Beethoven’s BAD (As In, Not Good) Life
Ludwig von Beethoven, famous musician, had a bad life. He was deaf. He couldn’t communicate well because he couldn’t hear. He did a lot of pointing so people could understand. What else do I know about Beethoven? Here is my take.
Beethoven’s family was originally from Belgium, but he was born in Bonn, Germany. He performed a lot in Germany so a lot of people think he’s German because he was (Biography website). His father was an alcoholic who taught his son how to play the piano. His mother is described as very kind. But his Dad thought young Beethoven would be a superstar like Mozart. According to his biography online, “On March 26th 1778, at the age of 7 ½, Ludwig Van Beethoven gave his first public performance at Cologne. His father announced that he was 6 years-old. Because of this Beethoven always thought that he was younger than he actually was.”
According to our textbook, Beethoven liked a young girl who was blind and who learned to play by ear. The story doesn’t say exactly how it ends for them, but the girl seemed to like him back. She seemed to blush a lot. The textbook reads, “Never during all the years I knew him did I hear him play to that blind girl and her brother. He was inspired. From the instant his fingers began to wonder around the keys, the very tone of the instrument grew sweeter.”
Most of what I read about Beethoven was anywhere between tragic and downright depressing. He only really had a close relationship with his mother. His friends were important to him, but he didn’t really have a family. But having said that, over 10,000 people came to his funeral.
Music seemed to be his whole life. He wrote “A prolific composer who wrote for wealthy patrons and also earned money from public concerts, he wrote nine symphonies, 32 piano sonatas, one opera, five piano concertos, and many chamber works including some ground-breaking string quartets (Beethoven Online Gallery).”
The Beethoven gallery website goes on to say that “His symphonies were louder, longer and more exciting than anything written hitherto, and that same feeling of exploration and life on the edge shows through his other works too. Much of his music enjoyed great popularity - his early Moonlight Sonata for instance was a hit in terms of sheet-music sales - but his more exploratory works could puzzle players and audiences alike, such as his final string quartets, written in his last years of profound deafness.”
What I learned from these different websites was that his music would start out simple, but then grow more and more complex. He ushered in the romantic music period from the classical period, and most people think of him in the same way that they think of Mozart—a genius.
Sources:
My English textbook – Classics for Young Readers
"Biography: Beethoven's Life - Ludwig Van Beethoven's Website." Biography: Beethoven's Life - Ludwig Van Beethoven's Website. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2016.
"Ludwig Van Beethoven." Colin Wight. The British Library, 13 Mar. 2014. Web. 01 Dec. 2016
