Ludvig Van Beethoven

Beethoven is regarded by many as the greatest of all composers, and even dissenters from that widely held view must accept that his influence on the form and direction of Western music was enormous.

His Early Years

Beethoven was born in Bonn Germany in 1770, son of a singer in the court chapel. His grandfather was Dutch, hence the 'Van' in his name. Ludvig's early life was not happy, for his father was an alcoholic, and treated his family badly. He attempted force Beethoven into being a child prodigy, like Mozart, by using harsh discipline when teaching him music. Although Beethoven was very talented as a boy, his virtuosity did not blossom fully until he was in his early twenties. His father lost his job as a court musician and Beethoven had to take on responsibility for the family, and he supported them by working as a court musician. At thirteen he was acting as orchestral harpsichordist, a responsible position which involved some conducting duties. His first teacher was the court musician C.G.Neefe, a kindly man with Dutch ancestry, who was a composer and a very good teacher. Beethoven gained recognition of his talent from some of the music he wrote while studying with Neefe, and when he was seventeen he received a few lessons from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who fully recognised his genius. It was planned he should study further with Mozart, in Vienna, but Mozart died in 1791. Despite his family responsibilities, Beethoven moved to Vienna when he was twenty two and took lessons from Haydn, but Haydn proved to be too easy going as a teacher and Beethoven moved on to lessons with J.G. Albrechsberger and A. Salieri (a rival of Mozart in Vienna and teacher of Schubert).

His Success in Vienna

Beethoven achieved great notoriety amongst the Viennese Aristocracy with his brilliant piano improvisations, and, in a climate where the market for new music was increasing, he established himself as a freelance composer, entering into increasingly favourable arrangements with Viennese music publishers. Apart from his early years at the court in Bonn, Beethoven survived without the patronage of the courts of Europe, which, until his time, had been the mainstay of musicians and composers. That said, he was dependant on his aristocratic admirers for financial support. There was no law of copyright in those times! An indication of his lifestyle and temperament is the fact that he moved house thirty times while living in Vienna.

His Love Life

Disappointed in love several times, Beethoven never married, despite a passionate nature and an expressed longing to achieve that state. There were many reports of romance, but he tended to choose unattainable women, those of aristocratic birth, some of them married. There is a well known set of three letter to an "Immortal Beloved" in which he expresses his feelings for a lady who may well have been the only one who returned his declarations of love. These letters, dated 1812, were never sent to his beloved. She was identified by an authority in 1977 as Antonie Brentano, the wife of a Frankfurt merchant and a mother of four. However, this lady was only one in a line of contenders which have been suggested over the years. Countess Thérèse von Brunswick pictured right claimed that she was the intended recipient. Beethoven certainly had a friendship (relationship?) with her, and with her sister Joséphine and with their cousin Giulietta Guicciardi. So who knows?

His Deafness

In 1800, aged thirty, Beethoven had his first indication of advancing deafness. Over the years different illnesses have been suggested as the cause of his deafness; alcoholism, syphilis, and dysentery among them, but the more modern theory is that he had a form of skin tuberculosis. To suffer this particular disability must have been the most agonising fate for a performing musician and a disaster for a composer, and he contemplated suicide, but, with indomitable spirit, he determined to go on composing. Accounts of Beethoven's eccentricities, caused by his deafness were common after about 1805. He performed in public only rarely and made his last appearance as a performer in 1814. By 1818 he had become almost totally deaf, and he was also in bad health for much of the rest of his life.

A Revolution in Musical Style

Amazingly, despite his deafness, Beethoven decided to make a new start, and composed in a style radically different from contemporary works and music written by earlier composers. His Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major (the "Eroica") completed in 1804, was almost twice as long as any symphony that had been written up to that time. Taking the classical symphony as a starting point, he introduced more themes, made more contrasts and used more instruments than in any previous symphonic work. His sixteen string quartets, written over the period of his creative life, show the development of his style from classical, in the six "Early" quartets, to the emotionally intense, romanticism of his late quartets.

His Family Troubles

The early family life of Beethoven was marred by the alcoholism of his father, and he was not spared heartache in later life. In 1815, when he was forty five, his brother Karl died and Beethoven became involved a costly legal struggle with his sister-in-law, Johanna Reiss, for custody of her nine-year-old son, also called Karl. The brother had given an instruction for both Beethoven and his sister-in law to have joint custody, and initially the court ruled in the mother's favour, but subsequently Beethoven gained custody through the influence of his patron, the Archduke Rudolph. Karl proved a difficult child, and Beethoven did not succeed as a parent and he fell out with Karl, who attempted suicide by shooting in 1826, aged fifteen.

His Temperament

Beethoven was a very conscientious man, and this characteristic showed in his method of working. Those of his 'sketch' books which remain today show that he worked slowly, with much reworking. (Contrast Schubert who produced music at a phenomenal rate.) He was a temperamental man, but generally of a good disposition with a sense of humour. He had strong moral convictions, and he showed this characteristic in his dealings with his brother, Johann, a successful business man, who had set up residence with a common-law wife. He threatened to take up the matter of living in sin with judicial and church authorities. (This case might be judged against the reports of his own involvement with married ladies!) His zealous moral attitudes and his over-possessive affection were probably factors causing his failure with his adopted nephew.

His Death

Beethoven died in Vienna in 1827, just one year after the attempted suicide of his nephew. Towards the end of his life his finances deteriorated but fortunately he received support from the London Philharmonic Society, and, in particular, its director George Smart. His was a life of suffering, illness and tragedy and yet he overcame all to become the great driving force of 19th Century music.