The German Composer Beethoven was born as Ludwig van Beethoven, on December 16th of 1770, in Bonn, Germany. He lived in Bonn for about 22 years, and then lived in Austria, specifically Vienna for about 32 years. According to an online article (http://www.
notablebiographies.com/Ba-Be/Beethoven-Ludwig-van.html), he was the oldest of three children. His parents were Johann and Maria.
Magdalena van Beethoven. His father was a musician who taught him how to. play the piano and violin. The article states that in his early childhood years that, “Young Ludwig was often pulled out of bed in the middle of the night and ordered to perform for his father’s drinking companions, suffering beatings if he.
protested.” In 1792 Beethoven went back to Vienna to study with famous composer Joseph Haydn ( 1732 – 1809 ). In 1796 he made a trip to northern Germany, where he. visited the court of King Frederick William of Prussia, an amateur cellist.
Beethoven later made several trips to Budapest, Hungary. Later, in 1808 Beethoven received an invitation to become the music director at Kassel, Germany. This aroused many of his wealthy friends that were Viennese, which they then formed a group of “backers” and agreed to guarantee Beethoven an annual salary of 1,400 florins ( $782.12 US Dollars) for him to continue staying in Vienna. He then became one of the first musicians in history to be able to live solely on his music salary.
Some of Beethoven’s famous or most known works include: 5th Symphony, Für Elise, Moonlight Sonata, Ode To Joy, Pastoral Symphony, and Violin Concerto in D Major. He composed Symphony No. 5 in 1808.
Für Elise was written on April 27, 1810, and was published in 1867. Moonlight Sonata was composed in 1801. Ode To Joy was composed in 1824. Pastoral Symphony was composed in 1808. And lastly, Violin Concerto in D Major was composed in 1806, but its first performance was by Franz Clement and was unsuccessful and the work languished in obscurity, until it was revived by Joseph Joachim in 1844. After he died on March 26th in 1827, unmarried and without any children, Für Elise was published in 1867.
Fun Facts about Beethoven: He was baptized on December 17th in 1770 Beethoven goes deaf around 1796 when he was just 25 On his first visit to Vienna, 17-year-old Beethoven was scheduled to perform for Mozart. But there’s a myth that Mozart walked out of the room saying, “Keep your eyes on him—someday he’ll give the world something to talk about.” He was known for improvising Throughout his life he suffered from deafness, colitis, rheumatism, rheumatic fever, typhus, skin disorders, abscesses, a variety of infections, ophthalmia, inflammatory degeneration of the arteries, jaundice, chronic hepatitis, and cirrhosis of the liver.