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Beethoven Legacy Essay

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Beethoven’s Legacy
“Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy.” One of Ludwig van Beethoven's famous quotes. Beethoven was a deaf, classical composer and pianist that strove for excellence. Though at times he felt as if no one cared, he carried on and went on to accomplish a total of nine symphonies. Throughout the course of my essay I'll be giving key examples of Beethoven's life, in each. First, I'll underline his brutal childhood and how it shaped him into a wonderful musician and child prodigy. Second, I'll discuss several composer that helped Beethoven and what he did in his adult years. Lastly, I will state his midlife crisis and how he accepted it. The importance of Beethoven was that he faced many serious dilemmas …show more content…

The Beethoven family consisted of seven children, but only the three boys survived, of whom Ludwig was the oldest. (1) Beethoven’s family also include his mother, Marie-Magdalena and Father, Johann. His harsh father wanted him to play piano at a young age, so that he could become the next child prodigy, like Mozart. "Not a sign was to be discovered and of that spark of genius which glowed so brilliantly in him afterwards,” said by one of Beethoven’s peers. (Editors, n.d.) This quote signifies the love for music that Ludwig had, it glowed and shined within him. Johann was often drunk and abusive for instance, if Ludwig were to play the wrong piano key or note, he would have been beaten or locked in the cellar, without food or water. (Editors, n.d.) However, his father was not his only mentor, his first real teacher was Christian-Gottlob Neefe. Neefe showed him the advanced ideas of his century. (3) Beethoven studied with Christian-Gottlob Neefe when he dropped out of school at the age of ten to study music full time. (Editors, n.d.) Around the age of 14, Beethoven's father could no longer support is family. Beethoven requested an appointment as Assistant Court Organist, despite his youth, he was accepted and could provide for his family. (Editors, n.d.) Even though his childhood was difficult he worked hard through it which lead to a successful

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