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Bethoven Doc.

Beethoven’s Life

Ludwig van Beethoven was a complex man consumed by a towering genius – all the more remarkable for the deafness with which he struggled. He lived a life driven by an unquenchable need to make music. His legacy is music that still delights, challenges, and moves us.

Born in Bonn, Germany on December 17, 1770 (or perhaps a day earlier according to some records), Beethoven had a miserable childhood. He was one of seven children, only three of whom survived to adulthood. Although he loved his gentle mother, Maria, he feared his hard-drinking, demanding father, Johann. His father had no great talent, but he gave music lessons to the children of the nobility. From the time Ludwig was a small boy, turning the iron handle of window shutters to hear the musical noise, the child had been absorbed by music. His father recognized the boy’s ability and nurtured it, possibly because he saw it as a source of income.

In 1787, when he was seventeen, Beethoven made his first trip to Vienna, the city that would become his home. There, he was quickly immersed in the life of Europe’s cultural capital, even playing the piano for Mozart. Mozart’s prediction was: “You will make a big noise in the world.”

Difficult Times

Beethoven’s stay was cut short by a series of family tragedies. He returned to Bonn to his dying mother. Shortly after, his infant sister died. When his father lost his job, Beethoven had to take responsibility for the family.

After his father’s death in 1792, Beethoven returned to Vienna for good. The serious boy had grown into a man who was by turns rude and violent, kind and generous. He helped raise money for the only surviving child of Johann Sebastian Bach, who was living in poverty, and he donated new compositions for a benefit concert in aid of Ursuline nuns. Despite his temper, Beethoven attracted friends easily. He studied piano with composer Franz Joseph Haydn. And even though the student-teacher relationship failed the two...