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Beethoven Biography

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Ludwig van Beethoven

17 December 1770 – 26 March 1827

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Ludwig van Beethoven is perhaps the most famous and influential of all the pianist composers of his time. He was considered instrumental in the transition of between the classical and romantic eras in Western Art Music.

Beethoven was born on December 16th, 1770 in Bonn (now called Cologne, Germany) to parents of Belgian descent. His father, Johann, was a musician at the court of Bonn, and his mother, Maria, whom he later deemed as his “best friend”, was described as a warmhearted gentle women. There were seven children born into this family, only three survived, in which Ludwig was the oldest.

Johann supplemented his income by …show more content…

He could then respond orally or in the book. Out of a total 400 conversation books, 264 books were altered to destroyed after Beethoven’s death by Anton Schindler (Beethoven’s biographer) , who wished only an idealized biography of the composer to survive.

In 1807, Beethoven wrote his third symphony for Bonaparte. Bonaparte was seen as a liberator of people, which then opened the door of hope for all people. However, Beethoven became angry and when the First Consul declared himself emperor and put that anger into his music, spewing out his name from the musical score. It was played for the first time on April 7th, 1805, and entitled Eroica Symphony.

During this time period, Ludwig was commissioned by the Viennese government to begin composing an opera, entitled “Lenora”. This would be the only opera he would compose. Critics speculate it is because he was not skilled in this area. It went through several revisions and was retitled “Fedelio”, against his wishes. It debuted on November 20th, 1805 to a very small audience of French officers under Napoleon.

From the 1805 onward, Beethoven’s productivity increased dramatically, having reached his musical maturity. He had become regarded as one of the most important in a generation of young composers, following Hayden and Mozart. Beethoven

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