An Essay On Ludwig Van Beethoven's Life And Music

Beethoven

I’m doing an essay on Ludwig Van Beethoven who was a German composer and the most well known musical figure in the transitional period between the Classical and Romantic eras. Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany in December of 1770 to Johann Van Beethoven and Maria Magdalena Keverich. He had three sisters and four brothers and was the second oldest. There is no authentic record of Beethoven’s birth date, but there is the registry of his baptism, in a Catholic service at the Parish of St. Regius on 17 December 1770. Since children of that era were traditionally baptised the day after birth in the Catholic Rhine country, and since Beethoven's family and his teacher, Johann Albrechtsberger, celebrated his birthday on 16 December, most scholars accept 16 December 1770 as his date of birth.

Beethoven's first music teacher was his father. He later had other local teachers: the court organist Gilles Van Den Eeden, Tobias Friedrich Pfeiffer, and Franz Rovantini. Starting at age 5, his musical training was harsh and intensive, which often reduced him to tears. Many times he was dragged from his bed to the keyboard to do irregular late-night sessions. His musical talent was obvious at a young age. His father attempted to promote

Maximilian Frederick noticed his talent early, and helped fund and encourage Beethoven's musical studies. Then in 1796, Beethoven went deaf without a warning. There were reports that his hearing loss was from a fit of rage he suffered at the interruption of his work. The fit caused him to fall over and after he got up, he was deaf. He only partially recovered his hearing, which was impeded by a severe form of tinnitus. The cause of his deafness is unknown, but has been attributed to his habit of putting his head in cold water to stay awake. But, being deaf didn't stop him from what he loved and he started to make some of the greatest music he ever