethoven gently takes the girl's hand to put it on the keyboard correctly, and his heart flutters with excitement ...

The gloomy and unsociable composer understands that he has fallen in love. I loved passionately, recklessly. He loved so much, with all his heart, that he was ready to give his life for his beloved without the slightest delay. Sweet, beautiful in spring, with an angelic face and a divine smile, eyes in which you wanted to drown - all Beethoven's thoughts were about Juliet Guicciardi. She became for him that straw, for which he tried with all his might to hold on. She seemed ready to reciprocate. Ludwig again felt a surge of strength, hope for recovery. Happiness was so close.

Beethoven writes to his friend of youth Franz Wegeler: “Now I am more often in society. This change has been made in me by my dear, charming girl who loves me and whom I love."

“You can hardly believe how lonely and sad I have spent the last two years: deafness, like some kind of ghost, appeared to me everywhere, I avoided people, seemed to be a misanthrope, which I have so little resemblance to. Previously, I was constantly ill, but now my bodily strength, and at the same time my spiritual strength, has been growing stronger for some time. You must see me happy. I will grab fate by the throat, it will not be possible to completely bend me. Oh, how wonderful it is to live a thousandfold life!” This letter was also written to Wegeler, but a few months later.

Beethoven fell in love for the first time, and his soul was full of pure joy and bright hope. He is not young! But she, as it seemed to him, was perfection and could become for him a consolation in illness, joy in everyday life and a muse in creativity. Beethoven is seriously considering marrying Juliet, because she is nice to him and encourages his feelings. But increasingly, the composer feels helpless due to progressive hearing loss, his financial situation is unstable, he does not have a title or “blue blood”, and Juliet is an aristocrat!

Sonata time

Literally crushed in October 1802 Beethoven left for Heiligenstadt, where he wrote the famous "Heiligenstadt Testament".

Fear, the collapse of hopes give rise to thoughts of suicide in the composer. But Beethovengathered his strength, decided to start a new life and almost completely deaf created great masterpieces.

Several years passed, Juliet returned to Austria and came to the apartment to Beethoven. Crying, she remembered the wonderful time when the composer was her teacher, talked about the poverty and difficulties of her family, prayed for forgiveness and asked for help with money. Being a kind and noble man, the maestro gave her a significant amount, but asked her to leave and never appear in his house. Beethoven seemed indifferent and indifferent. But who knows what was going on in his heart. At the end of his life, the composer will write: “I was very loved by her and more than ever, was her husband ...”

Open, direct and honest, Beethoven was contemptuous of hypocrisy and servility, so he often seemed rude and ill-mannered. Often he expressed himself obscenely, which is why many considered him a plebeian and an ignorant boor, although the composer simply spoke the truth.

Ludwig van Beethoven's Last "Sorry"

Autumn 1826 Beethoven got sick. Exhausting treatment, three the most complicated operations could not put the composer on his feet. Throughout the winter, without getting out of bed, he was completely deaf, tormented by the fact that ... he could not continue to work. In 1827, the genius died.

After his death, a letter "To the immortal beloved" was found in a desk drawer. Beethoven I titled the message myself. There were lines: "My angel, my everything, my me ...".

Then there will be disputes about who exactly the letter is addressed to. But little fact points precisely to Juliet Guicciardi: next to the letter was kept a tiny portrait of her, made by an unknown master.

DATA

When Giulietta Guicciardi, while still a student of the maestro, and noticing that Beethoven's silk bow was not tied like that, tied it up, kissing him on the forehead, the composer did not take off this bow and did not change clothes for several weeks, until friends hinted at the not quite fresh look of his costume.

According to legend, the "Moonlight Sonata" was written in Hungary at the Brunswick estate of Korompa. There is a gazebo in which great composer and created his brilliant work. That summer spent with Juliet was the happiest for the composer Ludwig van Beethoven.

Updated: April 13, 2019 by: Elena

Biography

The house where the composer was born

Ludwig van Beethoven was born in December 1770 in Bonn. The exact date of birth has not been established, presumably it is December 16, only the date of baptism is known - December 17, 1770 in Bonn in catholic church St. Remigius. His father Johann Johann Van Beethoven , 1740-1792) was a singer, tenor, in the court chapel, mother of Mary Magdalene, before her marriage Keverich ( Maria Magdalena Keverich, 1748-1787), was the daughter of a court chef in Koblenz, they married in 1767. Ludwig's grandfather (1712-1773) served in the same chapel as Johann, first as a singer, bass, then bandmaster. He was originally from Mechelen in the Southern Netherlands, hence the prefix "van" before his family name. The composer's father wanted to make a second Mozart out of his son and began to teach him how to play the harpsichord and violin. In 1778, the first performance of the boy took place in Cologne. However, Beethoven did not become a miracle child, the father entrusted the boy to his colleagues and friends. One taught Ludwig the organ, the other the violin.

In 1780 the organist and composer Christian Gottlob Nefe came to Bonn. He became a real teacher of Beethoven. Nefe immediately realized that the boy had talent. He introduced Ludwig to Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier and the works of Handel, as well as to the music of older contemporaries: F. E. Bach, Haydn and Mozart. Thanks to Nefe, Beethoven's first composition, a variation on Dressler's march, was also published. Beethoven was twelve years old at the time and was already working as an assistant court organist.

After the death of his grandfather, the financial situation of the family deteriorated. Ludwig had to leave school early, but he learned Latin, studied Italian and French, and read extensively. Already becoming an adult, the composer admitted in one of his letters:

There is no work that would be too learned for me; without claiming in the slightest degree to be learned in the true sense of the word, yet from childhood I strove to understand the essence of the best and the wisest people every era.

Beethoven's favorite writers include the ancient Greek authors Homer and Plutarch, English playwright Shakespeare, German poets Goethe and Schiller.

At this time, Beethoven began composing music, but was in no hurry to publish his works. Much of what he wrote in Bonn was later revised by him. From the youthful works of the composer, three children's sonatas and several songs are known, including "Marmot".

He will make everyone talk about himself!

But the classes never took place: Beethoven found out about his mother's illness and returned to Bonn. She died July 17, 1787. The seventeen-year-old boy was forced to become the head of the family and take care of his younger brothers. He joined the orchestra as a violist. Italian, French and German operas are staged here. The operas of Gluck and Mozart made a particularly strong impression on the young man.

Haydn stopped on his way from England to Bonn. He spoke with approval of Beethoven's composing experiments. The young man decides to go to Vienna to take lessons from the famous composer, since, after returning from England, Haydn becomes even more famous. In the autumn of 1792, Beethoven leaves Bonn.

First ten years in Vienna

Arriving in Vienna, Beethoven began classes with Haydn, subsequently claiming that Haydn had taught him nothing; classes quickly disappointed both the student and the teacher. Beethoven believed that Haydn was not attentive enough to his efforts; Haydn was frightened not only by the bold views of Ludwig at that time, but also by the rather dark melodies which was rare in those days. Haydn once wrote to Beethoven:

Your things are beautiful, they are even wonderful things, but here and there something strange, gloomy is found in them, since you yourself are a little gloomy and strange; and the style of a musician is always himself.

Already in the first years of his life in Vienna, Beethoven won fame as a virtuoso pianist. His playing amazed the audience.

Beethoven at 30

Beethoven boldly opposed the extreme registers (and at that time they played mainly in the middle), widely used the pedal (it was also rarely used then), and used massive chordal harmonies. In fact, he created piano style, far from the exquisitely lace manner of harpsichordists.

This style can be found in his Piano Sonatas No. 8 "Pathetique" (the title given by the composer himself), No. 13 and No. 14. Both have the author's subtitle Sonata quasi una Fantasia("in the spirit of fantasy"). Sonata No. 14, the poet Relshtab later called "Lunar", and although this name is suitable only for the first movement, and not for the finale, it was assigned to the entire work.

Beethoven also stood out for his appearance among the ladies and gentlemen of that time. Almost always he was found casually dressed and unkempt.

Beethoven was extremely blunt. One day, when he was playing in a public place, one of the guests started talking to a lady; Beethoven immediately interrupted the performance and added: I will not play with such pigs!". And no amount of apology and persuasion helped.

On another occasion, Beethoven was visiting Prince Lichnovsky. Likhnovsky respected the composer very much and was a fan of his music. He wanted Beethoven to play in front of the audience. The composer refused. Likhnovsky began to insist and even ordered to break down the door of the room where Beethoven had locked himself. The indignant composer left the estate and returned to Vienna. The next morning, Beethoven sent a letter to Likhnovsky: “ Prince! What I am, I owe to myself. There are and will be thousands of princes, but Beethoven is only one!»

However, despite such a harsh character, Beethoven's friends considered him rather kind person. So, for example, the composer never refused to help close friends. One of his quotes:

None of my friends should be in need while I have a piece of bread, if my wallet is empty and I cannot help immediately, well, I just have to sit down at the table and get to work, and pretty soon I will help him to get out of trouble.

Beethoven's compositions began to be widely published and enjoyed success. During the first ten years spent in Vienna, twenty sonatas for piano and three piano concertos, eight sonatas for violin, quartets and other chamber compositions, the oratorio Christ on the Mount of Olives, the ballet The Creations of Prometheus, the First and Second Symphonies.

Teresa Brunswick, true friend and student of Beethoven

In 1796, Beethoven begins to lose his hearing. He develops tinitis, an inflammation of the inner ear leading to tinnitus. On the advice of doctors, he retires for a long time in small town Heiligenstadt. However, peace and quiet do not improve his well-being. Beethoven begins to realize that deafness is incurable. In these tragic days, he writes a letter that will later be called the Heiligenstadt testament. The composer talks about his experiences, admits that he was close to suicide:

It seemed unthinkable to me to leave the world before I had fulfilled everything to which I felt called.

In Heiligenstadt, the composer begins work on a new Third Symphony, which he will call Heroic.

As a result of Beethoven's deafness, unique historical documents have been preserved: "conversation notebooks", where Beethoven's friends wrote down their lines for him, to which he answered either orally or in response.

However, the musician Schindler, who had two notebooks with recordings of Beethoven's conversations left, in all likelihood burned them, since “they contained the most rude, fierce attacks against the emperor, as well as the crown prince and other high-ranking officials. This, unfortunately, was Beethoven's favorite theme; in conversation, Beethoven constantly resented those in power, their laws and regulations.

Later years (1802-1815)

When Beethoven was 34 years old, Napoleon abandoned the ideals of the French Revolution and declared himself emperor. Therefore, Beethoven abandoned his intentions to dedicate his Third Symphony to him: “This Napoleon is also an ordinary person. Now he will trample on all human rights with his feet and become a tyrant.”

AT piano work own style the composer is already noticeable in the early sonatas, but in the symphony, maturity came to him later. According to Tchaikovsky, only in the third symphony " for the first time all the immense, amazing power of Beethoven's creative genius was revealed» .

Due to deafness, Beethoven rarely leaves the house, loses sound perception. He becomes gloomy, withdrawn. It was during these years that the composer, one after another, creates his most famous works. In the same years, Beethoven was working on his only opera, Fidelio. This opera belongs to the horror and rescue opera genre. Success came to Fidelio only in 1814, when the opera was staged first in Vienna, then in Prague, where the famous German composer Weber conducted it, and finally in Berlin.

Shortly before his death, the composer handed over the manuscript of "Fidelio" to his friend and secretary Schindler with the words: " This child of my spirit was brought into the world in more severe torments than others, and gave me the greatest grief. That's why it's the most precious to me...»

Last years

After 1812, the composer's creative activity fell for a while. However, after three years, he begins to work with the same energy. At this time, piano sonatas from the 28th to the last, 32nd, two cello sonatas, quartets, and the vocal cycle “To a Distant Beloved” were created. A lot of time is devoted to processing folk songs. Along with Scottish, Irish, Welsh, there are Russians. But the main creations of recent years have been two of Beethoven's most monumental works - The Solemn Mass and Symphony No. 9 with Chorus.

The ninth symphony was performed in 1824. The audience gave the composer a standing ovation. It is known that Beethoven stood with his back to the audience and did not hear anything, then one of the singers took his hand and turned to face the audience. People waved handkerchiefs, hats, hands, welcoming the composer. The ovation lasted so long that the police officials who were present immediately demanded that it be stopped. Such greetings were allowed only in relation to the person of the emperor.

In Austria, after the defeat of Napoleon, a police regime was established. Frightened by the revolution, the government suppressed any "free thoughts". Numerous secret agents penetrated all sectors of society. In Beethoven's conversational notebooks, there are warnings every now and then: Quiet! Watch out, there's a spy! And, probably, after some especially bold statement of the composer: You will end up on the scaffold!»

Beethoven's grave in the central cemetery of Vienna, Austria

However, Beethoven's popularity was so great that the government did not dare to touch him. Despite the deafness, the composer continues to be aware of not only political, but also musical news. He reads (that is, listens with his inner ear) the scores of Rossini's operas, looks through the collection of songs by Schubert, gets acquainted with the operas of the German composer Weber's The Magic Shooter and Euryanta. Arriving in Vienna, Weber visited Beethoven. They had lunch together, and Beethoven, usually not prone to ceremony, courted his guest.

After the death of his younger brother, the composer took over the care of his son. Beethoven places his nephew in the best boarding schools and instructs his student Carl Czerny to study music with him. The composer wanted the boy to become a scientist or an artist, but he was attracted not by art, but by cards and billiards. Entangled in debt, he attempted suicide. This attempt did not cause much harm: the bullet only slightly scratched the skin on the head. Beethoven was very worried about this. His health deteriorated sharply. The composer develops a severe liver disease.

Beethoven's funeral

He was an artist, but also a man, a man in the highest sense of the word... One can say about him like no other: he did great things, there was nothing bad in him.

Teacher

Beethoven began giving music lessons while still in Bonn. His Bonn student Stefan Breining remained the most devoted friend of the composer until the end of his days. Braining helped Beethoven remake the libretto of Fidelio. In Vienna, the young Countess Giulietta Guicciardi became Beethoven's student. Juliet was a relative of the Brunswicks, in whose family the composer visited especially often. Beethoven was carried away by his student and even thought about marriage. He spent the summer of 1801 in Hungary, at the Brunsvik estate. According to one hypothesis, it was there that The Moonlight Sonata was composed. The composer dedicated it to Juliet. However, Juliet preferred Count Gallenberg to him, considering him a talented composer. Critics wrote about the compositions of the count that they can accurately indicate from which work of Mozart or Cherubini this or that melody was borrowed. Therese Brunswick was also a student of Beethoven. She had musical talent - she played the piano beautifully, sang and even conducted.

Having met the famous Swiss teacher Pestalozzi, she decided to devote herself to raising children. In Hungary, Teresa opened charitable kindergartens for the children of the poor. Until her death (Teresa died in 1861 at an advanced age), she remained faithful to her chosen cause. Beethoven had a long friendship with Teresa. After the death of the composer, a large letter was found, which was called "Letter to the immortal beloved." The addressee of the letter is unknown, but some researchers consider Teresa Brunswick to be her "immortal lover".

Dorothea Ertmann, one of the best pianists in Germany, was also a student of Beethoven. One of her contemporaries spoke of her this way:

A tall, stately figure and a beautiful, full of animation face aroused in me ... tense expectation, and yet I was shocked, as never before, by her performance of Beethoven's sonata. I have never seen a combination of such strength with penetrating tenderness - even among the greatest virtuosos.

Ertman was famous for her performances of Beethoven's works. The composer dedicated Sonata No. 28 to her. Upon learning that Dorothea's child had died, Beethoven played for her for a long time.

Dorothea Ertmann, German pianist, one of the best performers works by Beethoven

At the end of 1801, Ferdinand Ries came to Vienna. Ferdinand was the son of a Bonn Kapellmeister, a friend of the Beethoven family. The composer accepted the young man. Like other students of Beethoven, Rees already owned the instrument and also composed. One day, Beethoven played him an adagio just completed. The young man liked the music so much that he memorized it. Rees went to Prince Likhnovsky's and played a play. The prince learned the beginning and, having come to the composer, said that he wanted to play his composition for him. Beethoven, who did not stand on ceremony with the princes, categorically refused to listen. But Likhnovsky still played. Beethoven immediately guessed about the trick of Rhys and was terribly angry. He forbade the student to listen to his new compositions and really never played anything to him again. Once Rhys played his march, passing it off as Beethoven's. The listeners were delighted. The composer, who appeared immediately, did not expose the student. He just told him:

See, dear Rhys, what great experts are. Give them only the name of their pet and they don't need anything else!

Once Rhys happened to hear a new creation of Beethoven. Once on a walk they got lost and returned home in the evening. Along the way, Beethoven growled a stormy melody. Arriving home, he immediately sat down at the instrument and, carried away, completely forgot about the presence of the student. Thus was born the finale of the Appassionata.

At the same time as Rhys, Carl Czerny began to study with Beethoven. Karl was, perhaps, the only child among Beethoven's students. He was only nine years old, but he was already giving concerts. His first teacher was his father, the famous Czech teacher Venzel Czerny. When Karl first got into Beethoven's apartment, where, as always, there was a mess, and saw a man with a dark, unshaven face, wearing a coarse woolen vest, he mistook him for Robinson Crusoe.

Beethoven at work at home

Czerny studied with Beethoven for five years, after which the composer gave him a document in which he noted "the exceptional success of the student and his remarkable musical memory» . Czerny's memory was truly amazing: he knew by heart all the teacher's piano compositions.

Czerny started early pedagogical activity and soon became one of the best teachers in Vienna. Among his students was Theodor Leshetitsky, who can be called one of the founders of the Russian piano school. From 1858 Leshetitsky lived in St. Petersburg, and from 1862 to 1878 he taught at the newly opened conservatory. Here he studied with A. N. Esipova, later professor at the same conservatory, V. I. Safonov, professor and director of the Moscow Conservatory, S. M. Maykapar.

In 1822, a father and a boy came to Cherny, who had come from the Hungarian town of Doboryan. The boy had no idea either about the correct fit or fingering, but an experienced teacher immediately realized that in front of him was an unusual, gifted, maybe brilliant child. The boy's name was Franz Liszt. Liszt studied with Czerny for a year and a half. His successes were so great that the teacher allowed him to speak to the public. Beethoven attended the concert. He guessed the boy's giftedness and kissed him. Liszt kept the memory of this kiss all his life.

Not Rice, not Czerny, but Liszt inherited Beethoven's style of playing. Like Beethoven, Liszt treats the piano like an orchestra. During his tour of Europe, he promoted the work of Beethoven, performing not only his piano works, but also the symphonies he adapted for the piano. In those days, Beethoven's music, especially symphonic music, was still unknown to a wide audience. In 1839 Liszt arrived in Bonn. Here for several years they were going to erect a monument to the composer, but things were moving slowly.

Liszt made up the missing amount with the proceeds from his concerts. It was only thanks to these efforts that the monument to the composer was erected.

Causes of death

In cinema

• About the fate of the composer, the films "Beethoven's Nephew" (directed by Paul Morrissey) and "Immortal Beloved" (in leading role Gary Oldman). In the first, he is presented as a latent homosexual, jealous of everything of his own nephew Karl; the second develops the idea that the composer's relationship with Carl was due to Beethoven's secret love for his mother.
• Main character cult film"A Clockwork Orange" Alex loves to listen to Beethoven's music, so the film is saturated with it.
• In the film “Remember Me Like This,” filmed in 1987 at Mosfilm by Pavel Chukhrai, Beethoven’s music sounds.
• The comedy film Beethoven has nothing to do with the composer, except that a dog was named after him.
• In film " Heroic symphony» Beethoven was played by Ian Hart.
• In the Soviet-German film "Beethoven. Days of Life" Beethoven was played by Donatas Banionis.
• In the movie "Sign" main character loved to listen to Beethoven's music, and at the end of the film, when the end of the world began, everyone died to the second part of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony.
• The film "Rewriting Beethoven" tells about last year the composer's life (starring Ed Harris).
• The 2-episode feature film The Life of Beethoven (USSR, 1978, director B. Galanter) is based on the surviving memories of the composer by his close friends.
• The film Lecture 21 (Italy, 2008), the film debut of the Italian writer and musicologist Alessandro Baricco, is dedicated to the Ninth Symphony.
• In the film "Equilibrium" (USA, 2002, directed by Kurt Wimmer), the main character Preston discovers myriad records. He decides to listen to one of them. The film features an excerpt from Ludwig van Beethoven's ninth symphony.
• In the movie The Soloist (USA, France, UK directed by Joe Wright) The plot is based on real history life of musician Nathaniel Ayers. Young virtuoso cellist Ayers' career is cut short when he falls ill with schizophrenia. Many years later, a journalist learns about a homeless musician Los Angeles Times, the result of their communication is a series of articles. Ayers just raves about Beethoven, he constantly performs his symphonies on the street.

In non-academic music

• The song The Moon, from the album Tarot by the Spanish power metal band Dark Moor, contains significant passages from the Moonlight Sonata (movement I) and the Fifth Symphony (movements I and IV).
• In 2000, the neo-classical metal band Trans-Siberian Orchestra released the rock opera Beethoven's Last Night dedicated to the composer's last night.
• In the composition Les Litanies De Satan from the album Bloody Lunatic Asylum ( English) of the Italian gothic black metal band Theaters des Vampires used Sonata No. 14 as an accompaniment to the poems of Charles Baudelaire.
• “Beethoven Was Deaf” (“Beethoven was deaf”) is the title of his live album by Morrissey, a singer from Great Britain.

In popular culture

You know a pregnant woman who already has 8 children. Two of them are blind, three are deaf, one is mentally underdeveloped, she herself is sick with syphilis. Would you advise her to have an abortion?

If you advised me to have an abortion, you just killed Ludwig van Beethoven.

Beethoven's parents married in 1767. In 1769, their first son, Ludwig Maria, was born, who died after 6 days, which was quite common for that time. No data has been preserved on whether he was blind, deaf, mentally retarded, etc. In 1770, Ludwig van Beethoven was born. In 1774, the third son, Caspar Carl van Beethoven, was born, who died in 1815 from pulmonary tuberculosis. He was neither blind, nor deaf, nor mentally retarded. In 1776, the fourth son, Nikolaus Johann, was born, who had enviable health and died in 1848. In 1779, a daughter, Anna Maria Franziska, was born; she died four days later. There was also no information about her about whether she was blind, deaf, mentally retarded, etc. Franz Georg was born in 1781, who died two years later. Maria Margarita was born in 1786, she died a year later. In the same year, Ludwig's mother died of tuberculosis, a disease common at that time. There is no reason to believe that she suffered from venereal diseases. Father, Johann van Beethoven, died in 1792.

Incident in Teplice

Music fragments

see also

Notes

Literature

• Alschwang A. Ludwig van Beethoven. Essay on life and creativity.
• Korganov V. D. Beethoven. Biographical sketch. - M .: Algorithm, 1997.(djvu-book on www.libclassicmusic.ru)
• Boris Kremnev. Beethoven ZhZL
• Kirillina L.V. Beethoven. Life and work: In 2 volumes - M .: Moscow Conservatory, 2009.
• Alfred Amenda. Appassionata. A novel from the life of Ludwig van Beethoven.

Links

• All concertos and sonatas for piano by Beethoven performed by masters
• Piano Sonatas no. 22, 27 MP3 Creative Commons Recording

Ludwig van Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven - German composer, pianist (years of his life 1770 - 1827).
Ludwig van Beethoven was baptized on December 17, 1770 in Bonn, the exact date of his birth is not known.

Biography of Ludwig van Beethoven - young years.
Ludwig van Beethoven became a composer not by chance - his father Johann van Beethoven and grandfather Ludwig were directly related to music. His father was a singer, he sang in the court chapel, and at first his grandfather also sang in the court chapel, and then was a bandmaster. Ludwig's mother, Mary Magdalene, was from the common people and had nothing to do with music - she worked as an ordinary cook. Ludwig Beethovin's father, Johann, dreamed that his son would be the second Mozart and with early childhood taught his son to play the harpsichord and violin. At the age of eight, Ludwig van Beethoven made his first public appearance. It was in Cologne. But the father saw that nothing much came of introducing the child to music, and then Johann van Beethoven instructed his colleagues to study music with his son, some of them taught Ludwig to play the organ, some the violin. When Ludwig was eight years old, the composer and organist, Christian Gottlieb Nefe, arrived in Bonn, and he recognized the musical talent of little Ludwig Beethoven. Thanks to studying music with Nefe, the first work of the future famous composer was published - a variation on the theme of Dressler's march. Beethoven was only twelve years old then. But at this time, Ludwig Beethoven was already working as an assistant to the court organist.
Like many great people, Beethoven, due to the difficult financial situation, was forced to leave school. It happened after the death of my grandfather. But, nevertheless, the biography of Beethoven remains as a biography of a highly educated person. He knew Latin and some foreign languages, including Italian and French. Beethoven devoted much of his time to reading books. His favorite authors were - Homer, Rogues, Goethe, Schiller, Shakespeare. At that time future composer began to compose music, but many of his works remained unpublished, and after many years he himself revised them. One of Beethoven's earliest works is the groundhog sonata. Once Ludwig van Beethoven visited Vienna, then he was sixteen years old, Mozart, after listening to him, struck those around him with the following phrase: “He will make everyone talk about himself!”. Beethoven, due to family reasons (his mother became seriously ill and subsequently died, and he was forced to take care of his brothers) could not take lessons from Mozart and returned to Bonn. At the age of 17, Beethoven joined the orchestra as a violist. He especially liked the operas of Mozart and Gluck.
In 1789, Beethoven decided to listen to lectures at the university. At this time, a revolution began in France, and Ludwig Beethoven writes music to the verses of one of the university professors, praising the revolution. At this time, the famous composer Haydn noticed Beethoven, and Ludwig van Beethoven decided to take lessons from him, and in 1792 Beethoven went to Vienna. Lessons with Haydn quickly disappointed Beethoven. Yes, and Haydn cooled off to Beethoven, Music and spiritual mood of Beethoven was not understood by Haydn: too gloomy, too bold reasoning and views for those times. Then Beethoven's biography developed as follows: Haydn was forced to leave for England, and J. B. Schenk, J. G. Albrechtsberger, A. Salieri began to study with Beethoven. Ludwig van Beethoven became one of the most fashionable pianists in Vienna, a real virtuoso in his field. His debut as a pianist took place in 1795. By 1802, Beethoven was known as the creator of 20 piano sonatas, including "Pathétique" (1798), "Moonlight" (No. 2 of two "fantasy sonatas" in 1801), six 6 string quartets, eight sonatas for violin and piano, many chamber and ensemble compositions.
But in the late 1790s, Ludwig Beethoven began to develop a terrible disease for a musician - deafness. At this time, Beethoven was overcome by pessimism, and he even sent his brothers a document known in his biography as the Heiligenstadt Testament. But, being a collected and strong person, Beethoven overcame the crisis in his soul and continued his work.

Biography of Ludwig van Beethoven - mature years.
Creative biography Beethoven's period from 1803 to 1812 is known as the new middle period of the composer's professional heyday. This period is marked by heroic notes in Beethoven's music. For example, the author's subtitle of the Third Symphony - "Heroic" (1803), the piano sonata "Appassionata" (1805), the cycle of 32 variations in C minor for piano in 1806, Symphony No. Five (1808) with its famous "motif of fate ”, the opera Fidelio, the overture Coriolanus (1807), in 1810 - Egmont. Also filled with heroism, dynamism, tempo are Symphony No. 4 (1806), Symphonies No. 6 "Pastoral", No. 7 and No. 8, Concertos for Piano and Orchestra No. 4, Concerto for Violin and Orchestra and many other musical works. In the mid-1800s, Beethoven achieved universal respect and recognition. Due to hearing problems, in 1808 Beethoven gave his last concert. By 1814, Beethoven had become completely deaf.
In 1813-1814, Beethoven suffered apathy, which, of course, affected his work, he composed very little. In 1815, Beethoven took over the care of the son of his deceased brother. The nephew also had a complex character.
Started in 1815 new stage in the biography of the composer, or as he is also called the late period of creativity. During this period, eleven works of the great composer were published, among them: sonatas for piano and cello, piano Variations on a waltz by Diabelli, Ninth Symphony, Solemn Mass, string quartets.
Beethoven's work of the late period is distinguished by contrasts, his music of those times called for extreme actions, emotional experience and lyricism.
Ludwig van Beethoven died on March 26, 1827 in Vienna, Austria. About twenty thousand people came to say goodbye to the famous composer

See all portraits

© Biography of the composer Beethoven. Biography of Ludwig van Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. Biography of the great Austrian Beethoven.

Beethoven's music is known to all lovers of the classics. His name is considered iconic for those who dream of becoming a real musician. How did one of the most popular composers live and work?

Beethoven: childhood and youth of a little genius

The exact birth date of Ludwig van Beethoven is not known for certain. The year of his birth is 1770. December 17 is called the day of baptism. Ludwig was born in the German city of Bonn.

The Beethoven family was directly related to music. The boy's father was a famous tenor. And his mother, Maria Magdalene Keverich, was the daughter of a chef.

The ambitious Johann Beethoven, being a strict father, wanted to make a great composer out of Ludwig. He dreamed that his son would become the second Mozart. He put in a lot of effort to achieve his goal.

At first, he himself taught the boy to play the different instruments. Then he passed the training of the child to his colleagues. From childhood, Ludwig mastered two complex instruments: the organ and the violin.

When the young Beethoven was only 10 years old, the organist Christian Nefe arrived in his city. It was he who became the true mentors of the boy, as he saw in him a great ability for music.

Beethoven was taught classical music based on the works of Bach and Mozart. At 12 talented child began his career as assistant organist. When a tragedy occurred in the family, and Ludwig's grandfather died, the finances of the venerable family were greatly reduced. Despite the fact that the young Beethoven never completed his studies at school, he managed to master Latin, Italian and French. Throughout his life, Beethoven read a lot, was curious, intelligent and erudite. He easily understood any scholarly treatises.

The youthful works of the future composer were later revised by him. The sonata "Marmot" has reached our days unchanged.

In 1787, Mozart himself gave the boy an audition. The great contemporary of Beethoven was pleased with his playing. He highly appreciated the improvisation of the young man.

Ludwig wanted to learn from Mozart himself, but fate decreed otherwise. Beethoven's mother died that year. He had to return to his hometown to take care of his brothers. In order to earn money, he got a job in a local orchestra as a violist.

In 1789, Ludwig again begins to attend classes at the university. flared up during french state the revolution inspires him to create "The Song of a Free Man".

In the autumn of 1792, another idol of Beethoven, the composer Haydn, happened to be passing through Bonn, which was native to Beethoven. Then the young man decides to follow him to Vienna to continue his music studies.

Beethoven's mature years

The collaboration between Haydn and Beethoven in Vienna can hardly be called fruitful. An accomplished mentor considered the creations of his student beautiful, but too gloomy. Haydn later left for England. Then Ludwig van Beethoven found himself a new teacher. It turned out to be Antonio Salieri.

Thanks to Beethoven's virtuoso playing, a piano style of playing was created, where extreme registers, loud chords and the use of a pedal on the instrument became the norm.

This style of playing is fully reflected in the composer's popular Moonlight Sonata. In addition to innovation in music, Beethoven's lifestyle and character traits also deserved considerable attention. The composer practically did not look after his clothes and appearance. If in the hall during his performance someone dared to talk, Beethoven refused to play and went home.

With friends and relatives, Ludwig van Beethoven could be harsh, but he never refused them the necessary assistance to relatives. During the first decade that the young composer worked in Vienna, he managed to write 20 sonatas for classical piano, 3 full-fledged piano concertos, many sonatas for other instruments, one oratorio on a religious theme, as well as a full-fledged ballet.

The tragedy of Beethoven and his later years

The fateful year 1796 for Beethoven becomes the most difficult in life. At famous composer hearing loss begins. Doctors diagnose him with chronic inflammation of the inner ear canal.

Ludwig van Beethoven suffered greatly from his illness. In addition to pain, he was haunted by ringing in his ears. On the advice of doctors, he goes to live in the small and quiet town of Heiligenstadt. But the situation with his illness is not changing for the better.

Over the years, Beethoven increasingly despised the power of emperors and princes. He believed that the equal rights of people - that's the ideal good. For this reason, Beethoven decided not to dedicate one of his works to Napoleon, calling the Third Symphony simply "Heroic".

During the period of hearing loss, the composer withdraws into himself, but continues to work. He writes the opera Fidelio. Then he creates a cycle of musical works called "To a Distant Beloved".

Progressive deafness did not become an obstacle to Beethoven's sincere interest in what is happening in the world. After the defeat and exile of Napoleon, a strict police regime was introduced in the Austrian lands, but Beethoven, as before, continued to criticize the government. Perhaps he guessed that they would not dare to touch him and throw him in jail, because his fame had become really grandiose.

Little is known about Ludwig van Beethoven's personal life. It was rumored that he wanted to marry one of his students, Countess Juliette Guicciardi. For some time, the girl reciprocated the composer, but then she preferred another. His next student Teresa Brunswick was a devoted friend of Beethoven until her death, but the true context of their relationship is shrouded in mystery and is not known for certain.

When the composer died younger brother he took custody of his son. Beethoven tried to instill in the young man a love of art and science, but the guy was a gambler and a reveler. Once losing, he tried to commit suicide. This upset Beethoven greatly. On the nervous ground he developed liver disease.

In 1827 the great composer died. The funeral procession included over 20,000 people. famous musician was only 57 years old when he passed away and was buried in the Vienna cemetery.