Beethoven, Ludwig van (1770-1827), Ger. composer, of Flem. descent. His grandfather, Louis, left the Low Countries at the age of 21 and was appointed one of the court musicians to the Elector of Bonn in 1733, becoming director of music in 1761. He died in 1773. Louis' only surviving child, Johann, born 1740, was a singer in the Elector's employment. He also taught music, but squandered his income on drink. Of his 7 children Ludwig was the eldest of 3 who survived infancy. Though Beethoven was originally taught by his father his first serious instruction in music came in 1781 from Christian Gottlob Neefe, court organist at Bonn, to whom he was appointed assistant in 1784. From this period dates his first pub, composition, 9 Variations on a March by Dressier.

In April 1787, at the age of 16, he spent a fortnight in Vienna, where he met Mozart. In 1788 he was given the additional post of viola-player in the opera orchestra at Bonn. In 1792, probably on the recommendation of Haydn, who had heard some of his music at Bonn, he was sent to Vienna at the Elector's expense. There he had some unproductive lessons with Haydn and studied composition.

Further with sev. other teachers, including Johann Georg Albrechtsberger. His first mature compositions, including the first 3 piano sonatas, Op. 2, date from these early years in Vienna. Up to the year 1808 he depended for his income on teaching, playing, the publisher of his music and public concerts. The first of such concerts was given in 1800, when his septet and first symphony were performed. In 1809, however, 3 patrons-Archduke Rudolph, Prince Kinsky and Prince Lobkowitz, combined to guarantee him a modest annual income for the rest of his life, though circumstances contrived to reduce considerably the promised sum. About 1800 signs of deafness appeared, which became progressively worse, until eventually visitors could converse with him only by writing in a notebook. Sev. of these notebooks have survived, and although inevitably they lack Beethoven's share of the conversations they throw a considerable light on his personality and his views about other people. Another burden which dogged him for years was the fact that he became guardian of his nephew when his brother Karl died in 1815. His morbid affection for the boy and, as time went on, the adolescent's reaction against it, caused him profound and constant anxiety. His nephew's attempted suicide in 1826 seriously affected his health.

In December of that year Beethoven was taken ill with pneumonia and dropsy and died on 26 March 1827. Though solidly built, he was only 5 ft 5 inch's tall, with a ruddy complexion. In temperament he was irascible to the point of rudeness but retained the friendship even of those he insulted. He paid the closest possible attention to his financial affairs, but in the organization of his daily life he was hopelessly untidy. Though he spent most of his life in Vienna, he had a passion for the countryside and made frequent visits to it.

He was not the first composer to make his own living, but he was the first to regard it as an article of faith that he should be able to compose without having to submit to regular employment. He has often been hailed as an apostle of liberalism, but in fact his rebellion against his environment was more an affirmation of his belief in himself as an artist than a sign of sympathy for his fellow human beings.

He had many friends among the women of aristocratic society but never married, either because he was bound by devotion to the memory of his mother or because instinctively he shrank from being tied to any other person. His outstanding achievements were in instrumental music--in the 9 symphonies, the 16 string quartets and other chamber music, the 32 piano sonatas and the 7 concertos (5 for piano). He wrote only one opera--Fidelio, first performed in 1805 and twice revised, in 1806 and 1814. Apart from the finale of the ninth symphony his most ambitious choral work was the Mass in D, intended for the enthronement of Archduke Rudolph as Archbishop of Olmutz in 1820 but not completed until 1823. It was characteristic of his method of composition that he achieved originality and artistic unity by ruthlessly reworking fragmentary ideas which were generally imperfect and often banal. Many of the notebooks in which these sketches appear have been preserved and publish.
Last Updated on 14th July 2005
By Reg and Anthony